Chapter 2

“Sebastian, you can create the puzzle now.”

Sebastian gave me an apologetic look before accepting the paper and pen Chloe handed him.

It was a diagonal Sudoku puzzle at competition-level difficulty.

He had barely finished writing it when Chloe began filling in numbers at lightning speed.

In less than a minute, she completed the entire puzzle and handed it to Sebastian.

“Did I get it right?”

Before Sebastian could answer, I capped my pen and forced down the ache rising in my chest.

Sebastian answered evenly, “Yes. You got it right.”

I stared at him in disbelief.

If he was willing to cheat this blatantly, he could’ve simply told me that Chloe was the woman he wanted to marry today.

“Sebastian couldn’t have made it more obvious that he’d helped her.”

“Chloe could’ve at least pretended. She hasn’t touched Sudoku in years.”

“Am I the only one who thinks Chloe looks ready for blood? She honored the bet and left the country after losing back then. Maybe it’s Ivy’s turn now.”

“Imagine getting married to Sebastian today, only to have another woman wear the ring and kiss him. How pathetic.”

“It’s only a joke. Sebastian would never let Ivy be humiliated. He’s giving her company a multimillion-dollar investment.”

“Outsiders don’t know the truth. Once word gets out that the national Sudoku champion and top instructor lost to an amateur...”

The speaker trailed off when Chloe glanced over her shoulder.

When she looked at me again, triumph filled her face.

“You lost the bet, so you have to pay up. You’ll agree, won’t you?”

“Honestly, I don’t really like this diamond ring. It’s too fussy. What’s with all these tiny diamonds?”

“I’ll have to get them removed later. I prefer simple things.”

I followed her gaze to the ring in my bridesmaid’s hand.

I had designed it myself.

After discarding more than a thousand sketches, this was the only design I had kept.

A halo of pavé diamonds surrounded the center stone, while smaller diamonds followed a starry orbit along the band.

My hands curled into fists as I looked at Sebastian.

“Why?”

Why had he helped her cheat?

He understood what I was really asking.

“You owe her,” he explained. “Losing once won’t hurt you. Everyone knows you’re the woman I’m marrying.”

“No one helped me cheat five years ago. And we never made any kind of bet—”

“You’re not backing out now, are you?” Chloe interrupted, glaring at me.

Sebastian frowned and lowered his voice.

“The five-million-dollar investment still hasn’t gone through, Ivy. Don’t push me.”

He was threatening me.

Then his expression softened again.

“We’ve been together for years. You’re not going to throw a tantrum at the last second, are you?”

“Let her have this, Ivy. I’m asking you.”

I stared at him, swallowed my hurt and resentment, and nodded.

“All right. I lost the bet, so I’ll honor it.”

But I had lost twice in one day.

I had lost my ring.

I had also lost my marriage.

A bet was a bet.

I couldn’t marry Sebastian anymore.

I lowered my head and texted my assistant, Megan.

Forget the Kensington Group’s investment. Contact Nate Reid, the investor I spoke to before.

Have the venue redone within thirty minutes. I want the new setup to match this ceremony exactly. I’m marrying someone else.

Sebastian didn’t know another investor had already offered to fund my company.

He was willing to invest twenty million dollars.

I had turned down his offer only because Sebastian told me he wanted to invest in MindEdge.

I’d wanted to reserve that equity stake for him.

Now I finally realized Sebastian saw the investment as nothing more than leverage he could use against me.

In that case, I didn’t want it.