Chapter 1

When Mrs. Elaine Sterling handed me a check for a million dollars to leave Maxwell Sterling, I didn’t hesitate. I had spent five years with him, giving up the best years of my life without any title, any recognition. That million felt like little compensation. Word of this reached Max quickly. Later, I heard he even skipped an important meeting to rush over to see me.

Content

When Max arrived at The Beacon Apartments he’d bought for me, I was packing my things.

“What’s this supposed to mean?” he demanded, his face as dark as a storm cloud.

Knowing him as well as I did after so many years, I could tell he was furious.

“Mr. Sterling, your mother’s paying me a million to leave you. What’s so hard to understand?” I replied, giving him my best smile, trying not to appear too beaten down.

The words only made him angrier. He spoke through clenched teeth, “Go if you want, but don’t regret it later.” Then he slammed the door on his way out.

Over the years, Max had treated me well—at least in material ways. He had kept me like a canary in a gilded cage, surrounded by designer bags and luxury watches, never denying me anything I wanted. And had I stayed, I knew that million wouldn’t be the last he’d ever give me. But I’d grown tired.

I wouldn’t have given in to this if I hadn’t heard that Genevieve Harrison was back from her studies abroad. Max’s fiancée—his mother’s ideal match for him. The woman I would never be.

It took less than thirty minutes to finish packing. I had nowhere to go, so I turned to my best friend, Maya Lane. Unfortunately, her boyfriend was there, and I found myself the third wheel. Maya apologized with a sympathetic look—after all, I hadn’t called in advance—so I booked a room at The St. Laurent Hotel.

It was the same hotel Max and I used to stay at when he’d had a bit too much to drink and needed a place to crash nearby. He never let himself lose control around others, but when he did, his secretary, Mr. Charles Blake, would always call me.

When I checked in, the front desk clerk recognized me. She smiled, “Mr. Sterling isn’t with you tonight?”

I shook my head, keeping my tone casual. “Mr. Sterling and I are no longer involved.”

She looked taken aback. My relationship with Max wasn’t a secret among the social elite—everyone knew Max was a sought-after bachelor, and I was just the woman he kept on the side.

With my check-in complete, I drew a hot bath, filling it with rose petals, enjoying their soft fragrance. Max was allergic to pollen, so I’d never taken a rose-petal bath around him. Yet, as I lay there in the steaming water, I felt like something was missing.

I stayed at the hotel for three days until Maya came looking for me. She knew about my breakup with Max and wanted to take me on a trip to clear my head. But the day before we were supposed to leave, she got called into work for an emergency. Our girls’ trip quickly became a solo trip. So, I headed alone to Savannah, Georgia.