Chapter 2
763 Words
Emotion surged through Rivka, but she forced her voice to remain steady.
She looked at Jayden and said, enunciating every word, "That was the watch you gave me when you proposed. Are you really giving it to her?"
Jayden went quiet for a moment. Then irritation flashed across his face, and his eyes hardened with accusation.
"It's just a watch. Do you really need to make such a big deal out of it? You have an entire collection upstairs. Are you honestly going to fight over this one?"
The words cut straight into her. Pain spread through her chest, cold and sharp, and in that moment, she felt more alone than she had in a very long time.
Willow took one look at the tension and immediately put on a gracious expression. She slipped the watch off her wrist and said softly, "Rivka, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have taken your watch. I'll give it back..."
Rivka's resolve faltered for a moment, but before she could respond, Willow suddenly crumpled to the floor.
She looked up at Jayden with pitiful eyes and said, "Jayden, this is all my fault. Be angry with me instead..."
Jayden turned on Rivka at once, his eyes sharp enough to cut. "It's just a watch. Why does she have to return it to you like this? You don't get to call the shots in this house, Rivka."
The words landed like a blow.
For a second, Rivka felt as if everything around her had gone hollow. Then she laughed quietly at herself.
Jayden shoved past her, crouched down, and helped Willow back to her room.
Rivka's back slammed against the curved stair railing. Pain shot through her, and she had to catch herself before she lost her footing. But as she watched him walk away, she was left with nothing but disappointment and despair.
When she looked up again, she saw Willow deliberately leaning into him, looping her arms around his neck.
Rivka's eyes burned. She could not bear to keep watching.
She turned away and went back to her room.
She lay down on the bed in a daze, exhausted to the bone, and when she closed her eyes, a memory surfaced from the winter before.
She had come down with a terrible fever after catching a chill. Jayden had dropped everything and rushed home. He had stood outside in the winter cold until he was shivering, then climbed into bed and held her against his chilled body, desperate to bring down her fever.
He had looked at her with such tenderness back then. "Does this help?" he had asked softly.
"With you here, I already feel better," she had told him. At the time, Rivka had truly believed she was the luckiest woman in the world.
Even after the fever broke, Jayden had refused to leave her side. No matter how many times she told him to rest, he stayed awake and watched over her the entire night.
And yet this was the same man who could shove her aside without hesitation and then turn around and be gentle with another woman.
Ever since Willow moved into the house, Jayden had not stepped into her room once.
The thought made her chest tighten, and before she knew it, her tears had soaked the pillowcase beneath her cheek.
With those memories weighing on her, she eventually fell into a restless sleep, filled with nothing but helplessness and despair.
*****
The next morning, Rivka came downstairs for breakfast and found half the staff busy decorating the windows.
She immediately noticed the balloons and ribbons, the whole house buzzing with the kind of excitement that belonged to a celebration.
Emma Frost, the housekeeper, stood in the middle of it all, directing everyone. "Get those banners up properly. Mr. Lindsey's big day is coming up, and if everything looks good, there will be bonuses for all of you."
'A big day?' Rivka frowned.
She walked into the living room and asked, "Are we celebrating something?"
The moment the words left her mouth, the servants' pleased expressions turned visibly awkward.
A chill ran through her.
The staff exchanged uneasy glances before Emma finally stepped forward and lowered her voice. "Mr. Lindsey is preparing for a wedding," she said carefully. "He told us to make the house look festive."
Rivka went still. Her hand tightened around the glass she was holding.
She stared at her in shock, then forced the words out. "Whose wedding?"
Emma looked miserable. She hesitated, then answered in a near whisper. "Mr. Lindsey is going to marry Ms. Norris."
- Writer
