Chapter 2

After Benjamin and I finally made up in my last life, he pulled me into his arms and kissed me deeply for a long time. Benjamin said softly, "Kissing Martha was just a game, but you and I are a couple. That's different."

"Don't let it bother you. It doesn't mean anything," he added.

Back then, I was too scared to say anything back.

But now, I knew it mattered. Crossing the line always meant something.

I didn't go back to Benjamin's VIP room, but as I walked past, I overheard him say, "Aubrey has a heart condition. Ever since she was little, I've always worried she'd get hurt. Without me, who else would indulge her like I do?"

I lowered my gaze, my hand tightening around my phone in my pocket.

Thankfully, it was not too late this time.

My engagement to Benjamin was set up by our grandfathers. My mom passed away during childbirth. Her heart condition was just too much for her to survive the surgery. And as soon as I was born, they found out I had the same problem.

I was raised like a precious treasure by my family.

At first, Benjamin wasn't into me at all, and he couldn't stand the whole arranged marriage thing.

When I turned seventeen, he tried to get me to call off the engagement myself. Even though he knew I had a heart problem, he blindfolded me and talked me onto a roller coaster, and before I knew it, the ride was already in motion.

With the wind howling past my ears, it was the closest I'd ever come to dying.

My face turned deathly pale. The overload was too much, and my heart just gave out.

Luckily, the butler with us caught on right away, found me, and hit the emergency stop.

Benjamin stayed by my side for three days straight, not sleeping or eating, just watching over me.

When I finally woke up, he finally relaxed, and he just broke down in tears.

He kept saying sorry, admitting he messed up, and begging me to forgive him.

But I forced a smile and said, "I don't blame you, Benjamin. But could you try to like me, even just once?"

Benjamin was stunned.

Maybe he never expected that after coming so close to death, all I wanted was for him to like me, even just a little.

He replied, "Aubrey, I really can't win against you."

From that moment on, Benjamin stopped resisting our engagement. He started treating me like I was made of glass, always pampering me and watching over me.

I knew he was only doing it out of guilt, but my feelings for Benjamin were real.

I was fifteen when I saw him standing beneath the crabapple tree, the spring breeze teasing the edge of his white robe. When Benjamin's chilly gaze drifted my way, my heart skipped a beat.

From that moment, I just knew.

I would never fall for anyone else. All I wanted was to be the only one in Benjamin's heart.

But I never expected Martha to come between us.

During our freshman year, Benjamin was at a community event when an earthquake struck. In the chaos, he and Martha were swept right off a cliff.

It was Martha who saved him. She somehow managed to haul his unconscious self all the way to the hospital.

Because of what she did for him, Benjamin always put Martha ahead of me. Even when both of us needed him, he'd always choose her over me, every single time.

He'd say, "Martha saved my life. I owe her, so I'll help her whenever I can. It's just you having to deal with a little unfairness."

"I'll make it up to you, Aubrey. Trust me," he'd promise.

I always nodded and agreed. Because I loved Benjamin, a little pain didn't matter to me at all.

Even at our engagement party when I turned twenty, Benjamin broke off our engagement and chose Martha instead.

After the engagement party, Benjamin told me, "The Hunt Group is in trouble. Martha's an illegitimate child, and her family wants to marry her off to some wealthy businessman old enough to be her dad, just to get some investment."

"I can't just stand by and let her throw away her future like that," he said, his voice heavy.

He told me he'd made a three-year arrangement with Martha, and when it's over, he promised he'd marry me.

My heart ached so much it felt like I could barely breathe, but I still said yes. I let him keep me in that villa out in the suburbs, willingly accepting my place as his secret lover, someone he'd never dare let see the light of day.

When my dad found out, he blew up at the Robertson family and tried to drag me home kicking and screaming.

But I refused to leave, crying so hard my eyes were swollen and red.

I told my dad, "I love Benjamin. Even if I'm nobody to him, I still want to stay by his side."

"He promised he'd marry me. Just three years, that's all he asks. After that, he'll marry me. I know he will," I said.

My dad called me a fool.

He said, "Never trust what a man says."

If Benjamin really loved me, he wouldn't have let me be his mistress.

But back then, love had me so blind and deaf, I couldn't see the truth or hear any sense.