He Was Reborn To Claim Me But I’m Already Married Chapter 02
As I walked back through the crowd, more than a few heads turned in surprise.
Behind me, several young women covered their mouths, but their whispers still carried.
“Isn’t that Claire Bennett? She’s already married. What’s she doing here?”
“Who knows? The Bennett sisters were so close to Adrian. I thought he’d pick one of them, but then something happened last year, and Claire suddenly got married.”
“Shh—remember her sister…”
I pretended I hadn’t heard a thing.
I spotted Evelyn on the terrace by the water.
The moment she saw me, her face lit up.
“I thought you weren’t coming.” A faintly sour note colored her voice. “I thought now that you’re married, you’d forgotten all about your sister.”
I knew she wasn’t truly angry, just hurt that I hadn’t been to see her since I’d returned to Boston.
I rushed to apologize, soothing her with endearments and explanations until I finally coaxed a smile from her.
Daniel had just been transferred to the Suffolk County DA’s office, and between the endless social obligations, the logistics of the move, and settling into our new home, I truly hadn’t had a moment to spare.
Evelyn pinched my cheek.
“I’m not really mad. It’s just… since you got married, we haven’t had a proper talk in so long.”
She lowered her voice. “By the way, does Daniel treat you well?”
She sighed. “When you and Adrian had that fight, I thought it was just a momentary spat. I never dreamed you’d actually go through with getting married. You scared me half to death.”
I froze.
That, at least, I remembered with perfect clarity.
It had happened right after I was reborn.
I’d wanted to stroll with Adrian through the Back Bay spring flower festival and hang a love card on the wishing tree, so I’d had someone send word to him.
To my surprise, he’d agreed.
His reply was just four scribbled words:
*Yeah. Got it.*
But I had read them over and over, a warmth spreading through my chest, threatening to overflow.
Evelyn had let out a sigh of relief, though she couldn’t help teasing me.
“So you two have finally figured things out, huh?”
“Everyone knows what it means for a couple to hang a love card on the wishing tree. Adrian’s just stubborn. He’s too proud to admit how he feels.”
Filled with anticipation, I had dressed with particular care.
At the festival, the park was full of young men wearing flower crowns.
According to the charity’s tradition, if they saw someone they liked, they would offer their crown as a gift.
I waited quietly beneath a secluded pear tree.
A blushing boy approached and held out his crown. Then a second, and a third. Some were bold enough to simply press theirs into my arms.
I stood there, at a complete loss, not knowing whether to discard them or keep them.
When Adrian arrived, his face was a thundercloud. A few pear blossoms dusted his shoulder, but he didn’t brush them away.
He strode over, his eyes fixed on the flower crowns in my arms. “Quite the collection,” he said, his voice dripping with acid. “All dressed up just to show off? You shouldn’t be standing here. You should be on the event poster, replacing the Spring Goddess.”
“And you expect me to marry you? I, Adrian Hawthorne, will never marry a woman who throws herself at every man she sees.”
“If it weren’t for your sister, I never would have agreed to this. It was a momentary lapse in judgment.”
As he spoke, he casually tossed his own flower crown into the Charles River, letting it drift away on the swift current.
A crowd was gathering.
A hot flush of shame crawled over my skin. All I wanted was to change into plain clothes, wipe off my makeup, and hide.
With everyone watching, the humiliation was so intense my ears began to ring.
Tears stung my eyes, and in a burst of fury, I snapped, “Who wants to marry you? Adrian, I hate you.”