Beyond the Cold Moonlight

Ten years after she failed to save Julian Vance, and five years after he broke their engagement, Chloe Hayes meets him again at an international business summit. He keeps drifting toward her across the hall, and once the sessions end he corners her in an empty corridor to ask how she has been. Before she can answer, his father-in-law, Chairman Miller, hurries over to greet her warmly and asks whether the two of them knew each other in college. Two voices answer at once, and the corridor falls silent.

Chloe has built her own standing since the day Julian told her another woman could spare him twenty years of grinding. Miller, sensing the chill, smooths things over and later presses Julian to work the alumni connection at an upcoming gala, reminding him who made his promotion possible. Julian bows his head and obeys.

Alone in her office, Chloe reads the manoeuvring for what it is and lets it pass. This time, she has no intention of saving him.