The richest man in the country, Sebastian Vance, has a ring custom-made to my exact measurements, worth billions of dollars, for the woman who will be his bride.

In the first life, my stepsister, Mia Lowe, slips on the ring and marries him. Sebastian claws her face, shouting, "She's not the one!"

In the second life, my other stepsister, Lorraine Lowe, loses 30 pounds before marrying him. He shoves her down the stairs anyway and says, "She's not the one either."

In the third life, my stepmother, Vivian Cole, grits her teeth and slices off a piece of her own flesh just to force the ring onto her finger. Sebastian sneers and pushes her under the bathwater, holding her down until her body goes limp.

By the fourth life, out of options and terrified, they finally send me. I slide the ring on, and it fits perfectly.

My entire family lets out a sigh of relief.

But the second Sebastian lays his eyes on me, he draws a knife and stabs me to death. "Why is it still not her? Where is she?"

In the last life, he has his assistant, Owen Hayes, deliver a ring to us. All four of us insist that it won't fit.

Owen shoots us a strange look. "Mr. Vance said the rightful owner of this ring is among you."

The four of us stared at the ring with its massive diamond, completely dumbfounded by what we'd just heard.

Everyone in the family who could have married Sebastian Vance had already done so. So who was this man actually planning to marry?

My stepmother, Vivian Cole, kept pressing Sebastian's assistant, Owen Hayes, her voice tight with anxiety. "Are you sure there isn't a mistake? There shouldn't be anyone in the Lowe family he's interested in, right?"

Otherwise, we wouldn't have cycled through four potential brides like we were completing some sick checklist.

Owen frowned, his expression serious. "At Mr. Vance's banquet, the four of you occupied an entire table. He glanced over once and said the owner of the ring is among the four women of the Lowe family. There's no mistake."

Wearing a slightly smug expression, he passed the ring over and suggested, "Why don't you try it on, one by one?"

My stepsister, Mia Lowe, who was always obsessed with appearances, recoiled. "I'm allergic to diamonds. I'd probably break out and die on the spot."

My other stepsister, Lorraine Lowe, obsessed with money, waved her hands frantically. "I'm too fat. I'd snap the ring."

Vivian, who had long been itching to move on from my deceased father, forced a bitter smile. "My heart's still with my late husband. There's no way Mr. Vance would ever look at me twice."

Finally, all eyes turned to me. Owen's face creased into a knowing smile. "Ms. Alexia, haven't you already crossed paths with Mr. Vance? One glance, and he was completely smitten. This ring must belong to you."

My stomach just dropped, and I could barely breathe.

In my past life, hearing that had actually moved me. After all, Sebastian and I had been secretly involved, and the ring had even been custom-made to my size.

So when I finally escaped the control of my other three family members and married Sebastian, I thought that my suffering was over. I sat on the bed, nervous and hopeful, waiting for him to show up.

But the moment he saw my face clearly, he flew into a rage and stabbed me repeatedly with a fruit knife.

His eyes locked onto my face, blazing with a rage that made no sense. He roared, "How dare you come into my place! You're not her!"

I passed out from the pain, and when I woke up, I couldn't understand any of it. If I wasn't the one Sebastian was looking for, then who the hell was?

I sank into silence, lost in thought, not even reaching for the ring Owen held out.

Owen smiled. "Marrying Mr. Vance isn't something you can just walk into. You'll need time to mentally prepare.

"Here's what we'll do. Mr. Vance will arrive tomorrow, so you'll have the whole night to consider. In the meantime, the ring stays here."

With that, he left the ring behind, got into his diamond-encrusted car, and drove off.

We stared at the blinding diamond, too scared to move.

For once, the three women who had spent years scheming against me were suddenly united. They dragged me into the living room for a quick huddle and slipped the ring onto their fingers one by one.

Ultimately, the ring could only fit me.

Vivian looked at me suspiciously. "Are you sure you were also killed on your wedding night?"

I rolled my eyes. "I was repeatedly stabbed and dumped at the Lowe residence. Didn't you see it yourself?"

Lorraine nodded repeatedly. "Brutal doesn't even begin to describe it. There wasn't a single inch of you that wasn't torn up."

Mia sighed. "I spent ten years fighting with Alexia, and even I felt bad seeing that."

We all exchanged helpless looks and sighed.

Vivian panicked. "But if we don't hand someone over tomorrow, he won't really kill all of us, will he?"

The three of them looked genuinely distressed.

I lifted my head. "It's not entirely hopeless. There should be surveillance footage from the banquet, right?

"If Sebastian's target isn't among us, maybe we can spot the woman he's looking for in the footage."

To ensure our survival, the four of us didn't waste a moment. We grabbed a cab straight to the hotel where Sebastian had hosted his banquet.

Lorraine knew exactly how to play the role of an innocent person. She feigned vulnerability and persuaded security to let us review the surveillance footage.

In the video, the banquet had just begun. After my father, the head of the Lowe family, passed away, our status plummeted. We were relegated to a lonely table in the far corner.

Vivian frowned and said, "It looks like we're the only ones at the very last corner table."

And since the four of us had spent years at each other's throats, the four of us constantly sparked and clashed, making it impossible for anyone else to join us. In the end, it was just us at that table. The distant relatives hovered nearby but didn't dare sit with us.

Mia blinked in confusion. "And it's literally only the four of us."

Then, as if the world had frozen for him, Sebastian strode down the red carpet, all eyes on him, and came to a stop right in front of our table.

He turned precisely toward our lonely little corner and flashed a warm, indulgent smile. He leaned in to whisper something to Owen.

Seeing that smile, a cold, unsettling dread ran through us.

I froze. "It looks like the woman he's been searching for really is among us."

The four of us exchanged glances, fear flickering in every pair of eyes. If we hadn't all remembered our previous four lives, none of this would make sense.

Lorraine shivered. "If that's the case, then why did he murder us so brutally in our past lives?"

I took a deep breath and suddenly thought of an idea. I looked at them and said firmly, "I'm going to his place. Wait for my message."

The three of them stared at me with admiration and gratitude as I headed out. They had no idea that I was the most shaken one of all.

Even now, no one knew I was still seeing him. He was the one who had chased after me in the first place.

Knowing the side entrance we always used, slipping into his house and finding his room was effortless.

Sebastian froze for a second when he saw me, then quickly recovered his usual calm expression. "Why did you come without letting me know?"

The kind, gentle man before me clashed horribly with the lunatic who had stabbed me to death in our last life.

I swallowed my fear and stepped closer. "Am I the one you want to marry?"

He paused for a moment, a strange flicker crossing his eyes.

"You've been with me for a long time. Do you really not understand me yet? Why else would I take a ring to the Lowe residence? Obviously, it's for the woman I love."

He smiled, pulled me in, and settled me on his lap like it was the most natural thing in the world.

But something was missing. He said he wanted to marry the woman he loved, but never said it was me.

I dug my nails into my palm, forced a smile, and asked, "So who exactly is that?"

He froze, scanning me from head to toe. "You should know. Why are you even asking?"

I thought that he would evade the question, but then he said, "It has always been you, Alexia. If you hope that it is you who marry me, then it will be. And once you marry me tomorrow, I'll be sure to treat you even better."

I stared into his eyes and saw nothing but deep affection.

Sebastian had always treated me well, ever since we started this secret affair.

I wasn't particularly bright, and my stepmother and stepsisters had tormented me my entire life. I didn't even have a stake in the family business.

But Sebastian had always backed me up behind the scenes and given me things the entire Lowe family could only dream of. Even though he had grown up with everything handed to him, he would kneel to tie my shoes, cook for me, and take care of me.

I used to believe, without doubt, that the person he wanted to marry was me. But I had also seen him lose his mind in that previous life, screaming as he drove the knife into my chest, "You're not her! Who gave you the right to take her place?

"You're a Lowe heiress in name only. What makes you think you deserve to be with me?

"You were just something I used to kill time. And you thought you could replace her?"

The memory snapped me back to the present.

Sebastian took my hand and kissed it.

I barely managed to keep my hand from pulling away. Yet, that tiny movement triggered a realization—crazy, yet completely logical.

I stared at him in disbelief. "The one you love is…"

Sebastian didn't give me a chance to finish speaking. He pressed his hand over my mouth. A dangerous chill flashed in his eyes.

He asked, "Aren't you asking a few too many questions tonight?"

Then, just as quickly, his expression softened again. "Tomorrow's our wedding day. You should go home and get some rest."

A chill of dread ran up my spine. I nodded quickly and left.

When I returned to the Lowe residence, Vivian, Lorraine, and Mia hadn't slept a wink. The moment I stepped inside, they swarmed me.

"How did it go? Do you know who his lover is?"

I stayed quiet, then shook my head.

Defeat and despair washed over the three of them.

Lorraine even burst into tears. "I don't want to die. Maybe we should just make a run for it."

Vivian snapped, "He has enough influence to find us no matter how far we go."

Mia gritted her teeth. "There are only four hours until sunrise. If we run, we'll live for a few more days, at least. It's better than dying tomorrow."

But I cut her off, firm and steady. "We're not running. The wedding has to happen. And I'll be the one who's going."

Mia stared at me like I had lost my mind. "I might hate you, but did you forget how you died last time? It was brutal."

Vivian frowned. "If you keep thinking with your heart instead of your head, I might start wondering if I've spoiled you too much."

The enormous solitaire diamond ring worth an unfathomable fortune was still sitting on the table.

If Mia put it on, Sebastian would claw her face and throw her into a basement, leaving her to die from her injuries.

If Lorraine wore it, Sebastian would send her tumbling down the stairs, leaving her body shattered and wracked with pain before death.

If Vivian put it on, Sebastian would drown her in a bathtub, leaving her bloated and unrecognizable before dumping her back at the Lowe residence.

And if I wore the ring, I'd face the cruelest death of all.

To punish the presumptuous mistress who thought she could replace his beloved, Sebastian stabbed me 20 times—each wound excruciating, none fatal—slowly draining the life from me.

The slow, creeping death, with every heartbeat fading, was pure terror.

Even the three women who had despised me all my life felt a pang of pity when they saw my battered body.

That perfectly cut, dazzling diamond gleamed like a guillotine waiting for whichever one of us touched it.

I stepped forward and slid the ring onto my finger without a second thought. "I know how dangerous this is. But this is the only way for all of us to survive."

Lorraine stared at me, stunned. "What do you know?"

I knew that telling them the truth would make tomorrow's plan more likely to succeed. But if the truth were really what I had pieced together, it would be too horrifying.

I couldn't drag them into this.

As such, I shook my head and said, "I can't tell you just yet."

Mia's expression darkened. "Then tell us what you need us to do."

I looked down. "I need you to attend the wedding tomorrow like nothing's wrong. Act completely normal."

Vivian's eyebrows knitted. "After the ceremony, he's going to kill you with a knife, and we're supposed to act like nothing's happening?"

All three of them now looked at me with genuine concern, completely on my side.

I thought of everything they had done to me before—petty quarrels, minor schemes, and stolen money.

Nothing had ever truly endangered my life.

But the man I had trusted and loved so deeply had mercilessly tortured me to death on our wedding night.

I breathed in slowly and finally made up my mind to tell them the truth. I said, "When I went to see Sebastian earlier, he suddenly grabbed my hand and kissed the back of it.

"That single moment hit me, and I finally realized who his true love is. She's indeed one of us. And she's someone none of us would ever expect. She's…"