Second Chance Vows

My family has this outdated tradition. On my twenty-second birthday, whoever gets my heirloom bracelet first becomes my wife.

For the past eighteen years, my childhood sweetheart, Madison Young, teased that she’d be the one to claim them.

However, when I opened the box, the beads snapped and spilled across the floor, right in front of a blind girl passing by, Grace Bellamy. She bent down and picked them up.

Madison made a scene, urging me to marry her instead, just to please my father’s illegitimate son, Connor Vaughn.

Watching Grace stand there, flustered and surrounded, I stepped forward, shielding her with my body.

"Fine," I said. "I’ll marry her."

Madison Young stared at me, stunned. "What did you just say?"

Under the weight of everyone's stares, I repeated myself slowly and clearly, "I said, I'm willing to marry Grace."

Madison's neatly shaped brows pulled tight. "Caleb Vaughn, have you lost your mind? You really want to marry a blind girl?"

Connor Vaughn let out a laugh. "Come on, bro. Even if you're mad at Maddie, you don't have to throw your future away on a blind girl."

I stared coldly at both of them.

Madison and I had been close since we were kids. For the longest time, all her attention had been mine until Connor showed up and disrupted everything.

In my past life, when the two of them started pressuring me to marry Grace as a joke, I got into an argument with them. They had stormed off, their faces dark with anger.

I'd known, even then, that Connor had been sneaking around with the heiress of the Young family. He was never serious about Madison. I warned her not to get close to him, but she turned her back on my father's business partnership. As a result, our company's cash flow collapsed.

I still remember her standing tall in front of me, eyes full of disdain. "Caleb Vaughn, when you tried to stir up drama between me and Connor, did you ever think you'd end up like this?"

I had gone pale then, my laughter hollow and bitter. That was the day I realized she wasn't the same Madison who used to love me and wanted nothing more than to be my wife.

After our family went bankrupt, my father, Harlan Vaughn, ended up robbing a store to survive and was thrown in prison.

As for me, I got into a car crash.

Neither of us made it out okay.

When I opened my eyes again, I had returned to the day of my 22nd birthday. I looked at their smug, sneering faces and clenched my fists silently.

This time, I wouldn't plead with anyone. I would stand by and watch Madison break when she found out the truth.

I reached for Grace's hand and led her toward the exit of the private room.

Madison stepped in front of us, sneering. "I get it. We haven't set a wedding date, and you're getting impatient. So now you're saying you'll marry Grace just to provoke me?"

She waved her hand toward the table. "Fine. I don't like games. I'll give you a way out. Drink the wine Connor brewed for your birthday, and I'll pretend I never heard a word you said."

Her finger pointed to the wine bottle on the table, Connor's so-called birthday gift.

Everyone in our circle knew I was allergic to alcohol. I never drank. And now Madison was telling me to down it?

"You're insane." I shoved past her with one arm.

Her face hardened instantly.

I tightened my grip on the blind girl's hand and kept walking.

Behind me, Madison's voice rang out, furious. "Caleb! If you've got the guts, then really marry that blind girl!"

I didn't flinch or look back. I just walked out of the restaurant with Grace beside me.

My assistant, Nico Hayes, pulled up out front and stopped the car. I helped Grace into the backseat gently.

Only then did she speak for the first time. She told me her last name was Bellamy, and that she'd lost her vision in an accident a few months ago.

Bellamy?

In Riverton City, the Bellamy family was practically royalty. Everyone wanted a connection to them.

Coincidentally, this poor, blind girl shared the same name, but she could barely move through the world on her own.

I looked at her blank eyes with pity and spoke softly, "I'm Caleb Vaughn, from Vaughn Enterprises. I'm sorry for dragging you into that mess today. I can get you the best doctors to treat your eyes, but only if you agree to marry me. If you're willing, just nod."

She nodded.

I didn't make a show of it. There was no need for dramatics.

I wasn't marrying her on impulse. I needed a wife. Otherwise, Dad would keep pushing Madison onto me.

"Alright then, Miss Bellamy," I said gently, "Let's go pick out a wedding dress. Today, we'll get it all settled."

The car pulled into traffic as I picked up my phone and dialed Dad.

It rang for a long time before he finally answered.

"What is it?" he said.