After being reborn, I secretly switch the man I want to marry the most to the useless scion who loves flirting with me that lives next door.

My dad, who's a high-ranking military colonel, is quite surprised by my choice, but he respects my wishes.

In my past life, when Dad asked who I liked the most in the entire neighborhood, I had written down Damian Conrad's name.

He nodded and told me, "This man has contributed greatly to the country despite only joining the army for three years. His future will definitely be a bright one.

"A man as just and fair as him will undoubtedly be a good man who takes good care of his family and stays devoted to them."

Dad immediately arranged for the two families to meet. Everyone thought that it was a rare and fated union.

Our wedding was very grand and high-profile. Most of the people living in the military base came over to celebrate our wedding.

But Damian set off for the frontier half a year after our marriage, with the excuse of wanting to contribute to the country. Not only did he leave me behind to take care of my in-laws on my own, but he also cut off all contact with me when Dad was severely ill.

When I was finally done dealing with Dad's funeral matters, all I received was the bad news of Damian's death at the frontier.

Crushed by the devastation and despair of the news, I fell into severe depression. Soon, I took my own life by jumping off the building.

After my death, my soul refused to fade away at all.

40 years later, an elderly man and woman with graying hair showed up before my grave.

With an arm around Heidi Myers' waist, Damian paid his respects to me at my grave.

"It's my fault for lying to you back then, Carla. But Heidi doesn't have much time to live, so I can resort to desperate measures. Please let everything go and stop pestering her, Carla. If you really are resentful, feel free to come at me instead."

It turns out that Damian loved Heidi this much that he was willing to fake his death just to trick me. But at the same time, they were so superstitious that they thought I was the one pestering Heidi, causing her to be afflicted with a terminal cancer.

Now that I found out about the truth, I finally let my obsession go.

When I open my eyes again, I realize I've returned to the day Dad asks me who I want to marry the most.

"I heard you kids buried little notes in the backyard. Tell me—who do you want to marry?"

Dad looked at me with a smile in his eyes.

For a split second, his frail and gaunt self during his final illness in my past life flashed before my eyes. If Rosalyn Tucker hadn't held me back, I would have seen him one last time.

Tears streamed down my face as I couldn't help but wrap my arms around him. "I want to marry Ryder Maverick, Dad."

Dad froze. "Ryder? I thought you had your eye on that boy from the Conrads."

When he saw me crying harder, he refrained from pressing further. "There, there. If it's Ryder, then so be it. That little rascal's getting lucky.

"I'll talk to Lieutenant Colonel Maverick about the marriage when he gets back."

That meant there were three days left.

I remembered that in my past life, it had also been three days before I officially got engaged to Damian Conrad. This time, though, I wouldn't be stepping through the Conrad family's door again.

After wiping my tears, I returned to the living room where a whole group was still waiting for me.

My best friend since childhood, Janell Flynn, rushed over and urged me to take a seat. "You're supposed to host this week's book club, so why did you agree to write the notes just because Heidi told you to?

"She's been picking on you since forever. Can't you tell?"

I counted it out and agreed that she was right.

I first met Heidi Myers when I was 15. She had pointed at the menstrual stain on my skirt and asked loud enough for the whole class to hear, "Hey! Didn't your mom teach you how to… deal with that?"

It was the third year after Mom died. Everyone was quietly mocking me for growing up like a boy without Mom by my side.

As she made that announcement, Damian just happened to walk past our class window. I was so embarrassed that I skipped school for a week.

At 18, I snuck onto the training field to watch Damian shoot, and Heidi followed. I vaguely felt someone push me from behind before a bullet whizzed past my ear, and I almost died.

Dad locked me in my room for a month in rage. Now that I thought about it, it had probably been Heidi, but I had never sensed her hostility in my past life.

Burying notes in my backyard for the book club had been Heidi's idea.

She told everyone that true love would come true if we wrote down the name of the one we loved. Whoever's wish was granted would have to dig up the tin box so everyone could share in the joy.

The idea fit the romance theme of the book club, so I agreed. The only difference after realizing I was reborn was that I immediately crossed out Damian's name and wrote Ryder's instead.

Janell was still grumbling. She was about to complain more, but when she looked up and saw Damian walking over, she bolted off faster than anyone.

She thought she was playing matchmaker for us and had no idea that Damien was here with unfriendly intentions.

"Tell Colonel West not to bother finding a matchmaker, Carla. I'm not marrying you."

That didn't sound right. How did he know Dad was planning that?

I instinctively tried to explain. "I-I didn't—"

"If you can step aside and let me be with Heidi, I'll treat you like a little sister."

As he said so, an odd trace of gentleness flickered across his expression before it froze over again. "Otherwise, we can't even be friends."

In my past life, Damian had agreed to marry me, so why had he suddenly changed his mind?

As I looked at the certainty in his eyes, I wondered if he had been reborn, too.

Damian frowned at me like I was some thorny problem that needed urgent solving. I couldn't understand where the disgust in his eyes came from.

I had given the Conrads everything. Even if they couldn't see that my efforts deserved recognition, there was no denying the fact that my past life had been filled with grueling labor.

In my past life, I wouldn't have been stuck with the Conrads to take care of Damian's parents for him if he hadn't insisted on going to the frontier.

Dad wouldn't have had to hide his stomach pains from me, just because he saw how busy I was tending to the Conrads. He had dragged it out until it worsened.

By the time I ran into Ryder at the hospital and saw him taking Dad to the doctor's, the latter was already suffering from terminal stomach cancer.

Damian's mom, Rosalyn, seemed easygoing, but she was a snob through and through. When she realized Dad was dying and his words no longer carried weight, she couldn't even be bothered to put on a pretense.

I delivered food to the hospital a few times. For that, she told everyone that my heart wasn't with the Conrads anymore and that I didn't even bother acting like a dutiful daughter-in-law the second Damian left.

I had no choice but to write to Damian and beg him to request leave and come home. But that was when I realized I couldn't reach him at all.

For an entire month, I watched as Dad wasted away to skin and bones, barely able to swallow a single bite of food. I listened as Rosalyn went around telling the neighborhood that I refused to come home because I had a new lover at the hospital.

If Ryder hadn't been around to take care of Dad, I would have long snapped.

Later, I resented Damian when Dad died. But when news that Damian was dead arrived, I believed it, though it turned out to be a lie.

I remembered standing on the rooftop with my mind in chaos as Ryder begged me to go on living.

That was when I thought. "Forget it. I won't cause him any more trouble."

"What's on your mind?" Ryder asked and flicked my forehead to drag me back to reality. "I knew it. The moment you see Damian, your soul gets snatched away."

That was when I realized that I had been staring at Damian for quite a while now.

"You heartless thing. I spend every waking hour following you around like a shadow, and I still can't get you to give me a second glance."

Usually, I would have snapped back and called him a shameless flirt, but for some reason, I suddenly felt like taking up his challenge. "Oh? If I look at you, will you marry me?"

Standing nearby, Damian stiffened and abruptly snapped his head up at my words.

Ryder was utterly stunned. "Y-You've grown some guts now, haven't you, Carla? Is that how you're going to play me now?"

His bravado crumbled, and his laugh came out forced and hollow. "Fine. I'll stop messing around in front of Damian."

"I—"

I was just about to explain when he snatched the books from my arms and fled into the living room. For a moment, only Damian and I were left facing each other.

His gaze was dark. "Mind games don't work on me. Heidi saved my life, so I can't bear to break her heart."

Oh, so Heidi saved his life, huh? That was such a coincidence.

As I brushed my fingers over the scar on the inside of my wrist, I thought about how I had also saved Damian and even had to give up playing the piano for him. But why hadn't he ever thought about repaying that favor?

Since he was so worried that I might marry him, I might as well let him sit with that fear for days.

"Instead of trying to talk me into changing my mind, you should convince your parents. After all, anyone would want a colonel's daughter as their daughter-in-law."

I spread my hands. Rosalyn was a second wife, while Damian's dad was a nobody and just a minor clerk in a munitions factory. Given Rosalyn's snobbery, Damian's dream of marrying Heidi was a pipe dream at best.

"How dare you!" Damian snapped and glared at me. "Stop haunting me, Carla. What makes you think I'd be afraid of you?"

I froze.

It struck me that he might have started fearing me after I died. Was he afraid that I would come back to claim their lives after he cheated on me when I had given him my everything?

Before I could voice the question, a frantic shout came from the far end of the hallway. "Damian! Heidi's hurt!"

It struck me that Damian was capable of worrying for someone else.

When news of his frontier assignment arrived in my past life, Rosalyn had fainted from worry. Anxious and helpless, all I could think of was praying for his safety at the church.

I climbed over 1,000 stone steps on my hands and knees, bowing every three steps until my knees were permanently ruined.

On the day he left, he saw me leaning on a crutch. Not only did he show no concern, but he also snapped, "What's the point of this superstitious nonsense? You'd be more useful keeping your limbs intact so you can actually make my parents a couple of decent meals.

"You're not a young lady anymore, Carla. It's time you learn to be a decent daughter-in-law."

Now, all Heidi had was just a tiny nick on her finger. It wouldn't even leave a scar, let alone a permanent injury, yet Damian made it seem like the sky was about to collapse. He sucked on the wound as if terrified that she might feel even a trace of pain.

"You knew 'Drift' is Heidi's favorite book, Carla. What were you trying to do by hiding a razor blade in it?"

Damian's eyes were bloodshot. He scooped up Heidi and headed straight out. Each of his firm footsteps landed like a hammer blow to my chest.

Heidi blushed and made a show of struggling, only to cling tighter to him. Her eyes were full of open provocation.

Before I could say a word, Damian kicked the door shut with a loud bang.

I stood frozen in place with my fingers tightening around the book.

"Carla! Your hand!"

Blood was gushing out. It turned out that my favorite book held an even sharper razor blade.

Like before, Heidi still saw me as her rival in love, but it was so unnecessary. This time, I wouldn't fight her for Damian.

After Damian's scene, the book club was dismissed on the spot. Ryder carefully bandaged my fingers and wrapped them in so much gauze that he meant to turn me into a mummy.

"Are you sure you're not going to the hospital? Then I'll just have to use everything I know to wrap it up nicely for you."

As he spoke, he leaned closer. His breath feathered against my ear with every word he said.

"Tell me, sweetheart. What would you do without me one day?"

I turned my head, and my nose accidentally brushed against his cheek. "Just stay stuck to me like a bandage. It's not like I'm driving you away…"

Ryder stared at me in surprise before a sudden flush crept up his neck. Then, he laughed quietly at himself. "Nope. I'm not being a third wheel."

He shot me a quick, indignant glare and turned away.

I found that behavior a little weird.

…

The next morning, with one hand bandaged, I was sorting through Mom's keepsakes with the other when Damian started pounding on my door in rage.

"You had someone revoke Heidi’s competition spot, didn't you?"

His collar was loose, and his usual composure was nowhere to be found. I had never seen him act so unhinged for anyone.

"It wasn't me."

I pushed at his shoulders and tried to get him to leave, but Heidi ran over and dropped to her knees in front of me with a thud.

"Carla, I know that your aunt is someone in charge of the program. I'll tell everyone that I cut my hand by accident, and it has nothing to do with you at all.

"I'll clear your name… Could you please just give me back my slot?"

She wiped her tears as if I had backed her into a corner.

"You didn't have the talent to keep your spot, so why are you blaming me after losing it?" I couldn't help but snap back.

Then, a deafening ring erupted in my ears. The world went silent for a heartbeat, and my left cheek flared with a searing pain.

Damian's hand, which he had just used to slap me, was still shaking. "You've gone too far, Carla. Does someone's future and dreams mean so little to you? Did you sabotage Heidi just because I gave you a little teaching?

"We grew up together. Was it really necessary to go this far?"

I shot him a cold look.

If there was one person in this world who had no right to preach about going too far, it was Damian.

Hadn't he gone too far by abandoning his bride on their wedding night to flee to the frontier with his mistress?

Hadn't he gone too far by faking his death and tricking me into caring for his parents for the rest of my life?

Hadn't he gone too far to visit my grave for the first time, 40 years after I died, just to beg me to stop haunting them?

His eyes fell on my bandaged hand, and he gave a short scoff. "Heidi hurt her hand, so you wrapped yours up too.

"Are you trying to win my pity? Too bad your acting is overdone."

"Get lost!" I screamed and ruthlessly shoved him. The sudden exertion of force caused blood to seep through the gauze.

Damian froze at the sight. "Carla, you—"

All the strength drained from my body. I should have listened to Ryder yesterday and gone straight to the hospital.

The wound was probably infected now. Otherwise, why would my head feel so heavy, and my thoughts so blurred?

For a moment, the world spun into darkness.

"Carla!"