After Seven Empty Chairs, I Took My Daughter and Left Chapter 03

After Seven Empty Chairs, I Took My Daughter and Left Chapter 03

Sloane swirled the champagne flute in her hand with effortless grace and smiled faintly.

“Not exactly. Noah told me himself when he drove me back to my apartment late last night.”

Her voice wasn’t loud, but it landed with the impact of a stone dropped into a still lake. The alumnae around her immediately exchanged knowing looks.

“You two really haven’t changed. That’s what happens when you grow up together on Beacon Hill,” said a woman in a Loro Piana cashmere sweater, laughing as she teased them. “It’s a good thing Ava is so understanding about you two. Any other wife would have lost her mind by now, knowing her husband was still carrying a torch for someone else.”

“Ava is Mrs. Whitaker now, and Noah is one of the most-watched young men in Boston,” another voice chimed in. “Besides, Sloane set them up herself. Why would she be jealous? If Sloane had wanted Noah, Ava never would have had a chance. Everyone knows he’d do anything for her.”

Their words were daggers wrapped in velvet, each one sinking into Ava’s heart.

Hearing the praise, Sloane’s smile deepened. She glanced at Ava, her eyes filled with a victor’s pity.

“Yes, it’s actually rather interesting. I was the one who told him to pursue Ava back then. That was why he finally worked up the courage. Even the proposal on that rented yacht on the Charles River was my idea. I told him, ‘Noah, it’s time you gave Ava a proper title.’ Only then did he go to Tiffany and order the ring.”

Something in Ava’s mind snapped.

She had always believed that impossibly romantic proposal on the river was a sign of his love, a reward for her three years of devotion.

So even the beginning of this marriage, the one all of Boston society had envied, had been nothing more than a casual directive from Sloane?

In that instant, Ava felt a boulder pressing down on her chest. It was hard to breathe. The lounge was filled with laughter, perfume, and the smell of leather sofas, all of it mingling together until she felt sick.

She couldn’t stay another second. She stood abruptly.

“Excuse me. I’m going to the restroom.”

Cold water splashed onto her face. Ava stared at her pale reflection in the mirror, took several deep breaths, and forced herself to calm down.

When she had composed herself and returned to the lounge, everyone had gathered to play Truth or Dare.

The atmosphere was lively. An empty wine bottle spun on the table, and the mouth finally pointed squarely at Sloane.

She drew a truth card.

The person asking the question read it aloud. “Name the most devoted suitor you’ve ever had, and give examples.”

The moment the question was spoken, Ava’s lashes trembled. She instinctively lowered her eyes and stared at the untouched glass of ice water in front of her.

A sweet, reminiscent smile touched Sloane’s lips. She began, her tone lazy and boastful.

“That boy… I think he started pursuing me when we were teenagers in prep school. It’s been almost twenty years now. He once gave me his family’s antique Van Cleef & Arpels brooch and said it belonged to the future mistress of the family.”

Ava’s stomach dropped. She remembered that before her wedding, Noah’s mother had mentioned that very brooch, a family heirloom, and told him to give it to his future wife. What had Noah said then? He’d claimed it was lost during a move.

Sloane went on.

“Every time I got a new boyfriend, he’d lock himself at home and drink all night. Once he even ended up at Mass General with acute gastric bleeding. They almost didn’t save him.”

Ava’s fingertips went cold. Three years ago, Noah had indeed been hospitalized for a so-called “stomach problem.” She had stayed by his bedside day and night, wiping his sweat and feeding him water, her heart aching for the toll his work at Whitaker Group had taken on his body.

“Oh, and,” Sloane added, as if recalling something even more amusing, “when I was studying at the London School of Economics, he would find excuses to fly over almost every week. He said he had meetings with partners in the City. In reality, he just wanted to bring me a box of Fortnum & Mason biscuits, because that was the only flavor in all of London I liked.”

Every word was a hammer blow to her heart. She remembered all those weekends when Noah claimed he had urgent business in London. She remembered how she had so thoughtfully packed his luggage, filling his Louis Vuitton suitcase with his favorite snacks and changes of clothes.

She had poured her whole heart into this marriage, believing she had a husband who loved and respected her.

It turned out she had merely been a convenient, respectable backdrop while he chased the woman he could never forget.

And she had known nothing.

The pain in her chest made it hard to breathe, while the alumnae in the room had already burst into gasps of excitement.

“Oh my God, Sloane! Who is he? That’s beyond devoted. You must have been so moved, right?”

“Exactly! Tell us who it is! You have to bring him to the Christmas party!”

Sloane glanced at Ava, who sat rigid in her seat, and reveled in being the center of attention. Smiling, she agreed.

“All right. At next month’s Christmas party, I’ll introduce him to everyone.”

Just then, the door to the VIP lounge was pushed open.

Noah walked in with an easy smile and went straight to Sloane.

“Introduce who? Why wait until next month? Are you done here? Didn’t we agree to go to the Boston Symphony…”

The moment his gaze swept over Ava, his voice cut off abruptly.

The smile on Noah’s face froze. A clear flash of surprise and panic crossed his eyes.

“Ava? What are you doing here?”

Ava looked at him quietly. She remembered how, just that morning, Noah had sworn he would be in meetings with the firm’s partners until dawn and that she shouldn’t wait up.

So his so-called meeting was taking Sloane to the symphony?

Her lips curved into a smile devoid of warmth as she met his panicked eyes.

“As you can see, I’m at an alumnae gathering.”

Noah nodded several times, like a child caught in a lie, and immediately tried to change the subject to cover his awkwardness.

“Perfect. Is it over? I’ll drive you home.”

Ava didn’t answer. She only took her iPhone from her handbag, tapped the screen lightly, and called an Uber.

Then she looked up at him, her voice calmer than he had ever heard it.

“No need. I’ve called a car. You two should get to the symphony. Don’t be late.”