Chapter 5

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The next day, Aiden brought me to a ballroom that had been transformed into a sea of pink roses.

"The wedding planner wants to run through the entire ceremony in advance," he explained. "That way, everything will be ready when you wake up again."

By then, I had to lean against him to keep my balance.

Aiden held my hand as he led me through the rehearsal.

I stood where the wedding planner told me, smiled for the photographer, and raised no objections. I simply lowered my head and read from the cue card.

“For richer or poorer, I, Kira Blackwood, promise to... Kira?”

I stopped.

The wedding planner froze as well.

“Isn’t the bride Roxy Blackwood? Why does the cue card say Kira?”

An assistant rushed over and took the card from my hand.

“I’m so sorry. This must be an earlier version printed by mistake.”

I looked up at Aiden.

For one brief instant, naked panic crossed his face.

Ever since I overheard him talking to my father that day, I’d known he planned to give Kira a wedding. But even then, I never imagined he’d have the nerve to use me as Kira’s stand-in at her own wedding rehearsal.

I swallowed back the pain threatening to break me and tilted my head as though I understood nothing.

He quickly regained his composure and tightened his hand around mine.

“The wedding team mixed up your information. I’ll deal with it.”

I let him believe I trusted him.

“All right.”

My easy answer unsettled him more than anger would have.

“Roxy, when you wake up again, I’ll make up for all eighteen postponements. We’ll have the life you’ve always wanted.”

I smiled at him.

It was the first genuine smile I had given him in days.

Yet Aiden’s expression tightened for reasons even he could not explain.

Halfway through the rehearsal, the lighting rig overhead began to shake.

Someone screamed.

The rig broke loose and fell straight toward Aiden.

I did not think. I rushed forward and shoved him out of the way.

The lighting rig crashed to the floor less than three feet from us.

Aiden caught me around the waist and frantically checked my body.

“Are you hurt? Roxy, look at me.”

“I’m fine.”

My father rushed over and slapped me hard across the face.

“How could you be so careless with your body? Kira wakes tomorrow! Are you trying to make her suffer the consequences for you?”

The blow snapped my head to the side, leaving my ears ringing.

Aiden’s expression darkened at once. He steadied me and examined the mark on my face himself.

“Mr. Blackwood, you shouldn’t have hit her.”

“If you ever lay a hand on her again, the partnership between our families is over.”

His voice was ice-cold.

My traitorous heart still gave a small flutter.

My mother hurried over as well. After confirming I had no other injuries, she said, “You need to rest. The rehearsal is over.”

They took me to a suite upstairs and placed sleeping pills on the nightstand.

Pain had been tearing through my soul all day, each wave worse than the last. Ordinary painkillers no longer helped.

The specialist had told me sleep might spare me some of the suffering.

After my parents left the room, I stepped into the dark hallway to get a glass of water.

Their voices drifted from the sitting room around the corner.

Aiden lowered his voice.

“That slap was too hard. The mark may not fade by tomorrow. Kira will be upset when she wakes and sees it.”

So that was why he had stopped my father. He had not been protecting me at all. He was protecting the body Kira would wake up in tomorrow.

“That was my fault. I just lost my temper,” my father said. “But don’t you think Roxy’s reaction is a little strange? She’s never given in this easily before?”

Aiden hesitated for a moment.

“She’s probably only upset because the wrong name was read during the wedding rehearsal. When she wakes again, I’ll give her another wedding.”

“She loves me. I’ll win her over.”

There was not a trace of doubt in his voice.

I returned to the bedroom before they could find me.

They still mistook my silence for trust. They still believed there would be another fall, another winter, and endless chances to soothe my hurt with gifts and promises.

Even drawing breath took effort. My soul was already disappearing, and I could no longer endure the pain.

I did not know how much time had passed.

Aiden entered in his wedding suit, as handsome and gentle as ever.

Just as he had before, he sat beside me and pressed a tender kiss to my forehead.

“Roxy, when you wake up, I’ll give you another wedding.”

“You can choose the dress and the ring—whatever you like.”

A tear slipped silently from the corner of my eye.

No.

I would never wake up again.