Chapter 2From His Shadow To A Blackwood

Late that night, Sophie insisted on taking me back to the Croft estate.

The butler informed us that when Jackson returned with Isabelle, his mother, Eleanor, had erupted in a fury. She hadn't used a whip, but her punishment was just as severe. She'd frozen his personal assets and banished him to the gatehouse.

He was to stay there, without access to his accounts or his cars, until he understood the gravity of what he had done.

But I knew Jackson. He wouldn’t think he’d done anything wrong. He’d saved the woman he loved. In his mind, relief would far outweigh any guilt.

After a decade of marriage, I knew him all too well.

And I truly didn't blame him anymore.

I went to see Eleanor, to try and calm her down. My attempt backfired. It only made her more emotional. She pulled me into a fierce hug, her own eyes filling with tears. She apologized over and over for Jackson, saying she’d failed as a mother, that she had let me down.

"Olivia, you listen to me," she said, her voice trembling with anger. "I have disciplined that boy, and I will not go easy on him this time!"

She squeezed my hand. "He has lost his mind! I have told him for years that Isabelle girl has a conniving heart. She will never be welcome in the Croft family!"

"And he dared," she seethed, "he dared to leave you to die for that harpy!"

She gripped my hands tighter. "Don't you be sad, Liv. I will force him to get on his knees and beg for your forgiveness. I'll make him swear an oath to never see that wretched girl again!"

Eleanor's unwavering loyalty to me made my nose sting.

After my parents died, I was brought to live with the Crofts. In all those years, I never once felt like an outsider, never had to walk on eggshells. That was all because of Eleanor. She treated me like her own daughter, often with more affection than she showed Jackson.

When I was just a teenager, I’d naively confessed that I had a crush on "Jackie," and she had immediately set the wheels in motion for our engagement. In her mind, if I wanted it, she would move heaven and earth to give it to me.

I sniffed, my voice thick. "Thank you, Eleanor."

"But… it was my choice. I told him to save Isabelle."

I looked down, gathering the courage to say what I'd known I must since the moment I woke up on that cliff.

"Eleanor… I want to call off the engagement."

The words dropped into the silent room like a bomb. Both Sophie and Eleanor stared at me, stunned.

Everyone knew I was pathologically in love with Jackson. I'd been his shadow since we were kids, impossible to shake off. At my twentieth birthday party, when someone jokingly asked for my wish, I'd declared it to a room full of New York's most powerful people: My only wish is to marry Jackson Croft.

It’s been so long. I can’t remember the look on Jackson’s face when I said it.

I just remember it wasn’t a happy one.

How ironic. I should have known then. He never wanted me.

Clinging, begging, giving him every part of myself—none of it worked.

You can't force someone to love you.

Worse, I'd used Eleanor's love for me as a weapon, forcing him into a marriage he never wanted. I never once considered his feelings.

No wonder he despised me.

Thank God, this time, I could still fix it.

After I pleaded, nearly getting on my knees myself, Eleanor finally, tearfully, agreed.

Armed with the freedom Jackson had always craved, I went to the gatehouse.

The Jackson of this world, at twenty-six, knelt on the cold marble floor, his posture ramrod straight. His lips were pale, but his jawline was as sharp as ever in the dim light.

This version of him wasn’t yet poisoned by a decade of resentment. When he looked at me, there was genuine remorse in his eyes.

"Liv, I'm sorry. I—"

I shook my head, my voice calm. "It's not your fault, Jackie."

Jackson flinched.

It had been years, so many years, since I had called him that, so easily and without an edge of bitterness. Probably not since the day I decided I had to marry him.

He frowned slightly.

But I gave him a genuine smile, one of release, completely free of shadows. I was stepping back, once and for all, into the role of the little sister.

"I was the one who was wrong all this time, forcing a relationship that wasn't meant to be. I caused you so much trouble."

"It won't happen again."

"I just came from seeing your mother. I asked her to cancel our engagement."

When the words "cancel our engagement" left my lips, the composure in Jackson's eyes finally shattered.

He stared at me, his voice flat and certain. "You're just saying that to punish me."

I shook my head again.

I didn’t understand. Shouldn’t he be relieved? Relieved that I was no longer his problem? Relieved that he was finally free to be with Isabelle?

But he just stared at me, his gaze deep and unreadable. He closed his eyes. "Fine," he said, his voice low.

And that was it.

I turned and walked away.

Without an ounce of regret.

For us, in this life, this was the best possible ending.