Chapter 3

In the days that followed, I installed Catherine number three as a live-in housekeeper at the hill villa.

Then I arranged for Catherine number four to take up a regular spot at the bar Ethan liked to visit.

Each of them had her own personality — but every one of them moved with a trace of Catherine in the way she carried herself.

Every single one of them pulled at something in Ethan he couldn't control. He welcomed all of them, one by one.

But after a while, even the things you're drawn to start to lose their pull.

Ethan began coming home more often.

That irritated me.

I did the math. Catherine would be back in the country in six months.

It was time to make sure he was completely, thoroughly worn out on her face before she arrived.

His university's alumni anniversary was coming up. As his wife, I was expected to attend.

I planned something special for the occasion.

I'd heard the story of how they first met — at a campus gala. Catherine was the emcee. Ethan, as student body president, was called up to give a speech. As they passed each other on stage, she turned her ankle.

That stumble was where it all began.

I decided to recreate it. Catherine number five was booked as the emcee for the event.

Right on cue, she stumbled as she passed Ethan — and fell neatly into his arms.

But something unexpected happened.

Ethan paused for only a moment. He didn't seek her out afterward.

If anything, he surprised me completely. After the speech, he walked directly toward me, took my hand, and led me over to the faculty members and administrators gathered nearby.

"I'd like you all to meet my wife, Ava. I wanted to take the opportunity to introduce her to the people who've meant the most to me here."

I smiled and greeted them warmly.

One of the professors — an older man — chuckled and said, almost to himself, "Didn't you spend half your university years chasing after that girl... what was her name, Catherine? You two were absolutely inseparable."

"Half a semester, you were skipping my class for dates. If I hadn't gone easy on you, you would have failed."

Ethan took it in stride, laughing and making an apology to his old professor.

Still, I wanted to be thorough. To make certain that face had completely lost its hold on him.

On the drive home that night, Ethan had been drinking. I suggested we walk a little to clear his head.

He agreed easily enough.

We were passing a narrow alley when a woman's voice rang out from the darkness — crying for help.

The voice was identical to Catherine's.

Ethan grabbed my hand and told me to call the police. Then he went in himself.

By the time the police wouldn't have even arrived, he was already walking back out — with Catherine number five in his arms.

But the moment he got her to the hospital and made sure she was settled, he turned to leave, pulling me along with him.

I was surprised.

"You're not going to stay with her?"

He gave me an odd look.

"Do we know her? We helped her — that doesn't mean we're responsible for her. Come on, let's go home."

I let myself smile.

When the white-moonlight fantasy stops working, what comes next isn't indifference.

It's revulsion.

On my instructions, Zoe — who had recently been broken up with — began making a scene.

Every day, she packed a homemade lunch and waited outside Ethan's office building, eyes red-rimmed and brimming.

One afternoon, Ethan happened to be walking a client out when she spotted him and ran over, not caring who was watching.

"Ethan, please don't do this. You said you'd love me forever — were you lying?"

The clients turned to stare. The expressions on their faces said everything.

Ethan's face went through several shades. He shook her off hard.

"Security — get her out of here!"

Zoe stumbled and hit the ground. The carefully packed lunch she'd brought him scattered across the pavement.

Afterward, she sent me a message confirming it was done.

I raised my glass.

Ethan. This is only the beginning.