Julian’s ex, Cassandra, drove a knife into me when I was eight months pregnant. That ended everything. Reborn, I vowed to stay a world away from him. What I never expected was that Cassandra had been reborn too. She was beyond unhinged. She hired men to kidnap me. “Who said you could love Julian?! I’ll kill you!” It was the perfect chance to stage my own death and claim my birthright as the lost heiress to a fortune. But then Julian stood over my “corpse.” He lost his mind completely. Audrey POV Three years into my marriage to Julian Thorne, and I remained the collateral damage in his endless, brutal war with Cassandra Vance, his ex. Cassandra had turned our wedding into a funeral pyre, setting my gown ablaze. Julian retaliated by crashing her father’s funeral and dissolving the casket with acid. Cassandra had once tied me to her sports car and dragged me for two miles. Julian had responded by digging up her father’s remains that very night, chopping them to pieces, and feeding them to strays. They knew each other’s breaking points intimately, and each blow was precise, devastating, aimed straight for the jugular. But every blade they meant for each other somehow found its way, twisting, into me. After Cassandra tossed me into a dog cage, leaving my body a mangled mess with not an inch of skin untouched, I finally couldn’t take it anymore. I clung desperately to Julian, who was about to seek revenge, tears streaming down my face. “Julian… please, stop this… I’m begging you…” Julian’s body stiffened, but his voice was as cold and hard as steel. “Audrey, after what she did to you, how can I just let it go?!” “But I’m terrified…Julian, I’m so terrified…” I pleaded, my voice raw with despair. I knew the true depth of their generational hatred. Five years ago, the night before Julian’s wedding to Cassandra, he’d walked in on his mother, disoriented, being violated by Cassandra’s father. The trauma had been too much. Julian’s mother, shattered by the violation, had thrown herself from their penthouse balcony, dying instantly. Julian himself had ensured Cassandra’s father would never walk again. From that moment, lovers became sworn enemies, consumed by their mutual loathing. But the thought of Cassandra’s twisted schemes, her venomous cruelty, sent a tidal wave of fear crashing over me. “We can’t beat a psychopath… She’s going to kill me… She’ll tear me apart, piece by bloody piece…” Julian fell silent for a moment, then slowly, painstakingly, peeled my fingers from his arm. His voice was filled with bitter resolve. “I’ll never forgive her! I’ll fight her to the death!” Watching his determined back walk away, my hands dropped, powerless. That night, he didn’t return, but his actions had an effect. Cassandra didn’t appear before me again. I thought my suffering was finally over, until a year later. Cassandra, wielding a sharpened knife, plunged it into my eight-month pregnant belly, not once, but seven brutal times! It happened so suddenly. Julian instantly tackled the assailant, his face contorted with rage. “Cassandra! What the hell are you doing?!” I lay in a pool of blood, the searing pain in my abdomen tearing me apart. My hand trembled as I reached out. “Julian! Save… the baby… she’s trying to kill us…” Julian rushed to my side, but the next second, Cassandra let out a chilling, maniacal laugh and plunged the bloodied knife savagely into her own chest! Blood welled at the corners of her mouth, but her eyes gleamed with a terrifying light. “Julian, take one more step, and I’ll gut myself! Let’s see who drains faster, you or me!” Julian actually froze. I was stunned. I couldn’t believe my eyes! “Julian! What are you hesitating for?! Isn’t she your mortal enemy?!” Blood rushed to my head, and I screamed with all my might. “You said you’d never let her go when she trapped me in that burning car wreck for hours! You vowed to make her pay a hundredfold when she left me for dead at the bottom of that ravine! Now, she’s trying to kill me!” Julian’s gaze flickered wildly between me, bleeding out on the floor, and the deranged Cassandra. More and more blood gushed from beneath me. I could feel our baby’s life fading away, and I could only beg. “Julian… you promised to protect me for a lifetime…” At my words, he turned towards me. A flicker of hope ignited in my eyes, only to be extinguished by Cassandra’s piercing shriek- “Julian! I’m pregnant!” “It’s your baby!” What?!! My pupils dilated. They… they actually… Then, I watched in horror as Julian turned, scooped Cassandra into his arms, and rushed out the door without a backward glance! In that instant, shock, fury, despair… all emotions crashed over me. A metallic taste filled my mouth, and I let out a wretched laugh. “Hahahahaha…” How ironic! Two people who, at every encounter, seemed hell-bent on tearing each other apart, had secretly been entwined in the shadows, sharing the same bed. And even conceived a child! So, the burning hatred, the endless struggle to the death, had all been a lie. Beneath the towering animosity and the tormenting entanglement lay Julian’s deepest, most unspeakable love for Cassandra! My laughter turned to tears. Years ago, I’d rescued an amnesiac Julian. For a year, we’d lived on a secluded island, growing close, falling in love. Later, when his memory returned, and he wanted to take me away from the island, his eyes were still full of tender affection. “Audrey, come with me. From now on, I will protect you with my life, forever.” But because of that promise, I was dragged into a vortex of hatred again and again, repeatedly enduring and compromising for him. Even when injured, I only dared to lick my wounds in secret, terrified that my pain would further fuel their conflict. But now, the truth was brutally clear, his promises shattered with his own hands. Our baby and I were nothing but pawns in their twisted game! Despair and bone-deep regret swallowed me whole. My consciousness completely faded into darkness. The next second, my eyes snapped open! The searing pain in my body was back, but not in my abdomen. My trembling hand fumbled for my phone. The date on the screen made my entire body jolt. I had been reborn, back to ten days before my wedding! I was in the hospital now because Cassandra, upon hearing of the wedding, had suddenly gone berserk and deliberately rammed her car into me, sending me flying thirty feet. The thought jolted me awake. Cassandra’s retaliation… always seemed to follow Julian’s declarations of love for me. One masked their unrequited longing with hatred, the other vented their love-hate entanglement with violence. Every one of their battles was, in truth, an unspoken declaration of love hidden beneath a blood-soaked feud. Two psychopaths! A shiver ran down my spine. Without hesitation, I typed a message to the number etched into my very soul. “I’ve made up my mind. I’m coming home.” His reply was instantaneous. “Good. The Gateway will open in half a month. I’ll come for you myself.” Looking at the short message on the screen, my eyes immediately welled up. I was Annelise Sterling, the long-lost heiress of the powerful Sterling family from Aethelred. In my previous life, my family had frantically searched for me before the Aethelred Gateway closed. But I had chosen Julian, sacrificing my chance to return home, and died tragically without seeing my family again. The connection to Aethelred, the Gateway, only opened once every ten years. This life, I’d seize this chance to escape these two psychopaths, once and for all! “Audrey! You’re awake?” Julian burst into the hospital room, grasping my hand. “It’s all my fault… I didn’t protect you! I swear I won’t let Cassandra get away with this!”
Audrey POV His familiar warmth instantly made my skin prickle with dread. Years ago, when my chronic cold hands and feet would act up, he’d press my icy hands and feet firmly against his warm stomach. If I tried to pull away even slightly, he’d press them back forcefully. “Why are you hiding? This spot, it’s just for warming you up, isn’t it?” But that warmth I’d once craved to my very bones had also hurled me into the abyss! I couldn’t forget the helplessness of feeling life drain from my womb in my past life, couldn’t forget his resolute back as he carried Cassandra away, and certainly couldn’t forget the despair of being betrayed and abandoned just before death! Thinking of all this, a bitter, mocking smile twisted my lips. “Not let her get away with it? What’s your plan? Run her over with a car too?” Just like in my previous life, Julian’s so-called acts of revenge were always grand, dramatic displays. But had Cassandra ever truly suffered a single scratch? Julian visibly flinched, clearly not expecting my sarcastic retort. I watched his subtle tells. His gaze flickered, and he quickly changed the subject. “Audrey, don’t worry about it. I’ll go pay your hospital bills first.” Watching his retreating back, my chest ached with an unbearable bitterness. I curled deeper into the blankets. When I heard footsteps, I assumed it was a nurse and mumbled, my voice muffled, “I need to rest. No more check-ups…” However, the next second, a sharp, searing pain shot through my arm! My eyes snapped open, meeting a pair of crazed, smiling eyes. Cassandra! “I finally got rid of you,” Cassandra hissed, pressing an acupuncture needle savagely into my shoulder blade. “This life, you still dare to marry him?!” This life? Already? My entire body jolted. She had been reborn too?! Before I could think, an even more intense pain hit me. I mustered all my strength to block her with my arm. I barely opened my mouth to scream, but Cassandra, quick as a flash, pulled out another needle and plunged it into a pressure point in my throat. “Ugh!” The excruciating pain was accompanied by an inability to speak. I horrifyingly realized I couldn’t even open my mouth properly. I could only watch, terrified, as long, thick needles repeatedly sank into my flesh, a searing, agonizing pain spreading like wildfire through my entire body. I don’t know how long it lasted before Julian finally pushed the door open. “Cassandra! What are you doing!” She calmly withdrew the needles, a light laugh on her lips. “What, scared I’d hurt her while you were gone?” Julian immediately looked at me, his voice urgent. “Did she do anything to you?” I instinctively shook my head, trying to signal that I couldn’t speak, but only to manage a muffled “Mmmph.” Julian visibly relaxed, then turned to confront Cassandra. “Why are you here?” She arched an eyebrow, slapping an invitation card onto his chest. “Welcome to my wedding.” “What did you say?!” Julian’s fists clenched so hard I saw his knuckles whiten, his hands were actually trembling. But I was beyond processing what I felt. Cassandra had stabbed deeply and viciously. I was in excruciating pain. “You’re getting married, and I’m getting married too, you know…” Cassandra giggled, turning to leave. “Don’t you dare leave!” It hurt… Julian… I was in so much pain… I was so wracked with pain I could barely stand. I weakly reached out, trying to grab a piece of Julian’s jacket. But the enraged man simply shoved me aside without a second thought- I slammed to the floor, the needles in my back plunging even deeper! Pain, like a tidal wave, crashed over me, making my vision blur with stars. Yet, I watched in horror as Julian chased after Cassandra, not even bothering to glance back. It seemed that whenever Cassandra was involved, his vaunted self-control crumbled to dust. Hearing she was getting married, he didn’t even bother to hide it anymore. If that wasn’t love, then what was it? The bitter, stinging ache in my chest, though, made me feel more truly alive. I gritted my teeth, gathering all my strength, and slammed my head against the bedside table. The vase shattered with a crash. Watching the frantic nurses and doctors rush in, I finally closed my eyes weakly- This life, I would never repeat my mistakes, never be a lamb to their slaughter!
Audrey POV The moment I’d managed to pull all the needles from my body, I’d called the police. Even though the Aethelred Gateway wouldn’t open for another eight days, I wasn’t taking any chances against a psychopath who’d lived two lives. Only by getting her behind bars could I safely make it through the remaining days. However, that very night, Julian walked in, holding a document, and placed it on my bedside table. “Audrey, sign this letter of understanding.” My eyes landed on the name written there: Cassandra! I froze for a second, then violently swatted the document away. “She almost killed me! And you want me to forgive her?!” Julian grasped my shoulders, his voice gentle, almost coaxing. “The charges for assault are too light. I want her to pay a far more brutal price.” “A price?” My voice spiked. “What price? A price I’ll only know after she’s killed me?!” “Audrey, don’t say such things!” Julian forcibly pulled my trembling body into his embrace. “Don’t curse yourself.” Perhaps sensing my rising panic, he sighed, his voice softening. “Okay, no letter of understanding then. The wedding is soon, don’t get upset. I want you to be happy and beautiful as my bride.” Hearing him back down, my taut nerves still refused to ease. I didn’t relax until I’d torn the letter of understanding into tiny pieces. I had died once. How could Julian ever understand my fear? Julian held me tightly, continuing to soothe me. The next morning, I went for a follow-up examination at the hospital. As I reached the base of the hospital building, a heavy flowerpot exploded by my feet. CRASH. Still reeling from shock, I was helped by a nurse to a room. But as soon as the IV drip was hung, a sharp, burning pain flared in my arm. I curled up, the pain was so intense, and my arm quickly swelled and turned red. The nurse frantically pulled out the needle, sniffed at it, and her face instantly turned pale. “It’s disinfectant!” Emergency stomach pumping, wound treatment, even a complete blood transfusion… After a series of torturous procedures, I felt like I’d been disassembled and put back together. Weak, I was wheeled back to my room on a gurney. In my hazy consciousness, I heard the head nurse reprimanding someone sharply. A timid voice spoke. “…It-it was Cassandra. She put a bounty on her on the dark web! She wants her dead…” My entire body jolted. Cassandra?! But hadn’t she been arrested?! The junior nurse whispered, “Does Audrey Reed not know? Mr. Thorne left with the letter of understanding late last night. Cassandra was released on bail less than an hour after they brought her in…” Letter of understanding… late last night… handprint… My face went ashen. I suddenly remembered the unnaturally deep sleep I’d fallen into last night. Julian had given me sleeping pills, then forced my handprint onto that damn letter of understanding while I was unconscious! The betrayal was absolute. Brazen. It felt like my heart had been torn clean out of my chest. I couldn’t breathe. The room tilted, my vision tunneling into darkness as consciousness slipped away, and I collapsed into a coma. … In the suffocating silence, Julian’s frantic voice, like a needle, pierced the darkness, dragging me back to reality. I struggled to lift my heavy eyelids. The concern in his eyes seemed genuine. But I only felt a searing irony. The pent-up fear and betrayal exploded. I gathered every ounce of strength and slapped him, hard. Julian’s head whipped to the side from the blow. He was about to speak when his gaze locked onto my trembling hand, holding up my phone screen- It clearly displayed a dark web bounty page, explicitly targeting me! “Julian… maybe you should just wait for me to die before showing up?” Julian’s pupils constricted. He instantly understood that I knew everything. “Audrey, listen to me!” His voice was urgent. “I only got her out because I wanted her to pay a more brutal price! I didn’t think she’d actually dare…!” His eyes churned with towering fury. “This time! I swear I’ll make her pay a hundredfold!” Always the same! A wave of helplessness washed over me, and my hot tears finally broke free. “Always the same… a hundredfold? Julian, I’m sick and tired of hearing it! She trapped me in a coffin, buried alive. She left me hanging from a cliff. She threw me into a cage of hunting dogs to be torn apart. And now, she’s had me poisoned, forcing me to undergo a full blood transfusion just to barely survive!” The terror and despair of both my past and present lives exploded in that moment, transforming into a towering inferno of hatred. “But what about her? She commits evil after evil, yet always escapes unscathed! She can’t even stay in jail for more than an hour before my own husband personally bails her out! Julian, your feelings for her…” “This time is different!” Julian’s eyes were frantic. He pulled me into a fierce embrace, his voice resolute. “This time is really different! This time she dared to hurt you so badly! I swear I’ll make her wish she was never born!” As if to prove himself, he turned and left. Watching his reaper-lethal back, a sharp curiosity cut through me: what would he do this time?
Audrey POV I pushed past the pain and quietly followed him. Julian’s car sped off, and it took me hours of searching to find his license plate in an alleyway. The moment I got closer, my pupils dilated- The sports car was rocking violently, and indistinct figures were intertwined within the windows. What they were doing was self-evident. So… they were already at it, even at this point… ! I remembered my own near-death experience just moments ago, and Julian’s solemn promises. Rage instantly consumed me. I slammed my foot on the accelerator and crashed into them, hard! CRASH. The impact shook the air. Julian’s head whipped back. And in that shattered second, his eyes locked onto mine through the windshield-met by a gaze of pure ice. “Julian! What are you doing!” His face, still flushed with lust, flickered with a trace of panic. “Audrey, listen to me!” “Listen? Didn’t you swear you’d get revenge on her?! Is this how you make her wish she was never born?! Huh?!” “Audrey, she drugged me! I just… I didn’t want to hurt you!” Julian’s breathing was heavy, and he was still involuntarily thrusting. “This way… I can make her wish she was never born too!” Wish she was never born? Hearing that shameless logic, I laughed, utterly disgusted. Cassandra’s face was flushed with passion, her eyes hazy. Wish she was never born? She was clearly enjoying herself! I couldn’t stand another second of that nauseating scene. I turned to leave, only to hear Julian roar- “Cassandra! You goddamn dare!” I spun back. Blinding headlights flared, and a black Bentley, out of control, barreled straight towards me! “Ah!” As my body was thrown into the air by the immense impact, time seemed to stretch infinitely. Countless images flashed before my eyes- I remembered Julian, on that secluded island, clumsily weaving a ring from grass. The sea breeze ruffled his flushed ears as he said, “Audrey, it’s not pretty, but one day, I promise I’ll give you the most beautiful one.” I remembered after he brought me home, at a grand banquet, he held my hand tightly, declaring to the world, “This is Audrey Reed, the only woman I, Julian, will ever love.” His devotion then made me believe I was the happiest woman in the world, willingly immersing myself in the future he painted for me. Until that warmth and sweetness abruptly shattered, and the final image burned into my mind was him, in my past life, carrying Cassandra away from my blood-soaked body, his back resolute… I looked at Julian, who was frantically running towards me, and forced a bitter, wretched laugh. Julian, your promised “hundredfold repayment,” your sworn “wishing she was never born”-how had all of it… once again landed on me? My heart sank into the boundless darkness even before my body did. My last sliver of hope, crushed under the weight of those memories.
Audrey POV When I opened my eyes again, the first thing I saw was Julian’s bloodshot eyes. “Audrey!” He frantically gripped my hand, his voice hoarse and broken. “I’m so sorry… It’s all my fault…” I didn’t cry, didn’t scream. I didn’t even ask about the culprit. I simply pulled my hand back, my voice calm. “How many days have I been asleep?” “Three… a full three days.” Good. Four more days until I can go home. I lowered my gaze, silently counting down the days. “Audrey…” Julian’s fingers brushed mine. “Don’t you have anything you want to ask?” I merely glanced at him, my gaze distant. “What do you think I should ask?” Julian fell silent, completely at a loss for words. After a long pause, Julian’s eyes suddenly lit up. “Our wedding will be held on the island where we first met. I’ll take you to see it when you have time, okay?” The island… My gaze softened slightly. In a haze, the image of Julian, holding a vibrant seashell like a treasure, presenting it to me, became clear again. His eyes then had shone brighter than the stars, saying, “The old fishermen say making a wish on it really works. I just wished for us to be together forever.” In my previous life, I’d clung to these warm fragments, repeatedly telling myself, “Julian loves me.” My phone buzzed, interrupting my thoughts. A concise message flashed across the screen. “All arrangements completed.” Julian instantly clamped onto my wrist. “What arrangements?” At the same time, his phone vibrated wildly. Julian abruptly hung up, but it rang three more times, the caller insistent. “Answer it,” I said, gently pulling my hand away. “Don’t keep them waiting.” He hesitated for a moment, then finally got up. Watching his frantic departure, a mocking smile touched my lips. We had both silently agreed not to mention it, but I knew. The person who wouldn’t stop calling, who wouldn’t rest until she got her way, could only be Cassandra. I looked down at my Aethelred travel documents, arranged by my brother, displayed on my phone. I whispered to myself. “What arrangements?” “Of course… the arrangements that will let me escape you completely.” Julian appeared to take my safety seriously now. Two bodyguards stood constant watch outside my door. Every move I made was shadowed. But I knew the truth. He wasn’t protecting me. He was pacifying his own guilt. The next evening, under the guise of a walk, I led my escorts to the hospital’s secluded back garden. When the bodyguards’ view was blocked, I reached up and unclasped the blue diamond necklace from my throat. Julian had fastened it there himself. “Audrey, this has a GPS tracker. Wherever you are, if you’re ever in danger, I’ll come for you. Immediately.” But hadn’t every storm and every danger in my life come from him? I calmly broke the chain and tossed the necklace into the fountain. The diamond caused a tiny ripple on the water’s surface, just like the last bit of sincerity in my heart for this love, sinking silently. Suddenly, footsteps rushed behind me. Before I could turn around, a sharp pain shot through the back of my neck- When I opened my eyes again, I was somewhere else. Somewhere ruined. I was tied up, unable to move. A man with a scar across his cheek gripped my chin, his smile a cold slit. “Mrs. Thorne. You’ve been difficult to catch.”
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