Chapter 3

Stepping out of the restroom, I found Nathan standing in the crowd, his face a picture of mortification.

Everyone here was his acquaintance, and he was the kind who'd rather eat glass than lose face.

Right now, his pride was in the gutter, and Olivia just kept pouring salt in the wound.

"Nathan, did I mess up the arrangements and make Aurora misunderstand?" she cooed.

"Shut it!" Nathan snapped.

His scowl deepened, and I could tell he had no idea how his ever-compliant girlfriend could pull such a stunt.

His frown didn't ease until he saw me.

"Aurora, I was out of line earlier," he said, all honeyed tones. "I've been planning this proposal for ages, and Olivia helped me every step of the way. You've just got the wrong idea.

"You're the only one for me, always."

Nathan reached for my hand, ring at the ready, desperate to salvage the situation.

I yanked my hand back.

He furrowed his bros and whispered, "Aurora, enough with the dramatics."

I chuckled, "For five years, every gift you gave me? Olivia's idea. I like mild flavors, but she sent you to take me for spicy food. I'm terrified of heights, yet she convinced you to drag me bungee jumping. I'm allergic to pollen, but she told you to deck the place with roses for the proposal.

"Is she your mother? Why are you so obedient to her?

"Or are you using me as some twisted flirting prop, trying to get me killed?"

Nathan was displeased.

"That's not what this is."

Olivia batted teary eyes at him. "Nathan, I only want the best for you two."

I said icily, exposing her lie, "Really? But you slept with him."

"Aurora!" Nathan seethed. "I told you, we were drunk. There was only one bed left. Nothing happened."

Olivia clung to his sleeve. "Aurora, don't tell me you're still bitter about that, trying to humiliate us today?"

The air crackled with tension as the gaze of the onlookers became more and more piercing.

Nathan gave a humorless laugh. "Fine. If you don't trust me, so be it."

He whirled around, dropping to one knee in front of Olivia with the ring.

"Olivia, will you marry me?"

This surprise came so suddenly that she covered her mouth with both hands, overwhelmed by excitement.

"Are you serious?"

"Of course." Before she could say yes, he jammed the too-small ring onto her finger.

The crowd winced at his rough handling.

Olivia forced a smile and gritted her teeth, enduring the discomfort. Then, she hooked her arm around Nathan's and showed off the big diamond ring with the other hand.

"Aurora, you'll regret letting this excellent man go."

"Congratulations! May you last forever." I raised a glass of wine, toasting her new fiancé, the man I'd once tossed aside like trash.

Nathan stormed off without a word, Olivia hot on his heels.

The guests all gave me pitying looks.

Nathan and I always seemed like the perfect couple. No one knew Olivia had been lurking in the shadows all along.

Once the awkward goodbyes were done, I headed home and replied to the Imaginarium Dance Theatre's offer to be principal dancer.

This time around, I was going to follow my dreams.

Lying in bed, I scrolled past Olivia's Instagram post of her ring and smiled with disdain.

After blocking and deleting her, I drifted off.

The next morning, ninety-nine missed calls jolted me awake.

Jane was frantic on the line. "Aurora, what on earth did you two quarrel about? How did that bastard Nathan upset you? I'll teach him a lesson!"

During the five years that I had been with Nathan, Jane had treated me like her daughter, always bragging that Nathan didn't deserve me.

The sound of Jane's voice, which I hadn't heard for a long time, made me lose my composure, and I almost burst into tears.

"It's okay, Jane."

She caught me crying and got even angrier. "I've always warned him to stay away from Olivia! Aurora, don't worry. I only accept you as his wife. As long as I'm still alive, Olivia will never be able to marry into the Whitman family."

"Thanks, Jane, but it's over between me and Nathan."

I'd sacrificed enough for him in my last life. No amount of Jane's kindness could make me do it again.

Jane sighed, "I should never have sponsored that maid's daughter and let her go to school with Nathan. Otherwise, she wouldn't have had all the chances to cling to him..."

Before she could finish, a loud crash suddenly erupted from her end.

"Jane!"

Olivia's mocking laugh came through. "You meddling old hag! You're the one stopping Nathan from marrying me, right? You started helping me, so why not finish the job?

"No one in this world loves Nathan more than I do. It's no use regretting now."

I heard Jane's labored breathing and her faint cry for help.

It dawned on me that she was in trouble.

Before I could shout to stop Olivia, she noticed the call and cut it off.

I grabbed my coat and bolted for the door, but the moment I swung it open, I crashed into Nathan.

He stood there, blocking my way, with a dark face.

"Who are you in such a hurry to meet?"

Noticing that Nathan's eyes sharpened with distrust, I thought he was being irrational. "Do you believe everyone shares your capacity for betrayal?"