Chapter 3
I turned and walked into the bedroom, slamming the door behind me.
Through the door, I could hear Knox’s heavy sigh.
Over the next two days, a flood of planted articles appeared online:
[Dahlia Stone to Become L&W’s Global Ambassador, Career Renaissance Incoming]
[Knox Riviera and Dahlia Stone: Where Does Their Love Stand? Sources Say They Never Really Split]
[The Unfinished Love Story of Knox and Dahlia Has Fans Swooning]
written with such convincing detail.
I scrolled through these articles, each one
They made it sound like D
Some gossip accounts were
On the third evening, Knox
even
L&W endorsement was already a done deal.
analyzing how many times Dahlia’s market value would multiply after securing the L&W contract.
called again.
“Wren, I’ve booked a table for tomorrow night.”
I was in the middle of a video conference and signaled my assistant to put it on pause.
“What restaurant?”
“Our usual spot. I’ve invited Dahlia and Thea. I hope you’ll join us.”
Knox sounded exhausted.
“Let’s all sit down and talk this through-resolve everything peacefully.”
“Peacefully?”
I leaned back in my chair.
“Knox, what exactly do you think I need to discuss with them?”
“Please, Wren. Do this for me?” His voice took on a pleading tone.
“Thea’s young and impulsive-she speaks without thinking. She was just worried about me being caught in the middle.”
“As for Dahlia, she’s never deliberately caused trouble for you. This whole situation has been harder on her than anyone.”
I listened to his words, finding them increasingly amusing.
“So tomorrow’s dinner is about me personally handing the endorsement contract to Dahlia?”
“It’s not like that-”
“Or is it about me apologizing to Thea for hurting her brother and real sister-in-law’s feelings?”
The line went quiet for a few seconds.
“You know that’s not what I meant, Wren.”
“Then what did you mean?”
“I just want things to go back to how they were. You know we’ve had a good year together since we got married.”
A good year together?
Memories from the past year came flooding back…
I remembered how throughout the year, he would bring me gifts whenever he traveled, though they were always cheap.
I remembered how he would remember my favorite restaurants, though he rarely took me to them.
I remembered how he would occasionally join me to watch movies in the living room, though he spent most of the time looking at his phone.
This was his definition of “a good year together.”
Clinging to my last shred of hope for him, I agreed.
“What time tomorrow?”
I could hear Knox’s sigh of relief through the phone.
“Seven o’clock, the usual place. Thank you, Wren.”
