Before the Seventh Sunset

The day the Lockwood familys men found Nathaniel, I was out back with him, chasing chickens through the mud on our farm.

They told me he was Nathaniel Lockwood, the heir to a billion-dollar fortune, missing for five years.

This is for your trouble over the past five years, one of them said, offering me a sleek black card. "The Lockwood family hopes you'll accept it."

I knew what it really was: hush money. A check to buy my silence and erase me from his life.

Nates eyes went red-rimmed, his fingers twisting in the fabric of my sleeve. He looked utterly wrecked.

"Ill go back," he choked out, his voice thick with unshed tears, "but only if she comes with me!"

As the men in suits exchanged uneasy glances, I wiped the chicken shit from my hands onto my jeans and reached for the card, right in front of him.

"Nate, you should go back on your own."

I looked him straight in the eye, my voice steady. "I'm used to the quiet life here. The city... it's too loud, too much. It's not for me."

Oh, Nate. Its not that I wouldn't have gone with you.

Its just that in my last life, my death was too brutal. This time, Ive learned my lesson.

The December wind cut through my coat, damp and icy.

Nate clung to my sleeve, his eyes glistening.

"Willow... are you throwing me away?"

The same words, the same heartbroken gaze as the last time.

But this time, my heart wouldn't soften.

I looked past him, at the dark cluster of men standing on the ridge, and slowly, deliberately, pried his fingers from my arm.

"Nate, you never belonged here."

My voice was cold, a stranger's voice. "Have you forgotten? You were just a stray I found by the side of the road."

The moment the words left my mouth, the moisture in his eyes burned into a raw, crimson agony.

That was the one thing he could never bear to hear.

When I first found him, he could barely form a sentence. He didn't know his name, where he was fromall he could do was shake his head, his eyes wide with fear.

I had no choice but to take him in.

Some of the crueler kids in the village nicknamed him "Scamp," calling him the puppy that followed at my heels.

Nate hated it, but there was no stopping their taunts.

"It doesn't matter what they call you, Nate," I'd told him, echoing the words my late grandfather had taught me. "Their words don't define you. We know the truth."

I passed that wisdom on to him.

And now, I was the one using it as a weapon against him.

"Willow, are five years of our life together really worth so little?" His voice trembled as he spoke.

In my past life, I thought the same thing. I thought five years of love and hardship couldn't be bought. So, even knowing the Lockwood family would scrutinize and despise me, I had wanted to stand by his side and face it all with him.

"People die without money, Nate. But life is a lot simpler without love," I said, the words tasting like ash. "You, of all people, should know how important money is after the five years we've had. This card this can give my grandmother and me a life without worry."

I had no desire to drag this out. I looked past him and called out to the men.

"What are you waiting for? Do you expect Mr. Lockwood to walk to the car himself?"

That detached, callous remark was the final straw. Nate snapped.

He snatched the card from my hand, and with a guttural cry, broke it in two, hurling the pieces into a muddy puddle.

"I'm not leaving, Willow!" he yelled, wrapping his arms around me in a desperate, suffocating embrace. "I just want to be with you! I promised Grandma I'd take care of you. You said we'd have a son and a daughter, that we'd save up and buy a house in town!"

"I can give you the best life now! Why are you doing this? Why have you changed?"

Over five years, his dependence on me had become instinctual. He thought he couldn't live without me.

That was only because he didn't remember. He didn't remember the fiance he'd left behind in the city.

A fiance who had been waiting for him for five long years.

If hed known, he never would have chosen to take me with him in the first place.

"Stop it, Nate. Don't be a child."

I pushed against his chest. "It was just a game. Like kids playing house. Did you really take it seriously?"

The arms holding me fell away.

"You're heartless, Willow."

His accusation was choked with tears, as if I were the villain, the one who deserved to be condemned.

But you don't understand, Nate.

In my last life, I truly believed we could have a happy ending. It wasn't until you remembered the woman you truly loved that I realized how utterly foolish I had been.

The moment Grandma and I died, alone and forgotten in a foreign city, I swore that if I ever got a second chance, I would never, ever follow you back to Crestfall.

News that Nate was the son of a billionaire spread through our poor, remote village like wildfire.

Soon, our yard was filled with neighbors, their faces plastered with sycophantic smiles, all eager to witness the spectacle.

"Willow, you've really hit the jackpot! Don't you forget about us folks back home when you're living the high life!"

"That's right! I hear he's their only son. You're going to be set for life, married into high society!"

"I always said that Nate boy looked different from the rest of us! See? I knew he had good breeding!"

The chatter was a dizzying, opportunistic hum.

I ignored them, walking over to the water pump to wash the grime from my hands and face.

"Everyone go home," I said, my voice flat. "He's already gone."

I knew why they were here. They were hoping for a handout, a crumb from the billionaires table. Even the dust shaken from a rich man's coat could feed a normal family for a year.

A wave of murmurs rippled through the crowd as they wondered why I hadn't gone with him.

I couldn't be bothered to explain. I shut the front door, closing them out.

"Willow..."

Grandma's frail voice called from the bedroom. I rushed to her side.

Seeing her theremy grandmother who had frozen to death on the Lockwood family's doorstep in my past lifea tear escaped and traced a path down my cheek.

"My dear child, why are you crying?" she asked, her voice soft with concern. "Was it Nate? Did he not want to take you with him?"

I shook my head.

"Then tell your grandma what's wrong. I'll sort it out for you."

Again, I shook my head, then collapsed into her arms, burying my face in her familiar, worn sweater.

"Grandma," I sobbed, "I was the one who didn't want to go. I want to stay here with you forever."

She stroked my hair, her touch a comforting balm as she held me close.

"Silly child..."

The lullaby she hummed was a sweet, gentle melody that carried me into a deep sleep.

But my dreams were a prison, replaying the past I could never escape.

The first day I followed Nate to Crestfall, I stood before the opulent Lockwood estate clutching the gifts Grandma had lovingly prepared: homemade preserves, smoked meats, and dried herbs from our garden.

In that moment, I understood what it meant to be utterly out of place. I was a weed in a rose garden.

I clung to Nate's arm as if he were my only lifeline.

He squeezed my hand gently. "Don't be afraid," he whispered with a smile. "I'm here."

Those were the words I used to say to him.

When I first found him, he was covered in injuries, his right knee mangled so badly he walked with a permanent limp. He was constantly mocked and bullied for it.

I was the one who stood in front of him, who fought his battles for him, who told him, "Don't be afraid. I'm here."

Grandma and I had worked ourselves to the bone to pay for his surgeries, to buy him the best physical therapy equipment.

He would always watch us with tears in his eyes, promising to repay us one day, promising that when he was healed, he would be the one to provide for us.

He kept that promise.

But he broke so many others.

"You must be Willow?"

The question came from Nate's mother, Eleanor. She had to be fifty, but there wasn't a single line on her face that betrayed her age. She was a world away from the weathered, tired-looking women of our village.

I nodded timidly. The plush carpet felt like it was woven with needles, pricking the soles of my feet with every step.

"My grandmother asked me to bring these for you..."

I knelt and, just as Grandma had instructed, began to arrange the items on the floor. Nate bent down to help, passing each jar and bundle to his family.

When I looked up, I saw the same expression on every face: disgust.

They covered their mouths, their brows furrowed, as if Id brought something foul into their pristine home.

My heart sank into a cold, dark pit.

Seeing their reaction, Nate's face hardened. "Someone take these!" he barked.

No one dared to defy the sole heir of the Lockwood fortune. In an instant, several servants scurried forward and whisked my offerings away.

Nate pulled me to my feet, his expression grimly resolute as he made his announcement to the silent room.

"This is my girlfriend, Willow."

"She is my future wife. If you cannot accept her, then you cannot accept me."

The vast living room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. The air was thick with a dreadful, suffocating tension.

Then, a soft sob broke the silence. The crowd parted, creating a path.

I followed the sound and saw her. A woman in a white dress, her beautiful face streaked with tears, staring at Nate and me.

"Nathaniel," she whispered, her voice trembling. "You say she's your future wife."

"Then what am I?"

The first time I saw Seraphina, I didn't know a woman could be so exquisitely beautiful. She looked like a movie star whod stepped off the silver screen, radiant and untouchable.

It was also then that I learned they were childhood sweethearts, two halves of a whole, torn apart by fate. Even with Nate gone for five years, presumed dead, she had waited.

"Nathaniel, I waited for you for five years. Do you have any idea what that was like?"

"How could you forget me?"

"How could you fall in love with... with a woman like her?"

Instinctively, Nates hand slipped from mine.

For the first time, I saw true conflict cloud his face.

Nate set me up in a beautiful townhouse just down the street from the Lockwood estate. That night, he held me tight, his whispers filled with promises for our future.

"Willow, this will be our home now. Don't worry, I'll make everything right. I'll give you the life you deserve."

"I told you, you're the only one I'll ever marry."

His words were an anchor, steadying my frantic heart.

Nate hadn't regained his memories, but he slipped back into the world of business as if he'd never left. He was consumed by work, and I barely heard him mention Seraphina's name again.

Worried I'd be lonely, he brought my grandmother to the city to live with us.

Every day, Grandma and I would cook his favorite meals. He would come home, exhausted but smiling, and his face would light up with a look of pure contentment. After dinner, we'd go up to the rooftop terrace to watch the sunset.

Back home, we used to sit on the hill behind the farm and watch the sky burn. Hed promised we would watch a lifetime of sunsets together.

Those first few months were the happiest of my life. We no longer had to scrape by, no longer worried about money. We were living the life we had only dreamed of.

But then Nate's work became more demanding. Days, and then a week, would pass without us seeing him. When he did stop by, it was only for a fleeting moment before he was gone again.

The sunsets became a solitary affair.

I would sit on that rooftop long after dark, but he never came to watch one with me again.

Then came his birthday. He said he was taking me back to the estate. Once again, I found myself stepping into that intimidatingly large house, squeezed into an uncomfortable evening gown, surrounded by judgmental eyes.

I gripped Nate's arm, but this time, he didn't whisper, "Don't be afraid. I'm here."

He said, "I'm just going upstairs to change. Wait for me here."

I wanted to go with him, but he was gone before I could say a word.

The next second, I saw Seraphina gliding towards me.

"Did you know Nate is undergoing memory recovery therapy?" she said, a cruel little smile playing on her lips.

"He's very close to remembering me."

A sharp ringing filled my ears, and in that instant, something inside me snapped.

A sudden, violent shove sent me sprawling to the floor. Tangled in the dress and heels, I struggled to get up.

Seraphinas stiletto heel ground into the back of my hand, a sharp, searing pain that felt like it would pierce straight through the bone.

"Ah"

My cry was swallowed by the swelling music and the din of the party.

I lay there, helpless on the floor, and watched as a handsomely dressed Nate emerged from the crowd.

"Nathaniel!"

Seraphina smiled, waving him over. She took his arm, and as a thunderous applause erupted, they began to dance. One song bled into the next, and they moved together like they were the only two people in the world.

A perfect match.