Chapter 1

Everyone in the capital knew that Evelyn Lansing had staked her reputation on Julian Sterling for three long years. No one believed she'd swallow her pride and let a servant girl walk all over her.

So, when Julian showed up at Evelyn's gate with a matchmaker in tow, half the city turned out to watch, waiting for her to make a scene.

Even Julian's face darkened as he instinctively pulled Ivy behind him. "Lady Evelyn, I know you took care of me for three years. But I can't marry you out of guilt. I won't let you make things hard for Ivy either."

Evelyn's expression didn't change. She calmly held out a list and replied, "You worry too much, my lord. This is the wedding gift I prepared for Ivy. She's been at my side since she was a child, so we're as close as sisters. Consider it a token of my regard. I only hope you'll treat her well."

Julian glanced down at the thick ledger, surprise flickering in his eyes.

Behind him, the crowd erupted into whispers.

"Has Lady Evelyn changed her ways? Last year a lady barely exchanged two words with Lord Julian, and Lady Evelyn tore the hairpin right out of her hair and threw it in front of everyone."

"That's right. At the Winter Festival, some noble girl handed Lord Julian a candle, and Lady Evelyn threw every single candle into the lake. And now she's preparing a wedding gift for the maid he's about to marry?"

Even as the murmurs drifted into her ears, Evelyn's face didn't so much as twitch.

"Martha," she called quietly.

The old lady who was standing at her side stepped forward with a wooden box in hand. Evelyn reached out and opened it. Inside lay a scroll, its seal stamped in gold. It was a marriage contract.

She looked up at Julian, her voice light and even as she said, "This is the marriage contract my grandfather arranged for us. Today, I'm going to burn it in front of everyone. From this day on, the engagement is void. You and I will marry whomever we please. We'll have nothing more to do with each other."

She took a candle from Martha and held the flame to the corner of the contract.

The fire had just caught the paper's edge when someone suddenly shouted, "My lady, no!"

Ivy lunged forward and slapped the flame out with her bare hand. Her palm turned red and raw from the burn.

She trembled with pain, but dropped straight to her knees in front of Evelyn. "My lady, I would never dream of marrying the young lord. Just being able to serve you and him every day is more than enough for me."

She started slapping her face repeatedly. Within moments, her cheeks swelled up. The startling sight made the crowd gasp.

Julian's face changed instantly. He strode forward and pulled Ivy up, staring down at the blistered, swollen mess of her hand. The pain in his eyes nearly spilled over.

"Someone, get medicine, now!"

Then, he turned to Evelyn, and all that tenderness curdled into fury.

"I'm the one marrying Ivy. I'm the one calling off the engagement. If you're angry, take it out on me. Don't put on this act with the marriage contract!"

Evelyn paused, then gave a small, formal curtsey. "You're right, my lord. I wasn't thinking clearly." She turned and took a document from Martha's hands. "This is Ivy's indenture papers. I'm handing them over today as well. From now on, she has nothing more to do with me."

Julian froze.

He had expected her to cry and make a scene. He had expected her to use the three years they'd spent together to guilt him, or use their marriage contract to force him into staying. He never expected this kind of calm.

An odd, uncomfortable feeling rose in his chest.

He blurted out, "Your reputation is already ruined. Break off this engagement too, and what noble family in the capital will ever dare court you? You looked after me for three years. I'm not an ungrateful man. I'll marry Ivy, but I won't shortchange you either. Don't worry. A month from now, when Ivy marries into my household, I'll come here myself and formally propose. You'll have the position of secondary wife."

He didn't wait for Evelyn's answer. He gathered Ivy carefully into a carriage and left in a hurry with the matchmaker.

The crowd slowly dispersed.

Evelyn turned and walked back into the estate. The moment she crossed the threshold, the composure she'd forced herself to keep up completely fell apart. All the strength drained out of her body.

Martha rushed to help her sit, her eyes red-rimmed. "My lady, are you really going to be his secondary wife?"

Evelyn shook her head. "I have other plans for my marriage."

Martha clenched her handkerchief. "When the young lord lay unconscious for three years, you never left his bedside. People called you shameless and laughed at you for chasing a hopeless dream. You bore every bit of it, and now you're just going to let it go? You'd be handing everything to that wretched girl for nothing!"

Evelyn didn't answer, just smiled faintly. Memories of her last life came flooding back.

In that life, she used their childhood bond and her three years of devotion to force Julian to honor the engagement. But after the wedding, she discovered his heart had belonged to Ivy the whole time.

He used to visit Evelyn's chambers every day under the excuse of checking on her, but it was really only to catch a glimpse of Ivy.

Later, she learned from a servant that Julian had once fallen into a river as a child and been saved by a woman. He happened to see Ivy holding the crystal pendant he lost that day, so he'd mistaken her for the one who saved him.

But it had been Evelyn who'd risked her own life and jumped into the water to save him. She'd burned with fever for half a month afterward, nearly dying from it.

When she learned the truth in her last life, jealousy had driven her half mad. In a fit of rage, she signed a document marrying Ivy off to a crude stablehand in the residence. Ivy suffered under his abuse day after day until she couldn't bear it anymore and drowned herself in the river.

Julian had hated Evelyn for it.

She gave him three children, but he never once looked at them. Each baby was carried away and given to another family the moment they were born. He locked Evelyn deep in the estate and forbade her from seeing anyone.

She spent the rest of her life alone, drowning in her own bitterness, until she died.

This time around, as she watched Julian shield Ivy behind him like that, she suddenly found she had no interest in fighting for any of it.

Coming back to herself, Evelyn pulled a letter from her sleeve and handed it to Martha. "Send this to my uncle. Tell him I'll accept the marriage with the Ashworth family in the Southlands."