Three days after I ran away from our arranged marriage, my fiancé committed suicide in our bridal suite. He left his entire estate to me. While packing up his belongings, I found a room with walls completely covered in photos of me, and the floor stained with mottled spots of his blood. His assistant told me, "Mr. Hayes loved you for many years." "His depression was incredibly severe. Only by looking at you, by thinking of you, could he find a fleeting moment of peace..." Every single detail was shocking, suffocating, yet inexplicably heartbreaking. So, when given a second chance, as my childhood best friend urged me to flee the country, I smiled and refused. "I'm not leaving." I wanted to see just how foolish this man—who loved me more than his own life—truly was. 1 Carter Hayes died on the third day after I ran away from our wedding. My father and brother had just walked out of his sprawling estate, faces full of apologetic excuses for my disappearance, when they received the news: Carter had slit his wrists. Resuscitation failed. He was dead. In a will drafted long before the wedding, he left every cent of his fortune to me. Halfway across the world in a villa in Tuscany, my expression slowly froze as I listened to my brother's voice through the phone. In my eyes, Carter was just a ruthless corporate shark who had suddenly shown up at my family's door, strong-arming us into an arranged marriage. We were total strangers. Yet, piece by piece, the aftermath made it seem as though he had been deeply, desperately in love with me for years. 2 At the request of his lawyers, I rushed back to the States. My hands were stiff as I accepted Carter’s urn. His background had always been a mystery; he had no living relatives to speak of. His assistant stared mournfully at the heavy square box and spoke to me in a hushed voice. "Mr. Hayes loved you for a very long time. "His depression was severe. The only thing that kept him tethered to this earth was you. "I thought that once he finally married you, the darkness would lift. I never imagined..." His voice broke. There was no blame in his tone, but my heart twisted painfully in my chest. The assistant handed me a key. "This is the estate Mr. Hayes prepared for you. "He designed the master suite himself." The place where he took his own life. 3 The estate was massive. Beyond the manicured emerald lawns, there was even a private equestrian paddock. The interior was decorated in my absolute favorite shade of sapphire blue. The furniture, the artwork, the layout—every single detail catered perfectly to my tastes. Deep inside, there was a locked room. When I opened it, I found the walls plastered with my photos. I looked closely. They spanned from my sophomore year of college all the way to the present. Almost every moment of my life had been captured by this man’s lenses. On the hardwood floor lay the mottled, dark stains of his blood, carrying a faint, metallic scent. It was terrifying and suffocating, yet I felt an overwhelming wave of sorrow. And then, I felt a spark of anger. If he loved me, why didn't he just say so? He barged into my family's home like a tyrant, demanding a corporate marriage. How could I have ever felt safe marrying a man like that? And now, leaving behind this horrific scene... did he want me to be drowned in guilt, forced to remember him for the rest of my life? Keep dreaming, I thought. I donated his entire inheritance to charity, including the estate. The cleaning crew tore my photos off the walls, tossing them onto the bloodstained floor... And just like that, the brief, legendary life of Carter Hayes was entirely erased from the world. 4 It took me three days to accept the fact that I had been reborn. Three days ago, Carter had just arrived at my family's home in Chicago, demanding an alliance through marriage. His methods were practically extortion. My childhood best friend, Ethan, heard the news and immediately told me to run. He offered to hide me in Europe until the dust settled. In my past life, that was exactly what I did. But in this life, remembering that wall of photos and the horrifying pool of blood, I calmly shook my head. "I'm not leaving," I said. "I'm going to go find him and ask him exactly why he wants to marry me." 5 Carter’s tech empire was massive. When I arrived at his headquarters, he was still in a board meeting. His assistant personally came down to the lobby to escort me up, asking me to wait in his private office. "The boss will be right down." I gave a soft, "Mhm." Carter arrived almost instantly. Before I could even finish my cup of coffee, he strode in, his steps hurried as he absentmindedly fastened a loose cufflink. The moment he saw me, his footsteps halted. "Ms. Sterling," he greeted, his voice perfectly even. His face was cold and distant, as if looking at a complete stranger. His icy demeanor left me speechless. I thought for a moment before asking softly: "Mr. Hayes, my father tells me you want to marry me. Why?" "I wanted to, so I did. I don't need a reason." Me: "..." How was I supposed to respond to that? I slowly stood up and grabbed my purse. "Then I'll be going." Carter’s expression cracked. A rare flash of panic crossed his face. "You're leaving already?" I stared at him blankly. Under my gaze, the color slowly drained from his face, and a heavy shroud of self-loathing seemed to settle over his shoulders. Yet, he still forced himself to step aside to let me pass. If I didn't already know for a fact that this man was obsessed with me, I would have thought he was playing a cruel joke on me... I let out a soft sigh, stepping forward and gently grabbing his sleeve. "How about we grab dinner together?" 6 The dynamic between Carter and me clearly terrified his assistant. As I was leaving, the assistant kept apologizing. "The boss isn't very good at talking to women. Please don't be angry with him, Ms. Sterling." "I'm not angry." I offered him a bright smile. "Actually, I quite like him... his face is exactly my type." The office door wasn't fully closed. Through the crack, I clearly saw Carter touch his own face, utterly stunned. I chuckled softly and told the assistant: "I'm having dinner with your boss tonight. Remind him not to stand me up." The assistant nodded frantically, as if terrified I would take it back. I walked out of the corporate tower in my heels. The moment I stepped outside, my phone rang. Seeing the name Ethan Brooks on the screen, I calmly hit 'Decline' and stared blankly at the clouds drifting overhead. 7 Ethan treated me well, and he genuinely cared about my well-being. But whether it was a childhood friend or a casual buddy, they would eventually fade into the long, winding road of life. Just like in my past life. He eventually found a woman he loved, had a child, and learned to keep his distance from me. In the end, when I was trapped in the mountains with an expedition team and called him for help, his wife answered the phone. She mocked me relentlessly, calling me a pathetic, aging spinster who couldn't find a husband. While she hurled insults at me, Ethan was right beside her, completely silent. I died on that mountain. I never knew how he felt about it. 8 Carter arrived incredibly early for dinner. The atmosphere at the table was frigid. I tried my hardest to carry the conversation, but he was like a conversation-ending machine, showing zero enthusiasm for anything I brought up. Exhausted, I set my knife and fork down heavily on the table. "Mr. Hayes, the way you're acting makes me feel like you have zero interest in starting a family with me." Carter’s Adam's apple bobbed. He lowered his head. "I'm sorry." "You know that's not what I want to hear." I was genuinely frustrated now. "You've run a massive corporation for years. You've practically never lost a negotiation, and your insight into human nature is flawless. Yet here you are, acting like this... "It makes me feel like you don't care about me at all." Carter’s face went deadly pale. His fingertips dug so hard into his palms that faint traces of blood began to seep through his skin. "Please don't overthink it," he said, his voice strained. "I just... I've never been this close to you before. I'm not used to it." His sudden, almost confessional words caught me completely off guard. His nervousness, his profound loneliness, and the blood on his palms—none of it was fake. I suddenly remembered what his assistant had told me in my past life: "His depression was severe. Only by looking at you could he find a fleeting moment of peace..." "Mr. Hayes." Suddenly deeply curious, I looked him in the eye. "Did we know each other before all this?" 9 Carter’s thin lips trembled. His eyes instantly darted away, fixing on the glass window of the restaurant. "Yes." "When?" I pressed, but Carter clamped his mouth shut. No matter what I asked, he refused to say another word. Feeling a bit defeated, I lost my enthusiasm and focused on my steak, abandoning the conversation. Carter stayed silent too, seemingly unaware that the atmosphere had turned sour. He just stared blankly at my lips and my neck. His gaze followed the path of the red wine down my throat, then froze, restrained by his own strict manners. I shot him a glare. He panicked and turned his head away so fast he bit his own lip. A bead of bright red blood welled up. I sighed. "If you want to look at me, just look. Stop sneaking glances. "We're getting married soon, Carter. Can you please just do things out in the open?" He had taken thousands of photos of me, hired people to watch me, and probably bribed my family's maid... If he hadn't died so tragically in my past life, I would have called the cops and had him arrested for stalking. But his assistant had told me the truth. Carter was sick. When dealing with someone who is ill, you have to be patient. I reached across the table and grabbed his hand. Ignoring his instantaneous, rigid shock, I dipped a napkin in my water glass and gently wiped the blood from his palm. "Your hands are too handsome to be ruined like this. Stop digging your nails in, okay?" Carter didn't answer. He just stared at my face. After a long, agonizing silence, he asked in a low whisper: "Are you... willing to marry me now?" "Did you ever give me a choice to say no?" His throat moved tightly. "Actually, if you don't want to, you can..." "Run away? Or storm into your office, point my finger in your face, and scream that I'll never marry you?" I locked eyes with him. "If I do that, I'll be fine. But Carter, what would happen to you?" The answer was obvious. He would die. In my past life, I couldn't understand how a man could be so weak and pathetic that a mere canceled wedding would push him to end his own life without even demanding to see me. But now... I couldn't bear the thought of him dying again. 10 Carter was an undeniable genius. His business acumen was ruthless, yet his background was a total void. His rivals dug for years and found nothing, forced to watch as he seized the tech boom and skyrocketed to the top of the billionaire ladder. With a smile and a handshake, he suffocated the old-money elites of Chicago. Yet this brilliant, powerful man had thrown his life away in his prime over a woman. In my past life, Carter became the laughingstock of the corporate world. Thanks to rival smear campaigns, his legacy was dragged through the mud. I refused to let that happen again. On the drive home, my mind raced. I glanced at Carter, who was driving with an emotionless mask, and decided I needed to have a serious sit-down with his assistant. I honestly had no idea how to handle this guy. And then there was his illness... Was there really no cure?
? Continue the story here ?? ? Download the "MotoNovel" app ? search for "391440", and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel