Chapter 1

Celeste's Point-of-View

Justin Gunter pinned Ruby Lister against the reef, making love as if they were entirely alone. Ruby's moans came in waves, each louder than the last.

They were still the scumbag and slut who had no shame whatsoever, just like in my past life.

It was then that Justin's mother, Diana Harrison, dropped to her knees before me and begged. "I'm begging you, Ms. Merrow! Justin is my one and only son! You have to save him! If this disease of his can't be cured, his whole life will be ruined, Ms. Merrow!"

It could be said that the Gunter family had consulted numerous leading specialists to treat Justin's cutaneous desiccation disorder, but no one had been able to cure him, which ultimately led them to seek me out.

Justin suddenly came rushing toward me before I could even say anything, radiating a chilling presence. Ruby followed him, her face still bearing a lingering flush.

"You don't have to beg her, Mom! She's nothing but a fraud!" Justin barked as he pulled Diana to her feet and glared at me. "There's nothing seriously wrong with me. She made it all up! She just wants to get her hands on the Gunter family's fortune and force me to marry her!"

Justin never showed up at this moment in my past life, so there was only one possible explanation—he had also been reborn.

I thought of the agonizing pain from my past life, where my fish tail was sliced off and my backbone was snapped, making my breathing tremble instantly.

I lifted my gaze toward Justin, whose skin was so severely dried and cracked that blood was seeping out, and said, "You're absolutely right—there's no such thing as cutaneous desiccation disorder. You're merely suffering from an ordinary skin condition."

I then glanced at Ruby, who was standing behind him, and added, "You two look like a perfect match to me, so there's no need for you to waste your time on a fraud like me."

Upon hearing that, Diana shot a fierce glare at Ruby.

Justin didn't realize that his first love was completely at odds with her pure, innocent outward appearance. Ruby contracted some sort of strange disease, clearly brought on by her promiscuity.

Justin, however, trusted Ruby implicitly. He laid the blame for her sickness on me and used my life to make up for what he owed Ruby.

I was quite fortunate to be given a second chance at life, so I no longer wished to be bound to him in even the slightest way.

Upon noticing my cold and detached expression, Justin suddenly grabbed my wrist and asked, "What are you up to now, Celeste? I'm warning you—even without your so-called tricks, I can live perfectly fine. I will only love Ruby in this life, so you'd better not think you can deceive me again with your lies!"

I had ventured into the deep sea in search of rare treasures in my past life, just so he could live a normal life. He never knew how I treated him, though. He believed Ruby's claims when she caught a bizarre disease and ordered a doctor to slice open my fish tail to cure her.

Ruby's condition never improved, so he concluded that the idea of mermaids being able to cure cutaneous desiccation disorder was completely fraudulent.

He was convinced that all I wanted was to marry him and get my hands on his family fortune, so he ordered his men to snap my spine and lock me in a dry glass tank, leaving me to die in agonizing pain.

Justin's skin was already dull and bore a grayish-white hue at that moment, a clear indication that he was completely spent and at the end of his rope.

"Your business with Ruby has nothing to do with me," I stated flatly. I no longer had any desire to meddle in his disease or his relationship with Ruby.

Upon seeing how indifferent I was, Justin furrowed his brow. "Didn't you claim you'd sacrifice your own tail for my sake? How can you willingly give up your place as my wife to Ruby?"