Ezra was the youngest captain at the outpost. If everything went smoothly, he was on track for a promotion this year.
A happy marriage and a devoted spouse were points in his favor.
No matter how much he loved Denise, he would never let her destroy his image in front of his superiors.
In my last life, I loved him. I couldn't bear to see him caught in the middle, so I backed down.
But in this life, all that love had curdled into hate.
And hate gave me the freedom to squeeze every pressure point he had, to collect on the debt from my previous life.
I turned back to him, my voice ice:
"Fine. I'll go through with the wedding. But I need to see some sincerity first."
My gaze locked onto Denise, and I let a tremor of wounded pride creep into my tone:
"A wedding is supposed to be a joyous occasion. Instead, she told everyone I was sick on the happiest day of my life. That's not a joke. That's a curse. Even an enemy wouldn't stoop that low."
"What Denise Galloway did was absolutely out of line!"
I touched the handprint on my cheek where Mrs. Abbott had slapped me, and let the tears fall.