Chapter 15

Maya’s POV

My heart lurched in my chest as soon as I spotted him. It really was him—finally, after all this time. I pressed my fingers to the edges of the counter to steady myself. I had not expected him to come in this early, nor so soon after I’d started this job. It had only been a week, and just three days behind the counter at this little café tucked away in the Valley. I’d managed to whip up the best coffee on the menu, and already the shift crew and the manager were singing my praises. Every “good wife” lesson Adrian ever insisted I learn had suddenly seemed worth the aches and resentments. First I had needed to feel dead, destitute, and seething with vengeance—yet oddly enough, it was all paying off now.

He stepped forward in line. My breath caught. The moment he was directly in front of me, I forced my expression into the polite, courteous smile I used on every custome