Chapter 1
Everyone in The Grove knew Tanya Jennings and I were inseparable.
Her mom called me her future son-in-law, and my mom called her her future daughter-in-law.
They'd been saying that for fifteen years, and honestly, even we were starting to believe it.
But because everyone thought we'd end up together didn't mean we actually wanted to.
At our engagement party, she threw my ring to the ground and smashed it in front of everyone, all for her so-called best guy friend Simon Stone.
I didn't chase after her and beg like I always did.
Instead, I called off the engagement party and handed a deal worth 3.3 billion dollars to her biggest rival.
*****
The ring flew out of her hand, hit the marble floor, and rolled halfway around before stopping right in front of my shoe.
In that moment, the whole reception hall, over four hundred people, went dead silent.
I looked down at the ring. It was a one-carat diamond, surrounded by Colombian emeralds. I'd personally flown to Antwerp to pick it out.
Now, the setting was bent, and two of the tiny diamonds had popped out.
Tanya stood across from me, her chest rising and falling, eyes rimmed red, chin lifted high in defiance.
"Lucas Grant, I'm calling off the engagement," Tanya said.
Her voice blasted through the microphone, echoing off the chandeliers and raining down over the crowd.
More than three hundred people, relatives from both families, neighbors from The Grove, and my mom's old army buddies, stood there in stunned silence.
I didn't even look at her.
Instead, my gaze went past her shoulder, locking onto the man who'd walked in through the door at the back of the hall.
He was Simon.
He was dressed in a light gray suit, the top button undone, hands in his pockets, leaning against the doorframe.
There was a faint smile on his lips.
I knew that smile way too well. Three years of high school, four years of college, and all these years at work, whenever Simon was around Tanya, he always had that look on his face.
It was easy, natural, with a kind of casual warmth he probably didn't even realize he had.
And honestly, it worked better than all my years of trying too hard to please her.
"Lucas." Tanya's voice shot up. "Are you even listening to me?"
I heard you.
She said Simon was in the hospital after a car accident, and she had to stay with him. She said the engagement was too rushed, that she wasn't sure about any of it. She said I always made decisions for her, not even asking if.
I heard it all.
What would I have done before, if this happened?
I'd run after her, grab her hand, and say, "Tanya, don't make a scene." Then I'd give her an out in front of everyone, help her keep her dignity, and let her stay.
That's what I did for fifteen years.
And everyone expected me to do it again.
Down below, my mom, Susan Grant, was clutching her handkerchief, her eyes full of worry as she looked at me. Her lips moved, and I knew exactly what she wanted to say, "Lucas, go talk to her."
Tanya's mom, Lydia Jennings, was sitting in the front row, her face bright red, gripping her fork so tightly it was practically bent out of shape.
It was like someone hit pause on the whole reception hall, everyone was waiting for me to give in.
But not tonight.
I stooped down, picked up the ring from the floor, and tucked it away inside my jacket.
Then I stood up, walked up to the mic, and took it in my hand.
"Everyone," my voice was so flat, it barely even sounded like me. "Tonight's engagement party is off. If you brought any gifts, you can collect them at the front desk before you leave."
The whole place erupted.
A wave of whispers swept through the room.
Tanya froze.
She turned to look at me, her eyes wide in shock.
"Lucas, what did you say?" Tanya asked.
I set the mic back on its stand and straightened my cuffs.
"Didn't catch that?" I asked.
I shot her a look.
"Party's over," I said.
As I stepped off the stage, passing by her, her gardenia scent hit me. Same perfume, fifteen years running.
I didn't even pause.
I pushed open the side door, and the night air washed over me, still chilly for late March.