After the Sunflowers

The day high school seniors across Cedarhaven received their college decisions, my own graduation ceremony had just ended. Adrian Hawthorne came to meet me outside the campus with Celeste Monroe, his newly divorced former sister-in-law. He had barely offered me the sunflowers in his hand when Celeste brushed them aside with a laugh. "Sunflowers? You could try harder if you're courting a young woman." Adrian smiled and handed the bouquet to her. "Then you choose. Clara will like whatever you pick." I stood beside them without finding a place in the conversation. Celeste patted his shoulder. "Your tie is crooked. There are too many people here for you to embarrass me." Adrian lowered his head and let her straighten it. After the graduation photographs, he drew Celeste close and told me, "You're good with a camera. Take a few more pictures of us." For three years, every movie meant for two came with a third ticket, and every anniversary dinner had been chosen around another woman's restrictions. I had protested before, but whenever the argument ended, I was always the one Adrian set aside. Then Celeste accidentally left her phone in my purse, and I saw the photograph on her lock screen. Across the image were the words: July 2 - finally free. The same date was engraved beneath Adrian's watch. He called impatiently, "Clara, hurry. Celeste can't wait all day." I stared at the screen for several seconds and deleted the photograph. Everyone online was discussing how to choose the right college, and I finally understood something too. When the first choice is wrong, you withdraw before it is too late. There was no reason to keep a photograph of Adrian and me either. Chapter 1 I slipped my phone into my purse and looked at Adrian Hawthorne, who stood a few yards away. He had lowered his head so Celeste Monroe could straighten his cuff links. Her fingertips brushed his throat. He did not so much as flinch. The graduates around them laughed and began to tease. "Adrian takes such good care of his former sister-in-law. Anyone watching would think they were the couple." Someone tossed out the joke. Adrian did not correct him. He only smiled and clapped the speaker on the shoulder. "Knock it off. Celeste has been sick. Of course I look after her." I took two steps back and turned toward the campus gates. The afternoon sun was painfully bright, but I never looked back. Ten minutes after I got into a cab, Adrian called. His voice was already accusing when I answered. "Where did you go? We were supposed to celebrate at your favorite sushi place. Celeste and I have been waiting outside the school forever." I watched the streets slide past the window. "I'm tired. I went home." Celeste coughed weakly in the background. Adrian's voice softened at once, though every word cut into me. "Clara, Celeste finalized her divorce today. This is her first time out since then. Couldn't you have stayed and supported her? You're usually so understanding. Why are you acting like this now?" My fingers tightened around the phone. "I said I was tired." "Enough with the attitude. I'll bring home those maple cream pastries you like. Be good." The cab radio was still running a special about college commitment season. The host said choosing the right path mattered more than working hard on the wrong one, and that people should cut their losses when they realized they had made a mistake. I smiled faintly. Apparently, that advice was not only for eighteen-year-olds. In the past, one quiet "be good" from Adrian had been enough to make me pretend nothing had happened. Before the call even ended, Celeste coughed again and Adrian was already fussing over her. "Celeste, it's windy out here. Let me get you back to the car. What do you want to eat? Sushi might be too cold. How about soup instead?" I said nothing more and ended the call. I returned to the penthouse where Adrian and I had lived together for three years. After stepping inside, I changed my shoes and stared at the evidence of our shared life. The bird-of-paradise plant on the balcony had come from a charity auction because I once said I liked it. We had chosen the handwoven pillows on the sofa together at the Claybrook artisan market. A framed photograph from our trip to Northstar Ridge to see the northern lights still hung on the wall. Now every memory in the apartment looked ridiculous. I went into the study and opened the bottom drawer. Inside was my full-scholarship acceptance letter from Northlake Academy of Art and Design in Port Sterling, New Albion. I had handled the paper so often that its edges were soft and wrinkled. The desire to leave had taken root long ago, every time Adrian abandoned me to run to Celeste. Beneath the letter was a business card from Julian Mercer. He directed Northlake's visiting-artist program. His email had contained one sentence: If you decide to leave, I can arrange a safe, private trip. I ran my fingers over the sapphire bracelet on my wrist. It had belonged to Adrian's mother. He had fastened it around my wrist years ago and said I was the only woman he would ever welcome into the Hawthorne family. Yet for three years, all Celeste needed was a look, a sigh, or a cough, and Adrian would leave me without hesitation. He always said she was vulnerable, that her health was poor, and that the Hawthornes owed her. He simply forgot that I was his girlfriend. I removed the bracelet and placed it in the exact center of the coffee table. Chapter 2 At ten that night, the keypad lock chimed. Adrian came in from the cold carrying a box of my favorite maple cream pastries. The bakery was twelve miles in the opposite direction from the clinic where Celeste had spent the day. He had made the detour anyway. He set the box on the table and found me reading on the couch. Then he came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my shoulders. He rested his chin against my neck with practiced intimacy, his voice low and gentle. "Are you still mad? Celeste has a serious heart condition. She can't be left alone. You're going to be my wife, part of the Hawthorne family. Could you help me take care of her?" Celeste never asked Adrian outright to stay with her. She would simply murmur over the phone that he should not come because Clara might be upset. Then, one breath later, she would cough until she could barely speak. I closed my book. I did not pull away. I only asked one question. "Adrian, what does July second mean? The date engraved on the back of your watch." His fingers paused on my shoulder. The hesitation was so brief that someone else might have missed it. "It was the day I took over Hawthorne Group." He smiled and adjusted the necklace I was already wearing. "Why are you asking about that all of a sudden?" I studied his reflection in the mirror. Even when he lied, he remembered to make his voice softer. "No reason. I was curious." Relief crossed his face. He took my hand and led me to the jewelry cabinet. He removed a diamond necklace worth more than most houses and fastened it around my throat. "This is your graduation gift. At my thirtieth-birthday gala next month, I'm going to introduce you properly. Clara, you'll be the most dazzling future Mrs. Hawthorne in Cedarhaven." He cupped my face as if he adored me. Without that date, I might truly have believed his love ran that deep. Adrian always thought expensive gifts and the title of Mrs. Hawthorne could make up for his absence from our relationship. He never understood that I did not want any of those things. I wanted to be the person he chose first. Then his phone rang. It was the ringtone he had assigned to one person. Adrian answered, and all the color drained from his face. "Celeste, don't do anything. Put the knife down. I'm coming right now!" He grabbed his keys and rushed for the door without even taking a coat. At the threshold, he looked back long enough to throw me an explanation. "Clara, Celeste is having a breakdown. I have to go. Keep the necklace safe. I'll be back." The door slammed shut. The necklace pressed heavily against my collarbones. I looked at myself in the mirror. The diamonds still glittered, but I had never felt cheaper. He had not even bothered to invent a convincing lie. July second was the day Celeste and Adrian's older brother finalized their divorce. It was the day Celeste had written that she was finally free. Adrian hid that shameful date beneath his watch while expecting me to wear his diamonds in public and protect his reputation. I stepped closer to the mirror and calmly unfastened the necklace. I dropped it into the trash with the unopened box of pastries. Then I opened my laptop. I signed a declaration declining any interest in Adrian's property, trusts, or future marital assets before relocating for school. I clicked Send. When the confirmation appeared, I withdrew from our three-year relationship with my own hand. From then on, Adrian was no longer my first choice. I organized the documents on my desk and shut down the computer. The apartment became so quiet that I could hear the clock ticking. I did not cry. I had exhausted my tears during countless nights spent waiting for him to come home. For the first time, the pressure in my chest began to ease. One month remained. After his birthday gala, I would leave Cedarhaven. I would leave the man who had made it impossible to breathe. Chapter 3 The deadline for high school seniors to commit to colleges fell on the same day as Adrian's thirtieth-birthday gala at Cedarhaven's most exclusive private club. He had commissioned a couture gown for me and led me through the ballroom by the hand. He introduced me to everyone as his fiancee. I played my part as the perfect partner. I smiled politely and made conversation with the various socialites. Inside, I counted down the days until my flight to Port Sterling. Three days. The party was at its height when Celeste appeared. She wore a white gown that looked almost identical to mine. Her eyes were red, and she hovered timidly near the edge of the room. Adrian noticed her at once. He released my hand and hurried over to ask what was wrong. Women nearby began to whisper. They watched me standing alone with equal parts pity and amusement. "So what if she's the official fiancee? One tear from the former sister-in-law and she disappears." "Those matching dresses are interesting. I wonder which woman is the original and which one is the substitute." Their mockery stirred nothing in me. If anything, I was bored. Then the evening turned violent. Adrian's older brother, Marcus Hawthorne, stormed into the ballroom. He reeked of alcohol, and rage filled his eyes. Celeste had divorced Marcus because of his affairs, drinking, and physical abuse. To protect the family name, the Hawthornes had told the public that the marriage ended peacefully over irreconcilable differences. Marcus spotted Celeste and laughed bitterly. "You've got some nerve. You divorce me and immediately attach yourself to my brother?" Celeste went pale and hid behind Adrian. Adrian stepped in front of her, his expression hardening. "Marcus, this is my birthday. Don't start anything." The warning enraged him. He smashed the glass in his hand. "I'm starting something? She's my ex-wife! You protect her so fiercely that you neglect your own girlfriend, and you still call yourself my brother?" A shocked murmur swept through the ballroom. Standing in the crowd, I finally understood. Adrian always claimed Celeste was fragile because the divorce was so recent. It was not simply because she had nowhere else to turn. He believed the Hawthorne family owed her for what Marcus had done. Marcus suddenly shoved through the guests toward Celeste. The broken stem of his glass flashed in his hand. "You ruined me, and now you're trying to ruin my brother?" Adrian instinctively pulled Celeste into his arms. When he twisted to shield her, his elbow slammed into my shoulder. The jostling crowd sent me stumbling forward. I fell directly into the path of Marcus's swinging hand. Broken glass tore through my sleeve and into my arm. Blood spread across my white gown. Club security tackled Marcus within seconds. Still shaken, Adrian loosened his hold on the unharmed Celeste. Her knees buckled from fright. Adrian swept her into his arms and shouted in panic. "Call an ambulance! Celeste fainted!" He carried her toward the exit. I sat on the floor clutching my arm while blood ran between my fingers. Adrian passed close enough to touch me, but he never slowed. He saw the blood on the floor and the color drained from my face. He chose Celeste anyway. As he disappeared through the doors, my tears finally fell. I remembered the night three years earlier when men cornered us in an alley. Adrian had fought his way in front of me and said, "No one touches my girl." The promise remained in my memory, but the man who made it had just walked past me. Chapter 4 I called Adrian. When he answered, I heard him soothing Celeste to sleep. Before I could speak, he lowered his voice and said, "Celeste just fell asleep. Don't start a fight." I went to the emergency clinic alone. While the physician stitched my arm, a nurse asked whether anyone was coming for me. I did not answer. Anesthetic burned beneath my skin, and the sutures pulled at the wound. I stared at the ceiling and barely felt it. The worst pain had already passed when Adrian carried Celeste out without hesitating. I returned to the penthouse late that night and packed with steady hands. I took only a few older clothes. I left everything Adrian had bought. I folded three years of my life into one suitcase. Adrian finally came home the next afternoon. His gaze landed on the bandage around my arm, and he froze. Only then did he remember. I had been the woman he knocked down at his gala. He rushed toward me, then stopped as if he no longer knew how to touch me. "Clara, I'm sorry. I didn't see you. Celeste has a heart condition, and I panicked. Hit me or yell at me, but why didn't you call?" I stepped away from his hand and answered calmly. "It's fine. I handled it. Adrian, our third anniversary is the day after tomorrow. You promised we'd watch the sunrise from the bay." Relief flooded his face. With red eyes, he began making promises. "I'll be there. I'll clear my entire schedule and charter a boat. Afterward, we'll file for our marriage license. I arranged professional care for Celeste. From now on, I'll be with you." I looked into his remorseful, devoted eyes and smiled. "All right. I'll wait." On the night of our anniversary, I stood in Cedarhaven Metropolitan Airport with a small suitcase. Adrian had sent me a voice message thirty minutes earlier. In the background, Celeste was smashing glass. "Clara, Celeste is hurting herself. I have to stay with her. We can watch the sunrise tomorrow. Be good and wait for me." The boarding announcement began. I blocked Adrian on every messaging app and on my phone. Then I removed my old SIM card. I let out one quiet breath. "There won't be a tomorrow, Adrian. You can keep July second with her." I dropped the card into a trash bin and walked toward the premium boarding lane without hesitation. I had already cleared security. All that remained was boarding. Using my new number, I sent Julian a message. "Everything is going according to plan. I'm through security." At that moment, the privately operated advertising screens throughout the concourse went black. Red-and-white text flashed across them. Adrian had purchased an emergency public notice claiming I was missing and might be in danger. He had even posted an outrageous reward for information. Travelers stopped to stare and whisper. Then hurried footsteps sounded behind me. Adrian had reported a possible medical emergency, persuading the charter desk to place a brief hold on my departure while security verified my safety. His elite business membership had also gotten him as far as the premium lounge before airport officers stopped him. A gate agent spoke urgently into her radio. "The Hawthorne account triggered the welfare hold, but the passenger has confirmed she's safe. Clear the premium lane now." I stiffened and turned. Adrian stood at the far end of the corridor without a coat. He wore only a thin dress shirt, open at the collar, his chest rising and falling hard. He advanced toward me, his voice raw. "Clara, where are you going?"