For ten years, Julian built his empire on my back. And for ten years, he loathed my very existence. After my death, he seized my family’s company and married his childhood sweetheart. On their wedding day, Ryder, my childhood sweetheart who later became my arch-nemesis, detonated the venue. Before the flames consumed everything, Ryder smiled and said: “She’s dead. You two get to waltz into success? No such luck in this world.” When I opened my eyes again, I was back ten years ago. The day I dragged Julian to meet Ryder and break off our engagement. He looked at me with an indifferent expression: “Are you sure? You really want to break our engagement for *him*?” “Aria, I never go back on my word.” “Are you sure you want to break our engagement for that… *thing*?” The familiar, cool male voice echoed in my ears. I was still lost in the aftershocks of that explosion. The overwhelming, fiery red light felt like it could even scorch my soul, floating suspended in the air. Ryder, a gun in hand, stood amidst the flames, pulling the trigger. He flashed a smile at a shocked and furious Julian: “She’s dead. You two get to waltz into success? No such luck in this world.” … In that moment, the invisible shackles on me suddenly vanished. Something new clicked in my mind. Turns out, in my previous life, I was the toxic second lead in some twisted ‘redemption’ story. I fixated on Julian, then a struggling student. I leveraged his mother’s medical bills, twisting his arm into accepting my “sponsorship” and, by extension, me. Julian believed I had humiliated him with my money, and he hated me for years because of it. After we married, he plotted to seize my family’s company, all while carrying on a secret affair with his childhood sweetheart. Later, he slowly drove me insane, sent me to a mental hospital, and watched me fall to my death. Then, he reinvented himself as a newly minted mogul and married his childhood sweetheart.
I finally understood. Ryder and I were inseparable, practically joined at the hip since we were kids. So how, in my previous life, did I suddenly lose my mind and fall for Julian the moment he appeared? Snapping back to reality, my gaze swept around the room. I saw the parents from both families, each with their own complex expressions. And then there was Ryder, sitting on the sofa, his features sharp and cold, looking up at me slightly. It suddenly clicked. In my previous life, this was the day I completely broke off with Ryder. Our families, the Montgomerys and the Fosters, were old friends. Today was supposed to be one of our regular get-togethers. But I was late, and I brought Julian with me. I opened my mouth, demanding to end my engagement with Ryder: “I’ve never liked you. Besides, I already have a boyfriend.” “So, you’re here to break off our engagement, for *that*?” Ryder adjusted the gold frames of his glasses. His gaze landed on Julian beside me, openly disdainful. Julian straightened his back, retaliating: “What are you so proud of? You’re just a little better off than me, thanks to your family.” “A little better?” Ryder curled his lip, a mocking smile twisting his features. “You’d do well to remember, if Aria hadn’t brought you, you wouldn’t even have the right to stand here and speak to me.”
That jab sliced right through Julian’s already fragile ego. In my previous life, I watched his eyes sting with humiliation, and my heart just *ached* for him. I immediately stepped in front of him, lashing out at Ryder, my words venomous and unthinking. I called him deluded, clinging. “Don’t think I don’t know. That guy in high school who wrote me a love letter mysteriously got his leg broken in a car accident, you did it, didn’t you?” “Ryder, you’re disgusting. I can’t even look at you.” “Besides your family name, what exactly makes you better than Julian?” I spewed so many nasty things, but Ryder didn’t say a word in response. He just sat there, still and silent, like a statue carved from ice. After a long silence, he pressed a hand to his glasses and calmly said: “Fine. I agree to break the engagement.” … Julian turned to me, his voice icy: “Miss Montgomery, did you bring me here just to be humiliated?” I dug my nails into my palm, forcing my mind out of the chaos of rebirth. Hearing his words, I suddenly chuckled: “Humiliated? Ryder was just stating facts.” “You’re just a plaything, Julian. He wouldn’t waste his breath on you. You’re seriously overestimating yourself.” The living room fell silent. Everyone stared at me, bewildered. Two steps away, on the sofa, Ryder’s head snapped up. Behind his glasses, his eyes, as clear and fragile as polished glass, held unconcealed astonishment. “What did you say?” Julian’s expression turned utterly mortified. “I said, you didn’t actually think you were better than my fiancé in any way, did you?” “He’s always ignoring me during business deals, and I get annoyed, so I just used you to get under his skin.” I dropped his hand, recoiling as if he were something repulsive. I issued my dismissal, “Now, get out.” Julian stared at me, disbelief etched on his face. But our butler, who had quickly caught on, promptly escorted him out. Before leaving, he spat a threat: “Aria Montgomery, I’m not some toy you can pick up and put down whenever you like.” “Next time, even if you beg on your knees, I won’t take you back.”
His confidence was… hilarious. I almost choked. But I had no time for Julian. I scurried over to Ryder, dropping to my knees beside him. It was only much later, in my previous life, after we broke off the engagement, that I learned Ryder had been admitted to the hospital that very night. He’d been sitting on the sofa the whole time, not getting up, because his stomach issues had flared up while he was away on a business trip. But he’d pushed himself to rush back, despite the pain, because he really wanted to see me. And the first thing I did when I saw him was demand to end our engagement. I was such an idiot. Our eyes met, and a flicker of understanding, then mocking amusement, crossed Ryder’s face. He scoffed, “Trying to make your boyfriend jealous again?” I couldn’t blame Ryder for thinking that. In my previous life, I *had* pulled stupid stunts, using Ryder to provoke Julian and prove Julian cared about me. Now, I could only soften my voice and play dumb: “Boyfriend? What boyfriend? Ryder, I only have you as my fiancé.” He looked down at me. “I don’t feel well. Could you come with me to the hospital first?” Ryder suddenly frowned: “What’s wrong? Are your period cramps acting up again?” I blurted out without thinking: “…Yeah, period cramps.” He tilted his head, looking at me. “Today isn’t your usual cycle.” Julian and I had been giving each other the silent treatment for ages. I hadn’t expected him to still remember my period cycle. My heart swelled with a sudden rush of bittersweet emotion. “Um… well, it just came early, you know?” I gently tugged on his sleeve, giving it a little shake. “I need a pain shot. Will you come with me, please?” Ryder didn’t say anything, lost in thought for a moment. Then he calmly agreed: “Alright.”
Once we were in the car, I called the driver and didn’t let Ryder drive. He didn’t argue, just sat beside me in the back seat. But there was still a person’s width between us. I asked softly, “Ryder, are you angry with me?” He curved his lips ever so slightly. A self-deprecating chuckle, “How could I dare.” Those four words sent an overwhelming wave of guilt washing over me. In my previous life, controlled by the story’s influence, my parents couldn’t stop me and watched as I married Julian. I tirelessly propped up his company with my family’s wealth, never complaining. Because Ryder always competed with Julian, always poaching his projects. I came to see him as my arch-nemesis. In those ten years of my previous life, the few times we met, I was always cold and dismissive, never giving him a kind look. “Ryder.” I sniffed, my voice thick, suddenly saying, “It’s been two months. Did you miss me?” Ryder glanced at me. He didn’t say anything. I felt a bit awkward, so I tried to make small talk: “You didn’t even bring me a gift this time.” “Last time I did. You said my things were dirty and threw them away.” He finished coldly, then turned his head away, closing his eyes. A clear sign he was reluctant to engage with me further. The last time Ryder returned from abroad, he brought me a box of rubies. As he handed them to me, he’d casually said, “Make some little trinkets. Don’t spend all your time with low-class trash.” Both the rubies themselves and Ryder’s words had pricked Julian’s male pride. So, to make Julian happy, I had immediately thrown the box of gems back at Ryder. “I don’t want your dirty stuff!” … Thinking about it, I closed my eyes in despair. In my mind, I cursed the original plot for being so unbelievably stupid, it felt like it was scribbled by someone with a serious head injury. In reality, I could only slowly, tentatively, inch closer to Ryder. I turned my body, pressing against him, resting my chin on his shoulder, and whispered, “Actually, Ryder, I have something to tell you…” My warm breath feathered against his ear, stirring the loose strands of hair by his ear. Ryder suddenly opened his eyes, reached up, and gently but firmly pulled me away by the back of my neck. “Whatever game you and Julian are playing today, I’m not interested. Don’t waste your breath.” He frowned, then paused slightly. “And stop moving around if you don’t feel well.” Ryder’s face was stern and cold when he scolded me. But I, quick-eyed, noticed his earlobes and the curve of his neck were flushed a deep crimson. He’d even shifted into a slightly awkward position. “Ryder.” I tested the waters, calling his name. “You wouldn’t… you aren’t…” “Just sit still.” He lowered his lashes, concealing the tumultuous undercurrent of desire in his eyes, his voice a little hoarse. “My business is not yours to worry about.”
By the time the car stopped outside the hospital, the icy, tense atmosphere between Ryder and me had eased considerably. Thinking of his stomach pain, I made an excuse, wanting him to help me, and linked my arm through his. But then, a sweet voice, edged with furious indignation, suddenly cut through the air beside us: “Aria Montgomery!” I turned to see Chloe, Julian’s childhood sweetheart, storming up to me, glaring angrily. “You did this on purpose, didn’t you? You deliberately had Mrs. Davis’s medication cut off just to force Julian to bow to you!” She glanced behind me, and her eyes welled up instantly. “You said before, if I disappeared, you’d ask that renowned oncology specialist to take on Mrs. Davis’s case. Are you going back on your word now?” “Chloe.” Julian quickly walked past me, pulled Chloe behind him, shielding her. Then, he lowered his gaze, speaking in a hushed, almost groveling tone. “Aria, it’s all my fault. I’m not angry about what you did to me today, just don’t make things difficult for Chloe and my mom.” “From now on, I’ll do whatever you say.” It suddenly hit me. In my previous life, that specialist who treated Julian’s mom? I’d arranged it through the Foster family connections. “No…” I hadn’t even had a chance to speak. My arm suddenly felt empty. Ryder pulled his arm free from mine, his eyes lowered, a mocking, cold, bone-deep frost in his gaze. “So this is why you suddenly wanted me to bring you to the hospital.” “Aria, this is what you wanted to tell me, isn’t it?”
That sharp, cold look Ryder would get, yet fragile as shattered glass, was all too familiar to me. In my previous life, every time I clashed with him for Julian’s sake, he would look at me exactly like that. Back then, bound by the original plot, my mind was solely focused on Julian. I only found Ryder’s dramatic airs incredibly annoying. Now, my heart ached, and I instinctively retorted: “No, it’s not.” But he didn’t look at me again, only at Julian, his voice chillingly cold: “If you look down on me so much, then show some real capability. You’re not embarrassed, dragging my fiancée into this charade just to get treatment for your own mother?” Julian gritted his teeth, a flicker of humiliation in his eyes. “You, Foster, don’t think you’re so great.” He clenched his fist, his voice cold, “One day, you’ll pay for what you said today.” Ryder ignored him and walked away without looking back. I was about to chase after him when Julian grabbed me: “…Aria.” He looked at me, his eyes slightly downcast, his voice a little hoarse, “Aria, it’s all my fault, don’t be angry anymore.” When his chilling fingers closed around my wrist, I thought of everything in my previous life and felt like a cold, venomous snake had coiled around me. “Don’t touch me! You’re disgusting!” Thrown off guard by my sudden rejection, Julian looked utterly stunned. Clearly, he couldn’t believe it. After all, in the past, no matter how angry I was, as long as he softened his tone even slightly, I would give in without question. “Aria…” He was about to say something else, but I forcefully cut him off: “Since you’ve always felt my money was an insult, then transfer the eighty thousand dollars I spent on your mother’s medical treatment to my account within three days.” “Let me see just how much backbone you really have.”
I practically sprinted in my heels, finally catching up to Ryder at the hospital entrance. “Ryder!” I tugged on his sleeve, panting. Before I could even speak, he turned his head. “Aria, we do have a history.” “But that doesn’t mean you can leverage it to make me endlessly compromise for your boyfriend.” He finished coldly, trying to pull his sleeve back, but I held on tight: “It has nothing to do with him!” “Okay, I admit, I didn’t come to the hospital because of period cramps. I wanted to bring you here—your stomach issues flared up again, didn’t they?” “Ryder, don’t think I don’t know, you never eat properly when you’re on business trips!” He looked at me, a hint of surprise in his eyes, his gaze slowly scanning my face. As if trying to discern the truth from my expression. Seeing his expression soften slightly, I quickly pressed my advantage. I dragged him, practically pulling him into the examination room. The doctor, looking at his test results, frowned deeply: “Chronic gastritis requires special attention to diet. Especially when you don’t feel well, don’t just tough it out. Come to the hospital as soon as possible.” “You’ll need an IV drip for two days.”
Sunlight streamed through the glass window, illuminating the room. Once only Ryder and I were left in the ward, the air suddenly grew quiet. I ordered some porridge for delivery. When it arrived, I blew on each spoonful to cool it before feeding it to him. Ryder’s eyelashes were lowered, lost in thought. “The doctor said you need to eat something, or your stomach will feel worse when you get the IV.” I reminded him, and he finally looked up at me. His eyes, catching the sunlight, reflected a shimmering light. “…Okay.” He responded softly, finally opening his mouth. After he’d eaten half a bowl of porridge, Ryder motioned for me to put the bowl down. “My phone.” I handed him my phone, puzzled, and watched him key in a string of numbers. “What’s this?” “Director Harrison’s number. The oncology specialist you were so keen on hiring.” I looked up sharply, seeing Ryder’s slightly pale face and a faint, bitter smile on his lips. I suddenly understood. Even now, he thought I had an ulterior motive. “You brought me to the hospital; I’m giving you what you want. We’re even.” “I don’t want next time, when you come to beg me for his sake again, for you to bring this up and say you felt disgusted just watching me eat my porridge.” “Aria… I’m human too.” The sunlight slanted in, painting a rare fragility across his sharp features. My chest tightened painfully, and I couldn’t speak. I remembered the incident Ryder was referring to. Three months ago, Julian’s studio wanted a project, and Ryder was the client’s decision-maker. So I pestered him relentlessly, cooked him a meal, and even brought him gifts. Just as Ryder was looking pleased, I asked him, “Could you just… ease up a little and give that project to Julian’s team?” The smile on Ryder’s lips vanished instantly. He put down his chopsticks and looked at me: “So, you came to see me today, still for your boyfriend?” “Julian really is capable!” I tried to argue, but his voice, cold and firm, cut me off. “Capable people don’t need to go through the back door to secure projects.” “Go home. I’ve already reviewed the proposal and made my decision.” “I won’t choose him.” Ryder stood up, pulled out his chair, and practically threw me out. I lost my temper, pointing at him and yelling: “If it weren’t for Julian, I wouldn’t even want to see you!” “Just watching you eat my food makes me sick to my stomach!”
Through my blurry vision, a hand suddenly reached out, wiping away the wetness from my eyes. Only then did I realize I was crying. Ryder withdrew his hand, saying faintly, “Don’t feel wronged. After today, I won’t look for you again.” “Aria, we’re even.” I had a track record, so it was normal for him not to trust me. While trying to convince myself, I forced back my tears and looked at Ryder earnestly: “I’m sorry.” He paused, surprised: “Matters of the heart can’t be forced. No need to apologize.” “When we get back from the hospital today, I’ll explain everything to your parents. We’ll break—” His words were cut off by my sudden kiss. Ryder’s eyes snapped open, staring at me in disbelief. I awkwardly pressed my lips against his for a moment, then pulled back slightly, panting softly, tugging at his collar. “Don’t… don’t say break off the engagement.” I steadied myself and continued, “Ryder, whether you believe it or not, all those things with Julian before? I didn’t want to do them.” “I brought you to the hospital simply because I saw how pale you looked and was worried about you.” He looked down at me, the tumultuous emotions in his eyes obscured by his long lashes: “Is this your new tactic?” I suppressed the bitterness in my heart: “My life, our shared history—we’ve known each other for as long as I’ve been alive. So you have to believe me.” “If you don’t believe me—” “I’ll kiss you again.” I said, leaning in again. But Ryder pressed against my forehead, stopping me in time. His breath was incredibly close, his voice a little hoarse: “Aria, do you know what you’re doing right now?” I answered, “Yes, I know. I’m doing what we did when we were eighteen.” That sentence was like a fuse, igniting everything. Instantly burning away all reason between Ryder and me.
The night after graduation, my family held a special dinner to celebrate. I drank a few glasses of champagne and, feeling tipsy, dragged Ryder into my room. I asked him, “What does kissing feel like?” “…” He looked at me calmly, “Aria, you’re drunk.” I got a little upset: “Don’t change the subject! If you don’t tell me, I’ll go find some other—mph!” Before I could finish, Ryder suddenly gripped my chin, leaning in to kiss me. A faint scent of lemongrass wafted from him. It was probably the cologne I’d given him for his birthday that year. His lips and tongue, and the pad of his thumb pressing against my neck, were searing hot. My head was spinning, and soon I could only cling to his shirtfront, forced to endure the overwhelming heat that followed. Ryder’s voice was laced with a dark, surging desire: “…That’s what kissing feels like.” “Want to go deeper, Aria?”
Back then, we were so good, so incredibly close. I always thought I’d marry Ryder after college. But after I started university, the moment I saw Julian. I was possessed, as if by a ghost, and dragged into the whirlpool of the original plot.
“He’s just lying in a hospital bed, how did the IV drip get dislodged?” The nurse came to re-insert Ryder’s IV, then, still worried, reminded him, “No more moving around, okay? You only have one more bag left.” Ryder nodded calmly. It was me, sitting beside him, who rubbed my burning ears. After the nurse left, I apologized softly: “…I’m sorry.” I’d been so caught up in the kiss that I’d pressed on Ryder’s arm, dislodging the IV needle. Blood had stained the entire adhesive patch red. He glanced at me: “No need to apologize.” “So, do you believe me now?” “Depends on your performance.” Despite his words, his tone had already softened slightly. Near the end of the month, Ryder went to a neighboring city for a business trip. Even though I was back at university for classes, I made sure to text him whenever I could. I was actively proving to him that he was the only one in my heart. Ryder’s birthday was approaching. That afternoon, I wanted to go to the mall to pick out a gift for him. Suddenly, I saw a familiar figure in the distance. It was Julian. Because of the harsh words exchanged at the hospital that day, he hadn’t contacted me in days. I was actually happy about the reprieve. But now, during what should have been a busy time at his studio, he was walking into a garden restaurant with a young man. My heart tightened, and I hurried forward a few steps. The moment I entered, the man happened to look up. It was like a lightning bolt struck me, and I froze. This man… wasn’t he Marcus, the one who, in my previous life, had partnered with Julian to ruin Ryder and the Montgomery family?
I secretly followed them, hiding behind some greenery, and overheard their conversation. “Ryder’s already in Seaside City. Looks like he hasn’t discovered the project is problematic.” “Project?” Julian scoffed, his voice chilling, “I want more than just his company. I want his life.” … In my previous life, I often found it strange. Ryder, born into the Foster family, was the most brilliant child of his generation. He earned his MBA from a top business school at twenty, then returned home to take over the family company. How could such a Ryder repeatedly lose to Julian, eventually having most of his family’s company swallowed? Was it just because Julian had a protagonist’s halo? Or did he possess some special information? What was this Seaside City project they were talking about? Countless questions swirled in my mind. I desperately wanted to ask Ryder, but I was afraid that an early confrontation with Julian might accelerate the original plot, pushing Ryder towards his fated end. After much thought, I decided to start with Julian, to gather information. To prevent Ryder from falling into danger under the influence of the original plot.
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