Chapter 1

Three days before the wedding, I was cooking in the kitchen when Bruce came home and slid his arms around my waist from behind, the way he always did.

I felt the familiar warmth at my waist, and my voice softened without meaning to.

"Just one more dish. Go wash your hands, dinner's almost ready."

But he didn't move.

After a moment, I heard his voice, gentle as ever.

"Rosamund, Desiree's back in the country. I can't marry you."

I turned off the burner and turned around to look at him.

"Have you made up your mind?"

His silence answered for him.

I understood. I untied my apron and walked out.

"I see. I'll pack my things and move out tomorrow."

His voice came again, and my steps stopped.

"Five years together, and you have nothing else to say?"

"Calling off the wedding means nothing to you either?"

I didn't turn to look at him, but the dull ache in my chest was oddly clear.

"We said from the start it was mutual convenience."

"Didn't we?"

1

I'd barely reached the living room when Bruce came after me.

"Is that really all these five years were to you? Just mutual convenience?"

"You honestly have nothing else to say to me?"

I turned back and looked him straight in the eyes.

"Would saying it change anything?"

Something like shame flickered across his face, and he hesitated a long while without a word.

I laughed at myself inside and turned toward the couch.

"See? The answer's already clear, isn't it?"

"Bruce, you should know me by now. I'm not someone who clings and begs."

"I've always known that in this world, the only person I can rely on is myself."

Something in what I said must have struck a nerve.

There was anger between his brows, and an edge in his voice when he spoke.

"Rosamund, this is exactly the side of you I hate most."

"Five whole years, day and night. Does none of that count for anything to you?"

I leaned back against the couch, my tone light.

"Same as I said before."

"Mutual convenience. Isn't that right?"

His lips moved for a while, as if he wanted to say something more.

But in the end, he only gave me a long look and said nothing at all.

"Slam!"

The door shut, and the whole living room fell quiet again.

The tension slowly drained from my back, and my eyes stayed on the doorway.

What was I looking at? Even I didn't know.

Five years ago, fresh out of college, my whole world came apart.

The company went bankrupt, creditors showed up at the door, relatives avoided our family like the plague, and the old rivals my parents had made in business swarmed in all at once.

In the end, both my parents died in an accident.

I sat alone in the funeral hall.

My parents had lived their whole lives in the spotlight, but not a soul dared come to their funeral. Everyone was afraid of being tied to us.

That was when Bruce appeared.

I'd sunk to the floor before the memorial. He walked up to me and held out a hand.

"You're Rosamund Summers, right? Want to work with me?"

"Mutual convenience. What do you say?"

After that day, everyone knew that Rosamund Summers, only daughter of the Summers family, was with the self-made newcomer Bruce Butler.

Before he met me, even though Bruce had ridden the market and made real money in recent years, people still looked down on him.

To them, he was nothing but a lucky young upstart.

I needed money. He needed a ticket into high society.

We fit together perfectly.

Amid everyone's mockery, in just one year, Summers Group was back at the top of the local market, bigger than it had ever been.

And Bruce found his footing in Riverton's social circle.

And our relationship lasted all the way to today.

The bubbling from the pot in the kitchen pulled me back.

I hurried up and ran in to find the chicken soup already simmered to a rich gold.

No matter what had happened, you still had to eat.

Four dishes and a soup, two bowls of rice. I set it all on the table the way I always did.

I sat down, my gaze landing on the bowl across from me.

Today, the person it belonged to wasn't here.

I picked up my own bowl and pushed the food into my mouth, bite after bite.

I must not have cooked well today. The more I ate, the saltier it tasted.

Once I'd eaten my fill, I cleaned the dining room and kitchen until everything was spotless, then sat back down on the couch.

I called Muriel, my secretary and best friend.

"Tomorrow, find some time to take a few people over and get my big place on the West Side ready."

"I'm moving in."