Chapter 1

In my previous life, the night before Asher Martinez's engagement, we ended up spending a wild night together by accident.

The next day, the girl he truly loved, Eleanor Adams, was so devastated that she slit her wrists and ended her own life.

Because of that, Asher came to utterly despise me.

He went on a vengeful rampage. Our daughter was not spared, either.

On our daughter's birthday, Asher held my head down and forced me to watch as she burned with fever.

She suffered all night, burning up from dusk till dawn right in front of me, but he refused to call a doctor.

He said, "This is your retribution for being shameless and driving Eleanor to her death."

For the first time, I didn't deny it.

Instead, I bowed all night, begging for forgiveness.

But my daughter still missed the critical window for treatment.

Before she passed away, Anna whispered her last words. "Mommy, don't cry. I don't hurt."

I finally snapped.

Clutching Anna's things, I dragged myself up to the rooftop and threw myself off.

And when I opened my eyes again, I was back on the night before Asher's engagement.

This time, I only did two things.

First, I slashed my palm with a knife to stay alert, making sure I never set foot in his room.

Second, I burned every diary about my secret feelings for him.

*****

When the blade cut into my palm, the pain jolted through me.

The door ahead was half-open.

I knew Asher was inside.

Warm yellow light leaked out from the gap, reminding me of the deadly trap from my previous life.

If I was not mistaken, tomorrow was the day Asher was supposed to get engaged to Eleanor.

Eleanor was the fake heiress the Adams family adored, treating her like she was their treasure.

She was my sister.

And she was the one Asher truly cared about.

In my previous life, someone set me up and tricked me into entering his room.

That night, I ended up spending a wild night with Asher.

The next day, Eleanor slit her wrists and collapsed in a pool of blood.

From that moment on, Asher came to utterly despise me.

He was convinced I'd orchestrated everything, that I shamelessly climbed into his bed and drove his precious Eleanor to her death.

He refused to hear me out, not once.

My parents lost all faith in me.

They forced me to stand in the snow, all night long, all to atone for what I'd done to Eleanor.

After that, they kicked me out of the Adams family without a second thought.

That day, it was snowing like crazy in Kiswood.

I ended up on the streets, nowhere to go.

Honestly, I wasn't really upset.

Ever since I was little, I knew. Even though Eleanor wasn't my parents' real daughter, they only cared about her.

I was the real heiress, the one who got switched at birth and only found my way back by accident. But in their eyes, I was the extra.

But I didn't end up freezing or starving to death as they hoped.

Asher suddenly showed up and sheltered me.

He was like the big brother next door I'd adored for years.

Asher smiled at me and said he'd take me with him.

He said, "If the Adams family doesn't want you, then come stay with us at the Martinez family."

It was the first time he'd smiled at me since Eleanor was gone.

I thought he was finally willing to trust me.

All those days of feeling wronged and helpless, my eyes filled with tears. "Asher, do you not blame me anymore?"

I tried to explain everything.

I told him how I'd been lured that night, barely conscious as someone shoved me into a cab, and how I ended up at the hotel.

I told him I never wanted to compete with Eleanor for anything.

He listened, but didn't say a word.

He quietly drove me back to the Martinez residence.

Asher was the person I trusted more than anyone.

All those years in the Adams family, suffering Eleanor's bullying, it was always Asher who stepped in to help me.

No one was ever as good to me as he was.

I only trusted him.

But what I didn't know was that that was the start of his payback.