The Woman Who Finally Chose Herself

For seven years, from seventeen to twenty-four, Claire Bennett gave everything to Ethan Sterling, the Sterling heir of New York. She was the woman who came whenever he called, the nurse at his sickbed, the shield who drank for him at business dinners, and the only warmth in his cold apartment. She believed the secrecy was temporary, that one day he would acknowledge her.

Then Olivia Hayes, the girl Ethan never got over, returns home. He asks Claire to attend his dinner date with Olivia, to keep the conversation going and take her drinks, and calls Claire only his personal assistant and a good friend. Seeing that seven years of devotion meant nothing to him, Claire burns the photos she kept, leaves behind every luxury gift, and tells Ethan in front of his family that she could end up with anyone but never him. She then goes to her parents, Richard and Margaret Bennett, and asks to work at the family's New Zealand branch for a completely fresh start.