The Sutton heir was using a wheel of fortune to pick a wife.

In my last life, the wheel landed on me. On my wedding day, the woman he had loved his whole life threw herself off a cliff into the sea.

That was when I learned. Fifteen years of him chasing me had been about getting her to look back at him. There were thirty-six other names on that wheel. All of them were there to push her into a corner.

After she went, he came apart. "I only wanted to make you jealous. Why would you leave me like this?"

He blamed all of it on me. He took apart what was left of my body with his own hands.

In my last minutes I saw her come back, untouched, and tell him it had only been a test.

They held each other and kissed. I went into a jar nobody noticed.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back at the day of the wheel.

"Sir. You may begin."

The butler pulled the red silk off the wheel.

The face of the wheel held thirty-six letters. Each letter went with a name.

Jordan Sutton stepped toward it. I cut him off.

"Wait!"

All eyes turned.

In that moment, I understood.

I had been given a second chance.

In my previous life, I had been chosen. And on my wedding day… I was reduced to something less than human.

This time, I would not repeat the same fate.

I walked straight to the wheel and tore off the slip marked with my letter–A.

The room fell silent in shock.

"Is she insane?"

"That's one less competitor–our chances just improved!"

"But the young master clearly favors someone else. Marrying into that… do you think it'll end well?"

The thirty-five other women on the wheel were whispering to each other.

The other girls whispered among themselves.

I did not care.

I calmly tore the slip in my hand to pieces and dropped it into the trash.

Jordan let out a short laugh. "Naomi… are you looking for death?"

He came toward me. He was tall. He used it.

I did not move. I knew who was about to walk in.

Valerie Cooper. The woman he had been carrying in his head for fifteen years.

Valerie was the daughter of his father's second wife. His foster sister, on paper. Anyone could see what was wrong with that. Whatever Jordan was about to do with the wheel was a play to push her past her own line.

The doorway filled.

"Jordan." The voice cracked. "Are you really getting married?"

The room turned again.

Valerie was wearing a white dress. Her eyes were red. The chin was set in defiance.

Jordan crossed to her in three strides.

"Valerie. I'm sorry. Don't cry."

He pulled her in. He spoke into her hair.

"You know who I love.

"You know what I'm doing this for, don't you?"

He smoothed her hair back from her face.

She did not answer. She just kept crying.

He gripped her shoulders. "Valerie. Tell me. Do you love me?"

Her eyes slid past him to me.

"Naomi. You and Jordan grew up together. You and he will be very happy."

I went still.

Childhood friends.

That was true.

I met him when I was five. His mother had just passed away, and he stopped speaking from the shock. I stayed by his side every day, trying everything I could to make him smile.

Ten months later, he finally spoke again.

"Naomi, you're so good to me. When I grow up, I'm going to marry you."

He had been after me ever since. Everyone had thought he was head over heels.

I had thought so too.

Until he was seventeen, and the stepmother brought Valerie into the house.

Everything changed.

I let the corner of my mouth lift.

"Valerie. You have it wrong. Jordan and I are old friends. That's all."

I held her eyes for a beat.

I paused, then shifted my gaze to him.

"And besides…

"I already have someone I like."

Jordan's eyes had murder in them. I walked past it to where the two of them were standing.

"Valerie, I wish you both happiness."

I turned for the door. He caught my arm.

His grip was hard enough to make me wince.

"Naomi, you belong to me. Where do you think you're going?"

I looked up at him. "I never signed myself over to you. I go wherever I want."

His gaze turned even colder.

Beside him, Valerie caught it–jealousy flickered briefly in her eyes before she hid it.

"Jordan… Are you afraid to let her go?"

He stopped. His grip stayed.

Her voice trembled at exactly the right pitch. "Jordan… now I understand how you really feel."

She turned and ran.

He swore under his breath.

"Wait until I get back to deal with you."

He was after her before I could answer.

I watched the door close behind him. Then I pulled out my phone and dialed.

"Professor, the project you mentioned before–is it still recruiting?"

The voice on the other end was immediately excited. "If you're willing to join, you can come anytime."

"It's a five-year assignment overseas. Are you sure you can leave him?"

"There's nothing between us anymore," I said it quietly, then hung up.

I stood there for a long time, unmoving.

The butler appeared. "Ms. Wells. The young master asked me to drive you home."

"Alright."

I nodded.

It was time to go back.

I had been living in the Sutton house for years. If I were leaving, I needed to pack properly.

When I stepped inside, I ran into Jordan upstairs. He was coaxing Valerie, trying to calm her down.

The moment he saw me, his expression darkened.

"Didn't you say you had someone else? Why are you still staying here?"

I kept my face calm. "I'm packing. I'll leave tonight."

"You–"

His voice dropped, his eyes turning cold.

Then, as if remembering something, a strange look crossed his face.

"The hospital called this morning. My bone marrow is a ninety-nine percent match for your brother."

My breath caught.

The doctor had already said it–without a transplant, Adam had less than a month.

And the match… was Jordan.

I had spent a week burying that thought every time it surfaced.

"Please… save him. I'll do anything you ask."

Jordan smiled.

"Anything?" His gaze was mocking. "Go upstairs to Valerie. You get on your knees and apologize to her properly."

"Do that… and I'll donate."

My fists tightened.

Valerie spoke up suddenly. "Jordan, don't make things difficult for Naomi. If we're not meant to be, then so be it."

Jordan's face turned a darker shade.

It did not matter. As long as my brother lived, nothing else mattered.

I gritted my teeth and started to kneel.

Just then, a phone rang.

Jordan stepped aside to take the call.

"Naomi, don't think you can get away with this," Valerie muttered under her breath.

I glanced at her, saying nothing.

Being ignored clearly irritated her.

"Naomi, are you deaf?"

I still did not respond.

Her expression stiffened.

By then, Jordan had already hung up.

Just as he was about to turn back, Valerie suddenly let out a sharp cry.

"Ah!"

She dropped. She landed on the carpet hard.

Jordan ended the call and ran.

"Valerie, what happened?"

Valerie curled into his chest. She lifted her face. Tears were already there.

"I was just telling her… that donating bone marrow could harm your health. I told her to think carefully, but she… she hit me…"

Jordan stood up. His backhand landed across my face.

"Naomi, you make me sick.

"Tell that useless brother of yours to just wait for death."

With that, he picked Valerie up and left without another glance.

I stood there, frozen, for a long time.

Only after the burning pain on my face faded did the tears finally fall.

…

The next morning I went to the hospital with Adam's favorite noodles. He saw my face the moment I walked in.

"Naomi, what happened to you?"

"It's nothing. I wasn't paying attention and walked into something."

He reached up and rumpled my hair.

A nurse came in. "Adam, we're preparing for marrow ablation. Once that's complete, the transplant will begin immediately."

A surge of joy rose in me.

"Did you find a new match?"

She frowned. "What new match? Didn't Mr. Sutton tell you? He'll be coming this afternoon to donate."

I froze, disbelief flashing through my eyes.

After Adam was taken in for the procedure, I went to the company to thank Jordan in person.

His secretary said, "He flew out this morning with Ms. Cooper. They're seeing the fall foliage in Sunset Country."

My vision went blank for a moment.

Adam had already begun the ablation process. Once it started, there was no turning back–without a transplant, he wouldn't survive.

Panic surged through me.

I rushed back to the hospital.

Too late.

Without the marrow, Adam had nothing left in him. His body was being cleared out for nothing.

I called Jordan.

I called him until he picked up.

"I'm begging you. Please come back and save my brother–"

His voice was impatient.

"I promised Valerie we'd go see the leaves. We'll talk in a few days."

"Adam has already started the procedure!" I shouted.

Valerie's voice came through the phone.

"I was the one who called the hospital. Let him go through a few rounds first–so he won't be so nervous when the real transplant happens."

"You heard that," Jordan said flatly. "Valerie's doing this for Adam's sake."

Then he hung up.

When I called again, the phone was already switched off.

My legs gave out, and I collapsed to the floor, a wave of helplessness swallowing me whole.

At that moment, a doctor's voice rang out from down the hall–

"Where is the donor? The patient isn't going to make it!"