Chapter 1

After catching Dustin Sherwood cheating on me, I decisively break up with him and join a tour group to the Northern Pole to clear my head.

However, I encounter a rare blizzard and get trapped on a glacier at -22 degrees.

As my life hangs by a thread, Dustin trudges up to me, searching for me on foot. He peels off all his clothes, layer by layer, and wraps them tightly around my freezing body.

"Don't go to sleep, Claudia. I'm sorry. Please forgive me. I only want you to live well for the rest of your life… If there ever is a next life, I promise that I will never betray you or let you down again."

When the rescue team finally finds us, Dustin is still clinging to me, but his body is completely frozen stiff. They have to cut his arms off just to separate me from him.

After Dustin's death, I live with guilt toward him until I die at 80 years old.

When I open my eyes again, I realize that I am reborn a year before he cheats on me.

In this life, he decisively severs all ties with Miranda Barlow and even makes a show of kicking her out of the company with me watching.

He also swaps out all of his personal assistants and secretaries for married men and never brings any female companions to events or drinking parties anymore.

Everyone marvels at how deeply Dustin is in love with me.

However, on the eve of our wedding, I suddenly hear his heartfelt inner thoughts.

[I'm about to have her, even in my second life. This time, I must make sure to hide Mimi well so she never finds out about her.]

Chapter 1

Dustin Sherwood got down on one knee as he fastened the buckles of my high heels and caressed my ankles.

"You're going to have to stand all day tomorrow. But if these heels start digging into your skin, then we'll just forget about wearing them."

Just as I thought I'd been hallucinating, I heard his inner thoughts once again.

[Mimi's foot arch is so much better-looking than Claudia's. I'll never get bored of playing with hers. Claudia's arches are so flat and ugly. I don't even get turned on when touching them.]

My stomach churned at that moment as the scene of me catching them red-handed in my past life surged in my memories again.

There had been clothes scattered all over the floor in the dimly lit hotel room. Miranda Barlow's ankles were perched atop Dustin's shoulders, and he was kissing them passionately.

"Claudia? Claudia Summers?"

Dustin's fingers tightened slightly. "Why are your feet so cold?"

I immediately drew my feet back from him. The heels of my shoes dug into the carpeting, letting out a muffled thud.

"What's wrong?" he asked again.

I fought to stay calm. "I'm fine. I'm just a little chilly."

Dustin immediately took off his coat and put it around my shoulders. There was a faint trace of a sweet, almost saccharine-like fragrance in the fabric that certainly didn't belong to him.

I suddenly asked him, "What do you think about Miranda?"

Dustin's hands froze as he was tucking my hair behind my ears. A look of disgust immediately appeared on his face.

"She's nothing but a pretty face. All she does is throw herself at me just for my money. I feel so disgusted every time I see her."

He held my hand tightly and continued trying to make it seem as though he was thoroughly done with her. "I've already kicked her out of the company, Claudia. I don't have anything to do with her anymore.

"I won't even give her a second glance if she were to strip and stand before me stark naked!"

In this life, he would always avoid Miranda like the plague every time she appeared, and the look on his face made it look as though he despised her more than I did.

…

At my birthday banquet, Miranda suddenly barged in uninvited and toppled the champagne tower. The broken glass cut into my leg, and I began to bleed.

Dustin had been furious then. He grabbed a bottle of wine from the table and emptied it all over her.

"Get out of this place! And don't ever let me see you again, or I'll make sure you disappear from the face of this earth!"

Right after yelling that, he told the bodyguards to clean up the scene and turned to me. He said gently, "I'll go and deal with that madwoman now. I won't let her ruin your big day!"

…

There was a fluster of panic in Dustin's eyes. "Darling, why are you suddenly bringing her up?"

[Has she noticed something? But I'd already showered twice before coming here today. There shouldn't be any remnants of her scent on me anymore.

[I've learned my lesson this time. I've been making sure to hide her well from Claudia this time. Just one more day, and I'll finally be married to Claudia. She'll finally be mine!]

I looked up at Dustin's face.

This was the face that had been frozen blue and frosted with ice when he saved me in my past lifetime. Even his breathing had been tinged with blood when he put the last layer of his clothes around me.

I had intended to use this lifetime to make it all up to him for the last, but it turned out that he was planning to use this as a second chance to continue betraying me after all.

So, it wasn't that he regretted cheating on me. He just regretted not being able to hide his affair from me.

He frowned again as he thought about the wedding.

[I doused Mimi in red wine the last time during Claudia's birthday banquet, and she threw quite the hissy fit at me after that.

[I spent the rest of the night trying to apologize to her and mollify her, and she only finally forgave me after I licked every drop of the wine off her body.

[I bet she's going to make another huge fuss at the wedding tomorrow again. I need to think of a way to appease her.]

His inner thoughts kept slithering into my head like a venomous snake.

Back then, after my birthday banquet, Dustin never came back to me again after telling me he was leaving to "deal with Miranda". I ended up retiring to the waiting room and slowly removing all the glass shards from my wound with tweezers by myself. And then, I waited for him all day and night while he was busy plowing into Miranda.

The blood in my body ran cold.

I stared at Dustin's perfect mask and asked softly, "Are you only disgusted with her because she behaved like a madwoman?"

He nodded at once. "Of course. She's nothing compared to you."

I then carefully removed my hand from his palms. "Don't you think you've forgotten something important as well?

"She's the murderer who killed your mother."

Chapter 2

Dustin's face twitched violently at that.

The incident from five years ago began playing in his head, splashing him with unpleasant memories like a cold bucket of ice water.

His mother, Nancy Reynolds, suffered from severe asthma for many years. One year, she generously sponsored a poor student, who turned out to be Miranda, and even brought her home as a guest.

However, Miranda got jealous of how good Nancy was to me and mischievously replaced all of her asthma medication by her bedside with regular vitamin tablets.

That night, Nancy had a horrible asthma attack and collapsed in the hallway. She clutched her throat in agony and cried out for help.

Meanwhile, Miranda stood just about three feet away with her phone in the air, recording Nancy's suffering while giggling behind the camera.

"Stop acting, Nancy. You were still fine a minute ago."

That was how Nancy suffocated to death in her own villa hallway.

By the time Duustin rushed to the hospital, the only things he saw were Nancy's dead body under a white cloth and the video that Miranda had posted on her social media account for laughs.

He dropped to his knees outside the morgue, his eyes bloodshot as he suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood.

He had grown up with Nancy all his life, and she was the only safe haven he could rely on in a household filled with deceit and power struggles.

He'd hugged me tightly in his arms then and cried so hard it felt as though he'd lost his very soul that day.

"I don't have a mother anymore, Claudia. You're the only one I have left."

For the next three months after that, he locked himself up in the dark basement and refused to eat or drink. I was the one who force-fed him the cooled-off stews and soups and held his emaciated form in my arms as I fought to tear him away from Death's door.

I had been the one who held his hand through the darkest time of his life.

"I never forgot," Dustin said through gritted teeth, his eyes turning red with tears. His voice was fierce and resolute. "A vile, vicious woman like her will never be able to atone for Mom's life even if she died a thousand times over.

"If it weren't for you, darling, I would have already been dead. Miranda is worth less to me than an animal."

His eyes were still red, and the veins on the back of his hands popped out. Yet, his inner thoughts struck me like a sledgehammer, shattering all the sacrifices I'd made for him during that period.

[That incident happened such a long time ago. Miranda was only 18 years old at that time and hadn't known any better! How could she have known that those were Mom's life-saving pills that she swapped out?

[She felt so guilty afterward that she even tried slitting her wrists twice. Her hands are riddled with scars now. How could Claudia be so petty and vicious by bringing up the past against her like that?

[Miranda's such a kind and pure soul too, and she can't even bring herself to crush an ant. She's also been crying and waking from nightmares lately, and I'm so heartbroken for her.

[What's done is done. The dead can never come back to life. What's the point of bringing up the past when we should be looking to the future instead?]

I dug my nails into the palms of my hands until deep crescent marks formed.

How hilarious.

He was playing the role of an unforgiving and devoted son on the surface, but deep down, he felt only heartache for the scars on the murderer's arms.

The three months I'd spent with him in his darkest time didn't even mean as much to him as Miranda's fake tears after all.

He thought that I was still grieving Nancy's death and tried to reach out to comfort me, but I ducked and avoided his touch.

Instead, I glared intensely at his fourth finger and felt the tears instantly welling in my eyes.

The ring on his finger was not our wedding or engagement ring.

Our ring was a plain band that he had designed himself, and the inside of the ring was engraved with the initials of our names. He told me before that the purest of love didn't need any other fancy embellishments.

However, the ring that he was now wearing on his finger had a pink jewel set in it. It was a woman's wedding band. Also, it obviously didn't fit him, so it was stuck halfway through his second finger joint and left a deep, glaring red mark in his skin.

Chapter 3

Dustin's gaze followed mine to his ring finger.

He immediately shuddered hard and quickly clenched his fist to hide the ring from me. Then, he stuffed it into his pocket.

"Claudia."

He took a deep breath. When he looked at me again, his eyes were tinged with a gentle apology.

"I thought of giving it to you as a surprise at the wedding tomorrow. I didn't think that you'd find out about it today instead."

He took his hand out again and opened it in front of me. "I actually noticed that you'd been staring at pink diamonds in the magazines lately, so I secretly commissioned a top-tier jewelry designer to make one for you.

"But when I went to pick it up, the shop assistant said that the size might be a little tight, and I tried it on myself to check. I didn't think that it would get stuck."

He even smiled regretfully at me and said, "I just can't wait to see you wearing it on your finger."

It was quite a flawless answer.

Yet, a split second later, his inner thoughts invaded my head again.

[Damn it! How'd I end up wearing Mimi's ring here instead? I guess I was in too much of a hurry when I left the hotel room earlier and wore the wrong wedding band. I definitely can't let Claudia know that I also commissioned a pair of wedding bands with Mimi.]

Three hours ago, he'd told me gently over the phone that an emergency had just occurred at the company's purchasing department, and he needed to attend an international video conference to rectify it. He then left me to try on the wedding dresses alone in the boutique.

As it turned out, he had his "international video conference" in a hotel room bed after all.

Dustin had even prepared two sets of wedding bands for himself.

The same hands he'd used to dig me out of the glacier had also caressed every inch of Miranda's body.

The same lips he'd used to swear his loyalty to me in his next life last time had also kissed every one of Miranda's tears.

My fingers shook uncontrollably.

"Really?" I heard myself asking in a dry, bitter tone. "But it doesn't seem to be our initials engraved inside this ring."

Dustin's pupils narrowed abruptly. The color on his face visibly drained away, and even his breathing stopped for a moment.

He gripped the ring tightly in his hand and said, "It's actually the word 'forever' in another language. Maybe it's so small that you misread it. You can read it again clearly when you put it on tomorrow."

His phone rang again. He glanced at his phone and briefly commented that it was a work call.

He quickly went over to the window to take the call, lowering his voice as he said, "Didn't I tell you not to call me at this time?"

When he heard the other party's reply, his expression changed at once, and he headed straight for the exit right after hanging up.

[Mimi's morning sickness is getting worse. She needs me by her side right now. The longer I drag this out, the harder it's going to be on her.

[I need to rush over immediately. Claudia can never get pregnant, but Mimi's different. She's carrying my first child! I can't let her suffer!]

In our second year of college, Dustin had been cornered in a dark alley by a gang of thugs. One of them had a knife, and I threw myself in front of Dustin when they lunged at him with it. Blood immediately spurted out and dyed the thug's hands red.

Afterward, the doctor told me that I'd permanently injured my uterus, and I would never be able to get pregnant.

Dustin had been so mad then that he nearly tore his hair out in anger. "I'm sorry, Claudia. I was the one who dragged you into this.

"But it's fine if we can't have children together! We'll just adopt. But if you don't like the idea of that, then we'll just continue living as a childless couple and enjoy each other's company for the rest of our lives."

But now, he had gotten his mother's murderer pregnant.

His lies shattered the past memories into dust, leaving only desolation behind.

Dustin strode quickly toward the exit.

"Darling, I need to handle another problem at the company. Something went wrong with the investment, and we're facing a huge issue with our cash flow. I need to go back to the company to handle it now."

After he left, I called up a friend of mine and had her look into Miranda's medical records.

Half an hour later, a digital copy of Miranda's medical records arrived in my email. It said that she was six weeks pregnant. And after counting back in time, I found out that she had conceived the night of my birthday banquet.

I immediately found the whole thing absurd. I wanted to call Dad and cancel the wedding tomorrow.

However, my finger hovered over the dial button for a long time. I hesitated.

It was impossible to call the wedding off now. All the invitations had already been sent out, and the venue and hotel had also already been booked.

Furthermore, no one would believe me. Dustin's act was very convincing. He didn't just manage to fool me but the entire world.

In this life, everyone would only remember how deeply affectionate he was with me and think that I was the unreasonable one in our relationship.

I wiped away the tears in my eyes forcefully and smirked.

If that was the case, then I was going to let everyone enjoy the show.

I sent Miranda an e-invitation to our wedding tomorrow and said, "Wanna witness your beloved Dustin making his wedding vows to me?"

…

On the day of the wedding, I sat at the dressing table, touching up my makeup, and saw Mom's eyes glistening with happy tears.

She held my hand and gently patted the back of it, saying, "I'm so happy for you, Claudia. Dustin is a good man, and we've all seen just how affectionate he is whenever it comes to you. Your dad and I won't have any regrets handing you over to him."

I smiled wanly and headed toward the cocktail tables to mingle with the guests. I then bumped into Dustin's dad, Marco Sherwood.

He had always been a man of few words and rarely even smiled at anyone. But today, there was a warm look in his eyes as he nodded and raised his glass of champagne at me.

He was quite conservative with a traditional mindset, and he never remarried since Nancy's death.

"Dustin is just like me," he said. "Once he sets his eyes on someone, he'll only be loyal to her for life. And if he ever dares to betray you, I'll break both his legs."

Chapter 4

The guests' laughter echoed loudly in the luxurious banquet hall. I looked at Dustin, who was exchanging pleasantries with a few guests not too far away.

He was wearing a well-tailored bespoke suit, standing upright as he exchanged pleasantries with the guests. There was also a perfectly measured, gentle smile playing on his lips.

If I hadn't known that his neck was littered with hickeys covered up with concealer, I would have almost mistaken it for just any other normal wedding today.

Suddenly, the heavy doors leading into the banquet hall were forcefully pushed open, and Miranda stood right in the center of the entrance.

She was wearing an extremely inappropriate white bridal dress with a plunging neckline and super high slit that went all the way up to her thighs. Her dress was embellished with Swarovski crystals, and it was almost too glaring when the lights reflected off of them.

The guests around us fell silent at once as their gazes darted between her and me.

Miranda headed straight toward Dustin, reaching out to grab his sleeve. While tugging at his hand, I clearly saw her slip a small, crumpled piece of paper into his suit sleeve.

"I've come to see just how beautiful Claudia is today. I come in peace. I just want to be part of your big day today."

The smile on Dustin's face vanished at once. He shook Miranda's hand off as if he'd just been electrocuted and staggered backward.

"Get out! Security! How dare you just let anyone in like this?"

He then turned to me, his eyes tinged with fear and shock.

"Please don't misunderstand, Claudia! I never invited her! She was the one who came to me and threw herself at me like a leech!"

Marco's face turned grim. "Dustin, make sure you properly throw this woman out! I refuse to let her continue offending Claudia's eyes!"

The security guards arrived quickly and grabbed either side of Miranda's arms before forcefully dragging her out of the venue.

"Darling, she's touched this shirt, and I find it dirty and disgusting," Dustin said, looking at me apologetically. "There's still another 20 minutes before the ceremony begins. I'll head up to the penthouse suite to change into my spare suit. I'll be right back down!"

I heard his inner thoughts just before the elevators closed.

[Mimi looked so pretty in that dress. I bet she's not wearing anything underneath.

[The slip said she was waiting for me in the penthouse suite. This little minx! I guess she just wanted one last quickie before my wedding today.

[I need to make this quick. She's going to scream so loudly when I fuck her silly in my wedding suit!]

Miranda had come prepared. She slipped out from the back door and went upstairs straight to the suite to wait for him.

It seemed that my little provocation yesterday worked really well after all, and she had to blow off her steam by making Dustin sleep with her in the hotel room right above our wedding hall.

Ten minutes later, I turned on the pinhole camera hidden in my necklace and turned to Mom, Dad, and some other relatives next to me.

"Mom, Dad, Dustin just asked me to go up and fetch some of the wedding favors we accidentally forgot to bring down for the guests. Would you come up with me and help us with them? We might not be able to bring everything down by ourselves."

At least a dozen relatives immediately chimed in and said they'd help. So, the entire entourage followed me up to the penthouse suite, with Marco walking ahead of me.

My heels made no noise on the thick wool carpet. As I got closer to Dustin, I could hear his heavy breathing in my head once again.

[So smooth… So flawless… Her waist is swaying so sexily… I'd happily give up my life for her…]

Mom reached out to me and helped me adjust my heavy veil.

"I'm so glad that the two of you are getting married, Claudia. Did you know? You were down with an extremely high fever about two years ago, and Dustin literally camped out next to your hospital bed the whole night on a foldable chair.

"Even the nurses praised him for how devoted he was to you. She told me that she'd never seen another man who spoiled his fiancee like Dustin did."

[Come on, Mimi. Don't be mad at me. It was all just an act. You know very well that we have to keep it up whenever Claudia is around. Come on, raise your legs higher for me.]

My aunt, Kelsey Summers, smiled next to Mom and picked up from where she left off.

"Exactly! Everyone in Pine City knows just how much of a romantic Mr. Sherwood is. His car broke down by the road in the middle of winter, and he still trudged five miles through the snow just to buy you your favorite chestnut buns!

"His ears were nearly frozen off by the time he came back home. And yet, the buns in his hands were still warm and steamy."

[Oh god, you're really not wearing anything under this dress. You've been giving me that sexy look ever since barging into the hall downstairs.

[If it weren't for Claudia or that old man standing next to me, I'd have already bent you over in front of the champagne tower by now!]

Marco's voice was low and steady, and his tone carried a certainty to it.

"I raised Dustin to be quite conservative with a traditionalist mindset from a young age, so he didn't understand much about romance. However, he takes after me and doesn't care about any other woman besides his wife.

"You don't have to worry about that woman who tried to crash the wedding earlier. You've seen Dustin's attitude toward her. He felt disgusted when that woman touched him."

I continued listening to the relatives' blessings and the lewd noises in my head as I continued walking forward, the heavy train of my wedding dress trailing on the ground behind me with a rustling sound.

We were so, so close now.

I stopped at the door to the suite, and the rest of my entourage stopped as well. They smiled at the door, waiting for me to open it.

I gripped the cold metal handle and pressed down hard with all of my might.

The door opened with a click.