Chapter 2
856 Words
Celeste's POV:
My heart sank.
I knew Sebastian's ruthlessness too well.
I did not want to cause any trouble before I left, so I quickly steadied my expression and looked at him in confusion.
Sebastian let out a breath and switched back to sign language.
"Are you angry?"
I lowered my head, tore another panel of fabric from my shoulder, and forced myself to smile.
"Since I am choosing a new gown anyway, I should be the one to ruin the one I have already worn," I signed. "That is not a problem, is it?"
Sebastian studied me for a few seconds. Then the smile returned to his lips.
"Of course not," he signed. "You can do whatever you want."
He reached into his suit pocket, took out a diamond ring shaped like a rose, and slid it onto my ring finger. Then he lifted my hand, his eyes full of tenderness.
"Celeste," he signed, "this is the fifth ring I have designed for you myself."
The diamonds blazed under the lights. Each petal looked so vivid that the rose almost seemed alive.
But my gaze fell to the scar on his wrist, exposed when his sleeve rode up. The mark was twisted and jagged, left behind after torn flesh had healed.
Sebastian had 25 scars like that across his body. Every one of them had once cut deep enough to reach bone. Years ago, those scars were the price he paid to take me away from my family and promise me he would never betray me.
The price I paid to be with him was a complete break from my own family.
Aside from the inheritance my mother left me, I had nothing. I could no longer use the Harrington name. To punish me for my willfulness, my father used his influence to trap me in this marriage. There would be no separation. There would be no divorce.
Later, that inheritance became the foundation of Sebastian's rise.
I went with him to secure deals. I drank until my stomach bled. I shielded him when his enemies came after him. A thug's club struck me hard enough to put me in a coma, and when I woke up, my hearing was gone.
Back then, Sebastian's eyes had been red as he swore to me again and again.
"Celeste, from this day forward, I will make sure you live well."
I believed him.
In the second year after I lost my hearing, he betrayed me.
I called my father in tears and told him I regretted everything. My father was cold and unmoved. He said this was the road I had chosen, and I would have to walk it to the end, even if I cried the whole way.
Seeing me lost in thought, Sebastian lifted my chin and signed, "What is wrong? Go change your clothes."
Then he turned to Lydia, who was still glaring at the ruined gown with open resentment.
"The gown is gone," Sebastian said, "but I had the same ring made for you. You wanted excitement, didn't you? Put it on yourself and wait for me in the next room."
Lydia's tears instantly turned into laughter.
My face only grew paler.
Sebastian noticed nothing. His smile remained gentle as he signed, "Celeste, I need to take care of something. Rest here for a while."
I stood there and watched Sebastian hurry away, so eager that he could not even pretend to be patient.
A chill spread through my entire body.
Around me, people began to murmur.
"She was cast out by her own family, and she still managed to marry the wealthiest man in the city. What luck."
"Exactly. I heard Sebastian spent a billion dollars buying Rosehaven Estate as her anniversary gift."
Every face I saw was full of undisguised envy.
I had watched scenes like this play out so many times before, but this was the first time those cruel words struck me with such clarity. It felt as though something had pierced straight through my heart.
Year after year, Sebastian staged ever more lavish displays of devotion. He planned every anniversary himself. He designed every ring himself.
He was certain I would never discover the truth.
Even if I did, he was certain I would never believe it.
What Sebastian did not know was that in the year I left home, I had made a five-year pact with my father. At the end of those five years, I would have one last chance to return to the family.
"Celeste, you are my eldest daughter," my father had said calmly, as if he had expected that moment all along. "Come back, and you will still have the right to inherit. But you must show me your resolve."
I understood what he meant.
The Harringtons never backed a losing investment. The resolve he wanted was my willingness to take back the fortune I had helped Sebastian build.
These five years of suffering were the lesson my father had intended me to learn.
"I understand, Dad," I said.
I looked down at the new diamond ring on my finger.
Seven days remained.
- Writer
