The Day I Chose Power

On the day of my coming-of-age ceremony, all three of my fiancés showed up with the worst reports from their family-run businesses.

My father had declared that I would marry the one who could bring the greatest benefit to our family.

However, all three of them had already fallen for a penniless scholarship girl named Amelia Jones, and none of them wanted me.

In my previous life, I kept them close, mentored them, and poured my resources into helping them rise.

By the time they had each become powerful men in my family, they repaid me by framing my father, getting him arrested, and making him age more than 10 years overnight.

He was dragged to prison.

Me? They hired a crew of street thugs to brutalize me, leaving me to die while my private photos spread across the internet.

As life slipped away, I heard their sneering voices:

"Did you really think we ever liked you? Everything we did was for Amelia."

"If you hadn't chained us to your side, we'd have married her long ago, we'd have a house full of kids by now!"

"You and your father ruined her future. She couldn't afford college because of you. She had no choice but to jump!"

Then I opened my eyes: reborn on the very day of my coming-of-age ceremony.

I pulled my father aside, looked him in the eye, and said,

"I'm an adult now. Throw them out. Strip them of every business and every asset we gave them."

"I'm not choosing any of them. I chose Bruce Sullivan, the Don of the Sullivan family."

My father, Howard Chapman, stared at me, his eyes wide with disbelief. "You threw a fit when I suggested marrying you off to the Sullivans, insisting on breaking it off with Bruce. What's changed your mind now?"

I met Howard's gaze, the memory of his smile before his life took a turn for the worse in my previous life, making my heart ache.

"I was being childish at the time. You've been scaling back the family's activities and planning to go legitimate, pretending to be an ordinary wealthy businessman in public for my sake. I also thought I could live as happily as an ordinary person.

"But I was wrong. Without power, we'll be bullied. An alliance with another mafia family could be good for us. I see that now, Dad.

"And about those three–they've all got their own loves. I don't want to be the one who breaks hearts."

Howard let out a relieved breath and affectionately patted my shoulder. "I always said you were a visionary, my girl.

"I'll head over to the Sullivans right away to sort out your marriage. And if they don't see sense, I'll move heaven and earth to get you what you want!"

Watching him put on his act, I could not help but chuckle.

The same Howard who doted on me ended up in such a mess because of me in my previous life.

In this life, I was determined to rewrite our stars.

I clenched my fists, fighting back the tears.

Before I could speak again, the door flew open, and the three men stormed in, encircling me.

Yoel Henderson, right in front of me, gripped my shoulders with urgency, his fingers pressing so hard I winced.

"Shirley, you've got to tell me, who are you choosing?

"It's not me, is it?"

Yoel had been my right-hand man, the one I had banked on in my previous life, giving him nearly half of our resources to rise to the occasion.

However, the moment he became Underboss, he turned on us, stealing secrets that led to our ruin.

I gave him an icy stare, my lips curling into a sneer.

My reaction only served to enrage them further; their faces contorted with fury.

"Shirley, it doesn't matter who you pick. We're not sticking around," one spat out. "I'll see to it that you end up all alone!

"We're sticking with Amelia. She's not some pampered principessa like you. She needs us by her side!"

As they spoke with such conviction, I, who had been on the verge of announcing my engagement to Bruce Sullivan, could not help but smirk. "I've decided not to make any announcement today."

Their anger boiled over, and Yoel's grip on my hand tightened.

"You guys sure are hot-headed," Howard noted dryly.

At Howard's intervention, the three men instantly bowed, their demeanor shifting to that of well-behaved boys.

Yoel, begrudgingly, hung his head and spoke with a firm voice, "Don Chapman, we owe you a lot, but we can't repay you by marrying Shirley!"

"We'd give our lives for you, but you can't cage our hearts. We love Amelia, and she's the one we want to marry!"

"That's right, we want to call the shots in our own lives!" Ethan Lawrence and Nelson Smith chimed in together.

Howard's brow furrowed with a touch of anger as he grasped the situation: why I had reconsidered marrying Bruce.

"Have you guys even thought about what marrying Amelia would mean?"

Yoel scoffed. "Don Chapman, Amelia works ten thousand times harder than Shirley.

"She's about to get her acceptance from the prestigious St. Hartwell University. Once that happens, we'll all step back into the sunshine and rise to the top!"

The other two nodded in agreement.

"Amelia had always been the brainy, go-getter type. It was a no-brainer that she'd end up as one of St. Hartwell University's most distinguished grads. Then we can align ourselves with the powerhouses in the political and business worlds, becoming even stronger than the Chapman family."

Howard let out a sigh of resignation, catching the determined look in the eyes of the other two, clearly on board with Yoel's opinion.

"Shirley's betrothed has been set in stone."

Before the trio could even think of squirming their way out, Howard's announcement crushed any fantasies they harbored.

"In a month's time, Shirley's wedding bells will chime, and you three are expected to be there. That's when you'll find out who's won her hand."

Howard leaned in close, his voice a whisper, "The Sullivans just gave their blessing. I'm off to hammer out the details with them, and it might take me three weeks or so. Hang tight till your old man's back.

"By the time I return, my good girl will be walking down the aisle."