After the Thorne family went bankrupt, my stepsister, Vanessa, and I were thrown into a strange selection process for a substitute bride. Whoever was picked would be married off to the comatose eldest son of the wealthiest family. Vanessa was destined to be chosen. While I, bound by a family agreement, was set to marry Alex Sterling, my childhood friend who’d been in love with Vanessa for a decade. In my last life, he begged me to undergo nine IVF procedures, and I finally conceived a boy and a girl. When I was confined to the attic during my late pregnancy, forced to rest, he and my recently widowed stepsister were having a passionate affair in the master bedroom downstairs, night after night. A week before I gave birth, he deliberately swerved, crashing the car into a guardrail, letting sharp metal pierce my abdomen. The second before my consciousness faded, I heard his unrestrained joy: “Vanessa, Iris is finally dead. We can get married tomorrow!” I opened my eyes again and found myself back on the night of the drawing. Looking at my stepsister, who was crying into her hands, I leaned in close to her ear, smiling: “How about it, sis? I’ll marry him instead of you?” That unfaithful bastard? Not even if he begged!
A round of applause erupted from the crowd. Vanessa’s face was ashen, her fingers digging into my clothes, clinging desperately. “The second Miss Thorne is truly blessed with good fortune.” “From an illegitimate daughter of a bankrupt family to the future mistress of the wealthiest household – who wouldn’t be envious?” A few people deliberately spoke loudly, then covered their mouths, giggling. Vanessa gritted her teeth, her tear-filled eyes glaring at Mrs. Thorne. “I don’t want to marry him! I want to marry Alex! Alex promised he’d only marry me! And I’ll only marry him!” Mrs. Thorne quickly clamped a hand over her mouth. I stood there, stunned, staring at the empty lot slip in my hand. The excruciating pain of the guardrail piercing my abdomen still hadn’t faded. I instinctively looked towards Alex Sterling. The man stood there, fists clenched and trembling, his eyes bloodshot with rage. It was a stark contrast to his usual gentle demeanor. The next second, he strode forward and bowed deeply to the Hayes family representatives. “Ladies and gentlemen,” he cleared his throat, “the second Miss Thorne is still young and doesn’t know how to care for others. I believe it would be better to have the eldest Miss Thorne marry instead.” The entire room fell into a sudden, dead silence. No one had ever dared to offer an opinion to the Hayes family. In my last life, Alex had merely watched helplessly as the woman he loved married another. Right up until her wedding ended, he’d locked himself in his room, numbing himself by systematically collapsing his business rivals’ stock. Could it be that… A thought flashed through my mind, and my hair instantly stood on end. Had he been reborn too? The Hayes family’s old butler slowly rose, leaning on his cane, his sharp gaze sweeping over me and Vanessa, who was trembling uncontrollably behind me. “Mr. Sterling is truly considerate.” “It appears the second Miss Thorne’s identity truly doesn’t suit our Hayes family. In that case, let the eldest Miss marry our eldest young master.” With that, the old man led the others away. Vanessa’s breath hitched, her long, sharp nails digging tighter and tighter into my arm. Her eyes were sinister, but her voice was pitifully aggrieved: “Iris, that Hayes family’s eldest young master is just a useless invalid clinging to life. If you marry him and he drops dead on the spot, the Hayes family won’t come back to haunt us, will they?” A flicker of hesitation crossed Alex Sterling’s eyes. He pulled Vanessa into a comforting embrace and murmured, “Vanessa, we’ll fulfill our engagement tomorrow, okay?” “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to throw you a wedding that will shake the entire city.” As he spoke, he glanced at me a few times, observing my reaction. In his eyes, my expression was surely one of utter devastation. But I simply offered a polite smile and bowed deeply to him. “Mr. Sterling, thank you for your help to the Thorne family. I’m truly grateful.” As the man stood there, momentarily stunned, I handed him a string of simple jade beads. We had picked them out together from a street vendor when we were little. He’d told me to keep them, and then never mentioned them again. “Just a small token of my appreciation.” When my fingertips brushed his cool palm, my body involuntarily shivered. Alex Sterling’s gaze was dark and unreadable. He released Vanessa’s hand and meticulously examined the gift. After a heavy sigh, the red string snapped, and the beads scattered across the floor. His gaze, when it met mine, was utterly indifferent. “The eldest Miss Thorne sends me this trash?” He scoffed, casually nudging the nearest bead with the tip of his leather shoe. “This kind of ‘token,’ you might as well not send it at all.”
My chest felt heavy, as if a stone had been lodged there. I took a deep breath, forcing down the stinging tears in my eyes. “Alright, tomorrow I’ll bring you the antique watch from home…” “No need.” Alex Sterling took Vanessa’s hand, lacing his fingers with hers. The plain band on his middle finger was unassuming, yet he’d worn it for ten years. Only because it was the first gift Vanessa had ever given him. “If the person giving the gift is wrong, then nothing is right.” “Mrs. Thorne, Vanessa and I have a date. We’ll be leaving now.” With that, he walked away, his arm around Vanessa, not sparing me another glance. It seemed I had been delusional. “Slap!” Before I could even process my emotions, a loud slap landed on my cheek. A ringing sound echoed in my eardrums. My face went numb, then a burning sting spread across it. “You little bitch! Still coveting the family’s assets? I’m telling you, the Thorne family won’t give you a single penny as dowry! Dreaming of that antique watch? In your dreams!” “But that was my mother’s…” Before I could finish, another slap landed. My eyes red, I met her distorted, furious face. “Your mother’s been dead for ten years! She didn’t leave you a separate will before she jumped into the river.” “If I hadn’t brought my lucky star daughter into this family, the Thornes would have been cursed into extinction by you long ago.” I staggered backward, fumbling, and knocked over a cup of scalding hot green tea. The tea splattered on the back of my hand, but it was nothing compared to the chill in my heart. My father was superstitious. She had specifically sought out a psychic to analyze my and Vanessa’s birth charts. That’s why, before my mother’s memorial rites were even over, she was able to bring her illegitimate daughter, claiming her to be a lucky charm, and they officially moved into our family home. My father loved to boast about his second daughter’s special ‘blessed’ constitution, and the rumors had long since reached the Hayes family. Mr. Hayes, desperate to save his son, didn’t hesitate to stoop low, manipulating the Thorne corporation to drain its assets, and then proposed a substitute marriage. And there was another, bigger secret, one I had kept buried deep until the day I died. Seeing that I wasn’t arguing or crying, Mrs. Thorne snorted. “Just like your pathetic mother, a complete pushover.” “After you’re married, remember to rake in plenty of money and bring it back to the Thorne family.” I swallowed the metallic taste in my mouth, letting her yank my hair as she dragged me outside. “The Hayes family has more than one son. If you play your cards right, you might even snag that playboy second son.” *In her dreams.* I silently replied. In the last life, after Vanessa married Marcus, the second son, Julian Hayes, immediately branched off from the family, cutting ties with the greedy Thorne family at lightning speed. When Mrs. Thorne dumped me at the door, the servants nearby were still gossiping: “That lady just ran off, leaving her daughter to be bullied by her stepmother.” “I say, what man doesn’t change his mind? Just turn a blind eye, and it’s over.” “They’re too used to good lives, can’t handle a little setback. All these rich ladies are like that…” I couldn’t take it anymore and roared, “Shut up!” The few women immediately fell silent, startled. When they realized it was me, they all relaxed. “What’s all this noise about?” Vanessa, holding Alex Sterling’s hand, came closer. “Sister, how can you be so mean to the servants?” Her soft, delicate voice immediately garnered a chorus of agreement. Alex Sterling frowned at me. “Although your mother’s death left you with psychological trauma, what they’re saying isn’t wrong.” “Can’t you be a little more lenient?” The elderly woman leading the group jutted out her neck in agreement. “Mr. Sterling is right, we didn’t mean to.” I laughed, exasperated, and lunged forward to hit her. Vanessa spread her arms wide, desperately blocking me. “Martha has taken care of me since I was little. If you’re angry, take it out on me, ah!”
Vanessa screamed and fell backward, pulling me down with her into the pond. “Splash!” The cold water choked my lungs the moment I hit it. I fought through the pain, trying to swim to the surface. But the more Vanessa struggled, the more I was dragged deeper into the water. “Splash!” Another splash, and the water’s surface suddenly exploded with light. Vanessa immediately released the leg she had wrapped around my waist and vanished from my sight. I desperately groped around, but there was nothing left. In a daze, the scene of my death from the previous life replayed before my eyes. I can’t die! Digging my fingernails into the muddy pond wall, I struggled to climb up. My broken fingernails peeled back, but the pain was nothing compared to my tattered heart. Finally, someone pulled me up. I pushed aside my soaking wet hair and coughed,趴吐ed at the edge of the pond, while Vanessa shivered, burrowing into Alex Sterling’s embrace. “Alex… my sister pushed me… I’m scared!” Alex Sterling took off his soaked suit jacket, grabbed a dry towel, and wrapped it tightly around her. The worry in his eyes was the genuine concern I had always longed for. And when he faced Vanessa, he was never insincere or dismissive. Warm tears flowed down my face. I bit down hard on my lip, all my accusations choked in my throat. Alex Sterling belatedly looked at me. He subconsciously released Vanessa, his eyes darting away as he helped me up from the ground. “Iris, you…” “Do you still remember this place?” I cut him off, forcing a bitter smile. My mother had just passed away then; her body hadn’t even been fully recovered from the river. My father, meanwhile, accompanied that mother and daughter on a trip. In the vast Thorne mansion, only Alex Sterling had climbed over the wall and sat with me in the courtyard all night long. “You said you’d protect me forever, that even if I fell into this pond, you’d jump in without hesitation to save me.” They say children’s words mean nothing, but I had remembered them for eighteen years. “Alex Sterling, when did you change?” His fingers, which were helping me, trembled violently. His eyes were full of heartache. Just as he was about to speak, Vanessa suddenly coughed violently. “Be careful not to catch a cold.” He instinctively warned Vanessa, yet his gaze remained fixed on my face. “Iris, get inside first, it’s cold out here.” Before I could even nod, my father roared, charging towards us. “You disgraceful child!” The brass buckle of his belt struck my kneecap directly. Alex Sterling let go, and I tumbled onto the pile of碎石. Mrs. Thorne frantically brought a fur coat and draped it over Vanessa. That was clearly my mother’s heirloom! I took a deep breath, and with all my might, I screamed, “Don’t you dare touch my mother’s things!” My father’s furious voice was my only answer: “You deliberately pushed Vanessa into the pond! How could you be as malicious as that short-lived mother of yours!” “These are all Thorne family belongings! What right do you, a daughter who’s marrying out in a few days, have to tell us what to do?” Alex Sterling remained silent. Mrs. Thorne shrieked and cried, “My Vanessa, wake up, don’t scare your mommy!” She turned, her face contorted, glaring at me, her tear-filled eyes bloodshot: “If anything happens to Vanessa, I’ll have your birth mother’s ashes dug out of the family grave!” I laughed, exasperated, and coldly watched the performance of this theatrical family. Vanessa, who had been lying there with her eyes closed, suddenly began to twitch. “Alex, I’m so cold, save me.” The sob in her voice completely unnerved Alex Sterling. The guilt on his face was replaced by urgency. He quickly scooped the heavily wrapped woman into the living room. The boy who had once saved me in my memories had now personally abandoned me. He truly died the day Vanessa and her mother moved in. “You’re to spend the entire night kneeling, and tomorrow you’ll be writing lines in the family study!” My father finished, then slammed the front door shut. The courtyard instantly fell silent. All my strength was gone. My heart was like a stagnant pool, completely still. This home had no room for me anymore. I picked at the broken stones under my knees and suddenly smiled with a sense of release. It felt so good to have no lingering attachment. They didn’t know. As long as I held out until noon tomorrow, this little sympathy play would be over.
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