Chapter 3

Vivienne recovered first.

She burst into louder sobs, tears streaming down her face.

"What are you even saying..."

"Did you hit your head too hard on the stairs? You're not making any sense..."

My father snapped into action. He turned to Damien and plastered on his most ingratiating smile.

"Willow's been saying nonsense ever since she fell down the stairs."

"She must have hit her head. Don't take any of it seriously."

My mother jumped in to support him.

"That's right — Willow's always been like this. Making up wild stories to get attention."

Vivienne clung to Damien's arm, still sniffling.

"She's always been jealous. She's always tried to take you away from me. That's why she's saying all this."

Their story was seamless. Perfectly coordinated.

Damien looked down at me on the floor.

My hands were covered in Vivienne's blood.

The gash on my forehead was still bleeding — drops hitting the floor one by one.

My hair was plastered to my pale face with dried blood. I looked like hell.

He stared at me for a few seconds, eyes full of contempt.

"Lock her up."

He tossed the words out without emotion, then turned and led Vivienne away to treat her arm.

My father immediately called two guards and ordered them to drag me to the dungeon.

The dungeon was the worst kind — a silver cage.

The walls were solid silver. Even the chains were pure silver.

My wolf was already barely clinging to life. She couldn't withstand this.

I curled up in the freezing corner, shaking uncontrollably.

I remembered my past life. They'd locked me in this same silver cage back then too — to keep me out of the way while Vivienne took my place in front of Damien.

The agony of the silver cage was something I knew intimately.

In my past life, I'd sobbed in here for three days and three nights straight.

This time, I leaned against the silver wall and didn't shed a single tear.

In the endless darkness, my fingers traced the rough cracks in the stone floor.

I thought about those days in the remote cabin, taking care of Damien.

Back then, he couldn't see. He always asked me to collect stones from the riverbank for him.

We'd sit side by side in the grass while he ran his fingers over each stone, teaching me to identify them by shape.

He'd smiled and told me that once he could see again, he'd take me to the most beautiful river in the territory.

But when his sight returned, he took someone else.

The next day, Damien came.

He stood over me, his face blank, and looked at me curled up in the corner.

"Do you understand what you did wrong?" His voice was cold.

I slowly raised my head. My face was white. Expressionless.

"Yes."

I did understand what I'd done wrong.

I should never have gone to save him in the first place.

And I should never have been foolish enough to fall in love with him.

My answer seemed to satisfy him. He gave a small nod.

His tone was pure condescension. "Vivienne begged me to come check on you. After everything you did."

"She actually cried over you. So don't put her through that again."

He turned and walked away without a backward glance.

After two steps, he paused. He glanced at the guard beside the door.

"Get a Healer. Give her something for the wounds."

On the third day, the guards released me from the silver cage.

It was Vivienne's coming-of-age ceremony.

Vivienne had sought Damien out personally, putting on her most helpless look, asking him to let me attend. She said she wanted her sister's blessing in person.

Damien saw nothing but kindness in the request. He agreed on the spot.

But I knew exactly what Vivienne really wanted.

She wanted me to watch Damien propose to her at the ceremony. She wanted to crush whatever was left of my hope.

At the ceremony, my parents made me carry Damien's custom engagement ring to the stage myself.

I walked up holding the velvet box, my face showing nothing.

Damien was already on one knee before Vivienne.

I opened the box in front of everyone.

On the inside of the ring, two overlapping letters were engraved: "V."

My fingers hesitated for just a fraction of a second.

That engraving was supposed to be the "W" I'd traced into his palm.

But he'd believed it was two "V"s pushed together.

Damien took the ring and slid it gently onto Vivienne's finger.

The crowd erupted in thunderous applause.

I stood on the stage and watched every moment of it up close.

Then I turned around and walked off without a word.

Coming down the steps, I caught my foot on the hem of my dress.

My body was a wreck of old wounds and new ones. My legs had no strength left.

I lost my balance and fell hard onto the ground.

My collar tore open with the impact.

The moonstone pendant I'd kept hidden against my skin slipped free.

The instant it touched the air near my body, it gave off a faint, soft glow.

Damien went rigid. His eyes locked onto the pendant at my chest.

In all those months of darkness, he'd held that stone a thousand times.

He slowly crouched down. His voice came out barely above a whisper.

"Where did you get that?"