Chapter 1

Shawn Yates died on the operating table, his eyes fixed on the lavish wedding being broadcast around the world.

On the television, Ethan Yates gently slipped a ring onto Wendy Stone’s finger, and the happy couple accepted everyone’s congratulations…

Now that fate had given him another chance at life, he refused to make a fool of himself again.

“Fine. I’ll go.”

He picked up the plane ticket. His voice was startlingly calm.

His parents stared at him in shock. They hadn’t expected him to agree so readily.

“Shawn, you’re really leaving? You’re not planning some other way to ruin your brother’s wedding, are you?”

Ruin it?

What a joke. Wendy was supposed to be with him.

His parents took her from him and handed her to his older brother.

More than twenty years ago, Ethan was diagnosed with leukemia. Their parents decided without hesitation to have another child, and Shawn was born.

His umbilical cord blood saved Ethan’s life.

From then on, Shawn lived in his brother’s shadow.

Ethan was sickly, so their parents gave him all their love and attention.

Shawn gave way to him throughout their childhood.

He gave up his room, his friends, even his place in a competition final…

There was only one person he refused to give up: Wendy Stone, the heiress of the wealthy Stone family. He fell for her the moment they met.

She once had the world at her feet. Then a car accident after her birthday party left her blind, and her family abandoned her in a villa outside the city.

Shawn hid his visits from his family. He stole a key and climbed over the wall every day after school to keep her company.

“I’ll come every day.”

In the darkness, the boy’s deep, alluring voice became Wendy’s only comfort.

He never told her his name. He only wrote in her palm, one letter at a time: “Call me Seven.”

She felt her way while combing his hair and played the piano for him. On stormy nights, she pressed his cold hand against her chest.

The night before her surgery, she kissed his fingertips and promised, “When I can see again, I want you to be the first person I see. Then we can be together, okay?”

The surgery lasted twelve hours.

But when Wendy woke up, the first person she saw was Ethan.

Their parents learned that Ethan liked Wendy too, so they secretly put sleeping pills in Shawn’s water. He slept through the next day and night.

Then they lied and claimed Ethan was the one who spent all those years with her, letting him take Shawn’s place.

Wendy never doubted them. She and Ethan fell in love, got engaged, and seemed devoted to each other.

For three years, Shawn told her countless times that he was the one who stayed by her side and the one she was supposed to love.

She never believed him, not even before he died.

Shawn looked at his own parents and found the whole thing absurd. “You’ve tried to make me leave again and again. Now I’ve agreed, and you don’t believe me? Don’t you think that’s strange?”

“That’s not what we meant. Of course we’re glad you’re willing to go. Your flight to Westmere leaves in two weeks. You can use that time to pack and take care of anything you need to.”

His parents feared he might change his mind. They hurried to remind him of a few more things, then left in high spirits.

Shawn turned and went back to his room.

The moment he closed the door, his phone buzzed.

It was a message from Wendy.

[Lindencrest Hotel. Room 1808. Eight tonight.]

Shawn stared at the message, his fingers tightening around his phone.

In his previous life, the message filled him with hope.

He thought Wendy was finally willing to hear him out.

But when he arrived, he discovered she had summoned him to watch her and Ethan in bed so he would give up on her.

He broke down in tears, but she only said coldly, “Do you see it now? Your brother is the only one I love.”

It seemed ridiculous to him now.

He took a deep breath and replied, [Okay.]

At eight that evening, he arrived at the hotel on time.

The door to Room 1808 stood open. Wendy and Ethan held each other, both naked.

Used condoms lay scattered around them, and the room still smelled of sex.

Wendy saw Shawn standing outside and let out a startled cry.

Ethan lowered his head and covered her collarbone with soft kisses.

Wendy’s voice became gentle and seductive.

“I invited him here on purpose. I wanted him to see that you’re the one I love. Maybe then he’ll stop thinking he has a chance with me and understand that I’ll only ever be his sister-in-law.”

Even in his second life, the sight cut through Shawn as sharply as it had the first time. It felt as though his heart had been torn open, and the pain was almost unbearable.

But he had to get used to it.

From now on, Wendy would only ever be his sister-in-law.

He didn’t know how long he stood there. When he finally unclenched his fists, his palms were marked with crescents from his nails. Wendy, fully dressed now, walked up to him.

“Do you understand now? I love your brother, and only your brother. I’m going to be your sister-in-law, so stop acting like you have a chance with me.”

Shawn’s face showed nothing.

“I see. I understand.”

Wendy paused, apparently surprised by how calmly he answered.

A moment later, she picked up an invitation from the bedside table and handed it to him. “Ethan and I are getting married next month. I hope you’ll come.”

Shawn took the invitation. “I’ll be there on time. I wish you both a happy marriage.”

Wendy studied his face and frowned.

For some reason, Shawn seemed unusually obedient today.

But she asked no questions. Ethan took her hand, and they left the hotel.

Shawn followed them with heavy steps.

He walked with his head down, lost in thought, when a scream rang out beside him.

A second later, a huge sign overhead fell straight toward them.

Wendy instinctively stepped back with Ethan, and they escaped unharmed.

Shawn alone remained where he stood. The sign struck him, leaving him covered in blood as he collapsed on the ground.

Pain surged through him in waves. His body trembled uncontrollably in the pool of blood.

Tears blurred his vision. He looked at Wendy as she protected Ethan, then closed his eyes.

The girl who once cared only about him was never coming back.

And at last, he could let her go for good.