Chapter 1

“If only you hadn’t insisted on this marriage, Lilian would still be here with us,” Aaron murmured, quietly wiping away the tears streaming down his cheeks.

Irina stared at him, her brows knitting together.

Do we really have to talk about this right now? she wondered.

But she did not dare say it aloud. Irina knew Aaron was not in his right mind. He needed somewhere to pour out all his anger and grief, and she chose to remain silent, preparing herself to listen as he unleashed everything weighing on his heart.

Outside the car, the light drizzle had turned into a heavy downpour, thick curtains of rain obscuring their view and making it difficult to see the road ahead. The weather seemed to mirror Aaron’s grief after losing the woman he loved forever.

Irina was grieving too.

She had lost someone as well. But she knew that if she showed too much of her own sorrow, Aaron would only see it differently.

All this time, Aaron had believed that Irina saw Lilian as a rival—a rival for her parents’ attention and, more importantly, a rival in love because they both wanted the same man: Aaron.

“If only you had persuaded your parents to call off Lilian’s engagement to Elijah…”

Irina glanced at Aaron again.

His face was flushed. She knew he had been crying, but there was something else about him that made unease tighten in her chest.

“Aaron, are you drunk?” Irina asked, leaning closer to check his breath.

The faint smell of alcohol clung to his clothes.

“Don’t change the subject!” Aaron snapped, roughly shoving Irina away. “I know you never liked Lilian. But Irina, your jealousy is what drove Lilian to her death!”

Anger flared inside Irina.

Even now, Aaron was still looking for someone to blame for the death of the woman he loved.

“Lilian wouldn’t have run away if she—”

“I wasn’t the one who caused Lilian’s death!” Irina cut him off sharply.

It wasn't her fault.

Lilian had run away of her own accord.

“I never forced her to leave, Aaron!” Irina snapped, her voice rising.

She had long since lost count of how many times she had repeated those same words ever since Lilian had fled on her own wedding day.

“My father gave her a choice. He allowed her to call off the engagement, but she willingly agreed to it. She knew exactly what she was doing,” Irina insisted, defending her parents.

The marriage arrangement had existed, but her father had never forced Lilian into it. Lilian had signed the agreement of her own free will.

“She only agreed because she was grateful to your father!” Aaron shot back fiercely.

Irina rubbed her face, utterly exhausted by the stubborn man beside her.

“Lilian didn’t want to humiliate the man who had taken her in and raised her. She didn’t want to tarnish the Crawford family’s name!”

“She didn’t want to humiliate my family? Then what do you call running away on her wedding day?” Irina asked, struggling to contain her anger.

“That… that was because she felt pressured!” Aaron argued, his voice weakening. “Anyone would be afraid to marry Elijah. He’s a monster! He’s already caused the deaths of his two previous wives!”

Irina gave a bitter, mocking smile.

Now Aaron was not even ashamed to make his own brother the scapegoat.

“There’s no proof that Elijah killed either of his late wives. Those are nothing more than exaggerated rumors,” Irina countered, defending Elijah.

“Then why don’t you marry him instead?!” Aaron shouted at her.

The car swerved unsteadily as his grip on the steering wheel loosened.

“Look at you. Even you’re afraid of dying at his hands,” Aaron sneered.

“So you would rather have me marry Elijah in Lilian’s place?” Irina asked, drawing the obvious conclusion.

Aaron’s brow furrowed.

“At least then Lilian would still be here! She’d still be alive, and my child… my child might still be with us!”

Irina’s heart seemed to stop.

“Are you even sure the baby Lilian was carrying was yours?!”

Screech!

The car suddenly came to a violent stop as Aaron slammed on the brakes in the middle of the road.

He turned his full attention toward Irina.

“Don’t you dare say anything about Lilian, Irina!” Aaron snarled furiously.

His eyes were bloodshot as he glared at her, looking as though he could tear her apart with his bare hands.

“She was a good woman! You were the one who was always cruel to her! Wasn’t killing her enough?!”

“I didn’t kill her! She died because—”

Tiiiiiiit!

A blinding flash suddenly flooded their vision.

Before Irina could even register where the light had come from, a violent impact slammed into Aaron’s side of the car. The deafening sound of crumpling metal and shattering glass tore through the night.

Irina’s body was thrown violently against the seat. A searing pain exploded through her head, and she felt something warm trickling down her face.

Moments later, a tremendous crash echoed as something heavy plunged into the water.

The car stopped spinning and sank into darkness.

An icy chill slowly crept around Irina’s ankles.

“Aaron…” Irina rasped.

Her body felt completely locked in place, as though every joint had been shattered. Her eyelids grew unbearably heavy.

“Aaron…” she called again.

She reached desperately toward him, but even the smallest movement felt almost impossible.

Through the murky water slowly filling the cabin, Irina saw Aaron lying unconscious beside her. His face was turned toward her, his eyes tightly shut.

“Aaron, wake up… We can’t die here,” Irina pleaded in panic. “Aaron, please…”

With the last of her strength, Irina struggled to release her seat belt so she could save them both.

They had to get out of the car and swim to the surface.

But water was rushing in through the shattered windows so quickly that it had already reached her waist. Within minutes, the entire car would be submerged.

“Aaron!” Irina screamed his name in desperation.

Slowly, Aaron’s eyes fluttered open.

“Lilian…” he murmured faintly.

“I’m Irina! Not Lilian!” Irina snapped, her voice breaking with emotion as she continued tugging desperately at the jammed seat belt.

Her chest felt painfully tight.

Even on the brink of death, Lilian was still the first name to escape Aaron’s lips.

“Irina…” Aaron murmured weakly.

Irina froze for a moment.

She turned toward him, a flicker of hope rising in her chest when he finally called her by name.

“If there’s another life…” Aaron spoke haltingly, staring at Irina with what little consciousness remained. “…never appear before me again.”

The words froze Irina where she was.

“Let me… live happily with Lilian.”

Crack!