Chapter 1

"Help! My lady fell into the water!"

Poppy's scream rang across the bank while I thrashed in the lotus pond.

She was sobbing as she ran toward a man nearby.

"Please! Save my lady!"

Before he could react, someone else plunged into the water.

The moment I saw who it was, my whole body went cold.

How could it be him?

I forgot to struggle.

My body sank.

Pond water rushed into my nose and mouth until breathing became impossible.

The man who'd jumped in frowned and swam toward me.

The last thing I saw before blacking out was the face I feared most.

Julian Reed.

My husband from my previous life.

Back then, I'd fallen for him at first sight at the Queen Mother's flower banquet.

Then I learned he was already betrothed.

His bride-to-be, Celeste Hale, died suddenly of an illness a few months later.

Only then did I finally marry him.

For three years, Julian treated me with extraordinary tenderness.

On the day I gave birth, he killed our newborn child in front of me.

That still wasn't enough.

He dragged me to Celeste's grave and forced me to kneel.

"If House Sterling hadn't forced us apart, why would Celeste be dead?"

That was when I learned the truth.

Her death had never been an accident.

Julian had never loved me.

Three years of devotion had only been an act.

I died in the pouring rain before Celeste's grave, weak from blood loss.

In this life, I'd deliberately pretended to fall into the pond at the flower banquet.

I'd been willing to sacrifice my reputation if it meant avoiding the same beginning.

And still, there was no avoiding him.

When I woke, Father was sitting beside my bed with a grim expression.

His first words were a reprimand.

"You're the Chancellor's legitimate daughter.

"How could you do something so disgraceful?

"You've humiliated House Sterling.

"At this point, you can only marry Julian."

I nearly fell out of bed.

"Father, please.

"I truly don't want to marry him."

He gave a sharp snort.

"Elara, don't bother pretending in front of me.

"The maid who went with you has already told me. The moment you arrived at the banquet, you couldn't take your eyes off him.

"And then you fell into the water?

"You expect me to believe that was an accident?

"I spoiled you too much.

"That's why you've become this reckless."

He swept out of the room before I could explain.

I sat there speechless, cold from the inside out.

In my previous life, yes.

I'd fallen for Julian at the flower banquet.

But in this life, I'd woken only after arriving beside the lotus pond.

Panic drove me to fake the fall.

I'd risked my reputation to change the ending.

And still, nothing about it had shifted an inch.

What unsettled me even more was Father.

He'd always given me anything I asked for.

This time he didn't care what I wanted at all. He simply scolded me.

After turning it over for a long while, I called Poppy.

"Have the carriage brought around."

If no one else meant to leave me a way out, I'd make one myself.