Chapter 1

My ex-husband, Julian, and I used to be renowned medical philanthropists in our past life.

Yet on his deathbed, he held a massive press conference.

He claimed that I was a venomous monster who manipulated his heart and drove his first love, Vivian, to suicide.

Right after spewing those lies, he swallowed a fatal dose of pills on live camera, using his own death to brand me as an evil villain forever.

That was when I realized he had never once gotten over Vivian.

Given a second chance at life, we both woke up back in our college days.

Without hesitation, Julian flung my hand away and ran toward his darling Vivian.

I watched them disappear, turned around, and walked away.

From that moment on, our lives were two parallel lines that would never intersect again.

Ten years later, we crossed paths at an elite medical charity gala in Seattle.

He was now a rising tech entrepreneur, with Vivian clinging adoringly to his arm.

Seeing me in what looked like an unfitting setting, he couldn't resist sneering.

"Stop obsessing over me, Chloe. Even if you waited another ten years, I would never love you."

I completely ignored him, reaching under a table to pull out my seven-year-old son, who was stuffing his face with powdered donuts.

Julian's eyes turned bloodshot in an instant, and he grabbed my wrist tightly.

"Are you doing this just to spite me? You swore you'd only ever love me in this life!"

I never imagined I would see Julian again in this lifetime.

At the medical charity gala in Seattle, he stood amidst the crowd with Vivian on his arm, flashing polished, effortless smiles. There wasn't a trace of the awkward boy he once was.

The people surrounding them showered him with flattering compliments.

"Mr. Vance, your future is limitless! Landing such a massive multinational medical contract at your age is astonishing!"

"And this must be your lovely wife beside you? You two look absolutely stunning together."

Vivian cast an affectionate glance at Julian and said sweetly, "We're actually getting married by the end of the year. If everyone is free, we'd love to have you at our wedding."

A wave of congratulations broke out. Then someone casually chimed in, "I heard you two have been together for ten years. How come you're only tying the knot now?"

Honestly, I was a little curious about that, too.

In our past life, Julian loved Vivian enough to die for her.

The minute we were both reborn, he dumped me on the spot.

I honestly thought they would've walked down the aisle right after graduation. I didn't expect them to still be unmarried after all these years.

At the question, Julian's face stiffened for a fraction of a second before he smoothly masked it with a polite chuckle.

"A man needs a stable career before building a home. I want to give Vivian the finest life possible."

He gazed at Vivian with tender affection dripping from his eyes.

Back when we were together in our past life, I asked him countless times when we would finally get married.

It wasn't until his family cornered him with unbearable pressure that he reluctantly agreed to make me his wife.

Turns out, love and indifference are as clear as day and night.

Just as I turned to leave, my peripheral vision caught a small, familiar silhouette. My instincts kicked in, and I hurried after it.

Crash!

Champagne splattered all over the floor. The waiter holding the tray glared at me, his face twisted in annoyance.

"Where on earth did you crawl out from? Don't you have eyes?!"

His voice was loud enough to turn every head in the immediate area.

The moment he caught sight of my face, Julian froze in shock.

"Chloe? What are you doing here?"

I lowered my head and apologized to the waiter, explaining, "I'm looking for someone."

A guest asked curiously, "You know her, Mr. Vance?"

Julian's grip on his glass tightened, and his expression darkened.

"Yeah. Just an ex."

Someone nearby couldn't help blabbing, "You've been with Vivian for ten years—I assumed you guys were together the whole time!"

The smile on Vivian's face faded slightly. She grabbed Julian's hand and brushed it off with a delicate shrug.

"We were young and had a brief falling out. Everyone takes a wrong turn when they're young, don't they?"

Julian said nothing. His gaze swept over me before landing on the waiter.

"Put the mess on my tab. Let her go."

He stood there, perfectly calm. Aside from that initial glance, he didn't care to spare me another second of his attention.

Clearly, he wanted to prove to Vivian that he had drawn a hard line against his "wrong turn."

The waiter immediately nudged me toward the exit.

"Mr. Vance is being generous by cleaning up your mess. There won't be a second time."

He took in my wrinkled oversized tracksuit with utter disgust.

"This is no place for someone like you. Get out, now."

I pulled out of his grip and explained calmly, "I told you, I'm looking for someone. Once I find him, I'll leave on my own."

The waiter rolled his eyes with a sneer.

"I've seen plenty of gold-diggers like you trying to crash high-society parties. You think you belong in a place like this? Leave right now, or I'm calling security!"

"Wait."

Julian's voice cut in from behind him.

He looked at me with a heavy, patronizing sigh.

"She came here looking for me. Let me handle her."

Vivian stepped right up beside him, hooking her arm around his neck in a possessive display.

"Chloe, Julian and I are about to get married. Anyone with an ounce of self-respect wouldn't show up chasing their ex like this."

Julian's jaw tightened, and he couldn't help but lecture me.

"Stop obsessing over me, Chloe. Even if you waited ten years, I still wouldn't fall for you."

"Being with you back then was a mistake. Now that we've both been given a clean slate to correct our past, I suggest you let go and move on."

Vivian scanned me up and down, mockingly curling her lips.

"Honestly, I don't blame you for coming after him. He's a prominent tech CEO now; people are always lining up to kiss his feet."

Perhaps my wrinkled clothes bolstered her superiority, because she smirked even harder.

"You graduated from an Ivy League school, didn't you? How on earth did you end up such a miserable wreck? If I were you, I'd be too embarrassed to step outside!"

Julian frowned. He pulled out his phone, his tone edged with impatience.

"If you feel I wronged you when we split, I can wire you a breakup settlement right now."

"Is half a million dollars enough?"

His thumbs tapped the screen twice, and then he froze.

"You blocked me on SnapChat?"