Chapter 1
During the National Singles Week, my fiancé Samuel Quinn's female friend, Jessica Reed, attended a pool party.
Things got out of hand as she was drugged, and soon she found herself pregnant with a child whose father was unknown.
Our wedding day, which should have been a celebration of love, took a disastrous turn. Samuel stepped forward in front of everyone and announced the cancellation of our engagement.
"Rachel, I have to be there for Jessica and her unborn baby. She won't be able to go on if I don't," he said.
I took a deep breath, calmly removed the diamond ring, and agreed to call off the wedding.
In my previous life, I was stubborn. I refused to let it go and publicly exposed Jessica's scandal of being pregnant out of wedlock.
Rachel was kicked out of her home, subjected to a storm of online abuse, and eventually, she had a mental breakdown and jumped off a building.
When Samuel heard the news, he showed no emotion on the surface. But after our marriage, he stripped me naked and locked me in the basement. He hired thugs to torture me.
"It's all your fault that Jessica is dead! You'll pay a hundred-fold for what she suffered!" he roared in anger.
I endured the torture until I finally died. Only then did I realize how much he hated me.
But then, a miracle happened. I opened my eyes again, and I was back to the very moment when Samuel proposed calling off the engagement.
*****
The wedding hall glittered, the champagne tower sparkling in the bright lights.
The familiar scent of his cologne mingled with the flowers in the air, and then Samuel dropped a bombshell.
"Rachel, I can't marry you today," he said.
I clenched my bouquet hard.
Everything about this moment was a perfect replay of my last life.
The banquet hall went dead silent.
I could feel hundreds of eyes burning into me.
Some were shocked, some were gloating, but most of them were just waiting to see the Hughes heiress make a fool of herself.
"You little punk! What the hell are you talking about? Put that ring on Rachel's finger, now!" Samuel's father—the chairman of Quinn Group—bellowed, his voice slicing through the stunned silence.
Just then, a soft, fragile voice chimed in at just the right moment.
"Samuel... I'm leaving. You really don't have to do this for me..." Jessica murmured, her words barely audible.
Samuel's voice shot up, full of panic. "Jess! Don't go! I swear, I'll take care of you!"
The crowd started buzzing, everyone talking at once.
I caught someone whispering, "Isn't that the love child of Mr. Reed?"
"Heard she got into a bar fight just the other day..."
"Now she's got the nerve to go after the Hughes heiress' fiancé..."
Samuel's father, Dylan Quinn, was so furious that he smashed his wine glass. "Security! Take Samuel to the lounge—now!"
"Apologies, Mr. Quinn," the bodyguards said as they moved in, about to haul Samuel off.
"Wait—" I yanked off my veil, and suddenly, everything came into sharp focus.
There was Samuel, looking sharp in his tailored suit, holding Jessica close in her white dress.
Jessica glanced up at me, then quickly buried her face in Samuel's chest, her shoulders trembling as she softly sobbed.
When Samuel saw me take off my veil, a flash of panic flickered in his eyes, but it was quickly replaced by disdain. "Rachel, you..."
"No need to say more, Mr. Quinn." I cut him off, my voice icy. "This wedding is off."
Samuel was clearly caught off guard by how composed I was.
He hesitated for just a moment, then, right in front of everyone, pulled a pen from his suit pocket and started writing out a check.
"Three million. Consider it my compensation," he said.
Samuel held out the check to me, his tone heavy. "You're the Hughes heiress. Even without me, you'll have men lining up for you. But Jess... she's not like you. Without me..."
"Is she going to die?" I took the check and let out a mocking laugh. "Mr. Quinn, you're worrying way too much. Ms. Reed looks radiant and full of life—she hardly seems like someone on the verge of collapse."
Jessica froze for a second, then burst into even louder sobs. "Rachel, Samuel and I are just like siblings, he's only doing this for me... Please, I'm begging you, let us be together!"
She glanced up at me, tears glistening in her eyes, but the corners of her mouth curled into a defiant little smile.
That look—I had seen it a thousand times before.
In my previous life, just that one glance made me snap and out her for being pregnant out of wedlock—and that was what pushed her over the edge.
Samuel put all the blame on me.
And from then on, my life became a living hell.
After we got married, he kept me prisoner in his villa.
Every night, he'd drug me, lock me in the basement, and let the thugs he hired have their way with me.
Their filthy hands ripped my clothes apart. I screamed and struggled, but all I got was another slap, and then another.
Samuel had shouted, "Rachel! You killed Jess! This is the payback you deserve!"
His voice slithered into my ears like a devil's whisper, haunting me night after night.
"Ms. Hughes?" someone called out, snapping me back to the present.
Suddenly, it hit me—everyone in the room was watching, waiting to see what I'd do next.
I took a deep breath and carefully slipped the check into my purse.
"Since you've made up your mind, Mr. Quinn, I'm not the kind of woman who begs for love. Let everyone here be my witness.
"From this moment on, there's nothing left between me and Samuel Quinn. We're finished. Completely!"