Chapter 1

On the eve of the graduation exhibition, my boyfriend swapped my graduation project with his childhood sweetheart's.

After I discovered it, I ignored his pleas and switched back to my original work.

Later, my graduation project caused a sensation at the exhibition. I became an overnight success, not only winning the academy's gold award but also having my piece acquired for millions of dollars.

But just as I was about to use the money to pay off my boyfriend's father's gambling debts, his childhood sweetheart jumped from her apartment building.

My boyfriend flew into a rage and smashed my artwork.

"Sera, are you so vain that you just had to compete with Delilah! If it weren't for you, how could she have ended up in the ICU!"

The words had barely left his lips when, without a moment's hesitation, he dragged me off to have 1000 milliliters of my blood drawn for his childhood sweetheart.

Already anemic, I didn't survive. I died on the operating table.

When I opened my eyes again, I had returned to the day Julian was about to swap my graduation project with Delilah's.

————————

1

Julian Croft's eyes were filled with disgust. "Sera, you've already won so many awards. What would it matter if you let Delilah have this final one? Must you be so vain?"

Delilah Rosewood, drawn by the commotion, hurried over, feigning a look of distress.

"Oh, Sera, darling," she cooed, "as much as I desperately covet this award, I never dreamed of taking your work. It was Julian—he was just so eager to make me happy, that's why he did it."

Julian snatched the graduation project I had poured an entire year of my life into and thrust it at Delilah.

"Take it, Delilah," he said. "Sera only works this hard to win my approval anyway. If this makes you win, and you're happy, then I'm happy."

Listening to Julian’s words, a chilling cold spread through my heart.

He wasn't wrong. I truly had been his pathetic devotee, fawning and groveling until I was left with absolutely nothing.

Delilah and I were both students at NYIVA, New York City's premier visual arts academy. This graduation exhibition was paramount, numerous gallery owners, art critics, and collectors would be in attendance.

If luck was on our side, we might even sell our pieces and earn our first real nest egg. More importantly, I’d worked myself to the bone, all to win the prize money and help Julian’s gambler father pay off his debts.

Delilah feigned surprise, though her eyes betrayed her deep longing, she still put on a show of refusing.

"Julian, I would never take something that isn't freely given. Unless Sera willingly offers it to me, I wouldn't dream of accepting it!"

Having said that, she looked at me tentatively.

A faint smile touched my lips.

"Alright, it's yours."

Hearing me agree so readily, both Delilah and Julian looked utterly astonished.

"However, my piece isn't quite finished. There are a few details I still need to adjust. You know how I am, a perfectionist."

A smile finally graced Julian’s lips. "That’s more like it, Sera. You’re so exceptionally talented, it's just one graduation exhibition. What’s the harm in letting Delilah have this one?"

Although Delilah and I were in the same major, the difference in our talent was night and day.

So much so that Julian's words of praise for me left Delilah, standing beside him, with a sour taste in her mouth.

She pouted, saying acidly, "Oh, yes, I'm certainly no match for the exceptionally talented Sera." Julian's expression changed instantly, and he gently consoled her, "Delilah, this kind of graduation project is always rushed out by grunts like Sera, pulling all-nighters. How could our little princess endure such hardship? It breaks my heart to see you suffer."

Hearing his words, a sharp pain pierced my heart.

This was the man I had loved for six years.

Delilah, now placated, arrogantly handed the painting to me. "Then I'll trouble Sera to perfect it. I absolutely must get this prize money. I still want to take Julian on a Mediterranean Sea vacation."

Julian's eyes were full of tenderness. "Delilah is such a good girl. Sera, you should learn more from Delilah's gentleness and understanding!"

Watching their intimacy, I smiled and nodded.

In my past life, the one who bought my graduation project was none other than the tech tycoon Alexander Sterling, to commemorate his deceased beloved.

And his wife had been the one brutally murdered by the "Crimson Thorn", a mafia organization.

To avenge his beloved, in recent years, he had been eradicating anyone and anything connected to the Crimson Thorn nationwide.

Thinking of this, I smiled and, in a corner of the graduation project, secretly added a Crimson Thorn emblem...