When I'm 25, I learn about Hendrick Jefferson living it up with my stepsister, Yvette Rivera.

So, I go to my father and ask to marry Hendrick's brother, Jeremy Jefferson.

In my past life, I married Hendrick as I wished, yet he hooked up with Yvette the day after our wedding.

He brought her everywhere with him, announcing to the world that she was his female companion. He told her to smash the necklace my late mother left for me and indulged in her when she pushed me into the pool. He even hired online trolls to spread rumors about me.

Yvette came to me to gloat. "I'm the one Ricky loves—he only married you to make his family shut up! He didn't want to touch you when you were younger, let alone now that you're 25 and old. You need to learn to know your place!"

Now that I've been reborn, I decide to give them what they want.

Unexpectedly, Hendrick crashes my wedding with Jeremy, claiming that I'm the one he truly loves.

I hadn't expected to run into Hendrick Jefferson in the living room after leaving his grandmother's room.

He had seemingly just returned, with a few friends of his from other wealthy families following from behind.

Kellan Lester sneered when he saw me.

"Whitney Xander, what a hardworking lapdog you are, buzzing around Hendrick incessantly like a fly."

The group of men burst out into laughter while Hendrick flopped himself down onto the couch, crossing one leg over the other. He stared at me coldly, his face dripping with disdain.

"Did you come here to look for someone to help you? Or did you specifically want my grandmother's help? I'm warning you, you'd better not go around troubling and upsetting me!" he said while exhaling his cigarette smoke right into my face.

"You've shamelessly latched onto me these past few years. You might not feel embarrassed, but I certainly find it disgusting. Just the thought of being married to you makes me itch all over."

He flicked the ash from his cigarette at me in disgust, instantly burning a red mark on my hand. I swallowed the pain and made myself sound calm as I spoke, "It was your grandmother and Jean who asked me to come here. They wanted to discuss the Triken project with me. I didn't come here for you."

Everyone gasped when they heard me. "The Triken project?"

I knew why they were so surprised.

Mr. Jefferson Senior, or Albert, had stated in his will that once I became the person-in-charge of the Triken project, I could choose one from the Jefferson family to solidify the marriage alliance. And our future child would also receive 40 percent of the shares.

Thus, my words had essentially confirmed that the next successor to Jefferson Group would soon be revealed.

The men gasped in excitement and flocked to congratulate Hendrick.

"You hold 20 percent of the shares now. Once your child is born, you'll be the heir to the Jefferson group."

A smug smile crossed Hendrick's face. He raised his glass and downed the red wine before turning to me.

"Whitney, after chasing after me for all these years, you can finally marry me. Your dreams are finally coming true. I bet you're delighted."

His friends broke out in jeering laughter. "You are lucky to be able to marry Hendrick."

Hendrick walked up to me and whispered in my ear, "I won't make the same mistake as I did in my past life. If you want me to marry you, you'll have to agree to one condition.

"Once we're married, I'll still want to be with Yvette. Don't stand in my way."

My heart lurched in surprise, and I stared at him in shock. That was when I knew—he had been reborn too.

I was just about to answer him when a sickeningly sweet voice sounded from behind.

"Whitney."

Yvette Rivera made her way over with small, frail steps, looking especially weak and fragile.

Even her makeup and clothes made her look sickly.

Hendrick threw his glass down and ran over to support her.

"Yvette, why're you here?"

Yvette raised her eyes to look at him weakly. She then pretended to be unsteady on her feet and leaned into Hendrick's arms.

"Whitney is going to take over the Triken project, so I wanted to come organize the data for her. But I'm a little late because I've caught a bad flu. You won't blame me, right, Whitney?"

Hendrick shot me a glare when he heard this, as if accusing me of being a bad older sister.

"How can you be so cruel, Whitney? Why'd you make such a fuss and have your sick sister come all the way here just for some dumb project?"

With that, he turned to help Yvette up the stairs.

"Yvette, go upstairs and rest first. I'll have the housekeeper, Laura, bring you some flu medication. I'll call Dr. Shem to come and take a look at you too."

When he walked past me, he warned me in a low voice, "If you dare bully Yvette again or act selfishly, then I'll call our marriage agreement off!"

His friends joined in with their jeering. "Whitney, a lapdog should know their place and not upset Hendrick!"

Hendrick didn't look back. I watched him as he went from holding Yvette's arm to support her to gently picking her up in his arms before disappearing from my line of sight.

Hendrick, with Yvette in tow, came late to the Triken project's launch ceremony.

The elders had already left after completing the handover, and only the younger generation remained, messing about and eagerly awaiting to watch the drama unfold.

Yvette's hair was messy, her lipstick smudged, and her cheeks flushed pink. Hendrick, on the other hand, had a satisfied grin on his face, and there were even visible bite marks on his neck.

One of the men nearby could immediately tell what had transpired between the two. He raised his wine glass while his gaze darted between the three of us, eagerly waiting for me to fly into a rage.

The past me would've slapped Yvette across the face by now. The current me, however, remained seated while calmly eating some pastries.

Hendrick placed himself in front of Yvette protectively to stop me from lunging forward and hitting her but also to seek an excuse to yell at me.

After finishing my pastries, I relaxedly sipped my coffee as if none of this concerned me.

Hendrick looked upset when he realized he didn't have a reason to yell at me. Then, he snorted as a thought suddenly crossed his mind.

"So, you've become all meek and gracious now, just so you can marry me? That's very self-aware of you, Whitney. That's right. If you want me to marry you, then you'd better behave!

"Since today is the first day you've taken over the project, I've brought you a present."

He reached into his pocket to pull it out and was just about to hand it to me when Yvette snatched it from his hand.

"Ricky! This brooch is so pretty!"

When Hendrick saw how happy Yvette looked, he blurted, "You like this, Yvie? Then go ahead and keep it."

Yvette looked at me awkwardly, but it was obvious from the slight tilt of her lips that she was already celebrating inside.

"That wouldn't be right, though. You wanted to give this to Whitney as a present. If you gave it to me, would that upset her?"

Hendrick wrapped his fingers around Yvette's hand holding the brooch and said gently, "If you like it, then take it. Don't worry about anyone else."

He then turned and shot me a look of disdain. "As for her?"

He walked over to the waiter who was removing the floral centerpieces from the tables, plucked a leaf from the arrangement, and tossed it at me.

"Have this," he said before bursting into laughter and turning to Yvette. "That's the present that suits her best."

The leaf floated to the ground, and a gust of air blew it right in front of Hendrick. He then lifted a foot and stomped down on it.

"Oh dear. Why aren't you cherishing the present I gave you? You didn't hold on to it properly, and now it's gone."

The surrounding crowd was trying to hide their chuckles when one of the men teased, "But it doesn't matter what Hendrick gifts Whitney because she'll love it either way. She just wants to avoid embarrassment right now, but later, she'll surely pick that leaf up and put it away carefully."

Hearing this, the others joined in on the jeering.

"Everyone knows how head-over-heels in love Whitney is with Hendrick. I bet she'll love it even more now that the leaf has his footprint on it."

As I stared at their sneering expressions, I suddenly felt like it was all rather pointless.

In the past, I had eagerly longed for Hendrick's presents.

Indeed, he had once given me a piece of chocolate that he had taken a bite out of and didn't want anymore. And because his scent lingered on it, I treasured it so much I couldn't even bear to eat it. I even cleaned out the fridge so I could preserve it.

Those from our social circle had all laughed at me. They had said that even if Hendrick gave me a crumpled piece of paper, I'd still take care of it as if it were a priceless treasure.

I poured more coffee into my empty cup, then picked up another pastry and enjoyed it slowly, looking unbothered.

When Hendrick saw how calm I was, he became displeased, and his expression turned stony.

He hurriedly pulled Yvette to sit down next to me, and the two of them started flirting with each other like a couple madly in love. They also shot taunting glances toward me every now and then, expecting me to fly into a jealous rage.

Feeling utterly disinterested, I wiped my hands and stood up to leave.

Seeing this, Hendrick immediately grabbed my hand. With a condescending tone and a smug expression, he said, "What? Are you already feeling jealous? I've already told you, Whitney. You won't be the only woman I have around, so you'd better start getting used to it now."

Thoroughly disgusted, I yanked my hand back and wiped it with a tissue. "You didn't even wash your hands before touching me. How gross of you!"

Hendrick froze, not expecting to hear that from me. But he soon broke out into laughter.

"Are you playing hard to get? We're about to get married, so why're you still pretending to be all modest?"

How ridiculous. If it weren't for his grandmother, Sophia Lancaster, instructing me to keep my choice a secret for now, I would've cut ties with him.

I stared at him speechlessly before retorting with a low chuckle, "We're not married yet, Hendrick, so don't be so full of yourself."

He froze for a second before bursting out into another round of laughter. When the people around us saw him laughing, they joined in on the laughter too.

Hendrick was laughing so hard he almost stumbled backward. He pointed at me and snorted, "Everyone in Jedina knows that you're head-over-heels in love with me and won't marry anyone else.

"Our families have a marriage arrangement. If you don't marry me, then who are you going to marry? My widowed uncle? Or the youngest brother, who's not even 18 years old yet?

"My second youngest brother is sickly and weak and will likely…" he trailed off.

"Or… are you intending on becoming a widow?

"Who else can you possibly be married to other than me, Whitney Xander?

"It's not as entertaining when you go overboard with this act of yours, so hurry up and admit you've made a mistake!"

Everyone there was waiting excitedly for me to make a fool of myself.

Yvette's smile, in particular, had almost reached ear to ear as she waited expectantly.

I recalled Sophia's instructions and didn't bother to pay any more attention to Hendrick. Soon, everyone would know just who I was going to marry anyway.

Yvette and I rode the same car back.

She turned the brooch around in her hands and looked at me smugly.

"So what if Ricky marries you? He doesn't like you, so even if you marry him, you'll still be nothing more than an unwanted stray."

Without Hendrick around, Yvette was finally revealing her true colors.

She took out her compact to touch up her makeup. The reflection in the mirror revealed a smug, triumphant-looking woman.

In my past life, our father had gotten her to marry a rising star in the business world. Though this man from Sodersburg had started out from scratch, he eventually became an investment mogul, and his net worth skyrocketed.

Yvette's life had turned out so much better than mine with an arranged marriage.

Now that I had another chance at life, I wasn't going to let Dad intervene in her marriage. I wanted to see just how she was going to end up.

Yvette gave me an annoyed push when she realized I was ignoring her.

"Don't think for a second that you can appear calm by just staying quiet."

I chuckled helplessly. "In that case, I hope you get the marriage that you wished for and that you and Hendrick have little babies soon."

Hearing this, Yvette flushed red, and her face became twisted. She sat there frozen, wanting to go off at me but not knowing how to do it exactly.

I asked our driver to pull over, then opened the door and got out, leaving her inside the car with her eyes bulging and her mouth agape.

On the day of Sophia's 70th birthday, my father and I went to give our well-wishes.

In order to avoid being the center of gossip of those who also came for the celebration, I went to the gardens by myself.

Yvette hadn't been invited, but I somehow ran into her there.

There were rumors that Hendrick had been constantly giving her presents these few days. It had started off with a one-of-a-kind necklace that he had won at an auction. Then the next day, it was a limited-edition luxury bag, and the following day, it was a sports car.

Now, she was dressed head to toe in luxury brand and looked even more eye-catching than Sophia at her own birthday celebration.

When Yvette saw me, she sauntered over arrogantly.

"How can you dress like that for Mrs. Jefferson Senior's birthday, Whitney? A master designer custom-made this for me, and it's one of a kind. This is how you should show your respect toward Mrs. Jefferson Senior."

I snorted inwardly as I stared at her. It was hilarious how she was strutting around so arrogantly without even caring about the star of this birthday banquet. I couldn't wait to see how she was going to clean up this mess of hers.

Seeing as I didn't respond, Yvette continued in her haughty tone, "Also, Hendrick has promised to have a world-class designer custom-make my gown for your wedding. As for your wedding dress, he said you can just buy whatever's available."

I was getting rather annoyed, so I stood up to leave. Just as I did so, I noticed a necklace with a carved gemstone around her neck, and my heart sank.

That necklace was identical to the one my mother had left me before she died.

My maternal grandmother had passed the necklace on to my mother, and before my mother passed it on to me, she had added a carved multicolored gemstone and had it inlaid onto the necklace while also engraving my name on the back.

After my mother passed away, I had cherished it immensely and couldn't even bear to wear it.

I walked closer to Yvette and reached for the necklace, wanting to get a better look.

Yvette, however, suddenly leaned backward and jumped into the lake.

She yelled loudly as she splashed around, "Whitney, I know Ricky doesn't love you, but why do you need to take it out on me and push me in?"

Before I could say anything, an icy voice sounded behind me.

"Whitney, what did you do?"

Suddenly, I found myself pushed into the lake as well. I could only watch as Hendrick hurriedly jumped in behind me and carried Yvette out, then took his coat off and draped it around her.

I swam up and got out of the lake, dripping wet. When Hendrick saw me, he slapped me hard across the face and roared, "Have you gone insane?"

I stared at him, then at Yvette before asking her sternly, "Where did that necklace around your neck come from?"

A flash of guilt crossed her face, but her tone became more confident when she realized Hendrick would stand up for her.

"It's a gift from Ricky."

I stepped forward, staring at her closely.

"You're lying. My mother had someone handcraft that necklace especially for me. It's the only one of its kind. Take it off right now!"

Yvette's hands flew to the necklace to shield it from me. "Why should I? This is a present from Ricky! You're my sister, and you want to steal this from me? I never expected you to slander me just to prevent me from marrying him!"

She began to cry, and her whimpers and sniffles were grating to the ears.

I couldn't be bothered to waste my breath on her, so I just reached out to grab the necklace. But before I could, Hendrick stood protectively in front of her and roughly pushed me to the ground.

"Whitney! If you dare bully Yvette again, then don't blame me if I don't show you any mercy!" he roared.