Chapter 3My Ex Was My Best Investment

I lost the bet.

Ewan lasted two weeks. He actually lasted six months. For half a year, he was a saint. No late nights, no mysterious "business dinners," no perfume on his collar that wasn't mine.

People started whispering that the lion had finally been tamed. They told me I was lucky, that I’d hit the jackpot by catching him at the right time.

Lucky? I didn't think so.

Sure enough, in the seventh month, Ewan came back from a business trip with a girl in tow. A recent college grad.

"This is Penny. She’s a new intern. Find a place for her," he said, avoiding my eyes as he spoke.

I looked at her. She was young, vibrant, and had that specific look in her eyes—the look of someone who thinks she’s the first person to ever discover fire. I saw my own ghost in her.

"Which department, Ewan?" I asked.

He finally looked at me. We stared at each other for a long, heavy moment. The silence grew so awkward that even Penny started to fidget.

"Wherever you think is best," Ewan snapped, then turned and walked away.

Wherever I think? Right.

I turned to Penny. She was beaming at me with that dangerous kind of innocence. "He told me he wanted me to work directly under him," she said.

I nodded. Her fate was already decided. Why he felt the need to go through the charade of asking me was almost funny.