:

I died on a rainy day.

The mountains were supposed to be full of maple leaves, but Julian couldn't wait.

I tumbled down the stairs, blood splattered everywhere.

He still wasn't satisfied.

He pushed me down the stairs with his own hands, again and again.

I was in so much pain that I could barely make a sound, still unwilling as I asked:

"Why...why?"

I didn't understand.

Our two families had always been on good terms, and Julian and I were childhood friends.

For over ten years, my family had done everything to help him establish himself in his family and become the heir.

Yet he set a trap, pulling my father in, leading to our family's bankruptcy, and my father's death from a heart attack.

"Why, Julian?" I clung desperately to the hem of his clothes.

Julian's face was deathly pale. Clearly, it was he who had caused the ruin of my family, yet his expression looked as if I had wronged him.

"It's what you owe Vivian."

He gritted his teeth.

Vivian?

Vivian Sterling?

The name felt unfamiliar, and it took me some effort to recall it.

And the innocent, gentle face behind that name.

I couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Five years.

So it turned out that Julian had never forgotten her in these five years.

So it turned out he blamed her death on me, on the entire Ford Group.

"Julian, you are truly a..."

Fool!

The last two words didn't come out because Julian had already gripped my throat tightly.

The air in my chest was slowly being drained away.

Blood trickled from the corner of my mouth.

Just like the red leaves covering the mountains.

"Iris, is your head hurting again?"

The cold rain disappeared.

The hard floor disappeared.

The sky was clear and the guests were gathered.

It was my twenty-second birthday party, also my engagement party with Julian.

It seemed that heaven had its eyes open; with one blink, I was reborn.

Not only did I not die, but I had returned to being twenty-two.

This year, Ford Group was booming, and my father entered Forbes' top ten list.

This year, Julian and I were not yet engaged.

"Your head shouldn't hurt." A schadenfreude voice sounded behind me, "Yesterday, Julian admitted in front of the media that the little secretary is his girlfriend."

My best friend was about to head over, but I stopped her.

It wasn't just acknowledging her as his girlfriend.

Three months ago, he went out of town for business, was drugged and framed by competitors, and Vivian spent the night with him to save him.

Julian suddenly realized his true love and wanted to give her a name, to marry her.

Counting yesterday, it had already been captured by the media three times.

"Iris, don't listen to the media's nonsense, you and Julian have been childhood friends, with so many years of feelings..."

I looked at my best friend and shook my head.

My best friend's words abruptly stopped.

Of course, I knew what she wanted to say.

A week ago, I woke up at home.

A week was enough for me to sort out what had happened in the past five years.

"Iris." My best friend suddenly reminded me, "Julian's coming over."

:

I looked up and saw Julian Grant walking towards me, surrounded by the crowd.

The murmuring behind them immediately disappeared.

Julian and I grew up together since childhood.

When we were five or six, our families had already arranged our marriage.

Since we were kids, if anyone bullied me, he was the first to stand up for me.

If he got in trouble and was punished, I was the first to plead for him.

Until now, no one would suspect that I was Julian's true love.

But today, on my twenty-second birthday, he brought another woman.

Vivian Sterling, frail and delicate, leaned against his side like a little white flower.

Julian smiled slightly, whispering something intimately in her ear.

She looked at me, her expression instantly turning to panic and bewilderment, striding forward in a few large steps.

She bowed to me at ninety degrees.

Truly, just like the last life.

Even the teardrop on her eyelashes, about to fall, was exactly the same.

In the last life, it was her pitiful appearance that bewitched Julian.

Having been accustomed to arranged marriages in big families for the sake of benefits since childhood, I never harbored fantasies about love.

Her appearance brought a sour feeling to my heart, but it wasn't enough to make me lose my sanity.

Julian wanted to break off the engagement, and I neither cried nor made a fuss. Considering the relationship our families had for many years, I advised him a bit:

"Vivian Sterling is just an orphan, and she doesn't have much work experience, even though you two..."

"But marriage, Grandpa Grant won't agree to that; it will just bring trouble for her."

"Julian, why not keep her outside for now, and in the future..."

I spoke cryptically:

"In the future, when you become the heir, won't you have the final say?"

It was just a few words that saved her from disaster but brought a whole mess of trouble to me.

In the previous life, as soon as I saw Vivian bow, I hurriedly helped her up.

This time, I just watched coldly, and seeing that no one cared for her, she unhesitatingly knelt and kowtowed to me.

Each kowtow banged loudly.

My best friend pulled at my sleeve.

The guests today were numerous, and all were watching in this direction.

I squeezed her hand.

What's the rush?

"Vivian!" Julian's expression was already not looking good.

In just this short time, Vivian Sterling's forehead had already broken.

Accompanied by her tearful eyes, it was pitiful to see.

She turned to look at Julian, then at me, bit her lip, and continued to kowtow.

I leisurely picked up the glass of red wine on the table.

I was suddenly curious, just how much could she pretend?

That's right.

Vivian Sterling was pretending.

Her pitiful appearance was an act, and in the last life, even her jumping off a building to commit suicide was an act.

On the empty rooftop, I heard with my own ears her oriole-like voice.

Crying and begging a man:

"Brother, I'm just an orphan. Without using some bitter measures, how would Mr. Grant ever keep me in mind?"

"Brother, help me again, use another bitter measure!"

" Brother, Vivian truly likes Mr. Grant, but my identity—his family would never agree to me marrying him."

"But Mr. Grant promised to marry me before, I must do something more to make him feel guilty towards me."

"Brother, please help me once more!"

"As long as I pretend to jump off the building, Mr. Grant will always remember he owes me!"

How good she is at pretending.

She fooled Julian, fooled me.

Fooled all the media.

I once asked Julian why he was so attentive to Vivian Sterling.

"I was born as the first son of the main branch of the Grant Family, and everyone fawned over me and praised me."

"They respect me, love me, nothing more than because of my family's money and status."

"Even you, Iris, if I weren't a son of the Grant Family, would you still marry me?"

That question stumped me at the time.

If he and I didn't have matching family backgrounds, I wouldn't have grown up with him, let alone be betrothed, or even married.

"Only Vivian, only she truly loves me and is willing to give everything for me."

"Iris, how can I refuse such pure love?"

I almost got wrapped into his words.

As the daughter of the Ford Family, I have always been careful with my words and actions.

I have to consider my parents, consider the family, and indeed, I wouldn't easily give everything for one person.

We all overlooked another possibility.

Whether Julian was drugged or poisoned and near death.

Vivian Sterling had been determined from the start.

To climb up this high branch of his.

:

"Enough!" Julian Grant shouted.

The surroundings fell silent.

Vivian Sterling trembled all over, and raised her head timidly, her charming eyes looking at me.

The meaning was clear.

She ruined my engagement, leaving me as a laughingstock in the circle, feeling very guilty.

If I didn't speak up, she would definitely not stop.

Great.

Then keep going.

I lightly raised my eyebrows, continuing to savor the red wine in my glass.

Vivian Sterling gritted her teeth, leaned forward and was about to kowtow again.

Julian Grant suddenly stepped forward, smack—

A hand knocked the glass from my hand.

"Iris Ford, don't go too far!"

"Iris Ford, is this the grace of the Ford Family?"

Julian Grant's face was cold, and the surrounding voices suddenly ceased.

He pulled up Vivian Sterling and gently touched her forehead with concern: "Iris Ford, apologize."

"Apologize now, and I'll pretend nothing happened."

I almost laughed.

Blame me for being too naive back then.

After catching Vivian Sterling's lies, I called Julian Grant the same day to tell him everything I had seen.

Asking him to watch out for Vivian Sterling.

The next day, Vivian Sterling was dead.

Really dead.

The media said she jumped to her death because she never had a title.

Julian Grant told me, "Lucky you warned me, or I would have been deceived by her."

After that incident.

For so many years, I thought he had forgotten Vivian Sterling.

After all, he always hated being deceived the most.

Until before his death.

It turns out the "deceived by her" he was referring to was me.

"Iris Ford, are you mute?"

"Vivian did nothing; I'm the one who wants to break off the engagement."

"If you apologize to her, I won't hold you accountable for the injury on her head."

I looked at Julian Grant and couldn't help but curl my lips.

It was my blindness.

Yet I always thought he was smart.

"Are the elders inside?"

I turned to ask the passing waiter.

I elegantly walked inside.

Julian Grant closely followed behind:

"What do you want to do?"

"Do you want to complain?"

I ignored him.

All the way to the doorway, Julian Grant was still close behind me:

"Iris, don't assume you can get engaged to me just because you're a daughter of the Ford Family."

"I've already promised to marry Vivian, marrying you is impossible."

I turned back to glance at Julian Grant.

As he said, he was born superior.

His life had been too smooth.

He didn't realize what a capable wife meant to him.

Probably my glance was too indifferent, Julian Grant was stunned for a moment.

He happened to look towards the doorway and said, "Iris, what's the matter with you two, inseparable?"

Full house of guests.

I bowed forward: "Grandpa Grant, today is my birthday, I'd like to make a wish to you as a junior."

"Julian Grant and Miss Sterling are deeply in love, I envy them."

"I don't want to ruin their good marriage."

"Grandpa Grant, I want to break the engagement with Julian Grant..."

The room suddenly went silent.