After Rebirth, I Rejected My Family to Let the Fake Heiress Have Her Way, But My Boyfriend Panicked

: Rebirth

The day I married Julian Rhodes, the false heiress committed suicide.

In our second year of marriage, we inevitably became bitter enemies over it.

He hated me, the true heiress, for coming back and causing Stella Ashwood's death.

I hated him for still cherishing the false heiress who had taken my place for twenty years.

For ten years, we hurled the most vicious words at each other, cursing one another to "die a horrible death."

Until an earthquake struck. He shielded me with his body, his spine holding up an escape route for me.

The beam crashed down, turning his back into a bloody mess.

As he lay dying, he whispered in my ear, "If I had known she would die, I would've rather never brought you home."

"If there's a next life, I'll be the only family you need."

In the end, I died in an aftershock anyway.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day he took me to meet my real family.

He suddenly changed his mind. "Clara, I was wrong. You're not the daughter the Ashwood Family lost twenty years ago."

...

Julian Rhodes blocked my path outside the Ashwood family's villa, his expression a mixture of conflict and resolve.

I said nothing, but the image of collapsing steel and concrete flashed before my eyes.

His mangled, bloody back, and the words he had whispered in my ear.

"If I had known she would die, I would've rather never brought you home."

'So, this was his choice.'

'Given a next life, he chose to abandon me from the very beginning.'

'So be it.'

Our ten-year, hellish marriage in my past life... He hated me, and I resented him. We tormented each other day and night, finding release only in death.

Now, being able to sever it all at the root, I actually felt a sense of relief.

I looked at him and nodded calmly. "All right."

A flicker of astonishment crossed Julian Rhodes's eyes. All the excuses he'd prepared caught in his throat.

"What did you say?" he asked, almost reflexively.

"I said, I understand," I repeated.

"Since it was a mistake, let's just drop it. Thanks for bringing me here. I should be getting back to school."

With that, I turned to leave.

But he grabbed my arm. "Clara Sutton!"

He growled, a hint of panic in his voice.

"What is this attitude? Haven't you always wanted to find your family? Now that I'm telling you it's not you, you're just giving up this easily?!"

I looked back at him, finding the situation ludicrous.

'He went to all this trouble to lie, precisely because he wanted me to give up, didn't he?'

'Now that I've given him what he wanted, he's still not satisfied.'

"What else would I do?" I retorted.

"Julian Rhodes, are you saying you weren't telling me the truth? That I really am the Ashwood family's true daughter?"

The panic in his eyes intensified, and his grip on my hand tightened unconsciously.

He lowered his gaze, hiding his expression from me.

"This ends here. Don't ever bring it up again, and don't go anywhere near the Ashwood family."

"I understand."

I pulled my hand free and rubbed my wrist, which was already turning red from his grip.

"I won't bring it up again, and I won't go near them. Julian Rhodes, are you satisfied now?"

He stared at my now-empty hand, a lost look on his face for a moment, as if he'd lost something important.

'He didn't know that I had been reborn, too.'

'In this life, I won't walk through that door, I won't become the Ashwood family's daughter, and I certainly... won't become his wife.'

'He wanted to protect his childhood sweetheart, to keep their world intact. I was more than happy to oblige.'

"I'm leaving."

Without another look at him, I turned and walked toward the bus stop.

From behind me, Julian Rhodes's voice called out, laced with irritation.

"Stop! I'll take you back."

Julian Rhodes didn't take me back to my dorm. Instead, he drove directly to a luxury apartment downtown.

'I watched the cityscape fly past the window, understanding perfectly where we were going.'

'In our past life, after we got married, this was our love nest.'

'It held our most tender memories, but it also bore witness to our slow descent into a bitter couple, consumed by hatred.'

The car came to a stop. He unbuckled his seatbelt and turned to look at me.

In the dim light of the car, his expression was unreadable, but his tone had softened considerably, no longer as harsh as it had been at the Ashwood family's gate.

"Let's get out. We need to talk."