Chapter 2

• When I was seventeen, right before Arthur’s family flew him back to the UK, he told me at the airport, “Alice, when I finish college and come back, I want to marry you.”
• I thought he was joking. Back then I liked Noah. I just smiled and didn’t answer.
• In my last life, after news of my death got out, Arthur ditched the family-arranged engagement and never married. After he died, the lawyer read his will: he donated everything to a charity fund in my name.
• Only then did I realize he’d loved me, quietly, for over a decade.
• My phone rang. The voice on the other end was thrilled, but like he couldn’t quite believe it. “Alice? Is that you?”
• I’d just woken up. My voice was rough. “It’s me. Let’s talk face-to-face. When are you coming back?”
• “I’ll head back right now. Wait for me.”
• I’d barely hung up when the door to my hospital room swung open. Noah walked in.
• We hadn’t seen each other in three years. He looked more mature now, in a perfectly cut suit, a sharper edge in his brows—the look of a man in charge.
• When he saw I was awake, surprise flashed in his eyes. Then guilt. And a thin, almost hidden streak of irritation.
• “You’re awake? How do you feel?”
• I didn’t answer. My eyes dropped to his hand laced with Lina’s.
• He didn’t let go. He even pulled her closer. “These three years, Lina’s been by my side. She took care of me. She comforted me.”
• “I won’t forget you saved my life." His voice dipped low. "The engagement still stands. When you get better, we’ll get married.”
• “But I’m in love with Lina now," Noah confessed. "Throwing a fit won’t change that.”
• “If you want to blame someone, blame the fact you woke up too late." His resentment appeared. "There’s no going back for us.”
• His words hit like an ice pick to the heart.
• Three years ago, he was the one on his knees by my hospital bed, swearing he’d only ever marry me.
• Lina’s eyes suddenly went red. Tears pattered down. “Alice, it’s my fault. I shouldn’t have fallen for Noah. You can yell at me, hit me, whatever.”
• She sobbed. “You just woke up—don’t make yourself sick because of me.”
• I just watched her put on a show.
• In high school, her parents went bankrupt and racked up a mountain of debt. I begged my dad to pay it off, and I brought her into our home. She hugged me, sobbing, and said, Alice, you’re the best friend I’ll ever have. I’ll never betray you.
• Now she was holding my fiancé’s hand and saying she loved him.
• “Alice, this is on me. It has nothing to do with Lina.” Noah pulled Lina behind him and stared at me, urgent and tense.
• “Lina’s pregnant with my child now," he declared, almost proudly. "Nothing can happen to her. If you’re mad, take it out on me.”
• The wariness in his eyes jabbed me like needles.
• I held his gaze, my voice barely above a whisper. “Noah, did you forget our baby—the one who never got to be born?”
• Guilt and hesitation flickered in his eyes. Then his tone went flat. “We lost that baby. I’m sorry.”
• “But Lina isn’t like you," he said pointedly. "She’ll protect our child.”
• My eyes fixed on the watch on his wrist—the birthday gift I bought him after staying up late and scraping together three months of allowance. Now he wore it while shielding another woman and her baby.