In my previous life, I had also shed tears of joy when I was drawn only to turn around and see Victor Lane’s face pale as death. His eyes had fallen on his adopted sister, not sparing me even a glance.

Now that I had been reborn, I refused to be the pathetic fool I once was.

On stage, Victor suddenly flared up, holding Jessy tightly in his arms. He said coldly that they were “going on a date,” then left without looking back.

With the main characters gone, the remaining ninety-eight women scattered like startled birds.

I was about to return to pack my bags when I was dragged into a corner by Mrs. Lane.

Before I could react, a stinging slap landed on my cheek. “You wretched girl!” she hissed.

“Didn’t I tell you Victor would draw your number? Why did it end up being an empty lot?!” Another slap followed.

“You’re just like your useless father, shameless! I’m your biological mother, not some stranger! I told you to listen to me and you threw my words to the dogs!”

My face burned from the blows, but not as much as my heart did. “The day you married into the Lane Family alongside that cheating brat Julia... that was the day you stopped being my daughter.”

Mrs. Lane’s eyes turned vicious. “If anything happens to Julia because of you, I swear you will pay with your life!”

In my previous life, I had been nailed into a coffin and buried alive. Only then did I realize the results of the blind box had been rigged all along. Of course, Mrs. Lane had wanted Julia to marry into a wealthy family. But she also needed to help Julia hide a secret. And me? I had been the victim of that secret.

Now, I wanted nothing more than to sit back and watch them tear each other apart. Their secrets had nothing to do with me anymore.

I rubbed my swollen cheek, my gaze flat and emotionless. “I’ll be marrying James Burn. Consider it repayment for the money you spent keeping my father alive all these years.”

Her expression wavered.

James Burn was a notorious figure in this city’s social circles, that man rumored to lack any moral compass. His temper was unpredictable and whispers said he indulged both men and women alike.

He was infamous for his countless lovers, with some rumors claiming as many as eight hundred.

And now, he happened to be searching for a wife to bring home.

If I didn’t make a choice myself, Mrs. Lane would surely marry me off to a beggar or brute.

So, I chose James Burn first, because I already knew he was far from the simple playboy everyone thought he was.

Mrs. Lane smiled coldly. “Alright, good daughter. Then wait quietly to be married off.”

She turned and stormed off, twisting her waist with each step.

I let out a breath. My room was at the far west end of the Lane estate and I had to pass through the garden to get there. At that moment, the garden was in an uproar.

Jessy was covering her mouth, sneezing softly. “Victor, my brother,” she whined, “who planted all this lavender? Don’t they know that I’m allergic?”

Victor gently held his handkerchief to her nose, full of concern. Then he turned to the gardener and ordered, “Mow down all the lavender in this field. Get rid of this swing too and clear out any bird nests in the way!”

That patch of lavender had been picked off the roadside by my father, back when he was sober.

He used to say, “When I’m gone, the flowers are, too.”

I stared at the gardener’s shovel; my eyes wide. “Wait!” I shouted.

Everyone paused, glancing nervously at Victor. He frowned, his expression unreadable.

“You think this is your home?” he snapped.

“Do you plant whatever you want? Or are you just trying to trigger Jessy’s allergies?”

When I was five, my father had fallen critically ill. I had run away to the Lane Family, begging Mrs. Lane to help him. She had wanted to kick me out, until Mr. Lane intervened.

“She can stay,” he had said. “We can afford to raise a few charity cases.”

And so, I lived in the Lane Family’s shadow for twenty years. Victor had once taken me quiet, withdrawn me to play with the servants’ children. He had even said, “The Lane Family will always be your home.”

Right next to the lavender was a small wooden plaque, faded and old. Handwritten by Victor when he was a child, it read: “A place that belongs solely to Audrey Grey and me, a home forever.”

I dropped my eyes, ignoring the rotting wooden plaque and bowed deeply.

“Sir James, Miss Julia, I’m sorry.”

“It was my fault for not knowing the rules, but please, Sir, don’t destroy my flowers. I’ll clean everything up.”

James Burn seemed a bit taken aback by my bow. Suddenly, Julia began trembling.

“James, I feel dizzy...”

Her delicate, soft voice snapped James back to attention. With a wave of his hand, he barked, “What are you waiting for? Do it!”

The lush lavender was fed into the grass crusher, turning into purple juice.

“No!” I screamed, desperately lunging forward and clutching whatever I could.

James Burn, startled, let go of Julia Watson, who stumbled back and hit a tree trunk.

“Are you crazy?!”

His eyes were red with fury as he pulled me away until he noticed what I held in my palm: a crushed flower and a broken, rotting wooden plaque.

“You...” he started.

Tears burst from my eyes “you said you couldn’t sleep well... That’s why I planted the lavender. My dad gave it to me to help you sleep.”

The wooden plaque crumbled in my hand as I held it out to him.

“James, I don’t have a home anymore.”

He froze, reaching out as if to embrace me.

But then a scream pierced the air, it was Julia. A cluster of caterpillars had fallen from the birdhouse I’d made, right onto her.

James flinched and rushed forward, pulling Julia away. The caterpillars carried mild toxins, but James Burn used his bare hands to pick them out of her hair.

When he turned back to me, his eyes were full of disgust.

“Almost fooled me with your act.”

“Like throwing bugs, huh? Fine, all of you, stuff the bugs on the ground into her clothes!”

Several maids hurried to obey, scooping up the caterpillars. The gardener grabbed me, holding me tightly.

“I didn’t do it! How could it be me?!”

James snorted, saying nothing. Of course, he hadn’t believed me in a long time. Otherwise, in our past lives, he wouldn’t have accused me of rigging the lottery without even asking.

At first, I still clung to the memory of the Grey Family’s kindness and wanted to warn him that Julia was hiding a secret. But now, I regretted it. I wanted to see him lose it when the truth came out.

So, I stopped struggling and let the caterpillars crawl all over me. The spots they touched reddened, swelled and itched unbearably.

Julia finally calmed down and gently tugged on James’s sleeve.

“Will this be bad? I’m fine now...”

“Julia, you’re just too kind. That’s why people take advantage of you,” he said. “Come on, I’ll take you to the doctor.”

He carried Julia and walked away, leaving me behind.

My body gave out and I collapsed onto the ground. My fingers had dug deep into the soil from trying to endure the pain, mud and blood coating my skin.

Because of James Burn, no one came to help me. I endured the nausea and pain, finally throwing off the caterpillars and staggering to the family doctor.

Inside, I saw James behind a curtain, applying medicine to Julia. Though it was just a simple treatment, Julia gasped dramatically.

By the time he pulled the curtain back, Julia was limp in his arms and his fingers were still wet with medicine.

James glanced at my red, swollen, festering neck and tossed a bottle of potion at me. I was a second too slow, the glass shattered on the floor, spilling the liquid everywhere.

“No need to see a doctor. You’re only good for filth.”

In the Burn Family and in the whole capital, James was like the sky itself. If he said I couldn’t see the doctor, no doctor would even look at me.

I knelt on the floor, half-covered in dirt, applying the potion with my mud-stained hands. When I finally looked up, I saw James tenderly disinfecting Julia’s fingers as if she were made of porcelain.

“James, I’m leaving the Grey Family.” Nine-year-old James once promised to give me a home.

But now that home was gone and it was time for me to say goodbye.

James Burn wiped Julia Watson’s hand clean and kissed her fingertips lightly. His expression barely changed.

“Say that again,” he said flatly.

I took a deep breath. “I said, you and Miss Julia are getting married and I’m nothing but an outsider. Just like the other ninety-eight candidates. I should leave.”

“James, this isn’t a request. It’s a notice.”

“Notice?!” His tone shifted without him even realizing it. “Jacqueline Smith,” he sneered, “that vegetable father of yours, is he giving up treatment?”

His voice had a threatening edge that made me freeze. Memories from my past life made me tremble. He had once embraced me, only to push me into a coffin with those same cold hands.

It was a pity. No matter how possessive James Burn once was, he never imagined I’d soon marry someone else.

Before, when I wanted him to soften, I threatened to leave the Grey Family. But now, I didn’t need his softness anymore. I really needed to go.

After a long silence, James snorted.

“If you’re so scared, then stay put. Julia needs a personal maid, especially on our wedding night. You can warm the bed for us.”

Julia blushed, lightly tapping his chest with her small pink fist.

“James, shame on you.”

James caught her delicate white hand, wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her into a hug.

“What are you shy about? Come, I’ll take you out to play.”

She kicked me with her small high heel as she walked past, sending me crashing into shards of glass.

I picked up the medical tweezers and calmly removed the broken pieces from my leg. Then I applied antiseptic as if it were nothing.

I returned to the room I’d lived in for twenty years. I tried to pack like some fictional heroine from a novel I’d once read. But quickly realized, none of it belonged to me.

James used to take pictures with me. But at some point, the person in the photos was always a ten-year-old girl. Julia had been abroad for ten years and he had spent those years longing for her.

The dark wedding chamber was plastered wall-to-wall with photos of Julia, secretly taken by a private investigator. All obsessively.

I stuffed my documents into my pocket and sat dazed at the edge of the bed.

My phone vibrated, a message from the hospital caretaker.

“Miss Audrey, your father just regained some consciousness. He’s calling your name!”

I limped to the hospital. There, I heard my father weakly call my name in a barely audible whisper.

That hadn’t happened in my previous life.

Back then, the power went out and the ventilator shut off. He died within a minute.

But now, he spoke my name. For someone in a vegetative state, this was a miracle. Maybe, just maybe, I would live to see him open his eyes.

The caretaker left us alone, giving me a warm smile on her way out. I sat beside the bed, holding his hand tightly.

“I’m leaving the Grey Family. Those people… they’ll have nothing to do with me anymore.”

“I’m sorry. I couldn’t keep the lavender you gave me.”

“Dad, can you get up and tell me… where did you find those seeds?”

I bowed my head and let the tears fall freely.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk… I’ve been looking everywhere for you. And here you are, crying over a dying man.”

Julia stood at the doorway, arms crossed, swaying her hips with a smirk. Her eyes narrowed as she sauntered in.

I wiped away my tears. “What are you doing here?”

Julia lifted her foot and kicked the hospital bed. The monitors beeped in protest as the connected machines jolted.

She tilted her chin arrogantly. “I heard Mommy say you’re planning to marry that pervert?”

I didn’t respond. I just stared at her, wary.

“It shouldn’t be my business if you want to marry a beggar,” she sneered. “But I heard you know my secret?”