Daniel Carter and I spent ten years as a couple bound only by hatred.

My father was driven to bankruptcy and suicide because of him; his mother suffered a stroke from anger I caused.

Everyone thought we despised each other completely.

But in the car accident, he gave his life to save mine.

In his final moments, he clutched my hand tightly and said:

“Emma Scott, if there’s a next life, please don’t entangle yourself with me again.”

His mother cursed me as a jinx.

Friends said I killed him—and I believed it too.

Not long after Daniel’s death, I ended my life in a bathtub.

When I opened my eyes again, my father was asking me to choose between the Carter family and the Hughes family for marriage.

This time, I decided not to pursue Daniel.

He laid out two photographs.

One was of Daniel Carter, the boy I had secretly loved since childhood.

The other was Adrian Hughes, the most powerful man in Seattle.

Without hesitation, I picked Adrian’s photo.

“Him,” I said.

My father was stunned.

“Emma, haven’t you loved Daniel since you were little? Why would you choose Adrian Hughes? Don’t you know he’s crippled?”

I traced Adrian’s features on the photo and smiled faintly.

“I know.”

Adrian was once the pride of Seattle, until an accident left him in a wheelchair. Rumors claimed his body was ruined, that he’d never have children.

But in my past life, when I tried to take my own life, it was Adrian who broke down the bathroom door, who carried me out as if possessed.

After I died, he ignored his family’s objections, dressed me in a wedding gown, and held a ceremony with my lifeless body.

Even when my lips were pale and ugly, he kissed them with devotion.

Perhaps his sincerity moved the heavens.

For I was reborn.

My father looked worried.

“Emma, are you just trying to spite Daniel? You can wait—marriage is serious. Once you choose, there’s no turning back.”

“I’m not spiting anyone. From family standing alone, the Hughes family is wealthier than ten Carters. They are far more qualified to be tied to the Scotts.”

“Otherwise, Father, you would never have placed Adrian’s photo before me.”

He nodded slowly.

“Very well. Just remember, don’t regret this.”

Regret?

The only regret would be marrying Daniel again.

In my past life, when our marriage was announced, Daniel’s true love Isabella Reed left the country that same day—and died in a plane crash.

From then on, Daniel blamed me for her death.

To avenge Isabella, he drugged me, killed our first child, destroyed my father’s company, and drove him to suicide.

For ten years, we were bound in pure hatred, tormenting each other day and night.

I thought Daniel loathed me.

Yet in the moment of life and death, his instinct was to save me.

So this time, I would grant his wish.

I would give him back to his beloved Isabella—

and cut all ties.

As I left my father’s office, I ran into Daniel.

My fingers clenched unconsciously.

He caught sight of the photo in my hand and frowned.

“Emma Scott, did you tell your father you wanted to marry me again? Can’t you stop being so annoying?”

We had grown up together. Both our fathers wanted me to marry into the Carter family. But Daniel always resisted the idea.

This time, he wouldn’t have to.

Because I was no longer marrying him.

“You said you wanted to go skiing, right? I bought us tickets overseas. In a couple of days, I’ll go with you.”

Had it not been for the tragedy of our past lives, I might have been thrilled by his rare invitation, unable to sleep from joy.

In my past life, Daniel was injured while skiing and missed Isabella’s last birthday. He resented me until his dying breath.

I shook my head.

“No. If your father is upset, just tell him it was my idea not to go.”

Daniel froze, surprised at my refusal. Then he sneered.

“So you’ve learned to play hard-to-get? Whatever tricks you’ve picked up, I’ll never fall for you.”

Seeing me bow my head in silence, he frowned again.

“Upset just because I scolded you? If you want to ski, just say it. I’ll pick you up in two days.”

He was always like this—dangling false hope just when I resolved to stop loving him.

I gave a bitter smile and raised my head calmly.

“Daniel, I don’t want to go.”

This time, I wouldn’t repeat the same mistake.

His face darkened.

“Emma Scott, you say no now, but later you’ll run to my father complaining about me.”

So that was the reason for his rare compromises—fear of my “complaints.”

Before I could respond, Isabella suddenly appeared.

She looked startled, then clung timidly behind Daniel.

“Miss Scott, I didn’t mean to intrude. Don’t be angry. Daniel left his tie at my house last night. I just came to return it.”

Her fingers wound the tie around and around, her smile taunting as she glanced at me.

“Daniel, explain to Miss Scott quickly. Don’t let her misunderstand.”

But Daniel snapped, furious:

“Why should I explain anything to her?”

“Emma Scott, how dare you bully Isabella in front of me! Just because she comes from nothing, you’ve looked down on her since childhood. Is this the Scott family’s idea of manners—using power to oppress others?!”

See? I didn’t even need to act. In his eyes, I was already guilty beyond redemption.

When Daniel was twelve, his family’s housekeeper died. Out of gratitude for her years of service, the Carters adopted her daughter—Isabella.

One accusation—that I’d pushed her down the stairs—was all it took for Daniel to cut ties with me.

I liked him back then. To please him, I swallowed countless humiliations and apologized to Isabella again and again.

Every time she teared up, Daniel would stand firmly by her side, forcing me to bow my head.

Even in death, she was a thorn in his heart.

A thorn that pierced through our ten-year marriage.

But I was tired now.

“Daniel, if you love Isabella so much, then let’s cancel the engagement between our families. I’ll set you free.”

He frowned, but before he could speak, Isabella dropped to her knees, tears brimming.

“Miss Scott, please don’t make things difficult for Daniel. Yesterday, he only slept in my bed because he was drunk after fighting with you.”

I laughed softly.

She cowered behind him as if I were a monster.

The sight stabbed at Daniel, and he gently pulled her up, his voice full of pain.

“Isabella, don’t kneel to her. Emma loves me too much to cancel the engagement. She’s just putting on a show because there are cameras here, so she can complain to my father later.”

For the first time, I felt disgust toward him.

“Daniel, you really think too highly of yourself. Who said I wanted to marry you?”

I brushed past him coldly.

I thought he would finally understand. But suddenly, he grabbed my wrist.

For the first time since our break, he touched me of his own accord.

“If you won’t marry me, who will you marry? Emma Scott, if you apologize to Isabella right now, I’ll keep my word and make you my wife.”

Isabella’s face turned pale, her head shaking.

“Daniel, I’m not worth such a sacrifice.”

But Daniel looked at me as if I had dishonored him.

“I’ve already agreed to marry you, and you still won’t apologize to Isabella?”

And why, exactly, did he believe the daughter of the Scott family had no choice but him?

With Isabella’s triumphant gaze upon me, I sneered.

“My wedding will take place in three days, as planned. But the groom won’t be you, Daniel—it will be Adrian Hughes.”

The Hughes family, upon receiving news of the alliance, immediately sent several billion-dollar contracts as a betrothal gift.

Yet somehow, rumors spread that it was the Carter family proposing to us.

Worried I’d be upset, my father told me to pick out dowry gifts at an auction house in New York.

But the moment I stepped inside, I ran into Daniel and Isabella.

She trembled and clung to him again.

“Daniel, maybe I should leave. If Miss Scott sees me, she’ll get someone to punish me again.”

Daniel pulled her close protectively, glaring at me with rage.

“Emma Scott, I underestimated you. Spreading lies to the media that my family was proposing to yours was bad enough, but arranging men to defile Isabella? If I hadn’t arrived in time, her whole life would have been ruined!”

His words sparked a wave of mocking whispers.

“I heard Emma Scott was Daniel’s lapdog. Didn’t think she’d be this shameless—willing to do anything to marry into the Carter family.”

“And look—he’s humiliating her in public. If I were her, I wouldn’t show my face again. What a disgrace to the Scott family.”

In my past life, my obsession with Daniel made me a laughingstock. Even after marriage, he never gave me respect.

At banquets, he’d rather bring his female assistant than me.

He never clarified any scandal. I was Mrs. Carter in name only.

All of it was meant to humiliate me.

I only hated myself—for needing to die once before finding the strength to leave him.

Seeing me stunned, Daniel grew impatient.

“Nothing to say? Emma Scott, when did you become so vicious?”

In my past life, Isabella’s accusation—that I had hired men to assault her—came a week later. Now, just because of a media report, she had accelerated her scheme.

I spent that life trying to explain, but Daniel never believed me.

He knew I feared heights. To avenge Isabella, he had men throw me from a helicopter.

That day, the chopper circled all over Seattle. I lay in the hospital for three days and nights—and he never once came to see me.

Even later, when he discovered it was all a misunderstanding, he never apologized.

Because Isabella was already dead.

Now, he grabbed my collar, his eyes cold.

“Emma, what are you to me? Someone who obeys without question? Who gives her all, swallows every grievance, kneels to apologize to a housekeeper’s daughter whenever I demand it?”

His hand tightened around my throat, veins bulging.

“Shut up! Do you really think I wouldn’t hurt you? Afraid Isabella might stand in the way of our marriage? You could’ve found another way. Why send sick men to ruin her life?”

His grip grew stronger.