Chapter 2

He crossed the room in quick strides, snatched up the gloves, and hid them behind his back. That composed face of his, always so steady, wore something rare now. Panic.

I wiped away my tears and slowly got to my feet.

"Sorry for messing up your things. Actually, this is good timing. There's something I need to tell you. We—"

Caspar's phone cut in with its ringtone. One glance told me it was Alma Pruitt, still hovering around like a ghost that wouldn't leave.

The words I hadn't finished stuck in my throat.

He pulled a faint smile across his lips.

"Get some rest first. Whatever it is, we'll talk when I get back."

I turned, walked into the bedroom, shut the door, and dropped onto the bed, worn out.

That night, I slept unusually well. Maybe because there was nothing left weighing on my mind.

I went to work in a daze, thinking that Caspar and I had reached the end of the road.

I got my resignation paperwork ready. I got my résumé ready too.

Then a voice came at me from behind, eager and warm.

"Lunch together? My treat."

It was Alex.

I wanted to set things straight. Caspar and I weren't divorced yet, and it wasn't right for me to eat alone with another man.

"Alex, last night the others were just joking around after a few drinks. Don't take it seriously. I don't have any special feelings toward you."

Before I'd even finished, Alex let out a cold laugh, his face full of contempt.

"Drop the act. Alma told me a long time ago exactly what kind of person you are. You just look down on me because my salary's average and my position isn't high enough."

A coworker happened to pass by my desk right then and caught the whole exchange. Then, one after another, interested stares settled on me.

I knew Alma had engineered every bit of this. She wanted me disgraced, wanted me to know I'd lost and back off on my own.

I gave a calm smile.

"I don't like you, and besides, I'm already married. I'm not interested in your salary either, so there's nothing to look down on. As for whatever Alma told you behind my back, that's not my concern."

"A grown adult should be able to judge for himself."

Alex's face went white, then splotchy. He threw out one nasty line and stormed off in a rage.

Half an hour later a notice went up on the board: "Emergency marketing department meeting at two this afternoon."

I put together the materials for the meeting. Once it was over and every coworker in the room had left, I walked up and handed my resignation report to Caspar.

"You're resigning?"

The hand holding the report shook a little.

I was the anchor of the marketing department. There wasn't a client I couldn't win over. I wasn't anything like Alex, a man with no standing to speak of.

It made sense that my leaving would rattle Caspar.

"I'm tired, Caspar."

"Either way, the moment I walk out of this conference room, Alma will come in with her proposal to pitch herself. And you and the board will use her proposal, of course."

"I've become a bit of an eyesore here."

Better that I go. Let him rekindle things with his old flame.

"Sheila, don't act on impulse, all right?"

I lifted my head and looked straight into his eyes.

"Our marriage was just each of us getting what we needed—"

I didn't get to finish. Alma pushed open the office door and poked her head in.

With an outsider present, I couldn't get into what was between Caspar and me, so I shut my mouth, pushed open the conference room door, and walked out.

The moment I stepped out, a soft but bone-cold voice rang out.

"Sheila Winfield. You hid this pretty deep."

She deliberately raised her voice, and the coworkers nearby quickly set down their work and cocked their heads to listen.

Alma's face twisted into a sneer.

"No wonder you showed up at every single event Caspar attended. I truly thought of you as a friend, and here you were, going behind my back to steal my man?"

The mocking rose from all sides.

"'The Heartbeat With No End in Sight.' Makes your scalp crawl just reading it. And she didn't even stop to size herself up."

Alma held up the diary I'd left behind in the university library, laughing at me.

"How could Mr. Delgado ever look twice at her? I heard he stayed on as president of Pruitt Corp precisely because he was waiting for the young mistress to come home from abroad."

"Quiet as a mouse all day, and who knew she was this calculating underneath."

I gave a cold little smile.

"Something's come up, I'm off. Good luck with everything!"