Chapter 1
1566words
As consciousness flooded back, the sharp tang of champagne mingled with an inexplicable heat coursing through my veins. My eyes snapped open.
Above me hung an obscenely luxurious crystal chandelier, with empty champagne flutes scattered across the hotel suite floor below.
This was the hotel suite from after the engagement banquet the Vanden family had thrown for Samuel and me!
My heart hammered against my ribs, threatening to burst from my chest.
I forced myself upright and caught my reflection in the dressing mirror—a young, beautiful woman in an expensive custom gown, her face still bearing traces of innocence and unmistakable terror.
This was me, Ella Vanden, legitimate daughter of the Vanden family, on my engagement night at twenty years old.
Not a dream. I'd really come back. Back to the very night that had sealed my tragic fate in my previous life.
Memories from my past life crashed over me like a tidal wave, laden with bitter hatred and raw despair.
It was on this very night that my half-sister Lina had tricked me into getting drunk and engineered my ending up in my fiancé Samuel's bed.
After the scandal broke, I was forced to marry Samuel to preserve the family's precious reputation.
Marriage was a waking nightmare. Samuel and Lina had been lovers all along, conspiring against me and siphoning away my assets. Then, when I became pregnant, they orchestrated an "accident" to remove the final obstacle—sending me and my unborn child to burn alive…
Ice-cold hatred instantly overpowered my physical discomfort. I clenched my fists until nails bit into my palms. The sharp sting anchored me to the present—this wasn't memory but reality. The beginning of my journey to rewrite my destiny with my own damn hands!
I will not fall into the same trap again. Not this time. Never again.
I scanned the room, my gaze locking onto the half-open door.
If events followed my previous life, Lina would soon "accidentally" walk in, find me "drunk," and "kindly" offer to help me rest—when in reality, she'd arrange for Samuel to be caught with her in a compromising position, creating the illusion they'd been "overcome with passion."
I let out a cold laugh, forced my wobbly legs to carry me to the door, and locked it with a satisfying click.
I pulled out my phone and opened the surveillance app—thank God for the paranoia I'd developed in my previous life. I'd secretly installed hidden cameras throughout this suite, originally to prevent theft. Never imagined they'd serve this purpose.
After securing the room, I took a deep breath and dialed—not my parents, not security, but the direct private line of the true power behind the Vanden family: my grandfather.
The phone was answered almost immediately. "Ella?" My grandfather's steady voice carried a note of confusion. "It's late. What's wrong?" The engagement banquet had just ended—I shouldn't be disturbing him at this hour.
I put the call on speaker, letting his voice fill the room, and carefully calibrated my tone to convey shock, anger, and just the right amount of trembling: "Grandfather, I'm sorry to disturb you. But I need you and the uncles who handle family discipline to come to my suite immediately. Something revolting has happened that threatens the Vanden family reputation."
As I spoke, the door handle turned gently. Finding it locked, whoever stood outside paused in surprise. Then came the telltale jingle of keys—of course Lina had a spare!
"Ella, are you in there? Sister?" Lina's sickeningly sweet voice filtered through the door. "You've had too much to drink. Let me help you to bed…"
"Grandfather," I said quickly into the phone, "please stay on the line and listen." Then I yanked the door open!
There stood Lina in a practically see-through nightgown, perfectly made up with fake concern plastered across her face. When she saw me standing fully alert in the doorway, her expression froze, panic flashing in her eyes.
"Lina?" I feigned surprise, though my voice was arctic. "Dressed like that, with a key to my suite, lurking outside my fiancé's room on our engagement night? What exactly are you planning?"
Lina recovered quickly and tried to push past me, her voice dripping with fake hurt: "Sister, how could you think such things? I was just worried about you after all that champagne… Why is your door locked? Is there something—or someone—you're hiding?"
She peered suggestively past me, trying to flip the script.
"Worried about me?" I cut her off, holding up my phone displaying surveillance footage of her slipping something into my drink earlier. "Is this your idea of concern? Drugging my champagne?"
The blood drained from Lina's face. She clearly hadn't anticipated this move. "No… that's not… I was just… that was to help you sober up…" she stammered, words tumbling over each other.
Just then, Samuel Vanden—my husband in my past life and enemy in this one—came hurrying down the hallway.
He wore only a bathrobe, his hair still damp, as though freshly disturbed from someone's bed.
Taking in the scene, he frowned, instantly donning that practiced mask of gentle concern.
"Ella, Lina, what's happening? Why all this commotion so late?" He stepped forward, instinctively positioning himself between me and Lina, his tone reproachful as he looked at me. "Ella, have you had too much to drink and misunderstood something? Lina was only trying to help."
Looking at his sanctimonious face, memories of his betrayals and the pain he'd caused in my previous life scorched through me like wildfire.
I could almost smell the acrid stench of burning wood and fabric, feel the terrible moment when my unborn child's life slipped away inside me.
"Misunderstanding?" I let out a harsh laugh, turning my phone toward him so he could clearly see Lina drugging my drink. "Samuel, look at what your 'kind-hearted' sister did! Or was this your plan all along—she drugs me, you 'discover' us together?"
Samuel's face darkened, but he recovered quickly, lunging for my phone. "Ella! Stop this nonsense right now! Give me that phone!" His voice trembled with barely contained rage. "This is clearly a misunderstanding. Lina is young and made a mistake. Family matters stay private. We'll discuss this behind closed doors!"
"Private?" I stepped back sharply, dodging his grab for my phone. I raised my voice to ensure my grandfather heard every word. "So I can be forced to marry you, you hypocritical bastard, and then be murdered by you and your lover when it's convenient?"
My words hit like a thunderclap, stunning both Samuel and Lina into shocked silence.
Raw panic flashed across Samuel's face.
"Ella, have you lost your mind?" he snarled. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"You both know damn well what I'm talking about!" I turned away from them to address my phone, my voice filled with righteous fury. "Grandfather, did you hear all that? This is the true face of your eldest grandson and my dear half-sister! A calculated conspiracy to ruin me so this illegitimate daughter can take my place!"
The line went silent for a moment. Then came my grandfather's voice, deep and controlled but vibrating with fury: "I heard everything. Samuel, Lina, you have disappointed me greatly."
His voice through the speaker was the sound of final judgment.
Lina's knees buckled, nearly sending her to the floor. Samuel's face turned ashen. "Grandfather, it's not what it sounds like. Let me explain—"
"Enough!" Grandfather's voice cut through Samuel's protests with undeniable authority. "Ella, take a breath."
I took a deep breath, knowing my moment had arrived. I raised my hand, where the massive diamond on my finger—symbol of my status as future wife to the Vanden heir—caught the light brilliantly while feeling like ice against my skin.
I yanked it off without a moment's hesitation.
"Save your explanations, Samuel Vanden." I stared at him with the cold detachment one might give a corpse. "Your hypocrisy and Lina's viciousness make me physically ill."
I held up the ring and, as they watched in shock, hurled it to the marble floor!
The sharp crack echoed through the hallway—the sound of breaking chains, of my previous life's foolish submission shattering forever.
"This engagement is over!" My voice rang clear and unwavering through the hallway and into the phone. "The position of Vanden daughter-in-law? I don't want it—and I'll be damned if I surrender it to a scheming illegitimate daughter!"
I paused, then pronounced each word with crystal clarity: "I, Ella Vanden, hereby formally terminate my engagement to Samuel Vanden!"
Deathly silence filled the hallway, broken only by Lina's choked sobs and Samuel's ragged breathing.
On the other end of the line, Grandfather remained silent for what felt like an eternity. Finally, he spoke, his voice weighted with authority: "The engagement is suspended. Samuel, Lina—return to your rooms immediately. You are not to leave without my express permission. Ella, you've been wronged. Try to rest."
The line went dead. I knew Grandfather needed time to investigate properly—a temporary measure to protect the family name. But for now, it was enough.
I looked at Samuel's ashen face and Lina's crumpled form on the floor. I felt no triumph, only ice-cold determination.
This was merely the beginning. My path of vengeance had officially begun.
