When I was 14, I ran away from home and met Rosalie Burke, the real Burke heiress who had been living on the outside.

After her family finally brought her home, I was the one who helped her turn their business into a success.

I spent ten years at her side, and on the day they named her heir to Burke Group, she shoved me into the sea.

"My fiance is the next heir to Swain Group. You have no power or influence. You're beneath me now."

I blink awake, and suddenly I'm back at the moment Rosalie returns to her family.

I watch her shamelessly flirt with my enemy's son, then turn on my heel and head back to my own family.

I'm not helping her in this life. This time, I'm going to watch her fall off that pedestal.

"Why are you just standing there? Get over here and grab these."

A familiar voice came from right beside me, and my heart lurched. The terror of being dragged under by the ocean still had its claws in me.

I snapped my eyes open and found my hands weighed down with shopping bags, a familiar figure standing right in front of me.

Rosalie Burke.

In that moment, I realized I'd been reborn, back in the year the Burkes finally found her.

Right then, I was basically her gofer, small enough for her to crush without thinking twice. I used to be the one on top, the golden child everyone looked up to.

Rosalie had always thought I was an orphan, totally unaware that Dad was a legendary business tycoon in Jorvessa.

Ever since I was a kid, I'd had an insane talent for business, and Dad had been grooming me for years to take over Swain Group.

Mom killed herself when I was 14, the moment she found out Dad was cheating and had a kid on the side. It was more than I could handle, so I ran away from home.

When I hit rock bottom, Rosalie found me and brought me back to the orphanage. In those days, she was like a beam of light in the middle of everything I'd lost.

Soon after, her parents finally found her. She turned out to be the long-lost daughter of a wealthy family.

When Rosalie was taken from the orphanage, she pleaded with her parents to bring me along, and that was how I ended up at the Burke residence.

I knew exactly how hard it was to survive in those high-society families, so I supported her quietly as my way of repaying her.

Rosalie had spent years on her own and knew nothing about business, so I handled it all and smoothed the way for her.

The day she was named heir to Burke Group, I went straight to her, bursting with joy, and asked her to marry me.

On a cliff overlooking the sea that I'd turned into something out of a dream, I dropped to one knee in my suit. "Rosalie, marry me."

"Mark Swain, what makes you think someone like you gets to propose to me?"

Her eyes were full of contempt.

My heart sank. "I thought you cared about me. You told me when we were kids that you'd marry me someday."

Rosalie burst out laughing, her eyes glittering with mockery. Then her face went cold as she looked back at me.

"I lied to you back then. You seriously believed that? You're such an idiot. I'm marrying Romy. He's the next heir to Swain Group."

She stomped all over my feelings. The sweet girl I once knew had turned into a woman driven by nothing but profit.

I lost it and reached for her, desperate for answers, when someone came out of nowhere and shoved me into the sea.

"Go to hell, Mark!"

Right before I hit the water, I caught a glimpse of the person behind Rosalie. It was my half-brother, Jerome Swain.

The sight of them holding each other and kissing seared itself into my memory.

I was the one who helped Rosalie rise higher than anyone else, only for her to kick me straight into hell. Now that I'd been given another life, I was done helping her.

As for my dear brother Jerome, I'd see to it he paid back every last drop of blood he owed me.

Every memory of how Rosalie treated me after she went back to her family in my past life only stoked the hate burning in my chest.

I didn't bother telling her to cut back on the shopping this time.

In the few months since she'd come back to the family, they'd been slammed by a once-in-a-century financial crash, and their business was already going downhill.

Still, she blew money as if it grew on trees, and it just made her father, Edward Burke, even madder.

Either way, it wasn't my business anymore.

While I loaded her bags into the car, I said in a flat voice, "Rosalie, I'm leaving."

"What's with the drama this time? Isn't being my live-in assistant working out just fine? Once you leave the Burkes, what kind of job do you think you're gonna find out there?"

Rosalie leaned against the Rolls-Royce with her arms crossed, staring at me like I was a total loser. That was when the last of my feelings for her went cold.

She'd treated me the same way in my past life, but I'd been so hung up on her that I didn't notice a thing. I just kept throwing myself at her.

Back when Burke Group was falling apart, I even helped Rosalie in secret. Eventually, Edward, who'd never thought much of her, started to value her.

"Rosalie, how did you turn into this?"

Whatever fondness I'd once had for her was long gone. I didn't speak to her gently anymore.

She went still, then her voice rose in a sharp rush.

"Mark, what I become has nothing to do with you. You're just some orphan nobody wanted. If I hadn't taken you in, you'd have starved to death long ago."

Rosalie was about to go on when her phone rang, and her expression flipped the second she saw who was calling.

Her tone suddenly turned light and sweet as she answered, "Romy, I'll be right there."

The moment that name left her mouth, my fists tightened, and a hot wave of anger hit me.

So, in my past life, they'd already been involved at this point. Back then, Rosalie told me she was just meeting an old classmate, and I actually believed her.

Now that things were completely out between us, she laid it all on the table.

"Get lost, Mark. We're done. And just so you know, I'm about to marry the CEO of Swain Group. So, don't go around acting like you ever knew me. I'd be mortified!"

I snorted and composed myself. "Then let me congratulate you in advance on getting exactly what you wanted, Ms. Burke."

It was still anyone's guess who would inherit Swain Group. And I was more than ready to give my "beloved brother" Jerome a very special gift.

This time, I wasn't backing down. Whatever was mine, I was taking it back. All I wanted was to watch Rosalie drown in her own mess for a little while longer.

…

The day I returned to the Swain residence, Dad was seriously ill, lying in bed with every bit of color drained from his face.

Coughing hard, he managed to rasp, "Mark, you finally decided to come back."

Kneeling by his bed, I poured out everything I'd suffered through these past years.

Dad always responded to emotion more than anything else. That was how Jerome and his mother, Laura Jones, had driven Mom to her death and then stepped into her place in this house.

"Dad, just give me a year. I won't let you down."

He nodded in approval and immediately had his assistant set up a position for me at the Swain Group.

Laura's face drained with fury, her mouth opening then snapping shut again, while Jerome's face darkened and he said nothing.

My gaze snagged on his tie, that worldwide limited-edition piece Rosalie had bought. Clearly, things between them were moving fast.

Dad looked at me, relief written all over his face. "I'm just glad you're back. Swain Group was always meant to be yours in the end."

Jerome's expression soured. "Dad, Mark just got back. He doesn't even know how Swain Group runs yet. Maybe we should slow down?"

Laura jumped in right away. "Exactly. Jerome's been running the company all these years. Mark just got back. What if—"

Dad cut them off, his voice low and firm. "That's enough. I trust what Mark can do."

Watching Jerome and Laura deflate on the spot filled me with pure satisfaction.

In my past life, I refused to face Mom's death, and it gave Jerome and Laura the opening they needed to steal her estate and wreck my life.

This time, I wasn't letting them win. Every old score was coming due.

The moment I got back to Swain Group, I acted on what I remembered from my past life and bought the struggling digital media company I'd once told Rosalie to go after.

The minute Jerome found out, he came over and laughed in my face. "My dear Mark. Everyone's been calling you a business genius, so I was dying to see what you'd do. And this is it?

"You come back and waste money on some trashy little company? We may be rich, but Swain Group isn't your personal bonfire."

I looked up at him, unfazed, and didn't say a word. He wasn't this cocky for no reason.

Just the day before, he'd locked in a multibillion-dollar real estate deal. With tourism booming, he'd planned to turn the whole thing into an ecotourism hotspot.

Once everyone found out I'd bought this crappy little company, even the people who used to believe in me started giving me that look, like they didn't trust me anymore.

"A digital media company on its last legs is supposed to beat real estate? Especially on a project we've sunk nine figures into? Please. Looks like this newly returned Mr. Mark is all show and no substance."

"I'm still Team Mr. Jerome. Mr. Mark's been gone for ten years. How is he supposed to compete with Mr. Jerome, who's been studying business the right way since he was a kid?"

I tuned out the gossip and gave Jerome's cheek a light, confident pat. "My dear Jerome, I'm expecting great things from you, so don't let me down."

"Of course…"

The words died in his throat as the message landed. He was on the edge of losing it when Rosalie walked in, dressed head to toe in Chanel.

She froze when she saw me. "W-Why are you here? Don't tell me you knew I was coming and waited on purpose."

I gave a dry laugh. "Miss, do we even know each other?"

Jerome hurried over to her. "Rosalie, do you two know each other?"

Rosalie clearly hadn't expected me to cut her off that cleanly. Her expression flickered, and the color drained from her face. "No, Romy. I mistook him for someone else."

Jerome ran a hand through her hair and said with a mocking lilt, "Figures. Mark just got back. He barely knows anyone here and probably doesn't know much about business."

A flash of shock flickered in Rosalie's eyes, but she smoothed it away almost instantly.

Whispers broke out all around me, and people started giving me those side-eye looks. One by one, they edged over to Jerome until I was standing completely alone.

Jerome was basically mocking me and making me seem like some nobody who'd never seen the world—someone who was way beneath him and his elite circle.

What he didn't know was that even after all these years away from home, my business instincts still ran circles around his. After all, I was the one who dragged Burke Group back from the grave in my past life.

I was done looking at Jerome and Rosalie. I ignored the gossip, walked straight past them, and left.

…

The second I got home and unlocked my phone, a flood of WhatsApp messages popped up. I saw the name and immediately frowned.

Rosalie.

"Mark, I honestly didn't expect you to be the Swains' eldest son. But don't bother trying to go up against Jerome. You were just my useless little assistant, so don't drag Swain Group down with you.

"And with skills like yours, how do you expect to beat Romy? Just give up before you embarrass yourself further. I know you're into me, but I only love Romy.

"Even if you're back with the Swains, I'm not going to think any better of you."

Rosalie sounded like she had my best interests at heart, but every word was meant to put me down.

I ignored her completely and hit "block" without even thinking twice. It took her only a few minutes to realize she'd been blocked. Then she decided to call me directly.

I hesitated, then answered, purely for old times' sake.

The call had barely connected before she started screaming, "Mark Swain! Did you seriously block me?"

I sighed. "Ms. Burke, we agreed to go our separate ways, remember? What now? You regret it because you finally found out who I am?"

"Don't flatter yourself. Just don't come crying to me for help when you go bankrupt."

I snorted, my voice turning ice-cold. "Please. Do you even have 100 grand to your name? Maybe skip the holier-than-thou speeches if you're broke."

Right now, Burke Group was just an empty shell. In my past life, I was the one who dragged her through this exact crisis. This time around, there would be no rescue.

That was probably why she kept throwing herself at Jerome.