After Bianca Vale and I were kidnapped at the same time, I watched Evan Pierce choose her.

Even the kidnapper stared in surprise. After a long silence, he took off his jacket and draped it over my shoulders.

“How did you end up even worse off than me? Your own husband won’t save you. Damn it... why won’t this rope come loose?”

In the end, he bit through the knot with his teeth and mumbled,

“Forget it. You don’t have to go down with me. Just remember to run.”

With that, he shoved me toward Evan and jumped from the high-rise, resigned to his fate.

I thought I had been saved, only to meet Evan’s ice-cold eyes.

“Only if you die can Bianca become legitimate.

“Clara Shaw, you should have stepped aside a long time ago.”

When I opened my eyes again, I was back at the engagement party where Evan and I first became engaged.

Ignoring the depth of feeling in his eyes, I walked straight to the corner, where Miles Langford was focused on playing a match-three game.

“Mr. Langford, how about we discuss a partnership?”

After all, I was the one who had once lifted Evan to the top.

Putting Miles in that same seat now would not be difficult.

Miles wore an ill-fitting suit, his eyes wide and round.

He looked at me in confusion, then pointed at himself, his mouth forming a perfect O.

“Huh?

“Me?”

I bent down and sat in the armchair across from him.

“Mr. Langford, you’ve been handling Harbor City’s fuel trades all this time, haven’t you?

“Don’t you want to scale it up?”

Miles froze, his finger still resting on his phone screen.

“You... you’ve got the wrong person, don’t you?”

As if he had only just come back to himself, he straightened in his seat.

He tried hard to fix his tie, but only made it more crooked.

All the while, he kept sneaking glances at me, a thin layer of sweat forming on his forehead.

“Clara.”

There was urgency in Evan’s voice.

He strode over to my side, his brows drawn tight.

“You’ve never cared for Langford Group. Why the sudden change of heart?”

He paused, then lowered his voice.

“Whatever this is, we can talk in private. Don’t make a scene here.”

I did not look at him.

My gaze stayed on the man sitting across from me.

“I never paid much attention before. Now that I look at it, Mr. Langford’s business is actually doing quite well.”

My voice was calm.

At the same time, I quietly avoided the hand Evan reached out to grab mine.

His hand froze in midair, and his face went slightly pale.

But he recovered quickly and gave a soft laugh.

“Clara, you’re joking, right? Everyone in Harbor City knows Miles is just...”

Evan did not finish.

The whispers and laughter around us slowly rose in his place.

“Mr. Pierce is still trying to save the Langfords some dignity. He’s just an idiot.”

“Exactly. Just a useless son the Langfords keep around for show.”

Miles stopped moving.

His head lowered, and I could not see his expression.

The veins stood out faintly on the back of the hand clenched around his tie.

He had never been good with words. He could never win an argument.

In my previous life, on my wedding day, Bianca deliberately ruined my wedding dress.

While everyone stood by and watched coldly, only Miles silently took off his jacket and draped it over my shoulders.

His face was filled with concern, but he turned red from holding himself back and still failed to say a single word.

“He only had a high fever when he was little.”

My voice was not loud, but the surrounding chatter fell silent at once.

“Who says that makes him an idiot?”

Miles jerked his head up, disbelief trembling in his eyes.

Evan’s face darkened completely.

“Clara, do you have any idea what you’re saying?”

I lifted my glass and took a small sip without answering.

Miles was still staring at me blankly. His lips parted, as if he wanted to say something.

But he was too anxious. When he stood, his foot caught on the coffee table.

He pitched straight forward.

A dull thud sounded, followed by a burst of laughter around us.

“Is Mr. Langford bowing to her?

“Still the same idiot after all...”

Miles braced his hands on the floor and tried to get up, his ears red enough to bleed.

He said nothing. He only clenched his teeth hard.

I stood, walked over, and held out my hand to him.

He froze, looking up at me.

“Get up,” I said.

His lips moved, but in the end, he said nothing. He simply placed his hand in mine.

His palm was hot and lightly damp with sweat.

He did not dare grip me too tightly. His hand only rested loosely in my palm.

Evan finally lost patience. He strode over and clamped a hand around my wrist.

“Clara, enough! Today is the day we announce our engagement. What are you trying to do?”

His grip was hard, and panic finally showed in his eyes.

Of course I knew why he was panicking.

Shaw capital was the key every family in Harbor City was fighting for.

Whoever I backed would take the chair of the Chamber of Commerce.

Just then, the doors to the banquet hall burst open.

Evan’s face went completely rigid.

The moment I saw who had come in, the rage from my previous life swept through me again like wildfire.

I looked at Evan and gave a cold laugh.

“Mr. Pierce, I don’t joke.

“And there’s one more thing I may as well tell you now.

“As of today, I, Clara, am officially ending my engagement to Evan.”

Evan glanced at me in surprise, his brows drawing together.

But soon, his attention shifted back to Bianca, who had just walked into the hall.

“Clara, stop throwing a tantrum.”

His eyes stayed fixed on Bianca. He did not even turn his head.

“Bianca is just someone I trained with. She only came to the party tonight to clear her head.”

Looking at how justified he seemed, I almost laughed.

Ten years of growing up under the same mentor, close enough that Evan had to invite her even to his own engagement party.

In my previous life, it had happened on this very day.

Bianca had said, all soft and fragile, that she did not feel well. Evan stayed by her side the entire night.

And I, his actual fiancée, became a joke in front of everyone.

“Clara?”

Evan called my name tentatively. When I still said nothing, he simply walked straight toward the entrance.

His steps were light, and there was a smile on his face that even he did not seem to notice. He slipped an arm naturally around Bianca’s shoulders.

Bianca stood beside him, gentle and understanding, the picture of delicate warmth.

“Clara,” she called softly from a distance, giving me a small nod.

Evan brought her over. Then, as if something had just occurred to him, he said,

“Oh, right. Bianca is highly qualified. She’d be a good fit as my assistant.

“You won’t need to worry about the company anymore. With Bianca helping me, things will be easier for you too.”

Every word meant the same thing.

He was afraid I would interfere with his business.

I looked at the trace of tension in his eyes. He was probably afraid I would refuse, afraid I would damage the precious bond between him and Bianca.

I lifted my glass and smiled as if it had nothing to do with me.

“Sure. Do whatever you want.”

Evan froze, as if he had not expected me to agree so easily.

“Then...” he began carefully.

“Bianca and I will go dance first. Is that all right?”

He was trying to provoke me.

In my previous life, my eyes would have reddened at that. I would have begged him, humbly, not to leave.

Now, I only found it funny.

“Your legs work, don’t they?”

Evan’s expression shifted.

In the end, he only gave a cold snort, then turned and left with Bianca in his arms.

I ignored him.

Just then, a timid voice sounded beside my ear.

“Wow. You’re really good at shutting people down. Can you teach me?”

Warm breath brushed my ear, carrying a faint, crisp scent of mint.

I turned my head and found myself looking straight into a pair of bright, shining eyes.

At some point, Miles had leaned in close, his face full of admiration.

“...Did no one ever teach you about personal space?”

I was helpless.

He froze, then looked down at his own feet.

As if suddenly understanding, he took half a step back and scratched his head.

“Oh... right.

“I just wanted to learn how you talk.”

Then he leaned his head forward again.

“That way Victor won’t keep scolding me, saying I can’t even speak properly.”

When he said it, there was no resentment in his eyes, only a little hurt.

Like a puppy that had been kicked and still did not know what it had done wrong.

Something in my chest suddenly ached.

If Victor had not kept suppressing him all these years, Miles would never have been left with no way to rise.

In the end, he had even become a knife in Victor’s hand, planning the kidnapping in my previous life.

But right now, he knew nothing about any of that.

“It’s fine,” I said, my voice softening. “I can teach you.”

Miles’s eyes lit up at once. He was just about to say something when a gentle voice cut in.

“Clara.”

Bianca came up to me with a glass of wine, smiling with gentle elegance.

“I’d like to toast you.

“Wishing you and Evan a happy marriage and a lifetime together.”

Her posture was graceful, but there was a flash of provocation in her eyes.

I did not take the glass.

“Ms. Vale,” I said, looking at her and enunciating every word, “you already got what you wanted. Drop the act.”

Bianca’s smile froze.

“Clara!”

Evan rushed over at some point and grabbed Bianca by the shoulders.

“Stop being so petty. Bianca came over to toast you out of kindness. What kind of attitude is this?”

As he spoke, he reached out to push me away, as if terrified I would hurt her.

The room was full of people watching the drama, and not one of them came to help me.

They were only afraid the scene was not big enough.

I instinctively tensed.

But before I could react, a slim figure suddenly stepped in front of me.

Miles spread his arms and shielded me behind him, his back held straight.

“D-Don’t bully her!”

Evan froze. He looked Miles up and down as if he had just seen the biggest joke in the world.

“Who do you think you are? Don’t tell me you actually think you matter.”

Low laughter spread through the crowd.

Miles’s ears flushed red at once, but he did not move aside.

“An idiot playing the hero now?”

Evan’s tone grew sharper.

“Even your own brother looks down on you. Why come here pretending to be some big shot?

“What, standing in front of a woman proves you aren’t slow?”

Bianca stood nearby, covering her mouth as she laughed softly.

Miles’s chest rose and fell hard. He opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something.

But the words jammed in his throat and would not come out.

In the end, he could only clench his fists and suddenly raise his arm.

“I’ll hit you!”

Bianca screamed at just the right moment and hid behind Evan.

The hall dissolved into chaos.

Taking advantage of the commotion, I grabbed Miles by the sleeve and pulled him outside.

He bristled the whole way, muttering under his breath, but still followed me obediently.

Behind us, Evan’s furious voice rang out.

“Clara, if you walk out now, I’ll end the partnership between our families immediately!”

I did not look back.

Pierce Group’s energy division had been weak for years. It had survived these past two years entirely on Shaw capital.

End the contract?

Perfect.

Langford Group could fill the gap.

On the way back to my office, Miles kept his head down.

His hair was a little mussed. One cuff of his shirt had been scuffed open, revealing a scrape on his elbow.

Only after we entered the office did he speak in a muffled voice.

“I’m sorry.

“I ruined your engagement party.” He paused, his throat shifting.

“I know you... really like him.”

He said those last few words very quietly, with a faint loneliness I could not quite name.

My hand paused just as I was reaching for the first aid kit.

Like Evan?

I gave a faint smile and kept taking out the iodine and cotton swabs.

“No need to apologize. I should be thanking you.”

Without him, I truly would not have known how to bring today’s performance to an end.

Miles looked up, confusion in his eyes.

He was just about to speak when my phone chimed.

I glanced at the screen. Bianca had posted on Instagram.

In the photo, a jade bangle gleamed on her wrist.

The caption read, “Thank you for the gift, Evan. It’s beautiful.”

I recognized that bangle.

It was the Pierce matriarch token.

In my previous life, Evan had given it to her behind my back on our wedding day.

It seemed that in this life, he was truly anxious.

Anxious for me to go back to him.

Anxious for me to lower my head and make peace.

Expressionless, I blocked them both.

When I looked up, Miles was still standing where he was.

His head remained lowered as he lightly brushed the fluffy fringe on the sofa.

Looking at him like that, an idea suddenly came to me.

“However,” I said slowly.

“You did embarrass me today.”

Miles jerked his head up, panic flashing through his eyes.

“Would you like to think about how you’re going to make it up to me?”