Chapter 4: A Life Beyond Their Reach

I picked up the earrings.

The warmth of her fingers still clung to the pearls.

I clenched them in my hand, a memory surfacing.

In my last life, I had held these earrings all night, happy because I’d thought they were a birthday present my mother had chosen just for me.

It wasn’t until later that I saw Emma leaning against my doorway, smiling.

“So that’s where they went. Those things were so uncomfortable, they made my ears ache. I was going to give them to Maria the next time she cleaned, but Mom said to hang onto them. That they might come in handy.”

I looked at the tiny cracks on the pearls’ surfaces. My voice was quiet.

“Mom, these earrings are all you’ve ever given me.”

I looked up at her.

“This is the only thing you’ve ever given me. You said Emma is marrying a Sinclair, so she can’t be seen as less. You want me to sign my share over to her. Well, this is all I have to give.”

I placed the earrings in her hand and uncurled my fingers one by one.

“Now I owe you nothing.”

The color drained from my mother’s face.

She shook my hand off, turned, and walked out.

The sound of her heels on the floor grew more and more distant.

...

Emma’s engagement ceremony and mine were scheduled for the same day.

Emma wore a custom Vera Wang mermaid gown. I wore a simple white dress.

The gift boxes sent by the Sinclair family nearly filled the living room.

In my last life, even though Emma had only married a horse trainer, the gifts she received had been piled from her room all the way to the hallway.

All I had was a pair of earrings.

In the end, Corbin, worried I’d be embarrassed, had more than a dozen boxes of jewelry and artwork delivered overnight.

“Esme, what others don’t give you, I will,” he had said. “As long as you’re happy.”

Those gifts stretched from the villa’s entrance all the way to the corner of the street.

Bottle after bottle of champagne was opened. Rose petals were scattered everywhere.

That was the first time I felt as if I had been the one chosen.

But I only learned later that even as he gave me those things, the person he was thinking of had always been Emma.

He spent his life wondering what it would have been like if Emma had been the one to receive all that.

I didn’t go near Emma.

I stood at the far edge of the crowd and watched her get into the stretch limousine.

I turned to leave, but Corbin suddenly blocked my path.

He looked at me, pausing for a few seconds.

By all rights, he shouldn’t have been here today.

Corbin opened his mouth.

“Esme, I know you remember our last life, too.”

I looked at him, my gaze freezing.

Corbin lowered his head and continued.

“You shouldn’t have worn this white dress today. Emma is my fiancée. If you still want to marry me, you’ll have to wait until I can give you a proper place.”

“I know you blame me, and I know you’re acting out. But in our last life, I already gave you everything. In this life, I just want Emma to experience it for once.”

So he thought I wore a white dress for him.

“Corbin, you’re wrong,” I said, looking at him. “Today is my sister’s engagement day. It’s also mine.”

Corbin let out a dry laugh.

“Esme, stop this. Just wait for me.”

With that, he turned and left.

I took one last look at the brightly lit villa.

No matter how warm that light was, it never reached me.

I took out the bank card my grandmother had given me, clenched it tightly in my hand, and strode out the front gate.

No one asked me to stay.

Perhaps someone saw me leave, but no one spoke.

They didn’t care, and I no longer had any reason to look back.