Chapter 1

1: 1

The day I closed the ten-million-dollar contract with Maddox Group.

I was so excited I went straight to find my boyfriend, Joseph Sullivan.

Then, through the glass window, I saw my best friend, Kathryn Pruitt, shriek and throw herself into his arms.

"Joseph, Maddox Group already agreed to meet with me! That contract is as good as mine!"

I looked down at the confirmation email on my phone.

Maddox Group had already agreed to sign with me.

So how could they possibly be meeting with her?

I was about to walk around the glass and go in, to tell Joseph I'd already landed the deal.

The next second, Joseph pulled out a whole set: a wedding gown and a gift box with a crown inside.

"I knew our Kathryn could do it."

"See? I bought the gown ahead of time. It's your size."

Kathryn shrieked with excitement. "Isn't this the one I mentioned before? The ten-million-dollar Dream Princess? You're really giving it to me?"

I gripped my phone.

Joseph had promised me, clearly: the moment I landed the ten-million-dollar deal with Maddox Group,

we would hold our wedding.

So it turned out that whether or not I landed the contract had never mattered at all.

The gown I'd dreamed about for so long, he'd already picked out someone else to wear it.

1

Through the glass, I watched the two of them leaning into each other.

I turned to leave, but a voice behind me called out.

"Isabelle Lawson?"

Kathryn had caught sight of me out of the corner of her eye, and was waving at me frantically.

"Since you're here, come in! I happen to have good news to tell you!"

I had no choice but to steel myself and walk over.

Joseph was gently fixing the strap on Kathryn's bag. When he turned and saw me, his brow furrowed.

"At this hour, shouldn't you be working late?"

I looked down at my watch. It was already nine thirty at night.

Normally, yes, I would still be at the office.

Except today I'd landed the ten-million-dollar Maddox Group contract.

My boss had not only let me leave early, he'd rewarded me with two paid days off.

"Today I—"

Before I could get the explanation out, Joseph's frown deepened.

"I've told you. People who don't put in the work don't deserve the best."

"Isabelle, if you want to slack off, you'll never land a deal, and our wedding will just keep getting pushed back."

Joseph always loved to lecture me, to talk down to me from on high.

Any other time, a line like that would have had me lowering my head in shame.

But right now I just looked at him. "And if I've already landed the contract?"

"You?"

Joseph gave a mocking little laugh. "A dim little bird like you? Forget a ten-million-dollar deal like Maddox Group's."

"If you can land even a one-million-dollar order, I'll take your last name!"

That was it. In Joseph's eyes, I would always be a fool.

Always less than Kathryn, who was clever, who caught on with a single word.

But he'd forgotten one thing. People change.

To marry him, I had remade myself completely over these years.

And he never once saw it.

Kathryn was laughing too, hand over her mouth.

"Joseph, Isabelle is your girlfriend. Go a little easy on her!"

"Mocking your own girlfriend like that. Isabelle, let me teach him a lesson for you!"

Kathryn made a show of lifting her foot to kick him, lost her balance, and toppled straight into his arms.

Joseph let it happen, catching her hand.

"Enough, my dear Miss Pruitt. Come on, let's get to your celebration dinner."

"I already booked The Grand Table, your favorite."

Kathryn shrieked with delight. "I mentioned it once and you remembered? Your memory is enviable, honestly."

"When it's about you, Miss Pruitt, I can't afford to forget."

I stood frozen where I was. That restaurant was one I loved too.

For the last three months, I'd begged and coaxed, asking Joseph to take me there just once.

Every time, he refused me coldly.

"Isabelle, you're not a child anymore. Enough of this 'let's go check out this place' all the time."

"You put all your energy into eating and playing around. Any of it left for work?"

He shamed me until I couldn't stand it,

and I never dared bring up going to dinner with me again.

But now, he was sending me back to work late.

While he took my best friend to a candlelit dinner, just the two of them.

Seeing me still standing there without moving, Kathryn hooked her arm through mine warmly.

"Isabelle, what are you spacing out for? Come eat with us!"

I was about to refuse, but Joseph cut in, cold and sneering.

"You're told to go, so go. Don't stand there with that long face like everyone owes you something."

The refusal never made it out of my mouth, and they stuffed me into the car too.

Sitting in the upscale restaurant, at the candlelit dinner.

I stared at the two seats, at a loss.

Kathryn scratched her head and kicked Joseph.

"Joseph, how do you handle anything? Three of us are eating, and you only booked two seats?"