Natalie snorted.

“Nothing about this is improper. If he blames you, he can forget about marrying me.”

With that, she grabbed Matthew’s hand without hesitation and walked away.

I rubbed the photo of Yvonne Shaw in my hand and sneered.

‘Natalie, I was never going to marry you anyway.’

The coming-of-age ceremony was nearing its end.

Most of the guests had left when Natalie and Matthew finally reappeared.

Natalie had changed into a high-neck gown, while faint, suggestive marks adorned Matthew’s neck.

The air between them was so thick with intimacy that one could almost smell it.

The old me would have stormed up to them in a fit of rage and confronted them.

However, I had seen this play out countless times in my past life.

I was numb to it.

I tipped my head back and drained my glass of wine. Then, I turned to leave.

When Natalie saw my indifference, she frowned.

For the first time, she called out to me.

“Cole, what’s with the attitude? I’m your fiancee, and Matthew’s your brother. It’s rude of you to leave without even saying hi! Did you forget your manners? Apologize to me and Matthew right now, or you’re not getting your birthday gift this year!”

She was clutching a small ring box.

Matthew took it from her and waved it in front of me with a smug look.

“Cole, Natalie had this custom-made just for you! She put a lot of thought into it.”

My gaze followed the box. That was when I noticed a custom ring on Matthew’s finger.

The logo matched the one on the box in his hands.

I sneered and said sarcastically, “She put a lot of thought into it? Looks to me like the ring on your finger took more thought than that.”

Matthew could barely suppress his grin. He put on a look of mock innocence.

“What? No way! This one’s just a bonus that came with your gift.”

Matthew flipped open the ring box and tossed it at me.

I did not reach out for it.

The box hit the floor with a soft thud. A silver necklace tumbled out of it, even though it was supposed to contain a ring. I knew in that instant what the necklace was supposed to be.

Natalie’s frown deepened. She snapped, “Cole, why are you standing there like a block of wood? Didn’t you see the gift I got you fall to the floor? Pick it up!”

I let out a bitter chuckle.

“A freebie necklace that comes with a ring… You call that a gift?”

Matthew hurried to pick up the necklace as if it were something precious. He shot me a disapproving glare.

“Natalie picked it out for you. It’s from the heart!”

From the heart? How many of her so-called heartfelt gifts had I received in my previous life?

For as long as I could remember, every year on my birthday, I received nothing but junk from Natalie.

Leaves she picked off a tree, a doll she did not want anymore, crumpled paper balls she tossed around when she was annoyed, among other things.

Whatever was lying within reach, that was what she “gifted” me.

Back then, I treated every piece of trash like treasure and carefully kept them all.

In my past life, I even showed them to her proudly after we got married. I thought that would please her.

All I got back was her ruthless mockery.

“Cole, are you a trash can or what? I can’t believe you kept everything I threw away. That’s seriously creepy!”

My heart broke at those words.

Natalie, however, did not think she was being cruel.

She even went around telling people all about it.

Ever since then, everyone in our circle looked at me with barely concealed mockery.

Just thinking about how I was ridiculed and talked about in my past life was enough to sour my mood in an instant.

I casually tossed the necklace onto the table and turned to leave.

But Natalie suddenly stepped in to block my way with her arms outstretched. Her eyes burned with rage.

“Cole, how dare you throw my gift away?! Pick up that necklace and clean it right now, or our engagement is over! Or else, even if you come crawling back to me on your knees, I might not change my mind!”

I sneered at her.

“Natalie, I was never going to marry you.”

Tension filled the air in an instant.

Every eye in the room hovered between me and Natalie.

She was stunned for a second before she let out a disdainful chuckle.

“Come on, Cole. Everyone knows you’ve been my pathetic little lapdog for ten years. There’s no way you would marry someone else. My sisters have watched you grovel after me. They wouldn’t want to marry you. Oh, right, my eldest sister hasn’t seen much of your antics, since she’s always sick. But she’s not going to live for long. You really think your family would let you marry her?”

I was just about to snap back and say that Yvonne was exactly who I intended to marry.

Then, I remembered what Frank Shaw, their father and head of the Shaw family, had told me before.

“I don’t know why you suddenly changed your mind and chose Yvonne, but she’s about to undergo surgery. Let’s keep it between us for now. We don’t want anything disrupting her recovery,” he had said.

I instinctively looked toward Yvonne, who was seated in the distance in her wheelchair.

She looked deathly pale. She was so fragile that it seemed like a gust of wind might sweep her away.

Frank was right. She could not afford to be disturbed.

I had not interacted much with Yvonne.

I remembered how things ended for her in the previous life.

Not long after I married Natalie, Yvonne died alone in a hospice.

Since I had decided to marry her in this lifetime, I had to make sure she lived a long and healthy life.

Yvonne looked at me. Her eyes briefly clouded with disappointment.

I offered her a reassuring smile and said, “You’ll find out soon enough.”

Then, I turned and walked away.

As the party came to an end, Matthew trailed closely behind me.

He raised his hand. The silver ring glinted as the light danced across it in soft colors.

“Cole, you’re all pride and no bite, huh? Natalie told me that even though she marries you, I’m the one she sees as her real husband, and I’m the only one she’d ever buy a ring for.”

To everyone else, Matthew was the perfect, well-mannered one — charming and easy to like.

I was the only one who knew just how evil he really was.

In my previous life, he had shown up waving Natalie’s ultrasound report in my face and smugly announced that my wife was pregnant with his child.

When I confronted Natalie about it, all I received was a dismissive smile.

Driven to the edge, I disclosed everything to both of our families.

My parents were furious. They sent Matthew overseas on the spot and arranged a marriage for him.

Later, he and the heiress he was matched with lived happily.

I, on the contrary, spent the rest of my days enduring Natalie’s hatred as I had driven the man she loved away. In the end, I died a miserable death.

So, in this life, I decided to let them get married.

I really wanted to see if they really loved each other as much as they claimed.

With that, I suddenly patted Matthew hard on the shoulder.

“Let’s keep things simple, Matthew. If you want to marry her, go ahead. In fact, when you tie the knot, I’ll send you a huge wedding gift to wish you both a long and happy life together.”

He froze for a second, then scoffed.

“Come on, Cole. You say that now, but I know you’re still going to marry her in the end. I know you. You’re never going to stop chasing after Natalie. But you might as well give up. She only loves me.”

I gave him a nonchalant nod and headed home.

Since I had decided to marry Yvonne, I needed to prepare some gifts for her before the engagement.

I spent the next three days focused entirely on that.

During those three days, Matthew did not come home even once.

He updated his social media with a new post every two hours.

The latest was a photo of Natalie in an apron. She was cooking steak in the kitchen.

Just as I was about to put my phone away, a text from Matthew popped up.

[Cole, you have never tasted Natalie’s cooking, right? She’s been keeping me well-fed these past three days. And… I don’t just mean with food.]

The memory of catching them together in bed in my past life flashed through my mind instantly.

My stomach churned with nausea.

Fighting the urge to throw up, I simply replied, [Get lost!]

Then, I blocked him.

Seconds after, I received a call from Natalie.

“Cole, are you out of your mind? Matthew’s your brother! I know he said something stupid. But did you really have to block him? Do you have any idea how hurt he is? You will come over to my place and apologize to him right now!”

Her shrill, furious voice practically exploded in my ear.

I sneered.

“Okay, I’m coming over.”

I would not be there to apologize to anyone. I was going there to announce my engagement to Yvonne.

My parents arrived at the Shaw family’s place ahead of me.

I took my time organizing the gifts I had prepared for Yvonne before heading over.

Natalie and Matthew were standing at the entrance.

When Natalie saw me, she scowled in disdain. “Cole Franklin, I thought you were getting better at playing it cool. All Matthew did was send a text, and you not only blocked him, but also dragged your parents here to pressure me into marrying you?”

Before I could react, she suddenly kicked me hard in the knee.

Caught off guard, I dropped to the ground with both knees hitting the floor.

“Kneel and apologize to Matthew now! Or I swear I’ll humiliate you in front of everyone later!”

Matthew leaned down slightly and stared at me with a fake look of guilt. “Cole, don’t blame Natalie. She’s just standing up for me.”

I gritted my teeth and glared at him.

He immediately put on his usual pitiful puppy-dog face.

Seeing that, Natalie was even angrier.

She took a few steps forward and slapped me hard across the face.

Her handprint bloomed across my smarting cheek.

My eyes burned in anger. I shot to my feet and shouted, “Natalie, Matthew, what the heck is wrong with you two?! I told you, I’m not marrying you!”

Natalie looked at me with thinly veiled contempt and snorted.

“Spare me the theatrics, Cole. Our parents are announcing our engagement today. So, do yourself a favor and apologize while you still can. Otherwise, don’t bother trying to set foot in this house again.”

My chest heaved with rage.

I was done with their nonsense and was just about to walk away when our parents appeared around the corner.

Frank looked at Natalie with furrowed brows as he asked, “Nat, why are you causing a scene at the door again?”

Yvonne emerged from behind them.

She was not in her wheelchair today. Her complexion was noticeably better than it had been a few days ago.

When she saw how disheveled I looked, concern shone in her eyes. “Are you okay?”

Something in me softened under her gaze. “I’m okay. What are you doing out here?”

She smiled. “You weren’t coming in. So, I thought I should check on you.”

Natalie scoffed.

“Why does that matter to you? Yvonne, since when have you been so concerned about your future brother-in-law?”

Everyone seemed stunned by that comment.

But Natalie did not seem to notice at all. She quickly stepped in and placed herself between me and Yvonne.

She shot Yvonne an insincere smile.

Then, she muttered a low warning to me under her breath, “I’ll let this slide this time. But if I find out you’re giving Matthew a hard time again after we’re engaged, you’ll regret it!”

At that moment, Natalie was suddenly acting very possessive of me. It was something I had never seen her do before.

I knew that she was simply guarding her soon-to-be status as an heiress.

Frank let out a sigh before he solemnly announced, “The one who gets engaged to Cole will be the heiress to our family. Today is the perfect day to formalize that engagement.”

Natalie lowered her head to smooth her dress. Then, she lifted her chin with a smile and was ready to take my arm.

However, in the very next moment, the look of confidence froze on her face.

Frank reached out, took my hand and Yvonne’s, and placed them together.

Yvonne’s face lit up with joy. She was radiant and nothing like the frail, bedridden girl from before.

“Cole, are you ready to spend the rest of your life with me?”