Seven women rejected me at a charity gala in front of nearly four hundred guests, and by the seventh, people had stopped pretending they weren’t counting. Six months earlier, I’d been one of Chicago’s most sought-after millionaires, but that night I escaped into an empty courtyard feeling completely worthless, until a hotel janitor looked at me and asked the one question nobody else had bothered to ask.

As I stepped back into the glowing warmth of the grand ballroom, the shift in the room was instant.

People who had avoided my gaze twenty minutes ago looked up in surprise. I wasn't slumping my shoulders anymore. I wasn't staring into my glass like a condemned man. I walked with my chin up, my back straight, and my eyes scanning the room with terrifying precision.

Before I reached the center floor, a figure stepped into my path.

Brooke Langley.

My ex-fiancée was wearing a breathtaking emerald gown that I had paid eight thousand dollars for three months ago. Her blonde hair was styled impeccably, and her diamond earrings caught the chandelier light.

"Ethan?" she murmured, taking a soft step toward me, looking genuinely shocked to see me still here. "I... I thought you left."

"I stepped out for some fresh air, Brooke," I said, my tone as cold as the snow outside.

She looked around nervously, noticing that several high-society women were watching us. She lowered her voice, taking a small, delicate step closer.

"Ethan... look, about the public statement my family released," she whispered, reaching out a manicured hand to touch my arm. "It wasn't my idea. My father’s PR team forced my hand. They said it would ruin our family brand if I stayed attached to an active investigation."

I looked down at her hand on my sleeve.

Six months ago, I would have begged her to stay. Four days ago, her rejection broke what was left of my heart.

Now, looking into her calculating blue eyes, I saw nothing but pure, unadulterated cowardice.

"Your father's PR team was right, Brooke," I said smoothly, gently lifting her hand off my arm and letting it drop into the empty air. "You shouldn't be attached to an investigation. Especially when the real criminal is announced tonight."