Chapter 3

I arrived at Hannah's place the following morning to the sounds of pipe organs echoing from the courtyard.

I looked into the courtyard and noticed Hannah sporting a stylish dress, her wrist adorned with the trendiest watch. She had a vibrant glow that made her unrecognizable from her usual dowdy appearance.

It was Hannah's engagement day, and on such a happy occasion, all the villagers with ties to her family showed up to offer their congratulations.

Those villagers were buzzing with curiosity, asking Hannah who she was engaged to. She merely replied with a mysterious smile, "It's not a big deal, really. You see, my fiance, like Natalie's, happens to be a colonel."

Hannah's declaration caused a commotion among the villagers, as in that day and age, marrying a colonel was a really big deal, the kind of thing that brought honor to one's entire family for generations.

"Oh, my! It seems like our village is blessed! Who would have thought that two women from our village would each marry a colonel?"

"Where's your fiance, Hannah? You should bring him out so that we can meet him already—we've all been waiting for ages now!"

They craned their necks and leaned forward to get a glimpse of Hannah's mysterious fiance as a wave of curiosity rippled through them.

Hannah remained silent, simply staring at me. She finally broke the silence as the crowd's impatience grew, exclaiming, "You can all stop with the guessing now—my fiance is Anthony Warner!"

Hannah's announcement sparked another uproar among the villagers. They were confused as to how Anthony, my fiance, had suddenly become Hannah's.

Just as everyone was puzzled, Hannah continued, "I know you're jealous of my family and educational background, but that's no excuse to destroy my love life with Anthony, Natalie!

"It's a horrible thing to interfere with a marriage, yet you shamelessly tried to seduce Anthony out of pure jealousy!"

Those present exchanged bewildered glances before turning to stare at me with puzzled expressions.

"Isn't Anthony engaged with Natalie? Why is Hannah claiming that Anthony is her fiance then?"

"I know, right? I mean, Anthony and Natalie have been dating for years now."

Upon noticing that everyone was speaking up for me, Hannah smugly held up her wrist to show off the shiny new watch. "Do you see this? It's my engagement gift from Anthony! I'll have you all know—I've known Anthony long before Natalie ever came along.

"You see, Natalie got jealous of me, so she shamelessly lured Anthony away from me. However, a few days ago, Anthony finally came to his senses and realized that I'm the only one he truly loves. That's why he ended things with Natalie and wanted to get engaged to me instead!"

I had been wondering where the watch, which was initially at my place, had gone. It turned out that Hannah had taken it.

I was just about to say something, but Hannah fixed me with a sharp glare and continued, "I held back before this because you're my cousin, but I'm done holding my tongue.

"You knew Anthony and I were in love, but you still seduced him and took him for yourself. You're truly a disgraceful homewrecker! You would've been thrown behind bars if you did this back in the olden days!"

Upon hearing Hannah's statement, the villagers immediately began to whisper among themselves.

"That timepiece is one of a kind! Anthony is probably the only person in the entire village who owns one."

"I know, right? I even heard Anthony mention a few days ago that he intended to buy a watch as an engagement gift."

I noticed the looks on many of their faces turn from confusion to judgment once that piece of evidence was presented.

"I had no idea that Natalie was this kind of person, going so far as to steal her cousin's fiance! How shameless!"

"I never would have thought that Natalie, who always looked so well-behaved, would do something so immoral and disgusting!"

It was just like in my past life, where Hannah's remarks had turned the tide in her favor. It probably never occurred to her that I had been reborn, though.

I merely stared at her smug expression and said, "Your empty words mean nothing, Hannah. Why don't you bring Anthony out here so that we can get to the bottom of this? I'd like to see if I really seduced him or if you're just making it up!"

Hannah scoffed in response. "You're still not admitting it even when the evidence is right here, huh? You won't believe me until I bring Anthony out here, right?

"I was trying to spare you the embarrassment since you're my cousin, but if you're so determined to humiliate yourself, then I have no choice but to bring Anthony out and prove you wrong!"

"That's exactly what I was hoping for," I said.

Hannah scoffed at my stubbornness. "I'll give you exactly what you've asked for then!"

She then turned and shouted toward the house. "Anthony! Anthony!"

I looked at Hannah, pretending to be concerned. "Are you even sure you can actually get Anthony to come out, Hannah?"

Hannah glared coldly at me before violently pushing me over. "I know what you're up to, Natalie! You're just jealous of my perfect fiance! You're just trying to stall so that you can steal him away from me!"

She then turned toward the house and started shouting again, "You have to come out here right now, Anthony! It's our big day, so we can't be late!"

It was then that a hefty figure with a white corsage on its body emerged from the house, proudly holding its head up.