Chapter 2

September in the capital. The autumn wind carried a bone-deep chill.

Outside the county clerk's office, the plaza was packed wall to wall with reporters and camera crews.

Today was the seventh anniversary of my relationship with Hudson Calloway, CEO of Calloway Group. It was also supposed to be the day we officially made things legal.

I was wearing a white custom couture dress, sitting quietly on the leather sofa in the VIP waiting room.

The clock on the wall ticked steadily. The hour hand had already slipped past ten in the morning.

Hudson hadn't arrived.

My phone screen lit up. It was a photo sent by Hudson's personal assistant.

The photo showed the crowded main terminal of an airport. Hudson had a frail woman pulled tight against his chest, her face buried against him, while he barked orders at the bodyguards around him, clearing the crowd.

Then a voice message from Hudson popped up.

"Sophia, Evelyn's depression hit her out of nowhere. She's insisting she wants to leave the country and disappear forever. There are too many people at the airport and she panicked. I have to get her to the hospital right now."

His voice was soaked in barely-contained urgency, but at the end he forced it down and shifted into something softer — the tone of someone doing you a favor.

"I'll have the PR team handle the media outside. They'll say the company had an emergency international call. Be good and head home for now. That pink diamond necklace you liked yesterday — I already had someone set it aside. I'll make it up to you tonight. We'll take care of the paperwork tomorrow."

Tomorrow.

Over the past seven years, I'd heard those two words more times than I could count.

"Sophia, Evelyn is afraid of the dark. I need to stay at the hospital with her tonight — let's do our New Year's together tomorrow."

"Sophia, Evelyn doesn't have any family. It's Christmas Eve and she'd be completely alone. I'm bringing her to the house for dinner. Please don't take it personally."

"Sophia, Evelyn made a mess of that project. Can you take the blame for her? You're capable — the board won't come after you too hard."

I looked down at the plain band on my ring finger. I'd worn it for seven years. Suddenly I found the whole thing almost funny.

So this was all my seven years of waiting had been worth — crumbling the moment Evelyn White threw a tantrum.

I didn't reply with my usual "okay, I'll wait." I didn't scream at him either.

I just calmly saved the photo, then dragged Hudson's number — along with every other way to reach him — straight into the blocked list.

"Miss Sutton, Mr. Calloway isn't—" The staff member eased the door open with a pained expression.

"He's not coming." I stood up, smoothed out a wrinkle in my skirt, and my voice came out completely flat. "Please let the media outside know — there's no registration today. There's a broken engagement instead."

The staff member stared at me, stunned. I pushed past her, clicked across the floor in my heels, and walked out of the county clerk's office without a single backward glance.

Blinding camera flashes swallowed me the moment I stepped outside. Microphones came at me from every direction.

"Miss Sutton — why didn't Mr. Calloway show up? Did the relationship fall apart?"

"Miss Sutton — there are rumors Mr. Calloway shut down part of the airport for another woman. Is that true?"

I stopped. My eyes swept across those eager lenses. A thin, cold smile touched the corner of my mouth.

"Since Mr. Calloway has someone who needs him more, I won't be sticking around. As of today, we go our separate ways. It's over."

I pushed through the crowd and got into a black Maybach that had been waiting at the curb.

The moment the car door shut, I pulled out my phone and dialed a number I'd only saved once — but had memorized completely.

Three rings. Someone picked up.

"Sophia Sutton?" A man's voice. Low and unhurried, carrying the effortless ease and quiet pressure of someone used to being in charge.

"Mr. York." I watched the street blur past the window. My voice was steady. "The alliance marriage you mentioned at the charity gala — is that offer still open?"

A brief silence on the other end. Then a soft, low laugh.

"Where are you?"

"Outside the county clerk's office."

"Stay right there. I'm coming to pick up my future wife."