Chapter 1

I spent three years chasing after Eric Brooks, and he finally said yes.

He couldn't wait to marry me.

After the wedding, he treated me like I was the most precious thing in the world, paying attention to every little detail.

Everyone kept telling me how lucky I was, that I'd married for love and found my happily ever after.

But when I was nine months pregnant and about to give birth, I overheard Eric talking to his best friend.

"If Emmy didn't need Sophia's cord blood, there's no way in hell I would've married her.

"I'm telling you, every time I sleep with her, I have to run to the bathroom and throw up afterward.

"And those stretch marks on her stomach? They look like a bunch of worms tangled up together.

"Once she has the baby, I'll find some excuse to kick her out."

That's when I realized the truth. Emily Johnson, my cousin who I'd hated since we were kids, was actually my dad's illegitimate daughter.

And she'd been sleeping with Eric this whole time.

I walked into the delivery room in a complete daze, and I never made it out.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back to right before I confessed my feelings to Eric for the nth time.

This time, I was choosing not to love him.

*****

The excruciating pain from labor still lingered, coming in waves that wouldn't stop.

I couldn't help but curl forward, my hand reaching instinctively for my stomach. But there was no swollen belly anymore, just my slim waist, barely a handful.

I grabbed onto a stone bench by the side of the campus path and sat down, and it took me a long time to accept what had happened. I'd been reborn.

I was back in my sophomore year of college.

In my hand, I was still clutching the love letter I'd stayed up writing for several nights and the birthday present I'd saved up my allowance to buy for Eric.

Memories from my past life flickered through my mind like scenes from a movie.

I'd loved Eric Brooks for three years, from senior year of high school all the way through college.

Maybe it started because he tutored me back in high school, or maybe it was his handsome face, his brilliant mind, or that brooding, mysterious air about him.

Whatever it was, I fell hard.

Over those three years, I confessed my feelings to him countless times, and every single time, he turned me down cold. He always said the same thing, "Sophia, now's the time to focus on studying. We need to work hard."

Everyone on campus said Eric from the Finance Department was completely untouchable, someone you could admire from afar but never get close to.

Tons of girls chased after him, but he rejected every single one equally.

Most of them moved on after a few days of moping, but not me. I kept coming back, more determined each time, confessing over and over again.

In my past life, today was the day everything changed. I handed him another love letter and gave him his birthday present, but this time, instead of throwing the letter back in my face like usual, he actually opened it and read it carefully. When he finished, he looked at me and asked, "Sophia, do you really like me?"

My heart soared, and I nodded with a huge smile on my face.

"What do you like about me?" he asked.

I didn't even have to think about it. "I like everything about you, Eric."

"Really?" His lips twitched into what looked like a smile. That day, he pulled me into his arms and said, "Sophia, let's get married."

I was completely blindsided. I just wanted to date him. I'd never thought about marriage, and definitely not while I was still in college. "Eric, what did you just say? Marriage?" I stammered.

"Yeah, marriage," he said. "You said you like me, don't you? Don't you want to marry me?"

I'd read somewhere that any relationship without the intention of marriage was just playing around.

I'd imagined confessing successfully a thousand times, picturing the sweet romance that would follow, but I'd never once imagined skipping straight past dating and heading directly to the altar.

Eric's eyes were filled with what looked like deep affection as he wrapped his arm around my waist and whispered in my ear, "Sophia, do you know why I kept rejecting you all this time?"

I shook my head. I really didn't know. Everyone always said he was the campus ice prince who turned down every girl equally.

"I was scared," he said. "I was scared we'd fall deeply in love, and then in the end, we wouldn't be able to stay together."

Back then, I didn't suspect a thing, and I told him loud and clear, "Sophia likes Eric! Forever and ever, we'll never be apart!"

That night, he said he wanted to take me out.

We slowly made our way through the barbecue stands near campus, and he was so gentle, so attentive the whole time. Then he took me to a run-down little motel nearby and got a room.

I was scared. I'd known him for three years, had a crush on him for three years, and confessed to him more times than I could count. But on the very same day he finally accepted my feelings, he was taking me to a hotel, and all I could think about was running away.

I didn't know how I'd ended up staying with him in my past life. Was I really that much of a lovesick fool?

He stepped out of the shower wrapped in a bathrobe, and I could see his sculpted abs through the gap in the fabric. The way the robe hung on his frame made my face heat up.

"Baby, go take your shower," he said, his voice soft and coaxing.

It was the first time he'd ever called me that.