Chapter 3

Things seemed to come to an end after I called off the engagement. But I knew better. This was far from over.

As long as Vaughn Corporation still needed Hale Corporation's support, Harold and Marissa would never agree to Sienna breaking off the engagement, much less to her marrying a foreigner. And that was precisely why Sienna had ultimately given in and married me in my previous life.

On top of that, Marissa, aware of my deep feelings for Sienna, had constantly tried to persuade me back then.

I had personally witnessed Sienna breaking up with Jacques. He never understood why love couldn't keep them together. He tried desperately to hold on, but was beaten up by a group of men.

Sienna blamed me for it. She held me fully responsible, though I knew nothing about the incident at the time.

It was all Harold's doing. That was his way of threatening Jacques to leave the country and give up on Sienna.

I still remembered the look in Sienna's eyes the day Jacques left. It was full of resentment and indignation. I once thought that was just my imagination, but it turned out to be the truest reflection of her heart.

After that, she calmed down, as if her previous resistance had never happened. She began to play the part of an ordinary, dutiful wife.

Having been fooled once, when Marissa approached me again, I refused.

I knew Vaughn Corporation needed help from Hale Corporation too much to simply give up. So, I reassured Marissa, "There's a vast difference between marriage and romance. Besides, there's also the cultural difference between them to consider.

"Why not let them be? When daily life wears down their passion, they'll naturally drift apart. The more we oppose them now, the stronger their bond becomes. It's better to let things take their course."

"You're right. I'm overthinking things," Marissa replied.

It went without saying that she didn't want to strain her relationship with her daughter. When she heard my words, she easily assumed I would wait until Sienna and Jacques parted ways.

And that was exactly what I did in my past life.

But why should I? I was the heir to Hale Corporation! Why should I marry a woman whose heart belonged to someone else? But the Vaughns were as self-assured as always.

Marissa patted me on the shoulder and said, "You're so understanding. No wonder I've always treated you like my own son."

Her own son? Hah! Had I not been the heir of Hale Corporation, I wonder if she'd say the same.

In my past life, when Sienna did what she had done, Marissa had never once mentioned anything about treating me like her own son. In fact, she'd never even acknowledge the favors our family had done for theirs.

Until the very end, Sienna believed my family had insisted on the marriage only because we needed their help.

In my past life, I had willingly degraded myself to be with her, but not this time.

In the five years that I'd spent waiting for her, I had several other women of similar social standing express their feelings for me.

Heather Sullivan, the daughter of my mother's close friend, Ivy Rhodes, had once confessed her feelings to me. Heather was also my junior at university.

Bound by my engagement, I had always turned her down, though inwardly I admired her cheerful and straightforward nature.

As soon as Heather heard about the engagement being ended, she rushed straight to my home. She was still slightly out of breath from running when she arrived.

The moment she saw me, she dashed over and hugged me tightly. "Vincent, is it finally my turn now?"

The last time she confessed to me, she had said that she would wait for me. She would get in line, and if one day, Sienna and I ever broke up, I should consider her first.

"Yes, Heather. It's your turn now. Will you marry me?"

She hung her head low without answering. I had thought that she would turn me down.

"If you feel that it's too rushed, we can—"

She rose on her toes and kissed me before I could even finish. It was a long moment before she pulled away. "Yes."

Her eyes were slightly red, and a wave of guilt washed over me. I had made her wait far too long.

It was only then that I realized I had long stopped loving Sienna. Waiting for her was just a habit, an obsession that I had been holding on to. Only after everything had happened did I finally come to see that my feelings had long moved on.

…

My mother was delighted to see Heather and me ending up together.

After both families met, discussions quickly moved toward wedding arrangements.

As I lounged on the couch reviewing documents, Heather lay on my lap, flipping through a bridal magazine to pick out her wedding dress.

Although both families initially suggested holding the wedding after Heather graduated, she firmly objected.

"I don't want to make Vincent wait any longer, and I don't want to wait any more, either. All I want is to marry him. Besides, getting married won't stop me from finishing my studies."

Seeing how determined she was, both our parents reluctantly agreed.

…

On the day of our wedding, many guests showed up. But the Vaughns weren't among them.

But just as Heather and I were about to exchange vows and pledge our lives to each other, the doors of the banquet hall suddenly burst open.

Sienna, also dressed in a wedding gown, walked right up to me.

"If I told you that I want to marry you now, Vincent, would you still take me as your wife?"