My fiancé fell in love with his intern secretary Willow Bennett and insisted on breaking off our engagement. I kindly advised him, “She can’t help you become the heir of the Foster family. Why don’t you marry me first, and we can talk about it after you’ve secured your position?” The secretary felt insulted by my words and jumped off a building in public. Five years later, the first thing my husband did after becoming the Foster family heir was to divorce me and ruin my family’s business. “This is what you owe Willow Bennett,” he said. When I woke up again, it was my 22nd birthday party. People asked me what my birthday wish was. I smiled coldly, “I hope Caleb Foster marries Willow Bennett.” I died on a rainy day. Originally, we could have seen the mountain full of maple leaves, but Caleb couldn’t wait. I rolled down the stairs, step by step, blood spilling everywhere. He was still not satisfied. He pushed me down the stairs with his own hands, again and again. I was in so much pain I could barely make a sound, but I still asked reluctantly, “Why?” I didn’t understand. Our two families had always been close, and Caleb and I had been childhood sweethearts. For over a decade, my family had helped him establish his position in the family and become the heir. But he set a trap, causing my family to go bankrupt and my father to die of a heart attack. “Why, Caleb?” I clung to the hem of his clothes. Caleb’s face was frighteningly pale. Even though he was the one who hurt me, his expression looked as if I had let him down. “This is what you owe Willow Bennett,” he said through gritted teeth. Willow Bennett? This name sounded somewhat unfamiliar, so much so that it took me some effort to recall the name and the pure, delicate face behind it. I couldn’t help but laugh. Five years. So for these five years, Caleb had never forgotten her. So he blamed her death on me, on the entire Collins Group. “Caleb, you really are a…” Fool! Before I could utter the last two words, Caleb had already tightly gripped my neck. The oxygen in my chest was being drained bit by bit, blood trickling from the corner of my mouth. It looked just like those red maple leaves covering the mountain.
“Aria, are you having a headache again?” The cold rain disappeared. The hard floor disappeared. It was a clear autumn day, with guests gathering all around. My 22nd birthday party, which was also my engagement party with Caleb. Perhaps the heavens had opened their eyes, and I had actually been reborn. Not only was I not dead, but I had returned to when I was 22. This year, the Collins Group’s business was booming, and my father had entered the top ten on the Forbes list. This year, Caleb and I weren’t engaged yet. A gloating voice came from behind, “Yesterday, Caleb publicly admitted to the media that the little secretary is his girlfriend.” My best friend was about to go over, but I stopped her. Girlfriend? What Caleb did was far more than just admitting her status as his girlfriend. Three months ago, he went on a business trip and was drugged by a competitor. Willow Bennett saved him, and they ended up spending a night together. Caleb suddenly realized his true love and wanted to marry her. Including yesterday, they had been photographed by the media three times. “Aria, don’t listen to what the media says. You and Caleb have been together for so many years…” I looked at my best friend and shook my head. My friend’s words came to an abrupt halt. Of course, I knew what she was going to say. A week ago, I woke up at home. A week was enough time for me to sort out everything that had happened over the past five years. “Aria.” My friend suddenly reminded me, “Caleb is coming over.”
I looked up and saw Caleb walking towards me, surrounded by a crowd of people. The gossip behind me immediately disappeared. Caleb and I had grown up together. When we were five or six years old, our elders had already arranged our future marriage. Whenever someone bullied me as a child, he was always the first to stand up for me. When he made mistakes and got punished, I was always the first to plead for him. Before this, no one would have doubted that I was Caleb’s true love. But today, on my 22nd birthday, he brought another woman. Willow Bennett was thin and delicate, clinging to his side like a little white flower. Caleb smiled, whispering something intimately in her ear. She looked at me, her expression suddenly becoming flustered and at a loss. She took a few big steps forward. She bowed to me at a 90-degree angle.
It was exactly the same as in my previous life. Even the tear that was about to fall from her eyelashes was the same. In my previous life, it was this pitiful appearance of hers that deceived Caleb. I had grown up seeing arranged marriages for the sake of benefits in big families, and had never dared to hope for love. Her appearance made my heart sour, but not enough to lose my rationality. When Caleb wanted to break off our engagement, I didn’t cry or make a scene. Considering the years of friendship between our families, I only advised him a few words: “Willow is just an orphan, and she doesn’t have much work experience. Although you two…” “But if you marry her, your grandfather won’t agree, and it might cause trouble for her.” “Caleb, why don’t you keep her as a mistress for now, and in the future…” I spoke vaguely: “In the future, when you become the heir, won’t you be able to make your own decisions?” Just these few words, which were meant to help her avoid trouble, ended up bringing a world of trouble upon myself.
In my previous life, as soon as I saw Willow bow, I hurriedly helped her up. This time, I just watched her coldly. Seeing that no one was paying attention to her, she unhesitatingly knelt down and started kowtowing to me, banging her head again and again with loud thuds. My friend tugged at my sleeve. There were many guests today, all looking in this direction. I squeezed her hand. What’s the rush? “Willow!” Caleb’s face was already not looking good. In just this short moment, Willow’s forehead was already bleeding. Combined with her tears that were about to fall, she looked very pitiful. She looked back at Caleb, then at me, bit her lip, and continued kowtowing. I leisurely picked up the wine glass from the table beside me. Suddenly, I was a bit curious about how far she could take this act.
That’s right. Willow was acting. Her pitiful appearance was an act, and even her suicide jump in my previous life was an act. On the empty rooftop, I personally heard what she said. She was crying and begging a man at the time: “Brother, I’m an orphan. How else can I make Caleb care about me if I don’t use some tricks?” “Brother, help me again, use another trick!” “Brother, with my background, Caleb’s family won’t agree to me marrying him.” “But Caleb originally promised to marry me, I have to make him feel guilty towards me.” “Brother, just help me one more time!” “Just pretend to jump off the building, and Caleb will remember that he owes me for the rest of his life!” What an actress. She fooled Caleb, fooled me. Fooled all the media. I once asked Caleb why he cared so much about Willow. “I was born as the eldest son of the Foster family, everyone flatters me, praises me.” “They respect me, love me, all because of my family’s money and status.” “Even you, Aria, if I wasn’t the Foster family’s son, would you still marry me?” This question stumped me at the time. If he and I weren’t from families of equal status, we wouldn’t have grown up together, let alone be engaged or married. “Only Willow, only she truly loves me and is willing to sacrifice everything for me.” “Aria, how could I refuse such pure love?” I was almost drawn in by him. As the daughter of the Collins family, I had always been cautious in my words and actions. I had to consider my parents, consider the family. Indeed, I wouldn’t easily sacrifice everything for one person. We all overlooked another possibility. Whether Caleb was drugged or dying from poisoning, it was a good opportunity for Willow. From the beginning, Willow was determined to win his heart.
“Enough!” Caleb shouted. Silence fell all around. Willow trembled, looking up at me timidly. Her intention was very clear. She had ruined my engagement, made me the laughing stock of our circle, and felt guilty about it. If I didn’t speak up, she would never stop. Very well then, continue. I raised an eyebrow and continued sipping the red wine in my glass. Willow gritted her teeth, about to kowtow again. Suddenly, Caleb took two steps forward and swatted the wine glass out of my hand with a loud slap. “Aria, don’t go too far!”
“Aria, is this your magnanimity?” Caleb’s face was cold, shocking everyone around into silence. He pulled Willow up, gently touching her forehead with concern: “Aria, apologize.” “If you apologize now, I’ll pretend nothing happened.” I almost laughed out loud. It was my fault for being too naive back then. After uncovering Willow’s lies, I called Caleb that very day, telling him everything I had seen. I told him to be careful of Willow. The next day, Willow died. Really died. The media all said she committed suicide by jumping off a building because she never married Caleb. Caleb told me: “Luckily you warned me, otherwise I would have been fooled by her.” After that incident, for so many years, I thought he had forgotten about Willow. After all, he hated being deceived the most. It wasn’t until right before my death that I understood everything.
Aria, are you mute?” “Willow didn’t do anything, I’m the one who wants to break off the engagement.” “If you apologize to her, I won’t hold you accountable for the injury on her head.” I looked at Caleb, couldn’t help but curl my lips. It was my fault for being blind, always thinking he was smart. “Are the elders inside?” I turned to ask a passing waiter, walking gracefully towards the inside. Caleb followed closely behind me: “What are you going to do?” “Want to tattle?” I didn’t answer him. Until we reached the door, Caleb was still following closely behind me: “Aria, don’t think that just because you’re the Collins family’s daughter, you can be engaged to me.” “I’ve already promised to marry Willow, I can’t possibly marry you.” I turned back to look at Caleb. As he said, he was born into a position of privilege. His life had been too smooth sailing, causing him to not realize what a powerful wife meant for him. Perhaps this look of mine was too cold, Caleb was stunned for a moment. Caleb’s grandfather happened to look towards the door and asked, “What’s going on with you two, always together?” In front of all the guests, I stepped forward and bowed: “Grandfather, today is my birthday. I want to make a wish to you.” “Caleb and Willow are in love, I envy them.” “I don’t want to ruin their relationship.” “Grandfather, I want to break off the engagement with Caleb.” The room suddenly fell silent.
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