Paul rushed me to the hospital in a panic, but the moment he got a tearful phone call from Amber, he left me half-conscious and alone in a hospital corridor.
If a nurse on duty hadn't found me, I probably would have gone into shock and died.
Guilt flickered through Paul's eyes. He immediately tossed the blueberry cake into the trash.
He looked at me, eager to make amends.
“What do you want to eat, then? I'll get you anything.”
A burning smell drifted from the kitchen, and my brow twitched.
I rushed over to turn off the stove under the seafood chowder.
Paul followed me in, his smile widening.
He pulled me firmly into his arms, resting his chin on my shoulder.
“Still playing hard to get, pretending you're mad at me. You even made my favorite seafood chowder.”
Paul had a weak stomach.
To nurse it back to health, I'd enrolled in a medicinal cooking class.
A pampered heiress who'd never so much as washed a dish, and I'd willingly tied on an apron for him. I practically lived in that kitchen, pouring every hour into perfecting my craft.
Every time he came home drunk from a business dinner, he'd wheedle me into making him a pot of seafood chowder.
Prepping the shellfish was tedious work. My hands were always covered in cuts by the time I finished.
Paul would coo over my bleeding fingers one second, then pick up the phone the next to invite Amber over to taste my cooking.
He'd even reserved a room for Amber in what was supposed to be our home after the wedding.
When I got angry and threatened to call off the engagement, Amber's eyes turned red on cue, tears spilling prettily down her cheeks.
“Please don't be upset with Paul because of me, Miss Fox. It's all my fault.”
“If only I could hold my liquor better, Paul wouldn't have to bother driving me home, and he wouldn't have to set aside a room for me to rest.”
She called the home I had poured my heart into decorating a "room to rest." A calculated little jab, reminding me exactly how special Paul's treatment of her was.
That time, Paul and I nearly broke up for good.
He shipped Amber overseas as fast as he could and swore she would never be an eyesore to me again.
That same day, Paul was in a car accident. They never recovered a body.
The Delgado family blamed me. Called me a curse.
They wailed that if I hadn't thrown my little heiress tantrum, Paul would still be alive.
The guilt sent me spiraling into severe depression. Anything connected to Paul triggered episodes where I would hurt myself without even realizing it.
Three years. Sixteen times I slit my wrists.
My fingers traced the scars lining the inside of my wrist. I wrenched free of Paul's grip.
“This wasn't made for you.”
“Paul, let me say this one more time. There is nothing between us. Not anymore.”
He raised an eyebrow and smiled, reaching over to tap the tip of my nose with a curled finger.
“Come on, my darling Miss Fox. No matter how angry you are, you can't just pretend our engagement never existed.”
“Besides, if we really have nothing to do with each other, why are you living in the Delgado mansion?”
I scoffed, about to explain that Paul was the outsider in this house.
But the butler hurried into the room before I could.
“Ma'am, the wedding gowns have arrived. Would you like to come take a look?”
Raymond Finch looked up and froze when he noticed Paul.
“Young Master, when did you get back?”
Paul greeted him with easy familiarity.
“Mr. Finch, long time no see.”
He didn't so much as register the stiffness on the butler's face before turning back to tease me.
“Susie, did you already know I was coming back?”
“You even had the wedding gowns delivered ahead of time.”
“After the ceremony, let's go to Norway to see the Northern Lights.”
I went still. Norway. The Northern Lights. That was supposed to have been our graduation trip.
But the moment we graduated, Paul's father pulled him into the company.
We had no choice but to postpone.
Yet all it took was a single late-night text from Amber: “I wish I could see the Northern Lights.”
And he staged his own death, whisked her off to chase the aurora, and traveled half the world with her.
