Chapter 356: her own thoughts I

Chapter 356: Chapter 356: her own thoughts I

What if she simply kept dating Christopher?

Vivienne frowned.

That was the obvious question, wasn’t it?

Mother had spoken as though family disapproval would eventually lead to one conclusion.

The relationship ending.

But what if Vivienne simply refused?

What would they actually do?

Grandfather would be furious.

Father would disapprove.

There would probably be arguments.

They might tell her to stop seeing Christopher.

They might summon her home.

They might make it difficult for them to see each other.

Could Father pull her out of St. Albion?

Possibly.

Could he restrict her allowance?

Probably.

Could Grandfather make an enormous family drama out of the whole thing?

Almost certainly.

But—

Vivienne was still their daughter.

Their granddaughter.

They loved her.

Surely they wouldn’t disown her forever because she chose the wrong boyfriend.

Especially if the boyfriend eventually became—

Vivienne stopped.

Her eyes slowly widened.

Her husband.

Oh.

Well.

That would certainly make things more difficult to reverse.

If she and Christopher married, what exactly would Grandfather do then?

Tell her to stop dating her husband?

Vivienne’s lips twitched.

Problem solved.

Well.

Not solved.

More like—

Made irreversible.

There would undoubtedly be an explosion first.

A spectacular one.

Grandfather could rage.

Father could be disappointed.

Mother could ask what on earth she had been thinking.

But time healed most things.

After a year?

Two?

Five?

If Vivienne and Christopher were happy, would her father really refuse to see his daughter forever?

Would her mother?

Vivienne doubted it.

Grandfather might be more stubborn.

But even he would eventually have to accept that his granddaughter was married.

Especially if—

Vivienne paused.

Especially if there were children.

Oh.

Children.

For some reason, that thought didn’t frighten her either.

Actually—

Vivienne smiled faintly.

She wanted children.

She wanted a husband.

She wanted a family of her own.

That had been what she wanted before she transmigrated.

She had been twenty-nine.

She had already lived through the years people usually spent insisting they weren’t ready to settle down yet.

She knew what being single was like.

She knew what dating was like.

She had spent eight years in a relationship.

She didn’t feel as though there were some enormous single life she desperately needed to experience before marriage.

She had experienced it.

And now she had somehow been given those years back.

That didn’t mean she had to repeat them exactly the same way.

If she married young, so what?

She could still attend university.

Marriage wouldn’t erase St. Albion.

Unfortunately.

Vivienne frowned.

Actually, if she was being completely honest, she wouldn’t have minded if marriage erased that particular obligation.

University was difficult.

There were lectures.

Assignments.

Examinations.

Deadlines.

And somehow, after already living to twenty-nine once, she had been sent back to do all of it again.

It was deeply unfair.

Why did she even need another degree?

She wasn’t exactly studying so she could secure an entry-level position and make rent after graduation.

Technically, she could probably spend the rest of her life without working a single day and still never come close to running out of money.

So really—

Why was she studying again?

She frowned.

Oh.

Right.

The diploma.

And certain expectations.

Fine.

She would graduate.

Probably.

Vivienne sighed.

Marriage or no marriage, apparently she still had to study.

Tragic.

But anyway...

She could marry Christopher and remain at St. Albion.

She could finish a degree.

Travel.

Have friends.

Have a life.

And if she had a child someday, her future wouldn’t suddenly disappear either.

She had known women who married young.

Women who had children young.

Their lives had continued.

Some had studied while married.

Some had established careers afterward.

Some had simply built their lives alongside their husbands instead of waiting until both of them had supposedly finished growing before marriage.

Vivienne understood that now in a way she probably wouldn’t have at nineteen the first time around.

There was no magical age at which a person suddenly became complete.

Twenty-two.

Twenty-five.

Thirty.

People kept changing anyway.

So why did marriage have to wait until everything else was finished?

Especially for someone like her.

Money mattered.

Of course it did.

It simply wasn’t one of her problems.

It never had been.

In her previous life, she had been the daughter of a billionaire.

Her parents had provided for her.

She had never needed to build her life from nothing or worry about whether she could afford rent before getting married.

And this life was hardly different.

She was Lady Vivienne Beaumont.

Her family might become furious with her.

They might threaten things.

They might even cut off her allowance for a while to prove a point.

But Vivienne had difficulty imagining her parents watching their daughter genuinely struggle and simply—

Leaving her there.

They would come around.

Eventually.

Probably.

And if they didn’t—

Christopher wasn’t exactly poor.

That was almost funny.

The Archibalds were one of the wealthiest families in the country.

If Vivienne married Christopher, she wasn’t going to be running away with a penniless student and learning how to stretch five pounds across a week.

Christopher could provide for a wife.

Probably extremely well.

Vivienne paused.

Actually—

How much money did she have herself?

She knew she had accounts.

An allowance.

Money that had been given to the original Vivienne over the years.

But she had never bothered looking into exactly how much there was.

She had only transmigrated a little over two months ago.

Why would she have?

Money had never been a problem.

If she wanted something, she bought it.

There was money in her ATM account.

She had her cards.

Surely there were other savings somewhere.

Maybe she should check.

Just to know.

Vivienne reached for her phone.

Then stopped.

Wait.

Why?

In preparation for an elopement?

A laugh escaped her.

Oh, God.

Eloping.

Now there was a thought.

Vivienne dropped backward onto the bed again.

What if they did?

What if Grandfather absolutely refused?

What if Father refused?

What if everyone decided Christopher Archibald was unacceptable no matter what Vivienne said?

She was nineteen.

Christopher was twenty-two.

Could they simply—

Go somewhere?

Get married?

Come back?

Surprise.

Vivienne covered her mouth as another laugh escaped.

Grandfather really might collapse.

This was terrible.

And yet—

Beneath the absurdity of the image, Vivienne knew she wasn’t entirely joking.

Christopher really was the man she wanted.

It had only been two days.

Forty-eight hours.

She knew exactly how that sounded.

But she had fallen in love with him.

And Christopher had told her he loved her too.

More importantly—

When Vivienne imagined marriage now, it was Christopher she imagined.

Christopher as her husband.

Christopher beside her after university.

Christopher coming home to her.

Christopher holding their child someday.

Her smile slowly faded.

Oh.

That was—

Actually rather nice.

More than nice.

Vivienne stared at the ceiling.

She wanted that.

Not vaguely.

Not someday with some hypothetical man she had yet to meet.

She wanted it with Christopher.

And suddenly, twenty-two after graduation didn’t sound quite as appealing as it had a few minutes ago.

Three years.

Vivienne frowned.

Three whole years?

Why?

She had already spent eight years waiting for eventually once.

Marriage eventually.

Children eventually.

The next stage eventually.

She had done eventually.

She wasn’t particularly interested in doing it again.

And the more she thought about it, the more appealing the alternative became.

Marrying Christopher sooner.

Staying at St. Albion as his wife.

Finishing university while married.

Going home to him instead of returning to a residence hall.

Building their life while they were still young.

And children—

Vivienne’s expression softened.

Not immediately.

Probably.

She wasn’t completely insane.

But someday soon?

She liked that too.

Actually—

She liked all of it.

A lot.

Vivienne covered her face with both hands.

Oh, God.

Her mother had told her to consider breaking up with Christopher before she became too attached.

And somehow Vivienne had taken that perfectly reasonable advice and arrived at—

Maybe I should marry him instead.

--

Tbc