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the next guy will stick around long enough to pay off the engagement ring.”
    Asia’s gut twisted at the mention of the ring she’d continued wearing. She pulled it from her finger, preparing to throw it at his retreating back, but then she thought better of it. He’d stiffed her with the bill. She sure as hell wasn’t giving him the ring.
    She wrapped her arms around her waist, bending over in pain as she tried to determine whether the last five minutes had really happened, or whether she was in the midst of some horrible nightmare. A chill swept over her, despite the warmth of the humid July night. How could she have been so blind to the fact that the man she’d shared her life with could barely tolerate her?
    She felt like a fool. A clueless, humiliated fool.
    A kernel of dread sprouted in her stomach at the thought of having to see both Cortland and Nina around the office. How would she bear seeing them together?
    Did anyone else know? Was the entire office snickering behind her back because she had been too blind to notice that her fiancé was getting it on with one of his co-workers?
    Asia thought back to Cathy Dennison’s peculiar visit the other day, and the kernel of dread blossomed, filling her belly with a sickening numbness.
    She drew in several deep breaths, but it felt as if the air wasn’t reaching her brain. She blinked repeatedly, but the people walking along the sidewalk, the cars whizzing by, the pruned trees, the street signs—they all seemed out of focus.
    “You are better than this,” Asia said, straightening her spine and lifting her chin in the air. She forced herself to regain control of her emotions. She was not going to lose it, not over him.
    It didn’t matter if the entire office knew about his treachery. None of it mattered. Cortland was the one who’d cheated. She refused to feel ashamed when he was the one who had done wrong.
    Telling herself that she was okay, Asia hailed a cab to take her home.
    But as she huddled in the corner of the musty cab, the lights reflecting off the Midtown Manhattan skyscrapers were blurred by the tears that coursed down her face. She attacked her cheeks with angry swipes, furious at the display of weakness.
    She did not cry over men. Ever.
    Years ago, back when the first man in her life—her own father—had crushed the soul of his entire family by walking out on them, Asia had vowed that she would never allow herself to be hurt like that again.
    But this bastard had hurt her. She’d trusted Cortland to be better than this. Asia thought about the guilt she’d felt over missing his dinner, when all this time he’d been cheating on her.
    “Bastard,” she whispered.
    Her personal cell phone rang, but she ignored it. It was either her mother or India, and she wasn’t fit to talk to either of them right now. Her mother would know something was wrong as soon as she heard her voice. And India...well, she was still on Asia’s shit list for the stunt she’d pulled sending that rebound guy to her office earlier today.
    The phone stopped ringing, but started back again a second later.
    Rolling her eyes, Asia wiped away the few rogue tears that still managed to escape as she pulled out the phone. It wasn’t her mother or India, it was Rodney’s fiancée.
    “Hi Lizzie,” Asia answered.
    “Asia, honey. Rodney just called and told me what happened. Are you okay?”
    “I’m fine,” she said, though the hiccup in her voice belied the words.
    “I’m so pissed at Rodney for taking him in. I told him to throw Cortland out of that apartment right now.”
    Leaning her head against the back seat, Asia let out a tired breath.
    “Rodney and Cortland have been friends for more than ten years, Lizzie. He is not going to throw him out, nor should he. Really, I’m fine.” Asia thought about something her sister had said. “Why would I want a guy like that anyway, right?”
    “Well, he’s not coming to the wedding.”
    “He’s the best man,” Asia pointed