Chapter 2The Love I Burned Away

I walked through the biting wind for hours before I finally headed home. When I walked through the front door, his parents saw the look on my face and immediately knew something was wrong.

"Oh, Gracie, honey, don't look like that," his mother said, rushing over to pull me into a hug. "Mike is just being difficult. He’ll settle down once you’re married."

"Look," his father added, trying to cheer me up. "He says he doesn't care, but he sent over these ring designs this afternoon. Pick whichever one you want. Don't worry about the price—it's on us. We're going to make sure our Grace has the grandest wedding New York has ever seen."

They thought he was just being stubborn. They thought his heart would eventually follow his duty. But I knew better. Mike was only doing this to maintain the family’s image. If the fire hadn't happened, we would have lived a life of polite, chilling distance. Everything would have been perfect on paper, and completely dead inside.

I looked at the designs and pointed to the most extravagant, ornate diamond in the collection. It was exactly Chloe’s style.

When word got back to Mike about the choice, my phone immediately buzzed with a call.

"So the act is over?" he snapped as soon as I picked up. "You picked the most expensive one, of course. Let me make one thing clear, Grace: after the wedding, you can spend all the Miller money you want, but stay the hell out of my personal life."

I tilted my head back, staring at the ceiling to keep the tears from falling. "Okay. I promise."

The line went dead.

A few minutes later, the family chauffeur sent Mike's father a GPS notification for the Maybach. His father’s face turned a deep, angry red.

"That boy... is he at the Sinclair house again?" He slammed his fist on the table. "Don't you worry, Grace. We're going to handle this. I'll break his damn legs if he doesn't start treating you with respect!"

But before Mike even made it home, the corporate lawyers sent a frantic alert. Mike had breached ten major contracts and diverted company funds to bail out the Sinclair family’s failing business.

It was a blatant display of favoritism. His father was livid, shattering a teacup against the floor. His mother looked devastated, but she still tried to hold it together for my sake.

I looked at these two people who had loved me like a daughter. They had done everything to give me the life I thought I wanted. But love isn't a choice you can force someone to make. It isn't a habit you can grow.

I knelt at his mother’s feet, leaning my head against her knee like I used to when I was a little girl.

"Mom... I don't want to get married anymore."

She froze. "What are you saying, sweetheart?"

"You’ve both been so good to me. You gave me a home when I had nothing. But I can't do this. I know he loves Chloe. If we get married, it will be a cage for both of us. I've already applied for a graduate program abroad. This time, I need to make my own path."

Tears welled in her eyes as she pulled me into a tight embrace. "Is this because of what he said today? Honey, weddings are stressful. He’s just confused by that girl. He’ll wake up. If he didn't care about you, he wouldn't have knelt before us all those years ago, begging us to take you in."

His father sighed heavily. "She’s right, Grace. The Sinclair business is built on sand—it’s going to collapse anyway. Mike just can't see it yet. You've never been away from us. How can we let you go halfway across the world?"

They thought I was just hurting. They thought they could fix it by taking my side. In my last life, I believed them. And in the end, I lost everything—including my relationship with them.

I stood up and led them both into Mike’s bedroom. I pointed to a dusty pile of boxes tucked away in the far corner of his walk-in closet.

"Those are every gift I’ve given him over the last ten years," I said quietly. "He never even opened half of them. But look at his nightstand."

There sat a cheap, tacky little glass figurine Chloe had bought him at a flea market years ago. He kept it right where he could see it every morning.

"I’m not a child anymore," I told them. "I know the difference between obligation and love. Thank you for everything, truly. I will always be grateful. but I won't let my gratitude turn into his misery. He wants her. I’m letting him have her."