Chapter 10%
I took a step back on instinct.
Lance showed up at my side almost instantly, like he’d felt the shift in the air before I had.
Justin turned toward me, face pale and panicked.§
His words rushed out like they were on fire. “Rhian, don’t believe a word she says! She spiked my drink. That’s the only reason anything ever happened! That baby isn’t mine, I swear! I’ve only ever loved you!“}
Lance slid in front of me, smooth and calm, his arm brushing lightly against mine as he pulled me behind him.
“Hey, man,” he said with that chill, unbothered tone, “maybe you shouldn’t be confessing your undying love to my fiancée.“>
“Fiancée?” Justin blinked like someone had punched him straight in the lungs.
I met his eyes and nodded. “Yes. My fiancé here can be a pain sometimes, but I said yes. I agreed to marry him.”>
A slow, cocky grin spread across Lance’s face.
Meanwhile, Justin’s face contorted. His eyes turned red and watery, his whole expression collapsing.
“Rhian, we’re the ones who are meant to be! Don’t you remember? We used to-”
“You think you still get to talk about the past?” I cut him off, my voice sharp.
That shut him up fast.
Justin just stood there, blinking, like the words had physically hit him.
Then he nodded hollowly and let out a broken little laugh.
“You’re right,” he said quietly, like he was confessing something to himself. “I forgot all of this was because of me.“}} “Hey, you bastard!” Stacey shrieked, grabbing Justin by the collar. “You better fix this today, or I swear to God-!”
There was a sickening smack of metal sinking into flesh.
The fruit knife was in her stomach. Buried deep.}]
Stacey stared at it in shock, her mouth falling open like she couldn’t figure out how the air had disappeared from her lungs. Her hands fluttered over the blood that started soaking through her shirt.
“You… you actually dared to…”
She didn’t finish.
Right there, her knees buckled as she fell to the floor.D
Justin didn’t move. He just stood there, watching her crumple like she was part of some play that wasn’t quite real.} Then he turned toward me. His eyes were red and glassy, and his mouth pulled into a strange, almost peaceful smile. “I’m sorry, Rhian,” Justin said. “I got a second chance, and all I did was screw it up again. I can’t keep going like this.” He let out a shaky breath. “I guess I’ll get the death penalty, huh?”
I said nothing. There wasn’t anything left to say.
Justin looked at me one last time.
“Rhian, i hope next time, I find you when you’re still the girl you used to be. And I swear… I’ll spend my whole life making it right.” The police showed up minutes later.
Lance stepped in front of me without hesitation, shielding me from the crowd, his arm tense and ready.”
I caught a final glimpse of Justin through the space between two officers.
nd in
He looked straight at me. And in that one second, everything he’d never said and all the apologies and regret were in his eyes.
No words could have done it justice–only the weight behind that gaze.}
…0
Later, as we drove, Lance leaned back slightly in his seat. One hand rested steadily on the wheel, and the other hovered just above mine on the center console, close but not quite touching.
“So,” he said, glancing briefly at me before turning his eyes back to the road. “When you told me you were reborn, that wasn’t just some poetic metaphor, huh?”
I didn’t look up. I kept my gaze fixed on the research notes in my lap, flipping through them with the pen still held tight in my hand. “Mm,” I murmured. “Who knows? Maybe next time, we won’t even cross paths.”>
Silence followed, broken only by the steady hum of the car.
Then I felt his hand, warm and calm, closing gently over mine.”
Lance didn’t pull the pen away. He simply rested his hand there, steady and grounding. He leaned in a bit, close enough for me to feel his warmth beside me, even though he kept his eyes on the road.
“Not a chance,” he said. “Next time, I’ll find you first. Before he ever has the chance.“}]
I turned toward him, surprised by how certain he sounded.
“In the next life,” he added, his voice a little firmer now, “and the one after that, I’ll still be your partner. Your…“}
He paused and then finished in a voice just above a whisper. “Your husband.”
chapter 9
