Chapter 2A Decade of His Hatred

“You’ve really outdone yourself, Grace. Using your parents’ dying wish to force my family’s hand. Making them pressure me into marrying you. Do you really think this will make you happy?”

The voice was deep and cold, a ghost from a past I thought was gone. I blinked, my vision clearing, and stared at Anton. He stood before me, young and defiant in a sharp, tailored suit, a world away from the broken man he would become.

This was eighteen-year-old Anton.

I had really gone back.

Suppressing the knot of grief in my throat, I drank in the sight of him, alive and whole.

“You don’t want to marry me because the one you truly love is Evelyn. Isn’t that right?”

Anton let out a bitter laugh. “What if it is? Are you going to step aside?”

“Yes,” I said, my voice firm.

My parents had been national heroes, diplomats who died in a bombing overseas. In recognition of their sacrifice, the government had granted me a special boon—a state-sanctioned marriage contract, blank and waiting for a name. I could marry anyone I chose.

Or, I could use it to arrange a marriage for someone else.

He stared at me, then a cynical smile twisted his lips. “You used the contract to pressure me. My parents are forcing me. Our marriage is a done deal. How exactly are you going to ‘step aside’ now?”

“Grace, I don’t have time to play your games. Go back to the registrar’s office and file the damn contract. I’ll wait for you here.”

He turned away, leaning against the cold stone wall of the government building, the disgust in his eyes a physical blow.

For two lifetimes, I had loved Anton. He had saved my life twice, acts of reckless bravery that I mistook for secret affection. I had naively used my parents’ legacy to marry him, only to learn too late that his heart belonged to another. My decade of love had been his decade of torment.

In my past life, I had spent years performing acts of charity, bartering my own life force in mystical rites, all to earn him a chance at rebirth. Before the end, a spiritual guide had warned me, “Within twelve hours of his second chance, you must resolve his three greatest regrets. Once it is done, you must leave immediately.”

“From then on, your paths will diverge. He will no longer be fated to die at thirty. You will both find your own destinies.”

“But rebirth always has a price, my child. Be certain you are willing to pay it.”

As long as Anton could live, I was willing to pay any price.

I went back inside and amended the contract, formally requesting the union of Anton McGaw and Evelyn Lin.

I knew his three regrets. He had written them in his private journal.

Regret not fighting my parents’ arrangement. Regret marrying Grace. Regret not being able to save Evelyn.

Now, his first regret was fulfilled.

I walked out with the official document and handed it to him. He looked at me with contempt, as if I were a predator who had finally cornered her prey. He reached to open it.

I placed a hand over his. “Wait until tomorrow,” I said, offering a gentle smile. “It’ll be a surprise.”

He glanced at me, his voice laced with scorn. “Pathetic. Today, tomorrow—it’s still a marriage to you, isn’t it? What’s wrong with you today? Are you that deliriously happy you finally trapped me?”

I was happy. Because I was finally seeing you alive again.

I smiled. “I think you’re the best person in the world. Anyone who marries you will be incredibly happy.”

“Let’s go,” he snapped, turning away. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought he was blushing.

On the ride back to his family’s estate, the car passed a street bustling with nightlife. I overheard a group of girls talking excitedly.

“Tonight’s the Perseid meteor shower! They say if a couple watches it together from Starlight Point, they’ll be soulmates for three lifetimes!”

A memory pierced through me. In my past life, I had heard the same thing and eagerly begged Anton to take me.

He had looked at me with that chilling, mocking expression. “Isn’t one lifetime of you enough? Now you want to haunt me for three?”

“It’s a stupid superstition, a ridiculous fairytale for fools. If you want to believe it, fine, but leave me out of it.”

Even now, the memory of his cold eyes made me shiver.

I quietly closed the car’s privacy screen.

But this time, Anton spoke, his tone unexpectedly neutral. “You want to go?”

“I can take you to Starlight Point tonight. It can be my apology for not being able to attend the memorial for your parents after the wedding.”

I looked up at him, surprised. It was both unexpected and completely in character. Anton had always been like this—a cruel tongue hiding a soft heart. He didn’t love me, but he had still risked his life for me three times.

The first, when I was attacked by muggers, he took a knife to his right arm protecting me. The hand that was once skilled enough to hit a target a hundred yards away could never hold a bow again.

The second, when I contracted a deadly virus, he climbed a treacherous cliff face to find a rare herb to save my life, nearly breaking his leg in the process.

The third, during a fire at the embassy, he died saving me.

Anton was perfect in every way. He just didn’t love me.

I knew that after today, we would have no future together. Even if we watched the meteor shower from Starlight Point, the legend wouldn’t apply to us.

Still, I suppressed the hot tears welling in my eyes and gave him a smile so bright it felt cheap.

“Okay. Let’s go see the meteors together.”