Chapter 17

Across the city, Gregory and Evelyn had received the wedding invitation too. They'd flown overnight, planning first to collect Zachary from his rented place and force him to attend. Let him watch her marry someone else. That, they decided, would knock the fight out of him, and he'd come home.

Then they opened the door and saw their son on the floor.

Evelyn screamed. They got him to the hospital.

Zachary was conscious by the time they arrived. He was white-lipped, staring out the car window at the billboard screens of Times Square.

They were broadcasting the Sterling–Harrington wedding live.

He watched Sheldon holding Sonia in his arms, leaning in every few seconds to kiss her, too much love in his face to hide.

He watched them exchange rings and vows. Watched them kiss.

"For richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, for as long as we both shall live."

He had rehearsed that vow a hundred times himself. Now he was watching her say it to another man, wearing another man's ring, making a family with another man.

None of that was his anymore.

Zachary pressed his hand against his chest and managed, hoarsely, "Mom. It hurts."

Evelyn, thinking the wound was getting worse, panicked. But he just kept staring at the screen, repeating it.

A tear hit the back of her hand.

"Mom. I'm sorry. I was wrong."

Wrong for not listening. Wrong for being stubborn. Wrong for not apologizing after every fight.

Wrong, the day he ever went sailing in that harbor and let Ember Callahan near him.

Evelyn brushed his hair back and sighed, wordless.

They didn't try to see Sonia. The moment Zachary was cleared, they flew back to Ashford Bay.

Ember was tracked down and brought back. Zachary dug through every piece of her past with Sonia. The storage-room shelf hadn't been an accident — she'd pushed it. A dozen other "accidents" hadn't been accidents either.

He revoked everything he'd ever given her. Had her and her family prosecuted — federal charges, multiple counts.

All of it had been their fever dream. A rigged game from the start.

He never went back to Sonia.

He lived the rest of his life inside his mistakes.

He never married.

When the news reached Sonia — through her old Ashford Bay friends, years later — she paused.

She hadn't expected Ember to have set up the whole thing. She hadn't expected her to bring it down on herself in the end.

"It's so sad," someone sighed over the group chat. "If it hadn't been for Ember, you two — childhood sweethearts, married — it could have been perfect."

"Don't say that. I think things turned out the way they were supposed to. Look at Sonia — Mrs. Sterling now, blissfully married, no nonsense, no jealousy, no one splitting his attention. He only has eyes for her."

"The only problem Sonia has now is how clingy Sheldon is. I was in New York last month, I stopped by to say hi — we hadn't even finished coffee and he was on the phone saying he couldn't eat without his wife, could she please come home and kiss him."

The thread redirected instantly to Sheldon.

Sheldon himself walked in just then, having finished feeding their baby. He saw Sonia staring at her phone, smiling to herself. "What's so funny? Are you looking at those male models again?"

He muttered, "What's so great about them. Their abs aren't even better than mine."

Sonia snorted. "No. Just the group chat."

Sheldon peeked over, a little too casual. "Who? What are we talking about?"

She didn't feel like hiding it, and honestly she wanted to tease him. "Zachary Blackwood. The girls are saying he had Ember prosecuted, then locked himself up emotionally, and has turned into one of those Wall Street workaholic CEOs."

At that name, Sheldon's eyes narrowed.

He had her. There was no good reason to still be jealous of Zachary. But every time he remembered Zachary had been careless enough to lose her — that he himself had almost missed his chance because of a twenty-year head start he didn't have — he got a little jealous all over again.

He didn't want her to think he was petty. He said, casually, "Oh."

She raised her eyebrows and counted in her head.

Exactly five seconds later, he leaned in. "You into alpha CEOs lately? Because, you know, I am one. Actually, people say that about me."

She laughed out loud.

She knew what he was like at work. Ruthless. Final. Textbook ruthless CEO. The moment he turned toward her, he melted into a golden retriever.

Worried he was actually going to sulk, she cupped his face. "Not like that. It just came up. Two sentences. Now everyone's talking about you."

He took her phone, read the messages. His ears went red.

"Baby. Next time — warn me if other people are around, would you? I have a reputation to maintain."

She didn't promise. Just smiled.

A few minutes later he had her wrapped in his arms, kissing her and asking, between each one, "Please?"

She finally gave in.

He still didn't let her go. Instead, he undid his shirt, button by button. "My wife is too good to me. I should pay her back."

Her face went hot. Her eyes refused to leave his abs.

He had been right about one thing.

His body was definitely better than any magazine model's.

A while later, he whispered in her ear, "I love you."

Sonia's mouth curved. Silently, she thought: same.

— END —