After being reborn, I make up my mind to stop chasing after my husband and daughter

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“You silly girl, | swore I'd never let you lose,” Aiden said, putting on that melotic, bittersweet look you only

see in coming-of-age stories, as he reached out to stroke Sophia’s hair.

| cleared my throat.

The two lovebirds across fromimmediately straightened up.

“Victoria, Sophia and | are planning to save up for two years and then buy a house in Braylin,” Aiden said,

looking serious.

“Real estate in Braylin is crazy expensive. Do you guys have a budget in mind?” | asked.

Aiden scratched the back of his head, clearly not having done any real budgeting. He let out a nervous laugh.

“We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. If we have to, we'll just get a loan. We're young, Sophia and I—we’ll

make it work.”

Sophia immediately frowned. “Loans are such a hassle. | don’t want to take one.”

Aiden quickly tried to soothe her. “Okay, babe, no loans. Ill just work harder and try to get an even bigger bonus

next year.”

Sophia finally smiled again, then gavea shrewd glance.

Con,

we're both women-I know exactly what that look means.

She's obviously hoping I'll lend her scash, or maybe get my folks to help out with the down payment.

If she’s truly serious about building a life with Aiden, and | actually had the money, I'd totally support them. But

if Sophia's just scheming for my cash, then I'd have no problem smiling and breaking up the lovebirds myself. |

don’t expect my brother to marry into money, but I'll be damned if he brings ha queen who turns our whole

family into her personal staff.

“Victoria, we're getting our break in two days, but Sophia doesn’t get toff- she’s on shift duty. When are you

heading home? Are you going to Hachester or back to Mom and Dad’s?” Aiden asked.

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“I think I'll go see Mom and Dad,” | replied. It's been a while, and | kind of miss

them.

“Alright then. Should we book our flights together?” Aiden suggested.

| paused to think. “Letcheck with Yvonne first, see if she wants to cwith me. If not, I'll just go back by

myself.”

“Alright, just letknow,” Aiden said.

While Aiden and | were chatting, Sophia had already almost finished off the wagyu beef and foie gras.

The portions weren't that big to begin with-Aiden pretty much let her have most of it, and | was too full to eat

any more anyway.

After dinner, Sophia started nagging Aiden again about not having a car. On the surface, she was complaining to

him, but honestly, it felt like she was hinting atthe whole time.

‘What a scheming girl,’ | thought to myself.

| just ignored her.

“Wantto give you guys a lift home?” | asked, standing next to my car.

Sophia gave my BMW a quick once-over, then turned to Aiden. “We already talked about this, remember?”

Aiden shota look. “You head hfirst, Victoria. We're not going back tonight.”

| nodded, minded my own business, and drove off.

A sad love song was playing in the car, and with the holidays starting, there were way fewer cars on the road in

Braylin.

Every word of that song felt like a bead dropping into my heart, weighing it down with a dull, heavy sadness.

It had been a while since I'd talked to Ryan. This city of Braylin still held traces of us-places where we used to

laugh and have fun together.

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Now, it’s just me, all alone.

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| didn’t head straight home. Instead, | just drove around aimlessly, wandering through the city for a while.

By the t| finally got home, it was already past eleven. My phone lit up with a group chat notification.

Scrolling through my messages as | got out of the car.

Nathan dropped a message in the group chat: [Victoria, when do you guys get your break?]

| didn’t reply right away. Jared beatto it and dropped the official holiday notice in the chat.

Nathan jumped in right away: [Can't you give Victoria an early break? That's so unfair.]

| quickly sent a smiley: [Thanks for looking out for me, Nathan, but I'm good-no need for special treatment.]

Jared replied: [If | really gave her an early break, you'd just start snarking that I'm up to something shady.]

Nathan threw in a playful jab: [Mr. Holcomb, are you really that petty? Con, don’t get so touchy over a little

chat.]

Jared didn’t bother replying and just asked me, “Heading back to Hachester?”

| answered, “Just going home.”

Jared followed up, “Are you bringing Yvonne?”

“Would you be alright with her coming with me?” | asked. | don’t have custody of Yvonne, so | wasn’t going to

ask for anything.

“If you're bringing her, mind if | join too?” Jared asked, half-joking but with a hint of curiosity.

Before | could type a reply, Nathan popped up in the group chat: [Victoria's hometown must be gorgeous. I've

never been! If Mr. Holcomb'’s going, can | hitch

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a ride too?]

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Jared just dropped a string of speechless emojis, clearly at a loss for words.

Watching them chat so happily, | couldn't help but feel like a third wheel.

“Why don’t you all just go have fun together? I'll stay out of it,” | said, putting on my best serious face.

Nathan shot back: [Victoria, you know I'm not into guys, right?]

Jared sent an angry emoji: [Don’t grossout!]