Chapter 4

On my way back, my parents called.

Their voices were filled with excitement. They said they had prepared a huge feast and were just waiting for Chloe and me to arrive.

My grip on the steering wheel tightened. After a moment of silence, I decided to tell them the truth—that we didn't sign the papers.

My dad’s voice instantly grew heavy over the phone.

"What is going on, Ethan? Weren't you the one who was dying to get married? Why are you backing out now?"

My parents genuinely adored Chloe.

When our family went bankrupt years ago, Chloe’s family business was booming. Yet, Chloe never forgot our childhood promise.

This completely won my parents over. They had declared that even if it bankrupted them, they would never mistreat her as their daughter-in-law.

I sighed and took all the blame.

"Mom, Dad, it's my fault. I feel like I'm not good enough for Chloe right now. I want to wait a bit longer."

Hearing this, my parents stopped pressing. My dad just let out a long sigh. "It's our fault too. We were naive and let bad people ruin our business, causing the family to go bankrupt. Son, we’ve let you down."

After hanging up, I sent a message to my college roommate, Mason.

In my past life, my entire world revolved around my family. So, when Mason invited me to join his startup, I rejected him without a second thought.

But what did I get in the end?

I lost my career, became the laughingstock who lived off his wife, and completely lost Chloe anyway.

After receiving my positive reply, Mason was so excited that he wanted to book me a flight to New York immediately.

I had no objections. I figured on my last day here, I could finalize everything with Chloe.

But right after I hung up, I noticed three missed calls from Lucas.

I frowned. My mind instantly flashed back to the moment before Lucas fell to his death in my past life.

I clearly remembered him calling me four times back then.

An uneasy feeling washed over me. Just as I was about to call him back, Chloe’s call came in.

Her angry voice erupted through the speaker.

"Ethan Hale! What on earth did you do? I knew you weren't that kind! Now Lucas has been driven to jump off a building because of you! Are you happy now?"

My brain went blank, and my vision blurred.

It was exactly like my past life.

Lucas had inexplicably fallen from a building, leaving nothing behind but my name written in his blood. There were no other leads.

Because of that, I became the prime suspect.

Even though the police questioned me for three days and nights without finding a single shred of evidence, everyone around me insisted that I had murdered Lucas.

Cold sweat poured down my back, and my knees trembled.

Was I destined to live under Lucas's shadow for the rest of my life, even after being reborn?

I refuse to accept this!

I immediately slammed on the brakes, pulled a U-turn, and sped toward the hospital.

When I arrived outside the emergency room, the hallway was in complete chaos. Chloe was surrounded by a group of burly, aggressive-looking men.

The leader, a fierce-looking man, yelled, "If you aren't Lucas's woman, why did you rush here the moment he got hurt? Cut the crap! He’s in there now, and you have to pay his debts, or we won't let you leave!"

Chloe's eyebrows were knit tight. She clearly had no idea about Lucas’s true nature and was completely bewildered.

"You have the wrong person! If you don't leave right now, I’m calling the police!"

But these thugs were never afraid of the cops. Provoked by her words, they began pushing her around aggressively.

Seeing that Chloe was about to fall, I rushed forward and caught her, staring coldly at the thugs.

"I’m Lucas's brother. If you have a problem, talk to me."

"Perfect! Your brother owes us one million dollars in gambling debts. Pay up right now!"

Chloe’s eyes widened in shock. "Are you guys insane? Do you think you can just extort anyone? Ethan, don't listen to them. I'm calling the police right now."

"This is ridiculous. Lucas doesn't even know how to gamble. How could he owe a million dollars?"

I stayed silent and checked my bank account balance.

Seeing that I wasn't arguing and was actually calculating my funds, Chloe yanked my arm hard.

"Ethan, did you lose your mind? Do you have too much money to spend? Do you know who these people—"

She stopped mid-sentence, as if a sudden realization hit her.

"Wait... so the one who actually owes the money is you, and you're framing Lucas, aren't you? No wonder you're so willing to pay them back!"