chapter 1

At our engagement party, Eli demands I sign a hundred-thousand-dollar check to bail out his first love, Aila.

I cave, pouring everything I have into paving the way for his future.

But he pays off a nurse to slip me abortion pills, manipulates the training equipment to crush my pelvis, and causes me to hemorrhage and miscarry.

While I lie in the hospital fighting for my life, he spreads rumors about my promiscuity, burns my cherished nautical collection to ashes, and scatters them over Aila's grave.

He steps on my spine to get his acceptance letter to the top maritime academy, trading my life for his future.

After gaining power, he frames my brother, ruining his promotion to captain, and eventually tramples my entire shipping family under his feet.

I die full of resentment, only to wake up to Eli slamming his hand on the table and screaming at me. Aila is trapped in an underground club! Sign this check right now! If I don't get the money to bail her out, she's dead tonight!

...

"Lia, sign this check, now! Aila is being held at an underground club. If I don't bring the money to bail her out, she's not gonna survive the night!"

Eli slams his hand hard onto the table.

Tonight is our engagement party, celebrating our graduation from the Holy Cross Maritime Prep.

I stare at the man in front of me, wearing his cheap rented tuxedo. My breath catches in my throat.

I am reborn.

In my previous life, this is exactly where I caved. I signed that hundred-thousand-dollar family check and even used my family shipping consortium's exclusive recommendation quota, crying and begging him to stay.

And the result? Aila was still assaulted and murdered by street thugs. And Eli, the broke scholarship student who barely scraped by, blamed the whole tragedy entirely on me.

He played the part of the long-suffering partner, keeping me docile with his sickeningly sweet affection, while secretly draining me dry like a leech.

He built his resume using my family's ocean fleet internship spots. He took the national maritime competition slot I gave up for him. He clutched the private recommendation letter my father swallowed his pride to get, and stepped on my back to secure his admission to the top maritime academy.

I close my eyes. My brother's defeated face when he lost his promotion to ocean captain flashes through my mind. It was Eli. Once he got into power, he leaked fake rumors about our family fleet violating regulations, destroying my brother's career.

Then there was the campus clinic nurse Eli bought off. She would smile as she handed me warm water laced with abortion drugs, day after day, while I was pregnant.

Finally, there was that practical training class. He stood at the control console, coldly pushing the lever, watching as the crane boom shattered my bones, causing a massive hemorrhage and a miscarriage. While I lay in the operating room fighting for my life, he spread rumors outside about my promiscuity. He even burned my cherished nautical memorabilia to ashes and scattered them over Aila's grave.

"Lia! Are you even listening to me?" Eli raises his voice impatiently and grabs my wrist. "Get the check! Aila can't wait!"

The moment his fingers touch me, the nausea in my stomach completely explodes.

"Let go." I violently yank my arm away.

Eli freezes.

I ignore his shocked expression and reach into my diamond-studded clutch. In my previous life, it held a signed family check. But what I pull out now is a neatly folded stack of papers. It is the private sponsorship agreement we signed. It clearly outlines how I covered all his tuition and living expenses during prep school, right down to the rental fee for the very suit he is wearing.

"Are you crazy? What are you doing with that?" Eli furrows his brows, his eyes frantic.

I grip the top of the agreement with both hands.

Riiip.

The sound of tearing paper is exceptionally loud in the suddenly quiet banquet hall.

Right in front of him, I rip the five-page document in half. Then I stack the pieces and tear them again.

"Lia!" Eli's eyes widen in disbelief as he takes a step forward. "What the hell are you doing?!"

I hurl the shredded paper hard against his chest.

"You're not getting a single cent from me." I stare dead into his eyes, enunciating every single word. "Want to save your precious Aila? Go find the money yourself. Now, take your deep affection and get the hell out of my engagement party."

Eli's face instantly turns beet red. He clenches his jaw, his chest heaving. He probably thinks I am just jealous, pulling some pathetic hard-to-get stunt.

"You're gonna regret this, Lia. If anything happens to Aila, I will never forgive you!"

I let out a cold laugh. "Your forgiveness? It's worthless."

Completely enraged, he turns and rushes into the crowd. "Who can lend me some money? Matthew? Just twenty, no, ten thousand dollars! I'll go work at the docks tomorrow and pay you back!"

Matthew steps back awkwardly, holding his drink. The others quickly avert their eyes as well. Who in their right mind would offend the only daughter of a shipping conglomerate for a broke guy living off a woman?

Eli's eyes are bloodshot like a desperate, cornered animal. He roughly shoves a waiter out of his way, knocking over a champagne tower. Amid the sound of shattering glass, he storms out of the banquet hall without looking back.

The heavy doors slam shut.

Dead silence fills the hall, followed immediately by a buzzing wave of whispers.

"That's embarrassing. Lia chased him for three years, threw so many resources at him, and he still runs off for another woman at their own engagement party."

"Some corporate heiress she is. She can't even keep a slum rat around."

"She brought this on herself. Everyone knows Eli only cares about that girl Aila."

These low whispers of mockery prick at me like needles. In my last life, this was exactly where I broke down sobbing, feeling like the sky was falling, which was why I pathetically compromised when he actually came back.

But now, I only find it hilarious.

I take a deep breath, temporarily locking away the beast in my chest that wants to tear everything apart. I straighten my back, smooth out the wine stains on my dress, and walk in my heels straight to the microphone in the center of the room.

"I'm sorry, everyone."

"As you can see, tonight's engagement ceremony is canceled. But that doesn't change the fact that we're here to celebrate our successful graduation from prep school."

I turn my head and look at the banquet manager standing helplessly in the corner.

"Clean up the glass on the floor. Bring out a new champagne tower. And band, keep playing."

The manager freezes for a second, then nods immediately and gets to work.

I grab a fresh glass of champagne and walk straight toward the classmates who were whispering the loudest. Seeing me approach, they immediately shut their mouths, their expressions stiffening.

"Here's to our bright futures." I raise my glass, tilt it, and actively clink it against the glasses frozen in their hands.