Chapter 1

"Bernard, one is your wife, the other is your first love. You can only choose one—which one should die?"

On the boat deck, two women dangled fifteen meters above the sea as kidnapper Finn Smith shouted, brandishing his gun.

On what was meant to be her wedding day, Eugenie Medici had been kidnapped.

Ten minutes earlier, Finn had forced her to swallow drugs, and now excruciating pain shot through her entire body.

She could hardly keep her footing, her once-pristine wedding dress now filthy and tattered.

When Finn offered the cruel ultimatum, she glanced toward the coastline with one flickering ember of hope at the cold, refined man standing there—her fiancé Bernard Grayson.

"Bernard, please, help me."

Witnessing her plight, Allegra Bennett also cried out in desperation, her face was stained with tears, looking tragically beautiful even in distress.

"Bernard, it hurts so much."

Bernard's dark pupils remained expressionless as he replied without hesitation, "I choose her."

He pointed at Eugenie, signaling her death.

Eugenie's eyes flew open in disbelief, her heart shattering, a pain worse than her physical suffering.

She knew Allegra was Bernard's first love, the woman he held most dear. But after three years together, did Bernard really care nothing for her, sentencing her to death without hesitation?

Bernard wasn't even dressed for his wedding. Perhaps he never intended to marry Eugenie at all.

Finn's upper hand today was because Bernard had told her to wait for him.

Upon hearing the response, Finn looked surprised, then erupted into laughter.

"As expected of Mr. Grayson—ruthless enough to sacrifice your own fragile bride."

Bernard scowled. "I've made my choice. Release her now."

Finn pushed Allegra forward. "Since Mr. Grayson has chosen, I'm sorry, Ms. Medici, but today marks your end."

As he finished speaking, he pressed the gun against Eugenie's temple.

After Allegra walked over to him, Bernard didn't spare Eugenie a single glance, his eyes brimming with worry as he checked on Allegra.

"Allegra, are you okay? Did he hurt you?"

Allegra chewed her lip and shook her head, her eyes hesitantly looking at Eugenie. "I'm fine, but what about Ms. Medici?"

Eugenie remained silent. No one knew she held a broken piece of rope in her hand—from his perspective, she still looked tied up.

In fact, since being kidnapped, she had managed to free herself.

She could have escaped.

But now, with Bernard choosing her to die, she was forced to accept it.

"Bernard, my only regret I've ever done in my life was was ever loving you."

With hollow but resolute eyes, Eugenie turned andthrew herself into the ocean.

The cold water rushed over her mouth and nose.

In the moment she turned to jump, she imagined she heard Bernard's voice, but it didn't matter now.

Eugenie let the dark waves consume her. In her last moment of consciousness,

She wished that if she could return, she she would never let herself love Bernard—not even a little!

"Look at her, how pathetic."

"She was never good enough for Bernard. I can't stand manipulative women."

"But wait—what if she can't swim? What if Bernard gets angry that we pushed her into the pool?"

"Relax, Bernard hates her guts. If she hadn't taken care of his mother and him before, would he ever marry her?"

The sounds of jeering and scorn reached Eugenie's ears, causing her her eyelids to twitch open.

Water surrounded her, but not the sea—a swimming pool.

She struggled to surface, only to see Bernard's entourage of friends—the same ones who had just pushed her into the water.

Eugenie's mind went blank, her eyes wide with disbelief.

What was happening? Why did this feel so familiar?

This was her engagement party with Bernard from a year ago!

Before she could think, Eugenie scrambled out of the water.

Her clothes were dripping wet; the wind made her shiver uncontrollably.

"How much longer do you plan on making a scene of yourself?"

A cold, annoyed voice came from behind her.

Eugenie turned to meet Bernard's cold gaze.

No warmth, no worry, not a single question—just an instant assumption that she was being dramatic.

His friend immediately chimed in, "Bernard, I bet she jumped in on purpose, hoping you'd rescue her and play the hero."

Bernard's brow furrowed in blatant irritation, "Who would rescue a clown?"

Eugenie stood frozen, her hands clenched into tight fists.

A clown?

At her last engagement party, Bernard had left early. Her stepmother, Bianca Johnson, eager for the advantages of an alliance with the Grayson family, had manipulated Eugenie's critically ill grandfather, Chase Williams, to pressure her into completing the engagement ceremony.

That day, Eugenie had become Starlight City's biggest joke.

Everyone thought Bernard left because she embarrassed him by falling into the water, but in truth, he had gone to accompany Allegra, who had just returned to the country, not coming back until evening.

Bernard grew impatient, frowning at her, "Why are you still standing here? Go change your clothes. The guests are arriving soon—do you want them to see you like this?"

A barely perceptible smirk of contempt formed at the corner of Eugenie's lips. She said nothing and turned to leave.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Bianca following her.

Eugenie entered the changing room.

Bianca walked in and warned, "Eugenie, let me tell you, this engagement ceremony must proceed smoothly. If anything goes wrong today, don't even think about returning to the Medici family."

Eugenie looked at her with cold eyes, "I need to change. Please leave."

Bianca grew more displeased, "What kind of tone is that? How dare you speak to me this way! Bernard's attitude toward you is because you're stupid and have no skills. Anyway, I'm warning you—if Bernard runs off, you'll pay for it!"

Bianca left after delivering her threat.

Eugenie's gaze grew increasingly icy.

She changed out of her soaking wet formal dress into her everyday clothes.

When she emerged, Bernard was already surrounded by arriving guests, basking in their flattery.

Some people were born to be the center of attention—just by standing there, they naturally draw all eyes.

Bernard noticed her now, his eyes filling with displeasure at her casual attire.

This time, however, Eugenie didn't give him a chance to speak. She walked directly to the stage where the microphone was already set up.

Her voice was steady, each word pronounced clearly, "Thank you all for coming to this engagement party. I have an announcement to make."

Everyone turned to look at her.