Belvia City - Inside the Grand Ballroom of the Five-Star Hotel

Thousands of guests filled the banquet hall, all waiting for the bride-to-be to make her grand entrance.

In a dim corner sat the bride's parents, looking out of place among the glittering crowd - two small-town nobodies surrounded by the sneers of high society.

"Miss, without an invitation, you can't go in!"

Two security guards blocked the entrance, arms crossed.

The young woman in front of them lifted her head, her face covered in dirt and bruises, her sharp gaze cutting like a blade.

"Tell me," she said coldly, "does the bride... also need an invitation?"

The guards instinctively stepped back, their confidence faltering under her glare.

"N–No, ma'am... of course not..."

"Harper?!"

That voice. She would recognize it even in death.

In an instant, her heart clenched, like a storm had erupted inside her chest. Pain surged so violently she had to take a deep breath just to keep her balance.

Slowly, she turned around. Her eyes, dark and venomous, locked onto Phoebe.

Phoebe and the circle of wealthy socialites around her froze. The killing intent in Harper's gaze made them all shrink back, afraid to take a single step closer.

Harper straightened her back, walked past them without hesitation, and climbed onto the stage. Calmly, she picked up the microphone and declared, her voice ringing through the hall:

"Sorry to keep everyone waiting."

Gasps rippled through the crowd.

The timid granddaughter from the Reeves family's third branch... actually dared to speak in public?

Phoebe frowned tightly. 'What's wrong with this useless thing today? Did those men not break her properly?'

She had poured her heart into tonight's engagement banquet - every detail, every guest, every whisper of admiration had been hers alone. Just moments ago, she'd been the perfect image of grace and beauty - the dazzling jewel of the Reeves family.

And now, all eyes were on the dirty, disheveled woman standing on her stage.

'Damn it, Harper!'

Composing herself, Phoebe quickly stepped forward, her expression softening into false concern. "Harper, what happened to your dress? Don't tell me someone... took advantage of you?"

Her words hit like a dart - deliberate, poisonous, and instantly effective.

The guests began murmuring as their eyes fell on Harper's torn, blood-stained gown. The buttons were misaligned, the fabric shredded. She did look like someone who had been assaulted.

Seeing the effect, Phoebe pressed on, feigning sisterly compassion. "Harper, don't be scared. If something really happened, I'll go with you to the hospital for an exam."

Her tone was gentle, but her eyes gleamed with triumph.

Harper wasn't fooled. Her gaze turned icy, slicing through the pretense.

"Oh? You seem very eager for me to have been assaulted."

Phoebe's face paled, and she quickly put on a mask of wounded innocence. "I'm only worried about you. I know how much you love Theo Callahan. If it weren't for an accident, you wouldn't have crashed his engagement party, right?"

That name - Theo Callahan.

The moment it left Phoebe's mouth, Harper's expression twisted with cold contempt.

She let out a sharp laugh. "Your precious golden boy? Please. To me, he's not even worth the dirt on my shoe."

For a brief second, Phoebe's face contorted with rage before she quickly regained her composure, sighing as if speaking from the heart. "Harper, this is your engagement banquet. I get it - you're embarrassed in front of everyone, but you can't just throw blame around. Do you really want to ruin the Reeves family's reputation?"

The Reeves family's reputation.

In her previous life, Phoebe had used those words to crush her over and over again. And now she dared to pull the same trick?

As murmurs started to turn against her, Phoebe seized the chance to rally the crowd again. "Look around, Harper. All these powerful people came here for you. No matter what happened, they'll stand by your side!"

Those so-called "powerful people" were the elite of Belvia - businessmen, officials, and aristocrats.

The irony was, this was the engagement party of the Young Master of the Gallagher family... and the groom himself hadn't even shown up. Yet the city's upper class still attended out of respect.

From their indifferent expressions, Harper realized one brutal truth - if she didn't clear her name right now, she would end up exactly like in her past life: branded a "fallen woman," drowned in the ridicule and gossip of the entire city.

Her fists clenched. She raised her head and spoke into the microphone, her voice firm and loud enough to shake the hall.

"No need to worry, everyone. The one who did this to me... was Chase Gallagher!"

The entire room erupted into chaos.

No one expected Harper to drag the Young Master of the Gallagher family into this mess.

At once, the only representative from the Gallagher family - Butler Lane - shot to his feet. His face was dark, his tone deep and commanding.

"Miss Reeves," he said, "everyone here can see that our Young Master hasn't even shown up today. How can you claim this has anything to do with him?"

Butler Lane wasn't just anyone. Back in Belvia, he was a man people feared and respected - when he spoke, it carried weight.

The crowd collectively held its breath, waiting to see how Harper would talk her way out of this.

But Harper didn't flinch. She gave him a cold, sweeping glance and shot back, "Oh? Since when do newlyweds have to report every argument to the family butler?"

That one line - impossible to disprove - instantly cornered him.

Before Butler Lane could respond, a woman in an elegant gown rushed toward the stage to smooth things over.

Harper narrowed her eyes. Of course - it was her aunt, Amara, Phoebe's adoptive mother.

Perfect. What a reunion.

Amara's thin brows arched as she stepped forward with a smile that didn't reach her eyes.

"Oh, Butler Lane, please don't take it to heart," she said sweetly. "The girl's just careless with her words. She must've been fooling around somewhere and got herself hurt - it definitely has nothing to do with Young Master Gallagher. Absolutely not."

At first glance, her tone sounded apologetic, but the meaning underneath was vicious. Fooling around somewhere?

Throwing dirt came naturally to this mother–daughter duo.

Harper tilted her head, eyes gleaming dangerously. "So what you're saying, Auntie... is that when the Young Master was dating me, he was just fooling around with me?"

Amara froze. The sudden reversal hit her so hard her fake smile faltered.

It only took her a second to recover - she quickly softened her tone, pretending to be the understanding elder.

"Oh, child, I didn't mean that. It's a good thing that you two are so in love. I only meant that you should be careful with your words. After all, it's rare for someone of his status not to mind your background."

That word - background - landed like a slap.

In an instant, Harper remembered all those years when this woman used to sneer at her - calling her a pathetic orphan, a burden no one wanted.

The seal on her old hatred cracked open.

Her lips twisted into a feral smile. "You're right, Auntie. My background isn't nearly as glamorous as Phoebe's. I didn't get to choose my parents. But unlike her, I didn't latch onto yours the moment mine died just so I could have a mother again."

She leaned forward slightly, voice dripping with mockery. "You should be proud though - even without giving birth, you still managed to pass down all your fine virtues to your precious adopted daughter."

The entire ballroom went silent.

Phoebe is adopted?

Amara can't have children?!

***

Amara's face turned an ugly shade of green. The secret she had hidden for ten years had just become the hottest scandal in Belvia.

For someone like her - who valued reputation above life itself - being publicly exposed like this felt like death.

"You little brat! How dare you spout such nonsense? I'll tear that filthy mouth of yours apart!"

"Mom, calm down," Phoebe whispered beside her, though her own rage was simmering. "Everyone's watching."

Her hands trembled with fury, but she had to stay composed - not yet. She just needed to wait until Theo arrived.

Once she showed everyone the train tickets proving Harper had planned to elope with him, that pathetic girl's life would be over.

Amara was shaking with anger now, her voice hoarse as she screamed toward the corner of the room.

"Blake! Marlene! Are you just going to sit there while your daughter disgraces us all?!"

If she was going down in flames - she was dragging everyone with her.

The middle-aged couple who'd been cowering in the corner suddenly froze when Amara called their names. Startled, they hurried forward, heads bowed, looking every bit as guilty as they felt.

Harper's heart skipped a beat. She hadn't expected Amara to drag her parents into this mess.

Standing this close, she realized she had almost forgotten what they looked like.

Her father, Blake, opened his mouth timidly, but Harper cut him off before he could say a word.

"I came here to get engaged, not to argue," she said coldly. "This has nothing to do with you. Stay out of it."

The couple fell silent immediately. They had never had a voice in this family - not then, not now. At her words, they shrank back again, blending into the background.

Amara let out a soft sigh and smiled, her voice dripping with mock sympathy. "Ah, yes, you're right. You two left her before she was even a year old, ran off together and abandoned her. Now she's turned out like this - you really have no right to interfere. An engagement with the Gallagher family is a point of honor for the Reeves family. We need a proper, respectable young lady - someone pure and well-bred!"

"Enough!"

The booming voice silenced the entire room.

Everyone turned in shock - the Reeves family patriarch was sitting in his wheelchair near the front, no one knew when he had arrived.

"Grandpa?!"

"Yes... nine years ago, Grandpa was still alive."

Harper's eyes widened as emotion overtook her. She ran down from the stage and threw herself into the old man's arms.

"Grandpa, I missed you so much!"

The old man gently patted the back of her head, frowning when he felt her damp hair. "My girl, why is your hair wet? Your clothes are filthy, your face is scratched... tell me, who hurt you?"

Harper couldn't stop the tears streaming down her cheeks. He had been the only one who truly loved her - in this life, and the last.

She shook her head and tried to smile. "Don't worry, Grandpa. Even if someone tries to hurt me, I can protect myself."

The old man sighed, pain flashing through his cloudy eyes. "My dear girl, have you really thought this through? Do you truly want this engagement?"

That gentle, weary voice pulled at her heartstrings. The kindness in his eyes was the only warmth left in her world.

Amara, who had just been scolded into silence, stood off to the side with her lips pressed tight. Phoebe didn't dare to speak either - one wrong move and she'd drag herself into the fire.

But Harper's mind was made up. She hadn't come here to celebrate an engagement - she'd come for revenge.

Her grandfather's weathered hand rested on her wet hair. His heart ached, torn between protecting her and protecting the family's pride.

The Reeves family's reputation was already in ruins. The bride had run away, the groom hadn't even bothered to appear - everyone could see that the Gallagher family didn't take this marriage seriously.

The old man exhaled quietly. He was old now, too tired for this chaos, but he couldn't let his granddaughter be humiliated further.

"Harper..." he said heavily. "Let's cancel the engagement."

"No, Grandpa!" she protested instantly, eyes burning with fierce determination. "I have to prove myself - for the Reeves family's sake!"

He frowned. "Prove what?"

"That I'm innocent," she declared. "I'm willing to let Chase Gallagher examine me if that's what it takes."

The old man's face darkened immediately. "Absolutely not!" he snapped.

From the side, Phoebe's expression twisted. Jealousy burned in her eyes - her grandfather had never defended her that way.

"Grandpa, Harper doesn't understand what she's saying," Phoebe said quickly, pretending to sound concerned. "You can't let her do that."

Harper turned to her, her voice suddenly calm - too calm. "You don't have to worry about me. But you might want to worry about Theo..."

She rose slowly, a faint smirk tugging at her lips, though her eyes gleamed with something dark and dangerous. "He's in pretty bad shape, you know."

Phoebe froze. "What... what do you mean?"

Harper tilted her head, smiling with cruel satisfaction. She lifted a finger and drew a slow circle in the air right over Phoebe's abdomen.

"Oh, just that his injury... happens to be in a rather sensitive place."

"What?!"

Gasps filled the hall. Phoebe's face went white as marble, and for the first time that night - she had no words.

***

Butler Lane had no choice but to escort Harper up to the tenth floor of the hotel-to the Young Master Gallagher's suite.

In his eyes, she looked like a furious little wildcat, shouting for the Gallagher family to give her back her innocence!

Harper lay stiffly on the huge bed, silently rehearsing her plan for revenge.

When the door creaked open, she drew a sharp breath and instinctively shut her eyes, bracing herself for what was about to happen.

The memories of her previous life's torment flashed vividly before her eyes.

The man everyone called the Young Master of the Gallagher family-President of the GG Group-was Chase Gallagher, her former fiancé.

Rumor had it he was a pervert who only liked virgins and had... performance issues. He preferred to watch rather than participate.

That was why Amara had handed this "golden opportunity" to climb the social ladder to Harper, not her sister Phoebe.

That night, in her past life, she'd been tortured to the brink of death-all because of him.

If murder weren't illegal, she wouldn't have brought a micro camera tonight-she'd have brought a knife.

This time, she would expose every twisted act of his and destroy him completely.

Footsteps approached outside the door.

Gritting her teeth, Harper loosened her robe's belt, leaving herself half-exposed.

But for a long moment, nothing happened.

When she finally opened her eyes, she met a pair of icy, soul-piercing eyes.

Under the dim, flickering light, the tall man stood like a wild predator-cold, sharp, dangerous, and impossible to ignore.

His gaze locked on her with arrogant intensity, his presence so overwhelming she nearly forgot to breathe.

So this was the infamous, twisted Young Master Gallagher.

Her first instinct was fear.

He was ten years older-thirty, at the peak of a man's desires-yet here she was, baring herself before him, and he didn't even flinch?

Their eyes met, and the silence between them grew unbearable.

He stood over her, a pair of stark white gloves catching the light.

His voice was low and frigid. "What do you want me to do?"

"Prove that I'm clean," Harper whispered, her clear eyes fixed stubbornly on him.

Chase lifted the hem of his shirt slightly, revealing chiseled abs and sharp muscle lines.

Her heart skipped a beat. If he wasn't the impotent man the rumors claimed he was, she was in serious trouble.

He moved closer-his gloved hand slid from her shoulder to her neck.

Then, with sudden force, his fingers clamped around her throat.

"So, you managed to escape after all," he said in a low, dangerous tone that felt like chains wrapping around her soul.

"I changed my mind..." she breathed, her lips trembling, but her eyes burned with a strange excitement.

He really was a monster.

Her oxygen-starved brain flashed back to that night from her past life-the humiliation, the pain, the faceless men...

"Let me be your woman," she said suddenly, forcing sincerity into her voice.

But in his eyes, a storm gathered-his gaze roamed from her lips to her collarbone.

The bruises marring her fair skin stood out vividly, like dark blossoms blooming on snow-painful yet irresistibly tempting.

His eyes darkened, his breathing heavy.

His hand moved to her thigh, sliding slowly upward.

"So, what you really want," he murmured harshly, "is to crawl into my bed under the pretense of a virginity test?"

His crude words stripped away her last shred of dignity. Shame burned through her like fire, melting her focus on revenge.

Those white gloves seemed to sear wherever they touched.

"N-no..." she stammered, face flushed.

"No?"

Chase let out a cold laugh. "You wanted to be engaged to me, yet you ran off with another man. Now you ask me to verify your purity? Who do you think I am, Harper?"

Her eyes widened, heart pounding.

"I did it for you-for your reputation, Young Master," she said quickly.

His expression darkened, a cruel smirk tugging at his lips. "For me?"

Before she could respond, he reached beside her and picked up a small flower-shaped hairpin.

"What's this?"

"H-hairpin..." she said, panicked, trying to snatch it back.

His sharp gaze swept from the hairpin to her flushed face.

"Tired of living, are you?"

Her heart jumped into her throat. The tiny camera hidden inside the pin would expose everything.

"It's just to prove I'm innocent-so no one can question you," she said weakly.

His face turned to stone.

He narrowed his eyes, studying her as if seeing right through her lies.

Then-crack!

The micro camera shattered in his fist.

For a long moment, silence hung heavy.

When he finally spoke, his voice was low and cold enough to freeze the air.

"Get out."

Cold sweat drenched Harper's back. She had no idea how she even made it back to her room.

She'd failed.

Chase was far more terrifying than she ever imagined.

A sudden ding made her jump.

It was a message from Butler Lane, saying her parents were still waiting for her downstairs in the banquet hall.

Harper stared into the mirror. The reflection that looked back at her was both familiar and foreign-eighteen years old, young and vibrant, a face full of life, a body still full of strength.

Her parents had given her life in her previous one, yes-but they had never acted like real parents. They'd eloped for love when they were young, then abandoned her to be raised by her grandfather. Through all her childhood and growing years, they had never once been there.

Every ounce of pain, every humiliation at the hands of Phoebe, every shadow of insecurity she carried-it all started because of them.

And in this life?

She let out a faint, bitter laugh. Her fate no longer belonged to them. This time, she didn't owe them anything-not love, not forgiveness.

When she descended the grand staircase, she spotted Marlene leaning against Blake's shoulder as if asleep.

Ha... so that's love? What a joke.

She cleared her throat lightly. "Ahem."

Marlene stirred, her eyes fluttering open. When she saw Harper standing before her, she gasped in relief and joy. "Harper! You-you're okay?"

Harper's face remained expressionless. Her voice was calm and distant. "I came to tell you that you were never part of my life before, and from now on, you don't need to be."

Marlene and Blake exchanged a silent, pained glance.

"Harper," Marlene's voice trembled, "We know we wronged you-"

"No need to apologize."

Harper cut her off sharply and turned to leave.

"Harper, stop!" Blake's voice boomed, deep and commanding.

Her steps faltered, but she didn't turn around.

"Your mother and I came to tell you-don't get involved with the Gallagher family!" he said firmly behind her.

Her eyes darkened, but she said nothing.

"Harper! That engagement to the Gallagher family-it's just your grandfather's selfish idea!"

That made her turn around.

For a moment, she just stared at them, thinking she must've misheard.

"What did you just say? Selfish?"

A bitter smile curved her lips as she nodded slowly. "You're right about one thing-you do know all about selfishness. For the sake of your own love, you abandoned me, left me to fend for myself, ruined my life..."

Her throat tightened as the memories of her past life flooded in. "I'll never forgive you for your selfishness."

Her words struck like thunder. Marlene nearly fainted, bursting into tears. "Harper, I'm sorry! I'm so, so sorry! It's our fault-your father's and mine! Please, come home with me, okay?"

But Harper's heart was already dead.

She stood there like a flagpole in the wind, unshaken no matter how hard her mother tried to pull her back.

It was too late.

"Go home?" The phrase sounded like a cruel joke. After everything-after the humiliation, the hatred, the loss-they wanted her to go home, as if she could just forgive and forget out of some misplaced mercy.

Mercy? To hell with mercy.

Her eyes burned red as she wrenched her arm free. "There's no home to go back to! I have no parents-do you hear me?!"

Marlene's tearful eyes widened, her knees giving out. She nearly collapsed, and Blake caught her just in time.

Harper thought that saying such cruel words to her parents would feel satisfying, like ripping off a mask and exposing a liar. But it didn't.

Instead, an ache bloomed in her chest-one she didn't want to admit.

That's enough, Harper. From now on, you're on your own. You don't need them. You don't need anyone.

They still have their love.

And you-you have your vengeance.

Anyone who hurt you in your past life will pay double in this one.

***