Five Years of Marriage to Mr. Bradford (by Koi Fish) novel Chapter 282

Chapter 282

Rebecca opened the bag and found a square box. Finally, the man who’d once flooded her with watches stopped doing that.

She lifted the lid to reveal a breathtaking necklace. Sparkling diamonds circled a big emerald pendant at

the center, screaming money.

The girls nearby gasped, excitedly guessing who the mystery giver might be.

“No card?” the dancer asked, dismayed. “That guy swore there was one; you’d know him the second you saw it. I’ll go back there and look around.”

“No need.” Rebecca stopped her. “There’s no card. That’s just the way it is.”

“So, do you know who sent it?” the dancer asked, still anxious.

“I do. Thank you.” Rebecca tucked the box away.

So, the same man who once belittled dance had shown up.

Back in high school, when they were filling out college forms, Vance had asked where she was applying. Her teenage crush hadn’t been strong enough to make her throw away her dreams and follow him, so she’d picked the top dance academy in the country without hesitation.

He’d looked disappointed, nodded once, and muttered something like, “Well, arts students don’t exactly have a ton of real options, do you?”

Most people back then figured arts students only went that route because they couldn’t hack regular academics. It wasn’t the case with Rebecca; she loved dancing with every fiber of her being.

At 18, she already had more than a decade of training. Most of her life had been spent in studios and on

stages.

She was used to sitting at the bottom of the academic pecking order. His comment had stung, but it hadn’t surprised her. They were heading in different directions anyway, and her youthful infatuation was merely a page in her memory.

Later, after the injury that stole her dancing, he’d expressed the same idea: “It’s just dancing. You can’t do it anymore, but you’ve still got me. I’ll take care of you for the rest of our lives.”

Dancing was never considered a proper career in his eyes. He even felt ashamed about it.

During the early days of their marriage, when she was fighting through rehab, he had to drive her and thus missed parties with his friends.

Once, she had overheard Aiden on the phone: “Just let her sit home and chill. Why bother with all this rehab crap? Being Vance Bradford’s wife is bad enough with her limping around. Worse still, she’s some dancer who performs for entertainment. What kind of classy life is that?”

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Vance hadn’t pushed back, and that was when she realized his real thoughts matched Aiden’s word for

word.

He thought she hadn’t heard it. But the car was quiet, and Aiden was loud. She’d caught almost every humiliating syllable.

Later, she could walk again, but dancing was impossible. Some said that medicine progressed in five- year increments, with someone always exploring and moving forward.

She wasn’t sure if Edwin and his mentor’s experimental protocol would work, but she was determined to give it her all.

Because they were leaving Venice the next day, the troupe members packed until late.

That night, Rebecca checked her phone and saw Josette’s message: [Happy birthday, sweetheart.]

She calculated the time difference before slipping outside with earbuds in and calling Josette.

Josette’s face lit up as soon as the line went through. “What did you eat on your big day?”