CHAPTER 21: Reinvention
Victoria’s POV
The sun felt different today, warmer, as though the world was stretching its arms and waking up to a new day. For some reason, despite all that had happened today felt like a good day, it felt like it had a lot of promises.
As I stepped out of the hospital, my body still sore but my mind clearer than it had been in a long time, I realized something; nothing would ever be the
same.
And that was okay. It was time to take control of my life, to stop being a puppet in Ethan’s world, dancing to the tune of his whims and desires. I had never truly lived for myself. But that ends now. Now, I will live for me, and for what I deserve.
But first, I needed to figure out how to make him hurt, how to break him in the same way he had broken me. I needed him to feel what I had felt, I needed him to ache as much as I had.
Now more than ever, I wanted to inflict pain upon him and Lily, I wanted to break down completely till they were absolutely nothing.
But to that, I would need to win him back. I would make him fall in love with me again, only to discard him just as easily as he had discarded me. But I had to reinvent myself first. If I was going to make this work, I couldn’t be the same woman he had taken for granted all those years.
I had always known what I wanted to do: Jewelry design. It was my passion, something I was good at, something I had put on the back burner for far too long because Ethan always had his plans for me. I was supposed to be the dutiful wife, focused on his career, his world, his image.
I found myself standing in front of my old drafting desk, where I used to sketch designs of delicate rings, intricate necklaces, and bold bracelets. I could still smell the faint traces of metal and stone, even though I hadn’t touched it in months. The jewelry supplies, my tools, were all neatly packed away in a box. I hadn’t had the courage to touch them until now.
How could I? It was a dream I had abandoned, I had set aside all in the name of being a dutiful wife–a
fool.
For the first time in a long time, I felt an overwhelming urge to create. I pulled out the box, my fingers trembling slightly as I lifted the materials into my hands.
Each piece felt like a part of me, something I had been missing. The smooth silver, the gemstones that caught the light, the sharp edges of the tools I had once used so confidently–they were all a reminder of what I could do if I stopped relying on others and relied on myself.
I sat at the desk, my mind racing. The designs flowed slowly but surely, ideas blooming one after another, more intricate, more beautiful than I could have imagined. The time of stifling my creativity had come to an end.
It felt strange at first, to be doing something for myself. I had been so conditioned to put Ethan’s desires first, to consider his needs above my own, that now, in this moment of quiet rebellion, it felt almost foreign to prioritize my own dreams.
But the more I worked, the more natural it became. I had always been talented–more talented than I had ever let myself believe. And it was time to rebuild myself and embark on building a career for myself.
Hours passed in a blur. I found myself completely immersed in the process, sketching, cutting, shaping, and molding. It was like a part of me had been- awakened after having been asleep for so long.
When the first piece was finished, I couldn’t help but smile. It was a delicate bracelet, silver and thin, with small sapphire stones embedded into the links. It wasn’t my most intricate design, but it was beautiful in its simplicity. And as I held it up to the light, watching it glisten, I realized something important: I had made this. I had created something with my own hands, something that belonged to me and me alone.
Ethan wouldn’t have appreciated this, he would have claimed it was unrefined and a waste of time. My throat clenched from recalling just how much he’d restrained me as stopped me for doing so much.
Come on, Babe. No one wears such things anymore.” He had said. “Set that aside and let’s focus on building an empire.
I stared at it for a moment longer before setting it aside and reaching for more materials. This was just the beginning. I had so much more to prove–not just to Ethan or to Lily, but to myself. I would make a name for myself in this world, one that didn’t have Ethan’s shadow looming over it.
No, Ethan. I’m not setting this aside anymore, I’m going to do this.
But winning him back was part of the plan. I needed him to believe I was still the same woman he had married and divorced, the one who was easy to manipulate, to control. He would think I was still under his thumb, but he would be wrong. I was already steps ahead of him.
I could already see the look on his face when I would walk back into his life, showing him that I was stronger than ever. And when I had him, completely
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CHAPTER 21 Remvention
under my control. I would destroy everything hechhd build withinyl woulddakteverythingback: from him.
As the evening drew closer. I knew couldnt just sit there and contmnedorrestgewblyyanseccret Finceded to get out there. I needed to show the w what I could do. I needed to find a way to make put myself out there.
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