Chapter 2

Bruno hesitated. "But your father..."

"My father chose to take that bullet himself," I said steadily, without the slightest shake in my voice. "Protecting his employer was his responsibility as a bodyguard. A marriage should never be used to repay that debt."

Before I went back in time, I never could've said those words.

Back then, I refused to let people look down on my father's sacrifice. I refused to lose to Angela. I refused to accept that I wasn't worthy of the Bailey family.

That was why I clung so desperately to the marriage. I wanted to prove I belonged there.

In the end, all I got back was coldness, humiliation, and endless loneliness.

It wasn't until I died alone in that hospital bed that I finally understood something. Some things would never be mine, no matter how hard I fought for them.

"Ridiculous!" Bruno slammed his hand against the table. "I personally arranged this marriage. How can you just cancel it like that?"

"Mr. Bruno Bailey, you can't force a relationship that was never meant to happen." I glanced toward Harold in the corner, but he still didn't look at me. "Mr. Harold Bailey never wanted this marriage. You know that better than anyone."

Bruno immediately looked toward Harold, his face darkening with anger. "Harold, say something."

Harold finally put down his phone.

When he looked at me, his eyes were so cold that he felt completely unfamiliar.

"Have you made your decision?" he asked.

His voice was low and pleasant, but there wasn't even a trace of him wanting me to stay.

If anything, he sounded relieved.

"I have," I answered.

"Then cancel it," he said cleanly.

Bruno shot to his feet in fury. "You ungrateful brat."

Harold calmly stood up and adjusted his cuffs. "Grandfather, since Miss Barnes is the one asking to end the engagement, shouldn't we respect her decision?"

He called me "Miss Barnes." Before I went back in time, he always called me "Julia," and every time he said my name, it sounded like I had annoyed him.

"Shut up," Bruno snapped angrily. "Do you even remember what her father did for this family?"

"I remember," Harold cut in coldly. "Mr. Barnes took a bullet for my father.

"The Bailey family can easily support her for the rest of her life because of that. But there are plenty of ways to repay a debt. There's no reason to sacrifice my marriage."

His words sounded perfectly reasonable.

But underneath every sentence was the same message. I wasn't good enough for him.

To him, I wasn't worthy of being Mrs. Bailey. At most, I was someone the Bailey family could keep around out of pity.

Before I went back in time, those words would've felt like knives cutting into my chest.

Now I just found them funny.

"Mr. Harold Bailey is right," I said calmly. I stood up and took a document from my bag. "This is the agreement I drafted to end the engagement. Mr. Bruno Bailey, please look it over."

Bruno took the papers, his brows tightly furrowed.

"I also have one request," I continued.

"Go ahead," Bruno said.

"I want to become the Bailey family's goddaughter," I said quietly. "I want to stay by your side and continue serving you in my father's place."

The room instantly exploded with noise.

Even Harold frowned slightly, clearly not expecting that answer.

"Miss Barnes, you really know how to plan ahead," one of Harold's aunts said sarcastically. "If you can't marry into the family, you'll just become a goddaughter instead. Isn't this still your way of clinging to us?"

"That's right," another woman added. "At the end of the day, you still can't let go of the Bailey family's money."

I ignored them completely and kept my eyes on Bruno. "Mr. Bruno Bailey, I don't want a single penny from the Bailey family. I can support myself. I only want this title so I can stay with the family, take care of you, and repay the kindness you showed my father."

Harold suddenly let out a mocking laugh. "Julia, get one thing straight. Your father owed the Bailey family, not the other way around. He was paid to do his job. Risking his life was part of it."

Those words were cruel.

Before I went back in time, he had said something similar. At the time, I was so angry that I nearly lost control. In the end, the entire family blamed me for being unreasonable.

Hearing those words still hurt. But it was not because of me. It was because of my father.

Still, I forced the pain down.

"Mr. Harold Bailey, you're right," I said calmly. "That's exactly why I'm not asking for anything in return. I only want the chance to repay the favor."

Bruno gave me a deep, complicated look.

He had lived long enough to see through people easily.

He could tell I meant every word.

Before I went back in time, I had sincerely stayed by his side for ten years, right up until the day he died.

Finally, Bruno nodded slowly. "Fine. From today onward, you are the Bailey family's goddaughter."

"Grandfather." Harold frowned immediately.

"Shut up." Bruno glared at him coldly. "If you don't like it, then get out."

Harold pressed his lips into a thin line. He gave me one long look before turning and walking away.

As he passed me, he suddenly stopped. "Julia, you'd better not regret this."