Chapter 5: The Man Behind the Aquamarine Ring

Just as I walked down the driveway, the horse trainer named Jack West arrived.

Jack West.

I stared at him, my eyes widening slightly.

If not for the white boutonniere pinned to his chest, I almost wouldn’t have recognized him.

In my last life, there had been very little news about Jack.

I only knew that after marrying Emma, he had quietly disappeared from New York society.

Whenever his name came up, my mother would wrinkle her nose.

“That poor man,” she would say. “He never understood how to take care of Emma.”

Emma had lasted less than two weeks on his Connecticut ranch.

She hated the smell of horses.

She hated the mud.

She hated waking up before sunrise.

She hated the quiet.

Most of all, she hated that Jack West was not Corbin Sinclair.

But standing before me now, Jack looked nothing like the pathetic failure everyone had described.

He was tall, broad-shouldered, and dressed in a perfectly tailored black suit.

There was a faint scar near his jaw.

His eyes were dark and steady.

Not once did they wander around the glittering estate with the awe of a poor man stepping into a world that didn’t belong to him.

Instead, he looked completely at ease.

As if he had walked into places far grander than this one.

For a moment, neither of us spoke.

Then his gaze fell on the aquamarine ring on my finger.

Something shifted in his expression.

“You chose it,” he said.

His voice was low.

I looked down at the ring.

“I did.”

Behind me, I heard the sound of hurried footsteps.

My mother appeared at the front door, her expression immediately changing when she saw Jack.

She looked him over from head to toe.

The polite smile on her face barely concealed her contempt.

“Mr. West, I presume?”

Jack nodded.

“Mrs. Hartwell.”

My mother glanced toward the aquamarine ring.

Then she smiled.

“Well, everything worked out perfectly in the end.”

I almost laughed.

Of course it had.

Emma had gotten Corbin.

And I had gotten the horse trainer.

In her eyes, the world had finally been set right.

Emma came downstairs a moment later.

The moment she saw Jack, her face relaxed.

Not because she was happy to see him.

But because she was relieved he wasn't hers.

She walked straight toward Corbin, who had just stepped out of his car again.

Then she deliberately slipped her hand through his arm.

The plain silver band glittered on her finger.

Corbin looked down at her hand.

His expression softened.

I watched them quietly.

In my last life, I would have felt a sharp pain in my chest.

Now, I felt nothing.

Jack followed my gaze.

Then he looked at me.

“Do you regret it already?”

I turned back to him.

“Regret what?”

His eyes rested on the aquamarine ring.

“Choosing me.”

For the first time since returning to this day, I hesitated.

Not because I regretted my choice.

But because I realized something terrifying.

I knew almost nothing about Jack West.

I had chosen him because I knew Corbin would eventually destroy me.

Because I knew my family would never love me.

Because I wanted a different life.

But Jack himself was still a stranger.

A complete stranger.

Before I could answer, my father stepped outside.

“Mr. West,” he said stiffly. “I hope you understand the arrangement.”

Jack’s expression remained calm.

“I do.”

My father glanced at me.

“Esme will leave for Connecticut with you after the ceremony.”

My mother quickly added, “There’s no need for a large reception. A simple dinner will do.”

Emma’s engagement celebration had cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Mine was being dismissed as a dinner.

Jack was silent for several seconds.

Then he looked directly at my father.

“That won’t be necessary.”

My father frowned.

Jack continued.

“Esme deserves a proper wedding.”

The air suddenly went quiet.

My mother looked genuinely stunned.

I was, too.

Jack loosened the cuff of his sleeve, his gaze never leaving mine.

“I may train horses for a living, Mrs. Hartwell, but that doesn’t mean I intend to give my wife less than she deserves.”

Wife.

The word landed strangely in my chest.

In my last life, Corbin had given me everything money could buy.

But in the end, I learned that being surrounded by expensive things did not mean I had been cherished.

Jack had known me for less than an hour.

Yet he was the first person in this lifetime to say I deserved something.

Not because I was useful.

Not because I was obedient.

Not because someone else had rejected it first.

But simply because I was his future wife.

My mother recovered quickly.

She gave a brittle laugh.

“Mr. West, you misunderstand. Esme doesn't care much about those things.”

“I care,” Jack replied.

Her smile froze.

Emma suddenly tightened her grip on Corbin’s arm.

Her eyes flicked between Jack and me.

For the first time that day, something like uncertainty crossed her face.

I looked at the man beside me.

Jack West extended his hand.

“The ceremony is tomorrow.”

“Would you like to come see the ranch before then?”

I stared at his open palm.

In my last life, I had spent years reaching for people who never reached back.

My parents.

Emma.

Corbin.

Every time, I had been the one begging to be chosen.

This time, I didn’t want to beg anymore.

I placed my hand in Jack’s.

His fingers closed gently around mine.

“Yes,” I said.

Then I looked back at the estate one final time.

At Emma standing beside Corbin.

At my mother’s displeased face.

At my father’s cold silence.

This time, I wasn’t walking away because they had thrown me out.

I was leaving because I had finally chosen myself.

Jack led me toward his car.

But just as I reached the passenger door, Corbin called my name.

“Esme.”

I stopped.

Slowly, I turned around.

Corbin was staring at our joined hands.

His face had gone completely still.

For some reason, the look in his eyes was not relief.

It was the beginning of regret.