Just before my husband took his last breath, his trembling hand clutched mine.

“Sophia, I know you don’t care about material possessions. Leave the company shares, the properties, and the trust funds to Chloe. She’s too fragile, and without money to protect her, I won’t be at peace. I couldn’t give her a proper title in this life—consider it my compensation.”

He glanced toward the doorway as three teenagers walked in.

“These are the children I had with our housekeeper. You’ve always been generous and kind-hearted, so I’m entrusting you to raise them as your own.”

He went on in meticulous detail—how I could work during the day and take a night job as a cleaner, making sure the three children grew up to be successful. Otherwise, he’d never rest in peace.

Looking at the shameless Nathan Brooks, I knew he hated me—hated that I, the daughter of the Carter family, had taken the position of Mrs. Brooks, forcing his foster sister into a life of misfortune, six failed marriages, and now humiliating me publicly with the housekeeper’s three illegitimate children.

I died of a sudden heart attack brought on by his cruelty, and those three illegitimate children smoothly seized the old family estate my parents had left me.

When I opened my eyes again, I was eighteen—right at the moment when our two families were arranging our marriage.

This time, I brought home my sworn enemy, knelt before my parents, and asked to change my fiancé.

Nathan went mad, dropping to his knees before me.

“Sophia, how can you change our engagement? Didn’t you promise to love me forever?”

As I knelt beside Ethan Reed, my father’s face turned blue with rage.

“Sophia, you can marry anyone, but you will never marry into such a heartless family!”

“Nathan is such a good boy,” my mother tried to argue. “He’s liked you since childhood, and he even saved your life. How can you break off the engagement?”

I looked straight into my father’s furious eyes, memories of my life with Nathan flashing through my mind. He was always in a hurry, never had a word to say to me, and even when he came home late at night, he’d sleep alone in his study.

Once, I went to the study with my blanket, only to be met with his scorn.

“So desperate for a man? Too bad I’m not interested in a vicious woman like you.”

“You pushed your own cousin into icy water, leaving Chloe too weak to bear children. You forced me to marry you, made her lose the one she loved, and left her heartbroken for life.”

“You’re such a vile woman that even looking at you disgusts me.”

Nathan cherished Chloe for a lifetime and hated me for just as long. He never once touched me, and for the sake of having heirs, he fathered triplets with the housekeeper.

Yet I had been lost in childhood affections, believing that one day he’d realize the truth and love me again.

The memory of those years spent humbling myself made my body tremble.

Looking at my father’s reddened eyes, I straightened my back and said firmly,

“Dad, I know exactly what I’m doing. I believe Ethan isn’t a man without loyalty or conscience.”

“The Reed family may have strayed in the past, but Ethan and I will not. We will revive their medical traditions together.”

“If you don’t let me marry Ethan, then I won’t marry anyone for the rest of my life.”

The Reed family had once profited from national hardship, amassing wealth but earning public disdain, their name tarnished in Riverdale City.

But only I knew that after my death, it was Ethan who drove away the illegitimate children, reclaimed my family estate, gave me a grand funeral, and brought fresh flowers to my grave every day, speaking of the love he’d held for me.

Seeing my resolve, my father slumped into a chair and said weakly,

“Fine. If you insist on marrying this brat, then let him prove himself first. Unless he accomplishes something real, I won’t agree to you joining the Reed family.”

Leaving the old family estate, Ethan’s voice trembled with excitement.

“Sophia, are you serious? You really want to marry me?”

I tapped his forehead playfully. “Silly, I’ve already sworn to my father—if I’m not marrying you, then who else?”

Ethan pulled me into his arms immediately, his voice brimming with emotion.

“Just wait, Sophia. I won’t let you down. I’m going home right now to tell my dad the good news—you wait for me to come and formally propose!”

He ran off in a flurry, glancing back at me again and again, calling out with joy.

I was still smiling at his goofy demeanor when Nathan suddenly strode toward me, his face dark purple with rage. Grabbing my arm, he roared,

“Sophia Carter, are you trying to hurt Chloe again?”

“You know the Reed family’s reputation is terrible, and yet you still want Ethan to come propose? Do you have to ruin Chloe’s life?”

Nathan yanked at my collar and dragged me toward the house.

“You’re going to tell your uncle right now that Chloe can’t marry into the Reed family—that you’ll take her place instead.”

Ignoring my stumbling steps, he pulled me along urgently, terrified Chloe might be given to someone else if he were a moment too late.

He was so afraid—afraid that in this life, he might lose her again.

I stared at his still-young, slender back as he dragged me along. At this point in time, he was still an unknown illegitimate son of the Brooks family—not yet the powerful CEO who could command Riverdale City.

In my past life, the laughter of those three illegitimate children had drowned me like a tide, leaving even my throat tasting of salt.

As we crossed the threshold, I stumbled and fell hard to the ground. Nathan turned with a cold, murderous glare.

“Don’t even think about playing tricks. If you ruin Chloe’s life today, I’ll ruin you.”

Looking at my scraped knee, I sat there and let out a hollow laugh, my voice hoarse.

“Nathan, my father has already agreed to the Carter–Reed marriage. You can’t stop it.”

Then, in a low murmur, I added,

“Don’t worry, the one marrying into their family isn’t your precious darling, it’s—”

Before I could finish, Nathan grabbed me by the neck, lifting me so my face was inches from his.

“You’re just jealous of Chloe, aren’t you? You can’t stand her, so you want to push her to her death?”

“Why didn’t you just die that day on the frozen pond? I must have been blind to save the wrong person, letting Chloe suffer from the cold for the rest of her life.”

I froze in shock, disbelief crashing through me. The faith I had clung to all these years shattered in an instant—he hadn’t even meant to save me.

That so-called life-saving debt… was nothing but a pathetic mistake.

A soft, delicate voice interrupted,

“Nathan, please let go of my sister. She’s your fiancée—you can’t treat her like this.”

Nathan’s expression instantly softened. He released me and turned to help Chloe.

With a sharp crack, I collapsed without warning, my forehead smashing against the low wooden stool. Warm blood gushed down my face.

Through my blurred vision, I saw Nathan holding Chloe tightly in his arms.

She pushed at him shyly, but the glance she cast at me was full of disdain and contempt.

When I was ten, Chloe had secretly taken me ice skating, only to shove me toward the center of the lake. In my panic, I grabbed her foot, and we both slid to where the ice was thin, falling into the freezing water together.

Nathan had jumped in without hesitation, pulling me out first.

Because of the delay, Chloe had suffered from the cold, leaving her weak and sickly ever since.

From that moment on, Nathan’s gaze toward me changed—full of hostility and resentment—while all his gentleness and care were reserved for Chloe.

Now I finally understood—why he had risked his life to save me only to despise me afterward. The person Nathan wanted to save had always been his foster sister.

But that day was a holiday, and we’d both worn the same floral winter coat. He had simply mistaken me for her.

I wiped the blood from my forehead with a derisive smile. Whatever feelings I’d once held for Nathan were gone.

“Nathan, I’m the one marrying Ethan Reed. From this moment on, we go our separate ways.”

My steely gaze and resolute tone made him falter for an instant, but then his face twisted into a sneer.

“Separate ways? Sophia Carter, what kind of game are you playing? Trying to lure me in by pulling away? Or hiding something under all this?”

“I’m telling you now—if you think you can secretly convince your uncle to marry Chloe to the Reed family, I won’t let you get away with it.”

I looked at him calmly.

“Won’t let me? And what exactly do you plan to do about it? Keep sneaking around with Chloe, leave me to live as a widow in name only, father triplets with the housekeeper, then leave everything you own to your precious Chloe—only to make me raise your illegitimate children after you die?”

Nathan froze, shock flashing across his face. And in that moment, I knew—he had been reborn too.

So what? In this life, whether he was a cat, a dog, or a king, he had nothing to do with me. I no longer owed him a lifetime for saving me. This time, we were destined to be strangers.

A flicker of guilt crossed his expression, but he straightened his neck and said stubbornly,

“All of this is what you owe Chloe. I’m just helping you atone for your sins.”

I laughed coldly at both of them.

“Owe her? When my aunt died and my uncle planned to sell her off to some man in the mountains as a child bride, I cried for three days, begging my father to pay to bring her home and take her in as a foster daughter.”

“I gave her the same food, the same clothes as me—everything identical. I even let her be in the same class as me so she wouldn’t feel out of place.”

“What exactly do I owe her, Nathan? That my boyfriend should have saved her first? Or that I let her push me toward the center of the frozen pond, sending us both under the ice?”

Chloe panicked and suddenly dropped to her knees before me.

“Sis, it’s all my fault. I’m the one who made you and Nathan fight. He only worries about me because of my poor health. Please don’t be mad at him—take it out on me instead. I’ll apologize and make it up to you for him.”

She suddenly grabbed my hand and slapped herself across the face with it.

Her cheeks flushed red before she began coughing violently, clutching her chest until her face turned pale and her body trembled.

She did look pitiful and wronged.

Nathan immediately scooped her into his arms, rubbing her chest to soothe her.

“All right, all right, it’s my fault. Don’t get so worked up.”

Then he shot me a vicious glare.

“Isn’t all of this because of you? If you hadn’t forced me into this marriage, would I have treated you that way? Isn’t this all your own doing?”

“Have you ever thought about Chloe? She’s lost the love of her life, forced again and again to marry men she doesn’t love, only to end up divorced—do you know how much pain that causes her?”

I tilted my chin upward, forcing back the ache in my throat, but the pain in my chest spread wide.

Yes, I had been a fool—rescuing a snake and believing I could tame a wolf with kindness.

That childish bond had shackled me for a lifetime, even costing the Carter family’s fortune to help an illegitimate son rise to power.

The humiliation of those identical triplets, the empire I’d built becoming a mistress’s retirement fund—this time, I saw it all clearly.

I looked at Nathan slowly.

“You keep saying I forced you to marry me, that I made Chloe lose her true love. Then tell me—why didn’t you refuse back then?”