Chapter 2 Chapter 2 Is This… the Necklace You Lost at the Moonriver Hotel?

My palms were slick with sweat as I clenched my fists.

Please. Don’t recognize me.

That night I was a complete mess, hair wild like a lunatic. Today I had my hair tied back, uniform crisp and proper. He had to not recognize me.

Darren’s gaze lingered on my face for a full five seconds.

To me, those five seconds felt like five centuries.

Finally, he looked away and turned to Bob.

“Next time, don’t put someone who looks this… slow in the front row.”

With that, he strode out of the conference room.

I let out a long breath, my legs going weak as I nearly collapsed.

Thank God. He didn’t recognize me.

But before I could finish celebrating, a far more terrifying thought struck me.

Panicking, I reached for my neck.

Nothing.

My necklace.

Where was my necklace?!

The one engraved with my best friend’s name. Mary King.

It was a custom piece Mary had asked me to pick up for her. I’d worn it last night to check how it looked, and then…

It had to be at the hotel.

On Darren Gellar’s bed.

I bolted back to my apartment.

Mary was sitting in the wrecked living room, her eyes sharp enough to skin me alive.

“Nora! Where the hell have you been?!” she shrieked, rushing over and grabbing my collar. “Where’s my necklace? That thing was my secret weapon for tonight’s blind date. Do you have any idea what kind of rich husband that necklace could land me?”

I dropped my head, my voice trembling.

“Mary… I’m sorry. I blacked out last night. The necklace… I think I left it at the hotel.”

“Left it?” She shoved me hard, sending me stumbling into the shoe cabinet. She pointed at my face, her words dripping with cruelty.

“You’re just jealous, aren’t you? You’re stuck being a nobody cop your whole life, covered in dust and grime, and you can’t stand seeing me do well. You threw it away on purpose, didn’t you? You wanted me to embarrass myself.”

“I didn’t!” I pleaded desperately. “I’ll pay you back. I swear I’ll buy you a new one.”

What I didn’t dare tell her was that her necklace might already be classified as evidence… by the police chief himself.

At the same time, across the city, in a top-floor office flooded with sunlight.

Darren Gellar stood by the window, staring at the silver necklace in his hand.

His thumb traced the engraved name over and over again.

Mary King.

“Sir, we found her,” Bob said, pushing the door open. “A woman named Mary King. She lives in an old apartment building on the east side.”

Darren’s expression softened instantly, something almost feverish flickering beneath the surface.

He couldn’t forget how perfectly their bodies had fit together.

He couldn’t forget her breath against his ear.

She had “arrested” him like a brute, yet when the drug had taken hold, she was the only one who hadn’t taken advantage of him. Instead, she’d tried to save him.

“Get the car ready,” Darren said as he stood, adjusting his cufflinks.

“I want to meet my… lifesaver in person.”

A few hours later.

Driven by guilt, I volunteered for extra patrol duty in the neighborhood, hoping to earn enough overtime to compensate Mary.

That was when the doorbell rang at our apartment.

Mary opened the door with an irritated expression, only to freeze the next second.

The man standing there wore a perfectly tailored bespoke suit. Broad shoulders, narrow waist, a commanding presence that made our shabby apartment building look suddenly unworthy of him.

It was Darren Gellar.

Even if Mary didn’t recognize the new police chief, she recognized the three-million-dollar Patek Philippe on his wrist.

“Excuse me,” Darren asked gently, his voice low and warm, nothing like the cold authority he carried at the precinct. Carefully, as if holding something precious, he took out a cheap silver necklace.

“Is this… the necklace you lost at the Moonriver Hotel?”