Chapter 1

Zachary Blackwood and Sonia Harrington were considered the most perfectly matched couple in Ashford Bay's old-money circle.

Their engagement had been arranged before either of them was born, and from the day they came into the world, they hadn't spent a single day apart. Sonia had always believed they would be together for the rest of their lives.

That was, until Zachary's sailboat capsized off Cape Cod three years ago, and he was pulled from the water by a harbor girl named Ember Callahan.

To protect the family's reputation, Gregory Blackwood arranged for Ember and her entire family to be given positions within the Blackwood Group, and he made one thing painfully clear to his son:

"If you want to marry Sonia, you'll keep Ember by your side until the debt of gratitude is fully repaid."

For the sake of marrying Sonia, Zachary agreed with clenched teeth. He even promised Ember that, until the debt was settled, the moment she felt anything less than happy, he would be there.

For the next three years, "not happy" became Ember's default setting.

The first time, on Sonia's birthday, Ember sighed that she'd never had a party so grand in her life. So Zachary begged Sonia to give the celebration to her.

Sonia tried to call off the engagement. That same night, Zachary arranged a million-dollar fireworks display outside her window and knelt in front of her, swearing that everything he did was only so he could marry her sooner.

The second time, she watched Sonia helping Zachary decorate their future home, and she said she'd never seen a house so beautiful. So Zachary gave the house away.

That night, he bought an even bigger, more expensive penthouse for Sonia and asked her to wait a little longer.

Sonia waited, and waited, watching him hand over their home, their wedding car, and even the puppy they'd planned to raise together, one by one, to Ember.

Until the ninety-ninth time.

The debt was finally paid. Sonia waited eagerly for Zachary to come sign the marriage license with her. She waited the entire day. What she got, instead, was a headline: Zachary had just dropped seven figures at Christie's in New York to secure the Argyle pink diamond, the one that symbolized a once-in-a-lifetime love for one person only.

Wave after wave of disappointment, swallowed down for years, finally crashed over her.

Maybe it was time to walk away.

Sonia stared at the shimmering pink diamond on her screen, picked up her phone, and said quietly, "Zachary. I'm not marrying you."

He scoffed on the other end, then laughed to someone beside him. "She's throwing a tantrum again to get my attention."

"Be a good girl. I'll come back to you the second the debt is settled."

The same line. She'd heard it a thousand times in three years.

She was tired.

This time, she simply hung up and walked out of the City Hall marriage office.

Zachary, for his part, just had someone bid on an even more expensive diamond to send to her.

In his mind, Sonia was only sulking again, the way she always had, and if he gave her whatever he'd given Ember, doubled, she'd come around.

What he didn't know was that signing the license had been her final offer — her last chance to save twenty-some years of being together.

From this moment on, she would never hope again.

She called her aunt in Manhattan the moment she got home. "Aunt Margaret. The merger you mentioned. I'll do it."

Margaret was so overwhelmed she kept wiping her eyes, thanking Sonia over and over for rescuing the family.

Sonia soothed her, hung up, and began sorting through every gift Zachary had ever given her.

The custom Barbie dolls from childhood. The scarf he'd knitted for her himself in middle school. The ring he'd designed and forged with his own hands when he proposed to her.

And then, the smaller ones — the bribes. Every piece he'd bought in the last three years to placate her after throwing her under the bus for Ember.

Once, these had been her most precious memories. Just looking at them, she couldn't help picturing what their married life would be.

Now she didn't want any of them.

Twenty-odd years of memories, handed back to him.

She had her assistant pack every box overnight, pulled the two family heirlooms that had been exchanged at their betrothal from her safe — an antique Harrington engagement ring and a Blackwood family brooch — and drove to the penthouse.

The door code hadn't changed. Still their two birthdays.

Zachary came out when he heard movement and froze when he saw her. "Sonia?"

He tilted his lips into a smile. "I knew you couldn't actually stay mad at me. Did you like the diamond? If not, I'll bid on something else. And the date yesterday wasn't great anyway. I had someone pick a new date for City Hall."

She let him finish, then pointed to the boxes behind her. "I'm here to return everything."

His smile went rigid.

Before he could speak, Ember came running barefoot down the stairs and wrapped herself around his waist.

Sonia's pupils shrank.

The shirt Ember was wearing — that was the one Sonia had bought Zachary with her first paycheck, the one time in her life she'd ever worked a job.

The summer after her SATs, she'd washed dishes at a café to save up for it. When he'd unwrapped the gift, his first reaction hadn't been surprise — it had been to stare at her chapped, dishpan hands and cry. He'd said he'd tuck it away and cherish it forever, that he would never, ever make her sad again.

Now it was on Ember. And because of Ember, Sonia had lost count of how many times he'd broken her heart.

Ember pretended to just notice her. She nuzzled her cheek against Zachary's back and said shyly, "You should have told me we had company. Look at me, I'm a mess. How embarrassing."

Zachary's brow furrowed, and he reached up to try to pry Ember's arms off.

But Ember — almost deliberately — clung tighter.

Sonia caught the flash of triumph in her eyes.