Chapter 1

As the sole heiress of the Vance Group, I had been with my fiancé for three years and considered him my everything.

I naively believed I had found perfect love.

Until I lay on the hospital bed, suffering from acute gastric bleeding, and my fiancé finally dropped his pretense.

"I've long been fed up with you...a haughty princess."

"I've been with that intern for three years now, and we have twins."

"You were just a stepping stone for me to revive my family's fortunes. It would be best if you could just disappear quietly."

So, all those three years of sweet nothings had been lies. He loved someone else, and all he truly wanted was my family's money.

An excruciating pain washed over me, the heart monitor shrieked frantically, and I closed my eyes in despair.

When I opened my eyes again, I found myself back three years prior, on the very day my father had asked for my opinion on this marriage.

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1

"An acute stomach hemorrhage. How convenient," my fiancé, Lucian Thorne, sneered, standing by my hospital bed.

I looked at him in confusion. His blue eyes, which once so thoroughly mesmerized me, now held only an icy coldness and a deep-seated weariness.

"I've long since had enough of you, you haughty princess. You were nothing more than a stepping stone for me to revive the Thorne family."

A pain, sharp as a dagger, pierced through my chest, far more agonizing than the stomach hemorrhage itself. "Lucian, I love you..."

"Love?" He scoffed, a cruel smile playing on his lips. "You have money. I need money. You wanted a fairytale romance. I merely provided the illusion."

He turned to look out the window. "Chloe and I have been together for three years. We have twins."

"Chloe...Reed? The intern?" My heart felt as if it had slammed to a halt.

A cold light glinted in his eyes. "That's right. The little nobody you never even bothered to notice. She understands me, supports me. Unlike you, always lost in your fantasy world."

He drew nearer to the bed, his voice dropping to an even more chilling whisper. "You were only ever the provider of the Vance Group's funds and your father's connections."

"Why... why are you telling me this now?" I finally choked out, tears blurring my vision.

"Because," he whispered in my ear, his breath making me nauseous, "the doctor said your prognosis isn't good. If you could quietly disappear, I could legitimately bring Chloe and my child home."

Excruciating pain washed over me, the monitor blared frantically, and medical staff rushed into the room. In the last moment before consciousness faded, I saw a satisfied, cold smirk flash in Lucian's eyes.

Darkness enveloped me, then, light returned.

"Elara, my dear, what are your thoughts on the Thorne family's formal marriage proposal?"

I snapped my eyes open, finding myself sitting in the study of Vance Manor, my father, Arthur, before me. Sunlight streamed through the window, and everything felt so real. Looking down at my hands, there were no nurses, no smell of antiseptic, only the familiar scent of leather and cigars from my father's study.

I realized with a shock: Fate had given me a second chance.