Chapter 1

"Do you think you're so great just because you're rich? I might've been kicked out of the Jensen family, but I haven't fallen so low that I'd let you use money to humiliate me!"

Lorraine Jensen was burning with anger, her chin tilted high. The icy hostility was evident on her gorgeous face.

I was stunned, and so were her other friends, who were standing around us.

"Lori! Why are you talking to Cyrus like that? Aren't you two in love? Why would you suddenly say such things to him?"

"If I'm not mistaken, Cyrus spent 30 million dollars at an auction to get that sapphire necklace. How can you scoff at his sincerity like that?"

Lorraine snorted. Digging her heel into the necklace, she crushed it under her foot, like it were a piece of trash on the street.

"Love, you say? Hah! He just wants to humiliate me!" she declared.

"Listen up, Cyrus Lloyd. I've had enough of your haughtiness. Every single time you give me one of these expensive things, all you can think about is how you want to get me in bed, right?

"You treat me as nothing more than a toy for you to play with. I wouldn't dream of holding on to a love like that."

Lorraine's voice rang in my ears, like a curse I couldn't shake off. As I looked around at the familiar faces, including Lorraine's still-youthful face, I finally confirmed that I'd been reborn.

I'd gone back in time, to the day I first attempted to show my support for Lorraine.

But in my previous life, when I'd given her this same sapphire necklace, she'd been so moved she'd thrown herself into my arms, tearfully expressing her love for me.

Yet this time, her face was twisted with disgust… and I saw hatred in her eyes.

Could it be that she had been reborn as well?

Lorraine picked up the necklace she'd just destroyed and hurled it at my face, shrieking, "Take this back and get out of my sight, Cyrus! I don't need your pity. I, Lorraine Jensen, can make a place for myself in this world!"

The necklace hit me in the face so hard that it hurt. Everyone around us gasped.

"Lori! Have you lost your mind? Cyrus isn't known for having a good temper. If you piss him off, you won't be able to stay in Jannington any longer!"

"Hurry up and apologize to him! No matter how much he dotes on you, you can't take it for granted like that."

In my previous life, after Lorraine was cast out of the Jensen family, she became the laughingstock of Jannington. All of her so-called friends joined in to kick her while she was down.

I was the one who lavished all of my love and affection on her. For her sake, I rejected the marriage alliance between my family, the Lloyds, and the Jensens. I'd refused to marry their long-lost biological daughter, Lyra Jensen.

It was I who invested all of my money and resources into making Lorraine the CEO of her own company.

But once she'd made it in life, the first thing she did was destroy my family and ruin my life.

When I demanded to know why, she nestled in the arms of Evan Scott, her assistant, and said with a cruel smile, "I've had enough of you acting all high and mighty in front of me, Cyrus. Your so-called attempt to support me was just you using your money to humiliate me!

"To me, your money is worth less than a bowl of soup Evan makes for me. Now that our roles have been reversed, I'm going to make you suffer the same amount of humiliation you've put me through in all these years, and then some!"

Evan broke all four of my limbs and threw me out of the house. I was forced to become a beggar, and till my dying breath, I was consumed with resentment.

…

"Why should I apologize?" Lorraine continued to rant. "Please, Cyrus, I'm begging you to stop showing up in front of me. I don't want to put up with any more of your humiliation!"

Snapping out of my thoughts, I picked up the sapphire necklace and smiled faintly.

"So be it, then."

I was curious to see what Lorraine's life would be like this time around, without my help.

As she looked on in shock, I tossed the necklace into the nearest trash can and left without any hesitation.