"Donna, have you lost your goddamn mind? Who told you to go near Grace?"

After Donna had Robert's beloved, unattainable ideal blacklisted and sent abroad, he completely snapped.

"You're hurting me..."

Trying to pull her hand back, Donna found Robert's gaze fixed on her, his eyes bloodshot with fury.

He didn't let go—instead, he tightened his grip.

"Hurt? You think you know what hurt feels like? Grace slit her wrists, and you still arranged to have her sent away? Did you ever stop to consider her pain?"

"Tell me, what did you say to her the last time you met?"

Pain paled Donna's face, yet a stubborn defiance hardened within. Fighting to keep the tears at bay, she refused to show vulnerability and glared back at Robert without flinching.

"What does her life or death have to do with me? Or with you!? I'm the one you're about to marry!"

"Oh, wonderful. The future Mrs. Robert. Is that it? Donna, you're just counting on me having no choice but to marry you, aren't you? You think a piece of paper can trap me?"

"Hah, looks like I've spoiled you too much all these years. You're still this naive, even at your age!"

Robert sneered, eyes full of mockery.

Blindfolding Donna, he hoisted her onto a wire dozens of meters high.

She struggled desperately, the thin cord suspending her seeming ready to snap at any moment.

"Stop!"

Utterly hopeless.

This was the same man who once cooled a cup of hot water before handing it to her, afraid she might burn herself. Now, he stood there coldly, savoring her desperate pleas.

Donna was the only legitimate heir of her generation in the family.

A pity she was a girl—Michael didn't believe women should lead.

So Laura took matters into her own hands. She selected six boys from affiliated families, raising them alongside Donna with the explicit understanding that her choice would become her husband and inherit the family empire.

"Whoever Donna marries gets the keys to the empire!"

Those six boys had always catered to Donna's every whim. As children, they were her entourage, teasing and tormenting others at her command. As adults, they accompanied her, beating the illegitimate family children into submission.

Robert, the standout among them, always charged ahead, dealing the harshest blows.

In Donna's eyes, that fearless brutality defined a man.

So at her coming-of-age ceremony, she chose Robert as her fiancé without hesitation.

She even spent hundreds of millions on advertising, announcing to the world that Donna was engaged to Robert!

Only when those overwhelming ads reached Grace's ears, driving her to slit her wrists in anguish, did Donna finally realize: Robert had a cherished first love all along. And that tender "Donna" he whispered in moments of passion—that wasn't her either.

Donna had tried to win Robert back, but Grace sought her out first.

On one hand, Grace acted pure and proud, declaring she'd never be the other woman, urging Donna to help her go abroad. "Miss Donna, I have no interest in being a homewrecker, but you should keep your man in check. Don't let him come crawling to me—it puts me in an awkward position."

On the other, she sent tearful messages to Robert, sobbing, "We're just not meant to be. Maybe in another life"—making Robert believe Donna had forced her hand.

Donna's voice grew hoarse from crying, her eyes dull. The ropes cut into her skin, fresh wounds bleeding steadily.

Finally, Robert deigned to crouch down and lift her chin.

"Grace came back but refuses to eat properly, avoiding me on purpose."

"She says as long as you're alive, she'll always be the other woman. She won't accept me. What am I supposed to do?"

He thought the problem lay with Donna.

Donna shook her head in despair. "I never said anything. She asked to leave herself..."

She no longer had the strength to explain.

Robert scoffed. "Donna, you really are heartless. I played the loyal dog for you all these years, and still you bite the hand that feeds you."

With that, he gestured to someone beside him.

The next moment, the rope around Donna's waist snapped...

When she opened her eyes again, Donna was back at her coming-of-age ceremony, the day she chose Robert as her fiancé.

"Donna, are you sure you want to choose Robert?"

Donna rose onto her toes, leaning close to her mother's ear. "No," she whispered. "I don't want him."

Her gaze drifted to the man standing a short distance away—posture relaxed, expression assured.

He watched her with smiling eyes, confident and bold, as if her choice were already decided.

In that moment, the warmth in his gaze seemed to hold a love that went bone-deep.

Robert! The very same Robert who, in another life, had thrown her from that terrible height just moments before.

The phantom agony of shattered bones and torn flesh still screamed through her veins. The man before her wasn't the boy she had once loved. He was the demon who had devoured her without a second thought.

Laura looked surprised, then concerned. "Donna, what happened? Did Robert upset you?"

A mother knows her child. Others might see a lovers' quarrel, but Laura had caught the shift in her daughter's eyes—the adoration gone, replaced by a tangle of hatred, disgust, confusion, and pain.

Donna tore her gaze away, wishing she could flay the vile man where he stood. Swallowing the bitterness, she smoothed her expression into calm. "I just don't like him anymore."

She was the heiress of the Donna family. Her likes and dislikes required no justification.

Laura simply chalked it up to a whim. Smiling, she stroked her daughter's soft hair. "Alright, if you don't like him, you don't. Our Donna is far too brilliant for a boy from the Robert family."

Emotion tightened Donna's throat. "Thank you, Mom."

No matter how strange her decisions, her mother always stood by her.

In her past life, she had been so blinded by Robert that she'd neglected everyone else—even her own parents. She remembered how, once he seized control of the group, he had sidelined every member of her family. He'd sent her mother to a sanatorium overseas, cut off for years.

If her mother had been here, perhaps her end wouldn't have been so wretched.

"Mom, I don't want Robert. I want Gerald."

Laura's face stiffened. "Gerald... Why? You know his situation is different. He has no family..."

Donna cut her off gently. "Mom, I'm your daughter. To me, even the grandest family name is just a bonus. My garden has plenty of flowers; one more or less doesn't matter. I want Gerald."

Laura hesitated. "Donna, you have four other suitors besides Robert. It doesn't have to be Gerald. He's not... suitable for you."

Donna shook her head. "But I like him. The others are only nice to me because they covet the family group. Gerald is different. He doesn't care about the group. He just... cares for me."

That single statement silenced any further argument.

"Alright," Laura conceded. "Let's set this aside for now. I need to discuss it with your father."

News that the Donna family heiress had not chosen a fiancé at her coming-of-age ball spread like wildfire through Southport. Officially, the family claimed Laura couldn't bear to part with her daughter so soon and had postponed the decision.

As for when it would be made, no further information was given.

The Robert family wasn't worried. Everyone knew Donna was head over heels for Robert. She'd marry into their family sooner or later—handing the Donna Group over in the process.

Donna spent two long nights stitching together the memories of the years to come.

When she came downstairs, a girl was sitting on the living room sofa, dressed in a white sundress, her hair pinned up in a butterfly bun.

Grace!

Impossible.

In the original timeline, Donna hadn’t even known Grace existed until after she married Robert.

Yet here Grace was, right in front of her.

“Hello, sister. My name is Grace. I’ve come to see Robert.”

This Grace wasn’t yet the queen of the entertainment industry. She lacked the polished allure of adulthood, but her eyes held that same unmistakable, calculating gaze.

Her face, too, looked plainer and more unremarkable than it would once she became a star.

“Sister, your dress is so pretty. Can I touch it?” Grace took a step closer. “I wish I had a beautiful dress like this too.”

Watching her approach, feeling those disgusting eyes roam over her, Donna was hit by a wave of nausea.

If it weren’t for this woman’s scheming, her whispered betrayals, Donna wouldn’t have ended up dead in a ditch.

Before Grace’s fingers could brush the fabric, Donna slapped her hand away.

“Get away from me!”

They were both teenage girls. Donna wasn’t particularly strong, but Grace stumbled and fell to the floor, her eyes instantly welling up. She bit her lip, staring back.

“Donna!”

A frantic shout came from behind.

Robert rushed out of his room and strode over, helping Grace to her feet. “Are you hurt?”

Grace bit her lip, fighting back tears. “Robert, I went to your house looking for you. Megan said you were here, so I came over. I’m sorry—I didn’t mean to barge in…”

Doors around them began to open one by one. Larry, Donald, Randy—several of Donna’s suitors peered out to see what was happening.

As candidates chosen by Laura for Donna, they all lived in the family home, though their rooms were on the floor below hers.

“Donna, are you insane?” Larry had a hot temper and was Donna’s age; they’d always traded barbs. Now he stormed forward, swearing under his breath. “Does everyone who comes here have to get beaten up by you first? What did she even do?”

Donna crossed her arms and leaned back against the sofa. “Has my family fed yours too well? Is that why you dare speak to me like that?”

They’d all grown up together. Even though Donna felt no love for any of them, she’d never said anything so deliberately cutting—words meant to slice straight to the heart.

Larry froze, flushed red, and clenched his fists as if to step forward.

Donald quickly pulled him back, signaling not to provoke Donna.

By the door, Robert let out a cold laugh. He carefully lifted Grace onto his back and turned to leave.

Larry, Donald, and the others followed Robert out, their voices trailing back with scattered words of concern for Grace.

Donna sat on the sofa, watching them go with cold eyes.

Megan. So Grace was already this close with Robert’s family.