Anthony Lake, my wealthy fiance, falls in love with Lila Hart, a blind professional dancer, and insists on breaking off our engagement, even though I am the heiress of a powerful family in the region.

To preserve the alliance between our families, I seek out renowned doctors to treat Lila and set the stage to support her comeback.

However, she accuses me of humiliating her and insists on jumping into a river to prove her resolve.

Ten years later, my former fiance has taken control of the region. He swallows up my family's assets and drives us to the brink of suicide.

"This is the price you pay for killing her!"

Then, I open my eyes, and I'm back in the moment where Anthony publicly confesses his love to Lila.

This time, I walk straight toward Shane York, the silent mining tycoon from the northwest, who is quietly sitting in the corner.

I wrap my arm around his neck, place his hand on my waist, and command him to kiss me.

In the grand banquet hall, Anthony Lake held a bouquet of fresh flowers and confessed to the dancer standing center stage.

Everyone turned to look at me in shock. After all, I had just gotten engaged to Anthony the day before.

And now, here he was, confessing his love to another woman right in front of me, completely ignoring my presence.

His father, Alan Lake, immediately shouted at him. "Don't be ridiculous! This isn't the time for you to mess around. Go apologize to Claire right now!"

It was important to note that the Lake family had initially requested this engagement.

While I had once liked Anthony, our family only agreed to it because we valued the Lake family's influence in the country.

In our circles, everyone knew that casual flings were fine. One just had to be careful not to be reckless and not to take things too seriously.

After all, no matter which two families joined together, it was always about mutual profits. If things got out of hand, no one would come out of it unscathed.

But Anthony didn't seem to understand this. He had fallen in love at first sight with a blind 30-year-old dancer and was determined to be with her.

Anthony stood his ground and resolutely said, "I'm not kidding. I'm being serious."

He continued, "Claire, I only agreed to the engagement because I didn't have anyone I liked at the time. That's why I got engaged to you for the sake of my family. But this is the first time I've truly wanted to fight for something. I hope you can understand."

He didn't even glance at me. His eyes were fixed on the dancer the whole time.

I clicked my tongue, exasperated by his stupidity.

The dancer, Lila Hart, had a veil over her eyes. Her lips trembled slightly as she said, "Mr. Anthony, thank you for your affection, but our social standing is too different. Your family won't approve, and neither will your fiancee."

Although her words made it sound like she was refusing him, they carried an opportunistic hint behind them.

At her words, Anthony finally turned to me. "You heard her, Claire. I know you like me, but please let me go."

Then, he turned to his parents. "Mom, Dad, Lila and I genuinely love each other. Why should status stand in the way of true love?"

The moment those words were spoken, the entire room broke into restrained laughter.

Love was the most insignificant thing in our world.

In that moment, Anthony's parents' faces instantly darkened with complete embarrassment.

Alan ignored Anthony and forced out a smile to appease me. "This doesn't mean anything. Anthony just drank a bit too much tonight. He's not thinking clearly. For my sake, I hope you won't take this to heart. Don't worry. The engagement will not be called off."

When it came to upper society, everyone was entangled in complex relationships. The Lake family would definitely suffer if they fell out with us.

Some of the more connected guests came over cheerfully to smooth things over.

Yet, Anthony seemed utterly oblivious to what was going on as he spoke up again with great urgency. "No, I haven't been drinking! I'm perfectly sober! I want to be with Lila!"

Lila stood there, covering her face. Her voice trembled as she said, "Mr. Anthony, there's no need to go this far for me…"

My parents walked up beside me, smiling as they threatened, "If you're sure about calling off the engagement, then don't blame us for what happens afterward."

Anthony saw a sliver of hope and immediately nodded in confirmation. "Yes, I'm sure!"

Before Anthony's parents could speak up, I said decisively, "Fine. I agree to cancel the engagement. From this moment on, the Sterling family is cutting off ties with the Lake family!"

Alan's face instantly turned pale. He said, "Claire, surely we can talk this through."

I looked at Alan and smiled before saying, "Mr. Alan, we already gave Anthony a chance. He was the one who didn't want it. I'm still from a prestigious family. I don't need to lower myself and cling to a man for an engagement. If he doesn't want to be with me, then someone else will."

After hearing those words, Anthony visibly relaxed. "Claire, I'm so glad you understand!"

But just as he said that, Alan slapped him hard across the face. "You idiot! Now, all of the Lake family's upcoming projects will fall apart. Let's see how you'll live your pampered, rich-boy life then!"

Lila turned toward the direction of my voice, with a serene smile on her face. "Thank you so much, Ms. Sterling."

I had to admit that Lila had an ethereal air about her. But people like that didn't survive among the elite.

This was a world where the weak were devoured by the strong, after all.

I coldly replied, "There's no need to thank me."

Then, in front of everyone, I walked straight over to Shane York, the northwest mining tycoon who had been sitting quietly in a corner this entire time.

He looked up at me in surprise.

His skin had a bronze hue, and a smoky, earthy scent surrounded him. It felt as if he had just come from the mines.

I approached him and sat sideways on his lap, wrapping my arms around his neck. Then, I commanded, "Kiss me."

When he hesitated, I cupped his face and kissed him first. I heard him take a deep breath before he gripped the back of my head and forcefully kissed me back.

It was a long time before he let me go. Our foreheads rested against each other as we locked gazes.

Panting heavily, Shane huskily asked, "What is the meaning of this?"

I didn't move away. Instead, I spoke loudly enough for everyone in the room to hear. "I like you. I want to be with you."

In my previous life, it was this very man who had gone to great lengths to avenge me after I took my own life. It was he who brought Anthony to justice. He had knelt down in front of my grave in sorrow, bringing news that Anthony ended up in prison.

"I'm sorry I came too late," he apologized to my headstone.

That was when I realized that this man, who had clashed with me since we were young, had loved me very deeply.

Not far away, Anthony shouted, "Claire, what do you think you're doing?"

Leaning against Shane's chest, I turned to look at him. "You fell in love at first sight, so why can't I?"

"I know you like me, but you didn't have to grab a random man and kiss him just to get revenge on me," Anthony said.

I let out a cold laugh and mocked, "Do you think you're worthy of my feelings?"

Shane's breath caught, and his grip on my waist tightened.

Not allowing me to speak to Anthony any further, he grabbed my chin and turned my head back. "I mean it. From this day on, you're mine."

He took my hand, looked down at the plain ring on my finger, and frowned. "That's so ugly. I'll get you a prettier one."

Shane moved quickly. By the next evening, his assistant flew in on a private jet, bringing a case full of stunning engagement rings straight to my doorstep.

Standing before me in the glow of the sunset, Shane swept his hand across them. "Tell me, which one do you like?"

I stood there, completely stunned.

"Let me guess, you like all of them," Anthony remarked. "Then I'll keep them all. You can wear a different one every day."

I felt like he was going a little overboard and couldn't help but say, "Mr. York, nobody wears an engagement ring before actually getting engaged."

Had he lost his mind?

Shane had a moment of realization as he let out a hearty laugh. "Right. I just got too excited."

As he spoke, he reached out to take my hand. "I'd be so over the moon if I could marry you…"

I looked at Anthony, who was six feet three in height, bowing his head before me like a big puppy, and burst out laughing.

Mom cleared her throat, folding her arms as she leaned against the doorway. "I haven't agreed to this yet. If you want to marry a daughter of the Lake family, you'll have to bring something to the table."

Shane nodded. "I understand, Mrs. Sterling. Fortunately, I came prepared with the necessary documents."

As soon as he finished speaking, his assistant handed him a thick stack of documents. I clearly saw the words "Land Transfer Agreement" printed on them.

"These are all mines that I haven't fully excavated yet. But don't worry. I've checked everything. They're all excellent deposits," Shane said.

He handed the entire stack of contracts to Mom. Then, he clapped his hands, and several more private jets landed right outside our house.

Crates of gold, silver, and jewels were delivered to our house, one after another. In a matter of minutes, the entire house sparkled as bright as daylight.

He truly was a mining tycoon. Everything he did just dazzled.

Even Dad, who always had sharp eyes, silently put on his sunglasses when he returned to this scene.

Shane grinned. "Is this enough? This is all just a part of my business. I sincerely want to marry Claire, and I hope you'll give us your blessing."

With that, he dropped to his knees in front of us. I stood frozen beside my parents, suddenly at a loss for words.

My parents merely stared at the scene, feeling completely dumbfounded. It took a while before Dad regained his composure and said, "Alright. Get up already."

I immediately helped Shane up to his feet and eagerly asked, "Mom, Dad, does he pass?"

Mom's eyes sparkled with amusement as she flipped through the contracts and couldn't stop herself from remarking, "Not bad. I approve of this marriage."

"How about you?" She turned to Dad.

He kept a stern expression and asked, "Why are you in such a hurry to get married, young lady? There's no need to agree so quickly. Go back and wait for our decision."

But I knew that Dad was already leaning toward approval. He just needed a night to think about it, and he would come around.

After all, our family might be far from the northwest, but breaking into the market there would take us to another level.

Besides, who would say no to money?

Moreover, I was actually a fan of this union. That made it all the more perfect.

The next day, Dad officially announced the dissolution of my engagement with Anthony. Yet, the photo he posted with the news was of all the gold and jewels that Shane had left in our living room.

With that kind of hint, everyone knew that my family would join hands with Shane's family.

I tugged eagerly at his sleeve, holding my phone up to his face as my eyes sparkled. "Look, my dad said yes! We can start planning the engagement party now!"

Shane immediately put down his eating utensils and lifted me into his arms. He spun me around as his eyes shimmered with emotion. "This is amazing! I can finally marry the person I've dreamed about day and night!"