Chapter 1
Chapter 1
I’m the only daughter of one of the most powerful families in the country.
When I was just a child, my father handpicked four heirs from elite families–each one with a future carved in gold–as my potential marriage candidates.
In my previous life, when he asked who I wanted to marry, I answered without hesitation.
I chose Adrian Whitmore–the calm, poised man whose presence felt like quiet moonlight on still water.
But not even a year after our wedding, he died in a so–called plane crash.
I spent the rest of my life in mourning.
Until one spring afternoon in my old age, in a sleepy Italian town, I saw him–alive.
He was standing beneath a cherry tree, gently kissing another woman.
His childhood friend. His first love.
And that’s when I finally understood: he had never died.
He faked his death and disappeared–for love.
Years later, during an assassination attempt targeting me, he stepped between me and the bullet.
That time, he really died.
His final words left a scar that would never heal:
“Evelyn, I shouldn’t have lied to you… but my heart was never yours. This life, let it count as repayment. If there’s a next one–don’t choose me again.”
I closed my eyes, thinking that was the end.
But when I opened them again–I was back.
In the Lanchford family’s boardroom, seated across from my father,
He looked at me kindly. “Have you decided which of the four candidates you want to marry?”
Four folders lay in front of me, as if fate had pressed rewind on my life.
“You always liked Adrian best, didn’t you?” he said with a smile, reaching for the familiar file. “Then I’ll start preparing-”
“No!”
The word left my lips in a sharp cry, loud enough to shock the room into silence.
My father frowned. “What’s wrong?”
I bit back the pain, the memories, the humiliation.
I reached for a file–any file.
“This one. I choose him.”
I looked down… and nearly choked.
The red tie hung loose around his neck, his suit barely buttoned, and a smirk curled on his lips like he owned the world,
He looked like the definition of trouble..
Blake Hawthorne.
Talend His Dosth Married His Enemy Now He’s Begging
Chapter 1
I picked Blake?!
The arrogant jerk I’d been at war with since childhood?
“Blake?” My father’s voice shot up an octave. “Didn’t you hate him the most? Ile even hacked your social account once and uploaded that dancing cat
video!”
1 stared at the photo, momentarily stunned.
Blake Hawthorne–heir to the Hawthorne Military Technology Group.
Known for being reckless, spoiled, and utterly unfit to lead.
But I remembered: in my previous life, he became a hero.
He died in a peacekeeping mission at the border. Unmarried. Quietly forgotten.
“Are you sure?” my father asked, hesitant.
I took a steadying breath. “T’m sure. I want to marry him.”
In my past life, Blake and I clashed constantly.
But those chaotic days…. felt warmer than the cold, silent marriage I had with Adrian-
Maybe this is fate’s way of giving me another chance.
This time, I’ll walk the road I never dared to take.
The engagement contract was signed quickly.
As I stepped out of Lanchford headquarters, the papers in hand, my palms were drenched in sweat.
Last time, I ran to tell Adrian I had chosen him, heart full of hope.
He only said, “I’ll comply.”
This time, as I turned the corner, all four candidates were waiting.
“So, who’d you pick?”
A blond man with an easy grin asked–the son of a media giant, always joking.
Another man, polished and calm, added with a smile,
“Don’t tell us it’s Adrian again? You used to follow him everywhere.”
I looked at Blake.
He was lounging against a marble pillar, sipping soda, looking completely disinterested.
And Adrian stood there, dressed in crisp white, bathed in sunlight–like he’d stepped out of a painting.
For a moment, my heart almost faltered.
Then he stepped forward.
He glanced at the documents in my hands–and his expression turned icy, his brows drawing together in visible displeasure.
He was the first to speak.
“I already have someone I love. I hope you can let me go, Evelyn.”
My chest tightened
He never rejected me that directly in the past life.
Chapter 1
But the look in his eyes–restrained, painful, and… familiar–made my heart skip a beat.
And suddenly, a terrifying thought struck me.
Did he… come back too?
“You know what breaking off an arranged marriage means, don’t you?” My voice trembled.
“I’ll give up my inheritance,” Adrian said calmly. “Leave the Whitmore family. Even if I end up with nothing… as long as I can be with the one I truly
love.”
I laughed.
It wasn’t joy.
It was the kind of hollow laugh that comes when your heart’s been scraped clean.
So being with me had been that unbearable? Enough to make him walk away from everything?
I almost shouted, “I didn’t choose you this time!”
But I held it in.
You made me live as a widow for a lifetime.
In this one, I’ll make sure you know what it feels like–to suffer, to doubt, to hurt.
I clutched the file in my arms and said coldly, “The contract has been signed. It’s final. As for who I chose… you’ll find out at the engagement banquet in ten days. All of you are expected to be there.”
I turned to leave–but collided straight into someone.
I looked down and froze.
Lilian Stafford.
She had fallen to the floor, tears brimming in her eyes like a frightened little rabbit. She kept bowing her head, whispering apologies:
“I’m so sorry, Miss Lanchford. I didn’t see you.”
Before I could say a word, Adrian rushed over-
like he was protecting some fragile little creature–and shielded her with his body.
“She apologized. Must you be so aggressive?” he snapped.
I shook with rage. “What did I even say?!”
It was just like in the last life.
Every time we met, she played the helpless victim, as if I were some vicious monster.
But when–when–had I ever hurt her?
Adrian didn’t wait for an answer.
He simply picked her up and walked off.
In his rush, his shoulder slammed hard into mine.
I lost balance and fell, my head hitting the stone steps with a sharp crack.
Pain exploded in the back of my skull. My vision blurred.
Somewhere in the distance, I heard the sound of footsteps–fast, chaotic.
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Chapter 1
And then I saw him.
Blake Hawthorne, running toward me.
His face was pale with panic, eyes burning with something I’d never seen from him before-
Fear. Anguish. And something else… something deeper.
Was it love?
I must have hit my head harder than I thought.
But in that moment, a strange thought slipped into my mind.
Maybe… just maybe…
This time, I really did choose the right person.
apter z
