Chapter 001

Claire Sullivan died in agony.

That day, snow howled through Mist City like it wanted to swallow the world whole.

Someone severed the tendons in her hands and dumped her in the frozen wasteland.

A sharp blade drove straight through her aorta. Blood gushed out.

Rachel—the girl Claire had protected with her life—stood nearby, laughing like a lunatic. "Claire, this is your fate. Your whole existence was nothing but a walking blood bank to keep me alive."

"Now that I'm completely cured, your blood's useless. So let it drain out, nice and slow."

"Oh, one more thing I forgot to mention."

"When your husband Ethan Yost found out you'd been imprisoned, he sent every single person around him to search for you."

"That left him alone to face his enemies. Half an hour ago, Ethan took them down with him."

"Claire, no one's coming to save you. The only person in this world who ever protected you is dead. So just lie here and wait to die."

Rachel Sullivan laughed and walked away.

Claire's heart lurched violently. The pain was so sharp she could barely breathe.

But she couldn't move anymore. As the agony intensified, her breathing grew fainter, her consciousness dimmer.

All that remained were her wide amber eyes, burning with world-ending hatred as they stared at the bleak, endless snow—

Ethan, I'm coming to find you.

……

Sullivan Villa.

Living room.

A group of people glared at Claire.

"The Sullivan family raised you for seventeen years. Without the Sullivan family, you would've died on the streets long ago. Now we're just asking you to marry Ethan in Rachel's place. You should be grateful, and you dare refuse?"

Victor Sullivan was furious. He grabbed a glass from the coffee table and hurled it at Claire.

Claire shifted slightly, dodging the glass.

It shattered on the floor, the sharp crack jolting her foggy mind.

She looked down at her body—intact, unharmed. The polished floor reflected her young, tender face…

Had she been reborn?

Reborn five years ago, back when the Sullivan family forced her to marry Ethan?

Finn Sullivan, the eldest son, wore a disappointed expression. "Claire, we've given you a comfortable life since childhood. In seventeen years, we've only asked you for one thing, and you still refuse?"

"You should know how to repay kindness. Don't force us to do this the hard way."

Ryan Sullivan chimed in with his own barrage of insults.

Marilyn Sullivan, the lady of the house, walked over to Claire and put on a loving act. "Claire, look how upset you've made your father and brothers. We're your family. Would we ever hurt you?"

"Marrying into the Yost family means a life of luxury. Do you know how many people would kill for this opportunity?"

Claire looked at their hypocritical, disgusting faces and let out a cold laugh. She turned to Marilyn. "If it's such a blessing that people would kill for, why don't you give it to Rachel?"

"How dare you compare yourself to Rachel?"

Marilyn's mask cracked instantly. Her face twisted.

Rachel was her biological daughter, the Sullivan family's most precious jewel, raised in absolute luxury.

How dare this lowborn bastard Claire even think of comparing herself to Rachel?

Rachel stood to the side, smiling smugly, but still played the obedient daughter. "Claire, how can you speak to Mom like that? She's only looking out for you."

"Sure, everyone says Ethan is violent, hideously ugly, crippled, and won't live long. But the Yost family is European nobility with a multinational empire. Once you marry in, you'll want for nothing. Your status will be unimaginably high. People would beg for this chance."

Rachel laughed softly, sweetly.

That laugh overlapped perfectly with the one from her past life.

Claire's fists clenched violently.

The memory from her previous life flooded back—watching her own blood slowly drain away, the torture of being unable to live or die, the cold, the despair, the suffocation—it all crashed over her senses again.

For a moment, she wanted nothing more than to rush over and snap Rachel's neck.

Claire forced herself to hold back.

Killing her like this would be too easy.

In her past life, to turn her into Rachel's walking blood bank, Victor and Marilyn stole her from her biological parents, causing seventeen years of separation.

After they'd squeezed every last drop of value from her, they couldn't wait to kill her off.

Finn drugged her. Ryan severed her tendons while she was unconscious.

They threw her into the snow.

Rachel stabbed through her artery, letting her bleed out every last drop until she died in agony.

This towering hatred—Claire would settle it with them slowly.

Claire let out a cold laugh, released her clenched fists, and looked around at everyone present. "Fine. I'll marry Ethan. But I have one condition."

"Who the hell do you think you are? You dare make demands?" Ryan snapped.

Victor and Marilyn, who'd just started to feel relieved, immediately darkened.

Victor suppressed his anger. "What condition?"

Claire said, "I'll marry Ethan in Rachel's place. That repays the Sullivan family's so-called kindness in raising me. From today on, I cut all ties with the Sullivan family. We have nothing to do with each other."

"What?"

Everyone in the Sullivan family froze.

They'd expected Claire to extort a huge sum. They never imagined it would be this simple.

Victor and Marilyn exchanged a glance.

Truth was, they'd only adopted Claire to be a blood supply for Rachel. Now that Rachel's health had mostly recovered, keeping Claire around had little value anyway.

Besides, given Ethan's brutal reputation, Claire probably wouldn't even survive the wedding night.

Cut ties? Fine.

Victor agreed immediately.

Claire said, "Words mean nothing. Sign an agreement."

Finn had his assistant bring over a formal severance agreement—the kind with legal standing.

Claire and Victor both signed.

Claire folded her copy and tucked it into her pocket. She took her personal documents and phone, left everything else behind, and walked out of the Sullivan Villa. without looking back.

Right on cue, the wedding procession arrived.

The Yost family's convoy was extravagant beyond belief.

The lead car was a globally limited edition, its body gleaming without a speck of dust.

The hood was covered in expensive, vibrant roses.

Behind it stretched a perfectly ordered fleet of matching cars—dozens of them, so many you couldn't see the end.

Rachel had come out to gloat, but when she saw the extreme luxury on display, her eyes turned red with envy.

She stared at Claire, unwilling to let it go. "Ethan really went all out. But I've heard he's been crippled for years and is mentally twisted. Not a single woman sent to his house has survived the wedding night. Let's see if you can last…"

Before Rachel could finish, Claire's hand flew up and slapped her hard across the face.

Rachel stumbled, nearly falling.

No one had ever dared lay a finger on her.

And now she'd been hit by Claire—the person she looked down on most?

Rachel clutched her face and shrieked, lunging at Claire. "You dare hit me? Bitch! I'll kill you!"