Ten Times a Heartbreak
Nine times, I had replayed this life to win his love. Eight times, I had died at the hands of his adopted sister, Abby, and her murderous little games.
This was the closest I’d ever come to succeeding, but the glint of fishing line on the grand clock’s hour hand told me everything. When the hand struck twelve, the taut line would trigger the crossbow hidden in a box below.
And I would die. Again.
The warmth of Ethan’s hand on my shoulder felt sickening. I tried to pull away, but he leaned in, his lips brushing against my ear. His voice was a soft, cruel whisper.
“Be good,” he murmured. “Abby was up all night setting this up. What’s one more try? A tenth time’s the charm, right? I promise, next time, I won’t let her be so naughty.”
So he knew. He knew everything. He knew I’d fallen for him nine times, and he knew I’d suffered nine brutal deaths because of Abby’s “pranks.”
But there was one thing he didn’t know.
This was my last chance.
1
I sank into the chair, numb. A part of me welcomed the release. To die was to finally be free of the pain.
Ten seconds left. Abby raised her glass, calling for a toast to the happy couple. Everyone rose to their feet, their faces beaming with genuine joy, their blessings lost in the roaring buzz that filled my head. My vision blurred.
Ethan grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet, positioning me with chilling precision. He made sure my forehead was perfectly aligned with the firing mechanism, ensuring I would meet my end at the peak of my supposed happiness.
My eyes fixed on the dark little hole that would swallow my life. I counted down in my head.
10, 9, 8, 7…
A manic glee danced in Abby’s eyes. Ethan looked at her with a gaze full of adoration, as if she were the most innocent child in the world.
…4, 3, 2, 1, 0!
The bolt shot out like a striking viper. A wave of primal fear crashed over me, and I jerked my head to the side.
Instead of oblivion, a searing pain tore through my ear.
The joyous atmosphere shattered. The room fell into a dead silence.
Seeing her “assassination” had failed, Abby slammed her wine glass down at my feet in a fit of pique. Red wine bled into the white silk of my dress.
“Why did you move?!” she shrieked. “Do you have any idea how much work I put into recreating the ‘Wedding Murder’ trap? This was the only chance!”
Ethan dropped my hand, his face a mask of disappointment. “Why didn’t you just listen? Abby was up all night. Couldn’t you have at least shown her some consideration?”
“Consideration? For the fact she stayed up all night planning to murder me?”
“You…” Ethan’s voice dropped to a low hiss. “It’s not like you actually die.”
But it hurts! Every single time, it hurts!
The guests stood frozen, their champagne flutes hovering awkwardly in the air. The standoff was broken by the small, piping voice of a child.
“Auntie Aurora’s ear is bleeding!”
Blood and tears streamed down my face. A few women rushed forward with handkerchiefs, dabbing frantically at the wound. Only then did Ethan grudgingly grab my arm again.
“Let’s go. To the hospital.”
A bitter laugh caught in my throat. What am I to you? Some cheap toy for you and your sister to break over and over again?
I remember being tied up, a rope connecting my neck to my ankles, slowly strangling myself to the sound of Abby’s innocent laughter.
I remember her luring me into a small, dark room, the space filled with a strange hissing. I died of suffocation, crushed against a wall, only to realize later it was the sound of an inflatable castle filling with air.
I cried. I fought. I screamed. I tried countless times to prove to Ethan that his sister wanted me dead.
He would always just brush it off.
“It’s just childish games. How could that hurt anyone?”
“She’s my sister. Can’t you just humor her for my sake?”
“I’m five years younger than her! Why should I be the one to ‘humor’ her?!”
“See? You’re getting worked up over nothing.”
Even at my most hysterical, my most broken, I never imagined this. I never thought that he knew, from the very beginning, that I would die these agonizing deaths, again and again. I’d always believed he was just blinded by his love for the precious sister he held so dear.
Now, Ethan’s voice was sharp with impatience. “To the hospital! What are you standing there for? You want everyone to see you like this? You want them to blame Abby? You already ruined her plan, are you trying to make her look like the villain, too?”
I hadn’t said a word, but he had already spoken my indictment and delivered his verdict.
I wrenched my arm from his grasp, turned, and yanked the crossbow bolt from the floral wall behind the main table. It was embedded, with perfect, sickening irony, directly in the heart drawn between my name and his.
The bloodied tip gleamed under the chandeliers. I shoved it in Abby's face.
“At my wedding to your brother, what exactly do you think you’re doing? If our marriage bothers you that much, just say so. I’ll give him to you. You don’t have to kill me for it!”
The color drained from her face, then flooded back in a blotchy red. “We’re just like brother and sister! What are you talking about?! You’re the one with a sick mind! Besides, this thing can’t even hurt anyone. I can’t be bothered explaining it to someone with no sense of fun!”
I pressed the arrowhead against her cheek. “Can’t hurt anyone? Let’s find out.”
Before I could apply any pressure, Ethan lunged, his hand clamping around my wrist like a vice. The fury in his eyes was a terrifying inferno I’d never seen before. After all the times Abby had experimented on me—tying me to a windmill, cutting the rope to a crystal chandelier above my head, stretching fishing line across a bike path—the harshest he’d ever been was a soft-spoken “warning” for her not to be so mischievous.
The difference between being loved and not being loved was so painfully clear.
I stubbornly held onto the bolt. Ethan’s grip tightened. A sharp crack echoed as my wrist bone snapped, and the bolt clattered to the floor.
Abby snatched it up, and in a flash of movement, dragged the sharp point across my cheek, leaving a deep gash. Then she darted behind Ethan, peering out at me with wide, innocent eyes.
I screamed and lunged for her, but Ethan blocked my path again.
“Aurora,” he said, his voice cold as ice. “You started it. You can’t blame Abby for this.”
He must have been terrified his precious darling would get hurt. He swept me into his arms, carried me out to the car, and drove me to the hospital.
In the sterile white room, Ethan sat by my bed, studying the twenty-something stitches that now marred my face.
“Does it hurt?” he asked.
My ear, torn and mangled. My wrist, shattered. My face, sliced open and bleeding. This was the grand wedding you promised me, Ethan.
And you have the audacity to ask if it hurts?
Before I could answer, he continued. “So why did you have to be so stubborn? I told you this was the last time. Why couldn’t you just grant her this one last wish? She came to my family when she was three, always feeling like an outsider. She’s drawn to these things because the child inside her never had a chance to grow up. She’s not trying to hurt you; she’s trying to soothe herself. Once you come back next time, we can help her find an outlet, a new purpose. It would have all been fine.”
I pushed myself up, ignoring the shooting pains, and pointed a trembling finger toward the door. “Get out.” My voice was flat, devoid of all emotion. “I can't ‘love her because I love you.’ And besides, with a brother who dotes on her like you do, how could she ever feel like an outsider? And just so you know, there won’t be a next time.”
He let out a long, heavy sigh and took my hand. “Please, don’t say things like that. She’s my sister. I’ve always known nothing could ever happen between us. You don’t need to be jealous. You know you’re the one I love.”
But the frustration and regret in his eyes told a different story. It must be painful to be toyed with by fate. I understood that feeling all too well. So, I decided to set them both free.
I pulled my hand away and began twisting the wedding ring on my finger, trying to get it over my knuckle. He dropped to one knee beside my bed, his voice pleading.
“Aurora, please, stop this. We’ll have another wedding. A better one, even grander than this!” Then, as if he were reciting a vow, or maybe just trying to convince himself, he said, “I remember the first time. When Abby electrocuted you in the tub. The way my heart broke when I found you… that was love, wasn’t it? And the next morning, when I woke up and the day had reset to when we first met, the joy I felt… that was love, too.”
The system must have glitched, I realized. It hadn't wiped his memory.
Listening to him list the evidence of his love so calmly, I felt a wave of profound exhaustion and disgust wash over me.
Just then, an orderly opened the door to the en-suite bathroom. A moment later, Abby’s hysterical sobs erupted from inside.
“You’re begging her, brother?!”
Panic flared in Ethan’s eyes. He shot into the bathroom and emerged carrying Abby, then bolted from the room without a second glance.
Before I could process what was happening, a sharp, acrid smell drifted into the room. Dizziness washed over me. What was she up to now?
I stumbled out of bed and staggered into the hallway, just in time to see Abby curled in Ethan’s arms on the stairwell, sobbing like a lost child.
“You just left with her! You’re abandoning me, aren’t you?! Fine! Then let’s just die together!”
She had disguised herself as an orderly to sneak into my room, mixed disinfectant and toilet cleaner to create toxic gas, all to stage this dramatic, tragic love scene.
And there they sat, clinging to each other on the stairs, a perfect portrait of star-crossed lovers. As if I didn’t even exist.
Ethan gently tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and cupped her tear-streaked face. “We’ll have another wedding for Aurora,” he soothed. “And I’ll help you build another device, a better one. Just for her. Please don’t be sad anymore, okay?”
But Abby only cried harder. “Go ahead! Go be happy with her! Why do you even care about me?! And what’s the point? The trick has been revealed! We could do it ten more times and it wouldn’t be the same! That perfect moment is gone forever, and it’s your fault! You owe me this!”
Seeing her like this, Ethan looked as though his heart was being torn to shreds. His eyes were wild with panic and self-reproach.
Without a moment’s hesitation, the words tumbled out of his mouth.
“Whatever you want. Tell me how you want her to die, and I’ll make it happen.”
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