Chapter 1
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My colonel husband Ethan Collins died in the line of duty, but I didn’t hesitate to cancel his identity registration. Three days later, on the wedding day of his twin brother Logan Collins and childhood friend Violet Myers, I resolutely took the substantial death benefits and married someone else with my son Anthony
Collins.
Everyone called me cold–blooded and heartless, but I felt
immense satisfaction watching “Logan” with his reddened eyes.
This was because in my previous life, I had recognized that the body sent home wasn’t Ethan’s, but Logan’s.
When I went to confront him about it, I accidentally overheard Ethan discussing with his mother Layla Collins about marrying Violet, who was engaged to Logan, in three days.
Ethan said, “Mom, Aurora is strong. Besides, we have Anthony. She’ll definitely be fine. But Violet has waited for Logan through so many Christmases. If she learns about Logan’s death, she might follow him to the grave.”
I was stunned and wanted to expose the truth, but Ethan knocked me unconscious with a club.
Ethan told everyone I had gone mad from grief. He locked me in a warehouse and made me watch him marry Violet.
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Later, because Violet found Anthony too noisy, Ethan put sleeping pills in my crying son’s food when he came looking for me, and Anthony never woke up again.
On the day Anthony was carelessly buried, I desperately ended my life in that warehouse.
When I opened my eyes again, I had returned to the day Logan’s body was brought home..
*****
“My son! How could you just die like this? What will become of your wife and child?” Layla’s piercing wails brought me back to reality.
I looked at the corpse that bore Ethan’s exact features, then lowered my head, my heart far from calm.
I had actually been reborn, back to the day Logan’s body was returned.
Indeed, the one lying in the coffin wasn’t my husband Ethan, but his twin brother Logan.
In my previous life, when news of Ethan’s death arrived, I cried in despair. I threw myself onto his body, only to suddenly notice the absence of that red mole behind his ear.
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I immediately realized that Ethan must still be alive, and that “Logan” who had escorted the body home was actually Ethan.
Filled with joy at discovering he wasn’t dead and confusion about why he would do such a thing, I was about to question him when I overheard the heartbreaking truth outside Layla’s door.
Layla asked, “Ethan, are you really going to take Logan’s place and marry Violet in three days?”
Ethan’s tone was resolute: “Of course. Mom, Logan and Violet have been engaged for so long. Violet has been waiting for him to return. Now that Logan is dead, what if Violet can’t handle the shock and chooses to follow Logan in death? You watched Violet grow up. Could you bear to see her die? It’s better for me to marry Violet. That way, after we have children, they’ll still be Logan’s. In the future, Logan will have someone to honor his
memory.”
Layla seemed somewhat convinced but still hesitated: “If you do this, what about Aurora? Anthony is only two and a half. Aren’t you afraid she won’t be able to handle it? Aren’t you afraid she’ll remarry?”
Hearing Layla’s words, Ethan laughed: “Mom, don’t worry. Aurora loves me deeply. How could she possibly remarry? She has a resilient nature. Besides, we have Anthony. Even for
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Anthony’s sake, she’ll definitely persevere.”
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If I hadn’t heard all this, I would indeed have spent my entire life in the Collins household as he predicted, raising Anthony.
But knowing the truth, I felt this was utterly unfair.
I angrily pushed open the door. However, just as I was about to expose Ethan’s identity to everyone, he mercilessly struck the back of my head with a club.
When I regained consciousness, I was already locked in the warehouse with no escape.
Ethan told everyone that because my husband had died, I had gone mad from excessive grief. After that, no one believed my words anymore.
From the warehouse, I watched him happily marry Violet and heard the sounds of their intimacy.
Unable to find me, Anthony cried incessantly, disturbing Violet’s sleep.
Violet merely complained once, and Ethan frantically bought sleeping pills and put them in Anthony’s food.
Anthony died less than thirty feet away from me.
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After Anthony’s death, they felt no guilt whatsoever. Linking arms with Ethan, Violet looked down at me condescendingly and said, “Aurora, your luck is just terrible. Your husband and son were both killed because of you. If my husband hadn’t pleaded for you, I definitely wouldn’t allow you to live in my house. But to put my mind at ease, he compensated me with your dowry on Ethan’s behalf. From now on, just stay put in this warehouse.”
Standing beside her, Ethan said nothing, only gazing at her adoringly.
Only then did I realize that although Ethan had married me, his heart had always belonged to Violet.
For Violet’s sake, Ethan was willing to abandon his identity and family. In his eyes, Anthony and I weren’t worth a single strand of Violet’s hair.
I was both furious and resentful, yet I couldn’t even escape that tiny warehouse. Eventually, I found a rope and desperately took my own life.
In the moment before I died from suffocation, I was still filled with regret. Why had I ever married a bastard like Ethan?
Fortunately, I was reborn, and things could still be changed.
Wasn’t Ethan certain I would spend my entire life in the Collins
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household protecting him?
I absolutely won’t let him have his way!
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