Chapter 3

A golden comment popped up: [Jenna, you first met when you were 14. Ivan fell for you right then.

[He sent you birthday and holiday gifts every year, but he didn't want to disturb your life, so he sent them under the names of various organizations.

[If it weren't for him, your family wouldn't even have had the chance to return to the country when the Warren family went bankrupt.

[When he saw you agree to marry Oscar, he hid his sadness and chose to respect your decision. He secretly stayed by your side for a year and became a priest right after your wedding.

[All the gifts Oscar sent you that year were chosen by Ivan. He designed your wedding dress himself. He even picked the location for your wedding photos.

[Even after you passed away, Ivan handled everything for your family himself. After laying your ashes to rest, he prayed day and night in the church, hoping you'll find peace in your next life.

[He kept watch over your grave until the end of his days, growing old in solitude.]

Honestly, I had no words for this.

I didn't remember meeting Ivan when I was fourteen.

But for as long as I could remember, I had received random gifts from various organizations every year.

But they always came in pairs.

My parents would let my sister and me choose one each. One was always very delicate, and the other was obviously perfunctory.

My sister was always the type to fight for whatever she wanted. If things didn't go her way, she'd throw a fit, make a scene, and even hit me.

Even if the gift had my name on it, she'd still grab the nicest one for herself.

My parents never knew how to deal with her, so they gave in every time and placated me with the usual line, "You're such a good girl. Just let her have it."

If I refused, I would get beaten. Then my parents would scold me for being stupid and not knowing how to compromise early to avoid trouble.

So all I ever got were those generic souvenirs from some random organization.

My father never let me get involved in the family business. I didn't know why we went bankrupt or who had helped us.

The things Ivan had chosen for Oscar had made me happy once, but they also led to Isabel blaming me for being greedy. She punished me by making me scrub the stairs every night for a whole month.

As for Ivan becoming a priest, I had no clue about that either.

All I knew was that Ivan quit his job after my wedding, and it made Juliet so furious that she actually spat blood.

Rumor had it he stopped caring about work and traveled the world.

As for what happened after I died, I have no clue. After all, I was dead.

Before I opened my eyes after traveling back, I did hear someone praying that the bitter resentment filling my heart might find a shred of peace.

That was why I had decided to escape everything and enjoy this life. Unfortunately, some people wouldn't let me have my way.

The comments were all getting emotional, but honestly, I felt nothing. I only knew that Ivan was the only choice that benefited me right now.

I stood firmly in front of Ivan, keeping my head down to maintain my timid persona. But he didn't say a word for a while.

Oscar got anxious instead. "No, you are my wife."

Without even turning around, I shot back quietly, "Then what does that make the woman you slept with?"

Oscar protested, "We didn't do anything."

I glanced back at him. "Does anyone believe that now?"

Oscar pointed at Keira. "I swear, we really didn't. The marks on her neck are from pinching herself."

Keira had never expected that I would want to switch grooms. Now that Oscar had exposed her lie in public, she panicked for a moment.

But she was also someone who had traveled back, so she quickly started crying.

She said, "Right, I did it myself. It has nothing to do with Oscar, so please don't misunderstand."

No one in the room believed her.

Oscar looked at me and smirked. "See? She admitted it herself. Why are you in such a hurry to distance yourself from me? Are you upset that I was with another woman?"

I barely resisted rolling my eyes and kept my voice steady. "I'm not in a hurry, and I have nothing to be upset about.

"When our grandfathers made the engagement, they only said that a child from each family would marry. They never said which generation. Ivan's single, so he can take up the engagement too.

"It doesn't matter that you made a mistake. I'll marry someone else. But please take responsibility for my sister. Don't act like a scumbag who denies everything after sleeping with someone."

Oscar shouted in anguish, "I never even slept with her!"

I put on a stern tone. "You have disgraced the entire Pacheco family."

Oscar tried to protest, "But I—"

"Shut up!" Maurice, always obsessed with saving face, slapped Oscar across the face to silence him.

Oscar covered his face, his eyes rimmed red. He shot me a stubborn, wounded look before turning away.

Keira looked at me in surprise and cried even louder.

Red comments: [What's up with Jenna? Oscar was letting you off easy, so why are you denying it? And now you're dumping your evil sister on him?]

[Jenna's probably acting out of spite. She's disgusted that Oscar and her vicious sister are teaming up, so she's bringing up marrying Ivan to get back at him.]

[Jenna, why are you learning all the wrong things instead of the good ones?]

I rolled my eyes at them mentally.

They knew Oscar had issues, but they still wanted me to play nice with him for their ship. Honestly, they were not good people either.

A golden comment popped up: [Oh my. Has anyone called an ambulance yet? Ivan hasn't been breathing for almost a minute and a half.]