CHAPTER 1 — BOARDING GATE SECRETS
Ryan didn’t move.
Not at first.
The aisle behind him filled with impatient passengers, but he stayed frozen, one hand still half-raised like he could erase what he was seeing.
Me.
In uniform.
At the aircraft door.
“Good afternoon,” I repeated calmly, stepping slightly aside so the line could continue flowing. “Welcome aboard.”
Ashley tightened her grip on his arm.
“Ryan?” she whispered. “Why is she—”
He finally forced a laugh.
A thin, broken sound.
“This is… insane,” he muttered. “Valerie, what are you doing here?”
I didn’t blink.
“I work here,” I said politely. “You know that.”
His jaw tightened.
Because he did know that.
He just never cared enough to remember.
Passengers kept boarding. The universe didn’t stop for his embarrassment.
But I noticed everything.
The sweat at his temple.
The flicker in Ashley’s eyes when she looked between us.
The realization forming slowly in her expression:
May you like
This wasn’t a divorced man.
This was a lie standing in a first-class aisle.
