Chapter 5 - A Bad Omen?

Willow

No matter how hard I tried to forget it, the memory just wouldn't budge. It felt like it had been permanently etched into my mind and no matter how hard I tried to get rid of it, I was only wasting my time. It didn't help that I was a chronic over thinker. Even the littlest inconvenience could have me thinking about a million and one ways how I could have avoided it or how I could have acted differently to change the outcome.

I hated this. I hated feeling like this.

I let out a frustrated groan as I allowed my face to fall flat onto the empty space on my vanity. In doing so, I caught a glimpse of something lying dormant just a couple of inches away. At first glance, it didn't look like a lot, until I stared at it long and hard, and the moment I did, I felt my heart drop to my feet immediately.

It was a necklace, with a heart pendant at the center. It was dangling at the edge of the table and it made me wonder how it hadn't fallen off by now. Maybe if it did, the broken pieces of glass would serve as a reminder that things were actually really over between us.

Between Asher and I.

Even the mere thought of him was painful. Ever since his rejection, I'd made it my number one goal to rid myself of every thought and everything related to him. I'd started with the necklace first. It was a gift from him to me on our second anniversary.

I still couldn't believe it, that Asher and I were no longer together. Throughout the course of our relationship, I had loved him with all of my heart and I thought he felt the same way too, only for me to get rejected in the end. What hurt most was the fact that I didn't even see it coming. Was there some other girl in the picture? A long time crush? An ex? It was infuriating just thinking about it.

In the last couple of days, I'd contemplated a lot of things. Going back to Asher to ask for a second chance, to plead for forgiveness too. At this point, I was convinced I'd done something to make him breakup with me out of the blue. But no matter how many times I thought about it, I never brought myself to actually do it and there was only one reason behind it.

I'd slept with Carter.

Carter and Asher didn't exactly see eye to eye, and for the life of me, I could never figure it out. During the time we were together, I tried asking about it, but all I ever got was a grunt or he would dismiss it with a wave of his hand.

Now, without any knowledge as to why they didn't always see eye to eye, I had committed two atrocities; I slept with Carter and accepted his proposal.

If I was being honest, it still felt like a dream. Like my brain still couldn't comprehend the fact that I'd said yes. It had been my dream to get married but right now, nothing was playing out according to my dreams. It had been Asher, but now, I had to deal with Carter and his proposal wasn't even in the least bit romantic.

It was just like a contract. He would help me make Asher see what he's lost and I would help him get the throne. Easy peasy, right?

I signed again as I got up. I guess the force I'd used to stand was too much for the poor pendant to handle, because the moment I pushed the small stool in front of the vanity back a bit, Asher’s necklace fell to the ground, the glass pendant shattering into a million pieces.

I gulped as goosebumps lined the surface of my skin.

This definitely wasn't a good sign.