Chapter 1

Harrison Steele was dead.

Before the funeral, his wife, Scarlett Yeager, went through his belongings and found a thick photo album. The cover read, "My Love."

She flipped it open, but the memories captured inside didn't belong to her. Instead, they were all of Hazel Sloane, the young woman Harrison had adopted years ago.

Scarlett had always believed Harrison saw Hazel as more than a guardian's affection for his ward. But every photo of Hazel in the album—whether she was laughing, sleeping, or in tears—was filled with an unmistakable tenderness, the kind shared between lovers.

Then, she saw a photo of Hazel in a wedding dress, with a handwritten line beneath it.

"If I can't marry the love of my life, I may as well settle for anyone."

Scarlett's face turned pale as she took in the secrets Harrison had kept for years.

20 years of marriage, and in the end, all she had been to him was someone to settle for.

The funeral began soon after. People around her whispered their condolences.

"Try not to dwell on it. He's gone now. Just take the inheritance and live well."

"Yeah. Even though Harrison's company is in trouble with that drug lawsuit, he had more than enough assets. You won't have to worry about money."

But as soon as they said that, a lawyer stepped forward and said, "Mr. Steele left a will. He decided to leave all his assets, including real estate and investments, to Ms. Hazel Sloane."

Gasps filled the room. Then, suddenly, someone burst in.

"If all his money went to her, then who the hell is paying our medical compensation?"

It was the family members of those harmed by Harrison's faulty drug. Their eyes landed on Scarlett, and rage twisted their faces.

"That's his wife! If we can't get our money, then she can pay for it with her life!"

As they rushed forward, a sharp dagger plunged into Scarlett's chest.

Scarlett collapsed. The last thing she saw was Harrison's cold, indifferent gaze in the black-and-white photograph.

As her eyes shut, one final thought echoed in her mind, "If I had another chance, I would never marry you again, Harrison."

…

When Scarlett opened her eyes, she was lying in a disheveled bed. Before she could process anything, a cold voice rang in her ears, "I already called my parents. The wedding is in five days. Happy now, Scarlett?"

She looked up and saw Harrison. This Harrison was not the man in his 50s who had died. He was a younger version—early 30s, still in his prime.

Realization hit her like a tidal wave. She had gone back in time—back to the days before their wedding.

Their marriage had been arranged since childhood, but Harrison had never liked her. He delayed the engagement for years, turning her into the laughingstock of Dornwich.

Then, one night, Harrison got drunk. Scarlett happened to be there, and in a moment of chaos, they ended up in bed together. Harrison was convinced she had set him up. He resented her for it but felt obligated to go through with the marriage.

After they got married, he was cold and distant. But Scarlett had loved him with everything she had.

When his company was struggling, she gave him her entire family fortune. Harrison hated seeing her go out, so she quit her job and stayed home. He liked peace and quiet, so she never dared to walk too loudly at home.

She had spent over a decade treading carefully, only to earn a few rare smiles from him. And even those were fleeting.

She had thought he was just naturally distant. But now, she knew the truth. He had never been cold. He had simply given all his love to someone else.

Pain crawled through her chest like ants biting into her heart. But Scarlett forced herself to snap out of it. She looked up at the man before her.

"You don't have to take responsibility," she said calmly. "Let's call off the engagement."

She wasn't about to waste another lifetime on a man who didn't love her.

Harrison let out a short, mocking laugh. "Trying to play hard to get now?"

Scarlett froze.

Right. She remembered how madly she had loved Harrison in her youth. More than once, she had threatened to break off the engagement in a fit of anger, only to be persuaded back by his parents.

That was why Harrison had never believed she would actually leave him.

"I mean it this time," she started, but Harrison just turned and walked away.

Same as before. He never listened to a word she said.

Scarlett sighed.

Never mind. Since she wanted to break off the engagement, all she had to do was tell the Steele family directly. There was something far more important to do first.

Scarlett picked up her phone and dialed a number.

"Mr. Houghton, is there still a chance for me to apply for Project Aether?"

Her teacher, Dylan Houghton, sounded thrilled on the other end of the line.

"Of course! You were personally requested for it. But Scarlett, as I told you before, this is a top-secret program. If you join, you'll have to stay at Nebula Aerospace Base for ten years. You also can't contact the outside world. Are you sure?"

Scarlett majored in aerospace engineering in college, excelling in her studies. Her graduate research focused on technology that was in high demand by the nation.

Right after graduation, she had received an offer to join the nation's aerospace program.

It had been her dream. But in her previous life, Harrison had proposed. After much hesitation, she gave up her dream to become his wife.

This time, she would live for herself.

"I'm sure," Scarlett said.

Dylan sounded thrilled. "Great! But the project starts soon. You'll need to leave in five days. Say your goodbyes to your family while you can."

Chapter 2

Scarlett had no family to say goodbye to. Her parents had died when she was 15 years old, leaving her as the sole member of the Yeager family.

She called Harrison's parents and formally asked to call off the engagement. After hanging up, she headed to the auction house.

Scarlett's mother, Livia Kane, had been a renowned ceramic artist. After Livia's passing, Scarlett had spent years collecting her works, cherishing them as mementos.

One of the pieces, titled "Love", was created by Livia while she was pregnant with Scarlett. Scarlett had spent years searching for it.

Fate seemed to be on her side. Just before she was set to leave for Nebula Research Center, she finally found "Love" up for auction.

Arriving at the venue, she was surprised to see Harrison and Hazel there as well.

Harrison's gaze turned cold the moment he spotted her. "Scarlett, haven't you had enough?"

Scarlett blinked. "What?"

His irritation deepened. "You called my parents to break off the engagement just because you weren't happy with how rushed the wedding was, right? I've increased the wedding budget tenfold. Are you happy now?"

Scarlett realized he still didn't believe she was serious about calling off the engagement.

"You misunderstood. I really—"

"Enough," Harrison interrupted. "Quit playing games, Scarlett."

Looking at the icy expression on his face, Scarlett lost the desire to argue.

Forget it. In four days, when the wedding happened without a bride, he'd finally believe her.

The auction began.

Harrison turned to Hazel and asked gently, "Hazel, your birthday is coming up. Tell me what you want. I'll get you anything."

Hazel fidgeted with the hem of her dress and shook her head. "Uncle Harry, you've already done so much for me by raising me. Everything here is too expensive. I don't deserve any of it."

"Don't say that." Harrison frowned. "You deserve the best."

Hazel's father had been one of Harrison's employees. 12 years ago, he died saving Harrison, so the latter adopted Hazel and had her call him Uncle Harry.

Back then, Hazel had been a ten-year-old girl, and Harrison was 21 years old. 12 years had passed, and that timid little girl had grown into a strikingly beautiful young woman.

Watching the tenderness in Harrison's expression as he gazed at Hazel, Scarlett suddenly realized just how blind she'd been in her past life. How had she never noticed his feelings for Hazel before?

At that moment, the auctioneer's voice rang out, "Next up is a renowned porcelain piece, 'Love'!"

The sculpture was placed on display. It was a porcelain-white depiction of a mother elephant embracing her calf.

Hazel lifted her head instantly.

Harrison noticed. "You like this?"

Hazel's cheeks flushed. "Yeah. It reminds me of my late mother."

At the same moment, Scarlett raised her paddle. "Ten million dollars."

She offered double the market value without hesitation. No matter what, she had to reclaim Livia's work.

But to her surprise, Harrison raised his bidding paddle as well. "15 million dollars."

Scarlett snapped her head around to look at him.

His expression remained indifferent. "Hazel likes it."

Anger flashed in her eyes. "That is my mom's piece!"

Harrison froze, only then noticing the artist's name.

His hand holding the paddle instinctively lowered, but Hazel suddenly choked up and said, "It's okay, Uncle Harry. I'm not worthy of something so beautiful anyway."

Harrison looked at her tear-filled eyes and felt a sharp pang in his chest. Without a second thought, he turned to a staff member.

"I'm bidding on blank checks. I'm taking that piece home, no matter what."

Chapter 3

Bidding on blank checks meant that no matter how high the price went, Harrison would outbid it by another million dollars. He was determined to win "Love" at any cost.

Scarlett's face went pale.

"Harrison." Her voice trembled as she spoke. "Do you really have to do this? I've never asked you for anything before. But please, I'm begging you this time. Let me have my mom's piece."

Livia had told her about this porcelain sculpture so many times. It was the one thing Scarlett had spent years trying to get back.

But Harrison's expression remained indifferent. "Sorry. Hazel likes it."

Scarlett's hand slowly dropped.

Even though she had inherited a fortune from her parents, she couldn't outbid Harrison's wealth. In the end, "Love" was placed in Hazel's hands.

"Thank you, Uncle Harry! I love it so much!" Hazel beamed as she accepted the sculpture, only for it to slip from her grasp.

The porcelain hit the floor with a sharp clatter, shattering into pieces. Livia's most cherished piece was gone just like that.

Scarlett picked up the broken shards with red-rimmed eyes, carefully carrying them home. She sat down and began piecing them back together.

She had barely formed the outline when a maid approached her. "Ms. Yeager, Ms. Sloane is here. She's kneeling at the gate, begging for your forgiveness. She said she won't get up unless you go out and tell her personally that you forgive her."

Scarlett didn't even look up. "I don't want to see her."

After a while, heavy rain poured from the sky.

Harrison stormed into Yeager Manor, his expression thunderous. "Scarlett Yeager! Don't you think you're taking this too far?"

The man who was always composed now burned with anger.

"Hazel has been kneeling out there for an hour! All you have to do is step outside and tell her you forgive her. Is that so hard?"

Scarlett's hands, carefully positioning the fragments, finally stilled.

"She chose to kneel," she said coldly. "She destroyed my mom's piece. Why should I forgive her?"

"You—"

Harrison was furious. But before he could lash out, his assistant, Patrick Hampton, rushed in.

"Mr. Steele! Ms. Sloane just fainted!"

"What?"

Harrison's expression darkened completely. When he looked up and saw Scarlett still calmly piecing the fragments together, his anger boiled over. With a fierce sweep of his hand, he sent the nearly reconstructed porcelain crashing to the floor.

"Scarlett, you're heartless!"

After saying that, he stormed out without looking back and scooped Hazel into his arms from the pouring rain.

As Scarlett stared at the wreckage on the floor, the tears she had been holding back finally fell.

Heartless? She had chased after him for years, hoping for just a sliver of his attention. And what had she gotten in return?

A tragic death in her last life and cruelty in this one.

Who, exactly, was the heartless one?

Scarlett wiped her tears and bent down to collect what little remained of Livia's piece.

"Harrison, I won't love you anymore. Not even a little," she thought.

Determined to sever all ties, Scarlett packed every gift Harrison had ever given her and sent them back to the Steele residence.

Not that those gifts had ever truly been from him. Each time, it had been his parents forcing him to send something, and he had Patrick buy them on his behalf.

The only exception was the Steele family's heirloom emerald pendant. It was too valuable to simply mail back. Scarlett decided to return it to Harrison in person.

But when she arrived outside Hazel's ward, she unexpectedly heard Hazel's voice.

"Uncle Harry, please don't be so good to me. I'm afraid I'll get too used to it. When you get married, I won't know how to handle it."

Through the glass on the door, Scarlett saw Harrison's expression soften with affection. He reached out instinctively, as if about to pull Hazel into his arms.

But he stopped himself. Instead, his hand landed gently on her head. His gaze was filled with suppressed emotion.

"Don't be silly. Even after I'm married, I'll always take care of you."

Hazel's eyes lit up.

But Harrison continued, "I told you. You can think of me as your real uncle. I'll look after you for life."

Disappointment flickered in Hazel's eyes as she lowered her head.

"Oh, just an uncle," she murmured. "But Uncle Harry, once you have children of your own, what will I be to you, then?"

"That won't happen." Harrison's response was immediate.

"I will never have children with Scarlett."

Hazel froze. "Why?"

Harrison looked at her, something unreadable in his gaze. "I've already arranged for long-term birth control. After Scarlett and I marry, she'll take it daily. We won't have children.

"Hazel, I'll always be your uncle. And one day, everything I have will be yours. So, don't worry, alright?"

Chapter 4

"Uncle Harry..." Hazel's eyes brimmed with tears as she threw herself into Harrison's arms.

At the doorway, Scarlett stood frozen, her face drained of color.

She remembered that in her past life, Harrison had given her a special brand of vitamins, claiming they were tailored just for her. She had been so touched by his thoughtfulness that she took them religiously, day after day, without a second thought.

Years passed, yet she never conceived. When they finally sought medical advice, the tests showed that Scarlett had hormonal issues.

Desperate for a child, she endured round after round of ovulation shots. Her stomach became a battlefield of bruises, and her body swelled from the hormone injections.

But no matter what she did, she never got pregnant.

Her doctor had questioned whether something in her diet or supplements was interfering with the treatment, but Scarlett never suspected the so-called vitamins Harrison had given her.

Now, the truth slammed into her like a freight train. Her knees buckled slightly, and she staggered back a step.

How could Harrison be so cruel?

Just then, Harrison's bodyguard happened to walk over and was startled to see her standing at the door. "Ms. Yeager?"

Scarlett shoved the emerald pendant into his hands. "Give this to Harrison."

Without waiting for a reply, she turned and walked away.

…

It was Scarlett's birthday. Since she was leaving soon, she made a rare exception and hosted a grand birthday party, inviting all her friends, despite never being one for lively gatherings.

She just hadn't expected Harrison to show up with Hazel in tow.

"Your present." Harrison's voice was cool as he tossed a small box her way.

Scarlett glanced down. It was a diamond ring. Just like in her past life.

How ridiculous! Harrison treated a ring others used for proposals as a birthday gift. It was as if to remind her that this marriage was nothing but an act of charity.

It was laughable how, in her past life, Scarlett had been completely oblivious. She was even moved to tears by this ring.

This time, she handed it back without hesitation.

"Didn't you get what I had your bodyguard deliver to you last time?"

If he had seen the heirloom emerald pendant she had returned, he should have understood that she had no intention of marrying him.

Harrison frowned. "I didn't open it. I already told you. I don't need gifts. You don't have to give me anything."

Scarlett blinked before realization set in. He must have assumed the bag was just another one of her gifts and hadn't even bothered to look inside.

Scarlett remembered that in her past life, while sorting through Harrison's belongings, she had found a storage room in the basement filled with dust-covered boxes.

They were all the gifts she had given him.

There was the necklace she had hand-carved for his 25th birthday after a week of painstaking effort, the blessed charm she had prayed for three days to obtain when he fell seriously ill at 33 years old, and the custom-made incense she made herself when he started suffering from migraines at 40 years old.

All those gifts she had painstakingly prepared had been carelessly tossed into the storage room, never even opened.

And yet, Hazel's paper stars, her cheap neckties, and even her little notes had all been carefully stored away in his safe.

Scarlett's lips curled in a mocking smile, but she didn't bother explaining. Instead, she turned to greet her guests.

Halfway through the party, Hazel suddenly collapsed against Harrison. "Uncle Harry, my head feels so dizzy."

Harrison's expression darkened instantly. "Did you eat something bad? Are you sick? I'll take you to the hospital."

Without hesitation, he swept Hazel up in his arms and strode toward the exit.

Scarlett frowned. As the host of the party, she couldn't ignore the situation. If something happened to Hazel, the responsibility would fall on her.

She didn't want any unnecessary trouble before leaving, so she followed them out.

But as she approached Harrison's sleek black Bentley, Hazel's soft moan reached her ears.

"Uncle Harry… I feel so hot… Something feels off down there…"

Chapter 5

Scarlett's hand, poised to knock on the car door, froze midair. If even she could tell what was going on, there was no way Harrison couldn't.

She heard the urgency in his voice.

"Hazel, you've been drugged. I'm taking you to the hospital right now!"

But Hazel clung to him, her voice breaking into desperate sobs. "It's too late… Uncle Harry, I can't take it… Please help me… I just want you…"

Her sweet, tearful voice hit every raw nerve in Harrison's body.

Harrison had been holding himself back with every ounce of restraint he had. But now, hearing her breathless plea, the dam finally broke.

Like a beast unleashed, he shoved her down.

Scarlett stood there, staring as the car rocked violently. She listened as Hazel's cries turned to breathless moans, then to pleading, and finally to soft whimpers.

And Harrison hadn't even stopped.

Scarlett's lips curled into a faint, weary smile.

In her past life, she had been married to Harrison for 20 years, yet she could count on one hand the number of times they'd been intimate.

Even then, by the time they settled into a routine—once a month—it was only because she had begged for it as a birthday gift when she turned 35 years old.

Back then, she had convinced herself that Harrison simply had no interest in such things. But now, listening to what was happening inside that car, she understood.

It wasn't that he had no interest. He just had no interest in her.

Scarlett turned away.

Maybe this was for the best. This time around, everyone was finally getting what they truly wanted.

…

She returned to the party. Two hours later, as the event wound down, it was time for her to give a speech.

She went upstairs to the dressing room, poured herself a glass of juice, and was about to freshen up her makeup when a sudden heat surged through her lower abdomen.

Something was wrong. She opened her mouth to call for help. But before she could, a cold voice came from the doorway, "How does it feel, Scarlett? Not so fun being the one who's been drugged, is it?"