Chapter 2

So Liam had been reborn too.

But just like in the last life, he chose to betray me again.

He just didn't know I could hear his thoughts.

Liam was kneeling on one knee before me, helping me into my high heels, his fingers caressing my ankle.

"You'll be standing all day tomorrow. If these hurt, I'll get you a different pair."

Just as I thought I was hallucinating, I heard him again.

[Mia's arch is so beautiful. I could hold it in my hands and admire it all day. Not like Claire's flat feet—no curve at all. Touching them doesn't even excite me.]

My stomach churned. The scene of catching them in bed in my previous life flashed vividly before my eyes.

The dim hotel suite. Clothes scattered everywhere on the floor.

Mia's pale ankle propped on Liam's shoulder as he turned his head to press hot kisses against it.

"Claire?"

Liam's fingers tightened.

"Why are your feet so cold?"

I jerked my foot back.

The stiletto heel scraped across the carpet with a muffled sound.

"What's wrong?"

I forced myself to stay calm.

"Nothing. Just a little cold."

Liam took off his suit jacket and draped it over my shoulders.

Mixed in with the fabric was a faint, sickeningly sweet scent of powder and perfume that didn't belong to him.

I suddenly spoke up.

"What do you think of Mia?"

Liam's hand, which had been fixing my hair, froze. His face showed undisguised disgust.

"Mia's just pretty, that's all. She's actually worthless. I feel sick just looking at her."

He gripped my hand tightly, desperately trying to distance himself.

"Claire, I already fired her from the company. I have no connection with her whatsoever. Even if she stripped naked and stood in front of me, I wouldn't give her a second glance!"

In this life, every time Mia approached him, he pushed her away mercilessly. He looked like he hated her even more than I did.

At my birthday party, Mia barged in recklessly and knocked over the champagne tower. Glass shards cut my calf.

Liam was furious. He grabbed an unopened bottle of red wine from the table and poured it over her from head to toe.

"Get out! Don't let me see you again, or I'll make sure you can't survive in this city!"

After shouting this, he turned to order security to clear her out, then softened his tone toward me.

"I'll deal with this crazy woman. Don't let her ruin your birthday."

A flash of panic crossed Liam's eyes.

"Claire, why are you suddenly bringing her up?"

[Did she find out something? I showered twice before coming here today. There shouldn't be any trace.]

[I've learned my lesson this life. I've hidden everything perfectly. Just one more day. Once we're married, she'll be mine completely.]

I looked at his upturned face.

In the last life, this face had been frozen blue and purple in the icy wilderness, frost coating his eyelashes.

When he wrapped his last coat around me, even his breath came out with bloody foam.

I wanted to spend this lifetime repaying his sacrifice, but he wanted to use this lifetime to deceive me again.

He didn't regret the affair itself—only that he hadn't hidden it well enough.

Thinking about the wedding, he frowned.

[Last time at Claire's birthday party, I poured that glass of wine on Mia and she threw such a tantrum.]

[That night I had to coax her for so long, licking the wine off her chest bit by bit before she'd let me touch her. She'll definitely throw another fit after tomorrow's wedding. I need to figure out how to appease her.]

His thoughts slithered like a venomous snake, crawling into my mind.

After he hurried away that birthday night, he never came back. While I sat in the lounge picking bloody glass shards from my calf with tweezers, waiting from daylight to darkness, he had his head buried in Mia's chest.

A chill shot up from my feet straight to my heart.

I looked at his flawless expression and asked softly.

"You're disgusted by her because she acts like a lunatic?"

He nodded without hesitation.

"Of course. How could she compare to you?"

I slowly withdrew my hand from his palm.

"You're forgetting the most important thing."

"Mia killed your mother."