03 - The First Blow of Retaliation

The scent of leather seats filled the quiet cabin of the luxury sedan. Leaning back in the rear passenger seat, Xander stared intently at his phone screen as he pressed the call button.

"Luke, track Irish Ryder's position right now," Xander ordered as soon as the call went through. "I need her location in five minutes."

"Understood, Mr. Xander. I'll check the signal right away —"

Brak!

A violent jolt suddenly slammed into the rear side of the car. Xander was thrown forward, his phone slipping from his grip and clattering onto the cabin floor.

"Sir! Are you alright?!" Xander's personal driver yelled in panic while trying to stabilize the steering wheel.

Xander's expression instantly turned ice-cold, his breath coming out ragged as he suppressed his burning anger. "Who drives like a lunatic in broad daylight?"

"I'll step out to check, Sir. Please wait inside," the driver said anxiously, quickly opening his door and stepping out to inspect the damage.

Meanwhile, inside the sports car with its front end completely wrecked, Irish groaned in pain. Her head and body rested limply against the scorching steering wheel.

"Ugh, what terrible luck!" Irish muttered, clutching her throbbing forehead.

A trickling line of warm liquid ran down her face. When her fingers brushed against her forehead, a deep shade of crimson stained her fingertips. Blood.

"I literally just woke up from dying, am I really about to die again in a car crash?" Irish grumbled to herself in sheer annoyance.

Tok! Tok! Tok!

A sharp knock on the car window snapped Irish out of it. A man in a driver's uniform stood outside with a furious look on his face. Taking a deep breath, Irish wiped the blood off her forehead with a tissue, then pushed her car door open and stepped out.

"Miss! How on earth are you driving?!" the driver snapped right away. "Didn't you see a car passing on the main road? The rear of my boss's car is badly smashed!"

The driver's voice sounded oddly familiar to Irish, triggering a faint memory in her mind. But Irish chose to brush it off and focused on assessing the damage instead.

"I'm so sorry. I wasn't paying attention," Irish replied quickly, trying her best to stay calm. "I'll take full responsibility for all the repair costs."

Irish pulled her phone out of her bag and dialed her emergency contact number. "I'm calling my insurance company right now. Their team can come over and handle all the compensation."

As she held the phone to her ear, Irish's eyes accidentally caught the license plate of the luxury sedan, which started with the initials 'XW'.

Wait. This license plate? Isn't this car...

"Are you planning to run away through an insurance company, Miss Ryder?"

A deep, cold baritone voice sliced through Irish's words. The rear door of the luxury sedan pushed open, revealing a tall, imposing figure stepping out with a dense aura of intimidation.

Irish froze. The scene unfolding right in front of her suddenly felt like a wave of déjà vu hitting her chest without mercy.

Flashbacks from her past life came rushing into her head. In her first life, when she collapsed at the party at the Sterling estate, not a single person from the Ryder family or Axel cared. Only Xander — the man who was supposed to be her husband's biggest business rival — carried her in his arms and rushed her to the hospital.

When Irish was semi-conscious in the hospital ward back then, she faintly remembered Xander's trembling voice near her ear.

'Don't let them destroy you, Irish. Please hang in there.'

"Miss Ryder? Is your mind wandering so far that you can't hear me?" Xander mocked with a sharp snicker. "Or is crashing into someone's car just Mr. Axel's new way of greeting his business rivals?"

That cold sarcasm snapped Irish back to reality.

Irish remembered it all over again. In her past life, because Xander and Axel were business enemies who hated each other, Irish — who was Axel's fiancée and later his wife — never had a good relationship with Xander. The man in front of her was always cold, aloof, and openly hostile whenever they bumped into each other at business forums.

Yet, staring at Xander's sharp, defined face standing right in front of her, seeing those fierce eyes that had once secretly worried for her in her final moments of life, Irish's emotional defense crumbled completely.

Tears she had been holding back suddenly spilled down her bruised cheeks.

Xander raised an eyebrow, furrowing his brow in total confusion at the sudden change in her expression.

"Why are you crying? I haven't even demanded any damages from you."

Irish stared at Xander without blinking. Her tears fell even faster, washing over the wound on her forehead, completely unbothered.

"Xander," Irish whispered with a shaking voice, packed with deep, overwhelming longing. "It's so good... so good to see you again in this life."

Before Xander could process the bizarre meaning behind those words, Irish stepped forward quickly and wrapped both arms tight around his waist. Irish pressed her head firmly against his chest, holding him so tight as if she was terrified he might just be an illusion.

Xander's body froze dead in his tracks.

His personal driver standing nearby gasped, his eyes wide and mouth agape, completely shocked to see the fiancée of his boss's arch-enemy suddenly hugging his boss in the middle of the street.

...

The atmosphere in that quiet corner of the cafe was intensely awkward. The subtle aroma of black coffee drifted above the wooden table, yet neither of them touched the cups sitting before them. Irish kept her head down, cursing her own stupidity for suddenly throwing her arms around Xander back on the street.

So stupid, Irish! Why did you lose your mind and hug him like that? He definitely thinks you've lost your mind.

Inside her head, an intense internal debate raged on. Old questions that were never answered in her past life spun wildly.

Did Xander actually like her back then? Or was his concern in the past merely basic human pity for someone who was falling apart?

Xander cleared his throat softly, breaking the awkward silence enveloping their table.

"Won't Mr. Axel be furious if he finds out and sees Miss Irish spending time with me, considering I'm his main rival?" Xander asked in a flat yet probing tone.

At the mere mention of Axel's name, Irish's expression instantly turned sour. Her brows knitted in irritation and her lips pouted into a bitter scowl.

"Don't you dare mention that bastard's name in front of me!" Irish snapped bitterly, letting out her disgust without holding back.

Xander was stunned for a moment before a low chuckle escaped his lips. He looked at Irish with an amused, disbelieving gaze.

"I suggest you go see a doctor for a checkup, Miss Irish," Xander said through his subtle laugh. "Maybe after that accident earlier when your head hit the steering wheel, your brain got turned upside down a bit."

Irish let out a dry huff, opting to turn her face toward the window. "What do you mean?"

"How could it not be?" Xander continued, genuinely puzzled. "The famous Miss Irish, known as Axel Sterling's number one worshiper her entire life, is suddenly sitting here talking trash about the guy right in front of me."

Irish went quiet, feeling utterly embarrassed. She knew all too well how foolish and pathetic she had been in her past life, chasing after an ungrateful jerk like Axel until she threw her own dignity away.

However, amidst her embarrassment, Irish's memories suddenly leaped to a future flashback. If she calculated correctly from this timeline, Xander's financial state was about to plummet due to the dark faction's schemes, and within the next three months, Uncle Charlee would be framed and dragged away by the police.

No. I won't let Axel's side or my own family profit off this.

Even though Irish didn't know the exact high-level political schemes that brought Xander's uncle down in her past life, in this life, she was determined to protect Xander and Mr. Charlee at all costs. Because the enemy of her enemy is her friend.

Irish took a deep breath, locking her eyes onto Xander's with absolute seriousness. The casual, sarcastic banter instantly shifted into a heavy business proposal.

"I know you need help right now to solve the crisis at Uncle Charlee's company, Mr. Xander," Irish opened in a firm, unwavering voice. "I can help you solve it. But under one condition."

Xander's brow furrowed sharply. "What condition are you offering, Miss?"

"We swap brides," Irish answered calmly.

Xander was completely caught off guard, to the point that the water he had just taken a sip of burst straight out of his mouth. He coughed softly, staring at Irish with eyes wide in sheer disbelief.

"Swap... brides? What on earth do you mean, Irish?" Xander asked with a choked voice.

"I know you don't want to marry my step-sister, Chloe, even though you're both being forced into it by a family arrangement," Irish explained without blinking. "And I feel the exact same way — I refuse to be the foolish woman tied to Axel any longer. So to keep that ridiculous marriage arrangement going according to our parents' wishes, how about you marry me instead, Mr. Xander?"

Xander was dumbfounded, completely speechless at the craziest offer he had ever heard in his entire life.

"Well, Mr. Xander? My offer is far more profitable than getting trapped with a manipulative girl like Chloe," Irish pressed on, her eyes locked onto his with an intense glare.