Chapter 2

Back then, I’d believed Sophie was my best friend. I would have done anything for her.

This time, I went ages without visiting her, and she never bothered to check on me.

There weren’t many guests that morning. I wheeled Ethan into the courtyard, handed him a book, and said gently, “Sweetheart, Ryan and I are going shopping. Be good and enjoy the sunshine, okay?”

He lounged in his chair, looking up at me with a clear, easy smile.

When we came home, we heard voices inside.

“Ethan, have you forgotten? I’m the one you’ve always loved!”

Ryan started forward to see what was happening, but I quickly caught his arm.

I peered carefully through a gap in the doorway curtain, still holding Ethan’s favorite mille-feuille cake. Sophie was draped across his lap.

“I’m the one who saved you! Your broken leg still hasn’t healed, and you have a mole at the top of your thigh. I know all of that! How can you still not believe me?”

Even if Ethan believed some of what she said, I could see anger creeping across his face.

“Ethan, I know where your parents are. I know who you are. I’m the woman you love most. I’m your fiancée!”

Oh… so she’d been reborn, too.

So what?

I had more resentment than a vengeful ghost. We’d see which one of us came out on top.

I pinched my thigh hard enough to force tears into my eyes. Then, with reddened eyes and a look of shock, I let everything fall from my hands.

The crash was loud enough for them to hear.

“Emma? Is that you? Are you back?”

I turned and ran.

Straight to Sophie’s house.

Her parents were a classic pair: a vicious, foulmouthed woman and a man with a hair-trigger temper. Their fights were notorious. Little arguments every other day, huge blowups twice a week.

During one particularly bad fight, her father had nearly stabbed her mother. Fortunately, the neighbors stopped him.

But they agreed on one thing: they adored their daughter. They’d had her late in life, after all.

Whenever I visited, they ordered me around, making me do this and that. I’d actually been happy to help. Maybe it was because I’d grown up starved of parental love…

Or maybe I’d just been too weak.

The moment I stepped inside, I started shouting. “Mr. and Mrs. Reed! Sophie and I have always been best friends. I’ve always come over to help you around the house.”

“Now I have a boyfriend. You’ve both met him. I used to give Sophie anything she wanted, but now she wants my boyfriend, too!”

I was loud enough to draw the neighbors over to watch. I wasn’t afraid of making a scene.

“I lost my parents when I was little. I’ve always thought of everyone in this village as family.”

“What kind of sister steals the same…”

Hearing the murmurs outside, Mrs. Reed dragged her husband out. She hissed at me, “Shut your mouth, you little bitch.”

Then she hurried to the door. “All right, everyone, go on home! It’s all a misunderstanding!”

Only after shutting the door did she turn back to me, kneeling on the floor.

“That cripple of yours? We wouldn’t take him if you begged us! Watch what you say. We might let this slide out of consideration for watching you grow up.”

When I looked ready to start wailing again, she quickly signaled for her husband to drag me farther inside.

I refused to get up and planted myself firmly on the floor.

With no other option, he dragged me. My legs scraped bloody against the ground and struck the steps hard enough to leave bruises.

“Ethan is the best man in the world! You’re older than me, but that doesn’t give you the right to talk about him like that. He’s only injured. He’ll recover soon! Then you’ll be sorry.”

“Oh, I’ll be sorry, will I?”

The door suddenly swung open. Ryan wheeled Ethan inside, with Sophie following behind.

All three saw me on the floor.

Ryan let go of the wheelchair and rushed to check on me.

Desperate to reach me, Ethan tried to move on his own and fell out of his chair.

I hurried to my feet. As I passed Ryan, I deliberately slowed and whispered, “Just watch the show.”