REBORN TO RUIN YOU novel Chapter 3

3 /10

I Need That Invitation

Jason stares at the ring like it's a snake that might bite him. "You're... what? Viv, this is crazy. You're probably just overwhelmed. Wedding stress is normal, but—"

"I know about Juliette."

The words drop between us like stones into still water, and I watch the ripples cross his face. Confusion first, then a flicker of something that might be panic, quickly covered by perfectly practiced concern.

"Know what about Juliette? Vivienne, I don't understand what—"

"For someone who’s engaged to me, you spend an awful lot of time alone with my sister. Late nights. Whispered phone calls. Hotel receipts you think I don’t see. It's crazy that you are doing that with her. Imagine if Kieran Hayes knew you were fucking his fiancee ”

The color drains from his face so quickly I think he might faint. His mouth opens and closes like a fish gasping for air, and for the first time in our entire relationship, Jason Whitmore is speechless.

I smirked. Oh that look on his face was delicious.

"How did you—" He stops himself, but it's too late.

"How did I find out?" I lean back in my chair, amazed by how calm I feel. "Does it matter? The only question now is whether you're going to make this easy or difficult."

"Vivienne, listen to me." His voice drops to the intimate tone he uses when he wants something from me. "I can explain everything. It's not what you think. Juliette and I, we're not—"

"Don't." I hold up a hand, and he stops mid-sentence. "Don't insult my intelligence any more than you already have. Don't sit there and lie to my face when we both know the truth."

I stand up, and he scrambles to his feet as well, reaching for me. "Viv, please. We can work this out. Whatever you think you know—"

"I think I know that you never loved me. I think I know that this entire relationship has been a performance. I think I know that while I was planning our future, you were planning how to get rid of me."

His hand freezes halfway to my arm. "That's not... I do love you. I've always—"

"You love my sister. You love her enough to risk everything for her. The question is: did you ever feel anything real for me, or was I always just a means to an end?"

Jason's face goes through a series of expressions—denial, guilt, calculation, and finally, resignation. When he speaks again, his voice is different. Colder. More honest than it's ever been.

"Juliette was never supposed to happen. She... she pursued me, and I was weak. I made a mistake."

A mistake. Three years of betrayal, reduced to a mistake.

I pick up the engagement ring and hold it out to him. When he doesn't take it, I let it drop. It hits the marble floor with a small, final sound.

"Keep it," I say. "Give it to Juliette. I'm sure she'll appreciate the hand-me-down."

I turn to leave, and Jason grabs my wrist. "Vivienne, wait. You can't just walk away from this. There are consequences. People are counting on—"

"Let go of me."

Something in my voice makes him release me immediately. Maybe it's the ice he's never heard before. Maybe it's the way I'm looking at him like he's a stranger.

Which he is.

Which he always was.

"Don't contact me again," I say. "Don't call, don't text, don't show up at my apartment. As far as I'm concerned, Jason Whitmore is dead to me."

I walk out of the Oak Room with my head high, leaving behind the man I thought I loved and the life I thought I wanted.

Outside, Manhattan rushes past me in its usual chaos, but I feel separate from it all. I'm alive in a way I haven't been since I was three years old and my real mother died. I'm free in a way I've never been in my entire life.

My phone buzzes with texts from Jason, from the wedding planner, from Margaret demanding to know why Jason called her in hysterics. I ignored it all.

Let them panic. Let them scramble to understand what happened to their perfectly controlled pawn.

It's quite funny how they are all scrambling like ants, it shows how relevant I am now. Unfortunately, three years from now I was no longer relevant and was discarded like trash.

As I walk down Fifth Avenue, feeling my legs carry me forward, feeling my heart beat strong and sure in my chest, I start to laugh. It bubbles up from somewhere deep inside me, and once it starts, I can't stop.

Indeed, there was nothing like freedom.

I pull out my phone and dial the one person I know I can trust. The one person who was genuinely devastated when I died. Jessica Chen—my college roommate, my maid of honor, my best friend who never betrayed me.

"Viv?" Her voice is breathless with excitement. "Oh my God, everyone's talking about what happened at Bella's Bridal! The consultant called like five different people. She said you went completely insane and destroyed your dress. Please tell me this is just cold feet and not a complete mental breakdown."

"It's not cold feet, Jess." I duck into a quieter side street, away from the crowds. "I called off the wedding."

There's dead silence on the other end, then: "You what? Vivienne, what are you talking about? The wedding is in three days! Your mother is going to murder you. The deposits alone—"