Chapter 8
After that night, Ciel and I weren’t quite strangers anymore.
He still vanished most evenings, but if a thunderstorm rolled in, we’d end up in the same bed without a word.
At first, we just lay there. Then he kept shifting around like he was wrestling ghosts, so I finally caught his hand and pulled him
closer.
“Vivienne, you-”
Half–asleep, I patted his head. “Relax. Stop squirming.”
After that, he started grilling Sebastian about the stuff I liked.
On my birthday, a box showed up–custom heels.
“I heard you used to have a pair you loved. Why didn’t you bring them?”
His face was hard to read.
I smiled. “Stanley gave me those.”
Silence. Then, finally-
“Do you like the pair I gave you?”
I slipped them on, catching the faint flush creeping up his cheeks.
Before long, Ciel started dragging me to social events.
At one party, he told everyone, “This is my wife, Vivienne.”
Every so often, I’d catch whispers about Stanley.
A friend from Southport leaned in. “I heard Stanley walked out of the wedding and Elodie bawled her eyes out. But isn’t she the one he loves most? If he married her, shouldn’t he be happy? Then why-”
One sharp look from Ciel and she clamped her mouth shut.
His arm slid around my waist, the grip more warning than affection. “You seem very interested in him.”
I widened my eyes. “Not at all.”
Ciel ground his teeth, glaring like he could burn a hole through me.
Honestly, from the moment I came back, I’d sworn I’d never get tangled up with Stanley again.
I’d poured a lifetime of love into him, and all it left us with was hate and scars.
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Chapter 8
This time, I was living for me.
“Ciel, I really don’t care about him anymore. If you still don’t believe me-”
His mouth crashed into mine.
Right there, in front of everyone.
Flushed, I shoved him back, and he just laughed. “Don’t be mad. I’ll give you the grand wedding you deserve, deal?”
***
+25 Bonus
Wedding prep kicked into overdrive, with Ciel insisting on nothing but the best.
The night before, my phone lit up.
Stanley.
His voice was rough. “Vivienne, I finally found you. I don’t know what Ciel’s done, but he’s been keeping me from you.
“That lunatic! He must be treating you horribly–just hang on, okay? Tomorrow I’ll expose him at the ceremony. I can get you
out of there!”
I stayed quiet, almost amused. He kept begging.
I let out a soft laugh. “If you came for me, what about Elodie?”
Silence.
“I’m already married,” I said. “If you drag me from my wedding, that’s kidnapping.”
“Everything before was my fault,” he rushed out. “But this is your whole future. Please, just stop this madness. We can figure us
out later–let me get you away first.”
I glanced at the ring on my finger and sighed. “Stanley… you came back too, weren’t you?”
From the start, I’d felt something off about him. In my last life, around this time, he didn’t like me–but he didn’t hate me this
much either.
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