Chapter 1

The year I divorced my ex-husband, Rex Pittman, things got ugly.

He hurled the cruelest curses at me, hoping I'd meet a bad end.

In a fit of anger, I left the country.

Six years later, I showed up at a class reunion.

Someone was about to pour me a drink when Rex immediately stepped in. "She's allergic to alcohol. She can't drink."

*****

As soon as Rex said that, the lively vibe in the private room vanished, replaced by a weird, tense quiet.

Everyone shot Rex and me these strange, uncomfortable looks.

After all, our breakup back then was a public train wreck.

Six years ago, Rex hooked up with my best friend, Vivian Whitney.

He didn't want to hurt either of us, so he actually suggested the three of us could all just get along, like nothing happened.

That completely blew me away. I blew up, made a huge scene, and then left the country in a rage.

I hadn't set foot back there until today.

Everyone knew the whole messy story, so when we were chatting earlier, nobody dared to ask me about it.

But Rex was awkwardly trying to win me over.

After turning down the drink for me, he went ahead and poured coffee into my cup without asking.

Mitchell Perry frowned, clearly not really on board with Rex's behavior.

But since I kept quiet, he just smiled and tried to keep things from getting awkward.

"It's no big deal. Evelyn can't drink, so coffee works just as well," Mitchell said.

"Yeah, yeah, totally," a few people echoed.

The rest of the group jumped in, eager to brush off the awkwardness and move on.

After all, it took a lot for everyone to get together, and nobody wanted some old grudge to mess up the whole night.

I didn't want to lose face, so I lifted my cup and finished the coffee in one smooth motion.

As I set the cup down, I clearly caught a subtle smile flicker in Rex's eyes.

It was like Rex saw some hidden meaning in me drinking the coffee, like it meant something to him.

I didn't want to read too much into it, so I just looked away, keeping my cool.

*****

Just then, the servers came in carrying the food.

To my surprise, all the dishes they set down were my favorites.

Suddenly, it clicked that Rex was the one who'd ordered everything.

I shot Rex a quick glance out of the corner of my eye. He leaned back in his chair, head tipped back, with a smirk and a look of anticipation, like he was just waiting for me to notice.

Suddenly, I realized every move he'd made tonight was all about cozying up to me.

Honestly, it kind of made my skin crawl.

A proper ex-husband should vanish from my life, like he was dead and gone.

He should not keep popping up, trying to play the nice guy.

Besides, Rex married Vivian less than a month after I left the country.

Far as I knew, those two never split up.

Yet there he was, still wearing the husband badge, pulling all these ambiguous moves on me, his ex wife.

That was just messed up!

I didn't want to invite any gossip, so I kept a frosty expression and asked the waiter for some orange juice.

From then on, whenever there was a toast, I'd just drink my juice instead.

I let the coffee Rex had poured for me sit there and go cold, not even bothering to touch it.

I thought I'd made my feelings pretty clear.

But out of nowhere, Rex reached over with his fork, like he'd done it a thousand times, and placed a piece of grilled meat on my plate.

"You've lost weight. I bet you haven't been eating properly while you were abroad," he said.

That way too familiar tone just made me feel even more uncomfortable.

I stared at the food on my plate like I was looking at something revolting, totally losing my appetite. I couldn't even start eating.

But Rex acted like he didn't notice, going through every single dish and dropping a bit of everything onto my plate, completely ignoring how uncomfortable I was.

Before I knew it, my plate was stacked up with different kinds of food.

Everyone at the table couldn't help but stare, all eyes on us.

"What's up with those two? Did they already patch things up?" someone whispered.

"Seriously? Isn't Rex still married?" another person chimed in.

"So what? They were always meant to be together. If Vivian hadn't come between them, they wouldn't have broken up," someone else added.

"Well, in the end, sticking with your first partner is always best," someone sighed.

With all of Rex's shameless antics, the whole table started whispering, wondering if the two of us were secretly hooking up again.

Some even joked that I must've come back for Rex.

And Rex, the instigator himself, just watched the drama unfold, cool as ever, like none of it had anything to do with him.

He didn't say a word.

He was basically letting the rumors become reality, acting like he wanted everyone to believe them.

I really didn't want to have anything to do with Rex anymore, no matter what his deal was.

So without a second thought, I was about to blurt out that I'd already gotten married.

But before I could get a word out, the door to the private room swung open.

Vivian stood in the doorway, her face dark and stormy, glaring at us like she was ready to start a fight.

The moment our eyes met, she paused, then her expression flipped, and her face instantly plastered with a forced smile.

"Eve, when did you get back? Why didn't you give me a heads-up?" she said, her voice sugary sweet.

With that, she walked in with carefree air and sat herself right next to Rex.