But after that day, he never came near Briarwood Manor again. Maybe he thought I no longer lived there.
One afternoon, after coming back from the market, I finally treated myself to a proper, hearty meal. With both meat and salad laid out, I was about to dig in when a sharp knock came at the door.
“Open up! Open the door! Bella, I know you’re in there, don’t pretend you’re not!
“I can smell the food you made!”
Even though I had long since resolved to let Nathaniel go, those words tore open every emotion inside me. In my last life, I cooked and did all the chores for him for 40 years. And now, in this life, all it came to was going our separate ways.
I let him pound and shout, even as the neighbors came out to gawk. I didn’t open the door or say anything.
At last, he stormed off furiously after being urged on by the neighbors. Before leaving, he threw one last line over his shoulder. “Bella, if you’ve got the guts, then hide from me for the rest of your life!”
He didn’t know I had already decided not to have anything to do with him again.
The days passed, and the wedding drew closer. The day before it, I handed the wedding gift to my mother. “Mom, I’m planning to find a job in the city. I won’t be at the wedding tomorrow.”
She looked at me long and hard, and when she realized she couldn’t change my mind, she sighed and nodded.
The next morning, I went straight from Briarwood Manor to the bus station. But outside, a long line of motorcycles was parked, with Catherine and Nathaniel standing at the front.
In my last life, when I married him, there had been no wedding procession, just a plain meal with the two families. But now, with Catherine, he had pulled out all the stops.
The whole station was crowded with onlookers. Yet despite the spectacle, he looked distracted.
I slipped through the crowd into the station, bought a ticket to the city, and sat quietly in the bus. Through the window, I could see him carrying Catherine on his back, laughing and playing.
The driver shouted, “Anyone headed to the city, get on board! We’re leaving!”
My gaze accidentally met Nathaniel’s through the crowd. For a moment, he froze.
The bus pulled out quickly from the station.
His expression twisted as he rushed to the ticket counter, shouting, “Who was the woman that just got on that bus?”
