Chapter 1

"You're shameless, Denise Ashford! You've stolen 20 years of my life! I'm going to teach you a lesson you'll never forget!" Candace Ashford yelled in my face.

She then gave the two thugs next to her a look. They immediately came up to me and started tearing away my clothes.

Candace grinned smugly when she saw the shocked look on my face. She kicked the phone to my feet and said, "You're not getting out of this place alive today. But, I'll be kind and let you say your last words to someone."

I looked up and saw her staring straight at me. Her beautiful eyes were laced with pure malice.

I knew for sure that she wanted me to call my fiance, Liam Hilton, before I died. That way, I would be thoroughly humiliated by him again just before my last breath. After all, that was exactly what happened in my previous life.

But this time, I called my elder brother, Dexter Ashford, without hesitation.

I never thought that the one offhanded remark Dexter made while sponsoring welfare students would cause such a huge, ridiculous misunderstanding on Candace's part.

I had tried explaining to her many times in the past, but Candace was firm in the belief that she was the true heiress of the Ashford family.

Even Liam, who was supposed to be my fiance, had believed her lies.

If only Dexter knew that Liam had been treating me like this, he would have already used different ways to skin Liam alive without me having to lift a finger.

However, when the call finally went through, I only managed to shout, "Dexter, Cloudview Bay, Easternia! Save me!"

Right after that, Candace snatched the phone and smashed it against the ground.

"You didn't call Liam?" She stared at me in disbelief. However, her expression then turned into that of contempt as she smiled at me. "Even if you called your precious brother, he wouldn't want to save a phony like you!"

She then ordered the thugs, "Alright, chop chop. Tie her up and throw her in the river, then clean up the place. Make it look like she jumped."

I knew that Dexter would rush over as quickly as he could, but I still couldn't stop myself from panicking. I quickly thought up something to stall for time.

"Let me go! You're committing a crime here! I've already called for help. If anything happens to me, none of you will get away with it! Aren't you afraid of that?"

The thugs didn't care at all.

I watched as they came closer and closer to me. Suddenly, a familiar figure appeared in the distance.

He rushed over and kicked one of the thugs to the ground, quickly wrapping his arms protectively around me.

"Don't be afraid, Denise. I'm here."

Tears filled my eyes when I heard Jonah Hilton's voice. He was technically Liam's uncle, even though he was only three years older than Liam.

I never really interacted with him much. However, he still protected me in my past life, just like what he was doing now.

When I'd been shoved into the river, he also kept his arms tightly wound around me, trying his best to bring me to shore. Unfortunately, we ended up drowning instead.

Since I had been miraculously given another chance at life, I decided that I was going to protect Jonah this time.

I looked at his pale, sickly face and felt immensely sorry for him.

"I can handle this on my own, Jonah. Leave while you still can!"