Chapter 1
Jason
An antique full-length mirror hung between two towering ivory columns overlooking the grand ballroom below.
I stopped before it, taking one final look at my reflection.
Not out of vanity.
After six years, I simply wanted to make sure the first thing Josephine saw wasn’t a man who looked exhausted after crossing an ocean.
I straightened the black bow tie of the Tom Ford tuxedo I’d purchased only hours earlier after landing in London. Running my fingers through my brown hair, I coaxed a few stubborn strands away from my forehead before letting out a slow breath.
Then...
The first notes drifted through the gallery.
Bach’s Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major.
I closed my eyes, letting the melody settle over me. It should have felt familiar. Instead, it only reminded me how empty six years can sound.
I had known every measure of that suite since I was nine years old.
Back then she played it for an audience of one.
Now hundreds of people listened to what had once belonged only to us.
I still recognized the woman holding the bow.
I just didn’t know if she would recognize the man standing in front of her.
There was a time she could find me in any crowd before I ever spoke.
Tonight, I wasn’t sure she’d even look my way.
The melody carried me toward the wrought-iron balustrade overlooking the ballroom. Its intricate black filigree framed the celebration below like the edge of a painting.
I stepped beside one of the massive columns.
Not to hide.
Only because I didn’t want to distract her with my presence.
The ballroom unfolded beneath soaring vaulted ceilings, crystal chandeliers scattering warm light across polished marble floors while elegantly dressed guests filled the room with quiet conversation.
At the center of it all...
...was Josephine.
She wore a floor-length gown of shimmering olive silk that caught the light with every movement, shifting between deep forest green and liquid gold beneath the chandeliers. The softly draped cowl neckline framed her graceful shoulders, while the open back disappeared beneath two long scarf panels that floated behind her like silk banners with every subtle movement.
The cello rested against her heart and her long legs cradled the instrument.
Her loose chestnut hair cascaded over one shoulder as she closed her eyes and surrendered herself to the music.
For a moment...
I forgot to breathe.
She had changed.
Not into someone else.
Into the woman she had always been becoming.
The distance between the balcony and the ballroom couldn’t have been more than thirty feet.
It felt like another lifetime.
The final note lingered beneath the crystal chandeliers before gently fading into silence. A heartbeat later, the ballroom erupted into warm applause, followed by murmured praise that rippled through the crowd. The English had a way of expressing admiration with remarkable restraint… yet somehow their quiet appreciation carried the weight of a standing ovation.
For six years I had imagined this moment.
Funny how every version ended with her running into my arms the way she used to.
Reality left me standing perfectly still.
From the balcony, I watched her, struck by the realization that time hadn’t made her smaller. It had only taught her to inhabit the body that had always been hers with quiet confidence. She no longer carried herself as though she wished to disappear. Instead, every graceful movement seemed effortless, every smile unguarded, every step certain.
The woman before me still carried the broad shoulders she’d inherited from Papa Fred, her soft, generous curves as unmistakably Josephine as the music that had always belonged to her. The difference wasn’t her body. It was the way she inhabited it. Gone was the girl who tried to fold herself into the background. In her place stood a woman who belonged exactly where she was, without apology.
She had never been more beautiful.
Josephine carefully returned the cello to its stand.
The moment she rose to her feet, guests gathered around her, eager to offer congratulations and praise for her performance.
I left the shelter of the balcony and made my way toward the sweeping staircase leading into the grand ballroom.
One measured step after another.
My eyes never left her.
I watched every smile she offered, every graceful movement of her hands, the absentminded way she tucked a loose strand of her chestnut hair behind her ear.
She was still Jojo.
Only now...
She no longer carried herself like someone hoping not to be seen.
She belonged in the center of the room.
Then, as though she’d sensed me long before she saw me, she looked up.
Our eyes met.
Everything else ceased to exist.
The music.
The conversations.
The laughter.
Even the six years that had separated us.
For one impossible heartbeat...
There was only Josephine and me.
I continued walking until I finally stood before her.
For six years I’d wondered what I would say when I saw her again.
Now that she stood before me, every word abandoned me.
Her lips parted in surprise.
“Jason... what a surprise.”
I couldn’t help smiling.
“So... I’m ‘Jason’ now?”
A faint blush touched her cheeks.
“Well... it’s been, what... six years?”
“For you, maybe.”
She frowned.
“What do you mean?”
“It seems my invitation got lost in the mail.”
Guilt flickered across her face.
“I... I don’t know what to say. But... how did you get here?”
“I’m Sandara’s plus one.”
Her brows lifted.
“But... Kyler...”
“Had a last-minute business commitment.”
Josephine fell silent.
As if the evening itself had been waiting, the orchestra began playing Can I Have This Dance from High School Musical.
I laughed softly.
“Really?”
I extended my hand.
She hesitated.
Only for a second.
Then she placed hers in mine.
Our fingers intertwined as though they already knew the way.
Without thinking, I lifted our joined hands, guiding her into a slow twirl.
It wasn’t choreography.
It was memory.
Our bodies remembered the rhythm as though six years had never happened. My palm settled gently against the small of her back while hers rested over my heart.
And together...
We waltzed.
Exactly as we had countless times growing up.
Neither of us spoke.
Not at first.
Finally, her voice broke the silence.
“Jason... I’m so sorry. I just thought...”
“You don’t have to explain.”
She lowered her eyes.
“So... how have you been? It’s been a very long time.”
“You mean since you left?”
Pain crossed her face.
“You once told me...” she said quietly. “Someday we’ll remember moments like this with laughter when we’re married to other people and have children.”
The words hit me harder than I expected.
I had almost forgotten I’d ever said them.
She hadn’t.
“I wasn’t in a good place. I had to start somewhere.”
I slowly shook my head.
“You weren’t starting over, Jojo.”
“You were running away.”
She opened her mouth to answer...
But the music ended.
The ballroom erupted into applause before dissolving into the familiar murmur of conversation.
Neither of us moved.
We simply stood there, still holding each other.
Neither willing to be the first to let go.
Her pulse fluttered beneath my fingertips.
Mine answered just as fiercely.
She could always read me.
She knew the calm expression on my face had nothing to do with what was happening inside my chest.
Then a warm voice shattered the moment.
“Sweetheart, I didn’t know you knew Jason Krupp.”
Josephine immediately stepped away from me.
She smiled politely before wrapping her arms around the man beside her and greeting him with a gentle kiss.
“Yes... I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned it.”
“We grew up together,” I said.
Oliver Talbot, the Earl of Wessex, extended his hand.
“It is an honor to finally meet you. The success of Krupp Technologies has been making headlines across the business world.”
I accepted his handshake.
“The honor is mine, Lord Wessex.”
He smiled warmly.
“If you’re Josephine’s childhood friend, please... call me Oliver.”
I studied him for a moment.
Tall. Quietly handsome. There was an effortless aristocratic grace about him, even though his family had long since lost everything except the title.
We had never met.
The castle, however, was familiar.
Krupp Technologies, through one of our real estate subsidiaries, had financed the restoration of the ancestral estate where we now stood. The castle had been restored to its former grandeur, along with much of the surrounding village, transforming the neglected estate into one of England’s most sought-after luxury destinations.
Looking at the castle now...
I wasn’t so sure that had been the only reason.
It probably explained the warmth in his welcome.
My gaze drifted back to Josephine.
Moments ago, she’d been laughing effortlessly...
Now...
that lightness had faded.
She was still smiling...
But only because she felt she had to.
Beneath it, I recognized the uneasiness in her eyes.
It was the same look she’d worn whenever something was weighing on her, no matter how hard she tried to hide it.
I forced a smile of my own.
“Congratulations on your engagement, Jojo... Oliver.”
“Thank you,” Josephine whispered.
Oliver beamed.
“Thank you! We’re delighted you could join us.”
I nodded before turning away.
Every step felt heavier than the last.
Seeing Josephine standing in another man’s arms tightened something deep inside my chest until breathing became difficult.
I never imagined there would come a day when Josephine wouldn’t be mine anymore.
The tightening in my chest was familiar.
I wanted to tell her not to marry him.
Instead, I stood there smiling.
Years of learning how to master what no one else could see took over.
My breathing stayed even.
My expression never changed.
No one would have known.
Except Josephine.
She always knew.
I stopped.
Turning slightly, I spoke quietly.
“Jojo.”
Silence.
“Remember... Always.”
I smiled sadly.
Her eyes shimmered before she whispered the only answer she could.
“...and Forever.”
Josephine
Time stood still as I watched Jason walk away.
My eyes followed him until he disappeared into the sea of elegantly dressed guests. Even after he was gone, I kept staring, hoping for one last glimpse of him.
Nothing.
An emptiness settled inside me so suddenly it stole the air from my lungs. It felt as though a part of me had walked away with him.
I wanted to reach after him.
To close the distance.
To ask him not to leave.
My lips parted, but no words came.
Instead, my gaze drifted to the sapphire resting on my finger. Beneath the ballroom lights, its deep royal blue shimmered with breathtaking beauty, the two diamonds beside it scattering tiny fragments of light.
I should have felt the comfort of Oliver’s promise.
Instead...
All I could feel was the lingering warmth of Jason’s hand around mine.
I closed my fingers, as though I could somehow keep the memory from slipping away.
Jason had changed.
The lanky teenage boy I’d once known had become a man with broad shoulders and a commanding presence, yet some things remained exactly the same. His stubborn dark hair still refused to stay in place, falling across his forehead no matter how often he brushed it back. His gray-green eyes still saw straight through every wall I tried to build.
The moment he realized how uncomfortable I was with his unexpected arrival and Oliver standing beside me, he quietly stepped away.
He hadn’t needed an explanation.
He simply knew.
After six years...
How did he still know me so well?
The answer came before I could stop it.
Because I still knew him.
Behind his practiced smile, I had seen it.
The tension in his jaw.
The restraint in his eyes.
The storm he was trying so desperately to hide.
No one else would have noticed.
I did.
His arms had held me during our dance with a familiarity that six years could never erase. My skin still burned where he’d touched me, wrapped in his warmth, his scent, everything that had always been unmistakably Jason.
For one impossible moment...
It hadn’t felt like six years.
It had felt as though the distance between us had never existed.
No.
I forced the thought away before it could take root.
Oliver is my home now.
My chest tightened until every breath felt borrowed.
Still, I refused to let the tears fall.
Then his voice returned to me.
Always.
The word echoed through every corner of my mind.
I had spent six years rebuilding a life without Jason.
Six years convincing myself that I had finally moved on.
Yet it had all fallen apart in the space of a single dance.
Hope.
Stupid.
Relentless.
Hope.
It slipped free from the place where I’d buried it years ago.
Was he here because of me?
Or because he still loved my parents as though they were his own?
Was it cruel...
To still dream that one day Jason Krupp might love me?
Not as the little girl who had followed him everywhere.
Not as his best friend.
Not as family.
But as the woman standing before him.
Again...
His voice.
Forever.
Why?
Why had he made me say those painful words...
When he was the one person I had never truly wanted to say goodbye to?
Someone wrapped their arms around me from behind, resting their head in the crook of my neck.
I closed my eyes.
Jason.
“Sweetheart, what was that about?”
I opened my eyes.
“Oliver... sweetie, it was just childhood banter.”
“Do you think Mr. Krupp is all right? He seemed tense.”
“Everything about Jason is intense. He’s always been that way.”
“Why have you never told me you grew up together?”
“I never thought it was important.”
“It is. Krupp Technologies’ real estate subsidiary invested in restoring this very castle, along with the village on the estate.”
“What?”
I turned to face him.
“You’re just telling me this now?”
“I never knew it mattered.”
My thoughts spiraled.
Why would Jason invest in Oliver’s estate? He certainly wasn’t running out of opportunities to expand his portfolio.
No. I had to get out of here.
I needed air.
Everything was happening too fast.
“Oliver... sweetheart, will you excuse me? I need to find Sandara.”
He smiled and kissed my forehead.
“Don’t be gone too long. We still have more guests arriving.”
I forced a smile before turning away.
Then I walked.
Walking became hurrying.
Hurrying became running.
I didn’t know where I was going.
Only that I had to get out.
I slipped through a pair of large French doors at the back of the castle. Beyond them, the garden stretched beneath the evening sky, quiet and untouched by the laughter drifting from the ballroom. Relief washed over me as I spotted a large oak tree with a marble bench tucked beneath its branches.
A place to hide.
The moment I sat down, I pressed a trembling hand against my chest. The tears I’d fought so hard to contain finally escaped.
Why did I still feel this way?
It wasn’t simply familiarity.
It felt like coming home.
No.
Oliver is my home now.
We’ve been together for almost two years.
I quickly brushed away my tears with the back of my hand when I heard footsteps approaching.
“Josephine?”
“Where are you?”
Perfect.
Sandara.
She knew me better than almost anyone. Hiding from her was as pointless as trying to hide from my own reflection.
“Sandara... I’m here.”
“There you are.” She rounded the tree and smiled. “Oliver told me you were looking for me, but I didn’t think you’d decide to look for me under the bushes.”
I smiled at her.
“I was looking for you.”
She folded her arms, those slanted brown eyes narrowing with unmistakable suspicion.
“I mean... I said I was going to look for you. Then I didn’t. But I wanted to.”
She blinked.
“All right... you completely lost me.”
Then her expression softened.
“Wait...”
“Were you crying?”
“No.”
I looked away.
“I just had something in my eye.”
“Mm-hmm...” she murmured. “Does that something in your eye happen to be named Jason?”
“Shut up.”
Despite myself, I laughed through the tears.
“Why did you bring him here? I thought we were clear about that.”
“I was ambushed.”
“What do you mean?”
“Kyler drove me to the airport. We were supposed to take a commercial flight, but somehow I ended up on Jason’s private jet. Then Kyler suddenly had urgent business to attend to.”
“Oh, sweetheart...”
She opened her arms, and I rested my head against her shoulder as she held me.
“Maybe this is a good thing.”
“It isn’t.”
“You’ve spent six years avoiding this moment.”
“Because there’s nothing to talk about.”
“There is everything to talk about.”
She pulled back just enough to look at me.
“You’ve just never let me.”
“I’m getting married.”
The words left my mouth more like a reminder than a declaration.
“Yes,” Sandara said gently. “And I’ve tried so hard to talk you out of rushing into it. Oliver is the first man you’ve seriously loved since that causal relationship at Oxford.”
“How dare you ridicule my dating history.”
A weak smile escaped before another tear slipped down my cheek.
“I’m an emotional circus right now,” I whispered. “I never imagined seeing Jason would make me feel like this.”
Sandara’s smile disappeared.
“Josephine...”
“He wasn’t just your first love.”
“He was your whole world.”
My composure shattered.
“...But I wasn’t his.”
“You don’t know that.”
Her voice was firm.
“You never told him how you truly felt. The two of you were so close... and somehow still miles apart.”
I lowered my gaze.
The six-carat sapphire resting on my finger shimmered beneath the moonlight. Deep royal blue, flanked by two brilliant trillion-cut diamonds, it had belonged to generations of Talbots before finding its way to me.
When Oliver slipped it onto my finger, I’d never felt happier.
Tonight...
It felt heavier than it ever had before.
“Oliver is a good man.”
I turned the ring slowly around my finger.
“And I’m marrying him.”
“I am done with Jason.”
“I’ve moved on.”
Sandara held my gaze.
“Do you really believe that?”
Silence settled between us.
I thought about what Jason had said.
You’re running away.
No.
I wasn’t.
...Was I?
I had refused to hear news about him.
Sandara wasn’t allowed to mention him.
Whenever Kyler visited with her, Jason’s name became an unspoken rule.
I had built an entire life where he simply didn’t exist.
It had been easier that way.
I had learned how to live without Jason.
I had never learned how to stop yearning for him.
“No.”
The answer barely escaped above a whisper.
Sandara sighed.
“That’s a problem now that you’re engaged.”
“When are you leaving?”
She raised an eyebrow.
“Wow.”
“I just got here, and you’re already asking me to leave.”
I laughed softly.
“No... that’s not what I meant.”
“I know.”
She smiled.
“We’re leaving tomorrow morning.”
Then she hesitated.
“When you’re ready... come back inside.”
“Oliver will start wondering if something’s wrong.”
I nodded.
“Okay.”
Then something Jason had said earlier returned to me.
“One more thing.”
“Did you know Jason invested in restoring Talbot Estate? The castle... even the village?”
Sandara stared at me.
“You didn’t know?”
“Why does everyone know except me?”
“You never wanted to hear anything about him.”
She squeezed my hand before disappearing through the French doors.
Silence reclaimed the garden.
I wandered toward the fountain at the edge of the lawn.
A little boy chased a girl around its stone rim, their laughter dancing through the cool evening air.
I watched them for a long moment.
How do you teach a heart to stop loving the only place it has ever called home?
No.
Oliver is my home now.
I am marrying Oliver.
I closed my eyes.
My heart remained unconvinced.
