CHAPTER 1

On the bustling streets, the place was teeming with cars and people. I'd been sitting in a café for two hours, tucked away at a corner table, facing the counter where beverages were made. A young girl, in a blue attire was busy making all sorts of drinks. She was about 5.2 feet tall, didn't look like she weighed more than 10 yuan, slim, and always smiling. She'd got her thick dark hair tied up in a ponytail on top of her head. Her eyes were curved just like a crescent moon, and her laughter was contagious "Ma'am, would you like a refill of your coffee?" She came over and asked me, beaming. I was oddly drawn to this young girl, almost spellbound. Luckily I'm a woman too, otherwise, people would get the wrong idea "Sure, black coffee please." I flashed a polite smile, my voice soft. Soon, she brought over another cup of bitter black coffee. She didn't leave right away but hesitated and checked on me. "Ma'am, you've already had two tops of Black coffee. It does perk you up, but too much might not be good for you. Maybe… come back for more next time?" Her voice was crisp and easy-going, like wind chimes. Very pleasant to the ear. I glanced at the black coffee on the table, picked up my bag, and was ready to leave. "Sure, let me have the bill." The girl was thrilled that I took her advice. She quickly got the bill and told me, "Ma'am, your total is 15 yuan today. Would you like to pay in cash or by mobile payment ". After silently paying, I briskly left the café.

"Madam." James saw me come out, gave a respectful nod, and opened the car door for me. "Let's head home." I gave a small smile and instructed him. The car slowly pulled away, I closed my eyes and rested in the back seat. The image of the girl in the café kept flashing in my mind, that youthful face. Was she the girl? The one who made Damon break off from his family and pay a hefty price to divorce me a year later? I didn't expect that the first thing I would do after my death and reincarnation would be to find her current workplace and observing her like a stalker I was really curious, what kind of girl could take away the man I loved for ten years? In my past life, I never met her, I only found out her name and saw a few pictures of her. Damon guarded her like a treasure. I was miserably lost and in love with him, but I never saw the girl he guarded with all his heart before. Young, beautiful, pure, kind, cheerful… all these wonderful adjectives fit her perfectly. Her only weakness was that she didn't come from a noble family, a stark contrast to Damon's status. James suddenly spoke up, "Madam, today is your wedding anniversary with Mr. Coleman." I slowly open my eyes, a moment of bewilderment. If you counted, this year was the fifth year I'd been married to Damon. Every wedding anniversary I would be busy all day preparing a candlelit dinner and wedding gifts. This year, I would turn 23, and he would be 25. "I know." I pressed my somewhat aching temples. "You don't need to remind me." Perhaps James felt I was a bit different from before, that's why he reminded me. But why was I always the one who had to go forward and give my all? Why should I love that man? Before my death in my past life, I wondered about this, I lost everything for Damon, and only got a tragic end. Lost in thought, the car I was in had stopped in front of the house Damon and I shared. This was the wedding gift from both our parents, a luxurious mansion of over 500D square feet. To my surprise, Damon's car was also parked at the front. He was home. I felt a mix of emotions, I'd already died once. When I met the person who caused my death after being reborn, what would I do? I thought I would hate Damon. He pushed me to the end for a woman; he even harmed the people who were like parents to me, my family all ruined at his hands But when I saw him again, I realized I didn't hate him as much, instead, I felt a sense of relief. In my past life, Damon gave me a chance, and proposed a peaceful divorce. He was willing to give me a portion of the shares of Coleman Co., enough for me to enjoy for a lifetime, but I wouldn't have it. I wasted ten years to not gain his love, yet another woman took only a year to make him give up everything for her. So I used all means, and tried to win him back, but in the end, we reached the point of no return, confrontational, at each other's throats. Now, none of these had happened, I no longer hated him, and I hoped more to have changed the tragic ending. "What are you doing there?" Damon was sitting in the living room, comfortably crossing his legs. His ashtray on the table held the cigarette he just smoked. He looked up at me, his gaze calm. On our wedding day, Damon made it clear to me that we were just business partners, long-term roommates, and he had no feelings for me. "Nothing. I just didn't expect you to be home." I lowered my head to change into slippers. They were Hermes in gray simply designed, and plain colored Other being comfortable, they didn't seem to have any other attractive features. I thought of the girl in the café wearing the blue apron. There was a small red flower on it, none of the others had it, only hers. In comparison, all my clothes were expensive and monotonous, they looked simple yet dull. I suddenly noticed these slippers, so I tossed them aside and walked barefoot into the living room. Damon saw me walk over barefoot, his brows furrowed slightly a hunt of surprise in his eyes, "Aren't you going to wear your slippers?" "Mm, don't feel like it, so I won't,' I sat across from him and casually replied. "That's odd, what's gotten into you? Damon actually chuckled. It was rare for him to speak to me in such a relaxed tone. In my heart, I thought, 'It's all the influence of your future true love." I lowered my head to look at my feet, I was too skinny, so my feet looked a bit thin and dry too Ariel was an exception, she was skinny, but her skin was glowing, not like mine, all skin, and bones. After five years in a lonely marriage, my health started going down the drain. I had lost all my appetite, so I got skinnier and skinnier, looking more like a skeleton than a person.

"Hmm?" Damon, engrossed in his phone, didn't even bother to look up. He was sporting black shirt and trousers, both of top-notch quality. His lean figure and perfect proportions made him look super handsome. Adding to that, his good-looking face and well-defined features, he was basically every teenage girl's dream guy. I pulled my gaze away, staring at the man opposite me, my voice a bit hoarse, "Let's get a divorce." Just as I finished speaking, I heard Damon's sarcastic laugh. He tossed his phone onto the sofa, looking at me with that familiar cold gaze, asking, "Eliana, what's your game this time?" "I mean it." I sat up straight, staring into those oppressive eyes. "It's been five years, you weren't going to fall for me anyway. We should let each other live better lives? In a month, there would be a huge business conference in the city, and Damon would meet Ariel there, who would be working part-time as a receptionist. He would fall for her at first sight, deciding to get her no matter what it took. Such a romantic tale, I was not going to play the pathetic role in their legendary love story anymore. What I wanted to do, could do, should do, all of it was done and dusted in my past life, and I got the final results. In this life, I wouldn't let myself be the butt of the joke, pushing my family into an abyss. I decided to drop out of this farce before Damon and Ariel met. On their rocky path of love, I would step aside for them. Seeing the seriousness in my eyes, Damon's face darkened instantly. He always had a bad temper, and if anyone made him uncomfortable, he'd definitely lose it. "Haha, looks like I'm the plaything now, huh?" He chuckled, with coldness in his eyes. "Five years ago, you were the one who insisted on marrying me, and now you're the one asking for a divorce. Eliana, are you messing with me?" Five years ago, the Coleman family and the Brooks family were on good terms, so our elders arranged our marriage. Damon was stubborn, definitely not the obedient type, but the Whitmore family's grandfather was seriously ill, so he had no choice but to marry me.

For Damon, it was a humiliation. But he didn't have someone he deeply loved, was taking over the family business at the time, and needed a good partner, so he spent five years with me as husband and wife. I smiled sadly, "Do you really want to keep up this sham of a marriage?" "A sham marriage?" Damon pondered the phrase, then raised an eyebrow, sarcastically asking, "Oh, are you feeling lonely?" "No, I just…" I carefully chose my words to respond to him. Damon had already stood up and walked over to me. He bent over, his hands on either side of the couch, his chest forming a circle with his arms, trapping me inside. His voice was seductive, "If you're lonely, why didn't you come to me? Now you're considering a divorce, are you just too lustful?" Damon liked to smoke, and he always had a faint scent on him, a mix of his scent and the smell of tobacco. Of course, he never held me, I just secretly sniffed his coat. Now, that complex and alluring scent enveloped me. It should've made me excited and thrilled, and my face should've turned red from excitement, but in reality, I was just feeling suffocated. I was someone ready to leave; anything that could shake my resolve seemed ominous to me. "It's not because of that!" I tried to explain, but I was already used to the loneliness that had been going on for days and nights. "Really?" Damon straightened up. He wasn't really interested in me anyway, so the gesture of flirtation he just showed was only to embarrass me a bit. He wouldn't lose control over it. As a 23-year-old married woman, I emitted a gloomy aura, not a charming scent like his. "Eliana, I know today is our fifth wedding anniversary, but I don't want to celebrate. If you want to use this as an excuse to ask for a divorce, I suggest you stop messing around." Damon stood in front of me, looking down at me, his voice cold. We never celebrated our wedding anniversary, so there's no need to start this year." I also stood up, looking up at Damon. "You should think about it, I'm probably not valuable to you anymore. You need freedom more than you need me, right?"

After saying that, I turned and went up to the second-floor bedroom without saying anything else. Downstairs, the sound of a door being slammed shut echoed, followed by the sound of a car engine outside the window. I knew it was Damon leaving, but this time I was calm. Then, my phone rang. was my friend Luna. "Eliana, come out and play, let's hit up!" Luna's loud voice immediately chased away my gloominess. She was the same age as me but still single. After getting married, I seldom went out to parties. Luna would invite me out, and I would reject her most of the time, but she kept insisting. "Okay!" I agreed immediately, leaving Luna silent on the other end of the line. Today is your wedding anniversary with Damon, are you sure you want to go out?" Luna finally spoke again, sounding skeptical and surprised. I had turned down Luna's invitations for four years straight using my wedding anniversary as an excuse. "Yes, even though today is our anniversary, it doesn't mean I can't go out and have fun, I'll be right there." I answered Luna decisively, then hung up the phone. I opened the closet, a bunch of black, white, and gray clothes came into view, no blues, no purples. Each luxury brand of clothing offered all kinds of elegant design, yet I spent big bucks on the most boring styles. After ten minutes of selection, I chose a slightly lively V-neck strapless black dress. The silk-like touch, the elastic waistband of the black dress could highlight my slim waist. My smooth arms were bare, revealing most of my back. I remembered this dress. I bought it specifically to attract Damon, but he didn't come home that entire month. The only thing that I wasn't satisfied with was my flat chest, which didn't quite match the charm of this dress. I could only comfort myself, "Just wear it, from now on, I'll eat more to console myself: After changing and putting on makeup, I drove a black Porsche straight to the club. It was a nightclub in the city, the name had a wild artistic vibe. After parking I walked into club, finding Luna at the bar. Back in college, Luna, Clara, Sofia, and I were hailed as the four female wonders of the music department Everyone anticipated

we would achieve great things after graduation, but it didn't quite pan out that way. I got hitched early, Luna turned into a club hopper, Clara snagged a management gig at her family's company, and Sofia, the only one of us still on the music grind, was bouncing from one music competition to another, hellbent on becoming a pop star "Long time no seer Luna, with her bossy vibe, hopped off her bar stool and grabbed my hand, gushing. The other two were nodding like bobbleheads, because after I tied the knot, I might as well have dropped off the face of the earth. I'd given up my social life for Damon. or your funeral." A few drinks in, Clara said, a touch melancholic, "If you didn't surface this time, I'd start to wonder if I attended your wedding five years ago. Aren't you supposed to be at home prepping a candlelit dinner? Luna asked curiously. She peered at my eyelids, even reaching out to touch my lashes. "Come here, let me sée. Has that jerk Damon been giving you the cold shoulder? Have you been crying?" Would you mind not messing up my fake lashes? I swatted Luna's hand away.