Ian sat up and laughed. “That’s what I’d like to know. Why aren’t you the one who died?”
Before leaving, he warned Arthur to fix my grave, or he would use all his connections to ruin the Rothe family.
I didn’t know what Arthur was thinking. He lay there for a long time, allowing the night breeze to lift his fringe. It reminded me of a time we’d gone camping–the stars had been prettier that night than they were now.
That was also the night that he’d asked, “Do you want to be my wife, Leona?”
I’d gone from liking to loving him and from loving to hating him in five short years. Everything had happened so quickly.
Arthur suddenly stood up. He bit his finger to draw blood from it before writing on my gravestone. “Here lies Leona and Arthur, a loving couple.”
Then, he lay in the hole he’d dug and smiled in relief as he slashed his wrist with a dagger. I frowned at the sight of the blood flowing from the wound.
I didn’t know whether I was imagining things, but his eyes suddenly lit up as he looked in my direction.
“I can finally see you again, Leona… I missed you so much! If I’d known I would get to see you when on the brink of death, I wouldn’t have delayed this for so long,” he said.
Our gazes met so suddenly that I felt discomfited. For some reason, I found it
strange to hear him call my name despite the fact that I’d followed him around for so long after dying.
“Are you not saying anything because you’re still mad at me? I know I was wrong–I shouldn’t have trusted Shawna. She’s dead now, so no one else will come between us in the future. I love you, Leona. I really do…
He wanted to get up, but his strength was depleting. The light in his eyes was fading.
“If reincarnation exists, I’ll make sure to find you early on and appreciate you. I won’t lose you again. Do you hate me, Leona?”
I shook my head. “Not anymore. But I don’t love you, either.”
In hindsight, Arthur hadn’t done anything wrong aside from not loving me. I didn’t
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Chapter 8
have any reason to hate him.
