Chapter 1

I told Kieran James not to spend money on Daisy Fox.

He agreed to my face, then turned around and maxed out our joint card.

Everyone around me said I was making a big deal out of nothing. So the little sister has a birthday, so her sister's boyfriend buys her a bag, what's the harm?

That was three years of my overtime, dollar by dollar, saved up for the down payment on our wedding home.

Daisy came over for dinner with that new bag on her arm, showing it off right at the table. "Sis, look at this color. Perfect on me, right?"

Kieran kicked me under the table, telling me to keep quiet.

Watching him sit there like it was all perfectly natural, I remembered what he'd promised when he proposed. "From now on, all my money is yours to manage."

Turned out that "from now on" had never included me at all.

I got up and went straight into the bedroom, and dug out the breakup agreement I'd drawn up long ago.

When I came back out with the paper, Kieran had his head down, peeling shrimp for Daisy, and my mother stood beside them holding up her phone, taking photos to post online.

I slapped the agreement down on the table. "Kieran, we're done."

…

His hands went still over the shrimp.

Daisy looked up and stared at me. "Sis, what kind of joke is this?"

"It's not a joke." I kept my eyes on her. "If you've set your sights on him, then be with him out in the open. Stop turning my stomach while hiding behind the word 'sister.'"

I turned to Kieran. "You used to make three grand a month, and I ate instant ramen with you every single day. Now you pull in fifty thousand a month and hand her a bag worth six figures. I feel sorry for myself. Three years, wasted, blind the whole time."

His mouth opened, but not half a word came out.

I grabbed my suitcase and headed for the door. Behind me, my mother shouted, "Let her go! In a couple of days she'll come crawling back on her own."

I let out a cold laugh and tossed the door key onto the shoe cabinet.

This miserable place, I would never set foot in it again.

The door shut behind me.

The hallway's motion light flicked on, then went dark a few seconds later. I stood in the stairwell, my hand on that twenty-four-inch suitcase.

My phone buzzed. Kieran's name flashed on the screen.

I hit decline.

Two seconds later, he called again.

I hung up without hesitating and blocked him on the spot.

Right after that, a bank alert popped up on the screen.

【Your savings account ending xxxx: $188,888 spent. Available balance $12.50.】

One hundred eighty-eight thousand, eight hundred and eighty-eight.

The price of Daisy's limited-edition bag. Also every last cent we'd saved for the down payment on our wedding home.

I stared at that $12.50 balance, my cheeks burning, a ringing in my ears.

Middle of the night, I found a budget hotel on the street.

The clerk sized up my suitcase. "Checking in?"

"One single room."

"ID."

I handed it over. She ran the card and passed me the key card. "302. Elevator's on the right."

The room was cramped, the whole place reeking of disinfectant.

I shoved the suitcase into the corner and dropped onto the bed.

So tired.

My body was tired, my heart more so. My chest felt hollow.

The phone buzzed again. A text message.

From my mother.

"Marilyn Fox! You think you've grown wings now? Your sister just wanted a birthday, and who are you to give her attitude?"

"You know full well how good Kieran's been to you. You keep acting out like this, you won't rest until you've driven him away, will you?"

"Get back here right now! Apologize to your sister and to Kieran!"

Reading those demands, I didn't even have it in me to type.

I just powered off the phone.

I woke the next day with my eyes swollen up, aching badly.

I needed to find a place to live, and fast.

I went to a rental agency near the office.

"One-bedroom, budget three thousand, close to the subway if possible."

The young agent tapped at his keyboard, his face going awkward. "Ma'am… with that budget, it's going to be pretty tough."

He pointed at a listing on the screen. "Take a look at this one. Old and rundown, no elevator, sixth floor, thirty-two hundred a month."

I glanced at the photos. The paint was peeling off the walls, the furniture worn to pieces.

"Nothing else?"

"There is. That new complex over there, fully furnished, but it starts at five thousand."

I said nothing.

Every cent I had was gone, taken by Kieran to please Daisy, and now I couldn't even afford a decent place to rent.

I was stewing over it when a man's voice came from behind me.

"Marilyn?"

I turned to look.

It was Liam Gilbert. Our company's newly appointed VP, and also the client I'd been working with lately.

He wore a suit, his hair combed neatly into place.

"Mr. Gilbert." I felt suddenly self-conscious.

He glanced at the computer screen, then back at me.

"Looking for a place?"

"Yeah."

He didn't ask anything more, just pulled out his phone and dialed a number.

"Hey, it's me. A friend of mine wants to rent at Grandview Gardens. You got anything empty right now?"

"A one-bedroom's fine. Sooner the better."

He hung up and turned to me. "My friend's the property manager over there. He just got back an employee unit, appliances included, move-in ready. Rent's twenty-eight hundred."

I stood there, stunned.