The day my family and the Fido family decided I should marry Callum Fido, I shocked everyone by rejecting the arrangement. Without hesitation, I instead chose Jaxon Fido, Callum’s uncle.

Everyone was stunned.

After all, everyone in Central City knew I, Moon Sawyer, had loved Callum more than I loved myself.

When I was young and naive, I had declared I would marry no one but him. I followed him for ten years and lost who I was in the process. If he told me to go left, I would never dare turn right. If he told me to jump into the ocean, I would have done it without thinking.

In my past life, I got to marry Callum, just like I always wanted.

But on our wedding day, he shut the door in my face. He pressed the knife he had personally sharpened against my chest and said, “The one I love and want to marry has always been Ruby. The only way you’ll enter this house is as a dead body.”

Ruby Sawyer was my sister.

The Fido family had called him ungrateful and forced him to go through with the marriage.

But after the wedding, he kept looking for women who looked like Ruby and flaunted his affection for them in front of everyone.

He let every one of his mistresses insult me, belittle me, and walk all over me.

When I was pregnant, I was pushed down the stairs, and both my baby and I died.

With a second chance at life, I chose to stay away from him and let him be with Ruby.

But I never expected that the day the Fido family agreed to my new engagement, Callum would completely lose his mind.

I had just arrived at the Fido family’s mansion when I saw Callum Fido. I did not expect to run into him.

He seemed to have just come back, and his friends from Central City surrounded him.

When they saw me, they laughed loudly and rudely.

“Moon, you’re seriously like a piece of gum that won’t come off. You’re always finding ways to run into Callum. And now you’ve even followed him to his house?

“Honestly, it’s embarrassing that the Sawyer family has a daughter like you. I don’t know how your parents even have the guts to show their faces in public.”

Callum looked at me with pure disgust. “You’ve followed me around for years with no shame and embarrassed me again and again. Now, you show up at my house? What do you want?”

“The Sawyer family is going to partner with the Fido family. Mr. Fido invited me to the party. I didn’t come here for you.”

“The Sawyer family is going to partner with the Fido family?!” Callum’s friends exclaimed in surprise.

Their reaction made sense. The partnership between the two families had not been made public yet.

My grandfather and Callum’s grandfather shared a bond forged in life-or-death situations. They had made a promise long ago. If the two families ever worked together, whoever married me would inherit the Fido family’s business.

Everyone knew I liked Callum, and my being at the Fido family’s party basically hinted that he would be the one to inherit the family business.

In a family as influential as the Fido family, inheriting the business was far from simple.

Callum’s friends gasped and quickly started congratulating him. “Congrats, Callum! Looks like you’re taking over the family business. You’re the future CEO now, haha!”

Callum looked smug, like he had finally gotten what he deserved, but he still stared at me with disdain and disgust. For the first time, he walked up to me and whispered, “I won’t make the same mistake I did in my past life. If you want to marry me, you’ll have to accept that I’ll still be with Ruby.

“You can have the title, but my love belongs to her.”

I was stunned and looked at Callum in surprise.

So… he was reborn, too.

I was just about to respond when I heard a soft voice behind me. “Moon.”

Ruby walked over slowly and feebly.

Her face was pale, and it made her seem even more sickly. Callum rushed to her. “Ruby, why did you come by yourself?”

She leaned into him. “Don’t blame Moon, Callum. I just caught a little cold.

“Today’s such an important day for both families. I couldn’t miss it. Don’t worry. I’m okay on my own.”

She made it sound like I did not care about her at all.

And just like I expected, Callum’s eyes turned fierce as he glared at me. “Ruby is your sister. She’s sick, and you left her to come here by herself?

“Moon, how can you be so heartless to her? You’re cruel!”

After shouting at me, he turned back to Ruby, and his whole expression softened. “Ruby, let’s get you some rest. I’ll have the maid bring you ginger tea.”

He put his arm around Ruby’s shoulders. When he walked past me, he stopped and said coldly, “You better think about what I just said. If not, don’t even dream about marrying into the Fido family.”

The party was already halfway through when Callum finally showed up with Ruby.

Ruby, who had looked pale just now, had regained a rosy glow to her cheeks, and Callum looked pretty satisfied.

As soon as the guests noticed them, their eyes quickly shifted to me. They were waiting for some drama.

If this had been the old me, I probably would have gotten jealous and made a scene.

But after living through everything once again, all I wanted was to enjoy my tea. Honestly, it was pretty good tea.

Callum pulled Ruby into his arms and got ready to shield her. He shot me a look, all tense and defensive.

But what caught him off guard was me calmly sipping my tea, like none of this had anything to do with me.

At first, his eyebrows drew together in disbelief, but then something just clicked, and he eased up. He smirked and said, “Moon, I see you finally came around to what I said earlier.

“This is how it should be. If you want to marry into the Fido family and be my wife, you need to know your place.”

He looked really pleased with himself. Then, acting all generous, he added, “I bought a bracelet at an auction recently. I’ll give it to you as a reward.”

He told a maid to bring it over. But before the box was even opened, Ruby snatched it up.

“Wow, Callum, this bracelet is beautiful.” Ruby looked at Callum with hopeful eyes. “You’ve never given me one before.”

The tone of her voice was full of envy and sorrow.

“Ruby, if you like it, it’s yours. From now on, I’ll only give bracelets to you,” Callum promised lovingly.

Ruby shot me a smug look, but when she turned to Callum again, her voice turned soft and pitiful. “But… this was meant for Moon. I can’t just take it.”

Callum let out a cold laugh. “You’re the only one who deserves the best. As for Moon, she never did.”

Callum tossed the bracelet box in front of me. “There. That’s your gift.”

Even though Ruby had her hand over her mouth, I could clearly see the smug little smile on her face.

I gave the box a quick, cold glance, then went right back to sipping my tea like I could not care less.

When I stayed calm and did not react, Callum got frustrated. He felt like I was challenging him.

Trying to provoke me, he pulled Ruby close and sat down right next to me.

How boring. I was not interested and just wanted to leave.

As I stood up, Callum let go of Ruby and grabbed my arm. “Moon, what’s that supposed to mean? Do you think you can just walk out without my permission?”

I frowned and yanked my arm free. “Let go. What I do is none of your business.”

He scoffed. “None of my business? Hah. Don’t forget, you’re supposed to be marrying me. If you’re going to be my wife, you’ll do as I say.”

His tone was commanding.

I rolled my eyes. “Who said I was marrying you?”

His expression twisted into a mocking smile. “You did. You’re the one who said you’d never marry anyone else.

“And besides, there are only two unmarried men in the Fido family, me and Harvey. Harvey’s already engaged. So if not me, who?”

“Who said you and Harvey are the only options?”

Callum frowned. “You’re not talking about Uncle Jaxon, are you?”

“Moon, seriously? Use your brain. Uncle Jaxon’s been overseas for years, recovering from health issues. He’s not even thinking about marriage. The only reason he came back was to attend my engagement party. And come on. He’s smart, successful, and way out of your league. Do you really think someone like you could ever have a chance with him?

“You’ve been trailing after me for years. Honestly, who else would even want you?”

Ruby waited for my response with a smug look.

If it were not for the agreement I had with Louie Fido, Callum’s dad, I would have embarrassed Callum on the spot.

But I did not feel like arguing. I simply turned around and left.

On the way back, Ruby actually asked to come with me.

Without Callum around, she dropped the sweet act. Looking down at me like she had already won, she said, “So what if you end up marrying Callum? If you don’t have his heart, you’ll always be someone people can step all over.”

She was not wrong. In my past life, I was a pitiful person whom people could step all over.

Meanwhile, my dad arranged a wedding between her and his friend’s son, and she lived a life far better than mine.

In this life, I was really curious to see how things worked out between her and Callum.

I looked at her sincerely and said, “Then I truly hope you get what you want and marry Callum.”

Her proud little smirk froze right on her face. For a second, she did not know how to respond.

Later, when the Sawyer and Fido families officially announced their partnership, I was invited to the Fido family’s mansion again.

I did not want to be stared at like a circus act, so I quietly slipped away to the garden to enjoy the flowers on my own.

Of course, like she had some radar, Ruby found me.

She had been all over the society gossip pages lately. Word was, Callum had been throwing money at her like he had lost his mind.

On that day, she looked just like a rich lady. She had designer labels from head to toe. Honestly, anyone who did not know better might have thought she was already married to Callum.

She strutted over and stood in front of me. “Moon, I bet you haven’t heard yet. Callum promised me a private wedding even if he ends up marrying you.”

So what? Whatever kind of wedding Callum gave her had absolutely nothing to do with me.

Ruby saw that I was not reacting the way she wanted, so she kept talking. “Callum said you’re just a decoration. I’m the one he really loves. Whatever he gives you, he’ll give me twice as much.”

I did not want to argue, so I stood up to leave. But then I noticed the pendant around her neck.

It was the jade charm my parents had gotten me when I was born, a one-of-a-kind gift meant to protect me. I never wore it. I kept it safe under my pillow.

Ruby had stolen it and was flaunting it right in front of me. She was doing this because she knew Callum would back her up.

I shot her a cold, angry look.

Ruby had never seen me like this before. She flinched and took a step back.

Then I thought, maybe it was not the same charm. Maybe she wore a similar one to get me to lose control in front of everyone.

I stepped forward to get a closer look at the pendant.

But Ruby suddenly leaned back, and her voice turned fake and whiny. “Moon, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to upset you! But everything I’m wearing is from Callum. You can’t just rip my clothes off in front of everyone because you’re jealous!”

Someone suddenly grabbed my wrist hard, and it hurt.

“Moon, what the hell are you doing?!” Callum snapped.

So, he was here. No wonder Ruby suddenly switched to acting like a poor, innocent victim.

I yanked my wrist away from his grip, turned to Ruby with a cold stare, and asked, “Where did you get that pendant?”