Three Men Rejected Me—Then Came Back

I'm the sick one. The side character in this book. Engagements called off: three. The day the third one fell through, a line of text drifted across my vision.

Nobody else could see it. [Bold of her to think she has a shot. Which of those leads would look twice at a girl who can barely breathe?] [Right? Pretty face, so what.

She's there to make our bright, bubbly lead look better.] [One good gust and she'd fold. No way she could handle any of them.] Three lines floated past.

By the time they faded, my family had handed my engagement to my sister. It went through easily. Nobody on their end asked a single question.

Then came her engagement party, and I went. The man beside her looked at me, and the bored expression froze on his face. "You're the sick one?

You look like this?" 1 Dorian Thorne's messages came in one after another.

Him: [Arranged marriages went out of style a while ago, Miss Mercer.] Him: [I hear you just got back from Switzerland. That desperate to get somebody to marry you?] Him: [Shame.

I don't do girls who smell like a pharmacy.] I sat with that for a second. Then I opened my Instagram. One post. That's all I'd put up since I made the account.

A paper cup of something graybrown. Caption: so bitter. I went back to the thread and recorded him a voice memo. Patient.

Every word. "My parents are the ones who told me we were engaged. If you don't want it, please let both families know.

This engagement matters a great deal to them." A voice memo came back. Low, unhurried, with an edge of impatience under it. "You think you're worth my time?" "Miss Mercer.

You said this engagement matters to your parents?" "Your parents seem to care about a lot of things." He tossed it out like it cost him nothing, and I dropped my eyes.

Because this was the third engagement of mine somebody had called off. I kept my voice even. "I respect your decision. But my parents are pushing me too—" I coughed. Twice.

Couldn't stop it. The halffinished memo went out anyway. His reply came fast. Him: [?] Him: [Are you doing the fragile thing on purpose?] Him: [I know you're sick.

Did you have to put that breathy little catch in your voice? Gave me goosebumps.] I pressed my lips together and didn't answer.

People looking for something wrong with you never run short of reasons.

The comments came right back, laughing at me. [Side character, is he even reading your messages?] [Okay but hear me out. The sick thing makes her voice all soft and breathy.

It kind of works.] [Goes even better with that face.] [You people need to eat something.] Then my mother's message came through. How's it going with the Thorne boy?

He's a good match. The two of you should set up a time to meet. I set my jaw and called him. He picked up. I didn't expect that.

He heard my suggestion and shut it down flat. "No point meeting." He took a drink of water. Still winded, like he'd just finished a workout.

Then a short laugh. "We're not a fit." I hadn't said anything yet, and he kept going, easy about it. "You want to know why?" "With a body like yours, a little exertion and you're out cold, right?" "That would really kill the mood." I understood him.

He wasn't just saying no to the engagement. He was taking his time with it. I texted my mother back. Me: [He won't meet me.

Let's drop it.] She didn't write back. 2 The next morning, on my way downstairs. My sister was in the kitchen, talking to the housekeeper.

Her phone lay face up on the counter, the group chat open and lit. I wasn't trying to read her messages. But there was a name on that screen, and it was mine.

A sentence came after it. I only got as far as the first three words— "Your sister's already" Chapter 2 [Your sister's already had three engagements called off?

That is so embarrassing.] [I heard this Vesper girl has to stop and catch her breath every few steps. Is that real?] [What does she even look like?

She's been abroad her whole life, none of us have seen her. Prettier than you?] My sister wrote back: [My sister's health hasn't been good since she was little.

That's not her fault. And she's beautiful.] [Ohh. How beautiful? Got a picture?] [Wait, didn't the Thorne heir's engagement get handed to you?

I heard once they swapped Vesper out for you, he stopped saying no.] [Makes sense. Our Josie's the likable one.] My sister sent back an embarrassed sticker.

That night, at dinner, my parents announced her engagement and the date of the party. I ate quietly. My sister didn't react either. 3 The day of the engagement party.

Eyes followed me everywhere I went. And I was the only one who noticed that my sister, standing right next to me, wasn't there at all. A second later I knew why.

The comments: [This is it, this is it, she bolts in a minute!] [Okay so the male lead only agreed to this because she's gorgeous.

But her running is what actually gets him interested!] [Heh, it doesn't work though. He drags her back halfway and then some.] That surprised me.

The whole room was waiting for her to walk up there. Only me and those lines of text knew where she was actually going. I looked at my sister in her white mermaid gown.

I kept my voice down. "You're running?" Her eyes went tight. She blinked a few times. Then, "That's my sister for you.

One look and you've got my whole plan." I waited a beat. "Why?" "I don't like Dorian Thorne." She said it mournfully, something disappointed moving through her eyes. "And there's someone I do like.

He's just not from money, so Mom and Dad won't have it." More text drifted up. [Fun fact, firstlove guy is just part of the male lead's whole thing.] [When the lead drags her back and punishes her, she has to call firstlove guy while it's happening!] [God, the tension.] So what she wanted didn't matter at all.

Her fighting back — to those things floating in front of me, that was just foreplay with the male lead? "Ves.

Can you help me?" She hooked her arm through mine and asked in the voice she uses when she wants something. The party filled up. Glasses clinking everywhere.

A man in a suit came toward us on long legs. My sister gave him an uncomfortable nod. He nodded back, unbothered. Nothing about the two of them said engaged.

Then his eyes landed on me. The bored look froze again. His black eyes came straight at me. My sister introduced us. "This is my sister.

Vesper." A long pause. "You're the sick one?" Dorian Thorne narrowed his eyes.

I couldn't read his tone. "So this is what you look like." My sister made a face. "I look like this, so how bad could my sister possibly be?" She'd barely finished when someone came over to toast me.

He was smiling in a way I didn't like. "First time meeting the elder Mercer daughter.

Let me get a drink in you." I apologized under my breath. "I can't drink." "I'm on medication." "It's your sister's engagement party. Are you actually happy for her?

This isn't because she took your engagement and you're holding a grudge, is it?" Colton Ashford pushed it, loud enough for the people around us to hear.

My sister's brows came together. "What exactly are you—" I picked up the glass. Tipped my head back and drank all of it. The glass touched down on the table. It barely made a sound.

I looked at him with nothing on my face. "Are we done?" Chapter 3 The liquor was strong. One swallow and the corners of my eyes went red, heat climbing into my cheeks.

Something hot turned over in my stomach. I coughed a few times. The burn pushed tears up into my lashes. He went still. His eyes locked onto my face and stayed there.

My sister pulled me off to the side. "Don't waste your time on him. Guys like that pick the ones who won't fight back." I looked back.

The Ashford kid had gone back into the crowd, talking to somebody, glancing over at me every so often. I couldn't name what was in that look.

Even Dorian Thorne, lounging off to one side, had his eyes on the red at the corners of mine. Then he pulled a napkin from the table and held it out. I didn't take it.

He lifted his chin. "You have liquor on your mouth." I still didn't move. My sister took it and wiped it off for me. 4 Ten minutes before the ceremony. The bridal suite.

My sister stripped off the mermaid gown and changed into street clothes while she talked. "The Langfords and the Vales were supposed to send someone, by the way. Something came up.

They sent gifts and stayed home. Which is good, honestly. I was worried it would be awkward for you." I paused. I understood what she meant. Those two families.

Before Dorian Thorne, they were the two who called off my engagements. The Langfords once. The Vales once. Add Dorian, and that makes three. My sister stopped. "Okay, I'm going.

Ves, I don't think I'll be back for a while." She climbed out the window, careful about it. I steadied her arm.

The second she was through, she pulled the window shut. "It's windy out here, don't get cold. If Mom and Dad ask, you don't know anything.

Keep yourself out of it." I stood at the window and watched her get into a black car. Text piled up faster than I could read. I could tell they were furious. [NO. No no no.

Get this evil side character off my screen.] [She helped the lead escape? Then what am I even reading for? Where's my darkromance arc?] [She did it on purpose, obviously.

Now she gets to marry Dorian in her sister's place. What a vicious little schemer.] I read that last one. Me: ...? I let out a breath and went back toward the ballroom.

The ceremony started, and neither of the leads showed up. Then somebody's son or daughter let it slip that the younger Mercer daughter had run, and the room came apart.

My mother turned on me first. "I had the stylists watching her exactly so this wouldn't happen. You said you had it handled.

So where did she go?" I kept my voice mild. "I stepped out to the restroom. When I came back, she was gone." "Did you do this on purpose?" Her voice sharpened.

Her hand came up, ready to swing. It didn't land. I swayed, covered my mouth, and started coughing. Her hand stalled in the air. My father let out a heavy breath. "It's done.

Blaming Vesper won't fix it. If that girl wanted to run, was Vesper going to stop her?" That was when the other lead finally strolled in.

Dorian Thorne worked his collar button open. "So what happens now?" The smile didn't reach his eyes. "My fiancée's gone." His parents didn't look good either.

This party had cost real money and taken up half the city's attention. For both families, the money was nothing. How it looks is what actually costs them. Nobody moved.

Nobody spoke.

Then Dorian Thorne, taking his time. "In that case, I suppose I could make do with the elder Mercer daughter." His mother said quietly, "Her health isn't good." Dorian's eyes swept over me.

Something between a smile and not. "It isn't." "But the temperament seems easy enough. And the face is... fine." He finished the sentence and started across the ballroom toward me.

Everyone got out of his way. He stopped in front of me and raised his hand— Chapter 4 His hand stopped an inch from my cheek, and he tucked the loose hair behind my ear.

The whole room went quiet for a beat.

It made me think of the restroom earlier, and what I'd heard people saying about me. "I really did not expect Vesper to look like that." "Way easier to deal with than her sister, too.

The Ashford kid told her to drink and she actually drank it. Did you see her after? That white face with a little color coming up in it." "Honestly?

It does something to you." "If I were Dorian Thorne, I'd be regretting it right now." The comments were flooding again. [She got exactly what she wanted.

I'm done.] [So what if the side character's pretty?

A flower with no scent, that's all she is.] [If she marries the male lead, what happens to our girl?] [And there are still two more leads!

She helps the lead run off and now what, where does the tension go? Where's the dark romance?!] I didn't like those things.

And I wanted, badly, to do something that would ruin their day. But. "No," I said, and shook my head. My father's voice dropped. "This engagement was yours to begin with.

Putting you back in it is just returning property to its owner." I tried to explain. "He doesn't like me.

Why make this hard on both of us?" Dorian Thorne lifted his eyes and met mine. His gaze moved from my eyes down to my mouth, then slid to my collarbone. Slow.

Fond, in a way that had teeth in it. Cold went down my back.

He started to smile, unhurried. "We can marry first and fall in love later, Miss Mercer." 5 They were actually going to push me up there.

The blood went out of my face, my eyes closed, and I went down. I woke up to a white hospital ceiling.

My mother helped me sit up, and the first thing out of her mouth had blame in it. "You agreed to see where things went with the Thorne boy before.

What changed?" If Dorian Thorne had been warm. Decent. Then a merger marriage wouldn't have been the worst thing.

But when he was turning me down, he did it from a great height, with no manners at all. Now he'd suddenly agreed, and he was doing me a favor by lowering himself.

Everything about it made my skin crawl. My mother patted my hand and sighed. "Your sister ran first. We're the ones in the wrong here. It's lucky Dorian is willing to make the swap.

And the contract named the two of you in the first place, so it isn't as if it wouldn't look right." I said it quietly. "I don't like him. His character is terrible.

He's arrogant." My mother laughed, helpless about it. "They're all raised like the sun came up for them. It's normal.

Your sister's the same way—" I pressed my lips together and made it worse than it was. "Every time I'm near him my chest hurts so much I can't get a breath, and my stomach turns over.

If it doesn't matter to you whether I live, then do what you want." She stopped. She hadn't expected it to be that serious.

After a while, she said, "Think about it some more." She left. My aide stayed with me. At some point she wheeled me out into the back garden at Elmhurst Private to get some air.

Then I heard a low voice on the other side of the flowerbed. One boxwood hedge between us. He hadn't seen me in the wheelchair. "Mm.

I'm at the hospital." "My family heard she's goodlooking and decided I had to see her under the excuse of a visit. They think I might want her." "There's no point.

We settled the engagement already." The voice was steady, carrying the ease of a man used to being obeyed.

He said it like it cost him nothing. "I'll have a nurse take the gift basket up for me." "I'm not seeing her. What, does she think she's some kind of goddess?

One look and I'd fall in love." The footsteps went away. My aide started pushing me again, and she kept her voice low. "Miss Mercer, who was that gentleman