Chapter 14

They had to live separate lives now. No contact, ever.

He opened his mouth. She was already walking back to Sheldon.

He floundered for a second, and then, stubbornly, shoved the words out of his head.

He told himself he just needed to show her he was better than Sheldon. Then she'd come back. They had twenty-plus years on Sheldon. Numbers like that didn't just disappear.

He kept shadowing her. Anything her eye lingered on, he had delivered to the Sterling estate that night — including gifts he'd once promised her and then given to Ember.

Sonia was past disgust. He sent them over, she sent them back.

He was burning money in a way that eventually drew Gregory and Evelyn's attention. Gregory froze his cards without discussion.

Which meant Ember's cards were dead too. Unable to reach Zachary, she bought a ticket and flew after him to New York.

Zachary had no idea about any of it. He swiped his card for Sonia's next gift and it declined. He caught Sheldon's smirk and called his father immediately.

Gregory had hit his limit. Ice cold: "Your mother and I didn't build this for you to burn it. You don't see another cent until you come home."

He hung up.

Zachary forced a smile at the clerk. "Sorry — I'll pass."

He fled the store.

Sheldon ran back to Sonia to tell her every delicious detail. Halfway through, he saw her expression drift, and frowned. He tipped her chin and kissed her firmly on the mouth. "Are you feeling sorry for him? Then I take it back, I'm not telling you."

She came back. "No. I was drafting my vows."

Zachary's situation had stopped being her concern a long time ago.

Sheldon wrapped his arms around her waist and nuzzled her neck. "Say it. You love Sheldon Sterling most. You'll only love him this whole life."

She rolled her eyes, but he kept begging. So she said it. Word for word.

The second she finished, he kissed her. "Same."

When Ember caught up with him, Zachary was leaving a bag of presents on the Sterling doorstep.

He'd just set it down when Sonia came out and told him to take it back, all of it, returned.

He forced a smile. "It's okay, Sonia. I know my father froze me out, but I have my own savings. Don't worry about me."

Sonia started to speak. Ember came tearing out from behind a hedge, pointing. "I knew it! All that 'I don't love Zachary, I've moved on' — lies. You vanished so he'd come chasing you. Didn't you."

Sonia just stared at her, expressionless.

Ember had been thinner, harder, since Sonia had last seen her. Crueler. The old routine — cry to Zachary, cling, get what she wanted — was fraying at the edges.

Zachary shot an anxious glance at Sonia. He was humiliated. "Who let you come here? Did you follow me? Go back. Now."

Ember had never been spoken to like that by him. Her eyes filled immediately. "Zach, you said you'd protect me. Ever since she left for New York, you chased her here. I'm alone in Ashford Bay, I'm scared. Don't you even care about me anymore?"

The Sterling elders came out to see what the commotion was.

Sonia stepped back. Every ugly piece of her last three years was being dumped, publicly, onto a driveway.

Sheldon read her face in a second. He took her hand, gave her a reassuring smile, and then turned to stand with his family and enjoy the show.

Without a response from Zachary, Ember escalated. She saw Sonia holding hands with a man who was, by any measure, a step up from Zachary. Couldn't stand it. Dropped, right there on the driveway, onto her knees.

"Miss Harrington — please. Please give him back to me. I'll die without him."

Sheldon actually laughed. Sonia gave him a questioning look and he murmured under his breath, "That's worse than Bailey playing sick when he wants treats."

Sonia cracked a smile despite herself.

Bailey was the Sterlings' Border Collie. He was also a monster on the scale, so everyone controlled his treat intake. His strategy was weekly Oscar-worthy "injuries." Limping. Sighing. Dramatic moping.

Ember scooted forward on her knees and tried to grab the hem of Sonia's skirt. "You said you didn't want him. Now you've lured him here. What about me? What about my baby?"

The word "baby" detonated inside Zachary's head. He lunged at Sonia. "Sonia, no — I've never touched her. I swear. I did not cheat on you."

Sonia's expression didn't change. She sighed. "Zachary. Go home. Both of you, stop coming here. You're disturbing me and my family."

That hit harder than any fight.

His face went chalk white. One tear broke before he could stop it. "Your family? Am I not your family? We promised — we were going to spend our whole lives — how did we get here?"