Chapter 1
I’d been married to Ethan Cole for three years, and he still hadn’t told anyone.
“Workplace relationships get complicated,” he always said. “I’ll make it public when the timing’s right.”
Then, on the day I went into labor, my water broke while I was home alone.
My parents were out of town. I was in so much pain I could barely stand, so I tried to video-call Ethan, who was at a company retreat.
Victoria Shaw, the woman he’d once loved, answered with a smile.
“Who is this? You’ve called more than ten times tonight. Are you his girlfriend or something?”
I breathed through a contraction and spoke quietly. “Ethan, I think the baby’s coming. Can you come home and take me to the hospital?”
On-screen, Ethan glanced at Victoria.
“Don’t make things up, Chloe. Everyone from work is here. You’re just our receptionist. There’s nothing between us.”
“I already approved your maternity leave. You can come back after the baby’s born. The company won’t fire you.”
My face burned. I hung up and called 911.
After I was discharged, I went to stay with my parents.
Ethan came after me and praised me in front of my mother.
“I’ve been buried in a project lately, so I haven’t been able to take care of Chloe. She’s so understanding. She went through labor without bothering me at all.”
My mother gave him a cutting smile.
“That’s right. My daughter is very considerate. She hates being a burden.”
“That’s why the baby doesn’t have your last name.”
…
For three years, whenever Ethan introduced me, he called me one thing.
“Our receptionist.”
I’d been about to take his arm. When I heard him, I quietly pulled my hand back.
I even called him Mr. Cole along with everyone else.
His coworkers tried to set him up with women, and he never said he was married.
When people asked whether my boss had a girlfriend, I shook my head too.
“I have no idea.”
When we first got married, Ethan told me that a CEO dating someone who reported directly to him had to be disclosed. He’d also need to change the reporting structure.
“If we go public now, people will think I’m giving you special treatment. It’ll affect the whole team.”
I agreed to keep our marriage private for a while.
Three years passed. I never got promoted. My bonus was the same as every other receptionist’s.
There was always something more important in Ethan’s life: funding, the IPO, a new project.
The day he’d promised to tell people kept getting pushed back.
At home, though, he treated me well.
Whenever I tried on a dress, I’d say it looked bad before anyone else could.
He’d cup my face.
“Who says that? My wife’s the most beautiful woman in the room.”
If I woke him in the middle of the night because my stomach hurt, I always apologized first.
He’d carry me downstairs and say, “I’m your husband. You’re not a burden for asking me for help.”
Little by little, I started believing I deserved to be loved.
When I was eight months pregnant, Ethan rubbed my belly and promised, “I’ll tell everyone before your maternity leave starts.”
“We can’t have the baby here while you’re still telling people his dad’s out of town.”
I asked him twice, “You mean it?”
He smiled and kissed me. “I do.”
I bought a box of wedding favors to bring to work.
For the first time, I wore my wedding ring to the office without hiding my hand.
A week later, Victoria came back from abroad.
She’d dated Ethan in college. She was also the girl next door who’d bullied me as a child.
When I wore a new dress, she’d ask in front of everyone, “Chloe, your waist is so wide. Why would you wear pink?”
After that, I stopped wearing dresses.
When our school chose students to host an assembly, Victoria imitated the way I stuttered when I was nervous. The whole class laughed.
The next day, I quit and gave her my spot.
She went on to become the school’s star host. I graduated without ever managing to finish a sentence at the front of a classroom.
Now she had a degree from an elite university, an impressive international résumé, and a vice president’s title at Ethan’s company.
Ethan picked her up from the airport himself. He carried her luggage and draped his coat over her shoulders.
The first thing Victoria said when she reached the reception desk was, “Chloe, after all these years, you still look down when you get nervous?”
My cheeks burned.
Ethan laughed. “She’s always been like that.”
They sounded like the ones who knew each other best.
At lunch, Victoria sat beside the reception desk and flipped casually through my delivery log.
“The smallest team I managed overseas had projects worth eight figures.”
“You’re still signing for packages?”
She smiled as if she were being kind.
“It’s fine, I guess. No thinking required. No responsibility. It suits you.”
A coworker praised her.
Victoria waved it off. “It’s nothing. Ethan asked me to come back several times before I finally agreed.”
“He said he wouldn’t trust anyone else with this project.”
She raised her coffee.
“It’s been six years, and he still remembers I take half-sweet.”
Then she looked at the wedding ring on Ethan’s hand.
“You’re married? You never told me who Mrs. Cole is.”
Her gaze shifted to my hand.
“Oh. Chloe’s ring looks like a match for yours.”