After being killed, Janelle Erwin and I open our eyes to see ourselves standing at a wedding venue.

This time, Janelle chooses to marry her childhood friend, Lance Huff, who has just returned to the country. She's extraordinarily resentful of me, so she doesn't hesitate to kick me out of her company and let Lance take over my position there.

"I will never marry a loser like Wesley! On top of that, he's just a mutt who belongs to the Erwin family!"

But right after Lance takes over North Hill Corporation, the company keeps losing bids one after another. At one point, it was even dragged into a murder case.

Janelle asks me for help again. But this time, she wants me to become the scapegoat for Lance's crimes. After witnessing my rejection, she starts using the deeds of kindness she's done for me in the past just to emotionally manipulate me.

But I just guffaw in Janelle's face as I stare at her.

"I've already paid the Erwins back for their benevolence in my past life! Now, you're the ones owing me in this life!"

"Find her now! If you don't find Janelle today, I'll skin you alive!"

I opened my eyes to find my father-in-law, Lawrence Erwin, standing before me, boiling with rage.

The wounds from the knife attack still ached faintly. But when I looked down, I saw no injuries on my body. It was as if being ambushed and slashed to death by family members of the victim at the entrance of North Hill Corporation had been nothing but an illusion.

Seeing my dazed expression, Lawrence grew even more furious. He grabbed his cane and raised it to strike me hard.

The cane slammed into the wall behind me with a bang, snapping me back to my senses.

I glanced around and was certain I'd returned to the wedding.

Lawrence continued pointing and cursing at me, while the murmurs of the surrounding guests closed in around me.

"I always said that adopted sons are unreliable. He can't even be bothered to go look for his own runaway wife."

"Adopted son? Look at him—he's a total coward. To put it bluntly, he's nothing more than a live-in son-in-law!"

Janelle had disappeared?

I furrowed my brows tightly, a storm of shock surging inside me.

In my previous life, Janelle and I had gone through with the wedding without a hitch. She only gave herself to Lance on our wedding night. I caught them in the act right then and there, but she used the debt of gratitude she claimed I owed her to silence me.

Now, for her to suddenly vanish… Unless she, like me, had also been reborn.

But before I was hacked to death with knives, Janelle had already drained all the funds and run off with Lance.

Could it be that something happened to them as well?

The pain of betrayal clung to me like a shadow. I took several deep breaths just to barely keep myself upright.

The only thing I was certain of was that their elopement had cut off my only chance to survive.

Before I could sort through my thoughts, I heard a familiar voice.

I looked up and saw that it was Janelle, the very one who had disappeared. She was arm-in-arm with Lance, walking toward me.

Her neck was covered in hickies, and her red lips still glistened with traces of moisture.

"I will never marry a good-for-nothing! Besides, he's just a lapdog of my family!"

Right in front of everyone, Janelle slipped the wedding ring onto Lance's finger and declared that he was her true groom.

I sneered inwardly. Her actions confirmed that she was the only one who had been reborn.

If Lance had already been reborn, there was no way he'd ever get involved in the mess of North Hill Corporation.

Janelle walked up to me with disdain in her eyes, her contempt reaching its peak.

"After today, you'll hand in your resignation and transfer all your duties to Lance."

Lance jeered at me with a smirk, "Don't take it too personally. Janelle simply trusts me, that's all."

I paid no mind to their taunts. Instead, my gaze drifted past them to the small figure standing behind them.

That was my son with Janelle, Theodore Dunham.

In my previous life, Theo had fallen with me into a pool of blood. He'd glared at me bitterly, his eyes carrying a maturity beyond his years, and then taken Lance's hand on his own.

"Mr. Huff has a PhD from studying abroad, while you're just an undergraduate, Wes. So, it's only natural Mom trusts Mr. Huff."

The moment he finished speaking, I was certain that Theo had also been reborn.

That sentence was the last straw that broke my back, and I finally gave up completely on Theo, the son I'd cherished with all my heart.

In my previous life, I was hacked to death precisely because I stayed behind to protect Theo, who was still at North Hill Corporation.

And yet, he still hated me.

In my dying moments, he leaned close to my ear and whispered, "If my real dad were here, he'd definitely be able to protect me."

Thinking of this, I couldn't suppress a mocking laugh. Then, I replied with a shrug, "You're right to change your choice of spouse.

"After all, Theo should be with his biological father. But remember—I'm the one calling off the engagement this time, because I find you filthy!"

My words landed like a bolt out of the blue, sending shockwaves through the entire crowd.

Janelle's eyes turned bloodshot. If someone hadn't held her back, she would've gladly skinned me alive.

"How dare a stray dog that begs at my feet for scraps like you find me filthy?"

The way she looked at me was no different from how she'd look at a dog she could command at will.

After calming down a bit, Janelle gave me a cold stare.

"No matter who the father is, Theo is my son and the descendant of us Erwins!"

I pressed my lips together, a bitter taste lingering in my mouth.

Just from Theo's age, I could figure out exactly when Janelle had conceived him.

This was our make-up wedding. Janelle and I had already registered our marriage five years ago.

On the night of our registration, we'd invited our respective friends to a gathering.

Halfway through the party, I found Janelle and Lance messing around in the bedroom.

I stood outside the door and heard everything clearly. Afraid that others would find out my newlywed wife was already cheating on me, I couldn't muster the resolve to go in or walk away.

Only after the sounds inside had stopped did I push the door open.

I still remembered the words Lance used to humiliate me. He wrapped an arm around Janelle's shoulders and asked, "Isn't this your husband?"

Janelle wrapped herself in the blanket, her body barely covered. Without even glancing at me, she ordered, "My clothes are all torn. Go buy me a new set."

I no longer remembered how I managed to buy the clothes and bring them over. All I could recall was my soul leaving my body, extinguishing every last bit of emotion within me.

I'd already repaid the Erwin family's kindness with my previous life. So, in this life, I lived only for myself.

Emboldened by Janelle's backing, Lance put his arm around her and chimed in, "Since it's come to this, why don't you just file for divorce yourself and walk away with nothing?"

The two played off each other, making it clear that they wanted to kick me out of North Hill Corporation without paying any price.

Even though I was ready to blow my top, I kept my composure on the surface.

"You want me to walk away with nothing? Of course, I can leave North Hill Corporation. But I'm taking what belongs to me. Haven't you always wanted to take control of the company? I can sell you my shares."

Janelle's eyes lit up the moment she heard I was willing to sell my shares. All they had really wanted was to push me out of the company, so getting their hands on my shares was already an unexpected bonus.

After all, as long as Janelle could take full control of the company, she could use the memories from her past life to make the company grow bigger.

Although I didn't have the ability to read minds, I could see it written all over her face.

I sneered inwardly, amused that Janelle had miscalculated so badly.

In my previous life, she blamed the bankruptcy of North Hill Corporation on my poor decision-making. Multiple failed bids and even the purchase of inferior building materials led to the collapse of the structures, wiping out years of effort in an instant.

Yet, she never realized that the real source of disaster was standing right beside her at this very moment. As soon as Lance joined North Hill Corporation, its stock price would crash to rock bottom and become utterly worthless.

I was selling my shares early precisely so I could get enough cash in hand.

Lance looked extremely excited. He discussed quietly with Janelle for a moment before finally making a decision.

"Of course you can, but we'll only pay you half the normal share price."

Hearing this, even Lawrence furrowed his brow.

I walked over to Janelle. Then, I pulled her aside and whispered in her ear, "You know very well how many dirty and messy things have gone on inside North Hill Corporation over the years.

"If you don't want both of us to end up destroyed, don't haggle with me over the share price."

There was suspicion in Janelle's eyes. She was probably wondering if I'd also been reborn. But after looking me up and down, she couldn't find anything unusual about me.

Thus, she let out a cold snort and agreed to my terms.

"Take the money and get lost. Don't ever let me see you again. North Hill Corporation has been going nowhere under your watch for years. Once Lance joins the company, he'll surely make it an industry leader!"

No matter the circumstances, Janelle always harbored unrealistic confidence and trust in Lance. Yet, she never trusted me, her childhood friend.

She seemed to have forgotten that I, too, had been accepted into graduate school back then. However, I'd voluntarily given up that path as North Hill Corporation was on the verge of bankruptcy.

I felt as if a giant boulder was pressing down on my chest, the suffocating frustration nearly impossible to bear.

I stared straight into Janelle's eyes, trying to find a trace of the woman she used to be.

It was my relentless, day-and-night efforts that pulled North Hill Corporation back from the brink of bankruptcy.

I worked myself ragged around the clock, entertaining clients until I'd given myself multiple gastric hemorrhages, landed in the ICU, and was hospitalized more than once.

And yet, Janelle could dismiss everything I'd done with just a few careless words.

Finally, it dawned on me that it wasn't that she didn't know how to love someone. It was that she had never loved me.

We signed the contract on the spot. As I was leaving, Theo spat at me from the side.

"You're nothing but a loser, Wes!"

In my previous life, I spent years raising Theo. But it was all for nothing, as he would only ever call me "Wes". Looking at it now, it turned out it was genetics. He had that vile blood running through him.

I never imagined that the last time I'd come to North Hill Corporation would be with my divorce papers in hand.

Janelle and Lance were both out of the office. The two of them had left for a honeymoon abroad right after that day.

But even though they weren't actually in the company, I kept hearing both of their names on the employees' lips along the way.

"What's the deal with the new vice CEO? Why did he change our working hours the moment he arrived?"

"I don't know anything else, but he clearly doesn't understand a thing about business. All he does is crack down on us regular employees."

Along the way, all I could hear were employees complaining about these ridiculous new rules.

I placed the divorce papers on Janelle's desk. As I opened the door to leave, I saw Aaron Buck waiting for me at the entrance. He was my assistant and the person I trusted the most in this company.

In my previous life, he had vanished without a trace. It wasn't until the building contracted by the company collapsed that I discovered his body.

Back then, news broke that the company had been using substandard materials, and the story went viral after being reported by influencers.

I was pushed out as a scapegoat to take all the public criticism, left powerless to investigate Aaron's cause of death. But now…

"Mr. Dunham, take a look at this."

Aaron handed me his phone, showing me his chat history with Lance. After I left, he had been put in charge of handing over my business.

The chat screen was filled with work messages sent by Aaron, while Lance hadn't replied to a single one.

"He doesn't reply to my messages, but still posts normally on Instagram. Mr. Dunham, are you really okay with leaving the company in their hands? North Hill Corporation is your life's work, after all."