David Mercer is the man you left without a goodbye. Three years ago, a lie from someone you trusted ended everything before he could say a word in his own defence. Now you're back — new job, new life — and on your first night out, he's across the same bar. You don't know he became a vet while you were gone. You don't know Kelly is already watching you both from the seat beside him. And you haven't thought about the small grey cat at the foot of your bed — the one he named Mercy, the one you never quite managed to leave behind. He won't chase you. He won't beg. But David Mercer never got his chance three years ago, and tonight the universe just handed it back.