Chapter 3

Claire’s POV

On the third day after agreeing to marry into the family in San Francisco, I met my best friend, Emma Parker, for lunch at a downtown restaurant.

It was a farewell of sorts, and a chance to clear my head.

The moment Emma sat down, she took my hand, her eyes red.

“Claire Bennett, I heard everything. Julian Prescott is such a bastard. How could he do this to you? And Chloe Reed—if you hadn’t stood up for her back then, those people online would have torn her apart!”

I smiled and handed her a tissue.

“Why are you crying? I’m not the one who should be crying. I asked you here today because I wanted to tell you I’m getting married.”

Emma stopped crying abruptly.

“Married? To who? Did Julian Prescott come crawling back? No, wait—even if he did, I’d be the first to make him pay!”

“It’s not him.”

I stirred my lemonade, my voice as calm as if I were talking about someone else.

“It’s Adrian Blackwood, from the Blackwood family of San Francisco.”

Emma sucked in a breath, her expression instantly darkening.

“Adrian Blackwood? The one who supposedly can’t use his legs and has a horrible temper?”

I nodded. “Yes, him.”

“Claire Bennett, have you lost your mind?!”

She shot to her feet, drawing stares from the neighboring tables.

“You just got out of one nightmare, and now you’re walking straight into another! What are your father and stepmother threatening you with? If you need money, I have it. Don’t do something reckless!”

I pulled her back into her seat, warmth spreading through my chest.

I knew she genuinely wanted what was best for me.

“Emma, hear me out.”

I met her eyes and spoke earnestly.

“This is my choice. If I don’t leave, they’ll control me for the rest of my life. If I marry someone all the way in San Francisco, at least I’ll be free.”

“Besides, the Blackwood family offered me something I couldn’t refuse.”

I told her they had promised to cover all my sister’s education expenses.

Emma fell silent. After a long moment, she sighed.

“You always do this. You carry everything on your own. But what about you? Claire Bennett, have you thought about what you want?”

What I wanted?

I hadn’t asked myself that question in a very long time.

For the past seven years, it had felt as though my entire life existed for Julian Prescott.

Whatever he liked, I learned.

Whatever he hated about me, I changed.

By the end, I had almost forgotten who Claire Bennett really was.

Maybe marrying a man with a disability whom I had never met was the first step toward doing something for myself.

As we talked, a familiar figure appeared beside our table.

It was Chloe Reed.

She wore a white suit from Chanel’s latest collection, with immaculate makeup and a limited-edition Hermès bag in her hand. She looked nothing like the innocent college student I had seen at the villa three days earlier.

Julian Prescott wasn’t with her.

“Claire Bennett, what a coincidence.”

She was all smiles, but there was no warmth in her eyes, only open provocation.

Emma was about to snap at her, but I held her back.

I shook my head at Emma, then looked up at Chloe Reed and curled my lips.

“Not really. I specifically chose a restaurant you couldn’t afford so I could avoid people like you.”

Chloe Reed’s expression froze for a moment before her smile returned.

“You’re so funny, Claire Bennett. Oh, by the way, Julian Prescott and I are getting engaged next week. You absolutely have to come. It just wouldn’t feel complete without your blessing.”

As she spoke, she deliberately swept her hair aside, revealing the dazzling diamond necklace around her neck.

I recognized it. Julian Prescott had bought it at an auction and given it to me for my twenty-fifth birthday.

So something he had given me could simply end up around another woman’s neck.

My heart had already gone numb, but I could still feel that dull ache.

“Ms. Reed.”

I set down my knife and fork, leaned back in my chair, and regarded her with studied ease.

“Does wearing someone else’s castoffs really make you feel that accomplished?”

“You!”

A crack finally appeared in Chloe Reed’s facade.

“What are you talking about? Julian Prescott gave this to me! He said he’d never given anyone such an expensive gift before!”

“Really?” I gave a soft laugh.

“Then do you know that necklace has a lovely name? Eternity. When he gave it to me, he said it meant forever. Apparently, Mr. Prescott’s forever has a pretty short shelf life.”

Chloe Reed’s face went completely white.

Humiliated and furious, she lost control of her words.

“What are you so smug about? Claire Bennett, you’re just a woman Julian Prescott got tired of playing with! You think I don’t know? You can’t even have children! How could you possibly compete with me?”

She lowered her voice for that last part, but it struck where it hurt most.

In an instant, all the blood in my body rushed to my head.

She kept going, her voice brimming with vicious delight.

“Oh, and I almost forgot to tell you. Julian Prescott bought the rooftop your mother jumped from when she killed herself. He said the view is lovely, so he’s going to turn it into a conservatory. We’ll be able to have afternoon tea there and grow flowers. The anniversary of your mother’s death is coming up, isn’t it? Why don’t you come up and join us?”

Smack!

The sharp crack of a slap rang through the restaurant.

I was on my feet, my palm stinging.

Chloe Reed held her cheek and stared at me in disbelief, her eyes instantly filling with tears.

“You… you actually hit me?!”

I could endure her flaunting Julian Prescott’s love. I could endure her taking everything that had been mine.

But I would never tolerate her using my dead mother to hurt me!

That was the line she did not get to cross!

I looked at her, my voice ice-cold. “That slap was for my mother.”