On the night before our engagement ceremony, Jeremiah Clarke's childhood sweetheart, Kylie Yates, used the opportunity to set an explosion in my marital home while I was out on a gathering with my best friends.

She insisted on having a candlelight dinner at home. Before she left, she didn't turn off the gas, nor did she blow out the candles.

A short while later, the concentration of gas in the atmosphere exceeded the safety limits. The moment it made contact with naked flames, the entire house went up in a ball of flames and hot air. That was how my parents and my younger sister, Aurelia Shaw, died in their sleep.

I rushed to the scene like a madwoman. The moment I did, I saw three charred bodies getting carted out of the wreckage.

Heartbroken, I bolted over to hug Aurelia's skinny and frail corpse. Finally, I broke down and wailed at the top of my heart.

But Jeremiah, on the other hand, just hugged Kylie gently.

"Don't be scared, Kylie. This is just an accident. I'll protect you."

With an enraged shriek, I rushed over to attack Kylie. At that moment, I wanted nothing more than to rip her apart.

But Jeremiah shoved me away, causing me to fall to the ground.

"That's enough, Olivia Shaw! This is just an accident! It has nothing to do with Kylie!"

Later on, Jeremiah had the audacity to destroy all the clues related to this incident just so he could protect Kylie.

Overwhelmed by despair, I used the same method to take down Jeremiah and Kylie with me to hell.

When I open my eyes again, I've actually returned to the day before my engagement!

This time, I quickly arrange for my parents and Aurelia to stay in a hotel instead.

Unexpectedly, an explosion still occurs at night. Three charred bodies are still found at the explosion site.

This leaves me feeling very confused. Who are they? What are they doing in my home?

After making sure Mom, Dad, and Aurelia were settled somewhere safe, I called Jeremiah Clarke and told him to cancel tomorrow's engagement party. I also told him and Kylie Yates to get out of my house.

To be safe, I even asked the neighbors closest to me to stay somewhere else for the night.

I thought that would be enough to prevent the accident.

I never expected to receive a call in the middle of the night telling me the new house had exploded.

"Damn it! My place got hit, too. What are we supposed to do now?"

"Good thing we went out tonight. At least nobody got hurt. Wait… Isn't that Olivia's boyfriend? Who's the woman in his arms?"

"What kind of man does that? He's getting engaged to Olivia tomorrow, and he's still holding another woman."

Smoke billowed into the air as I pushed through the crowd of neighbors. Before I could fully steady myself, I saw workers in protective suits carrying out three charred bodies.

I felt a chill creeping into my chest.

I had already taken my family out of the house, so why was everything unfolding the same way it had in my previous life?

Besides, my family was resting at the hotel. If that was the case, then who were the three people being carried out?

Jeremiah walked toward me, and his eyes held no flickering respect for the life just lost. All I saw was irritation directed at me.

"Olivia Shaw, what took you so long? I told you not to buy this place, but you wouldn't listen. Now, look what happened."

As he spoke, he wrapped an arm around Kylie and comforted her, "It's not your fault, Kylie. If anyone's to blame, it's Olivia."

After saying that, he shoved me.

"Are you even listening? You insisted on choosing this place. The airflow's terrible here. If the ventilation had been better, would it have blown up so easily?"

Looking at his shameless face, I stepped forward and slapped him.

"Didn't I tell you the engagement is off? Why were you having a candlelight dinner with Kylie in my house? Who were the three people sleeping there? When you left, why didn't you take them with you?"

A flicker of anxiety crossed his face before he quickly calmed down.

"The engagement's already been announced to family and friends. Do you think you can just cancel it because you feel like it? Your family insisted on coming tonight. Maybe they got up to make a late-night snack and caused the explosion themselves.

"You should be thanking Kylie and me for noticing in time. Otherwise, the neighbors might've died because of you."

Kylie, who had just been acting distressed and worried, instantly straightened up.

"Exactly. If you hadn't invited your parents over, would they have died in an accident? And your neighbors' losses should be on you."

I was shaking so hard my teeth nearly chattered.

In my previous life, things had unfolded the same way. My family had died because of Kylie's negligence. I had rushed at her, demanding she pay with her life, only for Jeremiah to claim I was mentally unstable and have me locked in a psychiatric hospital.

He didn't feel a shred of guilt for the dead. The only person he ever cared about was his childhood sweetheart, Kylie.

Even when I escaped from the psychiatric hospital and tried to get revenge, he still defended her.

"Olivia, didn't you always complain that your parents were too controlling? Kylie's gotten rid of them for you. If anything, you should be thanking her."

My fists clenched so tightly that my knuckles turned white.

"I don't have time to listen to your excuses. Three people are dead. I'm calling the police."

They still thought the victims were my family.

If I could uncover how these three had died, then I would also uncover the truth behind my family's deaths in my previous life. But before anything else, I had to confirm who the victims were.

I had just taken out my phone when Jeremiah snatched it from my hand and smashed it against the wall. A sharp crack echoed through the air as the phone shattered into pieces.

"Is this mess not big enough already? If money can solve it, why call the police? Your family's the one that died. I'll pay for a proper funeral, and I'll cover the neighbors' compensation, too. Think of it as cleaning up after you."

I stared at him.

When his dog died, he had mourned for days. Now, he was talking about three human lives as if they were nothing.

"Jeremiah, three people lost their lives today. Do you think money can make that go away?"

Faced with my interrogation, he looked uneasy for a moment.

"N-No, that's not what I meant."

Kylie tugged at him. "He's already offering to cover the compensation for you. What else do you expect him to do?"

When I didn't answer, her eyes instantly reddened. "Do you really want me to go to prison?"

The moment those words left her mouth, the guilt on Jeremiah's face vanished, his expression hardening.

"Olivia, how can you be so vicious? Even if Kylie goes to jail, your family won't come back. The yard's security cameras were broken anyway. Just say you forgot to turn off the gas before leaving. Even if you're sentenced, I'll pay to get you out early. We can still get married afterward."

It was always like this.

No matter what happened, one word from Kylie and he was ready to throw me under the bus.

Last year, we had planned a camping trip. She sent him a message saying her coworkers were isolating her, and he left me stranded in the wilderness so he could take her shopping to cheer her up.

And one time, he promised to pick me up at the airport, but Kylie sprained her ankle, so he stayed overnight at the hospital with her while I walked three hours into the city because I couldn't get a ride.

The only reason I kept forgiving him was that during our senior year field trip, he had saved my life.

A falling tree trunk would've crushed me if he hadn't pushed me out of the way, breaking his leg in the process. That injury still hadn't fully healed.

Everything I had endured in these two lifetimes, I would consider repayment for that debt. From now on, we were even.

"Since you're not getting engaged tomorrow, I'll head home with Jeremiah," Kylie said sweetly, clinging to him and acting as if the charred bodies nearby had nothing to do with her.

Overwhelmed with grief and fury, I rushed forward and grabbed her arm, dragging her to the bodies.

"When gas levels spike, alarms go off. How could they not have heard it? Did you tamper with something so they'd die in there?"

I forced her down in front of the bodies and pressed her head toward the ground.

Someone had lost their life because of her actions. How could she walk away unscathed?

Kylie struggled and burst into tears.

"If you hadn't insisted on marrying Jeremiah, none of this would've happened! Why are you blaming me? They're dead, and they'd probably resent having a daughter like you!"

Seeing her in this state, Jeremiah finally lost his patience. He shoved me away and pulled her into his arms.

"Olivia, are you done? I actually felt sorry for you losing your family, but now I think you brought this on yourself. They're already dead. What's the point of making a scene? Do you have to see Kylie in pain before you're satisfied?"

That shove sent me crashing onto the concrete. My wrist twisted painfully, and the pain rendered me speechless.

Jeremiah stood there, panting, as he continued to berate me, "Your parents never wanted you to marry me. Now that they're gone, no one's making things difficult for me anymore. You keep saying you love me. Do you really want to see me kept under your dad's thumb for the rest of my life?

"And your sister spent money as it grew on trees. Now that she's gone, that's one less financial burden for you."

I sat there clutching my injured wrist, while my heart felt as though it were splintering.

This was the man I once loved, the one who promised to protect me for the rest of my life, yet he had secretly wished for my family to die.

I forced myself to stand.

"So that was your plan all along."

Seeing the resolve on my face, Jeremiah turned away and avoided my gaze.

"Jeremiah, I was wrong about you. I accept all the suffering I endured, but I won't marry you. It was a serious accident. Even if you try to stop me from investigating, do you think no one else will look into it?"

He panicked and opened his mouth to speak, but a voice cut him off, "Arland Police Department. Where are the bodies?"

Kylie's face drained of color, and she instinctively hid behind Jeremiah, not daring to say a word.

The scene had finally settled down, and the neighbors had gone back to their homes.

I quickly strode toward the officers and explained everything.

"Officer, I'm the homeowner. Kylie was cooking in my house and didn't turn off the gas, which led to the explosion. I also suspect the victims were drugged before going to bed. Otherwise, there's no way they wouldn't have heard the gas alarm."

In my previous life, sleeping pills had been found in Mom's stomach. If history were repeating itself, then it should be the same this time.

The problem was that I still didn't know who the victims were, so no family member could formally request an autopsy.

"Olivia, enough with the slander," Jeremiah snapped. "Your house exploded. If someone drugged them, it must've been you!"

I had already expected him to pin the blame on me, but hearing it still made me tremble with anger.

"Jeremiah, you're a disgrace. I can't believe I ever liked you."

He tried to speak again, but I didn't give him the chance. Instead, I lowered my voice and said to the officer, "I don't even know who these people are or why they were in my house. Please investigate as soon as possible."

The officer's expression grew serious. He clearly understood this was no ordinary accident.

"Don't worry. We'll get to the bottom of this and seek justice for the victims."

Everyone who had witnessed anything was taken to the police station to give their statements.

By the time it was over, it was already dawn.

While no one was paying attention, I secretly sent my best friend, Luciana Hawthorne, a message.

"Luciana, check the security cameras at my house. Even if the explosion damaged the hardware, the footage should've been uploaded to the cloud. No matter how much it costs, recover everything."

After that, the police asked us to identify the bodies.

I forced myself to step forward despite the smell. One by one, I looked at the unrecognizable faces, and a wave of sorrow washed over me.

In my previous life, my family had lain the same way, on cold metal slabs.

Just as I noticed that one of the thinner bodies still had a watch on its wrist, Jeremiah walked in with Kylie wrapped in his arms.

The two of them looked at me as though I were a stranger.

Kylie spoke first.

"I never realized you were this heartless. Your whole family's dead, and you're still as cool as a cucumber. But with Jeremiah here, you're definitely going down this time."

A bad feeling rose in my chest.

After all, in my previous life, they had destroyed every piece of evidence and even had me locked away in a psychiatric hospital.

I stepped forward and slapped her across the face. "You killed someone. Aren't you afraid you'll pay for it someday?"

I tried to strike her again, but Jeremiah pulled her behind him and, without hesitation, slapped me back.

"You vicious bitch! Will you only be satisfied if you drag Kylie down with you? If anyone's paying for this, it's you!"

I cupped my cheek, my heart clenching.

In his mind, even if Kylie had killed my entire family, I had no right to seek revenge because she was his precious childhood sweetheart.

So, that was it.

All of Kylie's provocations had never been random. They had been part of his way of keeping me in line.

My chest felt heavy and stuffed, making it hard to breathe.

"You're awfully protective of Kylie. Do you even realize that these victims might be—"

"Enough!" Jeremiah cut me off, his gaze icy as he glanced at me. "Go say goodbye to your family. Don't say I didn't give you the chance."

With that, he wrapped his arm around Kylie and left.

It wasn't until I left the morgue that I finally understood why Kylie had looked so smug earlier.