I’m the only daughter among six wealthy families’ wives, all of whom were pregnant at the same time. On the day of my birth, the other five ladies were filled with envy. They even got into heated arguments over who would become my future mother-in-law. My mother, feeling helpless, agreed that when I turned twenty-two, I would choose a fiancé from among the younger generation of the five families. In my past life, I chose Lucas without hesitation. After all, everyone knew I’d been infatuated with Lucas for years and had pursued him relentlessly. But one day after our marriage, he died in a plane crash, leaving no remains behind. I was devastated with grief. Until I saw “dead” Lucas on the street with my own eyes, pinning Melody—a student I’d sponsored—against a wall and kissing her. In that moment, I finally understood. Lucas had fallen for Melody long ago. He’d even gone so far as to fake his own death to elope with her. After discovering the truth, I fled in panic, only to be hit by a car. The two of them stood across the street, watching coldly as I died. In the end, it was Sullivan—who’d been at odds with me since childhood—who arranged my funeral and shed tears at my gravestone. After my rebirth, when my mother asked me to choose a fiancé, this time I chose Sullivan.
The younger generation from the other families were already waiting outside the lounge. They tacitly pushed Lucas forward to stand before me. “Claire, you’ve followed Lucas around since childhood. You must be getting your wish now, right?” “Tsk tsk, even for a rich heiress, isn’t this a bit too forward?” Lucas crossed his arms, his mocking gaze landing on me. “You’re determined to cling to me, aren’t you?” “Even though our elders made a verbal agreement, I’d advise you not to take it too seriously. If your family doesn’t offer terms that satisfy me, I won’t necessarily marry you.” His tone was cold and full of disgust. This profit-first attitude was exactly the same as in my past life. He’d never valued my love. I looked at him, my tone indifferent. “Lucas, you’re not the only son in the Montgomery family, are you? And you’re not the only option among the other families either.” The moment those words left my mouth, his expression changed instantly. The heirs standing behind him also began exchanging uncertain glances. Our six families had been close for generations, with early intentions of business marriages. All five families had subtly spread the word that whoever married me would gain significant leverage in future resource allocation within their family. After a moment of silence, Lucas laughed lightly. “Claire, you think I’ll believe you’re trying to provoke me with words like that?” The other heirs snapped out of it and laughed as well. “Lucas, when our families collaborate in the future with you at the helm, things will only get better. Just don’t forget about us when that happens.” Lucas basked smugly in everyone’s flattery. After a while, he finally glanced at me lazily. “You’ve chased me for ten years. Besides me, no one else would dare marry you.” “But I need to make something clear upfront.” He waved the others away before speaking up. “To avoid trouble, I can marry you. But Melody is the only one in my heart. As long as you don’t interfere with us, I can give you the dignity of being my wife.” Hearing this, I stared at him with wide, shocked eyes. In my past life, he’d hidden it so well—he’d never said anything like this. Could it be… had he been reborn too? I was still hesitating whether to probe further when a figure slowly appeared before us. “Claire, why are you standing here with Lucas like idiots?” Melody called out to me, but her eyes were fixed straight on Lucas. Lucas’s eyes instantly reddened as he turned and pulled Melody into a tight embrace. He spoke in a tender tone I’d never heard before. “Melody, what are you doing here?” Melody froze for a moment, then raised her hands to hold him even tighter. Her provocative gaze landed on me, though her voice feigned panic. “Lucas, you’re Claire’s fiancé. This isn’t right.” Lucas sneered. “There’s nothing wrong with it. If she dares blame you, then she can forget about marrying me.” With that, he unhesitatingly took Melody’s hand and turned to leave. I rubbed my thumb over Sullivan’s photo in my hand and laughed softly. Lucas, I never intended to marry you in the first place.
The birthday party was winding down. Most of the guests had left when Lucas and Melody finally reappeared before everyone. Lucas had changed into a high-collared formal suit, while Melody’s neck bore several suggestive marks. The atmosphere between them was so intimate it was almost tangible. If this were the old me, I would have rushed forward in fury to demand an explanation. But this scene had played out countless times in my past life. My heart had long since gone numb. I tilted my head back, drained the wine in my glass, and turned to leave. Lucas caught sight of the indifferent expression on my face and slowly frowned. For the first time, he took the initiative to stop me. “Claire, what are you sulking about now?” “I’m your fiancé. How can you leave without saying anything? Where are your manners?” “Apologize to Melody and me right now, or forget about getting your birthday present this year!” Lucas was clutching a ring box in his hand. Melody took the box from him and waved it triumphantly in front of me. “Claire, Lucas specially custom-made this for you! He put so much thought into it!” My eyes followed the movement of the box, and I naturally noticed the custom ring on Melody’s ring finger. It was from the same brand as the box in her hand. I pulled at the corner of my mouth sarcastically. “Put thought into it? I’d say he put more thought into that custom ring on your finger.” Melody suppressed her rising smile, feigning innocence. “How could that be? Mine is just a free gift that came with the present Lucas bought for you.” Melody opened the ring box and tossed it at me carelessly. I didn’t reach out to catch it. The box and a silver necklace inside fell to the floor together. Lucas frowned deeply, his voice sharp. “Claire, why didn’t you move? Didn’t you see the gift I gave you fell?” “Pick it up right now!” Hearing this, I laughed self-deprecatingly. “A free necklace that came with buying a ring, and you have the nerve to call it a gift?” Melody picked up the necklace with a pained expression, looking at me reproachfully. “This is Lucas’s thoughtfulness!” Thoughtfulness? Like I hadn’t received enough of his “thoughtfulness” before? Since I could remember, every birthday I’d received piles of careless gifts. Tree leaves Lucas randomly picked, model toys he didn’t want, paper balls he’d crumpled when irritated. Whatever was at hand, that’s what he’d give me. Yet back then, I treasured each one, carefully preserving every single item. In my past life, after we got married, I’d shown them to him like presenting treasures. What I got in return was only his merciless mockery. “Claire, are you a garbage collector?” “You pick up everything I throw away. How pathetic!” Hearing those words, I felt my heart shatter into pieces. But Lucas didn’t think he’d crossed any line. He even spread this story far and wide. From then on, everyone in our circle looked at me with mockery. Recalling how people pointed and whispered about me in my past life, my mood instantly darkened. I casually tossed the necklace onto the table, preparing to leave. But Lucas spread his arms wide, blocking my path, glaring at me furiously. “Claire, how dare you throw away the gift I gave you.” “Pick up that necklace right now and wipe it clean, or our engagement is off!” “When that happens, even if you beg on your knees at my door for three days and nights, I might not agree to marry you!” I looked down at Lucas and pulled my lips into a slight smile. “Lucas, I never planned to marry you in the first place.” The air instantly froze. Everyone present looked back and forth between Lucas and me. Lucas paused for a moment, then laughed mockingly. “Claire, everyone knows you’ve chased me for ten years. How could you possibly marry someone else?” “All those friends of mine witnessed how you pursued me. They wouldn’t want to marry you either. Oh, and Sullivan has been at odds with you since childhood—you two fight every time you meet. Would the Foster family even let you marry him?”
I was about to retort that Sullivan was exactly who I intended to marry. But the words caught in my throat as I suddenly remembered what Sullivan’s mother had said not long ago. “I don’t know why you suddenly changed your mind and chose Sullivan, but he’s about to have surgery. Let’s not announce this yet—keep it confidential for now? We can announce it at the engagement party, so no one disturbs him while he’s recovering.” I instinctively looked toward Sullivan sitting in his wheelchair in the distance. His face was pale and his frame thin, but his spine remained straight, his refined features softened by a sickly fragility. He really couldn’t be disturbed. Sullivan and I hadn’t interacted much—we’d been rivals since childhood. But in my past life, after I died, he too died alone in his apartment not long after. If I was going to marry him in this life, I needed to make sure he lived well. Sullivan gazed at me, a complexity I couldn’t read flowing through his eyes. I smiled reassuringly at him, then spoke. “You’ll all find out in due time.” With that, I turned and left. After the party ended, Melody followed close on my heels. She held out her hand toward me, the silver ring refracting colorful light. “All you have left is your sharp tongue.” “Lucas said that even though he’ll marry you, I’m the one he truly loves in his heart. He’ll only ever buy rings for me in this lifetime!” In everyone’s eyes, Melody was a well-behaved, sweet-talking child who knew gratitude. I only learned at the moment of my death that she’d been interfering in my marriage all along, and that Lucas had even faked his death to be with her. So after my rebirth, I decided to help them be together. I wanted to see if their love really ran that deep. With this in mind, I suddenly patted Melody’s shoulder. “No need to go through all this trouble, Melody. If you want to be with him, I can make it happen.” “If you two get married, I’ll definitely wish you a lifetime of happiness together!” Melody froze, then sneered. “Don’t say one thing and do another. I know you—you’ll never stop pestering Lucas. But give up now. He only loves me!” I nodded indifferently and headed home first. Since I’d decided to marry Sullivan, I should prepare some gifts for him before the engagement. For three consecutive days, I focused on preparing gifts. And for those three days, Melody didn’t return to the apartment I’d rented for her. During those three days, she posted on Instagram an average of once every two hours. The latest post showed Lucas wearing an apron in the kitchen, pan-frying steak. Just as I was about to close my phone, Melody’s chat window popped up. “You’ve never tasted Lucas’s cooking, have you?” “These three days, Lucas has taken such good care of me, whether at the dinner table or in bed…” Reading that sentence, images from my past life instantly flooded my mind—after my death, I’d seen them celebrating my fatal car accident by having sex in bed. A wave of nausea churned in my stomach. I suppressed the urge to vomit and replied with a single word: “Fuck off,” then blocked Melody. Immediately after, Lucas called. “Claire, are you sick? Melody just said something wrong—why the hell are you blocking her?” “Do you know how hurt she is right now? Get your ass to the party and apologize to her!” Lucas’s furious, shrill voice exploded in my ear. I laughed coldly. “Fine, I’ll come right now.” But not to apologize—to announce my engagement to Sullivan!
My parents had already left for the party. After organizing the gifts I’d prepared for Sullivan, I finally arrived at the banquet hall. Lucas and Melody stood side by side at the entrance. Seeing me, their faces showed contempt. “Claire, I thought you could hold out longer. Melody just sent you one message, and not only did you block her, but you got your parents involved to pressure me into marriage.” With that, he suddenly stuck out his foot and kicked hard at my knee. Caught off guard, my knees buckled and I fell heavily to the ground. “Kowtow and apologize to Melody! Otherwise, don’t blame me for ruining today’s event!” Melody bent down to stare at me, feigning reluctance. “Don’t blame Lucas. He’s just standing up for me.” I clenched my teeth, glaring fiercely at Melody. She timely displayed a pitiful expression. Seeing this, Lucas’s heart ached even more. He stepped forward two paces and backhanded me across the face. Five clear finger marks instantly appeared on my face. My eyes filled with blood as I shot to my feet and shouted, “Lucas, Melody, have you both lost your minds?” “I told you—I’m not marrying you!” Lucas’s contemptuous gaze swept over me as he sneered. “Claire, stop pretending. Today both sets of parents will announce our engagement. Be smart and apologize.” “Otherwise, forget about entering the Montgomery family!” My chest heaved with anger. Not wanting to argue with them anymore, I was about to step forward. But the elders from all the families appeared at the corner. Lucas’s father, Richard Montgomery, looked at his son with furrowed brows. “Lucas, what are you causing a scene about at the entrance now?” Sullivan followed slowly behind them. He wasn’t in his wheelchair. His complexion was rosier than a few days ago, wearing a well-tailored suit. Though thin, he stood straight. Seeing my disheveled state, his eyes filled with concern. “What happened?” Meeting his concerned gaze, warmth filled my heart. “Nothing. What are you doing out here?” A smile appeared on his face. “I noticed you hadn’t come in yet.” Lucas laughed coldly. “What does it have to do with you whether she came in or not? Sullivan, why are you trying to find a sense of existence at this moment? You’re acting so concerned about your future ‘brother-in-law’?” Everyone was somewhat taken aback by those words. But Lucas remained oblivious. He quickly moved closer, squeezing between Sullivan and me. He put on a fake smile for Sullivan. Then turned and threatened me in a low voice. “Let it go for today. But if after we’re engaged I find out you’re bullying Melody again, I’ll make you pay!” At this moment, Lucas inexplicably displayed unprecedented possessiveness. But I knew he was only protecting the massive resources about to fall into his hands. Richard sighed and spoke solemnly. “The person who gets engaged to Claire will gain priority leadership over our families’ joint project. Today is the day to formalize the engagement.” Lucas lowered his head to straighten his clothes, then raised the corners of his mouth, preparing to take my arm. But the next instant, his confident expression froze on his face. My father took my hand and Sullivan’s, placing them together. Sullivan’s smile was radiant, his spirits high, showing no trace of his former frailty. “Claire, are you ready to spend a lifetime with me?”
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