I slipped out of the theater before the movie even ended. After making sure no one was following me, I wandered around until nightfall before finally taking the bus home.
On the road leading back to Briarwood Manor, I suddenly noticed a long shadow stretched across the ground.
Nathaniel was smoking under the moonlight, his face hidden in the dark.
I turned on my heel and headed straight for the Brown residence. As soon as I pushed the door open, I saw Catherine flaunting the things she’d gotten with him that day.
She held a wedding dress against her body, looking at me with smug delight. “Bella, you’ve probably never worn anything this nice, have you? But don’t worry, after I marry Nathaniel, I’ll hand this one down to you. You can wear it at your wedding.”
Then, she showed off a watch on her wrist, parading it in front of me.
The knot of pain in my chest slowly eased into numbness, and eventually, a quiet sense of acceptance settled in.
In my last life, when I married Nathaniel, I’d made almost everything with my own hands. He insisted on keeping things simple, and aside from a cheap bottle of face cream, he didn’t buy me anything. Yet now, he was generous with Catherine.
“Oh, by the way, Nathaniel said we’re going to have a wedding banquet, too.” Her eyes gleamed with pride as she whispered, “These are all things you never had.”
I remained quiet, though my hands dug into the chair until the wood creaked.
She had indeed been reborn, too. She knew exactly what my wedding with Nathaniel had been like. She had competed with me her whole life.
And this time, even her marriage had to outshine mine.
To avoid running into Nathaniel, I stayed the night at the Brown residence. When I returned to Briarwood Manor before dawn, I saw cigarette butts scattered all over the ground outside. I had no idea when he finally left.
