In my first life, I only bought it by accident, some time after we got married. When I leaned in to hug him back then, he pushed me away immediately.
Pinching his nose with a look of pure disgust, he snapped, "It reeks. And with that pregnant smell of yours, it makes me want to vomit. Do not ever wear it again."
So the person who aroused him today was not me. It never could have been.
"Why wouldn't they agree?" Rhian demanded. "They get to marry the person they love and have their own kid. Why wouldn't they want that? Are they stupid?"
I smiled quietly and placed the two photos side by side on the table.
Rhian looked at the picture of Samuel and me and rolled her eyes in annoyance. But as she examined the photos, her expression changed. Confusion disappeared, replaced by surprise, which then turned into shock, and by the end, she looked utterly horrified.
"Holy crap. Don't tell me it's what I'm thinking," Rhian blurted.
I replied, "It's exactly what you're thinking."
If Samuel hadn't tried to use that first photo to evoke my emotions, I might not have looked at the photo wall so carefully. And if my mind hadn't been clearer in this life, I might not have noticed the second photograph hidden away in a neglected corner.
The scene was the same. The angle was different. And the meaning completely changed.
Back then, the tenderness in Samuel's eyes had not been directed at me. He'd been looking past me, at the person standing behind me.
Later, when I paid someone to retrieve the surveillance footage from that day, it became even clearer. The moment Samuel reacted earlier, that same person was only a few feet away, leaning casually against the wall.
No wonder he insisted that either Rhian or I must carry his child.
With that revelation, everything finally made sense.
A sudden knock on the door pulled us both from our thoughts.
A striking man stood outside, dressed in a tailored suit and gold-rimmed glasses. His refined features hinted at a quiet danger in his presence.
Rhian grabbed my arm and pinched it repeatedly, her eyes sparkling. "Oh my god. He's so handsome! Who is he? And why does he look like you?"
The man stepped toward me with a warm gaze and extended his hand. "You must be Leslie. I am Elliot. Your older brother."
It was only then that I realized I was not alone in this world after all.