Chapter 1
A round of applause erupted from the crowd. Vanessa’s face was ashen, her fingers digging into my clothes, clinging desperately.
“The second Miss Thorne is truly blessed with good fortune.”
“From an illegitimate daughter of a bankrupt family to the future mistress of the wealthiest household – who wouldn’t be envious?”
A few people deliberately spoke loudly, then covered their mouths, giggling.
Vanessa gritted her teeth, her tear-filled eyes glaring at Mrs. Thorne.
“I don’t want to marry him! I want to marry Alex! Alex promised he’d only marry me! And I’ll only marry him!”
Mrs. Thorne quickly clamped a hand over her mouth.
I stood there, stunned, staring at the empty lot slip in my hand.
The excruciating pain of the guardrail piercing my abdomen still hadn’t faded. I instinctively looked towards Alex Sterling.
The man stood there, fists clenched and trembling, his eyes bloodshot with rage.
It was a stark contrast to his usual gentle demeanor.
The next second, he strode forward and bowed deeply to the Hayes family representatives.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” he cleared his throat, “the second Miss Thorne is still young and doesn’t know how to care for others. I believe it would be better to have the eldest Miss Thorne marry instead.”
The entire room fell into a sudden, dead silence.
No one had ever dared to offer an opinion to the Hayes family.
In my last life, Alex had merely watched helplessly as the woman he loved married another.
Right up until her wedding ended, he’d locked himself in his room, numbing himself by systematically collapsing his business rivals’ stock.
Could it be that…
A thought flashed through my mind, and my hair instantly stood on end.
Had he been reborn too?
The Hayes family’s old butler slowly rose, leaning on his cane, his sharp gaze sweeping over me and Vanessa, who was trembling uncontrollably behind me.
“Mr. Sterling is truly considerate.”
“It appears the second Miss Thorne’s identity truly doesn’t suit our Hayes family. In that case, let the eldest Miss marry our eldest young master.”
With that, the old man led the others away.
Vanessa’s breath hitched, her long, sharp nails digging tighter and tighter into my arm.
Her eyes were sinister, but her voice was pitifully aggrieved:
“Iris, that Hayes family’s eldest young master is just a useless invalid clinging to life. If you marry him and he drops dead on the spot, the Hayes family won’t come back to haunt us, will they?”
A flicker of hesitation crossed Alex Sterling’s eyes. He pulled Vanessa into a comforting embrace and murmured,
“Vanessa, we’ll fulfill our engagement tomorrow, okay?”
“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to throw you a wedding that will shake the entire city.”
As he spoke, he glanced at me a few times, observing my reaction.
In his eyes, my expression was surely one of utter devastation.
But I simply offered a polite smile and bowed deeply to him.
“Mr. Sterling, thank you for your help to the Thorne family. I’m truly grateful.”
As the man stood there, momentarily stunned, I handed him a string of simple jade beads.
We had picked them out together from a street vendor when we were little.
He’d told me to keep them, and then never mentioned them again.
“Just a small token of my appreciation.”
When my fingertips brushed his cool palm, my body involuntarily shivered.
Alex Sterling’s gaze was dark and unreadable. He released Vanessa’s hand and meticulously examined the gift.
After a heavy sigh, the red string snapped, and the beads scattered across the floor.
His gaze, when it met mine, was utterly indifferent.
“The eldest Miss Thorne sends me this trash?”
He scoffed, casually nudging the nearest bead with the tip of his leather shoe.
“This kind of ‘token,’ you might as well not send it at all.”