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All Chapters of Say Not That Hearts Change: Chapter 1 - Chapter 9

9 Chapters

Chapter 1

"Help! My lady fell into the water!"Poppy's scream rang across the bank while I thrashed in the lotus pond.She was sobbing as she ran toward a man nearby."Please! Save my lady!"Before he could react, someone else plunged into the water.The moment I saw who it was, my whole body went cold.How could it be him?I forgot to struggle.My body sank.Pond water rushed into my nose and mouth until breathing became impossible.The man who'd jumped in frowned and swam toward me.The last thing I saw before blacking out was the face I feared most.Julian Reed.My husband from my previous life.Back then, I'd fallen for him at first sight at the Queen Mother's flower banquet.Then I learned he was already betrothed.His bride-to-be, Celeste Hale, died suddenly of an illness a few months later.Only then did I finally marry him.For three years, Julian treated me with extraordinary tenderness.On the day I gave birth, he killed our newborn child in front of me.That still

Chapter 2

The carriage had only gone a short way through the capital when it stopped abruptly.Crying came from outside."Lady Elara, please!"Let Julian go!"Startled, I pushed open the carriage door.Celeste Hale was standing in the road.She rushed forward and threw herself down in front of my carriage, weeping prettily enough to draw a crowd."Lady Elara, Julian is my betrothed."Please don't take him from me."Whispers erupted around us."Isn't that the Chancellor's daughter?""She's trying to steal another woman's betrothed?""I heard she fell into the pond at the flower banquet and let a man see her soaked through.""Maybe she did it on purpose.""For a noble lady, that's shameless."The gossip made my head ache.Celeste kept crying."I know House Sterling is powerful."A common family like mine could never fight you."But our families have already exchanged betrothal papers."Please..."I very nearly scoffed.She was no easy opponent. Her first words had already put

Chapter 3

The figurine was carved in my likeness.Julian had given me one exactly like it in my previous life.I'd been beside myself with happiness. I kept it by my pillow every night.Only now, cracked open, did I see that something had been hidden inside it.Poppy carefully drew out the corner of paper showing through, then cried out."My lady..."The portrait inside isn't you."It's Celeste."Beneath the little painting, a line in his hand:To my beloved Celeste.The irony was almost elegant.I gripped the broken wood so hard a splinter drove into my palm.Blood ran down my hand.I barely felt it.And what had I still been hoping for?His heart had never had room for me.And yet for three years he'd treated me like something precious.The noblewomen of the capital had envied me openly."Lady Reed is so fortunate.""Lord Reed climbs higher at court every year. Every house in the city would like to slip a girl into his household, and he won't look at any of them.""It's tru

Chapter 4

Celeste shrank backward.Poppy caught her arm and pushed her forward."Tell them yourself."Celeste's eyes darted around the courtyard.Then tears welled up and she threw herself at Julian's feet."Julian, I had no choice."She raised a hand and pointed at Father."It was the Chancellor. He forced me to fake my death so his daughter could marry you."I'm only an ordinary woman."How could I stand against the most powerful minister in the realm?"In my previous life, once I knew Celeste's death hadn't been an accident, I kept my guard up in this one and had Poppy set someone to follow her.Sure enough, once she'd made certain the whole street knew her grievance, she was quietly brought into House Sterling through a rear entrance.That was how I learned what Father had arranged.The doting I'd trusted all my life was worth nothing set beside power.For years, as head of the civil ministers, Father had been hemmed in on every side at court. He needed fresh support.Julian h

Chapter 5

But there was nothing left for me to do.The maids dragged me into the ceremonial hall. I fixed my eyes on Julian and shouted with everything I had."Julian, you coward."Your heart has only ever had room for Celeste. Why are you letting other people arrange you like this?"His mouth worked a few times, and in the end he pressed his lips together and said nothing.I shut my eyes in despair and let them move me like a puppet."Join your hands before the altar.""Bow to the house that raised you.""Now turn, and seal the—""Stop."A voice came from the doorway, commanding and worn with age, and a single tear slid from the corner of my eye.At last.The person I'd been waiting for had come.My grandmother, Isolde Hartwell, came through the doors leaning on her cane, unsteady on her feet.Father went still for a moment, then hurried over with an awkward smile."Lady Hartwell."What brings you here? You've come at the perfect moment. Someone bring the seat of honor."Today

Chapter 6

"Why have you changed so suddenly?"He looked at me, stumbling over the words, as if begging for an answer."Elara, I give you my word. I'll have nothing more to do with Celeste. There'll be no one but you."And there it was. The suspicion I'd been circling for days finally settled into place.There was only one explanation for any of it.He'd been reborn too.I forced the tears back."Julian."After everything, don't you hear how absurd you sound?"Or is it that you've finally woken up now you know Celeste faked her death for money?"I have done everything in my power to avoid marrying you."All of it, everything that came before, I'll treat as a dream."I've woken up now, and I've put it out of my mind."From here on, your road is yours and mine is mine."The blood drained slowly out of his face.I drew a breath and held out my hand to Rowan."Let's go."I turned to leave."Elara."Julian's voice had aged years in a moment."If I told you I regret it, would it be

Chapter 7

"You mean you were only putting on a performance for my benefit."He froze."How did you know?"Then he realized he'd said too much and clamped his mouth shut.I laughed quietly."I know more than that."You knew she meant to fake her death to get out of the engagement, and you let her do it, because you couldn't bear to give up what House Sterling could give you."And no wonder. A poor scholar with the realm's highest rank and not a single patron behind him. How else does a man like that find his footing at court?"My smile turned to contempt."The two of you. One decided a poor man's prospects weren't worth the wager, took the money and vanished."The other couldn't let go of his gentle childhood sweetheart, and couldn't let go of the Chancellor's influence either."You and Celeste really were made for each other."I lowered my voice."We've both woken from the same dream."So stop playing the innocent in front of me."Julian's face turned white."Elara, let me explai

Chapter 8

"Elara, I swear I don't know how she got herself into this house as a mistress."Once I'd calmed down, I sent Poppy out to learn the truth.Celeste had bribed the household steward.Between them, they had staged a chance meeting between her and Lord Alaric.My father-in-law had always had an appetite for women, and one look at someone as young and lovely as Celeste was enough to undo him.He took her into the house on the spot.Her target was obvious.Me.Rowan took my hand."Don't be afraid."I'll keep you safe."I looked up into his eyes, dark and steady, and found that I believed him.After that Rowan and I were rarely apart, and Celeste found no opening.Until the day the old Prince sent him out of the city to drill the troops.Rowan was barely gone before she walked into my courtyard."So what if you're the Chancellor's daughter?"You still have to call me Mother now, don't you?"I gave her a contemptuous look."A kept woman."You think you belong in the same se

Chapter 9

"Nonsense. Who said I was punishing her?"Rowan looked up."Then why did you shut her in the chapel before I came back?"Lord Alaric snorted."Do you take me for a doddering old fool? You think I don't know what goes on under my own roof?"I put Elara in the chapel to protect her."I had the whole thing looked into long ago. That physician is Celeste's man. She'd been showing signs of losing the child for some time. This was simply her chance to do Elara harm."Besides, the woman is a plaything and nothing more. Even if the child had lived, he'd have been a mistress's son. How could he stand beside my heir?"He swept out, still furious.The two of us were left staring at each other.When I came back to myself my eyes were hot, and I struck him hard in the chest."Rowan. Who gave you permission to throw away your title for me?"The moment he saw me crying, he panicked."Don't cry."I promised I'd keep you safe."I stared at him."After all this, you still won't admit it?

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