Chapter 3

Day one of my absence.

Colton sent me a text—a photo of a golf course.

“Babe, beautiful weather today. Out unwinding with Mr. Miller and the partners.”

“Be a good girl at home, okay? Miss me yet?”

At that moment, I was at my new studio, directing movers as they assembled steel shelving units.

This two-thousand-square-foot space was going to be the launchpad for my new career.

Looking at his text, I replied with a single word: “Yeah.”

Day two.

He sent a photo from a VIP lounge at a club.

“Babe, clients insisted on drinks and karaoke. You know how it is—gotta do it for the brand.”

“Go to bed early, don’t wait up.”

At that moment, I was on a video call with a manufacturer, finalizing the stitching details on a sample for a new line of pet sleeping bags.

I didn’t even bother to reply.

On the evening of day three, he finally remembered reality.

“Babe, it’s been three days. You done pouting?”

“Time to wrap it up and come home, don’t you think?”

“There are hundreds of orders to ship tomorrow. We can’t have nobody packing.”

His tone was completely authoritative, like giving an order to an employee.

Reading the message, I smirked.

Tomorrow, he was going to learn exactly what it meant to have “nobody packing.”

On day four, the hurricane hit.

Starting at nine in the morning, Colton’s calls came in non-stop.

He tried messaging me on Snapchat first; I ignored it.

Then he started dialing my cell directly.

I picked up, set the phone on speaker next to me, and went right back to organizing my customer spreadsheets.

“Chloe! What the hell are you doing?!”

“Why is the store closed?!”

“Everything’s taken down! Have you lost your damn mind?!”

Over the line, I could hear the frantic, violent clicking of his mouse.

“Oh, must be a system glitch,” I said casually.

“A glitch?! Then log into the backend and fix it right now!”

“Why isn't the password working?! It says invalid credentials!” he roared, completely losing his temper.

“Really? I wouldn't know. I can’t log in on my end either.”

“Are you an idiot?! The store is down and you're just sitting there clueless?! Fix it right now, goddammit!”

Without saying another word, I hung up.

Next up, his phone was bound to get flooded by enraged buyers.

Because our store announcement stated that “paid orders will be processed within one week,” but with the storefront shut down and the seller unreachable, everyone assumed we had taken the money and run.

The review sections and community boards were instantly overrun with fury and fraud reports.

“Scammer! Give me my money back!”

“I already filed a fraud report! Enjoy prison!”

“Trash seller! Took our cash and skipped town! Hope your whole family rots!”

The business social media accounts Colton used to act like an executive were getting bombarded with non-stop vitriol.

When had he ever dealt with this kind of heat?

He was used to being flattered by clients and envied by his buddies as “the founder.”

Now, he was a rat fleeing a burning building.

On day five, the call from the auto lender became the final nail in his coffin.

“Hello, is this Mr. Colton Shaw?”

“Your monthly payment on the BMW is past due. Please remit payment immediately to avoid repossession and severe impact on your credit score.”

He panicked.

The car payments had always been set to auto-pay from our joint business account.

And now, that account held barely five hundred bucks.

He tried calling me again, but my number was already blocked.

Left with no choice, he used his mother’s phone.

The second I picked up, Brenda’s shrill screeching exploded through the speaker.

“Chloe, you miserable little jinx! Where the hell are you hiding?!”

“You’ve completely ruined my son, do you hear me?! Get your ass back here right now and fix this!”

I stayed dead silent.

Only when she ran out of breath did Colton snatch the phone away, pure panic lacing his voice.

“Babe, I messed up! I shouldn't have taken that fifty grand! Please just come home, I’ll make Sierra pay it back, I swear...”

“I won’t touch the store anymore, you can run all of it, okay? Just come back, please, I don’t know what to do...”

“The car payment is due, buyers are threatening to sue me, I’m losing my mind here...”