He Promised Me Every Flight, Gave Her Every One Chapter 03

He Promised Me Every Flight, Gave Her Every One Chapter 03

Grant landed sixteen hours later.

By then, I was at the old townhouse, sorting through my documents.

The missing passport wallet was gone, so I reported the documents lost and started replacing them.

The clerk asked, “Is your driver’s license missing too?”

I shook my head.

I’d always kept it tucked behind my phone case.

Grant knew that habit, but he’d probably forgotten such a small detail.

He’d taken my passport, TSA PreCheck card, airline rewards card, and the companion lounge card he’d arranged for me himself.

I’d never wanted to use that last card. Its first use was supposed to be on one of his flights.

Now, where those cards had gone no longer mattered.

I had just finished the replacement forms when Grant called.

His name flashed across the screen.

I stared at it for three seconds, then answered.

His voice carried the fatigue of a long-haul flight and his usual certainty. “What was that ring supposed to mean?”

An airport announcement echoed behind him.

Lydia’s voice drifted over from a distance. “Grant, can you grab my coat?”

He answered her, then returned to me. “Ellie, stop this. Take the ring back and go to the bridal gown fitting.”

I folded the replacement receipt and slipped it into my bag. “I’m not going to the fitting.”

Silence held for two seconds.

Grant lowered his voice. “You’re calling off the wedding again?”

“Yes.”

He gave a soft laugh.

It sounded like I’d said something absurd.

“Where would you even go without me? You don’t have the Miller family to fall back on anymore. My father paid off the debts your parents left behind.”

My chest tightened.

After my parents died, our company’s cash flow had collapsed. The Sterlings had indeed covered part of the debt.

But they’d taken the Miller family’s two most valuable storefronts in return. Emily brought it up during every argument.

Grant had learned to do the same.

He continued, “Wait until I get back. Don’t make me come find you at the old townhouse.”

“You won’t have to.”

Lydia suddenly spoke on the other end, “Grant, is Ms. Miller upset? I could give her my seat. I don’t have to fly for the next six days.”

Grant’s voice softened at once. “This isn’t on you.”

When he spoke to me again, his tone turned cold. “You hear that? Even she’s being more reasonable than you.”

The service window reflected my face.

Pale. Blank.

I said, “Grant, I don’t need her seat.”

He went silent.

A moment later, irritation finally entered his voice. “Then what do you want?”

Once, I wanted so much.

I wanted him to remember our anniversaries.

I wanted him to have dinner with me.

I wanted him to stop taking Lydia’s midnight calls in front of me.

Over time, that list had shrunk to one thing. I only wanted to fly with him once.

Now, I didn’t want that either.

I gripped the receipt.

The paper’s edge sliced the pad of my finger. “I want to call off the wedding.”

Grant’s breathing grew heavier. “Say that again.”

The clerk called my number.

I picked up my bag and walked toward the counter. “Grant, I’ll send the settlement agreement to your office.”

A quiet, cold laugh came through the phone. “Eleanor Miller, you’d better not regret this.”

He hung up.

After I finished the paperwork, Sophie was waiting outside.

Her brow tightened when she saw the cut on my hand. “Does it hurt?”

I shook my head.

She pressed the car keys into my palm. “I found you a lawyer. Everything in the penthouse can be documented as evidence.”

“We’ll tally the medical bills you covered for his mother, the car you bought his brother, and every favor you handled for the Sterling family. Every last one.”

I unzipped my bag.

An old camera rested inside.

It had belonged to my father.

Its memory card held records of the engagement party I’d planned, the PR crises I’d fixed, and the clients I’d hosted.

I’d once seen all that work as my contribution to the family I was marrying into.

Now, it was my settlement ledger.

Sophie parked below the penthouse at Grandview.

A light glowed from the upstairs window.

Lydia’s Instagram updated again.

[Second stop. Grant said the night view here was perfect for forgetting anything that made me unhappy.]

I stared at the words and pressed the elevator button.

When the doors opened, Emily stood in the foyer.

The platinum diamond engagement ring rested in her hand.