"Olivia, if you step aside and let Giselle take the role, I’ll seriously consider marrying you."

Olivia agreed without hesitation. Then, she turned around and personally fabricated a scandalous rumor, handing it over to the paparazzi Luca despised the most.

In her past life, Olivia Romanov had loved Luca Everett for ten years. However, because of a single jest from his stepsister, she gave up the leading role she had worked tirelessly to secure.

Unexpectedly, Giselle died on set due to a tragic accident.

When Luca heard the news, he merely sneered and said, "She’s been clinging to me for years. I was already sick of her."

On their wedding night, he forced Olivia to eat mangoes, fully aware of her severe allergy. His eyes burned with resentment as he spat, "Giselle died because of you. It’s all your fault!"

After being reborn, Olivia made a decisive choice: quit the industry and end all ties with Luca Everett.

She fabricated damning evidence, staged her own death and disappeared from his life entirely.

Luca, who once loathed her to his very core, went mad with grief, kneeling before her grave, crying over and over again. "Olivia, you must be lying to me, right?"

——

In the dead of winter, the bitter wind of Bringham howled relentlessly.

Olivia lay on the bed, still lightheaded from alcohol. A wave of nausea surged through her body.

She gasped for breath, trying to clear her mind.

"Do you need help getting to the bathroom?"

A familiar voice suddenly rang out and Olivia’s drowsiness vanished in an instant.

She looked up, startled and saw a tall, strikingly handsome man standing before her. His sharp features carried an air of delicate refinement and his high-end suit bore a faint trace of perfume.

For a moment, she was utterly stunned.

Just moments ago, the man before her had forced her to eat an entire mango, fully aware of her severe allergy. Writhing in agony on the floor, she had pleaded with him, begging for mercy for the sake of their decade-long relationship.

But Luca had only responded with a ruthless slap before storming off in fury.

A cold shiver ran down Olivia’s spine.

Luca frowned, his patience thinning. "What’s wrong? Did the alcohol make you lose your senses? Why aren’t you saying anything?"

Olivia pressed her fingertips against her burning temples, struggling against the dizziness. "Help me to the bathroom first," she muttered.

Without hesitation, Luca wrapped an arm around her waist and guided her to the toilet.

The moment she reached the toilet, Olivia clutched the edge and vomited. The nausea slowly subsided and with it, a strange clarity settled over her mind.

Was this… rebirth?

Her heart pounded as she grabbed her phone and checked the date. She really had returned two years into the past.

The lingering suffocation from the allergic reaction in her past life had yet to fade. Olivia clutched her chest, struggling to steady her breath.

"Olivia Romanov." Luca's voice came from outside the bathroom door, tinged with coldness. "If you want to see me, just say so. Stop getting drunk every time. Do you know what it looks like for a female celebrity to be drinking every night?"

Indeed, drunkenness had always been Olivia’s excuse to cling to Luca. It was a tactic she had used time and time again. No matter what he was doing, he would always show up.

She pulled a tissue to wipe her mouth and replied flatly, "I know. I won’t do it again."

Luca scoffed, unconvinced. "You’d better keep your word."

Olivia turned on the bathtub faucet. As she unbuttoned her clothes, she asked casually, "Isn’t today the wrap-up celebration for your sister’s first drama? Shouldn’t you be there?"

Luca sighed. "Olivia, can’t you speak properly? Don’t be so difficult."

Already soaking in the warm water, Olivia’s tone remained indifferent.

"I’m not being sarcastic. I’m taking a bath. You staying here is pointless. Just go home."

Luca was momentarily stunned before grabbing his suit jacket from the sofa.

"All right, I'm leaving. But remember, this was your decision. Don’t turn around and get upset with me later."

Behind the dim glass door of the bathroom, Olivia let out a faint smile. "I won’t. I won’t drink anymore. My family matters most. If Giselle finds out you came to see me tonight, she won’t be happy."

Slipping on his jacket, Luca frowned. "When will you stop being so difficult?"

A long silence followed before Olivia finally spoke. "Luca, do you think you really know me?"

Her indifferent tone instantly irked him.

She was the one who got drunk and begged him to come over. Yet now, she was the one dismissing him.

He knew Olivia’s temperament all too well. She always said one thing but meant another. She told him to leave, but in reality, she wanted him to stay more than anyone else.

Still, something felt off about her tonight.

However, Luca did not dwell on it. With Giselle’s drama wrapping up today, he had already been looking for an excuse to leave Olivia’s place. Now, she had conveniently saved him the trouble.

"All right, I’m leaving. If you end up feeling upset, don’t expect me to come back and comfort you."

As Luca's footsteps faded into the distance, Olivia sank into the bathtub, her silent tears spilling over.

Even in the final moments of her past life, she could hardly believe that the man she had loved for nearly a decade would be the one to end her life.

The Romanov Family and the Everett Family had been close for generations and she and Luca had grown up together, inseparable since childhood. The longest they had ever been apart was just three days.

During her sophomore year, Luca entered the entertainment industry. Without hesitation and against her parents' wishes, Olivia dropped out of her management major, determined to become a star like him.

Her love burned so fiercely that she never considered the possibility that while she had only ever loved Luca, he had never only loved her.

The first time she witnessed Luca and Giselle’s affair was at his 23rd birthday party.

On the polished deck of a luxury cruise ship, she saw it happen. Luca, who was tipsy from drinking, pressed a kiss to Giselle’s lips.

That was the moment she learned the truth. Luca and Giselle were not biological siblings.

From then on, Luca had desperately tried to suppress his feelings for Giselle. And Olivia Romanov was the perfect escape.

She was beautiful, obedient and hopelessly devoted to him. Aside from her somewhat obsessive nature, she had no glaring flaws.

When Luca finally confessed his feelings to her, Olivia wanted to ask why he kissed Giselle at the birthday party.

However, in the end, Olivia never asked.

She loved Luca so deeply that she was willing to deceive herself, afraid that uncovering the truth would only push him further away.

Over and over, she convinced herself that the kiss had been nothing more than a drunken mistake, an accident that Luca would never repeat once he sobered up.

But no matter how much she tried to deny it, his obvious favoritism was impossible to ignore.

For three years, Olivia dedicated herself to preparing for a highly anticipated historical drama, only for Luca to ask her to relinquish the lead role for Giselle.

"Olivia, she's just a little girl. If you think of it as indulging her passion for costume dramas, you wouldn’t be so petty, right?"

Olivia had no desire to give up the role she had worked so hard for, but in the end, she forced a smile and said, "If she wants it, she can have it."

She had hoped naively that Luca would see her reluctance, that he would understand her pain, but he only pulled her into an embrace, placed a kiss on her forehead and smiled. "I knew my Olivia was the best. When you marry me, we’ll be family."

Olivia swallowed the bitterness rising in her throat and said nothing.

No one expected that after joining the production, Giselle would suffer a tragic accident. She was left permanently disabled and later died in a hospital bed.

At the time, Olivia and Luca’s wedding was less than a month away.

Initially, Luca showed no sadness at all. His voice was cold and detached when he said, "I never liked her. She was the daughter of the mistress my father brought into our family. I resented her from the start. If not for my father, I would have cut ties with her long ago."

"She’s been clinging to me for years. I was already sick of her."

Luca had no idea that years ago, Olivia had witnessed him kissing his so-called stepsister at his birthday party.

She never dared to question whether there had been love between them.

On their wedding night, Luca promised Olivia a surprise. Trusting him, she closed her eyes and waited, only to have a plate of mangoes placed in front of her, the very fruit she was deathly allergic to.

Luca pried her mouth open and forced the mango inside.

His eyes, burning red with fury, looked at her as though she were his worst enemy.

"It's all because of you. My Giselle died because of you. She was the one I loved the most. And you? Who do you think you are?"

Olivia's breath grew shallow, her throat tightening as an unbearable pain spread through her body. She collapsed onto the floor, gasping, pleading for mercy for the sake of the ten years they had spent together.

But all she received in return was a stinging slap across her face.

And then, Luca stormed out, slamming the door behind him.

Thankfully, she had been given another chance.

A plan for escape slowly took root in Olivia’s heart.

After finishing her shower, she dried her hair and made herself a cup of coffee.

Just then, her phone vibrated. It was a video call from Giselle Everett.

Olivia’s heart tightened. She hesitated for a moment before finally answering.

On the screen, Giselle beamed, her eyes alight with excitement. "Olivia, today is my wrap-up party. Why don’t you come?"

Olivia forced a small smile. "I’m not feeling too well..."

"Oh, I know!" Giselle giggled. "You must have been drinking again. My brother always comes to see you when you drink."

As she spoke, she tilted the camera slightly, revealing Luca beside her.

They were close, so close that their faces almost touched. Giselle leaned against him, her posture intimate.

"Luca, don’t you think so?"

Luca smiled indulgently, his voice carrying a helpless fondness. "You’re always causing trouble."

In her previous life, Olivia would have been consumed with jealousy, desperate to make Luca stay with her through any means necessary.

But this time, though a faint sting pricked her heart, the storm of emotions from her past life had faded.

Their relationship had always been shrouded in secrecy, tangled in shadows. Olivia’s sensitive nature had left her feeling constantly upset.

At first, Luca found her cute and was willing to soothe her emotions, but over time, his patience wore thin. Eventually, he stopped indulging her, leaving Olivia to deal with her feelings on her own.

"Oh, by the way, have I shown you the gift my brother gave me?"

Giselle stretched out her hand, revealing a dazzling snake-shaped ring encrusted with diamonds.

Olivia recognized it instantly. It was a newly designed piece from Luca’s luxury brand, a collection so exclusive that it had not even been released to the public yet.

She still remembered how much she had liked that very ring the first time she saw it and felt a special connection to its intricate design. Yet when she had mentioned it to Luca, he had casually told her that the brand had not sent him a sample yet and she would have to wait until its official release.

But now, here it was on Giselle’s hand.

Giselle admired the ring as if it were an afterthought, then chuckled. "Oh, my brother really doesn’t follow the rules. What if the brand finds out?"

Perhaps feeling guilty, Luca avoided Olivia’s gaze and instead reassured Giselle with a casual tone, "It’s nothing. I’m the brand ambassador. What’s wrong with giving a ring to my own sister? The company won’t mind."