Chapter 1

After our arranged corporate marriage, I spent three years playing the dutiful socialite, working the elite circles to help Julian take over his family's empire.

The day I found out I was pregnant, I rushed home, bursting with joy, only to find Julian in bed with our housekeeper's daughter.

Watching that fragile little girl beneath him, taking his breathless thrusts, I dug my nails into my palms and turned to leave.

Seconds after stepping out the front door, a speeding truck crushed me to death.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back to the exact moment I found out I was pregnant.

This time, I calmly hid the pregnancy test.

I stopped securing multi-million-dollar deals for Julian. Instead, I teamed up with his greatest corporate rival.

Later, Julian's empire crumbled, and he fell to his knees, begging for my help.

By then, I was walking down the aisle at a billionaire wedding of the century, holding a child who looked just like him, with his sworn enemy standing beside me as my groom.

With bloodshot eyes, Julian cried,

"I'm his biological father! How could you marry someone else and let him raise my son?"

I sneered, "Whoever I choose will be his father. And naturally, I pick the best."

I stood at the top of the stairs, a crumpled ultrasound report clutched in my hand.

Faint, stifled moans drifted from the bedroom upstairs.

My heart was dead silent, not a single ripple of pain left.

Just seconds ago, a massive truck had crushed my bones, tearing my body apart in agonizing pain.

And the next second, I was standing here, completely intact.

I had traveled back in time—three hours earlier.

Right when Julian's betrayal was underway.

In my past life, hearing those sounds ripped my heart to pieces.

I had run out of the villa like a maniac, straight into oncoming traffic. There was no after that.

Now, all I felt like doing was laughing.

Throwing away my life and my unborn baby's life over a worthless man was pure stupidity.

Upstairs, Blair's moans grew louder and bolder.

I should have noticed long ago. The daughter of our housekeeper was never as innocent as she acted.

She always looked at Julian with those wide, doe-like, teary eyes.

Julian once even told me,

"Scarlett, why can't you be more like Blair? A woman should be soft, vulnerable, and look up to her man."

"You're so independent, you're suffocating me."

It wasn't until now that I realized.

A man's so-called "suffocation" is nothing but a convenient excuse for his own filthy desires.

Without an ounce of emotion, I folded the pregnancy report in half, and then in half again.

I tore it to shreds.

Then I tossed it straight into the trash can at the end of the hall.

For three years.

I paved Julian's path to power and played nice with fake, condescending socialite wives.

I used to never touch alcohol, but to secure contracts for him, I drank with clients until my stomach was bleeding.

I leveraged my family's entire network to turn him from an overlooked second son into the sole heir of the Sterling empire.

Everyone in high society used to say with envy that Julian had struck gold by marrying such a capable wife.

And what did this "capable wife" get in return? The filthy betrayal happening right upstairs.

The corner of my lips curled into a cold smirk.

Julian, if you want to be ruthless, don't blame me for being heartless.

Over these years, I stopped being that naive Vance heiress who thought love was everything.

Those connections, those resources, and the elite clients who signed deals only because of my name—

Whose side were they really on? We were about to find out.

I pulled out my phone.

My first call went to Chloe, my personal assistant.

She picked up almost instantly.

"Ms. Vance."

"Chloe, audit every single asset Julian and I co-own. Real estate, stocks, mutual funds, and offshore trusts. I want a comprehensive list, and I want it fast."

The line went silent for a second.

Chloe had worked with me for five years; she knew my working style inside out.

She didn't ask a single question, only answering with steady professionalism.

"Understood, Ms. Vance. It will be in your private inbox before nine tomorrow morning."

"Good."

After hanging up, I dialed another number.

It was a top-tier private security firm specializing in covert surveillance.

"Hello. I've set up several pinhole cameras around my villa. I need your technicians to link them directly to my phone."

"Ma'am, our rates for same-day discrete service are quite steep."

"Money isn't an issue," I replied coldly. "I have one requirement: absolute discretion. No one can ever know you were here."

"Understood. Send the address. Our team will be disguised as utility plumbers and arrive within two hours."

"Make it quick."

With that handled, I scrolled through my contacts.

After a brief pause, my thumb hovered over Christian King's name.

He was Julian's fiercest rival, the only tycoon in the city capable of crushing the Sterling Group.

Julian had always treated him like a thorn in his side.

In my past life, I had even publicly humiliated Christian at charity galas just to boost Julian's ego.

Looking back, I was an absolute fool.

I took a deep breath and hit call.

It rang for a while before someone picked up.

"Hello?"

A deep, magnetically smooth voice came through the receiver.

"Mr. King, it's Scarlett."

There was a faint, mocking chuckle on the other end.

"Mrs. Sterling. What a rare honor."

The title was dripping with thinly veiled sarcasm.

I didn't care. Taking a slow breath, I cut straight to the chase.

"I want to make a deal with you."