On my twentieth birthday, my father asked me to draw from a box of straws. It was to pick a husband between William Smith and Austin Smith to inherit North Town.

The short straw represented Austin, while the long straw represented William.

No matter how hard I tried, I could not get the long straw. However, I was certain that I did not want to marry Austin.

I drew straws for three years, but it was to no avail. I had no choice but to tamper with the straws to marry William as I wished.

However, ten years into our marriage, he was no longer gentle and kind. He had turned into a really cold person.

He neither returned home nor touched me. Even when I threatened him with a knife, he refused to talk to me.

Despite feeling hurt, I was unwilling to let him go.

That was until I watched him kick away the only medicine I had for my asthma while I was writhing on the floor.

“I was the one who switched out the straws. There was no long straw, yet you forced me to marry you. Mandy died from a broken heart, so you should pay with your life.”

When I opened my eyes again, I was holding a short straw. I calmly said, “Since it’s the short one, I choose Austin.”

After I said that, it became extremely quiet in the hall.

My father and uncles were all shocked. Even Austin Smith, who was fiddling with a knife in the corner, frowned.

Everyone knew that I loved William Smith.

They thought that with how stubborn I was, I would definitely throw a tantrum. I would not give in like this.

“Jade, haven’t you always had feelings for William? William isn’t here yet, so we can forfeit this outcome. You can draw a straw again when he’s here.

“We can also do a best of three. Adam, check if William’s here. We’ve informed him in advance, so why isn’t he here yet?”

My father, Jacob Anderson, tried to smooth things over.

However, I knew that William had already tampered with the box.

There was no long straw at all. Even if I spent the rest of my life drawing, I would not get the long one.

Besides, I already knew the consequences of forcing this marriage.

“Mr. Anderson, Mr. William said that he’s gone to pick up his lover.” Adam Reid glanced carefully at me.

“He also said that he’s never had feelings for Ms. Anderson and he only treats her as a younger sister. If Ms. Anderson has any misunderstandings about this, he would like to apologize to her.”

Previously, William never went after Mandy Black.

It seemed like he had returned to the past too.

It was a good thing. I no longer wanted to cross paths with him in this life.

“There’s no need for that. I’m choosing Austin.”

I looked at Austin and spoke decisively. “We don’t need an engagement party. Let’s get our marriage registered right now. After that, we can pick a date for the wedding.”

Austin’s hand trembled, and his knife fell to the floor.

He only returned to his senses when we reached the city hall. He stared at me expressionlessly.

“It’s been twenty minutes. I bet William would’ve received the news by now. How long does he need to take before arriving? If this is just a lover’s squabble, you don’t have to drag me into it, you know?”

In the past, Austin had died for me.

The Anderson family had been extremely powerful in North Town for many years, so we had a lot of enemies. William was holding the reins at that time.

He disliked violence, so our enemies took a more savage approach.

When Austin died in my arms, he was still telling William to take good care of me.

However, William was a coward, and he did not avenge Austin due to his aversion to violence.

He also did not allow me to get close to other men in our immediate circle. He would not even let me see my father.

William was unwilling to love me, and he treated me coldly. Yet, he locked me up at home.

Only when I was dying did he confess that he loved someone else.

“Are you afraid of marriage? When did you become such a coward?”

Austin snickered. “Why would I be afraid? You’d better have thought this through. Once you marry me, it won’t be so easy for you to escape.

“I’m not afraid of death. If you dare cheat on me with William, I’ll shoot William and die with you.”

“Enough talk.” I walked in first.

After we registered our marriage, Austin asked to prepare our wedding.

My father had set the wedding date for a week later. He would also announce Austin as his successor in North Town on the same day.

I visited the bar with my best friend and updated her on my marriage. I did not expect to run into William, though.

His face immediately fell.

“You got married?”

“Oh, you’re married now. Congratulations! When will the wedding ceremony be?” his friends said behind him in shock.

“I knew it. William loves you so much. He must be in a hurry to marry you now that you’re an adult.”

Before we got married, William did a lot for me.

He would tutor me whenever I studied, and he would take the blame for me whenever I did something wrong. He was very much a part of my life.

Whenever I asked to go somewhere, he would immediately bring me out. Whenever I wanted to eat something, I would get it within half an hour.

Everyone thought that William loved me a lot, but this was not love to him.

“You’ve misunderstood—”

Before I could finish talking, William interrupted me coldly.

“She’s neither the one I love, nor the person I want to marry.”

He seemed to recall something as he grimaced. He did not even want to spare me a glance.

“She’s the one who misunderstood my actions and secretly registered our marriage behind my back. I didn’t agree to marry her, and I’d definitely never marry her.”

I found the situation a little funny.

“Why do you think you’re the one I married?”

“Who else would it be if it’s not me? I already asked Adam to pass my message to you. Why do you insist on not letting me go? Is it fun for you to force yourself on others?”

William’s gaze was cold, and it was obvious that he was disgusted with me.

I was about to retort that he could dream on when I saw Mandy standing behind him with teary eyes.

“William, if you’ve married her, what are we, then? Won’t I turn into a homewrecker? I don’t want that.”

She turned around to leave, but William anxiously grabbed her arm and hugged her.

He coaxed her softly, just like how he used to talk to me.

“Ignore her. You’re the person I love. Even if she forced the marriage on me, I’ll divorce her. I’ll only marry you.

“Mandy, ever since you took good care of me and donated your blood to save my life, I swore that I would marry you and care for you in return.

“So, please don’t let me go, alright?”

My best friend, Vicky White, exclaimed in shock, “Weren’t you the one who saved—”

I stopped her from talking.

Three months ago, William had gone out to stop a boat. Someone slashed his chest with a machete, and he was in critical condition that night.

I was the one who kept donating my blood to him and saved his life.

However, the truth got twisted, and Mandy took my place as his savior.

No wonder he hated me so much when Mandy died in the past.

“It doesn’t matter anymore.”

It was a fact that he kicked my life-saving medication away, and he ignored me for ten years.

To serenade Mandy, William asked the bar manager for a guitar and sang her a love song in front of everyone.

When his gaze landed on me, he paused for a moment before ignoring me.

He was singing the song that he had written for me when I was eighteen.

“Jade, I hope we’ll always be this happy together. I hope to sing this song for you for all of your future birthdays.”

I was disgusted, so I made up an excuse and left.

When I reached the corner, someone threw a basin full of powder at me.

Having asthma, I could not breathe in such a thing. I started losing my breath as I pressed my hand against my chest. Then, I fell to my knees.

“Why are you scheming against me? William just picked me up when you got someone to register your marriage secretly.

“Did you think that would deter me? Impossible. William says that he loves me.”

It was Mandy!

I bit my tongue to keep myself from passing out. I took out my inhaler but before I could use it, Mandy kicked it aside.

“Do you know what William told me?” Mandy crouched down smugly as she spoke. “He said that he only feels alive when he’s with me. I’m the one who makes him realize that his life is also—”

“Jade!”

Vicky rushed forward and pushed Mandy away. I grabbed Vicky with great difficulty. “Inhaler… My inhaler…”

When I finally got my inhaler, I recovered. Mandy realized that something was wrong, so she tried to run away.

“Who told you that I would accept being hurt this way? How dare you do this to me?”

I grabbed her hair to hit her head against the wall. Just then, someone pressed the cold barrel of a gun against the back of my head.

“Let her go.”

I personally bought this gun for William when he came to the Anderson family with Austin.

He always cherished it and brought it with him everywhere he went.

I never expected him to point it at me one day.

Mandy cried, “I just bumped into Ms. Anderson. I didn’t expect her to call me a homewrecker and hit me…”

When I heard her lies, I snorted.

Before I could speak, William impatiently said, “Jade, apologize to Mandy.”

I turned around to look at him. “You’re asking me to apologize to her?”

Even though I no longer loved him, I still felt hurt.

I was the most doted-upon heiress in all of North Town. No one had ever forced me to apologize before.

“You hit and insulted her for no reason. Shouldn’t you apologize to her?” William was expressionless. “Apologize. Don’t force me to take matters into my own hands.”

Vicky yelled, “Are you an idiot, William?! Don’t you know Mandy—”

Right then, there was a cunning glint in Mandy’s eyes. She held her forehead and said, “William, I feel dizzy…”

After that, she fainted.

William grabbed her from me and ran out anxiously.

“Jade, sooner or later, you’ll have to apologize…”

“Who said you could leave?” I sneered.

I gave Adam a call and got him to snatch William’s gun away. Then, Adam forced William to kneel on the ground.

He then retrieved the surveillance footage and forced him to watch it numerous times.

“William, it seems like I’ve been too nice to you. You’ve forgotten who’s the true successor of the Anderson family.”

William stared at the screen as his face slowly fell.

“Are you going to deal with this, or do you want me to?”

William had no choice but to take matters into his own hands.

He knew that my people would only punish Mandy even more harshly.

Mandy was initially just pretending to faint. However, after getting slapped numerous times, she actually fainted.

“If you want to be with her, you’d better be on your best behavior.”

I stared at the gun. It had been twelve years, so even its frame was already worn out.

“You don’t deserve this gun.”

I got Adam to destroy it.

However, William was momentarily stunned as he looked at the pieces on the ground. Then, he slowly clenched his fists.

That afternoon, William brought gifts and came to apologize on Mandy’s behalf.

“Mandy didn’t know you had asthma, so she didn’t mean it. As for those words, she wasn’t exactly wrong.

“She’s the only person I love. You shouldn’t have pursued me and secretly registered our marriage. Let’s find time to go through the divorce proceedings.”

I refused to entertain him and did not even open the door for him.

Austin was busy with our wedding.

My father was worried that Austin would run into trouble before the wedding, so he asked me to call him back.

“Are you hurt?”

Without another word, Austin moved closer and took a whiff. “I can smell William on you. Did he come to see you again? That scumbag. I might as well just kill him,” he said in displeasure.

I laughed. “How do you have such a good sense of smell? Are you a puppy?”

“You don’t want me to kill him.”

“Go ahead.”

Austin then sat shyly next to me.

“If he still comes to you after our wedding, I’ll definitely kill him. I’m going to let him off the hook this time since we haven’t had our wedding. Let him be.”

The day before our wedding, I visited Luna Residence to retrieve my items.

William had bought the place and personally named it.

He said that I was his moon.

I thought we would live there forever, but it was not too far off. I died there eventually.

When I tried to open the door, it indicated that I had entered the wrong password.

Mandy opened the door instead and scowled when she saw me.

“Why are you here? This place belongs to me and William. I’ve changed the password, and we don’t welcome you here.”

I was the one who had furnished Luna Residence. Even the slippers and clothes that she was wearing belonged to me.

Mandy seemed to notice my gaze, and she extended her hand to continue flaunting.

“See? William bought me a huge diamond ring. I bet he hasn’t bought you one. So, just leave. Stop hanging around here.”

“Jade?”

William walked out from behind her. He was holding a bag of groceries with a frown.

“Have you thought it through? Are we finally going to get a divorce?”