CHAPTER 29

The question landed like a crack in glass. Ethan blinked, his hand still hovering over the saucepan handle, steam seeping up in quiet spirals. “What are you talking about?” Pearl opened her mouth, then closed it again. The room felt slanted, off-balance, the floor tilting beneath her feet. She could hear her pulse in her ears, a thunderous rush that made everything else feel far away. “You…” she started, then stopped, swallowing. “Emily Perry came to the gallery. She said she was your fiancée. That you and she—” “As if on cue,” fate decided to be cruel. The muted TV mounted over the kitchen counter, which neither of them had been paying attention to, cut from a travel segment to Breaking News. A photo slid across the screen of Emily Perry, all teeth and poise, her hand placed delicately on the forearm of a man in a navy tux. The ticker at the bottom read: Ethan LENNOX ANNOUNCES ENGAGEMENT TO EMILY PERRY Pearl’s entire body went cold. Her throat closed. Her mouth worked, but no