Chapter 1

As I clutched my chest and fell to the ground, Benedict Page's twisted smile was maddening, the blood at the corner of his mouth making him look like a vengeful demon.

"Lucia! You should have died a long time ago! From the moment you forced me to marry you, I wanted nothing more than to tear you apart! Yancy is dead, and you’re going to join her."

I opened my mouth to speak, but a sudden gush of blood spilled out instead. I didn't understand. He was the one who begged me to save him back then.

Why?

I watched as Benedict's trembling hand pulled out a ring made from a soda can tab. He collapsed to the ground, unable to hold himself up, yet his grip on that makeshift ring remained firm. His dark eyes were filled with tenderness.

I saw him shakily slide the cheap ring onto his middle finger.

"Yancy, I’ve avenged you. I’m coming to you with the ring you gave me."

With that, he closed his eyes, utterly content.

From beginning to end, he refused to give me even a glance.

The wedding rings we exchanged lay desolate in a pool of blood.

Blood and tears mingled, etching crimson trails down my face. What had my three decades amounted to?

Pain engulfed me, and overwhelming hatred made everything go black.

As I lost consciousness, only one thought remained.

“I was wrong, system. Villains... don’t deserve redemption. He should die!”

…

When I opened my eyes again, I was standing on the stage in a formal dress, facing Benedict, whose body trembled before he abruptly shoved me away.

Caught off guard, I stumbled and fell to the ground.

My brother, Lucas Howard, hurried forward to help me up, his voice cold.

"How dare Benedict push you!"

I bit down hard, forcing myself to suppress the hatred rising within. I couldn’t stop thinking about what Benedict had said as he turned to leave.

"Get lost! Don’t think you can stop me from going to Yancy."

So, he had been reborn too.

Even better. This would make my revenge all the more satisfying.

I lowered my gaze, silently stopping Lucas from running after him.

Lucas, growing anxious, spoke up.

"Lucia, Benedict ran off! That bastard!"

I looked up at his retreating figure, disappearing without a second thought, and slowly clenched my fists.

I knew he was in a rush to save Yancy Shepherd, who was being abused by her adoptive mother.

In our previous life, during our engagement, he had tried to run off to rescue her too, but I had stopped him. I had gently persuaded him to wait until after the engagement. That was the opportunity he used to climb the social ladder, leveraging my family's connections to become the rising star of the elite circle.

But this time, I will strip away every bit of that power I gave him, piece by piece.

I walked slowly to the center of the stage, gazing down at the curious onlookers, and spoke coldly.

"Today, I, Lucia Howard, am officially calling off my engagement to Benedict Page. The partnership between our families is also officially canceled. Thank you all for coming."

As I turned to leave, I caught a glimpse of Benedict's father, Benjamin Page, his face contorted with rage. Next to him stood Miles Page, his expression unreadable. A faint smile played at my lips.

For once, I wasn't the one who needed to worry.