Part 2All Roads Lead Away from You

A week later, I stood in front of a mirror, wearing the bespoke wedding gown from the Bartletts. I couldn’t bring myself to smile. In our last life, Chloe had worn this very dress when she jumped from the eighteenth floor of a skyscraper, dying right in front of Asher and me. It was the beginning of a decade of mutual torment.

After the fitting, I went home and began to burn everything that connected me to Asher. My hand paused when I found a brightly colored beaded bracelet.

We were just kids, playing house. Asher had gotten down on one knee, holding out this bracelet like it was a diamond ring. “This is our promise,” he’d said, mimicking the actors on TV. “When I grow up, I’m going to marry you.”

The memory was so sweet that a small smile touched my lips. I slipped the bracelet onto my wrist without thinking.

I was pulled from my thoughts by the butler, who informed me I had a guest.

Asher was sitting in the parlor, the bandage still on his forehead. He sat ramrod straight, like he was here for a negotiation.

“Vivienne,” my father said, his expression complicated. “Asher has come with a very generous offer from the Thorne family.”

Several documents were spread across the table. Property deeds, project transfer agreements, even a stake in the Thorne family’s core business in the city.

I scoffed. “Is this a marriage proposal, Mr. Thorne?”

Asher looked up, his voice raspy. “Whatever the Bartletts can give your family, the Thornes can give more. Just call off Chloe’s engagement, and we can sign these today.”

It was practically his entire net worth. He was really willing to risk it all for her.

I bit the inside of my cheek to keep the bitterness down.

My father looked at me. “Vivienne, what do you think?”

I stepped forward and coolly pushed the documents back across the table. “This alliance was decided long ago. To back out now, just because the Bartlett heir has had an accident… our family cannot afford to be known as dishonorable.”

“Vivienne!” Asher shot up, grabbing my wrist. “Why do you have to interfere? You know what Julian Bartlett is like now! You’ll be the death of Chloe!”

“Her death?” I yanked my arm free, my laugh sharp and humorless. “Her very name is the result of her mother sleeping her way into this family. A bastard child who has lived the life of a princess for years. Now she’s being asked to fulfill a promise, and you call that pushing her to her death? I don’t care if Julian Bartlett is disabled. Even if he were dying tomorrow, she would still have to walk down that aisle!”

A soft sob came from behind the decorative screen. Chloe ran out, her eyes red and puffy.

Asher’s face paled. He looked at me in disbelief. “You knew she was listening?”

I tilted my head. “Of course.” Those words were for both of them. I hated her. If she hadn’t killed herself in our last life, leaving a permanent thorn between us, Asher and I might have had a chance.

He ground his teeth. “When did you become so vicious?” He threw the words at me like stones before turning and chasing after her.

My breath caught in my throat. I tilted my head back, forcing back the sting in my eyes.

I thought the drama was over. But later, Asher cornered me in the garden. I don’t know what Chloe told him, but his eyes were blazing with fury.

“Vivienne, she may be your stepsister, but she truly sees you as a sister. Your mother’s death was not her fault! How old was she? She has felt guilty about it to this day! I don’t understand how your mother, who was such a kind woman, could have given birth to such a cruel, selfish daughter!”

SMACK.

The force of my slap sent his head snapping to the side. My hand was trembling. “Asher Thorne,” I seethed, “you have no right to talk about my mother.”

On her deathbed, my mother had entrusted me to him. And in return, he had turned his affections to the very person who had caused her so much pain.

“I’m telling you now, I will never back down. If she has to die, she’ll die at her own wedding!”

My words were like a lit match to gasoline. “Enough!” he roared. His eyes were bloodshot as he glared at me, and I met his gaze without flinching. It was just like old times.

But then, his expression softened. His eyes fixed on the colorful bracelet on my wrist.

“…You kept it.”

My heart lurched. The thorns I had so carefully erected around myself retracted. He was right. I didn’t want to repeat the mistakes of our past life.

I let out a breath. “Asher… actually, I’ve decided to take…”

Before I could finish, he lunged forward and ripped the bracelet from my wrist. The colorful beads scattered across the stone path with a series of sharp clicks.

“Don’t use the past to manipulate me,” he snarled. “I won’t let you destroy Chloe! Vivienne, just you wait.”

I stood frozen for a long time. Finally, I knelt and began to pick up the scattered beads, one by one. Tears fell, silent and unnoticed, onto the cold stone.

It’s better this way, I told myself. A clean break. There shouldn’t be anything between us anymore.