The city’s elite knew my nightly ritual: hunting for my husband, Asher Thorne, who slept in a different woman’s bed each night. He hated me for driving his first love to her death. I hated him for refusing to look at me for a decade. We were caged animals, tearing each other apart. But when a truck careened toward us, he shielded me with his body, coughing up blood but smiling. “My debt is paid,” he gasped. “Next life… let me go. I miss her.” I crawled from the wreckage, refusing to die with him. Later, I stood before my father. “I’ll marry into the Bartlett family.” This time, I’d give Asher what he wanted—his freedom, his love. All of it. 1 The grand crystal chandelier in the ballroom came crashing down again. But this time, Asher Thorne, the man I was supposed to save, shoved me out of the way. A flicker of relief crossed his face. The next second, to my horror, he was swallowed by a shower of shattering crystal. The deafening crash was followed by a wave of screams that ripped through the ballroom. I stared, numb, at the blood blooming across the pristine white carpet. I understood. He had been reborn, too. In our last life, I saved him. But I wasn’t fast enough to save myself. The chandelier had crushed my leg, leaving me with a permanent limp. I used that injury, that debt, to force him to marry me, even though I knew his heart belonged to my stepsister. This time, he chose to be buried under a ton of glass and steel rather than owe me anything. They carried him out on a stretcher, a bloody mess. Well-meaning guests pushed me towards the ambulance. “Go on, Vivienne! Asher needs you right now!” The words were a dagger in my heart. I turned and pushed my stepsister, Chloe, towards the open doors instead. “You go.” She gave me a surprised look, but before she could speak, the paramedics shut the doors and the ambulance sped away. The guests stared at me, bewildered. “Vivienne, why aren’t you going? He was trying to save you.” “Exactly! You two grew up together. How can you let someone else be with him at a time like this?” I didn’t answer. I just watched the ambulance disappear into the night. Twice now, he had chosen such a brutal way to sever our connection. I couldn’t understand it. What was it about me that he found so repulsive? After the disastrous gala, I returned to the family mansion. “You want to take Chloe’s place and marry into the Bartlett family?” my father asked, thinking he’d misheard. He knew how much I despised Chloe, the illegitimate daughter who had stormed into my mother’s hospital room during her final days. She’d stood over my dying mother and sneered that the one who isn't loved is the real homewrecker. It was the final blow that broke my mother’s will to live. “Just yesterday you were swearing you’d marry Asher Thorne or no one,” he reminded me. I paused, avoiding the question. “Chloe came to you again today to try and break the engagement, didn’t she?” My father’s expression tightened. In our last life, around this time, Julian Bartlett, the sole heir to the Bartlett fortune, had a car accident that left him paralyzed from the waist down. The Bartletts were not a family to be trifled with. Breaking the engagement at a time like this would bring ruin upon our entire family. After a moment of thought, his face grew grave. “The wedding is next month. You can change your mind anytime before then.” I hid a bitter smile. He was thrilled. He had always preferred the sweet-talking Chloe to me. If it weren’t for the fear of being seen as a man who mistreated his late wife’s only child, he would have forced me into this marriage from the start. By the time I left his study, my phone was blowing up with messages. Everyone assumed Asher had been injured saving me. Even if it was just for show, I had to go see him. When I pushed open his hospital room door, he was propped up against the pillows, a thick bandage wrapped around his forehead. Chloe was sitting by his bed. When he saw me, his voice softened. “Chloe, could you give us a minute?” She nodded obediently, murmuring a timid, “Sister,” as she passed me. The door clicked shut, and the room fell silent. His eyes scanned my legs, and a visible wave of relief washed over him. My mouth filled with a bitter taste. He was checking to make sure I didn’t have a broken leg to hold over his head this time. Seeing his pale, bloodless face, a lump formed in my throat. “Does it hurt…?” “Vivienne.” He cut me off, his voice weak but firm. “I saved you. Can you do one thing for me in return?” My heart sank. “What is it?” He took a deep breath. “Don’t force Chloe to marry Julian Bartlett. Your mother’s death had nothing to do with her. She was just a child.” My hands, hanging at my sides, clenched into fists. He hadn’t changed at all. He still thought I was forcing Chloe into a marriage with a disabled man out of spite. I managed a brittle smile. “Asher, you’re always so presumptuous.” He frowned, confused. “What do you mean?” He wanted to ask more, but I turned and left, giving him no chance. I wasn’t going to tell him that I was the one getting married now. I would let him wonder, let him worry, let him toss and turn in his hospital bed. I would let his heart hang in suspense. Until the day I married Julian Bartlett, he would suffer right alongside me. 2 A week later, I stood in front of a mirror, wearing the bespoke wedding gown from the Bartletts. I couldn’t bring myself to smile. In our last life, Chloe had worn this very dress when she jumped from the eighteenth floor of a skyscraper, dying right in front of Asher and me. It was the beginning of a decade of mutual torment. After the fitting, I went home and began to burn everything that connected me to Asher. My hand paused when I found a brightly colored beaded bracelet. We were just kids, playing house. Asher had gotten down on one knee, holding out this bracelet like it was a diamond ring. “This is our promise,” he’d said, mimicking the actors on TV. “When I grow up, I’m going to marry you.” The memory was so sweet that a small smile touched my lips. I slipped the bracelet onto my wrist without thinking. I was pulled from my thoughts by the butler, who informed me I had a guest. Asher was sitting in the parlor, the bandage still on his forehead. He sat ramrod straight, like he was here for a negotiation. “Vivienne,” my father said, his expression complicated. “Asher has come with a very generous offer from the Thorne family.” Several documents were spread across the table. Property deeds, project transfer agreements, even a stake in the Thorne family’s core business in the city. I scoffed. “Is this a marriage proposal, Mr. Thorne?” Asher looked up, his voice raspy. “Whatever the Bartletts can give your family, the Thornes can give more. Just call off Chloe’s engagement, and we can sign these today.” It was practically his entire net worth. He was really willing to risk it all for her. I bit the inside of my cheek to keep the bitterness down. My father looked at me. “Vivienne, what do you think?” I stepped forward and coolly pushed the documents back across the table. “This alliance was decided long ago. To back out now, just because the Bartlett heir has had an accident… our family cannot afford to be known as dishonorable.” “Vivienne!” Asher shot up, grabbing my wrist. “Why do you have to interfere? You know what Julian Bartlett is like now! You’ll be the death of Chloe!” “Her death?” I yanked my arm free, my laugh sharp and humorless. “Her very name is the result of her mother sleeping her way into this family. A bastard child who has lived the life of a princess for years. Now she’s being asked to fulfill a promise, and you call that pushing her to her death? I don’t care if Julian Bartlett is disabled. Even if he were dying tomorrow, she would still have to walk down that aisle!” A soft sob came from behind the decorative screen. Chloe ran out, her eyes red and puffy. Asher’s face paled. He looked at me in disbelief. “You knew she was listening?” I tilted my head. “Of course.” Those words were for both of them. I hated her. If she hadn’t killed herself in our last life, leaving a permanent thorn between us, Asher and I might have had a chance. He ground his teeth. “When did you become so vicious?” He threw the words at me like stones before turning and chasing after her. My breath caught in my throat. I tilted my head back, forcing back the sting in my eyes. I thought the drama was over. But later, Asher cornered me in the garden. I don’t know what Chloe told him, but his eyes were blazing with fury. “Vivienne, she may be your stepsister, but she truly sees you as a sister. Your mother’s death was not her fault! How old was she? She has felt guilty about it to this day! I don’t understand how your mother, who was such a kind woman, could have given birth to such a cruel, selfish daughter!” SMACK. The force of my slap sent his head snapping to the side. My hand was trembling. “Asher Thorne,” I seethed, “you have no right to talk about my mother.” On her deathbed, my mother had entrusted me to him. And in return, he had turned his affections to the very person who had caused her so much pain. “I’m telling you now, I will never back down. If she has to die, she’ll die at her own wedding!” My words were like a lit match to gasoline. “Enough!” he roared. His eyes were bloodshot as he glared at me, and I met his gaze without flinching. It was just like old times. But then, his expression softened. His eyes fixed on the colorful bracelet on my wrist. “…You kept it.” My heart lurched. The thorns I had so carefully erected around myself retracted. He was right. I didn’t want to repeat the mistakes of our past life. I let out a breath. “Asher… actually, I’ve decided to take…” Before I could finish, he lunged forward and ripped the bracelet from my wrist. The colorful beads scattered across the stone path with a series of sharp clicks. “Don’t use the past to manipulate me,” he snarled. “I won’t let you destroy Chloe! Vivienne, just you wait.” I stood frozen for a long time. Finally, I knelt and began to pick up the scattered beads, one by one. Tears fell, silent and unnoticed, onto the cold stone. It’s better this way, I told myself. A clean break. There shouldn’t be anything between us anymore. 3 In the days leading up to the wedding, the rumors started. “Did you hear? Vivienne is forcing her stepsister to marry that cripple from the Bartlett family.” “How could she? All for a few hundred million in investments.” “No wonder Asher Thorne has been avoiding her. He must have seen her for who she really is.” I sat at an auction, pretending not to hear. Then, Chloe appeared, greeting me with a cheerful smile. “Sister, what a coincidence! What are you doing here?” I gave her a cold look. She either didn’t notice or didn’t care. “Oh, and about those rumors…” she said, her brow furrowed with fake concern. “Don’t worry, I’ll clear things up for you. After all, you’re the one who’s actually marrying into the Bartlett family…” The wedding was just days away. It was time she was told about the change of plans. I took a sip of champagne, a cynical smile on my face. “Aren’t you the one who started those rumors? What’s there to clear up?” Her innocent expression vanished, replaced by a cold hardness. “So what if I did?” she whispered, her voice dripping with venom. “It was supposed to be me from the start. The rumors aren’t exactly wrong, are they? All these years, playing the dutiful daughter for Father, the gentle soul for Asher, the gracious lady for everyone else. It makes me sick. You’re just like your mother. You both act so virtuous, but underneath you’re just a pair of hypocritical, conniving bitches.” I raised my hand to slap her, but my wrist was caught in a viselike grip. “Vivienne? What do you think you’re doing now?” Asher had appeared behind me. He shoved me, hard. I stumbled back, my high heel twisting, and I fell to the ground. My champagne flute shattered, sending shards of glass flying. “Sister!” Chloe cried out, rushing to help me up. “Don’t touch her! It’s all broken glass, you’ll get cut,” Asher said, pulling her back. But then he stepped forward and offered me his hand. I gritted my teeth and slapped it away, pushing myself up from the floor. My palm was sliced open, and the pain made my hand tremble. “Asher, she just insulted my mother. She called my mother a…” The words were too vile to repeat. He awkwardly withdrew his hand and turned to Chloe with a frown. Tears welled in Chloe’s eyes as she shook her head pitifully. “I didn’t… I just told her you came with me… I don’t understand why she would lie about me like that.” The doubt in Asher’s eyes vanished, replaced by a cold disgust. “You’re becoming more and more repulsive,” he said to me. “To frame Chloe, you’d even use your dead mother.” He took a step closer, looking down at my bleeding hand. “Look at yourself. You’re no different than a bitter, scorned shrew.” A wave of nausea washed over me. The auction’s opening announcement sounded, saving me. I shoved past Asher and returned to my seat. I had more important things to do today. Asher bought Chloe several small trinkets—a brooch, a hair clip. He was acting like he’d brought her here for a day of fun. Then, the final item was brought to the stage. “A jade pendant from the Qing Dynasty. Starting bid, five million.” I was about to raise my paddle when a gasp went through the crowd. “Mr. Thorne has lit the lantern!” I whipped my head around to see Asher staring at me, his eyes cold and hard. Whispers erupted around us. “Is he trying to outbid Vivienne?” “I heard they had a falling out over the Bartlett marriage. I guess it’s true.” I bit my lip, forcing back the wave of hurt and betrayal. This jade pendant was my mother’s most treasured dowry gift. The family had been forced to sell it when we were on the brink of bankruptcy. Now, finally, it was back. He knew what it meant to me. After the auction, I cornered him in the parking garage. “Why?” Before Asher could speak, Chloe jumped in. “Sister, I’ve been having nightmares lately, and I thought a protective amulet might help.” She glanced at me timidly. “But if it makes you unhappy, I can give it to you.” Asher frowned, pulling her behind him. “Chloe, you don’t have to do that.” He glared at me. “It’s because you always back down that she keeps pushing you.” I laughed, a harsh, grating sound. “I’m pushing her? Or are you two pushing me?” I pointed a trembling finger at Asher. “You knew that was my mother’s. How could you help her take it from me?” “Why do you think she’s having nightmares?” Asher retorted. “It’s because you’re forcing her into this marriage! She’s terrified! All she wanted was a symbol of peace. What’s wrong with that?” He paused, looking away. “Besides, it belonged to your mother. She was such a kind soul. I’m sure she would want her spirit to watch over Chloe.” What? The world went black for a second. The next thing I knew, my palm was stinging. I had slapped him, hard. Chloe gasped and rushed forward, clutching the jade pendant. “Sister, I’m sorry… please don’t be angry. I’ll give it back to you… Please don’t blame Asher…” She made a show of handing the pendant to me, but before I could take it, it slipped from her fingers and shattered on the concrete floor. The air froze. Chloe burst into tears, frantically trying to pick up the pieces. “How did this happen… Sister, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to…” Asher pulled her up, afraid she would cut her hands. I stared at the broken jade, my body trembling. The world around me faded into a dull roar. The last thread of my control snapped. I ran to my car, jumped in, and slammed my foot on the gas. The engine roared to life. I aimed the car directly at Chloe. Her face went white. She screamed, her act of contrition forgotten, and scrambled backward. Asher’s eyes widened in horror. “Vivienne, are you insane?!” he roared, pounding on my window, trying to get me to stop. “If you kill her, I’ll hate you for the rest of my life!” I glared at him, then stomped on the accelerator. The car shot forward. Chloe screamed, crawling desperately across the pavement. Just as I was about to hit her, Asher’s SUV slammed into my car from the side. The world spun, and my vision was filled with the spiderweb crack of the windshield. Then, everything went red. Through the haze of pain, I saw Asher stumble out of his car. The last thing I heard before I lost consciousness was his desperate, heartbroken scream. “Vivienne!” I woke up to the stark white ceiling of a hospital room. Asher had kept a vigil by my bedside for seven days and seven nights. When he saw me open my eyes, a flash of joy lit up his face. Just then, his phone buzzed. It was the special ringtone he had set for Chloe. The light in his eyes died. He turned to me, his voice raspy and cold. “Vivienne, your mother asked me to look after you before she died, and I’ve never forgotten that. But if you ever try to hurt Chloe again, I won’t hesitate to destroy you myself. That cripple from the Bartlett family doesn't deserve her. I will stop this wedding. Don’t interfere. This is your last chance.” He answered the phone and walked out without a backward glance. I slowly turned my head, letting the tears fall freely. On the pillow beside me lay the jade pendant, its pieces painstakingly joined together with gold. Because of my “accident,” the wedding was postponed for two weeks.
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