Fake

"Mr. Shaw, I know you hate me, but my parents have nothing to do with this! My dad almost died of a heart attack because you asked your bodyguard to kick them out! Please, just let us go. Even if I have to let Rachel marry you, I'll do it…"

His voice was cracking at the end. I had no idea what he was saying at first, but Rachel was already holding his arm. She was giving me a look that said she hated my guts. "Zacharias has nothing to do with this! Why are you doing this to him?"

Well, this was odd. I had no idea why she was accusing me. "I didn't—"

"You've been the same since you were a kid. You think you can do anything and get away with it," Rachel snapped.

Then, someone gave her a gift box, trying to be unctuous. "Ms. Osborne, here's a gift for your engagem—"

Rachel snatched the gift box and hurled it at me right in front of the public. "Apologize to Zacharias right now, or else I'm not going to marry you. I know your family's stronger than mine, but I still won't marry a snake!"

The box had a beautiful cover, but the sharp edges cut my chin open. The people around us gasped, but none came forward. I touched my chin, and a sliver of red stained my palm.

This woman was not the one I knew. Now, she looked more like the one I saw in my past life. The one who yelled at me because of Zacharias. My heart was growing colder for her. "I'm not apologizing for something I didn't do."

"You're going to regret this." Rachel held Zacharias and left.

My parents were worried sick about my wound. They took me back home and called the family physician to check on me. Though they were concerned, I was glad. I was glad God gave me a second chance. He gave me a chance to correct my mistakes.

My parents were still alive, and the family's riches had not fallen into the wrong hands. This time around, I would stay away from Rachel and Zacharias like they were the plague.

The Olivieras sent the engagement gifts to us a few days later, and they filled up the villa. I saw a pocket watch among them. They were the Oliviera family's heirloom. It was proof that they took this marriage seriously.

My heart went out for myself. In my previous life, when the Osbornes found out I loved Rachel deeply, they told everyone they hated me. They only agreed to marry Rachel to me because I would not give up.

Thanks to that, we had no engagement party, the Osbornes gave us no wedding gifts, and the wedding was little more than a family dinner.

Her parents mocked me the whole dinner, and Rachel had nothing but contempt for me. Yet the Olivieras gave this event so much importance. Once again, I thanked God for giving me another chance at life.

In the end, I decided to pick the engagement present for Seraphina myself.

It was an old shop. One that had been open for a century. I was talking about the necklace's design with the maker when Rachel and Zacharias came in hand in hand.

The sight of me filled her face with disdain. "What are you doing here?"

The old maker explained, "Mr. Shaw is designing the fiancée's engagement gown himself."

She scoffed at the designs on the table and raised her head higher. "I told you, I never wanted to marry you. That won't change, no matter how much you do. And I hate acronym engravings on necklaces. It's so tacky."

I looked at the letter 'O' drawn on the draft. Ah, she must've mistaken the 'O' for Osborne. "The necklace is for…"

"Oh, this suit is nice, Rachel." Zacharias' eyes lit up and passed me by. He then picked up the suit I hung.

The look in Rachel's eyes turned softer. "We can get the maker to make the same one for you."

"But I want to wear it tonight to the concert. With you."

Zacharias was so gentle with her, and Rachel smiled. She imperiously told the maker, "I'll need you to change up this suit to fit Zacharias better. We have a concert to attend, so make it snappy."

Delusional

I frowned. "That's my engagement suit, Rachel."

She shrugged it off. "I'm busy. I don't have time for an engagement party with your family. And suits look better on Zacharias, not you."

Zacharias had his back turned to her, and the arrogance on his face was in full view for me. However, the words that came out of his mouth were filled with guilt. "If he won't let me have it, then it's okay. The suit looks expensive. A nobody like me can't…"

"You're not a nobody. You're the man I love. Sieghart? He only looks successful, but that's only because he relies on his parents. He's not nobler than you are."

Rachel did not even hold back. She handed the suit to the maker. The maker did not do her bidding. He was waiting for my orders.

Since his grandfather's time, my family had been their biggest client. However, his silence stoked Rachel's fury. "You…"

I interrupted, "If he likes it so much, I can give it to him."

That eased Rachel's expression. "Since you're being smart, I can have dinner with you once a month after we're married."

My God. That arrogant look of hers. She thought she was pitying me and giving me a shred of her love?

Ah, now I got it. No wonder she started to change the moment she found out my family was at the top of the line, while hers didn't make it to the top ten. I used to admire her fearless attitude. I used to admire her for never valuing someone for the money they had.

But since she found out my family outclassed her, and vastly so, she changed. She kept bringing up my family in every conversation. She kept telling me I only had what I had thanks to my parents.

Rachel kept nagging me and looking down on me. Just because I loved her, she did not hold back and hit me where it hurt the most.

At the end of the day, it was just her projecting her insecurity on me. And I laughed. "And what makes you think I'm marrying you, Rachel?"

Rachel sneered contemptuously. She looked like she'd heard the biggest joke ever cracked.

"You have followed me around since we were kids and wouldn't stop telling me how much you loved me. Every year, your birthday wish was to marry me when you turned twenty. Now you're finally twenty years old. There's no way you're giving up that wish to marry someone else."

Zacharias put his arm around her. He mocked, "Maybe. I mean, his family's at the top. The ladies around the nation are dying to marry him."

"And even then, he'll only take me as his wife."

Then, both of them left. Before they did, Rachel told the maker, "Send the suit to my place. And don't engrave any letters on that tacky necklace."

The maker saw them off, and he sighed. "Mr. Shaw, what will you do?"

"If she wants it, she can have it. Perfect reason for me to design a whole new one." I sat back down and worked on the draft. "You can ignore her suggestions about the suit. She's not my fiancée. She has no power here."

My friend was throwing a birthday party that night. We were already halfway through, and only then did Zacharias make his grand entrance. There were bodyguards following him.

One of them placed a red plastic bag beside my foot.

"You need the suit, don't you, Mr. Shaw? I was going to return it after the concert, but Rachel wanted to do it with me in the car. Well, you're a broad-minded man. You won't mind, will you?"

I stared at the suit. It cost 450 grand, but now it was crumpled up like some washcloth. There was some sort of white liquid on the fabric, and the sight of it hurt my eyes.

Some of the guests stood up for me. Some laughed at me.

"He's still so calm even when the other guy's challenging him openly. Guess he really loves Rachel."

"So what? She only loves Zacharias."

"Man, I can't believe the Shaws' only son is simping so hard. Guess he'll give his family's riches to the Osbornes."

I looked away. The sight disgusted me, and I had someone toss it out. "Glad you liked it, Mr. Newman."

My detached attitude obviously wasn't what he wanted. His bragging did not hit anything. The guy clenched his fists and went to the last table, where his seat was.

Abducted

Soon, Zacharias' social media account made it to top trending. The guy had millions of followers. He put up a photo of himself holding hands with Rachel. They were sharing a passionate kiss. The caption read, "The perfect day. I'm in my snug suit, holding my lover's hand, and attending a concert I love."

Then, tons of content creators found out about the confession post I uploaded. They compared it to Zacharias' post and grilled me openly.

Rachel liked the most trending comparison video. That excited the Internet. They made a meme out of me and called me a simp.

My face went dark. I deleted my account and told PR to do something about this. Less than ten minutes later, all the searches were deleted from the Internet.

It was a day before the engagement. I was going to work that morning, but the Osbornes' bodyguards took me to their villa against my will.

I was met with Zacharias looking out of it the moment I went inside. Rachel was trying to cheer him up gently, but when she saw me, her face fell.

"You're unbelievable, Sieghart! All Zacharias did was post something, but you told your men to ban all his socials! He's a content creator! You're destroying him!"

I was confused. "All I did was ask them to delete everything that had ties to me. I did not tell them to do anything else."

"Bullshit! No one else could've done that! You're jealous of Zacharias!" Rachel hissed.

"It wasn't me—"

Someone cut me off. A voice of disdain echoed from the second floor. "You're going against your wife even before you're married? This is how your family brought you up?"

Rachel's mother took her seat haughtily. She looked at me like I was beneath her. Rachel's father, a man who was nothing short of a sycophant a while ago, was putting one leg over the other.

"Sieghart, we don't recognize a spoiled rich boy like you, but since you insist on marrying my daughter, then we have to respect that. On some conditions. Your wedding gift must amount to half of your family's assets or more."

I sneered and was about to say no, but the bodyguard punched my knees. I gasped and fell to the ground face-first.

Rachel's mother asked her maid to bring us something hot. They came back with the thing she wanted. "You're going to be a part of the family, anyway. Serving me is your job, so pass me that cup of coffee."

The moment I touched the cup, I pulled my hand back, and it fell to the ground, smashing into pieces.

Rachel roared, "You can't even respect your elders? What are you, uneducated?"

I rubbed my reddened fingertips and shook my head. "I will never marry you, and they will never become my elders."

I tried to leave, but the bodyguards clamped down on my arms. I thrashed and struggled. "What are you doing? I'm the Shaws' heir! How dare you manhandle me!"

Furious, Rachel's mother strode ahead and slapped me across my face. Ah, I remembered this slap. It was one of the dozens she gave me in my past life. That made me freeze.

"The engagement is tomorrow, and yet you act so insolent! Rachel, this is the man you're marrying? He disrespects his elders and acts no better than a baboon!"

Rachel refused to look at me. "Hey, he insisted on marrying me. I'd rather marry Zacharias instead."

Zacharias sighed. "I'd love to marry you, Rachel. It's my dream. But my family is not even influential. We cannot cross the Shaws, or else…" Then, he turned to me. "I'm sorry, Mr. Shaw. Please, spare me. I worked hard to get my fans."

The guy started crying, and that made Rachel feel for him more. She approached me and looked at me like I was a stain on her house.