Chapter 10: Bargaining and Betrayal

Before going to New York, Lillian came to me, trying to persuade me to marry Derek.

We sat on her bed, knees touching, her suitcase already packed. She looked at me with those big, pleading eyes.

“Tessa, I know you like him. This is a good opportunity, isn’t it?”

She dangled the promise of happiness in front of me, as if it were a consolation prize.

“Better to keep things in the family—you don’t want Derek to end up with another woman, do you?”

She made it sound so reasonable, as if love could be bartered like a family heirloom.

I kept my head down and said nothing.

Inside, I was screaming, but I bit my tongue, too scared to risk the peace.

Lillian became anxious. “Do you want to see our family go bankrupt?”

She played her trump card, the one thing I couldn’t ignore—responsibility. For the first time, I wondered if my feelings even mattered at all.

“I’m begging you, Tessa! Or are you worried I’ll come back and steal Derek from you?”

Her words hung in the air, half challenge, half threat.

My expression changed slightly.

She saw my hesitation and pressed harder, her desperation palpable.

She actually relaxed. “Don’t worry, once I’m in New York, I won’t contact him again, I swear.”

She smiled, as if the problem had been solved, as if love could be wrapped up with a bow and a promise.

For the first three years, she really kept her promise.

She stayed away, building a life on the East Coast, while I tried to make a home with Derek. But some vows are easier made than kept.

But in the end, she still broke the vow she made back then.

Like every good story, the past always finds a way back home.