Chapter 1

After my parents divorced, my mother took a job as a live-in estate manager for the ultra-wealthy Vance family.

Before she left, she gave my younger sister and me two choices.

First, go with her, transfer to an elite private prep school, but only apply to local colleges after graduation.

Second, stay behind in our hometown with our dad, and later, she would pay for us to study abroad.

In my past life, my sister scrambled to choose studying abroad, only to end up broke, miserable, and utterly destitute.

I was the one who followed our mother into the Vance mansion, where I met the billionaire heir, Julian Vance.

Just as Julian and I were planning to get married, my sister teamed up with our mother and got me killed.

When I opened my eyes again, I was right back to the moment Mom laid out the choice.

This time, my sister jumped in before I could even breathe. "Mom, I'm going with you to the Vance estate."

Mom smiled with deep relief and turned to look at me.

"Chloe, as the older sister, you need to let your sister have this. I'll pay for your tuition to study abroad later. Consider it fulfilling my duty as your mother."

Seeing my sister, Sierra, clinging tightly to Mom's arm with an eager, gloating look on her face, I knew instantly—she had regressed, too.

Too bad for her. Julian Vance would never, ever fall in love with someone like her.

"Chloe, things are hectic at the Vance estate. Sierra and I are leaving today. Take good care of yourself at home."

Mom threw a few things into her luggage and rushed out the door with Sierra.

In our past life, after Sierra chose the study-abroad path, Mom had stayed home for ten extra days.

Every single day, she had tried to convince Sierra to come with her to the Vance estate instead.

Back then, Sierra thought being a "live-in estate manager" was just a glorified title for a domestic servant.

She refused to live under someone else's roof, terrified of being mocked as the maid's daughter.

So, she had stubbornly insisted on going overseas.

Mom had no choice but to bring me along instead.

I was thrilled at the time.

After my parents divorced, I hadn't seen my mother in ten years.

It wasn't until Dad died that social services handed my underage self back over to her.

I was starving for a mother's love.

Once I arrived at the Vance estate with Mom, I met Julian Vance.

He was strikingly handsome, cool, elegant, effortlessly brilliant at school, and the prince charming every girl in our prep school dreamed of.

I couldn't help falling for him, either.

I knew the massive social chasm between us, so I buried my feelings deep inside my heart.

It wasn't until senior year, after the college application season ended, that a drunk Julian cornered me against the wall after a graduation party.

"Chloe, come study abroad with me, okay?"

I forced myself to look away.

"I don't have the money."

Julian chuckled, and it felt like the entire dim basement suite lit up.

"My treat."

In that single moment, I realized the boy I had secretly loved for three years loved me back just as fiercely.

Overwhelming happiness crashed over me.

Bursting with excitement, I ran to tell Mom that Julian wanted to take me overseas for college.

All I got in return was a vicious slap across the face.

"You are not going! When you chose to come to the Vance estate with me, you gave up that path. Every penny I save has to go toward putting Sierra through school abroad."

I clutched my burning cheek, desperately explaining, "Julian said I don't have to pay anything. He's covering my tuition."

Mom scoffed, sizing me up with pure disgust.

"Shameless. Seducing a man just for his money. Have you completely forgotten who you are?

"You really think someone like Julian Vance would ever take you seriously? Once he gets sick of you, who do you think has to foot the bill? Me!

"Forget about going abroad. If you dare disobey me, don't ever call me Mom again.

"And another thing—stay the hell away from him. Don't you dare jeopardize my job."

Growing up without a mother's affection had made me terrified of losing her again.

Heartbroken, I turned Julian down.

Julian, however, looked me dead in the eye and swore, "Distance isn't an issue. I have the money to buy plane tickets. I can always fly back to see you."

Once college started, we began a long-distance relationship.

He flew back every single month just to see me. The sweetness of our love gave me so much hope for our future.

When Mom found out we were actually dating, she went behind my back and asked Julian to look after Sierra, who was attending a nearby college in the same country.

Julian had no idea what our family dynamics were really like, so he innocently looked out for Sierra, treating her like his future sister-in-law.

Then came our senior year. One day, I received a text from Sierra, along with a photo.

In the picture, Sierra was half-naked, her arms wrapped around Julian's neck as they lay together in a hotel bed.

[Chloe, Julian and I are together now. Stop clinging to him like a desperate loser.]

Having loved Julian for three years, I knew in my bones he would never betray me.

My immediate instinct was that he had been set up.

Furious, I dialed Sierra's number, blinded by tears—so blinded that I never saw the speeding semi-truck barreling straight toward me.

As my soul ripped away from my broken body, I floated right to where Mom and Sierra were talking.

"It's a good thing your sister died. Now hurry up and wrap Julian around your little finger. You're going to be the future lady of the Vance family."

Sierra smiled with triumphant malice.

"Good thing you had the foresight, Mom. Asking Julian to watch over me overseas gave me the perfect chance to slip into his bed and snap that photo while he was passed out drunk.

"I was just trying to get Chloe to back off, but she went ahead and died! What a blessing from heaven.

"Once Julian finishes mourning her, I'll throw myself at him."

I had always thought that even if Mom was blatantly biased, she still saw me as her daughter.

I never imagined she wouldn't feel even a flicker of sorrow over my death.

Drowning in agony, my spirit drifted across the ocean to find Julian.

When I reached him, I found him lying in a bathtub full of crimson water, his wrists slashed open, clutching my framed photograph against his chest.

Only then did I realize that Julian's love for me surpassed his own life.

I went utterly insane. Pouring every ounce of spiritual energy I had, I tripped Sierra as she was walking down a grand staircase.

Watching her break her neck at the bottom of the stairs was the only thing that allowed my soul to find peace.

And then... I woke up, right back to the day that decided our fates.

Except this time, Sierra picked the Vance estate.

She foolishly believed that simply being near Julian would make him fall in love with her.

Too bad. She was dead wrong.

Julian would never look twice at someone like her.

And as for me? I was going to make both of them bleed for everything they did in our past life.