Chapter 1
On my wedding day, my stepsister drugged me and handed me to kidnappers.
My father and fiancé begged me to die to “save the family honor.”
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Only Caden, the billionaire who’d loved me silently for years, knelt on live TV, offering any ransom.
But the kidnappers betrayed him. They livestreamed my torture and death.
The famously composed Caden snapped. He sold his empire, slaughtered the kidnappers, then flayed my family and ex–fiancé
alive. Clutching my ashes, he walked into the sea, whispering, “Next life, let Annette know peace.”
I woke up–back before my engagement. I canceled it and ran to him.
He’d loved me unto death. This time, I’d love him fiercely.
So why did I find him in bed with my stepsister on our wedding night?
In our bridal suite, my stepsister, Jenna, was wearing the crimson silk robe I had bought for myself. Two shadows, hers and his,
were entwined on the bed, a feverish, inseparable dance.
“Caden, darling,” she purred, her voice a low thrum of pleasure. “If you keep this up, aren’t you worried your precious wife will angry and leave you?”
get
Caden’s reply was a muffled groan. “Focus. I only married her to see that famous ice–queen facade crack. And now that I have? It’s…
bland. She can’t hold a candle to a little firecracker like you.”
Jenna’s laughter pealed through the room, sharp and triumphant.
A blade of ice twisted in my gut. I tried to back away, to flee the scene, but my trembling hands knocked over a vase by the door.
The crash shattered the moment, alerting the two lovers inside.
Caden’s head snapped up. His gaze, cold and sharp, pinned me to the spot. “Well, well. Does our goddess Annette have a new hob-
by? Eavesdropping? Or were you hoping to take some notes from Jenna? God knows you could use it. Lying there with you is like
making love to a block of wood.”
“Oh, Caden, you’re terrible!” Jenna giggled, stretching languidly. “All this activity… you’ve made me hungry.”
Caden’s eyes
narrowed on me. “Are you deaf? Jenna’s hungry. Get to the kitchen and make her something to eat,”
He didn’t wait for an answer, just strode over and shoved me towards the kitchen.
My mind reeled. In my past life, this man had loved me to the point of madness, had followed me into death. Why was he so differ-
ent now?
While Caden was in the bathroom, Jenna sauntered into the kitchen, her smile laced with venom.
“Did you really think choosing Caden this time would solve all your problems, big sister?” she whispered, leaning in close. “You were
the loser in our last life, and you’ll be the loser in this one, I’m going to take everything from you. Again.”
It clicked. Of course. In our past life, she’d been obsessed with my fiancé, Julian. This time, simply because I had chosen Caden,
she had set her sights on him instead.
Before I could process the chilling revelation, Jenna let out a sudden, sharp cry and knocked a pot of boiling water from the stove.
Scalding liquid cascaded over my arm, instantly raising a constellation of angry, white blisters. The pain was searing.
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“Jenna! Are you okay?” Caden rushed out of the bathroom, his eyes frantic. He scanned her from head to toe, and upon seeing she was unharmed, a wave of relief washed over his face. His gaze flicked to me for a fraction of a second, cold and dismissive.
“Caden, I was just trying to help her,” Jenna sobbed, her voice trembling. “I shouldn’t be here. I’ll just go.”
Caden’s face hardened, his eyes turning to ice as he looked at me. “Jenna is your sister, Annette, not your enemy. How could you be
so vicious?”
He knew. He knew Jenna and her mother had driven my own mother to her death. He knew about the years of torment they had
put me through. He used to be the one who stood behind me, swearing to protect me forever. Now, he blind to my blistered,
agonized arm, his entire world fixated on my stepsister’s crocodile tears.
“I didn’t…”
was
“Don’t, Caden,” Jenna interrupted, her performance flawless. “Annette is your wife. Please don’t fight because
the one to leave.”
should be
Caden’s patience snapped. “The Astor family has no place for a woman with a heart as black as yours,” he snarled at me. He gestu- red to the security guards standing by the hall. “Take her. Teach her the rules of this house.”
Without a word, the guards seized me and dragged me down to the basement, throwing me into the old boiler room. The oppressi-
ve, humid heat immediately began to bake my skin, aggravating the burns.
“Caden, it wasn’t me! Please, check the security cameras!” I screamed, pounding on the heavy steel door.
His voice came back, cold and final. “You’re still lying, Annette. Stay in there and think about what you’ve done. You can come out
when you’ve learned your lesson.”
The air in the room was scorching, but a profound, soul–deep chill was settling over my heart.
