Chapter 1

Before the wedding, Derek Garrett tricked me into drinking a sleeping potion.

I was taken to a secret room, and my face was brutally cut off.

Derek grafted my face onto Hadley Morgan's, then sewed pigskin onto mine, forcing me to watch their wedding like a monster.

Unable to bear the humiliation, I bit my tongue and ended my life.

When I woke up again, I was back to the moment Derek tricked me into drinking the sleeping potion.

*****

"Wallace, sew the pigskin on her. Ms. Myers with pigskin on her face must be quite amusing, right?" Hadley said.

Hadley, wearing my face, leaned into Derek's arms, smiling wildly, her eyes full of malice.

I glared at them, my eyes bloodshot.

I wanted to kill them, but I didn't have an ounce of strength. I could only let that doctor, Wallace Copeland, sew the pigskin onto my face.

The pain spread throughout my body, torturing me to the point of wishing I were dead.

Once the pigskin was attached, Hadley laughed again. "Honey, why not make her watch our wedding like a monster?"

"Whatever makes you happy, Hadley," Derek chuckled, his eyes full of adoration.

As the daughter of the Myers family, I would never tolerate such disgrace.

Finding strength from nowhere, I bit my tongue hard. The taste of blood spread in my mouth, and I gradually lost consciousness.

I died.

After death, my soul drifted out of my body.

I saw Hadley, wearing my face, recklessly harming my family.

She married Derek under my identity, but that wasn't all they did. On the day of their wedding, my family was raided on charges of treason.

I saw Derek slowly cut off the flesh of my father, Marshall, and my brother, Emmanuel, with a dagger, laughing wildly.

He said, "The Myers family is full of fools. They deserved to be used as stepping stones."

After hearing his words, I realized that he chose me not just for his beloved Hadley but also to eliminate the allies of Ronnie Anderson, the Crown Prince.

And he himself was a loyal underling of Prince Antonio.

Marshall and Emmanuel were tortured to death. My mother, Katelyn, was sold into a brothel, where she suffered endless humiliation until she died.

I was filled with hatred and regret—hatred for my own wrong judgment of Derek and regret for bringing ruin upon my whole family.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back at the moment when Derek tricked me into drinking that sleeping potion.

I jolted upright from the seat, my forehead drenched in cold sweat that soaked through my clothes.

"Cassia, what's wrong? Here, have some water to calm yourself," Derek said.

He looked at me with concern in his eyes, holding a cup of water in his hand.

I stared at the cup in his hand. All the memories of my previous life flooded back to me, making my eyes turn red with anger.

When I looked up again, I suppressed the overwhelming hatred in my heart and took the drugged cup of water.

I said, "I'm fine, just a nightmare. Sorry to have worried you."

I smiled back at him, as gentle as I had been in my previous life.

"Don't be afraid. Dreams are all fake. I'm right here with you, okay?" he said.

Derek smiled and ruffled my hair, his eyes full of tenderness.

But beneath that gentleness lay a deadly poison—one misstep, and it would lead to utter ruin.

"Yeah." I lowered my head and took a few sips of the water in front of him. Then, on the excuse of changing clothes, I asked him to get out of the carriage.

As soon as he left, I spat out the water in my mouth. I could no longer hold back my hatred.

At the same time, I felt a wave of relief—I had returned in time. The Myers family was safe, and my loved ones were still alive.

But all the torture Derek put them through—I sure as hell wasn't going to let this slide.

Derek and Hadley, this time, I, Cassia, wouldn't let you have your way. Everything you did—I'd return it to you, every last bit.