d from the cover of a society magazine sitting on the counter of his own k

the arm of a man twice her age, a man whose f

ally acclaimed restaurant. 'Ember' . He had named it for the slow-burning fire he felt for her, the one h

lt this pl

-made chair, every single dish on the Michel

er, the paper smooth and cold under his touch.

il clinging to his clothes, and then spent his nights as a prep cook

a single bare bulb. He did it all because she had once whispered in his ear, her breath warm and smelling of champagn

was so clea

rinkling her perfect nose at the smell but smi

nds shaking with excitement. She had kissed him then, a deep, pa

ng it to push through the exhaustion, the doubt, t

all to build a world worthy of her. He thought success was the key

as not a quiet

een delivered to his restaurant this morning,

et for a dinner service that felt meaningless now. His staff walked on eggshe

s most brilliant new chef. They had toasted with cheap sparkling wine, their faces full of

counter where he put the finishing tou

nd over its c

ith no kingdom, a man who had won the war only to find out the prize had been given to someone else. He had thought his ambition was for

ear ago, when construction on th

on the floor, their backs against a bare wall. The city lights twinkled outside the large, unwashed windows.

cial table he would always keep reserved for them, about the dish he was creating just for her. She ha

d the small, velvet-covered box

a platinum band. He had spent months working with a jeweler,

g to tell her that all of it, the restaurant, the stars, the acclaim, was just a prelude to the life he wanted to build

acrifices with a ne

use he couldn't afford a plane ticket and couldn't take a day off. He' d ignored the concerned calls from his mother, telling her he

s been there, a quiet, humming

ad looked at Ethan' s hands, calloused from kitchen work, and

harpened knives. Her mother had simply smiled, a tight, polite expression that

e he had interpreted as solidarity. Now he saw it for

on surfaced, one he had

and dismissive after that disastrous dinner. "Money and success chan

d even after he passed it, she had chosen someone else anyway. The truth was, he was never going to be enough. His success didn't