Chapter 1

I was willing to throw myself from a building to escape my own wedding. Yet my fiancée was the one I had secretly loved for years.

I had been reborn.

In my previous life, we were married for over twenty years. Everyone saw us as the perfect couple.

Then, on our anniversary, the illusion shattered.

She took her own life in a final, tragic pact with her "soulmate," Ryan.

Standing before her grave, I whispered.

"Did you regret marrying me?"

Silence. So I answered for her.

"I regretted it."

When I woke up again, I was back before our wedding.

I decided to run.

This time, we would be strangers.

But she found me anyway, her face pale and desperate. And what she said shattered everything.

"I never regretted marrying you, not in this life, not in the last. You were the only one I ever wanted."

...

My eyes fluttered open. Someone patted my shoulder.

In a daze, I saw the grand doors swing open. Chloe, who had died ten years ago, stood on the stage in her wedding gown. Bathed in light, she looked ethereal, like an angel descended from heaven.

A collective gasp of awe rippled through the audience, a sound even the music couldn't drown out. Everyone was praising the bride's beauty.

But I was drenched in a cold sweat.

Someone nudged me, reminding me it was time to walk towards the bride. I had specifically requested this part of the ceremony myself.

But now, as my gaze met Chloe's from across the hall, she curved her lips into a smile. My resolve, however, only hardened. I spun around and bolted for the exit.

"The wedding is off! I'm absolutely not marrying her!"

The venue erupted into instant chaos.

The hotel was huge, and in my panic, I couldn't find the right way out.

Chloe's relatives and friends started chasing me.

My future father-in-law's face was stormy. He frowned, glaring at me with displeasure.

"Liam, the wedding has started. Don't be foolish. Get back there and finish the ceremony."

I shook my head, firm.

I never imagined I would be reborn, especially not right into my own wedding with Chloe.

But since fate had given me a second chance, there was no way I would marry Chloe in this life.

A relative tried to reason with me, their voice filled with concern:

"Whatever it is, talk about it after the wedding. Chloe is waiting for you."

What? Chloe waiting for me!

Out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw a white figure actually chasing after me.

It felt like a death knell.

Without another moment of hesitation, I pushed open a nearby window. I jumped straight from the third floor. Luckily, there was an awning below that broke my fall.

Even so, when I stood up, I felt a biting pain.

But this slight ache was nothing compared to the heartbreak of the twenty years she'd fooled me in my past life.

Clutching my waist, I limped away, desperate to leave.

People from the hotel peered out the windows, their faces aghast.

"Liam, you're insane! You actually ran away from your own wedding!"

Chloe was among them, her face etched with anxiety and unease.

"Liam, what are you doing...? If you leave, what about our wedding?"

The Liam of my past life would never have done such a thing.

But now.

"Chloe, marrying you was the biggest mistake I ever made. I'm correcting that mistake."

"Remember this: I'm the one who doesn't want you."

I didn't bother to look at Chloe's reaction. I hailed a taxi and drove off, feeling a twisted sense of triumph.

I knew better than anyone that Chloe's pristine white wedding dress wasn't meant for me.

She never wanted to marry me at all.

Memories flooded my mind. I still remembered rushing to the police station.

The officer asked me:

"Do you have any information about the man, Ryan, who committed suicide with your wife, Chloe?"

How lost and helpless I had been then.

I spent over two decades in my last life failing to truly see that woman.

This life, I wouldn't repeat the same mistake.