Chapter 1

Samuel Coleman and I were known for being a bitter couple.

When I caught him with a mistress, I rammed my car into him and broke his leg.

After I found out he'd secretly been visiting his first love's grave, I smashed her tombstone to pieces.

We tortured each other for twenty years, hurling the ugliest words we could invent.

Yet when we were both bitten by a venomous snake, he handed me the last vial of antivenom.

As he lay dying, he said quietly, "Natalie, I saved your life. I no longer owe you anything. If we ever get another chance, please let me go. I want to be with Madelyn."

Madelyn was my sister, the fake heiress our family adored and protected.

In the end, I finally understood that she was the only one they loved.

However, when I opened my eyes again, I was back on the night I'd been drugged and set up.

I grabbed a knife, stabbed my thigh to stay conscious, and walked away without looking back.

Samuel, let's call it quits for good.

*****

Samuel died unwilling and full of regret because I flat-out refused to say I'd let him be with Madelyn Becker if given another chance.

I even provoked him on purpose. "Do you think you'll get another chance with Madelyn? That's hilarious. You always belong to me, no matter whether you're alive or not."

He glared at me and struggled through his last breath.

The Coleman family despised me for my cruelty and forbade me from attending his funeral.

However, I went anyway.

I wasn't some spoiled girl raised by the Becker family. I was a tough girl who fought her way up from the orphanage.

I knocked out the person they sent to keep me locked up, then climbed over the balcony and dropped down.

Even if I ended up bleeding all over, I couldn't care less.

However, when I rushed to the funeral, I saw that Samuel was buried right next to Madelyn.

That was the reason they wouldn't let me come. They planned to bury Samuel and Madelyn in the same place.

What about me? I had been Samuel's wife for twenty years. When I died, where was I supposed to be buried?

I staggered on my feet.

My son, Emilio, hurried forward and blocked my way.

He shot me a look of utter loathing. "Mom, wasn't killing Dad enough for you? Do you really have to mess up his last wish as well?"

My throat hurt so much that I could barely speak.

With my voice hoarse and trembling, I said, "Emilio, your dad's last wish was to be buried with another woman. Do you really expect me to just put up with that?"

Emilio snapped back, "She's not just some other woman. She's Madelyn. In my heart, she's way better than you ever were.

"If I'd known you were this cruel, I would have told Dad to leave you and be with Madelyn a long time ago. At least then he wouldn't have died with all that regret in his heart."

My mom, who lost me for eighteen years and never loved me a single day in her life, said through tears, "Yeah, if we'd known earlier, we should have let Madelyn and Samuel be together.

"You and that weird boy from the Hodges family are both messed up. You should have been stuck together, ruining each other."

My dad and my elder brother Carlos shot me a look of pure disgust. "Yeah, if we'd known, we should have let you marry that heartless jerk from the Hodges family.

"All because of one wrong choice, we ruined Madelyn's entire life."

They all looked at me like I was some kind of enemy. It almost felt ridiculous.

It was them who thought the Coleman family wasn't rich enough and didn't want Madelyn to suffer, so they arranged for me to switch places with her.

How did I become the only one to blame?

I stared at them like they were ridiculous, then shoved Emilio aside with my foot.

Samuel married me, and that made him mine. Being buried with someone else was never going to happen.

I would rather die right there than let them stay in the same graveyard.

However, as soon as I stepped toward Samuel's tombstone, I froze.

I saw the letter he wrote before he died.

It read: [I, Samuel, swear to love Madelyn with all my heart. I hope we can see each other on the other end.]

The tears I'd been holding in finally spilled over.

It turned out that Samuel never loved me. I was always on my own in this world.

The obsession in my heart finally disappeared, and I collapsed to the ground.

Samuel, you won. If there were another chance, I would set you free.