He explained that there really had been an emergency meeting that day, that he'd gotten drunk at a client dinner and blacked out.
When I gave him nothing, he pulled out his phone to prove he didn't even have her contact information.
"She's hated you for years—you know that. She's just trying to drive a wedge between us."
Frederick's eyes reddened, brimming with wounded sincerity. I pressed my lips together, brows tight, and chose not to tear his lies apart.
I tossed and turned all night. Frederick held me in silence, refusing to let even an inch of space come between us.
To make it up to me, he took me to a newly opened five-star restaurant and reserved every luxury boutique in the city for my private shopping.
After picking out a new diamond ring for me, Frederick said he wanted to take me for new wedding portraits.
We were almost at the studio when his phone rang. He turned the volume down as low as it would go, but I still caught Agatha's coy little voice on the other end.
"I heard a new dessert shop just opened on the south side of town. It would be amazing to get something fresh-made…"