Chapter 1 I Only Wish You the Best

I was woken up by the commotion downstairs early in the morning. Downstairs, Samuel Stafford yelled, "Julia Sinclair, I know you're listening to me! Tell me what you like about me. If you do, I'll change it right away!"

This conversation happened before my college entrance exams. But I had already died in the psychiatric hospital, so how did I get back here?

I quickly got out of bed. When I saw a younger and livelier version of myself in the mirror, I was shocked.

I had gone back in time to the day Samuel came over to my house to cancel our marriage engagement before my college entrance exams. This was great!

I hurriedly changed my clothes.

When I went downstairs, I heard my mom say, "You brat! Did you purposely choose to come here the day before Juju's college entrance exams to provoke her? Why couldn't you wait until her exams were over?"

"Aunt Helen, Maddy's having her college entrance exams too. You can't be so selfish. Why should Maddy suffer just so Julia can focus on preparing for her exams?"

After Samuel finished his sentence with a roll of his eyes, I heard a car outside. Mr. and Mrs. Stafford had rushed over.

"You brat!" Francis Stafford's face was red with fury, and he was holding a golf club. After entering the house, he chased Samuel, intending to beat him up.

Samuel glared at Francis and snarled, "Beating me to death won't change the fact that I don't like Julia.

"Besides, we got engaged when we were children. We don't harbor any feelings for each other, so why can't we cancel the engagement?"

When Samuel's mother, Wendy Jenkins was about to step forward as well, I quickly cried out, "Mr. and Mrs. Stafford, stop!"

Samuel started hating me after he was beaten up on this day. Since I was given a second chance, I had to make a different choice. First, I walked up to my mother.

"Happy Birthday, Mom. I love you."

Yes. Today was also my mom's birthday.

Upon going back in time and seeing my beloved mother again, I suppressed the overwhelming waves of sorrow in my heart and kissed her on her cheek.

"Trust me. I'll take care of everything, okay?"

When she nodded at me in response, I smiled and turned around to face Francis and Wendy. "Mr. and Mrs. Stafford, can I talk to you two for a moment?"

Then, I walked out the door without sparing Samuel a single glance. The change in my behavior shocked Francis and Wendy. When they approached me, I saw the familiar look of guilt on their faces.

I got engaged to Samuel when we were kids because my dad saved Francis from drowning. To show his appreciation, Francis visited us from time to time.

As time passed, Samuel and I slowly got to know each other. Seeing that we got along well, our parents decided to get us engaged with each other.

Because of this life debt, after I got married to Samuel in my previous life, they tried everything to force Samuel to sleep with me. Sometimes, they even prepared aphrodisiacs.

Samuel never took them, but he would force me to take them and watch me suffer. No matter how much I begged him, he wouldn't do anything. If I was going to change my fate, I needed to calm Francis and Wendy down first.

"Mr. and Mrs. Stafford, our college entrance exams are tomorrow. You know Samuel's temper well.

"The more you force him, the more stubborn he becomes, so why don't we agree to cancel the engagement first and let him focus on his exams?"

My words gave both of them a huge shock. Everyone knew that I, the daughter of the Sinclair Family, was head over heels in love with Samuel after all.

Whenever Samuel got close to another girl, I would cry for days on end, much less if our engagement got canceled. Yet, I said something like that.

"Juju…"

"Mrs. Stafford, I beg you, just follow his demands."

"Alright." Seeing that I had already made my decision, Wendy turned to Francis.

Francis sighed and glared at Samuel. "What are you still standing around for? Didn't you want to cancel the engagement? Then hurry up and prepare for it!"

Samuel was stunned. When he passed me by, he growled, "Julia, what are you planning this time? I'm telling you right now, no matter what you have planned, Maddy is the only person I'll marry!"

Watching Samuel's back as he left coldly, I felt like cracking open my skull from my previous life to see what was inside. He was utterly infatuated with Madison Locke, yet I had tried so hard to make him see her true colors.

Well, even if Madison was a player and staged the accident so she could pretend to save his life, it wasn't any of my business. I couldn't believe I stupidly chose to give up on my entrance exams as well after Samuel submitted his exam papers blank because he was angry.

I even repeated the year with him and followed him around like a mindless devotee, running his errands and doing his dirty work for him. I thought he agreed to marry me because my sincerity touched him, but it was only because Wendy threatened to take her own life if he didn't.

After our marriage, he pretended to be an exemplary husband in public, but in private, he would sleep around with other women while I watched.

I used to foolishly believe that if my sincerity managed to touch him once, it could happen again… Not wanting to fall into despair, I remained in denial. In the end, I got severe depression and killed myself in the hospital…

The memories kept flooding in. I forced myself to stop reminiscing and left to buy Mom a cake. After taking a long walk outside, I finally accepted that I had gone back in time.

Seeing that the next day was my college entrance exam, we only had a small birthday celebration for Mom.

After the exam on the first day, Madison stopped me outside the exam hall. She flaunted the diamond ring on her middle finger.

"Oh my. I didn't want it, but Samuel insisted on buying it for me. I couldn't stop him. Julia, you're not angry about this, are you?"

"Why would I be angry?" I smiled. "I only wish you the best."

When I turned around to leave, Samuel rushed forward and shoved me aside. "Julia, you shameless woman! Both our families are already discussing canceling our engagement, so why are you still harassing Maddy?"

I felt like I was struck by lightning. I really wanted to ask if he was blind. This was my exam hall, yet he accused me of harassing Madison.

But before I could speak, Samuel had already left with Madison. I pulled out my phone to call Samuel. I wanted to clear up the misunderstanding and set clear boundaries between us, but, to my surprise, he had blocked my number!

Whatever. Samuel wouldn't believe anything I said, so I would let my actions speak for me instead.

My college entrance exams were over in the blink of an eye. I planned to do something drastic.

I told my mom that I was going back to our hometown and staying there for a couple of days to keep Grandma company, but I didn't go back to our hometown. Instead, I went to Stafford Group.

I wasn't waiting for Francis or Samuel, but Evan, Samuel's uncle. In my previous life, he was the first person who discovered that I had killed myself in the psychiatric hospital.

Despite Samuel's objections, he still insisted on burying me in the Stafford Family Cemetary as daughters who were married off could no longer be buried with their families.

If her husband's family refused to accept her, she could only be buried in public cemeteries as a nameless corpse. That was the local tradition.

Samuel refused to acknowledge me as her wife, so I was buried as Evan's wife. Because of this, Evan never got married in my past life.

Now, I finally understood that the reason Evan occasionally visited me in the psychiatric hospital wasn't because Samuel asked him to, but because he was in love with me.

I could tell he was a great man through the memories of him in my previous life, yet I wasted all of my time on Samuel. Now that I had a second chance, I had to muster up the courage to confess to Evan.

The weather in June was always unpredictable. The sunny skies turned cloudy in an instant. Then, it started raining heavily out of nowhere, and it was even a hailstorm.

Worst of all, I didn't bring an umbrella along. The red dress I wore especially for Evan was immediately soaking. Through the rain, my figure was barely visible.

Just when I thought Evan wouldn't show up, I was suddenly shielded by a black umbrella which granted me solace from the pouring rain.

"Samuel isn't here."

It was Evan. His voice was as deep and attractive as I remembered. Tears immediately welled up in my eyes when I heard it.

Chapter 2 The Confession

I suppressed the waves of emotions bubbling up in my heart and slowly turned around. Evan appeared to be at least six feet tall in the rain.

The black umbrella in his hand was tilted mostly to my side. He didn't care even when the rain soaked his tailored suit. His eyes looked darker in the rain. It was hard to tell if he was happy or angry.

In my previous life, he was only a cold and distant elder to me. He was always good at hiding his emotions, so there was no way I could've noticed that he treated me differently with my poor observation skills.

The second time around, however, everything had changed. I knew that his cold mask hid an undying love for me. I started sobbing before I could even speak.

"I'm not here to look for him, but rather for you." My voice was trembling. I didn't want to treat him like my uncle, so I didn't call him "Uncle" like Samuel did.

I was testing Evan. I knew he didn't like to approach people and preferred being alone, so I needed to approach him slowly. As expected, he didn't mind the way I addressed him, but his gaze turned colder.

"I can't help you." I knew what he meant.

In my previous life, to win Samuel's heart, I did everything to make the people around him like me so that they would praise me in front of Samuel. Evan was one of them.

Evan must have found out about Samuel and Madison and thought I was looking for him to beg him to convince Samuel.

I immediately shook my head and tried to explain myself. "Evan, you misunderstood me. I only wanted to see you—"

"I'm busy," Evan coldly cut me off and told his driver to drive me home.

An idea popped up in my head when I saw him leaving. I cried out and held my stomach before falling over, pretending to faint.

It was the only way to stop him from leaving. Besides, the worst-case scenario was simply me smashing my head on the pavement. I could handle the fall.

That was why I made myself fall to the ground for real. I was betting that Evan couldn't bear to see me get hurt.

"Be careful!"

I was right. Evan couldn't bear to see me fall. He instinctively wrapped his strong arm around my waist and held me close to his chest in the pouring rain.

I was so close to him that I could smell his scent. It was a pleasant mix of tobacco, wine, and his unique scent that resembled sandalwood.

I went with the flow and lay in his arms. Afraid he would push me away, I quickly wrapped my arms around his neck.

I trembled in his arms like a pitiful kitten and sobbed. "Evan, I'm so cold. I think I caught a cold from standing in the rain."

I faked a sneeze for good measure. I didn't care if my acting was convincing. I just wanted to cling to him.

Everyone said that guys fell easily for girls who took the lead. As long as I was determined enough, I believed I could make Evan mine by the end of the summer.

"Julia!" Evan seemed to have seen through my acting. His voice was stern.

However, I didn't care anymore. I tossed my dignity aside and started crying hysterically. I didn't care what the driver and Evan would think of me. Besides, I was only 18 now. It was the time to be naïve and stubborn.

"I waited for you until my legs turned numb and my feet got blisters. I even got soaking wet from the rain. So, why are you being so mean to me?"

I cried my eyes out. I didn't know whether Evan was just embarrassed or if he just couldn't bear to see me like that, but he ended up carrying me into his car eventually.

I stayed in his arms. At first, I was just pretending to cry, but I dozed off at some point. Embarrassingly, I slept for a long time. When I woke up, it was already morning.

I woke up in Evan's villa. Even though it was only the guestroom, I was still happy. My first step had been a success. The next step was finding the chance to confess to him.

"Evan, are you here?" I ran out of the room excitedly. I didn't see Evan anywhere, but I saw Evan's secretary, Linda Meadows on the living room's couch.

She was wearing an office uniform that showed off her chest and her butt. With her hands on her hips, she glared at me and said, "You shameless wench, don't misunderstand!

"Just because he brought you home doesn't mean you're special. I'm telling you right now, he doesn't like immature children like you. Know your place and get lost."

I knew who she was. She was the daughter of one of the officials in Juville.

She liked Evan, so she tried to get close to him by working for him. However, Evan never showed an interest in her, so she went hysterical and sought revenge on Stafford Group.

Unfortunately for her, I had Evan's phone number, so I ignored Linda and called him instead.

"Evan…" I pretended to cry again and shamelessly told him, "Your secretary scolded me and even tried to hit me. Save me, Evan."

I didn't know where Evan was, but it was pretty noisy on his end.

"Hand the phone to her," he said softly. I didn't know what Evan said, but Linda reluctantly apologized after hanging up.

"I'll forgive you if you give me Evan's schedule." That was what I was aiming for. I needed to make Evan believe that I didn't like Samuel anymore.

Linda was in the wrong, to begin with. Since she didn't want me to tell on her, she reluctantly gave me his schedule. It turned out that Evan was on a business trip overseas. He would only return after three days.

After that, I chased Linda away and started to clean the villa. There wasn't much to clean up, but since it was Evan's home, I was more than happy to work.

Three days passed by in a flash. When I heard Evan went straight to his company after his return, I messaged him.

"Evan, I'm so hungry."

Then, I sent him a picture of his kitchen. With that, Evan would know I never left his home and would rush home before nightfall.

When he entered the house, I threw myself at him. I didn't have time to play coy anymore.

Samuel had been messaging me every day, urging me to go home to cancel our engagement. He even warned me, saying that avoidance was useless.

"Evan, I want to eat foie gras." I wrapped my arms around his neck and looked up at him with a bright smile.

Evan's expression was icy. He yanked his tie off with one hand and ordered, "Let go."

His tone was so harsh that I immediately let go and obediently sat on the couch in silence. After taking a quick shower, Evan changed into a new suit.

He seemed to have noticed the flowers I had meticulously decorated the villa with. When he came back, his expression was much gentler.

"Didn't you want to eat foie gras?" he asked.

I immediately stood up. "Yes! You're the best, Evan."

I quickly cheered up and clung to Evan's arm. Then, we left his house happily. Unfortunately, we ran into Samuel and Madison at the restaurant.

I tried to leave, but Samuel rushed forward and said, "Julia, is this what you were planning? Did you think I wouldn't cancel the engagement if you asked for Uncle Evan's help? That's not going to work!"

He made me look utterly shameless in front of a large crowd.

"Samuel, who do you think you are?" With that, I slapped him across his face.

Samuel was gobsmacked. He looked at me in disbelief. It was as if he couldn't believe that I would actually hit him.

I scoffed. "Take a good look at yourself in the mirror. It's not like I can't live without you. Do you really think you're all that?

"Listen up and listen well now, Samuel. I wouldn't like you even if you were the last man on earth!"

Then, I turned around, got on my tiptoes, and kissed Evan without a second thought. Following that, I confessed loudly, "Evan, you're the only one I love."

Chapter 3 Hypocrite

The fact that Evan didn't push me away spurred me on further. I wrapped my arms around his neck and boldly pressed my lips against his again.

When our lips touched, I finally understood why everyone liked kissing. Being in close contact with the opposite sex made my heart race and my breathing pick up.

It felt like there was electricity running through my veins, numbing my senses pleasantly. If kissing felt this good, I could only imagine how much better it would be if we went further.

But before I could finish my thought, Samuel rushed forward with a grimace and yelled, "Julia, you're absolutely shameless! I can't believe you'd violate my uncle like this in front of a crowd just to retaliate against me.

"Did you really think someone like you can lay your hands on him without any consequences? I never thought you'd be this shameless. I'm going to…"

He was probably going to say something along the lines of putting me back in my place, but his voice suddenly trailed off. I tilted my head in confusion and saw Evan glaring at Samuel.

It served him right. No matter how much of a tyrant Samuel was, he was nothing in front of Evan. Everyone in Juville knew better than to offend Evan, who was known as Hades, King of the Underworld. They would have higher chances of survival even if they offended Evan's father, Bobby Stafford.

With Evan on my side, I had nothing to fear. I rolled my eyes and snickered at Samuel.

"Right. Me kissing the man I love is shameless, while you kissing the woman you love is just. I see that you're a massive hypocrite, huh?"

"You piece of—" Samuel's fists were clenched, but he didn't have the guts to lay a finger on me. All he could do was bare his teeth at me and say, "I'll let you off the hook today for Uncle Evan's sake.

"Let's go, Maddy. Our date's ruined."

With that, Samuel grabbed Madison and angrily stomped away, but I wasn't affected at all.

In my previous life, I became severely depressed and anorexic because Samuel kept sleeping around while refusing to touch me. I was five feet and five inches tall but barely weighed 77 pounds.

Anyone who saw me would've pitied me, but Samuel felt nothing. He neither stole my family's property nor harmed my relatives, but the emotional torture he subjected me to was worse than any physical torture.

In the 15 years I was married to him, I tried to win his heart and even tried forgetting him. But whenever my efforts started to bear fruit, Samuel would shatter everything again.

He played the part of a good husband in public while tormenting me in private. It was the same even after I was admitted into a psychiatric hospital.

Even though he hired the best doctors to treat me, he would find ways to hurt me again. I kept alternating between being saved and being hurt.

This time around, I was going to ignore him and live the life I wanted and deserved.

I thoroughly indulged myself in the food. But upon noticing that Evan hadn't touched his utensils, I blinked in confusion.

"Evan, why aren't you eating?" Based on what I heard, he liked foie gras.

We stared at each other in silence. Evan's gaze was cold, but his voice was even colder when he warned, "What happened just now was a one-time thing. I won't let you off easily if you ever do that again."

He was angry at me for using him to humiliate Samuel.

"I got it." I placed my utensils down to drizzle Evan's favorite sweet sauce over the plate of foie gras before pushing it to Evan. I also knew he liked medium rare steak, so I ordered some as well.

"Here you go, Evan. Don't be angry. Try out the food."

I felt a little proud of myself for knowing his preferences. After all, I wasn't kidding when I said I liked him.

His three-day absence was long enough for me to learn about his preferences through some of my connections. For example, I found out he liked red.

I was willing to wear red clothes for him. He also liked long hair, so I started growing my hair out. I didn't hide my interest in him at all.

Evan glanced at me. Then, he elegantly stabbed a piece of steak with his fork and ate it, accepting my goodwill.

I felt victorious because it meant he forgave me. I knew he preferred a softer approach.

Chapter 4 Get Over Here

"Evan, would you prefer it if I were thinner or chubbier?" When I was 18 last, I was a young and healthy girl standing at five feet and five inches and weighing 110 pounds. I also had a decent figure.

I tucked my hair behind my ear and continued asking him shamelessly, "I'm thinking I should grow out my hair.

"How long do you like it? Should I let it grow until it reaches my waist or until it reaches my butt?"

"Are you done?" Evan's face was cold. "Who said you could call me by my name? How rude is that? You're Samuel's classmate, so call me 'Uncle Evan' like he does."

I pretended not to hear what he said and remained silent.

Evan leveraged his status as an elder and continued, "Answer me. Did you hear what I just said?"

I pouted and muttered, "Fine, Uncle Ethan. How mean. Couldn't you be nicer to me? I even gave you my first kiss. You won the jackpot, so what's with the cold treatment?"

It didn't matter how I addressed him. What mattered was me winning him over as soon as possible. I was still thinking about how I could confess to Evan when his phone rang.

I didn't know who sent him a message, but Evan's gentle expression immediately turned cold. His gaze was so icy that I couldn't bring myself to make any sudden moves.

"Have you finished your meal?"

I was stunned.

"If you're done, I'm taking you home!" Evan said before standing up and leaving.

I ran to catch up to him. I snuck glances at him during the ride home. I wanted to ask him if something had happened, but I couldn't bring myself to speak up.

Currently, I didn't even know what I scored for my college entrance exams. On the other hand, he had held an important position in Stafford Group for years. I couldn't help him even if I asked, so I might as well keep my mouth shut and not bother him.

"We're here."

"Uncle Evan—" He stepped on the gas and left before I could even wave him goodbye.

Watching his black car speed off into the distance, I stood at the gates and pouted. When I pulled out my phone to send Evan a message, I heard my mom call out behind me, "Julia Sinclair, get over here!"

I didn't need to ask to know that she was livid. She would only use my full name when she was especially angry. I didn't have the guts to keep her waiting, so I quickly rushed over to her.

"Mom, what's wrong?"

She ignored me and entered the house, slamming the door behind her. I followed her inside.

Mom pointed at the cardboard box on the coffee table and demanded, "Explain what this is, Julia. What were you thinking?"

I had to rush over to her before I could even switch to my house slippers. The cardboard box was filled with various adult products. On top of the pile was a hotel room card and a letter.

The letter was addressed to Samuel, and the writing greatly resembled mine. It was a confession letter that talked about how much I loved Samuel. It said that I didn't care if Samuel already had a woman and that I only wanted to be his woman.

As for the items inside the box, the letter asked Samuel to use it all on me. It said I would prepare myself and wait for him in the hotel room. It was even signed off with "Yours, Julia".

What the fuck? Who on earth framed me? When did I ever send Samuel this shit? No wonder Evan's mood had turned sour.

"Mom, I swear that if I really did prepare these things, I'll suffer a fate worse than death." It was true that I liked Samuel, but it was only a secret crush.

I just gave my first kiss to Evan, so Samuel and I would never go this far. How could I possibly do something this wild?

Luckily, Mom believed me. After calmly assessing the situation, she asked, "If it isn't you, then who was it?"

I instantly thought of Madison. "Mom, don't you have a classmate who works in forensics? Can you contact them? I want to do handwriting identification!"

This was a huge misunderstanding. I needed concrete evidence so I could explain myself to Evan.

Chapter 5 Really Going At It

The next morning, I called a cab to the forensic lab. Mom already informed them, so the lab member in charge of the identification told me, "The results usually take two weeks, but you can come and fetch yours next week."

"Okay. Thank you." On my way home, I thought of calling Evan, but I was scared of interrupting his work.

I didn't call him in the end, but I sent him a sad voice message saying, "Uncle Evan, give me one week. In one week, I'll clear everything up."

But then, he blocked me. We were no longer friends on social media. I called him, but the call never connected.

I sighed. It seemed that he would unblock me only if I could get the results. Since it was the weekend, I went to the gymnasium with some fruits.

Before I could enter the building to visit Ms. Green, I spotted someone familiar at the corner of the gymnasium's left corridor—Madison. She was making out with a tall student-athlete. They were really going at it. I could even hear their kisses and moans.

When I saw this in my previous life, my first reaction was to take a picture and send it to Samuel. I wanted him to see Madison's true colors, but he insulted me instead and hired a lawyer to sue me for defamation.

I snickered inwardly. Upon seeing a black car approaching from the front, I smirked. This time, I wouldn't take a picture. Instead, I would cover her.

"Samuel, wait. I was looking for you." I ran to the road and stopped him from getting out of the car by blocking the door.

I wasn't going to let Samuel leave his car. It wouldn't be fun if he caught Madison cheating on him. I wanted them to get together.

"Julia, what do you want this time?" Samuel grimaced when he saw me, but I was in an excellent mood.

The longer I kept him occupied, the longer his beloved Maddy could make out with that student-athlete. I hoped that Madison would keep going until she got pregnant.

If that happened, her loyal dog, Samuel, would surely celebrate being a father. He deserved to be cheated on.

The more I thought about it, the more I felt like laughing. When I accidentally let a laugh slip, Samuel called me a lunatic. As he tried to drive away, footsteps came from the gymnasium entrance.

It was Madison. She was standing under the sun in a black spaghetti-strap dress. It looked good on her, showing off her chest, legs, and tiny waist.

She spoke in a gentle tone. "Samuel, Julia, why did you come here together?"

Madison looked sad. She gazed at Samuel like we had done something extremely sinful behind her back.

"Maddy, don't misunderstand. You know you're the only one for me. It's Julia. She keeps shamelessly clinging to me and following me around. I didn't come here with her…"

Samuel was so blind he didn't notice the hickeys all over Madison's neck. He even professed his undying love for Madison and swore that he would die a horrible death if he ever grew interested in me.

That made me upset. What did he mean by dying a horrible death if he ever grew interested in me? He could just continue swearing himself to Madison. Why did he have to involve me?

Thinking about it, I raised my hand and smacked Madison's neck.

"Oh, my, there was a mosquito!" I exclaimed before whispering to Madison, "Next time, remember to cover up your hickeys when you sleep around."

Madison was stunned. She looked at me with eyes filled with shock, fear, and panic.

"Julia!" Samuel ran at me like a madman, raising his fist to punch me.

However, Madison immediately stopped him. "Samuel, don't be rash."

Madison scratched her neck and walked to Samuel before saying coquettishly, "There really was a mosquito. See? My skin's all swollen."

She continued scratching as she spoke. The hickeys all over her skin grew even more obvious. Even so, Samuel didn't suspect a thing. He turned around and fetched an ointment from his car.

"Babe, hurry and put this on. Your skin's already sensitive. Damn those mosquitoes for leaving all these marks on you every day."

Oh? It seemed like Madison used this excuse often. I resisted the urge to laugh out loud. Poor Samuel. I couldn't believe he was stupid enough to believe they were mosquito bites.

Chapter 6 Or Else

Before getting in the car with Madison, Samuel glared at me and warned, "Julia, you better stay away from Madison and me if you value your life, or else…"

With that, he stepped on the gas and sped away. I blinked, confused. Was he leaving just like that? It didn't fit his arrogant personality. Besides, didn't he think that I sent him those adult products? But he didn't mention them at all.

Madison also seemed to be avoiding me. Technically, she should act like she did during the first day of our college entrance exams and constantly flirt with Samuel to provoke me…

I frowned and arrived at the dance studio while I was deep in thought. Ms. Green must have seen what happened. She looked at me like she was pitying me.

"Julia, among all my students, Samuel and you were the most talented pair. You could've achieved so much more and even gone international…" Ms. Green sighed.

Most of the pictures on the wall of fame in front of her were of Samuel and me at competitions we won over the past years. Most of the trophies on the shelves had also been won by Samuel and I.

Yes, Samuel and I were both excellent students who started learning to dance when we were three years old.

Before he met Madison, Samuel, who was one year older than me, took care of me like a dependable elder brother.

We won many trophies in the youth categories in our childhood and teenage years. As we grew older, the number of places we visited together for competitions grew.

We once aspired to become world champions and have the world recognize us as a pair of excellent dancers. We had many fans. They even called us the Velvet Steps.

A lot of people looked forward to us getting married and building a family someday, while Ms. Green used us as examples to teach her new students.

Things were fine up until the moment Madison saved Samuel when he was beaten up by a group of thugs. The Velvet Steps immediately fell apart, and the new dancing duo, Liquid Promises, was born.

Perhaps it was because of karma, but Liquid Promises never won a single award. The both of them didn't pass the dance school exam either.

On the other hand, I managed to get high distinction with a partner I teamed up with at the last minute.

"Ms. Green, I'm here today to apologize to you."

After 15 years of hard work, I was giving up on dancing. The endless torment Samuel subjected me to in my previous life was much too painful. So, in this life, I wanted to become a doctor so that I could save more people with depression.

It wasn't a sudden thing. I decided on it only after thinking it through recently. I wanted to inform Ms. Green in person before filling up my college application.

"Alright..." Ms. Green decided to support me. She must have thought I was giving up on dancing because of my broken heart.

I smiled, not giving her any further explanation.

A week later, the results for the handwriting identification were finally out. It really was Madison who had forged my handwriting. However, it didn't make sense because I never did anything to wrong her.

Forging a person's handwriting wasn't a feat that could be easily done in a couple of days. She must have practiced for a long time to reach this level of similarity.

When had Madison set her sights on me? I couldn't figure it out, so I hired a private investigator to look into it.

Three days later, the investigation results revealed a shocking fact—Madison and I were stepsisters who shared the same father. I finally knew why my parents divorced.

Three years ago, Mom found out about Madison by accident. Although my dad never cheated on her after they got married, Madison was born between him and his first love before their marriage.

Mom couldn't accept it, so Dad agreed to the divorce without asking for a financial settlement. Over the last three years, he worked as a professor and a streamer and earned a lot of money. The private investigator discovered that he kept all the money in the bank under my name.

As for Madison, Dad only paid for her child support. He didn't get back together with her mother, Lucy Locke. That was why Madison hated me so much and did everything she could to snatch Samuel away.

I laughed. It turned out that Madison approached me back then not to befriend me, but to seek revenge on me. Snatching Samuel away was only her first step.