On the day of my wedding to Elliot Wendell, a fake heiress committed suicide.

In the second year of our marriage, we ended up enemies.

He hated me, the true heiress, for returning and causing Celeste Dent’s death.

I hated him for loving the woman who had taken my place as an heiress for twenty years.

During the ten years of our marriage, we fought each other with vicious words and wished for the other to die.

Then, there was an earthquake, and he shielded me beneath him. He protected me with his back.

The building collapsed, and he ended up a mangled and bloody corpse.

As he lay dying, he whispered into my ear, “If I had known that she would die, I would’ve never taken you home.”

“If we ever meet again, it would be better if I were your only family.”

In the end, I still died in the secondary quakes.

When I opened my eyes again, I found that I had gone back in time. It was the day when he brought me to the Dent family to regain my rightful place among them.

Elliot suddenly changed his mind and said, “Samantha, I was wrong. You’re not the daughter the Dent family lost twenty years ago.”

Elliot Wendell blocked my path outside the door of Dent Manor. His expression was torn but determined.

I remained silent as the image of reinforced concrete collapsing flashed in my mind. I could see his bloody and mangled spine, and I could almost hear the words he whispered into my ears.

“If I had known that she would die, I would’ve never taken you home.”

That seemed to be his choice.

If he had known how things would turn out, he would have chosen to abandon me from the start.

However, it did not matter.

In the previous timeline, my ten-year marriage to him had been like a nightmare. He hated me, and I resented him. We tormented each other every day and night. It was only in death that we both found release.

With this second chance, I could cut things off before they could sour. Knowing this, I suddenly felt a wave of relief.

I looked at Elliot and calmly nodded. “Alright, then.”

Surprise flashed across his eyes, and the words he had prepared died in his throat.

“What did you say?” he asked almost reflexively.

“I said alright,” I repeated. “Since it’s all a mistake, let’s just forget it. Thank you for bringing me over. I need to get back to campus.”

After that, I turned to leave.

However, he grabbed my wrist and stopped me. “Samantha Kane.”

There was a thread of fear in his voice as he called out to me in a low voice.

“What’s with this attitude? Haven’t you been looking for your family all this time? You’re just going to give up so easily after I said they’re not your family?”

I turned back to look at him and found the whole situation a bit funny.

Had Elliot not spent so much time and effort to spin this tale so that I would give up? So, why was he upset when I was following the script?

“What should I be doing, then?” I asked him. “Are you saying that you lied to me, Elliot? Am I really the Dent family’s daughter?”

After he heard this, the panic in his eyes became clearer. He subconsciously tightened his grip on my wrist.

Then, he looked down to obscure his expression from me.

“We’re done here. Don’t bring this up anymore, and don’t come near the Dent family.”

“Got it.”

I wrestled out of his grasp and massaged my wrist. It had gone red from his vicelike grip.

“I won’t bring it up, and I won’t come close to this place. Are you happy now, Elliot?”

Elliot glanced at my empty hand as if he had lost something important. For a moment, it seemed like he did not know what to do.

He had no idea that I had gone back in time.

In this new timeline, I would not take the same path and become the Dent family’s daughter. Additionally, I would not marry him again.

If he wanted to protect his first love and live his life with her, I would let them be.

“I’m leaving.”

I walked to the bus stop without sparing him another glance.

Behind me, Elliot’s voice rang out, and he sounded a little annoyed.

“Hold it right there! I’ll send you back.”

Elliot did not take me back to my accommodations on campus, though. Instead, he sent me to a high-class apartment building downtown.

As I watched the cityscape fly past me out the window, I suddenly understood something.

In the previous timeline, this had been our home after we got married.

This place held our best memories but also bore witness to how our relationship as a couple crumbled. In the end, there was nothing left but hatred between us.

After the car came to a stop, Elliot undid his seat belt and angled his head toward me.

I regarded his stony expression in the car’s dim interior. However, he no longer spoke as stiffly as he had when we were at the entrance to Dent Manor.

“Get out of the car. We need to talk.”

I followed Elliot into the apartment.

The interior was decorated in a familiar and simple style with cool tones. It was similar to Elliot’s personality, noble but distant.

Only this time, I was not moved in the slightest.

Elliot took out a bottle of water from the fridge and tossed it to me. Then, he walked up to the floor-to-ceiling windows and lit a cigarette.

The smoke curled around him like a layer of fog that separated us.

“Samantha, I know you’re not happy about this,” he started. His voice was low through the smoke.

“It’s my fault for not finding out more about your background. But Celeste is in poor health right now. She… can’t handle any agitation.”

Celeste Dent again.

I ducked my head and twisted the cap of the bottle open.

Quietly taking a sip of water, the cool liquid flowed down my throat.

However, it did nothing to wash away the bitterness I felt.

Elliot had said the same thing in the previous timeline.

He mentioned that Celeste had always been weak and prone to depression. He told me to be nice to her after the Dent family took me back in.

I went along with it.

I allowed Elliot to give Celeste all his favor and affection. Whenever Celeste threw a tantrum or started a fight with me, I was always the one who gave in. I would choose to stay quiet and let her have her way.

Yet, she ruined my marriage for ten years with a suicide attempt.

At my silence, Elliot probably assumed that I was sullen because I could not go to the Dent family and prove my relation to them. Feeling resigned, he stubbed out his cigarette.

Elliot turned around and bent down before me. Looking up, he tried to sweet-talk me with those puppy-dog eyes.

“Don’t be mad at me, okay?”

His voice was gentle as his hands covered mine. I was still holding the water bottle at this point.

“I admit I was wrong for not confirming everything before going over. I gave you false hope. Just tell me what I can do to make it up to you. As long as it’s within my means, I’ll do it.”

Elliot paused before his voice turned even more earnest. “But let’s forget about the Dent family for now, alright?”

He had literally and metaphorically lowered himself during this conversation. The love in his eyes was clear.

I could tell he was terrified that I was mad and that I would leave him.

However, the price for his love was the truth of my birth.

As I raised my chin and met his gaze, I suddenly felt like laughing.

“I don’t want anything.”

I calmly retracted my hands, which made his eyes go dull for a split second.

“Don’t worry. Even if the Dent family offers me untold riches, I won’t give them a second glance. You don’t need to apologize either. You don’t owe me anything. Let’s just call it quits.”

Elliot frowned deeply before abruptly standing up with a frosty expression.

“Call it quits? Are you throwing a tantrum, Samantha? Are you pulling this nonsense with me because I didn’t let you rejoin the Dent family?”

He stalked closer to me and caged me in with both hands on the couch.

“Yes, I’m not allowing you to rejoin the Dent family. But I didn’t say anything about breaking up! We can keep things as they’ve been between us. I’ll treat you even better than I did before!”

I looked at him and just felt extremely tired.

He thought that things could go back to normal as long as he stripped the identity of “Dent family heiress” from me, that we could go back to being peacefully in love.

Unbeknownst to him, tragedy did not start from my return to the Dent family.

“Elliot,” I said as I pushed him away and stood up to move away, “I’m tired. I want to go back to campus.”

After that, I walked straight to the door without sparing him another glance.

This time, he did not stop me.

Over the next few days, I threw myself into preparing for a trip abroad.

Soon, I received an offer from a university overseas. I would be leaving next month.

It was the day before I was to leave, and I had just left the library. Right then, two bodyguards clad in black blocked my way.

“Ms. Kane, Mr. Wendell has requested your presence.”

I was forced into a car, which sped to our destination. It stopped at a skyscraper that overlooked the entire city, and I was led right to the top floor.

“Mr. Wendell is busy at the moment. Please wait here.”

The bodyguards brought me to a room before leaving me there and locking the door behind them.

The view from the room was fantastic, and one wall was completely made of glass.

I could see the city’s premier top-floor garden restaurant outside.

At this time, the whole place was brightly lit. Voices filled the place, as there was a huge birthday bash going on.

The star of the event was Celeste.

She was wearing a luxurious gown and was the center of attention.

Elliot was standing next to her and putting a tiara on her head while gazing at her tenderly.

I watched as he took Celeste’s hand and led her in the first dance of the night.

They spun around together and stood closely as they spoke in low voices to each other. Their intimate actions made them out to be the perfect couple.

The guests around them clapped, and their faces made it clear that they wished the couple well.

I suddenly felt like laughing. I wanted to mock myself from the previous timeline, who was so stubborn and unyielding.

I had forfeited my life for a man who did not love me. Was it worth it?

Unwilling to bear witness to this scene any longer, I closed my eyes.

Right then, I could see Elliot’s bloody and unrecognizable face in my mind again. In that earthquake in the previous timeline, he had protected me and strained his back in the process.

He hated me, but he still saved me.

What we had between us was like a gigantic web, which trapped me and rendered me immobile.

After goodness knew how long, the party seemed to come to an end.

Suddenly, the door behind me opened.

I turned around and saw Celeste standing there.

She wore a pleased smile on her face as she stepped toward me.

“Samantha Kane.” She stood before me and looked at me condescendingly.

“How does it feel to watch the person you love throwing me such a huge birthday bash?”

In an instant, I understood what was going on.

Elliot had not sent those bodyguards. It had been Celeste.

She wanted me to give up on Elliot completely.

However, there was no need for her to do such a thing. I had stopped having any feelings for him.

So, I only gave her a cold look.

My silence enraged her, and the smile on her face twisted.

“Do you think you can act all high and mighty by not saying anything? Let me tell you something, Samantha. You won’t ever get what doesn’t belong to you!”

Celeste moved closer to me and whispered, “Did you know? If you hadn’t shown up, I would’ve gotten engaged to Elliot ages ago! You ruined everything!”

“Are you done?” I said blandly. “If you’re done, please let me leave.”

Celeste was so infuriated by my response that her body trembled all over.

She suddenly pulled out a knife from her bag. It glinted under the light in the room.

At that moment, my heart clenched with fear.

“What are you doing?”

“What am I doing?” Celeste chuckled as mania shone in her eyes. “I want to show Elliot the lengths you’ve forced me to! I want him to know that your existence causes me no end in grief!”

Before she could finish speaking, she held the knife up high and slashed her own arm with it.

She looked at me, the smirk on her face incongruous as she started shrieking.

“I’m begging you! I’ll give you anything you want! Why do you want to hurt me?”

Immediately, the sound of rushed footsteps came from outside.

Elliot was the first to burst in. He gathered Celeste in his arms with a grim expression.

She clung to him weakly, like some pitiful doll, as she pointed a trembling finger at me.

“Elliot, she said she’s the true daughter of the Dent family. She said I don’t deserve everything I have. She told me that I should die…”

Elliot’s eyes were raging with fiery rage as he looked up.

“Samantha,” he said icily, “didn’t I warn you to keep your ambitions in check? It’s Celeste’s birthday today. It should be a happy day for her, but you ruined it all!”