Chapter 1

Mason Lane, the General, had seen too much bloodshed in his life. A famous seer even prophesied that his only son, Henry, would never make it past the age of twenty.

There was only one supposed way to break the curse. Henry had to marry a woman blessed with incredible, lifelong good fortune. Only her luck could shield him and grant him a long life.

That was me, the Wynn family's real daughter. In my previous life, however, my cousin Sophia took my place at the wedding altar. I was the one who stormed in, declaring that I was the real deal.

With Mason's support, I ended up as Henry's wife.

But after Sophia returned home, she was killed during a bandit attack. She was two months pregnant when she died.

My parents were so enraged by the tragedy that they cut me off completely, erasing my name from the family records.

Henry, however, never let it change how he treated me. He promised to always protect me, and I was fool enough to believe him. I let myself fall for him.

Then, when I was also two months pregnant, he held me down and cut me open. He tore our unborn child from my womb right before my eyes.

"Did you know Sophia was carrying my child?" he screamed at me. "You destroyed my family, and yet you thought you deserved to have my baby?

"I don't believe in prophecies or good fortune. You murdered Sophia. Let's see just how rotten the heart of a killer truly is."

He carved out my heart while I was still alive. I died right there on the floor.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back at the beginning. It was the day Sophia was preparing to marry Henry in my stead.

If right and wrong meant so little to everyone here, then this ended now. They'd pay this time.

*****

I put on a wedding gown and march straight to the General's estate. The guests began to whisper and stare the moment I walked in.

From his place of honor beside the groom, Mason spotted me right away.

I stood before him, back straight, and announced, "General Lane, I am Lillian Wynn. I'm the Wynn family's real daughter, and I'm here to claim the marriage agreement."

His expression shifted, and he moved forward as if to stop me.

My parents caught sight of me. Their faces go pale as they hurry over, stepping between us. They tried to explain.

Just then, Henry stepped down from the dais and stood before his father. He looked up, his voice firm with a quiet desperation.

"Father," he said. "I love Sophia. She is the only one I want to marry. Those prophecies are just stories. They are superstition, nothing more. You will see.

"I turn twenty next year, and I will be right here. Please, do not throw my future away because of a fairytale."

A cold understanding settled over me: Henry had come back, too."

In my previous life, he just hid behind Mason and did whatever his father told him. But now, he was actually standing up for the one he loved.

Even though I knew he never cared about me, facing the man who was once my husband like this, my heart couldn't help but ache.

Mason, enraged, slapped Henry hard across the face. "Idiot. That seer and I are lifelong friends. He would never deceive me. Today, you have no choice but to marry Lillian."

In my previous life, it was Mason's iron-fisted authority that forced Henry to swap brides and marry me.

Just then, tears welling in her eyes, Sophia stepped toward my parents.

"Please," she begged, "let me be with Henry. Lillian doesn't love him. She asked me to take her place. I fell for Henry the moment I saw him. I'll never marry anyone else."

My father, hearing this, spun around and slapped me hard across the face. "You're such a disgrace. You didn't want to marry him, and now you're causing trouble for me! You've dragged the Wynn family's name through the mud."

I should've realized it sooner. There was no way Sophia could've come up with this whole bride-switching scheme all by herself.

If she didn't have my parents backing her, how could she have made it here and gotten married without a hitch?

I was born sickly, and a traveling priest warned my parents that a cursed fate awaited me if I stayed at home. When I was just a year old, they let him take me to be raised at a distant sanctuary.

Since they had no other children, my aunt gave them her own daughter. That girl was Sophia, the one they truly considered their own.

Apparently, sharing their blood meant nothing compared to the eighteen years they spent raising her.

But if they thought they could just dump all their family drama on me now, they were sorely mistaken. I was not their punching bag.

I covered my face as tears began to fall. "Father, when did I ever say I didn't want to marry Henry? Last night, Sophia brought me some milk. I drank it and was out cold until noon. When I woke up, the house was empty.

"If she wanted to marry him, I wouldn't have stopped her. But the wedding is supposed to be mine. If she wants him, why couldn't she just be honest about it?"