After that day, Scotty left our household and went with Maggie.

He was the son of our housekeeper and was practically a childhood playmate of mine. After the housekeeper passed away, he would occasionally work for our family.

We had never treated him unfairly in the slightest, either.

Before he left, out of our friendship, I gave him a case of his favorite liquor.

What I never expected was that my goodwill only sparked Maggie's anger. This Maggie no longer had the calm and steady demeanor she had once carried in her previous life.

Instead, she had a sharp, reckless arrogance of someone who had returned to her youth and reunited with the one thing she could never let go.

She stormed into my office and coldly accused, "Aaron, I know that you're upset that I chose Scotty the other day, but that doesn't give you the right to ruin him!

"Given our past relationship, I'll let it go this time. I really hope you won't continue to test me!"

Looking at her furious expression, I discreetly bit down on my lip until the metallic taste of blood spread across my tongue.

He truly was the one thing she couldn't get over. The 40 years we'd spent together in the previous life were now worth nothing.

After hastily throwing out a few more threats at me, Maggie stormed back out, not even giving me a chance to ask or explain anything.

Half an hour later, my assistant, Julian Forren, reported what he'd found back to me.

As it turned out, Scotty had drunk the liquor I'd given him and ended up in the hospital from an allergic reaction.

I was very confused. The liquor I'd given Scotty was his favorite brand. How could he suddenly be allergic to it? Besides, in my previous life, he'd secretly drunk from that case of liquor countless times.

And yet, he'd somehow ended up in the hospital only after I gave it to him?

I had Julian prepare the car so I could go see Scotty and retrieve the remaining liquor for testing, as well as to explain things.

However, the moment I stepped into his hospital room, Scotty immediately sank to his knees in front of me, tears welling up in his eyes. He grabbed the hem of my shirt and pleaded in a broken voice, "Sir, I know you like Maggie too, but feelings can't be forced. Maggie and I truly love each other. Please, I'm begging you—don't break us apart!"

I froze, my mind going blank for a second. But quickly enough, I realized what was happening.

Behind those teary eyes, I caught a flicker of smugness. He was framing me on purpose. And the goal was obvious. He wanted Maggie to see how "cruel" I was.

As expected, Maggie burst into the room and violently grabbed my arm. Her eyes blazed with rage as she snarled at me, her words forced through clenched teeth, "I just warned you, Aaron Tilman, and you're already trying to hurt Scotty? Do you really think I won't do anything to you?"

Looking at the woman who now seemed to hate me with every fiber of her being, my chest felt like it was being stabbed by a dozen blades.

I forced down the tears welling in my eyes, took a deep breath, and defended myself.

"I didn't hurt Scotty. I only came here to take back the liquor I gave him so I can send it for testing. If there really is something wrong with it, I'd be happy to compensate him."

Maggie opened her mouth, and for a brief moment, panic flashed in her eyes as she released my wrist. After spending 40 years together in the previous life, she knew exactly what kind of person I was.

But Scotty's sniffles quickly hardened her expression again.

"Stop pretending to be the nice guy here. I'll investigate this myself. You'd better pray that I don't find out you deliberately tried to harm Scotty!"

I nodded calmly and turned to leave without saying another word.

Before leaving, I had someone at the hospital look into the cause of Scotty's allergic reaction.

The purplish handprint on my wrist seemed to overlap with the one from my previous life. It was as if it was constantly reminding me to let go of Maggie. She was no longer my wife who'd spent 40 years by my side.

The next day, I spent the entire morning in the office dealing with contracts.

Julian brought over the investigation report from the hospital that I had requested the day before. The results showed that Scotty's allergens were completely different from any ingredients found in the liquor. His reaction was clearly caused by accidentally ingesting peanuts.

After reading the report, I had my answer.

I thought back to Scotty's strange behavior yesterday. I no longer cared whether he had truly eaten peanuts by accident or not.

Since the liquor I gave him wasn't the problem, from this point on, the two of them would have nothing to do with me.

But just as I was trying my best to cut off all ties with Maggie, it wasn't long before she came looking for me.

I knew why she was here. According to the timeline, Sinise Group would be on the verge of bankruptcy at this point. The company was facing cash flow issues, suppliers were pressing for payment, employee salaries needed to be paid, and bank loans had to be repaid… Everything was hitting all at once.

In my previous life, after Maggie and I got married, the Tilman family lent Sinise Group a large sum of money, helping her survive the crisis. Later, with my help, she secured a major project, and only then did Sinise Group finally turn things around.

But this time, she didn't have my help, so she naturally found herself stuck at every turn.

When she came to see me, she brought me some tacos—my favorite from my previous life—and a cup of lemonade.

"I passed by a taco stand and remembered you loved eating these, so I bought some for you on the way," she said.

I stared at her for a long time. Only when she started to look uneasy did I finally speak.

"You must have remembered wrong. I never liked eating tacos."

Her entire body trembled as if she'd been startled.

At this point in my previous life, I truly had never eaten that kind of food. It was only after marrying her that I started living frugally, trying to stretch every penny. The inexpensive yet delicious tacos then became a staple we had whenever we went on dates.

After a long silence, she forced a stiff smile.

"Then I probably remembered wrong. But Aaron, you should try this. It tastes pretty good."

I remained expressionless and just waved my hand, motioning for her to take it away.

"You should take it back. I can't stand the smell."

She froze, standing there awkwardly with the bag in her hands, not knowing what to do.

In the past, I never would have spoken to her like this. As much as I disliked it, I still would have taken it just to spare her embarrassment.

In my previous life, I had changed all my interests and preferences just to accommodate her and so that we would have more things in common.

But even on her deathbed, the person she cared about the most was Scotty. Only then did I realize how foolish I'd been.

"If there's nothing else, please leave," I said flatly. "After all, you're from Sinise Group. It won't look good if you stay at Tilman Group's offices for too long."

Hearing the dismissal, Maggie stepped right up to me and leaned forward slightly, her expression complicated.

"Aaron, are you mad at me because I chose Scotty?"

I didn't say anything.

After a long pause, she answered her own question, staring at me blankly.

"You must be very mad," she continued. "But Aaron, you don't understand. I didn't want things to be like this either. I just didn't want to miss out on him again. I didn't want to live with regrets for the rest of my life anymore!"

I knew exactly what she meant. She didn't want to sacrifice herself again to be with me this time.

In the previous life, being with me had been a lifelong regret for her.

I plastered a faint smile onto my face, but inside, it felt like my heart was riddled with puncture wounds.

"You don't have to explain anything to me. What's happened has happened—I stopped caring about it a long time ago."

Maggie let out a sigh of relief.

"In that case, why don't we have dinner tonight?" she asked slowly, her tone laced with guilt. "It's been a long time since we've had a meal together, just the two of us."

It had indeed been a long time. Ever since she chose Scotty in this life, we'd never eaten together.

In our previous life, as husband and wife, we basically ate together every day. And because of her sensitive stomach, I would often cook meals that she could digest more easily.

But I had no desire to do anything that meaningless in this lifetime.

"No need. There's a lot going on at the company. I don't want to waste time."

I paused. I recalled her dying wish from the previous life, and the question I had been holding back surfaced again.

"Maggie, how did you know—"

However, just as I started asking the question, her phone suddenly rang. Scotty's voice came through, inviting her to have dinner with him.

Maggie froze for a second, then glanced at me instinctively. After a long silence, she ultimately agreed.

Meanwhile, I swallowed the rest of my question back down.

After Maggie left that day, I didn't see her again for quite a while. I only heard that she had been running between banks and loan companies, trying to secure financing.

But it didn't seem to be going well. No one was a fool, after all. Sinise Group was now in decline, so very few people dared to take such a big risk by lending them money.

After I finished handling some contracts, Julian reminded me about an annual charity gala I was supposed to attend that evening.

…

When I arrived, the venue was already packed with guests.

A familiar figure was busily weaving through the crowd.

In my previous life, because Sinise Group had received funding from the Tilman family, Maggie and I hadn't attended this charity gala. Instead, we were busy dealing with company matters.

This time, it seemed like she had run out of options and was planning to seek help at this event.

I'd just taken my seat when several business partners came over to greet me.

Maggie noticed me, too. Her footsteps faltered for a second, but she still walked over.

"Aaron, you look really dashing tonight."

I was wearing a light blue suit, looking confident and enthusiastic. It was the kind of boldness I'd never shown in my previous life, where I'd only been careful and restrained all the time.

"Of course Mr. Tilman is dashing. The money spent on him is more than ordinary people can earn in a lifetime. It really makes people envious," a male voice chimed in.

Scotty had followed behind Maggie.

I naturally caught the jealousy in his tone. I looked at him coldly, not knowing where all his resentment toward me came from.

In the past, I tolerated him out of consideration for our childhood friendship, but now, I went ahead and mocked mercilessly, "I can spend money, but I can make it too. That's better than someone who only knows how to spend but not how to earn."

As I spoke, I took a slow sip of my wine.

"Also, you've already left the Tilman family with Maggie. Don’t pretend you know me so well. You and I have nothing to do with each other anymore."

Scotty was rendered speechless. Unable to argue back, he could only glare at me in resentment.

Maggie frowned slightly, but because of where we were, she didn't say anything.

The charity auction soon began.

At first, the items were just small, ordinary items, and I casually raised my bidding paddle a few times. But every time I placed a bid, Scotty immediately followed with a higher price.

His behavior honestly made me laugh in annoyance.

"It looks like Sinise Group isn't short on funds after all," I said lightly. "You hardly seem bothered by Mr. Pipes bidding so aggressively."

Maggie didn't even look at me. She just continued to gaze indulgently at Scotty as she remarked, "We're all here for charity, Aaron. Don't be so petty."

I scoffed coldly and didn't say anything else.

It wasn't until the final item appeared that she finally looked up. It was a simple dress, likely from the early 1900s.

The auctioneer had barely finished introducing the item when Maggie impatiently made a high bid, clearly determined to win it.

That was when I figured out why she had done everything she could to attend this auction.

The dress was a personal item left behind by the matriarch of the Ramsey family—one of the country's most prestigious families.

In my previous life, the person who had won this dress later built connections with the Ramseys and made a fortune.

It seemed like this time, Maggie wanted to use this dress to get in with the Ramseys. Too bad for her, I wanted it as well.

Without hesitation, I made a higher bid.

Maggie looked at me in disbelief. "Aaron, you're going to compete with me for this dress?"

I smirked and returned her earlier words to her, word for word.

"We're all here for charity. Don't be so petty."

Scotty, sitting next to her, immediately exploded and cursed at me nonstop. But no matter how much Maggie raised the bid, I steadily outbid her.

In the end, when she could no longer keep up, she lost it and roared, "Aaron Tilman! This dress is useless to you! Only I know its true value!"