Chapter 1The Lucky Charm

When I loved him the most, I wove a bracelet for Liam from a lock of my own hair. He was a die-hard pragmatist, the kind of guy who didn't believe in anything he couldn't see or touch. But he still wore that bracelet for me for four years.

Then, on graduation day, his "little freshman" protégé, Sophie, got hurt. He rushed to the hospital, frantic, and lost the bracelet in the chaos.

He just shrugged it off. "You know I don't believe in that stuff, Claire."

A week later, Sophie gave him a bracelet. Also made from her hair.

When someone at a party accidentally spilled a drink on that one, Liam’s face turned to thunder. "If anything happens to her because of this," he snarled, "I'll kill you."

In front of everyone, he beat the guy badly enough to send him to the hospital.

In that instant, I just felt... tired. So incredibly tired.

So I called my dad.

"You know that Sterling heir you mentioned?" I said. "The one who's been in a coma for five years? I'll marry him."

* * *

My thesis had some formatting issues. My advisor called, so I rushed back to campus, only to walk right into Liam in the middle of a fistfight.

I was just walking by when a girl next to me grabbed my arm, craning her neck to see the action.

"Damn, I never knew Liam could fight like that."

I was about to tell her she had the wrong person, but the name "Liam" froze me.

The girl kept talking. "All this over a bracelet? He's trying to kill the guy."

"Jeez, it was just a splash of latte."

"Must be from his girlfriend, then. He's treating it like it's made of gold."

A hair bracelet?

If I remembered correctly, the one I gave Liam... he'd lost it last week.

We had a massive fight about it. He said he was a realist, that he didn't believe a bracelet made of hair could "protect him" or that losing it would bring me bad luck. He said I was overreacting. He even had the nerve to grin and say I could just make him a new one, and he’d promise to be more careful this time.

I was so furious at his dismissive attitude that we had the worst fight of our relationship. We hadn't spoken in a week.

I didn't expect to see him again like this, finding the bracelet and fighting for it. It was so unlike him.

Before I could think, I pushed into the crowd to stop him. But just as I broke through, a petite girl rushed past me and threw herself straight into his arms.

"Liam, stop! Please, don't be impulsive. It's just a bracelet, it's not worth getting in trouble for me."

Her words stopped me in my tracks.

I watched as Liam, his face already bruising, reached out and gently ruffled her hair. The gesture was shockingly natural, his smile arrogant.

"It's not every day I accept a gift," he said, "and this idiot ruined it. I have a right to be pissed."

"Besides," he added, "you made this from your hair to keep me safe. He got it dirty, and I was worried it would affect you. That's why I lost my cool. Don't be scared."

As he spoke, he rolled up his sleeve, ready to go another round.

Liam's skin is pale, and the red hair bracelet wrapped around his wrist stood out, almost beautiful.

Yes, red.

This wasn't the one I made him.

He’d always said bracelets were girly, "especially red ones." That’s why the one I made for him was black. I still remembered the exact tone of disgust in his voice.

Seeing that red bracelet on his wrist now, I felt like a complete and utter clown.

And I recognized the girl, too. It was Sophie.

On graduation picture day, Liam was supposed to be with me. He never showed. I found out later that Sophie had "fallen down some stairs." Liam "happened to be passing by" and took her to the hospital.

That’s when he lost my bracelet.

I’d never been angry at him for being kind. But I never, ever thought there was something "unclear" between them.

I don't know what I was feeling. I just stood there like a puppet, completely numb, until the sirens of a police car and an ambulance arrived at the same time.

The first took Liam. Sophie went with him.

The second took the guy he’d beaten.

The main characters were gone, and the crowd broke up. The girl who had grabbed my arm finally turned, realized her mistake, and mumbled an apology. Then she grabbed her actual roommate, and I heard them talking as they walked away.

"Not gonna lie, they look good together. I saw them making out in the woods by the library the other day, too."

Her friend hesitated. "But isn't his girlfriend in our year?"

"Yeah. They've been together since high school. Seven years. Guess he just got bored..."

Their voices faded, leaving me alone on the sidewalk.