I supported Lucas Gray for seven years and loved him for just as long. He finally agreed to be with me. But later I found out he was in love with his childhood sweetheart. He had always hated me, thinking I was humiliating him by throwing money at him. For ten years after our marriage, he was extremely cold to me, and eventually moved out to start a new family with his sweetheart. I was left alone in an empty house, withering away in depression. When I was reborn to the day I decided to support him, Lucas’s sweetheart Emma threw herself at him and yelled at me excitedly: “You think you’re so great just because you have money? We don’t need it!” I smiled. “You’re mistaken. I’d rather burn this money than give it to you.” “Aria Collins, you’re just a rich brat! You think money makes you better than us? We don’t want your charity!” Emma shouted, clinging to Lucas. Looking at Emma draped over Lucas, I felt a sense of déjà vu. My gaze met Lucas’s. At twenty, Lucas still had a boyish air about him, wearing a faded denim jacket. But he was so handsome – tall and straight-backed, with chiseled features and eyes like cold stars – that he made even the worn clothes look expensive. I couldn’t help taking a step back, steadying myself against the table behind me. How long had it been since I’d seen Lucas like this? Ten years? Twenty? It had been so long, I could barely remember. After all, that was in my past life. Lucas looked slightly startled when I stepped back. Emma was still ranting, but I couldn’t hear a word she was saying. Everything before me was exactly the same as in my previous life. Back then, he refused my help, but I insisted on supporting him anyway. I had loved Lucas for seven years, and I knew his family was struggling. His father was a degenerate gambler who would come home drunk and beat Lucas and his mother after losing all their money. Lucas’s mother, unable to bear the abuse any longer, eventually drowned herself in the river. From a young age, Lucas had to pick up trash and do odd jobs to support himself. He managed to stay in school by applying for scholarships. We shouldn’t have had any connection. But he always had excellent grades, so our private high school offered him a scholarship to boost their college acceptance rates. That’s how we ended up at the same school. Back then, most of us in our circle were rich kids, with wealthy families. We didn’t care much about studying and just coasted through our days, waiting to go abroad for an easy degree before coming back to inherit the family business. Lucas was different. He had clear goals, studied hard during class, and worked part-time jobs after school. Though he was poor, he never saw it as something to be ashamed of. He always carried himself with dignity. That’s when I fell for him. Because I liked him, I couldn’t stand to see him suffer. I was young and naive then, always trying to force what I thought was best onto him. He had to skip breakfast to make it to his night job, so I’d bring him lunch boxes from home. “Lucas, try this! My family’s chef makes the best Wagyu beef. “And this foie gras – my dad had it flown in specially. It’s delicious!” I was an only child, spoiled rotten since birth. Everyone around me indulged my every whim, leaving me with an empty head. I just wanted to give him the best of everything. But I completely ignored whether he wanted it or not. Our classmates would jeer: “Aria, he doesn’t know what foie gras is! He probably can’t even afford chicken liver!” I’d yell back: “Mind your own business!” I didn’t notice Lucas’s fingers turning white as he gripped the lunchbox tightly. After a moment, he handed the box back to me and said coldly: “Thanks for the thought, but no thanks.” “Come on, Lucas,” some guy said with a wink, “if you get with Aria, you’ll never have to work hard again. Better snag her quick!” “Yeah, then your dad can gamble as much as he wants without touching your tuition money, haha!” Everyone burst out laughing. I slammed the table. “Shut up, all of you!” The others stopped laughing. But Lucas stood up abruptly and walked out. I chased after him, trying to give him the lunchbox: “Lucas, don’t listen to them. Please eat this. You’ll wear yourself out working at night if you don’t eat properly.” He stopped and whirled around. I froze. His eyes were filled with pure hatred and disgust.
Young people tend to have short memories. I soon forgot about that incident and continued pursuing Lucas. For his sake, I even started studying hard and got into the same university as him. My dad was overjoyed and doubled my allowance. Lucas was even busier in college. His scholarship application was rejected, and the financial aid for poor students went to a classmate with connections. At his lowest point, he could only afford one bread roll from the cafeteria each day, filling up on free soup. I couldn’t bear to watch and offered to support him, but he refused. He worked three part-time jobs a day, eventually collapsing from exhaustion on the street. That’s when I finally snapped and grabbed him, insisting on giving him money. “Lucas, why won’t you take my money? What are you trying to prove by working yourself to death?!” I went to his advisor and forcibly paid his tuition. By then I’d grown up a bit and knew to be mindful of his pride. So when we ate together, I’d always say I couldn’t finish my food and ask him to help. When we went out, I’d claim I had free vouchers and invite him along. Gradually, Lucas and I seemed to grow closer. I supported him all the way through graduation, and to make him happy, I even helped support Emma, his childhood friend. After graduation, Lucas started his own business. He’d always had excellent grades and had developed a game app with some friends in college, but they kept hitting dead ends and couldn’t secure any investment. I couldn’t stand seeing him so dejected, so I asked my dad to invest in his company. I remember Lucas was very quiet that night. As I was almost falling asleep on his shoulder, he suddenly spoke up. “Aria, why are you doing all this?” At the time, I thought he meant to ask why I was being so nice to him, so I answered without hesitation: “Because I like you. “Lucas, do you like me?” I tugged at his arm playfully. “I’ve been so good to you. If you don’t be with me, you’re a big meanie!” I was just joking at the time. But Lucas didn’t say anything, and I took his silence as agreement. That’s how we got together. Two years later, Lucas and I got married. The wedding was a simple affair. Lucas said he didn’t like big crowds, so we only invited a few tables of close relatives and friends. They were all my relatives and friends. On his side, he was the only one there. After the wedding, Lucas remained cold towards me. I was so stupid back then. I thought that was just his personality, and since I’d been chasing him for so many years, even a heart of stone would eventually be warmed by my love if I just kept being good to him. But I never imagined that his heart truly was impossible to warm. Because his heart had always belonged to someone else. Three years into our marriage, our conflicts could no longer be reconciled. I started to lose patience with his daily indifference. I confronted him, asking if he was in love with Emma. He just stared at me coldly, saying nothing. When pushed too far, he’d simply slam the door and leave. His cold violence drove me increasingly paranoid and crazy. Whenever he came home, I’d interrogate him, curse at him. During our most heated arguments, I’d lose control and say terrible things: “If I’d known you’d be such an ungrateful bastard, I should’ve just gotten a dog instead. At least it would wag its tail at me!” His expression twisted for a moment before quickly becoming calm again. After that day, he stopped coming home altogether. Later I found out he’d been with Emma all along. They had a new home together, and even… a child. For years, he had a perfect, happy family outside. While I guarded our empty home alone, all my love fermenting into poisonous hatred. Lucas’s business took off, and he became even richer than my father. I had nothing left to hurt him with. The only thing I had was our marriage. I bet my life on revenge against him, refusing to divorce him no matter how much money he offered. He ruined me, so I wouldn’t let him off easy either. The woman he loved would forever remain a mistress hidden in the shadows. His son with her would always be an illegitimate child born in the gutter. Lucas didn’t dare sue me for divorce. He was afraid the publicity from our marital dispute would affect his company’s stock price, and the other board members wouldn’t allow it. So we were stuck in this stalemate for ten years. No matter how hysterical I became during those ten years, no matter how crazed, even when I finally broke down and begged… He never softened. He never came back to see me. I grew thinner and sicker in my daily despair. In the end, I withered away and died, consumed by depression.
“Aria?” I snapped back to reality and looked at Lucas beside me. A deep hatred welled up from every part of my body. My heart felt like it would explode, and I could barely stand. After I died, he finally got what he wanted, didn’t he? Perhaps he treated me that way deliberately, hoping to torment me to death faster. I remembered how my medication was suddenly switched before I died. When I asked the housekeeper about it, he just said it was changed to a milder type. I didn’t suspect anything. But not long after taking the new medication, my health deteriorated rapidly. Towards the end, I could barely even sit up. Soon after, I breathed my last. It must have been him. Who else could it be? Who else hated me so much, wishing for my immediate death? He wanted Emma to take my place. How vicious. I stared at Lucas, forcibly suppressing the urge to lunge at him and kill him on the spot. I hated him so much! I truly believed that apart from being inconsiderate of his pride when I was young and ignorant, I had never wronged Lucas in any way. I didn’t even force him to marry me. I even asked if he was willing, saying I could wait if he wasn’t ready. Yet he hated me like this. Emma was still shouting at me, just like in my past life: “Aria Collins, you think you’re so great just because you have money? How dare you insult us like this!” I turned to look at her. She wore a white dress, looking small and delicate like a little white flower. This was the woman Lucas loved, the one he’d kill me to be with. It was the same in my past life. Lucas and I were talking normally, and I told him if he felt uncomfortable, he could pay me back for his tuition when he started earning money – I’d just consider it a loan. But Emma suddenly accused me of throwing money at people and insulting Lucas. Later, during arguments with Lucas, I gradually came to understand. He had always felt that I was humiliating him by throwing money at him. I suddenly found it all very amusing. Seeing Emma’s protective stance, I smirked. “You’re overthinking things. “I’d rather burn this money than give it to you two.” Lucas’s face changed dramatically.
Emma’s expression went blank for a moment. “…What did you say?” I smiled. “Didn’t you think me supporting you was an insult? “We’re classmates, how could I insult you like that? In that case, forget it. You can keep working your part-time jobs.” Emma’s family situation was similar to Lucas’s. Her father had run off with borrowed money, and her mother was bedridden after working herself sick to pay for Emma’s education. Perhaps because of their similar circumstances, she and Lucas had always been close, constantly hovering around him. She always liked to tag along when Lucas and I went out. Sometimes I didn’t want her to come, but she’d hide behind him and ask me pitifully: “Aria, do you dislike me because I’m poor? Do you not want to be friends with me?” Before I could say anything, Lucas would shield her behind him and say in a low voice: “If you think we’re not good enough for you, then don’t go.” I’d have no choice but to bring her along. She’d be there when we ate out. She’d tilt her head, looking at the lobster on the plate and say: “Do you eat such good food every day?” Then in a dejected yet envious tone: “We really are from different worlds, aren’t we?” Several times when Lucas and I were chatting happily, she’d suddenly say something like this, and the smile would fade from Lucas’s face. He’d stop talking to me. At first, I thought she was just being thoughtless. Until one time when I was walking with Lucas and suddenly turned back to say something to him, I caught her expression as she looked at me. Emma’s face was expressionless, her eyes roiling with viciousness and resentment. Seeing me turn around, she was caught off guard and quickly forced a smile. But I felt a chill run down my spine. That’s when I finally realized. She disliked me. Or rather, she hated me. Actually, when Lucas and I first got married, we did have a brief period of harmony. His company had just gotten on track then, securing their first big contract. After the celebration party, he drunkenly hugged me and said with a smile: “Honey, what do you want? Your husband will buy it for you.” I felt bad that he’d worked so hard to earn money and hugged him back contentedly. “It’s okay, just knowing you care makes me happy.” But he insisted, stubbornly saying: “A husband earns money for his wife to spend. I’ll buy you a bag. What kind of bag do you like?!” Even as he fell asleep, he was still mumbling: “Aria, I have money now. “You don’t have to suffer with me anymore.” He really did buy me a bag the next day. But before I could say anything, Emma showed up. She looked at the bag in my hand with an odd expression. Then she suddenly snatched it from me and said to Lucas with a smile: “Oh my, I remember Aria had this bag in college. A guy who liked her gave it to her. “She even complained it was too cheap to carry around.” I had long forgotten if that had actually happened. But Lucas’s expression immediately turned ugly. Then he took the bag and left without a word. The next time I saw that bag, it was on Emma’s shoulder. She smiled at me, feigning nonchalance: “Aria, Lucas gave me this bag. You’re not mad, are you?” Of course I objected and told her to return it to me. Her face filled with panic and distress, eyes reddening as she asked: “You already have so many bags, why do you have to fight me for this one?! “You have so many, and this is my only one!” Lucas pulled me away, his face dark. “Let go! If you don’t care about it, why are you fighting her for it? Or do you just like taking things from others?!” I was too proud back then to take such treatment. We had a huge fight and parted on bad terms. It was only later that I understood. Emma wasn’t talking about the bag at all. She was talking about Lucas. She felt I had stolen him from her, which was why she hated me so much.
“Aria,” Lucas suddenly grabbed my arm in a panic, “Wait!” I turned back, startled by the look on his face. His eyes were turbulent with emotion, as if something was about to burst forth! Even his voice trembled slightly. “This isn’t right, it shouldn’t be like this! “Aria Collins, why aren’t you supporting me anymore? Don’t you like me?!” I was shocked by his frenzy. What was wrong with Lucas? Had he gone mad? Or was he angry at how I spoke to Emma? But in my past life, I hadn’t won him over yet at this point. He was always cold and expressionless towards me. Was he having some kind of episode? I tried to pull my hand away: “Let go!” But he held on even tighter, his eyes reddening. “Aria, don’t you like me anymore? “Are you abandoning me?!” Now I was truly frightened. When had Lucas ever said such things to me? I stared at him wide-eyed: “Lucas Gray, did you take the wrong medication or are you possessed?” But he said nothing, just staring at me unblinkingly, his expression obsessive and crazed. It sparked my temper. After how he treated me in my past life, he dared to glare at me now?! “Didn’t you think me supporting you was humiliating? Or were you just putting on an act, wanting me to beg you so you could freeload off me?!” Emma’s mouth fell open, apparently not expecting me to speak to Lucas this way. Of course, in my past life this was when I loved him most. Every word I said was carefully measured, afraid of hurting his pride. But now I didn’t care anymore! “Lucas Gray, who do you think you are?!” I said scornfully. Ungrateful bastard, biting the hand that fed him. I really wondered how I ever fell for someone like him before. Surprisingly, Lucas didn’t get angry. He just turned deathly pale, all color draining from his face. I yanked my hand away and left without looking back.
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