Chapter 25
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“Oh really?”
“Funny, I remember the first photo you ever took with Diana… she was wearing a black dress.”
“Did black look mysterious and beautiful on her, too?”
Charles’ breath caught.
“Vivian… you know I’ve always loved you.”
She looked away and opened the second box.
Inside lay a ruby diamond necklace-quiet and radiant, the same one that caused a stir when it was auctioned off by Skyfire Auctions.
Charles’ eyes lit up.
“Vivian, I meant what I said-rubies represent love. I swore I’d buy the brightest, purest one in the world for you. Winning it at Skyfire was my promise to you.”
Her eyes turned to frost.
“Diana adored red. Bold, showy, over-the-top-her favorite color. So tell me, Charles, when you raised that paddle at Skyfire,
was it my face in your mind… or hers?”
“Vivian…”
Charles’ eyes turned red as he struggled to explain but couldn’t find the words.
Watching him suffer, Vivian felt only boredom.
She cast him a cool glance and shoved the necklace against his chest.
“Enough. Drop this pathetic show. You may not be tired of acting, but I am done watching.”
“Charles Foster, go home. Even if you spend every cent you have, even if you ripped the stars from the sky and scattered
them at my feet-”
“I won’t look back.
And I sure as hell won’t go back to being your caged bird.”
With that, Vivian pulled out her hairpin and turned to walk inside.
A breeze lifted her hair, a strand brushing past Charles’ fingertips.
Then vanishing.
He stood frozen, breathing in the fading trace of her scent, until a single tear dropped, landing warm in his palm.
“Vivian…”
“I’d rather die than let you go.”
Chapter 25
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