Chapter 3

All these years, the word proposal had come out of Sebastian's mouth more times than I could count.

The first time was right after he landed his first leading-man script, when we tasted fame and money for the first time and sat there counting the balance on the bank card, giddy out of our minds.

The great joys of life: a wedding night, a name on the honor roll.

Sebastian said right then that he wanted to propose, that he wanted to build a family with me, that we'd never be apart.

But soon he met the new assistant on set, Alice, and Alice cried that she had a gambling father and a gravely ill mother and a younger brother in school, and an assistant's salary was only three thousand a month, nowhere near enough to keep the whole family fed.

Sebastian's heart softened, and he brought Alice onto his own team right away, paying her far above the industry rate.

Only then did he come to me, deal already done. "Bonnie, Alice really has it rough. She reminds me so much of myself back then. I want to help her."

"If we get married now, it'll definitely hurt our careers, and then I won't even be able to pay her that much anymore. Let's wait a couple of years. Once I've made more money, I'll make it up to you with a castle wedding."

After that, every single year, he said he wanted to propose.

He said it when he won an award, said it on my birthday, said it when I got pregnant by accident.

But every time, in the end, either Alice had cramps and he couldn't get away, or Alice's cat wouldn't sit still for a nail trim and needed his help.

Even on the day I'd scheduled my abortion, Sebastian never showed. He just sent me some money.

"I want to go with you, I really do, but it wouldn't look good for someone like me to be seen at an OB-GYN."

"Besides, the plush doll Alice just bought still hasn't shipped, and I'm in the middle of arguing with customer service for her. Be good, don't make a scene."

"Once this is behind us, once you've recovered, I promise I'll give you a grand proposal."

Maybe the same memories surfaced for him too, because something uneasy crossed Sebastian's face.

He cleared his throat. "This time it's for real. I've already got the ring ordered. We'll go to that island you love and I'll propose there."

I hadn't wanted to bother arguing with him anymore.

But watching him now, lying without a flicker, trampling other people's real feelings underfoot like it was nothing, I felt a sudden flare of resentment.

Resentment on behalf of the girl who once split her living money in half, scrimping and saving just to cover Sebastian's tuition.

So I held out my hand. "Show me."

"Show you what?"

"The ring order. You said you had it ordered, didn't you?"

Sebastian went quiet.

I just took his phone, opened his transfer history, and pulled up his recent statements.

Eight hundred thousand, women's luggage.

Five hundred and twenty thousand, transferred directly to Alice Summers.

Three hundred and ninety thousand, couple's bracelets.

And one order for a hundred and twenty dollars.

I tapped into it.

Sure enough, a plain women's ring, and in his chat with the seller he was still asking, can you engrave it? Engrave a "B."

Then I found his chats with Alice and searched for the island.

Sure enough, last week Alice had thrown a fit at him, saying she was sick of this hiding-in-the-shadows affair.

Sebastian booked the island on the spot to smooth her over.

"How about I take you to the island next month?"

"We'll just have to bring Bonnie along too. She is still my agent, after all, and if she doesn't come and the two of us get photographed together, people are bound to start talking about you."

I couldn't help it, I started to laugh, laughed until the tears came.

"Sebastian, this is the grand proposal you were going to give me?"

"A hundred-and-twenty-dollar ring. A three-person island trip tacked on to make up with your mistress."

"Fifteen years with you, and I'm worth a hundred and twenty dollars."