Chapter 1

After three years of long-distance dating with Darian, I finally got approval to transfer from my company's Seattle headquarters to its Chicago branch to be closer to Darian.

I wanted to surprise him, so I flew in on his birthday.

When I went to pick up the cake I'd ordered ahead of time, the bakery owner glanced between me and another customer and laughed.

"What are the odds? Both of your partners are named Darian."

"And get this—they both said no mango filling."

I turned to the pregnant woman beside me and gave her a smile.

"My fiancé's severely allergic to mangoes."

She smiled too, resting a hand lightly on her swollen belly.

"So is my boyfriend."

I stood outside Darian's high-rise apartment with the cake in my hands, picturing over and over how surprised he’d be when he saw me.

But by ten that night, he still wasn't home.

My legs had gone numb by the time I finally texted him, asking why he'd been ignoring me all evening.

"Sweetheart, some of the guys from the office threw me a last-minute birthday thing tonight."

"Forgot to tell you. Don't be mad, okay?"

The little knot of worry in my chest melted almost instantly when I heard his familiar voice.

Then the elevator chimed.

I hurried forward with the cake—and the smile froze on my face.

Standing beside Darian was the pregnant woman from the bakery.

"Darian, who is she?"

The second our eyes met, the smile dropped off his face. His gaze skittered away.

As if worried I might overhear, he leaned toward the woman and lowered his voice.

"Josie, a coworker needs a quick word. Why don't you head inside and get some rest?"

A dull, prickling ache spread through my chest until I could barely breathe.

No wonder every time we video-chatted and I brought up moving to Chicago, he'd come up with a dozen reasons to talk me out of it.

"Amelia, you're doing so well at headquarters. Don't uproot your whole life just for me."

I'd always believed him.

For three years, I'd treated those words like the bedrock of our long-distance relationship.

Only now did I realize someone else had been beside him the whole time.

And I was nothing more than his "coworker."

I opened my mouth to say something, but Darian had already rushed over and was steering me toward the stairwell.

"Let's talk outside."

I planted my feet.

Then a soft, innocent voice drifted from behind me.

"You look familiar. Weren't you the woman I ran into at the bakery today?"

"Small world. So you and Darian work together."

Her gaze dropped to the cake in my hands.

The frosting had already started to melt, and the cake looked pitiful in the box.

Darian forced out a dry laugh, panic written all over his face.

Out of Josie’s sight, he pressed his palms together and mouthed a silent plea.

And the engagement ring on his finger—the one I'd helped him pick out—stabbed right through my heart.

I couldn't even wait for the elevator, though it was only two floors above me.

I turned and bolted into the stairwell.

Twenty-five floors.

I ran down every single one until I was completely spent.

Only when I finally stumbled outside and dragged fresh air into my lungs did the tension in my body start to ease.

The birthday cake I'd guarded so carefully the whole way there was completely ruined.

I was walking toward a trash can, ready to toss it, when someone snatched it from behind me.

I spun around.

Darian had followed me down.

"Amelia, I can explain."

"There's nothing to explain."

I turned to leave, but his panicked voice chased me.

"You've got it all wrong. Josie is Zack's girlfriend."

At the familiar name, my steps faltered.

Zack had been Darian's best friend since college.

"He died in that pileup on I-90 earlier this year. Josie was already pregnant."

"His parents asked me to look out for her. I couldn't exactly say no…"

Darian looked so sincere that, humiliatingly, a small part of me almost wavered.

Then thunder cracked overhead.

I flinched so hard my whole body jolted, and on instinct, I stepped toward Darian.

But he shoved me aside without thinking and yanked out his phone.

"Josie, don't panic. Stay inside the apartment, okay?"

"Lock the door. I'm on my way up."

Then he turned and sprinted toward the lobby.

A flash of white lightning split the sky, throwing his retreating figure into sharp relief.

He never looked back.

It was as if he'd forgotten I was afraid of thunder too.

The first year we were together, a storm had frightened me so badly I'd sobbed and shaken over the phone.

Back then, Darian had been on a business trip in Boston.

He didn't even finish his meeting before switching flights and taking the first one home just to be with me.

But now I wasn't the person he worried about anymore.

I bent down, picked up the cake box he'd dropped, and threw both the cake and the ring from my left hand into the trash.

The ring wasn't the only thing I threw away.

I threw Darian away too.