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.

"Shut up!" Rosalie snapped, totally losing it.

Just like I'd thought, Burke Group was already on its last legs, and now the only person who could still save it was the fake Burke heiress, Janet Burke.

After all, I'd gone up against her for Rosalie's sake in my past life. I knew better than anyone that Janet had what it took.

With that in mind, I decided to give Rosalie a heads-up. "For old times' sake, listen to me. Quit trying to drive Janet out. She's the only one who can still save Burke Group."

To my surprise, Rosalie only got angrier. "A fake heiress like her has no business staying at Burke Group!"

Before I could get another word out, she hung up.

Whatever. She'd dug her own grave.

Even so, I was honestly excited to see what Janet would do in this life. She was, after all, an opponent worth taking seriously.

…

By the next day, news that I'd temporarily taken over Swain Group was already trending online.

Someone had filmed what happened at the office yesterday and uploaded it. I knew instantly who'd done it.

Before long, the Internet was piling on.

"Ten years is more than enough to leave someone in the dust. Mark seriously thinks he can beat Jerome? The same guy he personally shipped overseas to study? What a joke."

Then one comment caught my attention.

"Is it just me, or is he actually the guy who used to simp for the Burkes' long-lost daughter they just found?"

"Nah, you've got it wrong. That's the Swain heir. Why would he be simping for her?"

I tuned out the online noise and focused on Swain Group.

Rosalie even posted a bunch of photos of herself tagging along behind Jerome at the construction site.

The two of them started rubbing their relationship in everyone's face, hinting over and over that I was only targeting Jerome because I couldn't have her.

Not long after that, news broke that Janet had been ousted from Burke Group. It looked like Rosalie was hell-bent on self-destructing, and there was no stopping her.

Janet was done with the whole mess and decided to look out for herself instead.

With Jerome backing her up, Rosalie took over Burke Group from Edward and immediately started talking big online.

"Burke Group may be struggling right now, but I'm confident I can turn things around. The man I love is standing right behind me, and I know he'll always have my back."

While all that was going on, I focused on visiting reliable factories around the country to talk business.

I also had the digital media company bring in the diligent, up-and-coming bloggers I remembered from my past life, and I even went out to rural areas to check out agricultural products.

All the running around had left me a lot more tan. Before long, I was landing one good contract after another and signing on to renewable energy and nursing home projects.

Everything I was working on belonged to industries that were fading.

Meanwhile, Jerome and Rosalie were busy building a fancy coffee franchise and pouring ridiculous amounts of money into real estate. She trusted him blindly.

She threw in what little her family had left and even put Burke Group up as collateral so they could take out more loans. Edward collapsed on the spot in rage, and after that, there was no stopping her.

One year later, my short-video platform had cleared the 100-million-user mark, so I rode the wave and rolled out livestream shopping.

Capital rushed in the second they saw the potential, everyone scrambling for a slice. The factories and agricultural lines I worked with started booming on live streams.

Even tourism changed as short videos took off. People stopped packing into big cities and started chasing trips out in nature instead.

Around then, the vacation real estate project Jerome and Rosalie were running together blew up in their faces.