Chapter Two
Maren's POV
Marry me?
He talks as if he has lived through all of this before.
I watch the hatred churn in his eyes.
An absurd possibility hits me.
Rhett has been reborn too.
He has returned to this night carrying ten years of hatred from our previous life.
No wonder his eyes were so terrifying the moment he woke up.
No wonder he didn’t ask a single question before deciding I had drugged him and planned to force him into marrying me.
Once I realize the truth, I almost laugh.
Fate must have a twisted sense of humor.
It has sent two people who hated each other for an entire lifetime back to the night it all began.
“Let go of me.”
My voice is cold.
Rhett gives a humorless laugh and tightens his grip. “What’s wrong? Scared now? You weren’t scared when you were taking your clothes off last night.”
“Rhett, what the hell is wrong with you?”
I raise my hand and slap his wrist away.
The back of Rhett’s hand reddens instantly, but he only stares at me in disbelief.
In our previous life, I never even dared to raise my voice at him. How could he believe I would ever hit him?
I stand and smooth my clothes before looking at him. “Get over yourself. Nothing happened between us last night.”
Rhett’s eyes narrow, and he glances at the bed.
The sheets are a mess, but there are no signs that anything happened.
Then his sneer deepens.
“Maren, what kind of game are you playing now? Do you really expect me to believe that?”
“You went through all this trouble to drug me and bring me to a hotel, and now you’re telling me nothing happened?”
“Do you think I’m an idiot, or do you actually believe playing hard to get will work on me?”
He advances until my back is against the wall.
“What are you going to tell me next? That you watched over me all night and never touched me? Am I supposed to be moved? Am I supposed to think you’re some kind of saint?”
“Keep dreaming.”
I stare at his face, twisted with anger.
Memories from years ago flash through my mind.
The Prescotts and the Sterlings were longtime neighbors in Greenwich. I was three years younger than Rhett, and from the moment I learned to walk, I followed him everywhere, calling his name.
He always complained that I was annoying and said he wouldn’t let me tag along, but he took me with him every time he went out.
He carried my backpack on the way to school.
When a boy pulled my braids, Rhett charged at him without hesitation. Rhett came back from the fight bruised and bloodied.
I was afraid of thunderstorms, so he flashed a flashlight through my window to let me know he was still awake.
When I was ten, my mother died after a long illness.
I slipped out of the house and went alone to a hill outside town.
It was where my mother had loved to take me to watch the sunset.
Rain poured down that day. I huddled beneath the old oak tree, soaked to the bone and crying so hard I could barely breathe.
Night fell, and Rhett was the only one who found me. He took off his jacket and wrapped it around me, then crouched down and carried me on his back down the hill.
He was covered in mud. His knee was scraped, and he walked with a limp.
I later learned that the adults had searched half the town. Rhett was the only one who remembered the hill, and he had come looking for me alone.
Clinging to his back, I sobbed, “Rhett, I don’t have a mom anymore.”
“Don’t be scared, Maren. I’ll protect you from now on.”
I carried that promise with me for years.
Everyone said the Prescott girl would eventually marry into the Sterling family.
I always believed it too.
The truth is, even without my father’s interference, Rhett and I would have ended up together.
I knew him.
He acted tough, but he had a soft heart. He kept everything buried inside, but the way he looked at me never lied.
Then Mr. Sterling remarried, and Kendall moved into the Sterling home.
Rhett treated his new stepsister so well that people began to gossip. They said the Sterling heir had fallen for someone else.
My father panicked.
He was afraid I would wait all those years only to end up with nothing, so he made a terrible mistake.
And I trusted what Rhett and I had so completely that I let it happen without putting up much of a fight.
But the boy who once promised to protect me was long gone.
The Rhett standing in front of me now is nothing more than an enemy who wishes I were dead.
“Rhett.”
I take a deep breath and push those memories out of my mind for good.
“I don’t care whether you believe me. I don’t care what you’re thinking.”
“I’m only going to say this once.”
“I don’t love you anymore.”
“From now on, I don’t care whether you live or die or who you marry. None of it has anything to do with me anymore.”
“We’re going our separate ways.”
Rhett goes still. He stares into my eyes, searching for any sign that I’m pretending.
But the love that once filled them is already gone.
“Fine. That’s just fine.”
Irritation flashes across Rhett’s face.
“Maren, remember what you said today.”
“Even if you come crawling back to me, I’ll never look at you again.”
He turns, walks out of the room, and slams the door behind him.
After Rhett leaves, I splash cold water on my face in the hotel bathroom.
The woman in the mirror is pale, but her eyes are clear and determined. I give a faint smile.
Congratulations, Maren. You finally have your life back.
Exhausted, I return to the Prescott estate in Greenwich.
The moment I open the front door, my father, who has been waiting in the living room, rushes over.
“Sweetheart! You’re finally home!”
He looks me over from head to toe, his eyes filled with worry and confusion.
“What happened? You called last night and said you didn’t want him anymore, so I called the guards off right away. Rhett didn’t do anything to you, did he?”
