The crown prince of the Westbridge elite circle, Julian Fletcher, built his legacy through high-level finance.

But because one of his ancestors violated a powerful taboo, every male in the Fletcher Family was cursed never to live past the age of twenty-five.

The only way to break the curse? Marry a woman with a rare, extremely "cold-bodied" constitution.

In my previous life, my adopted sister, Vivian Moore, stole my wedding dress and tried to marry Julian in my place. I rushed to the ceremony to stop her.

As a result, Vivian became the laughingstock of Westbridge society—and in a fit of humiliation, she slashed her wrists.

My parents called me a disgrace and cut all ties with me. Julian blamed me too.

On the anniversary of Vivian’s death, he locked me in a room and set it on fire.

“What cold-bodied nonsense? You were just after the Fletcher Family’s money and status!”

“Did you know Vivian was pregnant? You killed her—and the child. Now you’ll pay for both their lives!”

When I opened my eyes again, I had returned to the day of that wedding.

This time, I wasn’t going to stop Vivian.

I was going to give her and Julian a wedding gift they’d never forget.

——

I walked into the grand hall with my handbag slung over my shoulder. The ceremony was nearly over—the bride and groom had just exchanged rings.

Guests near the aisle turned to look. Their eyes widened. Murmurs spread fast.

“Isn’t that Evelyn Moore? What is she doing here?”

“Wait, isn’t this Julian Fletcher and Evelyn’s wedding?”

“If she’s here… who’s the bride onstage?”

All eyes turned toward me. Especially the Fletcher Family, seated in the front row.

The old man of the Fletchers, Donald Fletcher, was the first to stand, his expression darkening instantly.

“What’s going on here? We arranged this marriage with Evelyn Moore. So who the hell is that on the stage?”

His wife, Maddie, marched up the steps and yanked off the lace veil from the bride’s head.

The room gasped.

“Isn’t that the adopted daughter of the Moore Family?”

“Seriously? Are they doing a sister-for-sister swap?”

“But Evelyn’s the only one with the rare cold constitution. Vivian marrying in does nothing…”

Vivian, still in the wedding dress, looked completely overwhelmed. Her eyes darted from face to face in panic.

Julian squeezed her hand, then turned to his parents and knelt before them.

“Mom. Dad. The woman I love is Vivian. I won’t marry anyone else.”

“I don’t believe in this stupid curse. Every man in our family has lived full lives.”

Donald slammed his cane to the floor.

“You fool! Your uncles survived because they married women with that rare condition!”

“You turn twenty-five tomorrow. Stop this madness before it’s too late!”

Maddie’s eyes brimmed with tears.

“Julian, we never lied to you. I have the same condition. That’s why I could marry your father.”

“You were born into the Fletcher Family. You don’t get to choose love.”

But Julian stayed kneeling, unshaken.

“If I have to marry someone I don’t love and live like a dead man, I’d rather die early.”

I stood still, watching him.

And I understood then—Julian had been reborn too.

In this life, we had both made our decision: we would never marry each other again.

Realizing he couldn’t sway his son, Mr. Fletcher turned his fury on me.

“Evelyn Moore, so you never intended to marry into our family? You let your adopted sister trick us? The Moore Family has guts.”

“If you don’t give a proper explanation, your family can forget about ever surviving in Westbridge.”

My mother suddenly stepped forward, pulling me by the arm with a forced smile. She pushed me in front of the Fletchers.

“Evelyn, I know you weren’t happy about the arranged marriage. That’s why you let your sister take your place. Why don’t you apologize to Mr. and Mrs. Fletcher before things get worse?”

Hearing my mother’s words, I sneered inwardly.

In my previous life, I had rushed up the stage in panic and grabbed Vivian by the arm. Back then, my mother didn’t even have time to pin the blame for the switched marriage on me.

Only now did I realize—Vivian had dared to go through with it because she had my adoptive parents’ full support.

No wonder they had insisted on holding a traditional Western-style ceremony, complete with a full-length veil that I was forbidden to lift at any time. They never intended for me to be the bride.

They loved Vivian more. Because I had only been back in the Moore family for two years. To them, Vivian was still their real daughter.

Blood ties meant more than twenty years of raising a stranger.

Vivian exchanged a glance with our mother, then quickly walked over to Julian Fletcher and knelt beside him.

"Mr. and Mrs. Fletcher," she said softly, "Julian and I are truly in love. My sister doesn’t care about him, but I’m willing to marry into your family in her place and be his wife—"

Before she could finish, Maddie snatched the microphone and snapped.

"In her place? You don’t carry the rare condition. Marrying you would only put Julian’s life in danger."

"And you? You’re just an adopted girl from a small-town background. With your lineage, you think you're worthy of being Julian’s wife?"

Vivian’s eyes reddened in fake hurt and Julian’s heart broke for her.

"Mom," he snapped, "this is the modern world. Why are you still stuck in superstitions?"

He helped Vivian up and shot a glare at me.

"Evelyn, that rare condition? It’s a scam. You must’ve bribed that old quack to sell your lie."

"Even if you’re trying to crash the wedding now, I still won’t marry you. The only woman I want is Vivian."

Vivian wiped away her tears and leaned into his arms.

"Sister, you said you wanted me to be with Julian. That’s why I agreed to marry in your place. Why are you making a scene now?"

They were the ones who plotted against me.

And now they were flipping the script—casting me as the villain.

I gave a small smile and raised my phone.

"Vivian. Mom. Dad. You messaged me yesterday saying the wedding was rescheduled for tonight. So why did the ceremony go ahead this morning?"

In my past life, I only found out by chance. A stranger had posted a photo of the wedding cars on social media. If I hadn’t seen it, I would’ve missed the entire ceremony.

Now, I had proof.

The photographer zoomed in on my phone screen and projected it on the large display behind the stage.

A murmur swept through the audience.

"I’ve heard the Moore family favors Vivian… looks like it’s true."

"So many women want to marry Julian Fletcher. And Renee is treating Vivian like she’s royalty. She’d probably give her anything."

"Poor Evelyn… she was sent away for years and now she’s come back to a family that doesn’t even want her."

My father, who had been silent, suddenly flushed with embarrassment.

"That’s nonsense! There’s no favoritism. Evelyn didn’t want to marry Julian, so she asked Vivian to take her place."

"It’s lucky Julian had feelings for Vivian. Otherwise, this would’ve been a real tragedy."

I scoffed.

"When did I ever say I didn’t want to marry him? Why do you think I came here today? I came because I do want to marry Julian Fletcher."

As soon as the words left my mouth, my father slapped me hard across the face.

"Evelyn! Stop making a fool of yourself! You ran off from your own wedding and now you fake a text message and cause this chaos—then suddenly say you want to marry him? Do you think the Fletcher-Moore marriage is a joke?"

"Julian and Vivian’s wedding is done. There’s no place for you here."

I wiped the blood from the corner of my mouth and calmly replied:

"I don’t mind planning another ceremony—so long as the person Julian Fletcher truly wants to marry is me."

The moment I said that, Maddie’s eyes lit up with hope.

"Evelyn, our family only recognizes you as Julian’s rightful wife. This wedding doesn’t count. We’ll hold a new one tonight and I promise—there will be no mistakes this time."

Vivian instantly panicked and threw a pleading look toward our mother.

Mom stepped forward quickly, stopping the Fletchers from leaving.

"Since everyone’s already here, I won’t hide the truth anymore," she said calmly. "We didn’t allow Evelyn to marry Julian because she’s… unclean."

"Evelyn has spent the last few years running around with questionable men. She’s contracted a disease that can’t be cured."

Immediately, the people around me backed away as if I were contagious.

I gave a cold smile, pulled a thick stack of photographs from my handbag and fanned them out in front of the crowd.

"Mom, are you talking about these men?"

In the photos, Vivian appeared in various intimate poses with several different men.

I had spent a fortune collecting this evidence.

In my last life, Vivian hadn’t taken her life because of me at all. It had been her own tangled private life that caught up with her. Someone had blackmailed her with these photos and in a panic, she slit her wrists.

Back then, I’d even paid off those men to preserve her reputation after her death.

What I didn’t know was that Vivian had written a suicide note beforehand—blaming me.

"If my sister hadn’t ruined our wedding, I would’ve been Julian’s wife long ago. We would’ve been a happy family. I hope I can meet you again in the next life, Julian. The baby and I will go first."

Because of that note, Julian blamed me—and tried to burn me alive.

This time, I wanted to see if he could live past twenty-five without someone like me.

Vivian lunged forward, snatching the photos from my hands in a frenzy.

"Don’t look at these! They’re fake—completely fabricated!"

She tore the pictures into pieces like a madwoman.

"Evelyn, you were the one with all those men! You just photoshopped my face over yours!"

I pulled out a flash drive and held it up.

"This contains the original, untouched photos. If you’re so confident they’re fake, let’s have a professional analyze them and see who’s lying."

Vivian’s face turned ghostly pale. She clung to Julian’s arm, tears falling quickly.

"Julian, she only brought these to humiliate me. Even if they’re fake… I-I don’t want people to see them."

Julian wrapped his arms around her protectively and looked at me with absolute disgust.

"Evelyn, do you really think destroying Vivian’s name will make me marry you? You couldn’t be more wrong. I would rather destroy my family name than be with you."

"Renee already told us you were the one with a messed-up past. Stop disgracing yourself."

I gave a cold laugh.

"Vivian, how about we go to the hospital together for a medical exam? Let’s see who’s actually sick."

Vivian’s breath caught and she tightened her grip.

"I..."

Before she could answer, Julian called for the family doctor.

"Fine. If you won’t quit, we’ll settle this right now. I’ll make sure everyone sees the truth."

Vivian’s face drained of all color.

I went first, following the female physician into a private room for an exam.

Ten minutes later, the doctor returned and gave Julian a silent shake of the head.

I stepped back into the room, meeting Vivian’s terrified eyes.

"Your turn, Vivian."

She hesitated, then blurted out:

"I can’t take the exam… because… because I’m already pregnant with Julian’s child."

I covered my mouth, pretending to be shocked.