Chapter 0002

Since the day she emerged, Susan had never been wrong about someone’s affinity towards me. I wasn’t about to doubt her now.

Unease began to grow in my heart.

“Should we get in the car first?” Bob offered. “This isn’t the right place to talk.”

I stood in place, frozen.

“I think you need rest and a good meal right now,” he continued. “What do you think?”

He smiled, but I could tell it wasn’t genuine. It did not reach his eyes.

He had not answered my question about who the woman was, but I could probably guess. I just didn’t like the answer.

I glanced into his eyes. He tried hard to look away, but he could not avoid my stare.

“Twenty,” Susan said.

He didn’t love me anymore—maybe. I hoped in my heart it wasn’t true. Yet even my heart knew better than to doubt Susan.

 

* *

 

Bob took us to Amour, an expensive French restaurant downtown—a very expensive restaurant. Last I knew, the average cost per person was $3,000. Even five years ago, when I still had a substantial inheritance left from my mother, I would only go there on special occasions.

A part of me hoped that this meant my release was something special to Bob, something to celebrate. The rest of me could not forget the 20 that Susan had revealed as his affinity towards me.

When we walked in, we were surrounded by elegance and refinement.

Chandeliers hung from a high, ornate gold ceiling over onyx tables. Black carpeting stretched before us with a red walkway leading down the center of the restaurant. Golden statues of Greek gods and goddesses were scattered throughout the building, and a massive bar was tucked into the rear.

Everyone was dressed in designer suits or dressers. Some were tame, black-and-white affairs, while others were more exotic, colorful pieces straight off the runways of Paris and Milan. All of them, however, were upscale…far more upscale than a dress that had been waiting five years to be worn.

As the maître d’ escorted us to our table, curious gazes turned our way. I shifted uncomfortably. In such a faded dress with sweat-smeared makeup, I had to look dingy compared to my surroundings…and my cohorts.

The young woman whose name Bob still hadn’t mentioned yet clung to Bob in a way that made my heart drop. He disentangled himself from her to pull out both our chairs, but I could feel the woman’s glare burning a hole into me as I sat down.

I looked around to see people still staring at us—at me. I had never felt so low before. Everyone was looking at me as though I were some piece of gum stuck to the bottom of their shoe, and at that point, that was how I felt.

Couldn’t Bob have at least taken me somewhere to get changed into something nicer if we were going to Amour? And why were we there, anyway? It was far too expensive for either of us.

Did this have something to do with this new mystery woman? Was Bob trying to impress her? Belittle me in front of her?

I had never doubted going to jail for Bob before now, but all this…it didn’t really feel worth having wasted five years of my life.

Once Bob sat down, I could take the waiting no longer.

“Bob, what is going on?” I demanded, my voice more bitter than I had intended. “Who is she?”

Bob sighed and set down the menu that he had just picked up.

“I’m sorry, Crystal. Perhaps I should’ve told you earlier. Lisa is my girlfriend—”

“Girlfriend?” I said, aghast. “I’m your girlfriend. When did we break up?”

Lisa frowned, her eyes darting between Bob and me.

“Bob, you didn’t break up with her?”

“Darling—” Bob took her hand in his— “she was in prison. I was her only hope for parole. She doesn’t have any family, and she was all alone in there.”

His words stabbed my heart like a knife.

“How pitiful,” he whispered, though I could hear him clearly.

Lisa eyed me for a moment but nodded and put her hand over Bob’s.

“I know, Bob. It’s just…you’re too gracious sometimes, too kind,” she said. “You gave her false hope.”

I growled low at Lisa before I could control it. Bob and Lisa glanced over at me, but otherwise, they did not pay me any heed.

Tears pricked the edges of my eyes. How could Bob do this to me? After what I did for him, after all those promises that he made to me?

I wanted to yell at him. I wanted to storm out of the restaurant and find some way out of there on my own. Anything to show him how badly he had hurt me and to tear him out of my life for good.

Instead, I shook my head and let my tears fall unchecked.

“How-how could you?” I sobbed.

Bob tentatively reached out and touched my arm, glancing at Lisa as though for permission. Her lips pursed, but she nodded her consent. Bob squeezed my arm gently.

“I had no choice,” he said, his voice calm and soothing. “She’s my fated mate.”

I paused at those words. I couldn’t really be mad at Bob for that. If a werewolf finds their fated mate, then they must be together.

It stung that Bob and I were clearly not fated mates. Nevertheless, I had to try to be happy for Bob that he had found his, no matter how much it hurt. Maybe, someday, I would find my fated mate as well.

“You still should have told me,” I said, the pain evident in my voice.

“I know, I’m sorry. I promise that I will make it up to you.”

The look in Bob’s eyes seemed earnest. Maybe he truly meant it. There was only one way to know for certain.

He just had to grant me what I wanted.

“Well then,” I said slowly, “I would like to reclaim our company.”

Five years ago, I had invested all of my inheritance into a clothing company that I had co-founded with Bob. Since I ended up in jail, I asked Bob often how things were going with it, and Bob had ensured me that the business was thriving.

Maybe if I couldn’t have love, I could still have a career.

The more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea of being a businessperson on my own. With Susan’s ability to tell how much someone likes me, it would give me a huge advantage in the sales department and with making partnerships. It might even be fun to try my hand at designing clothes again, even if that had always been more Bob’s side of the business.

It was a little scary to think about navigating the modern business world without Bob, but maybe he would be willing to help me in the beginning. He was trying to make it up to me for this whole messed-up situation, after all. There wasn’t any reason why our relationship couldn’t end amicably…as amicably as possible, given the circumstances.

Then I noticed Bob’s eyes cast down to the table.

“Crystal, there’s something I need to tell you.”