Chapter 1

After I was reborn, I returned to my eighteenth birthday gala.

My hypocritical stepsister was holding my ex-fiancé’s arm, smiling at me like she had already won.

The host announced that I would receive ten percent of the family corporation’s shares.

In front of every guest, I declined the gift and announced that I was cutting all ties with this family.

Then I raised my glass and smiled as I announced that, with the heir in my belly, I would inherit the entire estate of my ex-fiancé’s sworn enemy—his billionaire uncle, the man rumored to have no interest in women.

The spotlight burned against my skin, and the air around me seemed to freeze.

The guests stared at me with shock, disgust, and the eager excitement of people waiting for a scandal to explode.

My adoptive father, Robert Bennett, was the first to react, and he rushed onto the stage, lowering his voice as he roared, “Ava Bennett, have you lost your mind! Do you even know what nonsense you’re saying?”

My adoptive mother, Claire Bennett, followed right behind him, and the polished mask of a wealthy society wife on her face was already close to cracking. “Ava, apologize to everyone right now and tell them you had too much to drink. Don’t embarrass yourself here.”

I looked at their anxious faces, which held not a trace of real concern, and my heart went cold.

So this was my family.

In my last life, at this very same gala, they sent me away with a mere ten percent of the shares, throwing me out like an old piece of furniture, while Sophia Bennett, the fake heiress who had stolen my place, accepted everyone’s blessings like the true princess of the Bennett family.

I had naively believed that if I was obedient enough, I could earn even a little affection from them.

In the end, all I got was a carefully planned car crash.

When the freezing river water swallowed my mouth and nose, I saw Sophia Bennett and Ethan Reed standing on the bridge, wearing the exact same satisfied smiles.

The baby that had just begun forming inside me disappeared with me too.

In this life, I would not make the same mistake again.

I ignored my furious adoptive parents, looked past them, and stared straight at Ethan Reed, whose face had turned livid, and Sophia Bennett, who leaned against him while pretending to be weak and innocent.

“I’m crazy?” I picked up the microphone, and though my voice was not loud, it carried clearly through the entire ballroom. “The ones who are truly crazy are all of you.”

“The Bennett family raised me, and for eighteen years, even if I did not deserve credit, I still suffered for this family. But at my eighteenth birthday gala, you want to kick me out with ten percent of the shares so you can make room for your real precious daughter, Sophia Bennett. That little scheme was so loud I could hear it from across town.”

A wave of hushed discussion rose among the guests.

“Robert Bennett, Claire Bennett, do you dare tell everyone here that you did not deliberately switch the babies eighteen years ago?”

Robert Bennett’s face turned deathly pale in an instant.

Claire Bennett pointed at me with a trembling hand. “You… you’re making vicious accusations!”

“You know better than anyone whether I’m making accusations.” I gave a cold laugh and turned my gaze toward my ex-fiancé. “Ethan Reed, as my fiancé, you stayed silent while the Bennett family humiliated me like this, and you let your sweetheart hang on your arm. How can you face the engagement our two families arranged years ago?”

Ethan Reed’s face shifted between green and white, and he shook off Sophia Bennett’s hand before striding forward and pointing at me as he cursed, “Ava Bennett, don’t be ungrateful! The Bennett family raised you for eighteen years, and giving you shares is already a kindness! Are you making up this ridiculous lie to slander us because you want to climb into my uncle’s bed?”

He paused, his tone full of contempt. “Have you even looked in the mirror lately? Do you know what kind of man my uncle is, and do you really think he would want you?”

Sophia Bennett spoke at just the right moment, her voice choked with tears, as if she had suffered some unbearable wrong. “Ava, how could you talk about Mom and Dad like that… I know you blame me, and I know you think I came back and stole everything from you. But blood is something no one can change. Ethan only… he only feels bad for me, and nothing happened between us. As for Mr. Reed… Ava, you can’t provoke someone like that just because you want revenge on us!”

Her words sounded like she was thinking of me, but every single line was meant to prove that I was a jealous lunatic clinging to power.

The guests’ gazes became even more loaded, and it was obvious that they believed her.

In my last life, I had lost to her “kindness” again and again.

But not this time.

I did not defend myself and simply raised my glass toward an empty seat below the stage with the name card “Adrian Reed” on it.

“You’ll know soon enough whether I’m lying.”