Chapter 2

In my room, I started packing. It didn't take long. Almost nothing in this house truly belonged to me.

Mother had furnished my room with expensive things — silk sheets, designer dresses, jeweled hair clips — all purchased by servants she'd instructed. None of it chosen by her.

Celeste's room, by contrast, was filled with gifts Mother had picked out herself. Every piece reflected intimate knowledge: her favorite colors, her preferred fabrics, the exact shade of lipstick that complemented her complexion.

I left everything behind. I packed only the worn leather jacket I'd arrived in five years ago and a silver locket I'd found buried in a storage box in the basement.

Inside the locket was a photo of our family from twelve years ago. Mother was holding baby Celeste. Father had his arm around me. I was five, grinning so wide my fangs showed.

I stared at it for a long time.

Then I placed it on the nightstand, face down, and zipped my bag shut.

I was almost done when a sharp knock rattled my door. It swung open without waiting for permission.

Viktor Crane. Pureblood vampire. Heir to the Crane dynasty. My fiancé — or rather, the man my father had traded me to in exchange for a political alliance.

He was beautiful in the way all purebloods were. Pale. Sculpted. Cold.

"I hear you're running off to wolf territory." He leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed. "Should I be offended that my fiancée is choosing fleas over me?"

In my last life, I worshipped him. I memorized his schedule, learned to cook blood cuisine he favored, and spent hours perfecting the pureblood etiquette that never came naturally to a halfblood like me.

He repaid me by sleeping with Celeste on our wedding night and draining me until my heart stopped.

Looking at him now felt like staring at a stranger.

"Viktor, let's end the engagement."

The smirk vanished from his face.

"Excuse me?"

"The engagement. I want to dissolve it."

He stared at me as though I'd spoken in a dead language. "You? You want to end it? You literally begged your father to keep this engagement when he suggested transferring it to Celeste."

Of course he knew about that. In my last life, Father had tried to swap me for Celeste as Viktor's fiancée. I had fought it tooth and nail, sobbing, pleading, humiliating myself.

Because I loved Viktor. Because I thought he was the only person in the world who might eventually love me back.

What a pathetic creature I had been.

"I've changed my mind," I said simply. "You should be relieved. You always hated being tied to a halfblood. Now you're free."

Viktor pushed off the doorframe, something dangerous flickering in his crimson eyes. "You don't get to decide that. The engagement is a contract between our families. You can't just — "

"I already spoke to my father. He'll agree. He's wanted this for years."

Viktor went very still. For a fraction of a second, something unreadable crossed his face — not anger, not relief, but something closer to confusion.

As if, for the first time, the girl who had always chased him was suddenly walking away, and he didn't know what to do with the empty space she left behind.

"You'll regret this," he said quietly.

I picked up my bag and met his gaze with steady calm. "The only thing I regret is not doing this sooner."