Chapter 1

After three years overseas, I finally rolled my suitcase up to our door. I pushed it open but froze. A woman's laugh drifted from the living room.

"Babe, you're really letting her come back? What if she figures us out?" The voice was a sugary whisper from the living room.

"Relax," Daniel Pierce, my husband, said, bored and sure of himself. "And the firm needs a designer. Let her earn her keep."

My hand clamped tighter on the handle.

On our couch, Daniel was curled around a younger woman in my favorite silk robe. Her hair was damp. And the air smelled like my shampoo.

I didn't wait for excuses. I set my keys on the console, turned around, and walked out of the place I once called home.

Rain stitched the pavement as I dragged my suitcase down the empty street.

An unknown number lit up my phone.

"Ava, it's me. Caleb Mercer."

"Caleb..." I whisper, and it comes out as a sob.

"Hey, don't cry," he said. "Just tell me where you are. I'm coming to get you."

*****

I shoved through the front door, suitcase wheels scraping across the floor. After three years abroad, this was what I'd been dying to come home to.

But instead of silence, I heard a woman's laugh echoing from the living room.

"Daniel, are you seriously letting her come back? What if she finds out about us?"

"Relax," came Daniel Pierce's reply, dripping with casual disdain. "She's a total bookworm. Plus, we need a designer badly. Might as well put her to work."

Every muscle in my hand clenched around the suitcase handle.

There in the living room sat Daniel with his arm slung around a pretty young thing wearing my silk pajamas. Her hair hung wet against her shoulders.

That was my spot and my pajamas.

"Ava? What are you doing back?" Daniel froze up the moment he saw me, quickly shoving the woman away from him.

The woman scrambled to adjust the silk robe, a flush still high on her cheeks.

"I'm Emily White, the new secretary," she said, extending her hand with breezy confidence. "Daniel talks about you all the time. He says you're the best designer he's ever known."

I ignored her hand.

My eyes were locked on my husband. "Daniel, why is she wearing my pajamas?"

His composure flickered. "Her clothes got soaked in the rain. She was just borrowing them. Don't read too much into it."

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Emily cut in. "I'll go change right now."

She headed toward the bedroom. Watching her walk away in my clothes made my stomach turn.

"How long has this been going on?" I asked, meeting Daniel's eyes.

He looked away. "Going on? What are you even talking about? Emily works for me. Stop imagining things."

I sneered, "Imagining things? She's in my pajamas with wet hair, and I'm the one overthinking?"

"Ava, you just landed. You're jet-lagged. Go lie down." He stood, reaching as if to hug me.

I stepped back. "Don't touch me."

Emily reappeared in her own clothes with a hair dryer in hand.

"Daniel, can I borrow this? My hair's still a mess," she began and paused, her eyes darting between us. "Am I interrupting something?"

"No," Daniel blurted out. "You should get going. I'll see you at the office tomorrow."

Emily nodded, but on her way out, she made a show of flashing her phone at me with a sly smile. "Daniel, remember, tonight stays between us."

After she left, Daniel scrambled to explain, "It's just work stuff. She worked late, and with the rain, I told her she could crash here."

I walked into the bedroom. The sheets were freshly changed, but the air still held a perfume I didn't wear.

My skincare products on the vanity had been moved. Nothing was where I'd left it.

But the final blow came from the nightstand. I pulled open the drawer and saw a new box of condoms. Two were missing.

I walked back into the living room, holding the box out in my palm. "Daniel," I said. "Explain this."

His face went ghostly pale. "That... that's..."

"You and Emily used these? In our bed?" I finished for him, my voice devoid of all emotion.

"Ava, please, just let me explain..."

"Explain what?" I cut him off. "How you turned my home into your love nest for the three years I was gone?"

His fear curdled into anger. "You're the one who left!" he roared, his face twisting. "Three years! What was I supposed to do? I'm a man, Ava. I have needs!"

I stared at him, stunned by his shamelessness. "So this is my fault?"

"I didn't stop loving you. You're back, and we're still married," he insisted. "Emily was a mistake."

"A mistake?" I laughed. "Funny. I've never seen a 'mistake' last three years."

He froze, clearly not expecting me to know the timeline.

"I've seen your project rosters," I said. "Emily joined three years ago. Right around the time I left for my fellowship."

He dropped the pretense, irritation flashing in his eyes. "Fine. Yes, I've been with Emily. But I'm not divorcing you."

"Why?" I shot back.

"The company's bidding on a major downtown development. We need a top-tier designer. You've got international awards. With you on the team, we'll land it for sure."

So I was just a tool to him.