The impostor took his own life the day I married Cathy Jones.

By the second year of our marriage, we had turned against each other completely because of him.

She despised me because my return had driven Zac Lowe to his death.

And I despised her for longing after the man who had stolen my name for twenty years.

For a decade, we hurled the cruelest words and wished death upon each other until the earthquake came.

She shielded me under her body and used her back to bear the weight of the collapsing beam to keep me alive.

The ceiling fell. Blood and debris blurred together.

As her life slipped away, she whispered in my ear, “If I had known he would die, I would have never brought you home.

“If there’s another life, your only family should be me.”

In the end, I still died in the aftershock.

When I opened my eyes again, I had returned to the day she first took me to meet my biological parents.

But she suddenly changed her mind. “Harry, I was wrong! You’re not the son the Lowe family lost twenty years ago.”

Cathy Jones stood in front of the Lowe family’s villa gates and blocked my way. Her expression wavered between conflict and resolve.

I said nothing, but the image of concrete and steel collapsing flashed before my eyes.

Her back was bloodied and torn. She whispered in my ear, “If I’d known he would die, I would never have brought you home.”

So, this was her choice.

If she had another chance, she would choose to abandon me from the very beginning.

That was fine with me.

The ten years of marriage had been a living hell in our previous life. She hated me, and I resented her. We tormented each other day and night until death finally freed us.

I actually felt a quiet sense of relief knowing everything could end before it even began.

I looked at her and nodded calmly. “Alright.”

A flicker of confusion crossed her eyes. The words she had prepared caught in her throat.

“What did you say?” she asked, almost instinctively.

“I said alright,” I repeated myself.

“If there was a mistake, then so be it. Thank you for bringing me here. I should get back to school.”

I turned to leave.

But she grabbed my arm tightly. “Harry!” she said sharply.

Panic laced her voice.

“What’s this attitude? Didn’t you always want to find your family? You’re giving up so easily just because I told you they’re not your family?!”

I turned back to look at her and found her reaction amusing.

Had she not lied just to make me give up?

I had done exactly what she wanted, but she was not satisfied.

“What else do you want?” I asked. “Cathy, were you lying to me? Am I really the Lowe family’s son?”

Her gaze flickered nervously as I finished my sentence. Her grip on my wrist tightened subconsciously before she lowered her head and hid her face from my view.

“This ends here. Don’t bring it up again, and don’t go near the Lowe family.”

“Okay. I understand.”

I pulled my arm free.

“I’ll not mention it again, and I’ll stay away. Are you happy now?”

She stared at her empty hand as if she had just lost something important. She seemed lost for a moment.

She did not know that I, too, had been reborn.

In this life, I would not step through that door again. I would not become the Lowe family’s son. And I simply refused to be her husband ever again.

She wanted to protect her childhood sweetheart and preserve their world. I would grant her that wish.

“I’m leaving.”

I turned and walked toward the bus stop without sparing her another glance.

Her voice rose behind me. She sounded irritated.

“Wait! I’ll drive you!”

She did not take me to the school dormitory. She drove straight to a luxury apartment in the city center instead.

Everything became clear as the city blurred past the window.

In our past life, this had been our home after marriage.

It had once held our sweetest moments. It had also watched us turn into enemies, and finally, filled it with hatred.

When the car stopped, she unbuckled her seat belt and turned her head to look at me.

Her expression was unreadable through the dim light in the car, but her tone was softer than it had been outside the Lowe family’s villa.

“Get out. We need to talk.”

I followed her inside the apartment.

The decoration was familiar, with cool tones and minimalist designs. It was elegant and distant, just like her.

But my heart no longer stirred this time.

She took a bottle of water from the fridge and tossed it to me. Then, she walked toward the window and lit herself a slender cigarette.

The hazy smoke curled between us, like a fog that separated our worlds.

“Harry, I know you’re upset,” she said with a muffled voice through the haze.

“I didn’t handle your family matters properly. But Zac’s mental state is unstable. He… can’t take any more emotional strain.”

It was Zac Lowe again.

I looked down, twisted open the bottle, and took a sip.

The cold water slid down my throat, but it did not wash away the bitterness that rose within me.

She had said the same thing in our previous life.

She told me Zac had a fragile mind and was prone to self-destruction since childhood. She told me to be patient with him after I went back to my family.

And I did.

I let Cathy pour all of her attention on him. I remained silent and endured his endless provocations and tantrums.

But he used his own death to sentence me and Cathy’s marriage to ten years of torment.

Seeing me silent, Cathy assumed I was sulking about being denied my own family. She crushed the cigarette in the ashtray.

She turned, walked to me, and lowered her head slightly to meet my eyes where I sat on the sofa. There was a plea in her gaze.

“Don’t be mad at me, all right?”

Her tone was so gentle. She placed her hand over mine on the bottle.

“I admit my mistake. I didn’t investigate the matter properly and gave you false hope. Tell me if there’s anything you want as compensation. I’ll make it up to you as long as it’s within my power.”

She paused. Her tone of voice was imploring when she finally spoke. “But let’s not think about the Lowe family for now, all right?”

She had surrendered completely. The affection in her eyes nearly overflowed.

I could see it clearly. She truly feared that I would be mad and feared losing me.

But that affection was built upon the sacrifice of my identity.

I lifted my gaze to meet hers and felt an urge to laugh.

“I don’t want anything.”

I drew my hand back, and her gaze darkened instantly.

“Don’t worry. Even if the Lowe family offered all their wealth and begged for my return, I won’t look twice.

“There’s no need for you to apologize either. You owe me nothing. We should end this.”

Her brows furrowed. She straightened up abruptly with a cold expression.

“End this? Harry, are you throwing a tantrum? Are you threatening me because I didn’t let you go back to the Lowe family?”

She leaned forward and pressed her palms against the sofa on both sides of me, trapping me in her shadow.

“I only told you not to return to the Lowe family. I never said we should break up! We can go back to how we were before! I’ll treat you even better than before!”

I looked at her, and I felt exhausted.

She believed that by stripping away my identity as the actual Lowe family’s son, we could somehow return to our peaceful beginning, and our love could continue as it used to be.

But she did not understand that the tragedy had never started with my return to the Lowe family.

“Cathy…” I pushed her away and stood up to put some distance between us. “I’m tired. I want to go back.”

Without sparing her a second glance, I turned and headed for the door.

She did not stop me this time.

In the days that followed, I poured all my focus into the final stages of my application to study abroad.

I soon received an offer letter from a foreign university. My departure date was set for next month.

The day before I was supposed to leave, I had just stepped out of the library when two men in black suits blocked my path.

“Mr. Lawson, Ms. Jones wants to see you.”

I was forced into a car that sped through the city before stopping at the topmost floor of a skyscraper overlooking a scenic river.

“Ms. Jones is occupied at the moment. Please wait here.”

They led me into a glass-walled room and left after locking the door behind me.

The view in the room was breathtaking. One wall was made entirely of glass, and across from it stood the city’s most luxurious rooftop restaurant.

The restaurant was glowing with golden light. Laughter and music spilled into the night as a lavish birthday banquet took place inside.

The man at the center of it all was Zac.

He wore an immaculate suit and was surrounded by well-wishers.

Cathy was standing beside him and straightening his tie, all while looking at him with an affectionate gaze.

I watched as she took his hand and led him into the first dance.

They twirled, drew close, and whispered to each other with such tenderness that they seemed like a perfect pair.

Applause filled the room. Every face glowed with joy.

I almost laughed. I wanted to laugh at how blindly stubborn I had been in my last life.

I wasted everything on a woman who never loved me. Was it worth it?

I shut my eyes. I was unwilling to watch that dazzling scene any longer.

But the memory forced itself through. I could see Cathy’s bloodied face in the earthquake and her trembling back as she shielded me from the falling debris.

She had hated me, but she had also saved me.

That love and hate tangled like a net and trapped me in there.

Time slipped by. The noise from the party died down.

The door behind me opened suddenly.

I turned and saw Zac standing by the door.

He walked toward me with a triumphant smile.

“Harry,” he said while looking down at me. “How does it feel watching the woman you love throw such a grand birthday party for me?”

I finally understood.

Cathy had not sent the guards. He had sent them.

He had brought me here to crush whatever feelings I might still have left for Cathy.

But he did not need to. In this life, I had already let go of all my feelings for her.

I said nothing and stared at him coldly.

My silence seemed to enrage him. His smile twisted.

“You think keeping quiet makes you look noble? Let me tell you, what isn’t yours will never be yours!”

He leaned in closer and lowered his voice as he whispered, “If you hadn’t shown up, Cathy and I would’ve been engaged long ago. You ruined everything!”

“Are you done?” I asked calmly. “If so, I’d like to leave.”

He trembled in fury.

Suddenly, he drew a dagger from his suit pocket. The blade flashed under the light.

My chest tightened.

“What are you doing?”

“What am I doing?” His laugh was maniacal.

“I want Cathy to see what you have driven me to! I want her to know that as long as you exist, I’ll never have peace!”

Before I could move, he slashed the blade across his own wrist.

He looked at me and smiled. Then, he began shouting at the top of his lungs.

“Please! I’ll give you everything! Why must you attack me?!”

Footsteps thundered outside, and Cathy burst through the door first. She rushed over to hold him. Her face darkened.

Zac sagged weakly in her arms. His face was pale as he pointed his trembling fingers at me.

“Cathy… he said he’s the real heir of the Lowe family! He said I don’t deserve any of this… that I should just die…”

Cathy’s head snapped up. The fury in her eyes burned like wildfire.

“Harry,” she said coldly, “did I not warn you to behave yourself?

“It’s Zac’s birthday today, and it was supposed to be his happiest day. You ruined everything!”