Page 162 of The Scandal You Started
The truth of her statement struck Rayna, nearly making her sway on her feet like a bruised, bloodied boxer about to collapse.
In her silence, Sheun pulled her hands from behind her back, revealing a white A5 envelope. “This is Lord Norland’s history. Everything you’ve been searching for, collected by the Evidence team when River first scouted him. This is who he was meant to be.”
Rayna stared listlessly at the envelope as the woman moved it closer.
“Lady Claire Ermina—that’s who he marries,” Sheun continued, landing another blow. “She’s the daughter of an earl, a woman who fights for girls to have access to the same education as boys. They meet during the Season of thirty-five in June and marry in March the following year.
“They have four children. Zayan Benjamin Thorne is their firstborn, and they have two girls and a boy after him. All of whom grow up to be great people of power and influence. One of whom opens two schools for girls on top of the one Norland supports Lady Claire to open.
“Eventually, Lord Norland becomes one of the advocates of the 648 bill that allows aristocrats to pass on their titles to a chosen heir while they’re still living. It’s the reason he’s able to do what he loves and focus on rearing his horses, which leads to him being invited to join the Royal Veterinary Society.”
There was a long pause where Rayna could taste the blood dripping from her maimed heart within the thick, wet heat coating her mouth.
“He lives a happy, healthy life of great importance, Rayna,” Sheun said quietly. “Letting him stay would be the same as taking that away from him. Taking him away from Lady Claire, his children, his siblings, everything he’s ever wanted to achieve. Can you really do that to him now that you know what you’re asking him to leave behind? When he realises himself, don’t youthink he’ll come to regret his decision? Won’t you regret taking it from him?”
Everyone else had dismissed Rayna’s fears, especially Dominic—telling her it was possible, that they’d find a way, they’d be happy together, that everything would work out—but she’d still had her doubts.
Sheun had just confirmed all of them. She’d opened the lid and read them all aloud and told Rayna why they were true.
A wife. A sweet, welcoming woman who wouldn’t hesitate to love him, who’d tell him and show him and be everything he deserved to have. So unlike Rayna.
His dreams. The power and influence he had in his time that he wouldn’t have in the present.
Children. The family he wanted that Rayna still couldn’t decide on. Lady Claire would want that family.
History. His Rupture. The should not have met, would not have met, could not be.
They were complete opposites. Time. Views. Worlds. Wants. Dreams.
So what right did she have to hold on to him?
Sheun moved towards her and slipped the envelope between Rayna’s thumb and fingers. They instinctively closed around it as she felt it slip against her skin.
“I know it is heartbreaking to accept that the person you love isn’t meant to be yours,” Sheun said sympathetically. “But read what’s inside. I think you’ll fully understand then that making sure he goes back to his own time is the right thing to do.
“And even though it’ll be hard for you, it won’t hurt him. Because he won’t remember.”
The older woman stepped back. “Just give it some thought.”
Rayna wasn’t sure how long she stood there after Sheun walked off.
All she knew was that she was scrambling on her hands and knees, legs broken, heart bleeding, mind disorientated as she fought to keep the fading flame of hope inside her alive.
Chapter 47
Rayna
Rayna found it. Two days later.
Their answer.
What she’d always felt in her gut.
Buried deep on the second hard drive under a file named“Misc,”as if her mother had purposely tried to hide the doomed reality of their situation.
It was a document of random entries of her mother’s thoughts from before and during helping Alex. All the proof Rayna needed to solidify the realisation that had been spiralling since her encounter with Sheun. It read:
In the case that this experiment fails, then I may have to conclude that the Rupture of those Studies with greater importance in history may be impossible to reduce significantly. At least not from the present, and definitely not from within the Ruptured timeline. Which begs the question of whether it’s possible to reduce it from the Study’s own time?
