To protect me, my father, the richest man in the city, formally adopted three outstanding foster sons and arranged for them to be responsible for my safety. After I came of age, my father asked me to choose one of the three as my fiancé. But I did not choose Ethan Carter, whom I had liked for a very long time. It was only because in my previous life, on the day of my engagement party, I was kidnapped and hung over a cliff. But when I tremblingly called Ethan for help, I received his cold reply: “Clara Whitmore, stop playing such a boring trick. Lily said she saw you at the door of your room ten minutes ago!” Listening to the woman’s delicate laughter over the phone, I closed my eyes in despair. When the iron cage sank into the sea and the icy seawater poured into my mouth and nose, my life was completely extinguished. When I woke up again, I had returned to the day my father asked me to choose a fiancé. 0The familiar list appeared before my eyes, and I jolted awake. The agony of drowning had not yet faded, and my father’s voice sounded beside my ear. “Clara, today you will choose one of the three of them as your fiancé!” Only then did I realize that I had been reborn. Looking at the list, I crossed out Ethan Carter’s name without hesitation. My father froze. “Clara, did you make a mistake?” “Haven’t you loved following Ethan around since you were little, so why did you cross out his name?” “Wait a moment, I’ll have someone prepare a new list…” I quickly shook my head and interrupted my father. “Dad, I didn’t make a mistake!” “The person I want to choose really isn’t Ethan Carter, but Adrian Sterling.” At that moment, the expression of unbearable grief Adrian Sterling had worn after my death, as well as his heart-wrenching cries, surfaced in my mind. Seeing my firm attitude, my father said nothing more and nodded in agreement. He told me not to announce it publicly for now, and that he would announce it himself at the engagement party three days later. Just after walking out of my father’s study, I ran straight into Ethan Carter in the main hall of the mansion. The person following beside him was Lily Harper. The moment Lily Harper saw me, she hid behind Ethan Carter in terror, as if I were some man-eating demon. Ethan pulled her in front of him and comforted her gently. “Lily, don’t be scared. With me here, no one dares to bully you!” After saying that, he glared at me viciously: “Clara Whitmore, even if Lily is a distant relative sponsored by the Whitmore family, you still can’t bully her like this, can you?” I had no idea what he meant. At that moment, Lily Harper revealed her red and swollen ankle and said cautiously: “Ethan, don’t blame Clara. I come from an ordinary background, so being ordered by her to get out of the car and walk back alone on a deserted mountain road is nothing!” Hearing this, I froze for a moment, because I had never abandoned Lily Harper halfway at all! Only then did I realize that Lily Harper was using her tricks again and pretending to be pitiful. Before I could speak, Ethan roared at me: “Clara Whitmore, let me tell you, even if you choose me as your fiancé, I will never like a vicious woman like you!” After saying that, he looked at Lily Harper’s ankle with heartache, his eyes full of tenderness: “Lily, you are not ordinary at all. You are much better than people with ugly hearts!” As he spoke, he gave me a disdainful look. A stab of pain shot through my heart. Whether in my past life or this life, he had never believed me. Just then, a repairman suddenly charged at me with a knife. I screamed in fright and retreated again and again. Ethan reacted quickly and was about to rush over to block in front of me. But just then, Lily Harper screamed and collapsed to the ground, moaning in pain. Even though she was the farthest from the attacker. Ethan hesitated for a moment, but he still rushed to Lily Harper’s side to protect her. Looking at the scene before me, my heart slowly turned cold. Just as the attacker’s blade was about to stab into my chest, someone suddenly flashed over and kicked him to the ground. I opened my eyes, and only then did I clearly see that the person who had come was Adrian Sterling! 0
Seeing that their plan could not succeed, the two attackers fled in a panic. Adrian Sterling looked at Ethan Carter beside him with a gloomy face and said in a deep voice: “Ethan Carter, did you forget that Clara’s safety is the most important thing?” “If something happens to Clara, can you bear that responsibility?” A trace of panic flashed across Ethan Carter’s face, but he quickly said indifferently: “Nothing happened, did it?” “Besides, Lily was hurt because of Clara Whitmore, so I couldn’t just ignore her!” Hearing this, Adrian Sterling’s face became even darker, and he stepped forward and punched Ethan Carter in the face: “So you can just ignore Clara’s safety? Have you forgotten the debt we owe the Whitmore family?” “Mr. Whitmore has treated us like his own sons, so are you going to throw away that kindness just because of one woman?” Ethan Carter felt a little guilty, but facing Adrian Sterling’s fist and questions, he truly could not endure it, and the two of them started fighting. Seeing this, I hurried over to stop them. At that moment, Lily Harper beside us let out a pained wail: “Ethan, it hurts so much!” Only then did Ethan stop, anxiously pick up Lily Harper, and turn to leave. Adrian Sterling’s face was icy as he turned to look at me, anger staining the depths of his eyes: “Why did you stop me? He treated you like that, and you still can’t bear to see him get hurt?” At that moment, his eyes actually began to turn red. “I didn’t…” “Enough, there’s no need to explain!” He interrupted me. “Since you chose him, then take care of yourself!” I hurriedly spoke. “I didn’t choose him!” Hearing this, a trace of shock flashed through Adrian Sterling’s eyes, but they soon dimmed again: “You’ve only had eyes for him since we were kids, and everyone saw it. If not him, who else could you choose?” “Forget it, choose whoever you love.” After saying that, he left dejectedly. Looking at his lonely back, a trace of heartache rose in my heart. I wondered how he would react if he knew the fiancé I had chosen was him! Thinking of that, I actually felt a little anticipation! 0
The next day, my father had people send over many pieces of jewelry for the engagement party for me to choose from. Just as I selected a diamond ring from among them, Ethan Carter walked in while supporting the limping Lily Harper. The moment she saw the jewelry, Lily Harper’s eyes lit up, and she exclaimed: “What a beautiful diamond!” But very soon, her gaze dimmed: “It’s just a pity that my family background is ordinary, so I’ll never get to wear such beautiful jewelry in my life!” This broke Ethan Carter’s heart, and he wrapped an arm around Lily Harper’s shoulders to comfort her: “Lily, don’t talk about yourself like that. I’ll buy you anything you want!” I ignored the two of them, but Lily Harper still refused to let it go: “The diamond in Clara’s hand is a rare pink diamond, right? I saw it in a magazine before, and it’s extremely precious!” “If only I had the chance to wear a diamond like that just once.” After saying that, she lowered her head sadly. Seeing this, Ethan Carter walked to my side and said in a low voice: “Since Lily likes this diamond, give it to her.” Anger instantly rose in my heart. “Why should I?” But Ethan Carter said with full confidence: “You’re going to get engaged to me anyway, so no matter what you wear, isn’t it all for me to see?” “Besides, Lily got hurt because of you, so what does it matter if you give her one diamond?” “At worst, I’ll just give you the money!” Hearing his words, I could not help but sneer: “Who said I’m getting engaged to you?” A trace of panic flashed across Ethan Carter’s face, but he quickly regained his calm and gave a cold laugh: “Clara Whitmore, who doesn’t know you follow me around all day? If you don’t choose me, who else can you choose?” “Stop saying all this useless stuff and hurry up and give the diamond to Lily!” As he spoke, he reached out and yanked the velvet box over. I held on tightly and refused to let go, and when he shoved me hard, I lost my footing and fell backward, my palm slamming against the sharp edge of the glass display case and instantly slicing open a deep wound as blood poured out. But Ethan Carter did not care at all and left with Lily Harper. Lily Harper turned back and smiled at me contemptuously, her eyes full of provocation, as if reminding me that I was a complete loser. I forced out an ugly smile, and my heart slowly turned cold. 0
On the eve of the engagement party, my father summoned the three of them and told them that tomorrow night I would be engaged to one of them. As soon as these words were spoken, everyone’s expressions changed in different ways. In the corner, Adrian Sterling held a wineglass and poured drink after drink into his stomach. Ethan Carter looked restless, glancing from time to time toward the direction of Lily Harper’s room. The other man turned to look at Ethan Carter and congratulated him: “Ethan, you’ll have to treat Clara well from now on, because Mr. Whitmore only has this one precious daughter.” Hearing their words, my father glanced at me and smiled without speaking. Seeing my father like this, everyone took it as confirmation that the person I had chosen was Ethan Carter. But that night, Ethan Carter came to my room. With a livid face, he dragged me to the floor, grabbed my neck, and said through gritted teeth: “Clara Whitmore, why do you have to cling to me and refuse to let go?” “It’s all because of you that Lily has run away from home now!” “If anything happens to her, I won’t let you off!” As he spoke, his grip grew heavier and heavier, choking me until I could not breathe. “Ethan Carter, are you crazy? What does Lily Harper running away from home have to do with me?” His eyes were red. “If you hadn’t insisted on choosing me as your fiancé, how could Lily be in so much pain that she had to leave?” “She said in her letter that she was suffering terribly, and if she does something stupid because of this, I won’t let you off!” I struggled free from his hand with force and said coldly: “Ethan Carter, I didn’t choose you, so be with whoever you love!” “Also, if you don’t leave my room right now, I’ll tell my father!” Only after hearing that I would tell my father did he regain a trace of reason and walk out of my room. Early the next morning, Ethan Carter brought Lily Harper back. His face was full of exhaustion, as if he had not slept all night. And Lily Harper also looked completely disheveled, as if she had suffered terribly. Ethan Carter walked up to me and said with a cold look in his eyes: “Clara Whitmore, even if I am forced to marry you, I will absolutely never love you.” “If you dare show off in front of Lily again that you got me, I will absolutely never marry you!” After saying that, he left with Lily Harper without looking back. Watching their backs as they left, I sneered inwardly and even began to wonder why my past self had fallen for such a person.
🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “NovelMaster” app 🔍 search for “448307”, and watch the full series ✨! #NovelMaster
Leave a Reply