When the kidnappers forced Liam Sterling to choose one of us to save, he abandoned his childhood sweetheart and chose me. But I didn't go with him. Because I knew he would regret it. It happened exactly like this in our past life. After I was rescued, Liam's childhood sweetheart was photographed in compromising positions by the kidnappers. The night she returned, she slit her wrists and died. Liam pretended not to care and went ahead with our wedding as planned, but he subjected me to endless emotional abuse throughout our marriage. Seven years later, when I finally forced him to agree to a divorce, he lost control of his emotions and drove our car off a cliff on the way to the courthouse. Even in his dying moments, he was still blaming me: "We owed Mia. We were supposed to spend our lives atoning for her. What right do you have to seek a peaceful life for yourself..." So, having been given a second chance, I refuse to live that life again. 1 "Chloe, come with me." The moment I realized I had been reborn, a kidnapper was pressing a knife against both my and Mia's necks. They demanded that Liam choose one of us to save. Liam's gaze darted between the two of us. After a fierce internal struggle, he made the exact same choice he did in our past life— He reached his hand out to me. But I firmly shook my head. "Liam, save Mia first." In this life, I don't want to owe anyone anything, and I certainly don't want to carry the weight of another life on my conscience. Hearing this, Liam seemed to let out a sigh of relief. "Chloe, you are my fiancée. I should save you first. But since you said it yourself, don't blame me." Then, he grabbed Mia and left the scene as fast as humanly possible, as if terrified I would change my mind in the next second. But I'm not like him. I don't make a choice and then spend my life regretting it. In our past life, it went exactly like this. He arrived with the ransom, but the kidnappers suddenly increased their demands, saying he could only take one person. Forced into a corner, Liam ultimately chose me. However, during the time we went back to gather more money, the kidnappers lusted after Mia, took compromising photos of her, and were just about to assault her. Fortunately, we arrived with the police just in time. But even though they hadn't gone all the way, a situation like that is enough to completely destroy a girl's dignity. Mia returned home a broken shell of a person. That night, after everyone fell asleep, she slit her wrists. By the time she was found, it was too late. When Liam heard the news, he didn't show the slightest hint of caring. He calmly handled Mia's funeral and gave her family a large sum of money as compensation. Even when I suggested postponing our wedding, he flatly refused. "Chloe, marrying you has been planned for a long time. We can't let an outsider affect it." Yet, it was this "outsider" he obsessed over for seven straight years. He only married me to trap me, to make me atone for Mia. But what did I do wrong? 2 After Liam and Mia left, I started trying to figure out how to save myself. Because this time, I wasn't sure if Liam would actually come back. In our past life, he used the excuse of giving Mia a comforting hug to slip a tracker into her pocket. So even when the kidnappers moved us, we were able to find Mia immediately using the tracker. But just now, he seemed to have completely forgotten about that. I guess, from the very beginning, the only person he ever wanted to save was Mia. He only reluctantly chose me because of my status as his fiancée, terrified of the public backlash if he didn't. After all, ours was just an arranged marriage; our relationship was mediocre at best. But Mia had been by his side through his purest, most innocent years. They were childhood sweethearts, best friends, and soulmates. It makes sense that the Liam of our past life regretted his choice. In this life, he finally got what he truly wanted. I was happy for him. At the same time, I didn't forget to look for a chance to escape. I knew that when the kidnappers moved locations, they would pass by an auto repair shop. The mechanics there were notoriously fierce and brutal fighters. In my past life, when the kidnappers passed by, they tried to temporarily commandeer the shop. They didn't expect the owner to be a total badass who stubbornly refused. The two groups grabbed whatever weapons they could find and had a massive brawl. The kidnappers probably never imagined they'd run into people even more ruthless than they were. Terrified of escalating the situation further, they eventually scurried away with their tails tucked between their legs. Later, when the kidnappers were arrested, the owner of the repair shop even came forward to testify against them. 3 Just like in my past life, they left one guy in the van to watch me. The rest of them charged toward the repair shop. My hands were tied behind my back. The kidnapper in the driver's seat completely ignored me, thinking I wasn't a threat. Taking advantage of his inattention, I leaned over and used my teeth to pull the door handle. I shoved the door open and ran forward like a maniac. My target was the same as the kidnappers': the auto repair shop. I wanted to make a bet. A bet that they wouldn't just watch someone die without helping. So, I blatantly charged right in. The repair shop was already in total chaos. I immediately spotted the young owner. His features were sharp and defined, radiating an aura of unwavering righteousness. Combined with his agile, powerful fighting moves, he looked incredibly cool. Terrified of getting caught in the crossfire, I hunched over and sprinted toward him with lightning speed. But I used too much force and ended up tackling him straight to the ground. As I crashed into his chest, my face went pale with terror. "I-I'm so sorry." I apologized incoherently. "Could you please, please help me?" The man glanced at me, his brow furrowing. The next second, he grabbed me and rolled several times across the floor. Then, with a loud CRASH, a heavy stool slammed into the exact spot we had just been lying in. If he hadn't noticed it in time, I would have been seriously injured, if not worse. Still shaken, the kidnappers noticed I had escaped from the van. So, their objective shifted from taking over the shop to demanding I be handed over. The two sides faced off. I looked pitifully at the man beside me and whispered, "If you can save me, I'll do anything you want." He didn't answer. Instead, he stared thoughtfully at the group of kidnappers. Someone behind him couldn't help but warn him, "Noah, less trouble is better than more." So his name is Noah. Receiving no answer after a long pause, my heart slowly sank. Forget it. Why force him? When the leader of the kidnappers yelled for me to come over for the third time, I took a step forward. But almost instantly, a hand clamped down on my shoulder. I was forced to stop. Noah stepped forward and announced to the kidnappers, "She's under my protection today." Perhaps even God was on my side, because the loud roar of motorcycles suddenly echoed from outside. A confident smile spread across Noah's face. "My backup is here." Hearing this, the kidnappers shot me a resentful glare, cursed under their breath, and left. My heart, which had been hanging by a thread, finally dropped back into my chest. I let out a long breath and suddenly felt the tension on my wrists loosen. Noah had cut the ropes binding my hands. 4 "My name is Chloe. Thank you so much for what you just did," I said, reaching my hand out to him. Noah, however, kept his eyes fixed on my wrists. The ropes had left deep, bloody welts that looked terrifying. "Let me clean that up for you." I shook my head. "It's just a scratch. It's fine." "Who was it just now who said if I saved her, she'd do anything I wanted?" "..." Ignoring my protests, he gently but firmly pushed me onto a stool and brought over a first-aid kit. "This might sting a bit." I bit my lip, watching him intently as he carefully treated my wounds. A sudden warmth bloomed in my chest. I remembered in my past life, shortly after Liam and I got married, there was a time he came home drunk. As I was helping him back to our room, I casually mentioned he should drink less. He flew into a sudden rage and violently shoved me away. I lost my balance and crashed to the floor. The jade bracelet on my wrist hit the hardwood and shattered into pieces, the shards slicing deeply into my wrist. I screamed, clutching my bleeding wrist and crying out in pain. But Liam just stared at me coldly and said: "Does it hurt? It should. Mia suffered a thousand, a million times more pain than you, but she can't cry out anymore. If she hadn't tried to save you, she wouldn't have been assaulted by those kidnappers! She wouldn't have..." I just sat there on the floor, my face full of disbelief. My heart turned to ice, inch by inch. It took a long time before I found my voice again. "But the kidnappers took both me and Mia to threaten you! And you were the one who chose to save me first! Why are you saying all this to me now?!" The drunkenness on Liam's face seemed to have faded significantly, but his eyes remained ice-cold. "Chloe, I was always against this arranged marriage. If you hadn't told my grandmother you liked me, she never would have forced me to marry you." "So, what you're saying is, if I weren't in the picture, you would only have had to save Mia. Is that it?" "Haha..." I suddenly burst out laughing. "Liam, you're literally insane. You don't blame the kidnappers, you blame me instead." I stood up and went back to my room to bandage my own wounds. From that day on, no matter how much it hurt, I never told Liam again. And now, the man in front of me, afraid that I was in pain, was clumsily blowing air onto my wounds. My eyes stung. I closed them, took a deep breath, and asked a question I already knew the answer to: "What are you doing?" Noah looked up, his smile pure and genuine. "When I got hurt as a kid, this is what my mom used to do. Does it feel any better?" I nodded. "Yeah, much better." Receiving validation, Noah continued what he was doing. But the atmosphere was soon ruined by someone else. 5 "Noah! I heard someone was causing trouble at your shop, so I rushed right over..." "Holy crap! Where did you find such a gorgeous girl?!" A tall man with a full sleeve tattoo walked through the door. The moment he saw me, his eyes lit up. "Wow, this is rare. I think this is the first time I've ever seen a girl this pretty at your place..." As the tattooed guy spoke, a bizarrely shy flush crept over his face. Seeing this, Noah stepped in front of me, shielding me. "Thanks, but it's already handled. As for everything else, it's none of your business. I'll buy you a drink sometime." The tattooed guy froze, then caught on. "Bro, now that you've got a girl, you don't even have time for your bros?!" He haughtily turned his head away and let out a loud "Hmph!" He actually looked like he was pouting. Noah rubbed his temples, then pulled him aside and muttered, "Can you read the room? Go find somewhere else to be." "Noah, is she your girlfriend?" "Does it look like it?" "Yeah! You guys look like a perfect match." "Good to know you have eyes." "I don't care, you have to invite me to the wedding." "You'll get your invite." "..." The two men muttered to each other a short distance away. Even though they intentionally lowered their voices, I could hear every word perfectly clearly. To ease the awkwardness, I pretended to be very busy, looking left, right, up, and down—anywhere but at them. A few minutes later, Noah managed to shoo the tattooed guy away. Once he was gone, Noah asked me, "Where do you live? I'll take you home." Perhaps out of pure selfishness, I suddenly didn't want to go back so soon. Anyway, my parents were always busy with their own things. Even if I didn't come home for a month, they wouldn't ask about it. As for Liam, if my guess was right, he had probably been reborn too. Right now, he must be desperate to stay by Mia's side forever. In our past life, during our seven years of marriage, he never once took me to any public events, and we never shared a bedroom. When people asked about me, he always kept a cold face, eventually turning me into a running joke in our social circle. In this life, I just want to stay as far away from him as possible. So I looked at Noah and pleaded, "Could you take me in for a few days?" I carefully pinched the corner of his shirt with my fingers and tugged it gently. Based on what I knew from both lives, he seemed like a genuinely good guy. Plus, he had the ability to protect me. If I decided to cling to him, would he refuse? Noah suddenly leaned his face close to mine. His gaze was incredibly intense and burning. "Little girl, if you keep acting like this, I might actually take it seriously..." Because he was so close, I could even smell the fresh scent of soap on him. I instinctively swallowed hard. Just as I was about to speak, a familiar voice rang out from behind me. "What are you two doing?!" It was Liam... He had arrived with the police. 6 "Are you okay?" Liam looked at me, and the concern in his eyes didn't seem fake. I threw my hands up. "Do I look like I'm not okay?" Liam remained silent. Mia walked in right behind him. She glanced around the repair shop, which had already returned to normal operations, and asked bluntly: "Chloe, how exactly did you escape from those kidnappers? "As far as I know, there were six of them. Your hands were tied, and you didn't know the area. I'm genuinely very curious..." What was she trying to imply? "Everyone knows the Vance family and the Sterling family are planning a marriage alliance, but both families are also eyeing that plot of land in the South District. The auction is in ten days, highest bidder wins. "And then, at the most critical moment, something like this happens, with an astronomically high ransom demand. Chloe, it's really hard for me not to think the worst." She suspected I hired the kidnappers?! I admit, in both of my lives, I have never been this speechless. In my past life, I felt truly helpless and sympathetic toward Mia's tragedy. But in this life, I practically saved her. And the first thing she does after being rescued is turn around and bite me. It was truly chilling. I suddenly raised my hand and shouted loudly, "Officer! This person is slandering me!" And then, we were all taken down to the station. While waiting to be interrogated, Mia was relentless. "Chloe, why are you afraid to speak?" I sneered coldly. "Why should I speak to you? You're not a cop." Mia was momentarily at a loss for words. Liam couldn't stand it and immediately stepped up to defend Mia. "Chloe, Mia just wants to know the truth so she knows what she should and shouldn't say during the interrogation." "What? You guys planning to lie to the police?" Furious, Liam stood up, pointing at me. "Chloe, you are completely unreasonable!" Noah, who had just walked out of an interrogation room, saw this and stepped right in front of me without a second thought. "Put your hand down." His tone was flat, but it carried an undeniable, oppressive authority. Hiding behind Noah, I couldn't see their expressions, but I could vaguely smell gunpowder in the air. I heard Liam demand, "Who are you to her?" Noah turned his head to look at me, the corner of his mouth slightly raised. He asked back, "Who do you think?" I looked up at his ridiculously perfect side profile, which was so close to me. As if possessed by a ghost, I used my thumb and index finger to make a little heart shape at him. Seeing this, Liam's face instantly darkened several shades. Right at that moment, an officer called him in to give his statement.
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