Chapter 2

From that day on, I threw myself into planning my own wedding.

Theo's mother was a gentle woman. When she heard me out, she sat stunned for a long moment, then looked me over from head to toe before she asked,

"You're serious?"

I nodded.

She stayed frozen where she stood, and the tears came all at once.

"Good, good, good…"

Everything went unbelievably smoothly.

Setting the date, choosing the venue, drafting the invitations.

I was run off my feet.

A week before the wedding, my grandmother came again.

She pushed the door open leaning on her cane, all smiles, a bank card in her hand.

"Hailey." She pressed the card into my palm. "Just a little something from Grandma."

"Whatever you need, take it from this card."

"Grandma only wants to see you married in style."

Right then she looked exactly like a kind, doting elder.

That same instant, the live-chat started scrolling again.

【This is the blood money her grandmother's paying for her life!】

【Last time our girl was moved to tears by her grandmother, and after she died, didn't the money just go right back into that old witch's hands?】

I held the card and gave her a smile.

【Thank you, Grandma.】

The grandmother nodded, satisfied, and hobbled slowly out on her cane.

The live-chat blew up again:

【Give it up, give it up, this girl's got no brain.】

【She takes the blood money and can still smile. She really must be tired of living.】

【Wasn't dying so horribly last time enough for her?】

The screen packed with row after row of text, all disappointment and mockery.

I kept my eyes down and said nothing.

Just then, a new comment drifted slowly past.

【Let's wait and see. I feel like this rebirth is different for her.】

【Look at her eyes. She doesn't look like someone walking to her own death.】

Over the following days, my grandmother didn't come by again.

It was Gail Lambert next door who cornered me one day, back from the market, and pulled me aside all secretive.

"Hailey, I saw your grandmother in town today."

"She said she's buying herself a new outfit for your wedding day."

Gail lowered her voice and leaned in close.

"Guess what color she picked?"

Before I could answer, she went on,

"Red. Bright red."

I smiled and let it pass.

But the live-chat started up again:

【Here it comes, here it comes, here it comes!】

【Red! The exact same red as last time!】

【On the wedding day she's definitely going to come charging out in that red dress!】

The comments kept flooding past, and yet I was strangely calm.

Everything about the wedding was ready.

But I never expected that the night before the wedding, something would still go wrong.

I had just finished trying on the bridal gown when Theo's mother called me.

The moment I picked up, she was crying so hard on the other end she could barely breathe.

"Hailey… Theo's gone…"