Chapter 1

It was 300 years ago, when the ancestor of the Sherwood family—Brindlebay's leading financial magnate—passed by the Infant Mourning Tower and carelessly remarked, "Girls are born burdens—their deaths are no great loss."

His foolish comment brought a generational curse upon every male descendant of the Sherwood family.

Winnie Lowe, my younger twin sister, and I were both blessed women.

In my past life, Mason Sherwood wanted to ask for Winnie's hand in marriage, but I uncovered the truth and did everything I could to stop him, resulting in him being forced to marry me in the end.

Winnie left a suicide note and threw herself off a cliff on the night of our wedding.

Mason harbored deep hatred toward me for it; on the seventh day of Winnie's bereavement period, he commanded his subordinates to suspend me from a helicopter, flying me in the manner of a kite.

I cried as I told him that I had saved him, begging him to spare me.

"Winnie was the one I wanted to marry, Hannah! She could have saved me even if you hadn't been around! Your interference killed her! Go to hell!" Mason's features twisted in rage as he cut the rope, causing me to plummet from the sky and be reduced to a bloody mass.

I opened my eyes and found that I had returned to the very day the Sherwood family came to seek a blessed woman for marriage. I wanted to see how Winnie would save Mason without her sacred grace.

…

"I want to marry her, Mom and Dad!" Mason pointed to Winnie, who approached gracefully in a white dress, all while shooting me a threatening glare.

I understood then that Mason had been reborn as well.

Winnie shyly brushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear and asked gently, "Who are they, Mom and Dad?"

Mom and Dad smiled warmly as they introduced Winnie to the members of the Sherwood family.

I let out a faint, derisive smile. Winnie had obviously been involved with Mason for a long time, so her act was completely unnecessary. I stood up to leave since I didn't want to watch their fake pleasantries any longer.

Mason watched me anxiously, his face twisting with disgust as he said, "You should drop the act and stop saying that nonsense about being the only one who can lift the curse by marrying me, Hannah. I'm never going to marry you, so you might as well give it a rest, you unsightly woman!"

Mason raised his voice even more after getting reprimanded by his parents. "Those so-called curses are absolute nonsense, Mom and Dad! It's already been 300 years, so I refuse to believe that it can still affect me!"

Matt Sherwood, Mason's father, grew furious and smacked Mason on the back of his head. "You don't know a damn thing, you fool!

"You ought to know that the men of the Sherwood family have only survived because every single one of us married a blessed woman! Your 25th birthday is next week—we can't put this off any longer!"

Layla Hall, Mason's mother, was on the verge of crying while saying, "Your father is right, Mason. You see, I am a blessed woman too, which is why your father took me as his wife.

"You ought to know that your father and I have been searching desperately for over two decades to find a blessed woman who matches your age. You can't just throw this away over a tantrum!"

Mason pointed stubbornly at Winnie, declaring, "I'll marry her, then! She's a blessed woman, too! There is absolutely no way I am marrying an ugly freak like Hannah, and if you force me to, I'll go kill myself right now!"

I scoffed, realizing that he had put on such a long show just to silence everyone and get exactly what he wanted.

In my past life, right after Mason announced his intention to marry Winnie, I completely ignored his choice, stood up, and declared gravely, "Mason can't marry Winnie, as she won't be able to save him! I'm the only one capable of doing that!"

Mason flew into a rage right then and there, insulting me by saying I was completely out of his league, while Mom and Dad were highly skeptical of my words as well due to their blatant favoritism toward Winnie.

Layla and Matt were the only ones who decided to force Mason to marry me after a brief discussion; after all, they preferred to play it safe with an unwanted marriage rather than allow any harm to come to Mason.

They had no idea that my blood tie to Winnie as her twin made me the only person capable of seeing her secret. Winnie might have been a blessed woman, but she was utterly unable to save Mason and would instead cause his downfall.

In my past life, after Winnie committed suicide, I intended to tell Mom and Dad the secret about her, but they refused to listen. They even condemned me as wicked, cutting all ties with me on the spot.