When He Led Us On, He Got Zero

Chapter 2 If There's a Backup Plan

When I walked back from school that evening, I spotted that familiar black sports car right at the entrance of my neighborhood.

Vincent was casually strolling out of our family villa. He got into the car and sped off.

My chest tightened. I rushed through the front door.

The mood in the living room felt heavy.

Our parents, Samuel James and Myrna James, sat on the couch with deep sighs. A few documents were spread out in front of them.

When I walked in, Myrna said, "Vincent came by earlier."

Samuel rubbed his forehead. "He said you and Phoebe embarrassed him in public today. He's pretty hurt. Then he casually brought up his family's company and our latest project together. He mentioned that if he's not in a good mood, that might affect his dad's decisions."

A chill ran down my back. Anger started bubbling up inside me.

Phoebe walked in and heard what we were saying. She got so mad that she threw her keys on the floor.

"Isn't that just a threat?" she asked.

"Doesn't matter," Samuel said as he tiredly organized the papers. "You two have had a crush on him for ages. The whole social circle knows it. Now he finally makes a move, and you turn him down? How's someone as proud as him supposed to take that?"

"I find it strange, too," Myrna said, looking at us with worry in her eyes. "Why do you suddenly say you don't like him anymore? Weren't you fighting over him before?"

Phoebe and I exchanged a look.

The whole rebirth thing felt too wild. No one would ever believe us.

My brain raced. Then the words just came out. "Mom, remember our trip to the Qorun Mountains last month?"

Myrna nodded, confused.

"We ran into a fortune teller up there," I said, making it up as I went. "He pulled Phoebe and me aside. He said Vincent has feelings for someone else, someone he can never be with. And if we try to be with him, it'll end really badly for us."

Myrna gasped.

She was really into all that spiritual stuff, Tarot, astrology. She believed in everything.

As soon as she heard "fortune teller," she sat up straight. "Really? What else did he say?"

Phoebe caught on and jumped in. "He said that the girl and Vincent are meant to cross paths but not end up together. Vincent still can't let her go. And that both of us just kind of look like her."

"Like whom?" Samuel frowned.

"No idea," I said with a shake of my head. "He didn't say exactly who. Just that if we keep getting tangled up with him, in the end..."

'In the end, I'd fall off a rooftop, and Phoebe's tendons would get cut.'

I swallowed the rest of that sentence and softened it. "He said our whole family would fall apart."

Myrna turned pale. She grabbed Samuel's hand and started pleading. "Samuel, you have to take this kind of thing seriously. Even if it sounds crazy. I've watched that boy grow up. I always felt like he was hiding something, too hard to read..."

"But what do we do now?" Samuel stared at the documents in his lap, looking miserable. "His family's project? It decides whether our company sinks or swims next year. Vincent made himself pretty clear just now. Either one of you gets engaged to him, or the deal is off."

The living room went quiet.

Phoebe hated seeing all of us look so torn. She let out an impatient sigh and spoke up. "We can't just sit around waiting to get crushed. Mom, Dad, you need to find other partners. See if there's a backup plan. And I'll do some digging at school. Vincent hangs around the same group of girls. I'll go through them one by one until I find out who he really wants."

I stood up. "I'm going to the Joseph Villa."

Samuel and Myrna both turned to look at me.

I said, "I'll go see what I can find out. We need to know what he's really after."