Before marrying Amber, Calvin had flitted through numerous lovers—each one more dazzling than the last. Some were the picture of innocence and sweetness; others oozed seduction and sophistication. In the elite world they inhabited, a powerful, wealthy man like Calvin was expected to maintain a roster of paramours. Fidelity was almost a quaint concept, overshadowed by the spectacle of affluence.
When those relationships inevitably ended, Calvin's solution was always the same: a luxury car or a lavish home, tokens of his indifference disguised as generosity. To him, any problem that could be solved with money wasn't a problem at all.
Amber had been Calvin's wife for three long years, during which she came to understand her place in his world. She wasn't his partner, confidant, or even friend. She was a contract, a role he could fulfill with money and public gestures. Amber had tried to console herself with this reality: "If there's no love, at least there's wealth." But even the sparkle of diamonds couldn't hide the emptiness in her heart.