Chapter 2

To save our own skins, the four of us wasted no time and immediately took a cab to the hotel where Celeste had hosted her banquet.

Roger, who was most skilled at playing the pitiful underdog, spun a convincingly tragic story. Thanks to that, we managed to secure us permission to view the surveillance footage.

The footage showed us seated at a table in the far corner at the start of the banquet. It was a placement reflecting our diminished status after the death of our matriarch and my mother, Courtney Braun.

"That innermost corner really did have just our table," Edgar said with a frown.

Years of rivalry among the four of us had created such a tense atmosphere that it left no space for anyone else. As a result, that table remained ours alone. In fact, even the Brauns' extended relatives kept their distance.

George looked puzzled. "And there really were just the four of us there."

That was when Celeste made her grand entrance. She strode down the red carpet with an air of confidence, yet she paused as she passed us.

She then turned directly toward our table and flashed an extraordinarily doting smile. Then, she leaned in to whisper something to Donny.

As we watched the smile on her face, we couldn't help but feel an inexplicable sense of dread.

"It looks like her true love really is one of us," I murmured blankly.

The four of us exchanged glances, each seeing fear reflected in the others' eyes.

If it weren't for the fact that we all retained memories of our previous lives, this situation would have been impossible to explain.

Roger shuddered. "If it really is one of us, then why did she kill us so brutally?"

I took a deep breath and suddenly thought of the only possible way out of this.

With unwavering resolve, I looked at them and declared, "I might have to go to Celeste's place. Wait for my news."

Under the admiring and grateful gazes of the three of them, I set off for Celeste's residence.

Little did they know, I was the one who found the situation most baffling so far.

Because Celeste and I were, to this day, still maintaining a secret romance. Not to mention, she was the one who had pursued me.

Following the discreet side entrance we often used for our private meetings, I easily slipped into Celeste's room.

She was stunned for a second when she saw me, but her expression soon returned to normal.

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming?"

The gentle woman before me overlapped with the madwoman who had stabbed me to death in my previous life.

Suppressing my fear, I stepped closer and asked, "Am I the one you want to marry?"

Celeste paused, a strange flicker of unease passing through her eyes. "We've been together for so long," she said. "Shouldn't you know me by now? The reason I had Donny deliver the ring to your house was, of course, for my one true love."

I pulled her into my arms with a smile. She settled onto my lap, her posture intimate and familiar.

Even so, I was sharp enough to catch a crucial flaw in her words.

She said she went to my house for her true love, but she still hadn't said that true love was me.

Digging my nails into my palm, I asked with a smile, "Then who is your true love?"

Celeste suddenly fell silent and gave me a once-over. "You should know. Did you really need to ask me that?"

I thought she would avoid the question again. Instead, she continued, "It's you, of course. As long as you want it to be you, it will be. Once we're married tomorrow, all my family's fortune will be yours."

I stared into her eyes and saw nothing but deep affection.

Ever since we started our secret relationship, she had treated me kindly.

I was slow and often bullied by Edgar and the other two. I didn't even hold shares in the family company. Yet, Celeste not only quietly had my back, but she also gave me many things that the Braun family could never hope to possess in this lifetime.

Also, despite being born with a silver spoon in her mouth, she'd still stoop to tie my shoelaces or step into the kitchen to cook for me.

I once believed that I would definitely be the one to marry her. But then again, I had also witnessed firsthand her descent into madness and obsession.

"You're not him! What right do you have to take his place and marry me?" she had screamed as she plunged the knife into my heart. "You're just a Braun heir in name only. You're not even a real successor. What makes you worthy of being with me?

"You were nothing more than a fling to pass the time, and yet you had the audacity to try and replace him and marry me?"

Snapping back to reality, I saw Celeste lean in and place a kiss on my cheek.

I had to summon every ounce of willpower to stop myself from pushing her away, as it was this very gesture that led me to an incredibly wild yet plausible truth.

I looked at her in disbelief. "Your true love is—"