Silas Jordan drew lots, which resulted in me being chosen as his wife. He hated me for getting his childhood sweetheart killed. Hence, he tortured me to death.

But after I died, deep remorse overwhelmed him.

After I returned to the past, I first rigged the lottery to help him get together with his childhood lover. However, there were endless new comments on the screen. They were from readers of the novel I was trapped in.

[Based on the plot, the male lead will pick the female lead. Then, the male lead’s childhood lover will kill herself. When the female lead gets tortured to death, the male lead starts regretting it. But why would this miserable novel change when the female lead rigged the lottery?]

It was because I no longer wished to marry him again.

As everyone looked down, the witness read out the name in Silas Jordan’s hand.

“Clara Smith.”

Multiple comments quickly bloomed in front of me.

[What’s going on? Shouldn’t it be Jane Smith?!]

[Look! It seems like… Isn’t Jane the female lead?]

[Why did she suddenly end up as the second female lead?]

[Look! Clara replaced her as the female lead!]

Two families had an engagement with the Smith Family.

One of them was the powerful Jordan family in Aregas. The other was the Cook Family, which was on the verge of bankruptcy.

Initially, I was the one who was engaged to Silas.

However, he could not reconcile with the idea of marrying someone who was about to go bankrupt.

To be fair, Adam Smith, my father, was the one who came up with the idea of drawing lots. He wanted to give that spot to Clara.

In my previous life, I had been infatuated with Silas. I even tampered with the drawing lots just to marry him.

I believed that as long as I married him, he would one day fall in love with me.

But unexpectedly, my wishful thinking never came to pass.

In this life, I was going to reset the script.

Silas read the words on the stick in shock.

Clara slowly walked toward Silas while everyone else was cheering.

[The male lead wanted to marry Jane. What’s going on?!]

[Didn’t Jane tamper with the sticks? Regardless, she should be picked instead!]

[The male lead looks calm. But I’m sure he must be losing his mind.]

I stood below the stage.

As if it had nothing to do with me, I watched them like the other thousands of guests.

The Jordan Family started preparing for the wedding ceremony after that day, but the Cook Family remained silent.

As Adam summoned Clara and me over to his side, his face glowed.

“I’m sure your mom would be glad to see you guys finally settle down. Pick a piece of jewelry at the auction tonight as part of your wedding gift.”

Clara sweetly thanked him and coquettishly threw herself into his arms.

I remained where I was while watching their sweet family moment while nodding in approval.

Clara was a few years younger than me.

Adam had raised her with deep love and care.

On the other hand, a human trafficker had abducted me when I was very young.

The Smith Family found me only two years ago.

Nominally, I was the heiress of the Smith Family.

But for them, I was just an outsider.

I went to the auction that night.

I saw multiple rare and precious jewelry. People there spent their money quickly and easily.

I quietly watched the items on the stage and moved my aching neck.

The assistant beside me noticed my actions and tentatively asked me, “Miss Smith, do you like this item?”

I looked at the item. It was a pair of emerald-studded earrings.

Although the emeralds were rather tiny, they dazzled under the lights of the hall.

They were surprisingly beautiful.

I looked away and nodded. “Sure, we’ll get these.”

The assistant understood me and started raising a paddle to bid.

Naturally, Clara noticed my actions, since she was nearby.

She turned and said something to her assistant. Then, her assistant started bidding for the same pair of earrings.

After a few rounds, the earrings were raised to an astronomical price that was unmatched for their worth.

I frowned and gave up bidding for them.

Although they were pretty, I could buy better valued jewelry at that price.

Clara promptly purchased those earrings. Then, she looked at me smugly.

I remained nonchalant.

After all, she was going to marry Silas.

It would be better if I had nothing more to do with the two of them.

Complicated feelings gripped me as I recalled the events of my previous life.

Suddenly, a necklace on the stage attracted my attention.

Its style and size resembled the one my mother had worn when she still lived. Its details were zoomed in on the screen.

I stared at that familiar necklace and was lost in a trance.

I was certain that it belonged to my mother.

I heard that it had gone missing after my mother’s passing.

Beyond all expectations, it had shown up there.

Even my assistant noticed something wrong with me and immediately raised her paddle to bid for the necklace.

Initially, Clara was uninterested in that jewelry.

But she suddenly grew eager when she saw my expression.

I gradually felt weak as the price kept increasing.

I gnashed my teeth and put all my money, including the seven hundred thousand dollars given by Adam and my savings, on the last bidding.

Clara was pondering something before she pulled Silas’ hand and started acting coquettishly.

“Silas, I want that.”

Naturally, Silas had noticed the competition between us. He turned to look at me calmly.

The comments surfaced again at the sight of my pale face.

[As long as Jane puts herself down and reaches out to Silas, Silas will buy this for her!]

[Silas acts like he hates her. But in fact, he loves her deeply!]

[Hurry up! You’re driving me crazy. All it takes is some nice words from you!]

[Silas just wants to see Jane give in. Why didn’t she understand?!]

I read the comments and clenched my fists. My fingers were shaky.

No, they were wrong.

During my previous life, I had believed those comments and reached out to Silas. I even humbly begged him. What did that result in?

He still snatched away everything that I cherished and gave them to Clara. He never once cared about me.

Hence, I would not humbly give in to him again.

When Silas noticed that I did not want to give in, he raised his finger slightly and raised the price to fourteen million dollars.

For a moment, the memories from my previous life overwhelmed me.

Deep iciness gripped me until I could hardly breathe.

I did not look at Silas again until the auctioneer’s gavel struck for the last time, regardless of how the comments tried to persuade me.

After the auction, Adam held a party for all the nobles and the rich of the circle.

Clara was quite smug.

After dinner, she stopped me in the garden and purposely raised the necklace around her neck.

“I don’t know why you like this old thing so much, but it’s pretty.”

She called it an old thing. But I remembered my mother always wearing it. Of course, Clara would be able to recognize it.

I was in a trance.

Clara pointedly blinked and grinned when she walked toward me.

“I’ve snatched away two of your favorites consecutively. Well, even I’m ashamed of that. I’ll let you have these earrings then.”

She fished out the emerald earrings that she had just bought and handed them to me.

I wore no expression as I looked at her, but I did not want them.

Clara stopped smiling. Instead, she looked at me coldly and maliciously.

“You won’t give up, will you?” She stared at me and gnashed her teeth, murmuring.

Suddenly, her gaze turned unreadable. She let go and covered her mouth, screaming, “Oh! I didn’t hold them well. You’ve got to pick them up.”

With a clank, the expensive earrings were smashed onto the marble floor and cracked a little.

“Don’t bother. Keep them for yourself.”

I sneered and turned to leave. But I heard a plop. I did not expect Clara to jump into the pool.

She struggled in the water. Her slim-fit white dress had turned almost transparent. Her long black hair spread in the water. She looked weak and helpless.

She begged me miserably. “Jane, I was wrong. Just let me off!”

Then, a familiar voice rebuked me from behind.

“Clara has always been weak. How could you push her into the pool in such cold weather?!”

I turned around.

Silas’ gaze was cold. His loud voice came with suppressed anger.

[Silas came to say sorry to Jane. But it’s not going to happen now.]

[He purposely bought the most expensive item to give Jane.]

[He didn’t talk about it, but he still cares about her.]

[But there’s going to be a misunderstanding between them now.]

[So, is he still going to try winning her back now?! I’m looking forward to it!]

The comments grew suspicious when the onlookers saw how angry Silas was.

[Couldn’t Silas see through such bad acting skills?]

[Is it acting? Or is he trying to beat her at her own game? We wouldn’t know.]

In a few seconds, these words disappeared in the endless comments.

[As long as Jane makes things clear to the male lead, the male lead will take her side!]

[Yeah! As long as she says it, Silas will believe her!]

[Why didn’t they talk it out? I’m driven mad!]

They wanted me to explain myself. How naive!

In my previous life, Clara had jumped off the building during my wedding.

Silas was certain that I had purposely provoked Clara.

After Clara died, they discovered her diary in her room. It was full of memories of how our mother abused her and was biased toward me. On top of that, she wrote about how I had bullied her. She was always walking on thin ice at home.

But anyone could tell that the diary was new based on its papers and the color of the ink…

However, Silas would not believe me, no matter how I explained myself. I even showed him the result of the cops’ investigation. He was still adamant that I had caused Clara’s death.

He got quite drunk on the day of the first anniversary of Clara’s funeral.

He stabbed my chest, cruelly twisting the sharp blade to torment me.

I knew that explaining myself would be meaningless.

Silas jumped into the pool without any hesitation and rescued Clara.

A waiter nearby hurriedly handed warm water and a towel to him.

Although Silas was an impatient man, he meticulously wiped Clara dry.

His gentle gaze and careful actions made him a different man from when he was with me.

Clara looked at me. She bit her pale lips, and her fair skin was stained with tears.

“I bought the thing she liked today. Normally, she resents me. It’s fine, Silas. She knew that this pool was shallow and wouldn’t hurt me. She probably just wanted to punish me.”

Those few words were enough to send Silas into a fury.

“The pool was almost frozen. Are you calling it a mere punishment?! If I came any later, you might have drowned!”

Silas slowly turned toward me. Great anger burned in his eyes.

Clara yanked his sleeves and looked worried. “But there are no grudges between us. Why would she want to kill me?”

Silas threw me a contemptuous sidelong glance.