Chapter 3

The next few days passed quietly.

At least, that was what Adrian believed.

He still kissed my forehead before leaving for work. He still asked whether I had slept well. He still reminded me to take care of myself.

Three days after our anniversary, Adrian came home early with a bouquet of white roses.

“I have a surprise for you.”

He smiled as though the only thing he had done wrong was miss one dinner.

“I rebooked the French restaurant. Tonight, there will be no work and no calls. Just us.”

I looked at the flowers in his hands.

The same man who had spent 188 days choosing another woman was now trying to repair everything with a reservation.

“Okay,” I said.

Relief softened his face.

He placed the flowers on the counter, then took a folder from his briefcase.

“Before we leave, can you look at this for me?”

It was the opening speech for Whitmore Group’s tenth-anniversary gala.

“You’re better with words than I am,” Adrian said. “It shouldn’t take you long.”

I opened the folder.

The speech began with the company’s first year—the freezing apartment, the unpaid bills, and the investor who had rejected Adrian four times before finally agreeing to meet him.

I remembered every detail.

I had lived through them.

Several paragraphs had been taken from speeches I had written for Adrian over the years.

At the top of the first page was a name.

Sienna Parker.

Not Adrian’s.

Not mine.

Sienna’s.

I read the name once.

Then I closed the folder.

I did not ask why my memories were inside her speech.

I did not ask whether she knew another woman had written the words she would deliver beneath the lights.

I already knew the answer that mattered.

Adrian believed my work belonged to him.

And whatever belonged to him could be given to her.

His phone rang before I could place the folder down.

Sienna.

Adrian turned toward the window to answer.

I could not hear everything she said, only that something had gone wrong with the anniversary presentation.

“I’ll come,” Adrian said.

He ended the call and reached for his keys.

“I’m sorry. Sienna needs me at the office.”

“What about dinner?”

“I’ll make another reservation.”

“You said there would be no work tonight.”

“I know.” He touched my shoulder. “But this is important.”

I looked at him for a moment.

Then I stepped away from the door.

“Go.”

Relief crossed his face.

“Thank you for understanding.”

He kissed my forehead and pointed toward the folder.

“If you finish the speech, send it directly to Sienna.”

The door closed behind him.

The white roses remained on the counter.

Beside them sat the speech containing my words beneath another woman’s name.

I did not open it again.

The divorce agreement was waiting on my desk.

I signed it.

Then I placed it on the dining table beside the ultrasound report.

I took off my wedding ring and set it on top of the papers.

On the back of the ultrasound report, I wrote:

I thought you would be the first person I told. I was wrong.

I packed the notebooks containing the speeches I had written for Adrian and placed them inside my suitcase.

I did not delete his files.

I did not ruin the gala.

I simply stopped finishing his work.

Then I picked up my suitcase and walked to the door.

Adrian had spent 188 days choosing Sienna.

Tonight, he had asked me to help her take my place.

I left the speech exactly as she had written it.

This time, they would have to find their own words.