Chapter 1 - THE WOMAN HE LEFT BEHIND
“With her sister.”
Griffin Shaw's answer made Dominic Rourke look up from the divorce papers.
“What?”
“Mrs. Rourke left with Paige Marlowe.”
Dominic's jaw tightened.
“Where are they going?”
“I don't know.”
“Find out.”
Griffin hesitated.
“Sir, Mrs. Rourke specifically asked that no one follow her.”
Dominic looked at him.
“And?”
Griffin held his gaze.
For twelve years, he'd served Dominic through business wars, federal investigations, and threats that would have sent other men running.
But tonight, something about the situation felt different.
“Sir,” Griffin said carefully, “I think you should let her go.”
Dominic stared.
“Excuse me?”
“You humiliated your wife in front of four hundred people.”
The words landed heavily.
Celeste Wynn stepped forward.
“Griffin, this is none of your business.”
He ignored her.
Dominic folded the divorce papers.
“Eliza's upset.”
Griffin said nothing.
“She'll calm down.”
Still nothing.
Dominic's expression hardened.
“Say what you're thinking.”
Griffin took a breath.
“I think she finally stopped waiting for you.”
Silence.
Dominic looked toward the ballroom doors.
For seven years, Eliza had waited.
Through late meetings.
Canceled anniversaries.
Unanswered calls.
Nights when Dominic returned home smelling of whiskey and unfamiliar perfume.
She had waited through everything.
And now she was gone.
Dominic looked down at the divorce papers.
His wife's signature sat at the bottom.
Clean.
Precise.
Final.
For the first time, he wondered whether Griffin was right.
---
Across the city, Eliza sat in Paige's kitchen.
The clock read 11:47 p.m.
A cup of tea had gone cold between her hands.
Paige stood beside the counter, furious.
“I want to go back there and—”
“No.”
Eliza's voice was quiet.
Paige turned.
“Liz.”
“Please.”
Her sister softened.
Eliza looked down at her stomach.
Fourteen weeks.
Three days.
A tiny heartbeat.
A future she had imagined sharing with Dominic.
Now she wasn't sure what that future would look like.
Paige sat beside her.
“Have you decided what you're going to do?”
Eliza nodded.
“I'm keeping the baby.”
Paige took her hand.
“I know.”
“And I'm leaving Dominic.”
Her voice trembled.
“But I'm not going to spend the rest of my life letting him decide whether I'm allowed to be happy.”
Paige's eyes filled.
“Good.”
Eliza looked toward the window.
Rain slid down the glass.
She thought about the ballroom.
The emerald necklace.
Celeste's smile.
Dominic's voice.
Celeste is the woman I intend to marry.
May you like
Eliza closed her eyes.
Then whispered, “I hope he loves her enough to lose everything for her.”
