Chapter 5: Threads of the Past, Kites of the Present

Lillian Turner has also been given a second chance.

I closed my eyes and sighed softly.

In my previous life, she married Captain Andrew, who was a military man—quiet and reserved. Every time Lillian saw me, she glared with hatred, as if I had stolen her good fortune.

So in this life, she sought out Noah early and became his fiancée.

She wanted to get into the Carter family before me and secure her position first.

From then on, fate’s path diverged. Little did she know, I never intended to marry Noah.

Her schemes against me are doomed to fail.

In the days that followed, I didn’t go out, but stayed home preparing for my wedding.

I always felt guilty toward Captain Andrew.

He, Noah, and I grew up together. But my eyes were always on Noah, while Andrew was quiet and withdrawn, often overlooked by me.

I still remember him standing in the dim garage, his dark eyes brimming with emotions I couldn’t fathom:

“Rach, if I became mayor, would you marry me?”

I didn’t answer—nor could I.

Andrew held a high position in the military and was always under suspicion. Noah lured him back to town in my name and had him ousted.

That was his fate in the previous life.

I hope that in this life, we can both find peace.

After the last stitch, I unfolded the hand-stitched red satin wedding veil, the kind Grandma always said would bring luck, and gently blew on it.

Grandma Carol always said my sewing was poor, so I had specially learned from the seamstresses at Silver Needle Boutique. This was already my finest work.

Captain Andrew—he should like it, shouldn’t he?

I was full of anticipation, but I never expected my hard work to be trampled like this.

When I hurried to Silver Needle Boutique to collect the wedding veil, the seamstress smiled and told me Noah had already taken it.

Seeing my expression fall, the seamstress looked at me in confusion: “Is everything okay, Rachel? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

I closed my eyes, suppressing the anger that surged within, and rushed out.

I don’t know how many people I asked before I finally found where Noah was.

The guards at the Carter estate stopped me, saying Noah and his fiancée were flying kites and it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to go in.

I sneered and brushed past them.

On the lush green lawn, a woman was flying a kite, her pale fingers reaching high—soon covered by a large hand. She leaned shyly into his embrace, laughing sweetly.

My sudden appearance interrupted their flirting.

Noah’s face darkened, and he looked at me warily:

“What are you doing here?”

I held out my hand and got straight to the point:

“The wedding veil—give it back to me.”

He frowned slightly:

“It’s gone. You can just sew another.”

I glared at him, but before I could speak, Lillian giggled first.

She covered her mouth with her hand, her blue eyes sparkling, and pointed to the sky:

“Speaking of which, sis’s sewn wedding veil is so beautiful—the only kite of its kind in Maple Heights.”

Following her gaze, I was struck as if by lightning.

The kite she held aloft was made from my wedding veil.

It hit me like a punch to the gut—something I’d poured my heart into, fluttering above me like it meant nothing.

The bright red silk was dazzling against the blue sky, even the clouds seemed more vivid.

Noah—

He actually used my painstaking work to please his beloved.

Blood rushed to my head, and I felt as though I were drowning in a sea of anger, the grievances of two lifetimes threatening to overwhelm me.

Unable to contain myself, I shoved him hard, almost screaming:

“That was mine! How could you?”

“Are you crazy—”

He staggered from my push, and his angry retort died in his throat when he saw my reddened eyes.

He had never seen me so emotional before, and for a moment, he was stunned, not knowing what to do.

After a while, he frowned and spoke stiffly:

“Enough. It was made for me anyway. If it pleases me, isn’t that enough? Why take it so seriously?”

“If you don’t want this one, just sew another.”

I trembled with rage, forcing back the tears at the corners of my eyes, choking back my sobs, and looked at him, enunciating each word:

“Who said this wedding veil was sewn for you?”

Noah’s jaw tightened, but for once, he had no comeback. Above us, the red veil danced in the wind—a warning, or maybe a promise, that this time, everything would be different.