The day Eleanor and I got married, the man who had taken my place committed suicide. By our second year of marriage, that event had completely torn us apart. She hated that I, the true heir, had returned and caused Brandon Montgomery’s death. I resented her for still clinging to the man who had usurped my identity for twenty years. For ten years, we attacked each other with the vilest words, cursing each other to hell. Until an earthquake hit. She shielded me with her body, her spine bearing the brunt, creating a path for me to survive. The ceiling beam crashed down, leaving her a bloody mess. As she lay dying, she whispered in my ear, “If I had known he would die, I wish I’d never brought you home.” “If there’s a next life, I only want you as my family.” Ultimately, I died in the aftershocks. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day she brought me to meet my birth family. She suddenly pulled back. “Julian, I made a mistake. The Montgomery family’s son, lost twenty years ago, isn’t you.”
Eleanor blocked my path outside the Montgomery family’s mansion, her face a mix of struggle and grim determination. I said nothing, but instantly, a vision flashed before my eyes: steel and concrete crashing down, her bloodied spine, and her words whispered into my ear. “If I had known he would die, I wish I’d never brought you home.” So, this was her choice. In another life, she’d choose to abandon me from the very start. Fine by me. Those ten years of hellish marriage in my previous life—she hated me, I resented her. We tortured each other day and night, finding release only in death. Now, to be able to cut all of it off at the source, I felt a strange sense of relief. I looked at her and calmly nodded. “Okay.” A flicker of surprise crossed Eleanor’s eyes; all her prepared arguments got stuck in her throat. “What did you say?” she almost instinctively blurted out. “I said I understand,” I repeated. “Since it was a mistake, let’s just leave it at that. Thanks for bringing me here; I should head back to school.” With that, I turned to leave. But her hand shot out, grabbing my arm. “Julian!” She sharply called out my name, her voice laced with a hint of panic. “What kind of attitude is that? Didn’t you always want to find your family? Now that I’m saying you’re not, you’re giving up so easily?!” I turned back to her, finding it somewhat amusing. She’d gone to great lengths to lie, precisely because she wanted me to give up, didn’t she? Now that I was doing exactly what she wanted, she wasn’t satisfied. “What else?” I countered. “Eleanor, are you telling me that what you said wasn’t the truth, and I actually *am* the Montgomery family’s real son?” Upon hearing that, the panic in her eyes intensified, and her grip on my arm tightened unconsciously. She lowered her gaze, not letting me see her expression. “Let’s just drop this. Don’t ever bring it up again, and don’t go near the Montgomery family.” “I understand.” I pulled my hand free, rubbing my wrist where her grip had left it red. “I won’t bring it up again, and I won’t go near them. Eleanor, are you satisfied now?” She looked at my empty hand, as if she’d lost something important, her expression momentarily bewildered. She didn’t know I’d been reborn too. In this life, I wouldn’t step through that door again, wouldn’t become a Montgomery, and certainly wouldn’t… become her husband again. She wanted to protect her childhood friend, to complete their world. I’d gladly hand it to her. “I’m leaving.” I didn’t look at her again, turning towards the bus stop. Behind me, Eleanor’s voice chased after me, tinged with irritation. “Stop! I’ll drive you back.” Eleanor didn’t take me back to my school dorm. Instead, she drove straight to a luxury apartment in the city center. I watched the rapidly receding streetlights outside the window, understanding perfectly. In my previous life, after we married, this had been our home. It had held our tenderest moments, and it had also witnessed how we slowly became a resentful couple, eventually consumed by hatred. The car stopped. She unbuckled her seatbelt and turned to face me. In the dim light of the car, her expression was unreadable, but her tone had softened considerably, unlike her harsh voice at the Montgomery mansion gate earlier. “Let’s go inside. We need to talk.”
I followed her into the apartment. The familiar decor, the minimalist design with cool tones – just like her, elegant and aloof. Only this time, I felt not a trace of the fondness I once had. She pulled a bottle of water from the fridge and tossed it to me, then walked to the floor-to-ceiling window and lit a slender cigarette. White smoke curled, forming a hazy mist that seemed to separate us. “Julian, I know you’re upset,” she began, her voice muffled through the smoke. “I didn’t handle the situation with your identity well. But Brandon’s mental state is very unstable right now. He… can’t handle any more stress.” Always Brandon Montgomery. I lowered my eyes, twisted open the cap, and silently took a sip of water. The cold liquid slid down my throat, but it couldn’t quell the bitter surge in my heart. She’d said the same thing in my previous life. She’d said Brandon had a history of self-harm, that he was fragile, and asked me to be more accommodating after I was reunited with my family. I listened. I let him have all of Eleanor’s favoritism. I even chose to back down and stay silent during his countless unreasonable provocations. Yet, he used a suicide attempt to condemn my marriage with Eleanor to a ten-year life sentence. Seeing my silence, Eleanor assumed I was still upset about not being able to join the Montgomery family. She put out her cigarette with a sigh of resignation. She turned, walked over to me, and looked up slightly at me sitting on the couch, a hint of reassurance in her eyes. “Please, don’t be mad at me, okay?” Her voice was soft as she reached out and covered my hand holding the water bottle. “I admit, I messed up today. I gave you false hope.” “Whatever compensation you want, just name it. Anything I can give, I will.” She paused, her voice turning earnest. “But the Montgomery family… let’s just put that out of our minds for now, alright?” Her guard was completely down; the love for me practically poured from her eyes. I saw it clearly: she was truly afraid of my anger, afraid of me leaving her. But this love came at the cost of my identity. I looked up, meeting her gaze, and a sudden urge to laugh overcame me. “I don’t want anything.” I calmly pulled my hand away, a movement that dimmed the light in her eyes for a moment. “Don’t worry. Even if the Montgomery family came begging on their knees, offering their entire fortune, I wouldn’t spare them a glance.” “You don’t need to apologize. You don’t owe me anything. Let’s just end this between us.” Eleanor’s brows furrowed tightly. She suddenly stood up straight, her face instantly turning cold. “End this? Julian, are you playing games with me? Because I didn’t let you go back to the Montgomery family, you’re trying to force my hand like this?” She leaned in close, hands braced on the sofa beside me, trapping me in her presence. “I only told you not to go back to the Montgomery family. I didn’t say I was breaking up with you! We can be like before. No, I’ll be even better to you than before!” I looked at her and suddenly felt incredibly tired. She thought that by stripping me of my “true Montgomery heir” identity, we could return to square one, loving each other safely. But she didn’t know that the root of our tragedy was never about whether I returned to the Montgomery family or not. “Eleanor,” I pushed her away, stood up, and widened the distance between us. “I’m tired. I want to go home.” With that, I walked towards the door, not looking back. This time, she didn’t stop me.
In the days that followed, I threw myself entirely into the final preparations for my overseas application. Soon, I received an acceptance letter from a university abroad, with my departure date set for the following month. The day before I was due to leave, I had just walked out of the library when two men in black suits blocked my path. “Mr. Hayes, Ms. Thorne would like to see you.” I was forced into a car that sped off, eventually stopping at the top floor of a skyscraper overlooking the entire city skyline. “Ms. Thorne is busy. Please wait here.” The bodyguard led me into a glass-walled room, then turned and locked the door. The room had an excellent view, with an entire wall made of huge, floor-to-ceiling glass. And directly opposite the glass was the city’s most exclusive rooftop garden restaurant. At that moment, the restaurant was brightly lit, buzzing with people, and a grand birthday party was underway. The guest of honor was Brandon Montgomery. He was dressed in a lavish suit, surrounded by a crowd. And standing beside him, adjusting his tie, gazing at him tenderly, was Eleanor. I watched as Eleanor took Brandon’s hand and they began the first dance. They spun, drew close, whispered, intimately resembling a perfect couple. The surrounding guests clapped, their faces filled with congratulations. I suddenly wanted to laugh—laugh at my obsession in the previous life. Was it worth sacrificing my entire life for a woman who didn’t love me? I closed my eyes, not wanting to see that dazzling scene anymore. But Eleanor’s bloodied face from the earthquake in the previous life, and her trembling spine as she shielded me, resurfaced in my mind, uncontrollably. She hated me, yet she saved me. This debt felt like a giant net, trapping me, unable to move. I don’t know how much time passed, but the party seemed to be winding down. The door behind me suddenly opened. I turned and saw Brandon Montgomery standing in the doorway. A triumphant smile played on his lips as he walked towards me, step by step. “Julian Hayes,” he stopped in front of me, looking down at me. “How does it feel? Watching the woman you love throw such a grand birthday party for *me*?” It clicked. These bodyguards weren’t sent by Eleanor; they were Brandon’s. He wanted me to give up completely. But he didn’t need to do this; in this life, I had no feelings left for Eleanor. I said nothing, just looked at him coldly. My silence seemed to infuriate him, and the smile on his face twisted. “You think you can pretend to be noble by staying silent? Let me tell you, what’s not yours, you’ll never get!” He leaned in closer, lowering his voice. “Do you know? If you hadn’t suddenly appeared, Eleanor and I would have been engaged by now! You ruined everything for me!” “Are you done?” I asked calmly. “If so, please let me leave.” Brandon Montgomery trembled with rage at my attitude. He suddenly pulled a knife from his suit’s inner pocket, its blade gleaming menacingly in the light. My heart clenched. “What are you going to do?” “What am I going to do?” Brandon sneered, a flicker of madness in his eyes. “I’m going to show Eleanor how you pushed me! I’m going to make her realize that as long as you exist, I’ll never have peace!” Before I could react, he raised the knife and slashed his own wrist. He looked at me, a smile on his face, then shrieked loudly, “Please! I can give you anything! Why do you insist on pushing me to my death?!” Outside, hurried footsteps immediately sounded. Eleanor was the first to rush in, clutching Brandon tightly in her arms, her face grim. Brandon leaned weakly against her, pale, and pointed a trembling finger at me. “Eleanor, he said he’s the real Montgomery son, that I don’t deserve any of this, that I should just die…” Eleanor looked up, her eyes blazing with fury. “Julian Hayes,” she said coldly. “Didn’t I warn you to behave?” “Today is Brandon’s birthday. It was supposed to be the happiest day for him, and you ruined everything!”
I looked at her, my heart sinking deeper and deeper into despair. She’d forgotten that today was actually my birthday too. Brandon and I were born on the same day, same month, same year. Only one was in the clouds, and the other in the mud. She immediately summoned the bodyguards to restrain me and threw a combat knife at my feet. Her words were almost merciless. “However much blood he spilled, you’ll pay back double!” I stared at her in disbelief. “Eleanor, are you insane?!” I began to struggle violently. But she only gave me a glance and ordered the bodyguards to act. Sharp pain instantly shot through my arm, and warm blood immediately welled up. I groaned, cold sweat beaded on my forehead, and I bit down hard, my mouth filled with a metallic taste. The second cut, the third cut… I didn’t know how many times I was cut, only that the pain had turned numb, and everything before my eyes began to blur. I looked at Eleanor’s cold face, at the triumphant smirk on Brandon’s lips as he lay in her arms. My heart truly died. “Enough,” Eleanor finally said, stopping the bodyguards. “After you’re done, take him to the hospital.” With that, she didn’t look at me again, carrying Brandon in her arms as she swept out. I lay in a pool of blood, my consciousness slowly fading. Before I completely lost consciousness, I thought I saw that earthquake again. This time, Eleanor wasn’t shielding me. She simply stood by, coldly watching as I was swallowed by massive rubble, not a ripple in her eyes. Eleanor, this debt for saving my life, I’ve repaid it. When I opened my eyes again, the scent of hospital disinfectant hung in the air. Eleanor sat by my bedside. Seeing me awake, her eyes lit up. “I’m sorry,” she suddenly said. I froze. “Last night, I went too far.” She lowered her eyes, her voice filled with regret. “I was so angry at the time; I couldn’t control my emotions. I…” “So?” I cut her off, asking calmly, “Are you saying you regret it?” She sharply looked up, her lips moved, as if wanting to say something, but in the end, it was just a sigh. “Julian, don’t talk to me like that.” Her voice softened. “I know you hate me, but Brandon really almost died.” “Eleanor,” I looked into her eyes. “You don’t need to apologize. Just consider this me repaying what I owed you.” “Owed me?” She frowned, clearly not understanding what I meant. “Yes.” I managed a bitter smile. “In my previous life, you saved my life during the earthquake. In this life, I’ve repaid you with a life. We’re even now.” As I finished speaking, a crash sounded as the chair was knocked over by her sudden movement. Her lips trembled, and her pupils constricted violently in shock. “You… you were reborn too?”
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