Chapter 3
The doctor wants me hospitalized for observation because of my stupid little scratches.
My assigned room isn’t ready yet-previous patient still packing up-so I’m stuck waiting in the hall.
I’m so exhausted I pass out sitting in a plastic chair.
When I wake up, Blake is watching me with concerned eyes. For a split second, it feels like old times.
Back when we were kids, he’d constantly check if I was breathing while I slept, terrified I’d stop breathing.
Then my bandaged arm reminds me how he deliberately threw thorny roses at me today.
A wave of nausea hits me as the memories clash, and I literally gag.
Blake’s face immediately hardens. “Do I disgust you that much, Vivian?”
I don’t bother answering. When the nurse signals the room is ready, I simply walk in without a word.
He scans the three-bed ward. It’s so cramped there’s barely room to add a chair.
Something flickers across his face.
This discomfort spurs him to action. He immediately arranges for a private suite.
Then drops his bomb: “The Dance Association has an exchange program in Paris next week. Let Charlotte go in your place.”
“You need to focus on our honeymoon anyway.”
“After everything she’s sacrificed all these years, it’s just one small wish of hers.”
Our relationship is this twisted cycle of him taking, then throwing scraps of compensation my way.
I stare at the words “luxury” and “hospital room” and can’t help but laugh at the irony.
But I just nod and say, “Fine.”
If Blake knew Charlotte would be replacing me at our actual wedding too…
He’d probably be thrilled.
Blake looks thrown when I agree so easily.
The old me would’ve fought this-tears, drama, the works.
He studies my face carefully. “You’re really okay with it?”
“Yeah.” I nod, perfectly calm.
This puts him off balance. He tries a new angle to get a reaction: “Don’t you love fireworks? Should I set some up for you tonight?”
“No thanks. The neighbors would complain.”
Before he can respond, I tell him I’m exhausted and need to rest.
His palm rests against my forehead, checking for fever. Once he thinks I’m asleep…..
Blake immediately calls Charlotte, bubbling with excitement. “I’m heading back now to celebrate your birthday.”
“Tonight, every firework in the city will bloom just for you.”
My grip on the blanket slowly loosens as tears roll silently down my face.
He promised a lifetime of watching fireworks together. Turns out forever comes with an expiration date.
I’ll never forget how, every time I desperately asked if he still loved me, he’d just tell me to calm down-making me look like the crazy one.
All I wanted was one honest answer. Blake couldn’t even give me that much.
But now, and for whatever comes next, I don’t need his answers anymore.
The day I’m discharged, Blake calls. “Vivian, I need you.”
His voice is shaking.
After decades together, I can’t just ignore him when he sounds like that.
When I arrive, he drags me into his car before I can protest.
“Babe, Charlotte’s been kidnapped by her father. He just wants money.”
“Can you switch places with her? Just this once?”
I stare at him in disbelief. “How is this my problem? Let me out.”
Blake points at me, furious. “She’s risked her life protecting you for years. Don’t you feel any guilt?”
“Her father says you leaked her location. When did you get so vindictive, Vivian?”
Based on one rumor, he’s ready to believe the worst of me.
“You actually think I did this?”
“Who else would it be?!”
“No wonder you’ve been dodging my calls-you were plotting this whole time.”
I shake my head desperately. “That was Adrian-”
Blake cuts me off with a bitter laugh. “You’re seriously blaming Adrian Cross? Everyone knows you two hate each other.”
My heart sinks.
Then he does the unthinkable. Against my will, he tries to trade me for Charlotte.
Points at me and tells her father, “You got the wrong person. SHE’S Charlotte Fisher.”
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