Chapter 1
Marion...that name sounded vaguely familiar. It didn't jump out at her, as if it were something she ought to remember clearly. And it wouldn't have. Because she had never known one crucial detail about that name. One life-altering, confidence-shaking, happy-ending-destroying fact. That fact being, of course, that the name belonged to Robin's beloved and, as of a few hours ago,no longer deceased wife{ her brain deliberately ignored both how she had died and at whose hands, using the excuse that that didn't matter now that she was back }. His wife. Those words cut deeper than any pain or rejection she had ever felt, yet her brain continued to repeat them. Over and over, 'til her thoughts morphed into a dizzying haze consisting of only two words. She felt her control slipping away, into the haze, and then beyond. It, like all her other thoughts, all her cognitive abilities, was gone. Were she able to think beyond the haze, beyond the now dull ache of loss that she assumed would go on forever, she might have had the good sense to attempt to return to reality. But she was only dimly aware of anything other than the woman standing in front of her. As the haze slowly dissipated, she became acutely aware of her surroundings. In her trance, she had frozen stiff. She looked around, trying to asses the situation further, and made the grave mistake of looking in his direction. She couldn't breathe. She looked away, attempting to recover her composure, to no felt trapped, like a caged animal in a zoo. She felt the eyes of every person in the room boring holes into her head. some faces wore pitying expressions, others sported subtly smug grins. She was in desperate need of some air. She couldn't bring herself to speak, couldn't make any sound if she tried. So she left. It was an unceremoniously executed departure, but the finesse of her exit was a trivial matter in the wake of her fast approaching meltdown.
Finally able to clear her head of all nonessential thoughts, she began to mentally reprimand herself. How could she have so freely done away with the walls she had previously hid behind at the slightest hint of danger. Broken the promise she'd made herself to keep her heart safe, no matter the cost? How could she have forgotten what she was, allowed herself to forget the words she'd grudgingly lived by for so long.
Villains don't get happy endings.