“Nathaniel, why are you asking about her? I’m your fiancée now. Are you still in love with her?”
His voice caught. After a long pause, he finally said slowly, “Of course not. It’s just… I haven’t seen her in a while, and there’s something I wanted to ask.”
I didn’t hear the rest. Back at Briarwood Manor, I focused on getting my goods ready for tomorrow’s work. I didn’t expect him to actually show up at my door.
Before dawn, heavy knocking echoed through the manor. I frowned and peeked quietly out the window. Seeing it was Nathaniel, I chose to ignore him.
“No one’s home? But if Bella isn’t here, where else could she be?”
He knew me well and knew there were only a few places I ever went. It wasn’t until daylight fully broke that he finally left with frustration.
By then, it was already past 7:00 am. I’d already lost the will to go to work.
So I grabbed my bag and hopped on the bus into the city. In my last life, I rarely ever came downtown.
Nathaniel thought wandering around was nothing but a sign of idleness. So my days had been nothing more than endless trips between home and work.
At the shopping mall, I ran straight into him and Catherine. They were carrying armfuls of things for the wedding, and I overheard Catherine complaining about me.
“Bella is so petty. She’s just jealous that you’re marrying me, that’s why she won’t help prepare the wedding.”
Nathaniel’s face was unreadable, giving away nothing of what he was really thinking.
I lowered my head, trying to avoid them. But then, unexpectedly, he called my name under his breath. “Bella?”
I hurried my steps, bought a movie ticket on a whim, and ducked into the newly opened theater. The movie turned out to be some cheesy romance.
The place was packed with couples, which only made me feel even more out of place sitting there by myself. Not long after I settled in, I caught Catherine’s voice close by. “Nathaniel, what are you thinking about? You’re not even paying attention to the movie.”
My whole body stiffened. I could feel his gaze searching the seats behind me.
He let out a soft sigh and murmured, “Was I really just seeing things?”
