Chapter 1

On the day of my engagement, my sister was caught in a sudden shooting and woke up with amnesia. The first thing she did was mistake my fiance for her boyfriend.

And just like that, everyone told me I had to step aside for her.

When she saw the diamond ring on my finger, she sobbed through a forced smile. "If you like it, Thea, I can give it to you."

Leon ripped the engagement ring off my hand and threw it into a drain, all to make her feel better.

When she found out I had moved into the house Damian and I were supposed to live in after the wedding, she wiped at her tear-streaked face and cried, "Why are you taking my home too? We're family!"

My parents told me to be gracious, to be kind, to be the bigger person. Then they joined forces and threw me out of the estate.

Later, during one of her depressive episodes, she climbed onto the rooftop terrace in the middle of the night, crying that no one loved her.

Damian, the fiance who was supposed to have loved me for years, arrived just in time. He gently wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and said, "Silly girl. You are the one I have loved all along."

With his own hands, he draped his coat over her shoulders, and under the moonlight, they kissed as if no one else existed.

No one cared that she had pushed me off the building. I lay below them, broken and soaked in blood.

I bled out slowly and died in agony.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day Vivian developed amnesia after the shooting.

……

"You seduced your sister's fiance and did something this shameless. How do you still have the nerve to live?"

The moment I opened my eyes, Vivian was already lunging at me in fury. She was holding a pair of sharp scissors, and the tip was about to slice across my face.

Instinctively, I shoved her away.

Vivian staggered back. The scissors flew from her hand, and she crumpled onto the floor.

"I'm your own sister. Why would you do this to me...?"

She covered her face and sobbed so hard she could barely speak.

My parents rushed out of the hospital room and gathered her into their arms, soothing her as if she were the only person in the world who could be hurt.

People moved in and out of the private medical center, all of them throwing strange looks our way.

"Wow. She looks so innocent, but she turned out to be a homewrecker."

"And they're sisters? That's shameless."

I stared at the fragile-looking woman in front of me and dug my nails into my palm.

The pain brought me fully awake.

I had really been given a second chance.

I was back on the day Vivian developed amnesia after the shooting.

In my previous life, this had been the day Damian and I were supposed to celebrate our engagement.

Vivian had been studying overseas. She rushed back to New York to celebrate with me, only to get caught in a shooting on the way.

When she woke up, her memories were gone, and she insisted Damian was the boyfriend she had loved for years.

When she learned that Damian and I were engaged, she broke down.

"I'm the one who loved him!"

"Thea, you're my own Thea. Why would you betray me?"

From that day on, Vivian treated me as her enemy.

She had breakdowns anywhere and everywhere. Screaming abuse became routine. So did slaps, smashed objects, and endless chaos.

The worst time, she poured boiling water over me and left wide scars across my skin.

My life became unbearable.

But everyone around me said I was responsible.

"If she hadn't been rushing back to celebrate for you, Vivian never would have developed amnesia. You owe her for the rest of your life."

"She has amnesia now. She's sick. Are you really going to argue with a patient?"

From that day on, I was forced to swallow every grievance and endure every bit of Vivian's malice.

And she received everyone's favoritism.

Whenever she saw the engagement ring on my finger, she would sob and force a smile. "If you like it, Thea, I'll let you have the ring."

Then she would cry so hard she fainted on the spot.

The sight of her collapsing was all it took for my brother, who had always looked up to me, to turn on me. In a burst of anger on her behalf, he snatched the engagement ring from my hand and threw it into a drain.

When she learned I had moved into the house Damian and I were supposed to live in after the wedding, she cried until her face was soaked. "Why do you always take what belongs to me? We're family!"

My parents' hearts ached for her. They turned around and scolded me, telling me to be generous and kind, then threw me out of the estate.

No matter how absurd or unreasonable Vivian's demands were, I had to give in.

If I showed even the slightest dissatisfaction, she would spiral, act possessed, and threaten to cut her wrists.

Little by little, I became the villain in everyone's eyes, the one supposedly driving her to death.

"Vivian developed amnesia. It isn't like she's tormenting you on purpose. Can't you have a little compassion for someone who's sick?"

"What's wrong with helping her with such a small thing? She's your sister!"

But who ever had any sympathy for me?

Just because Vivian developed amnesia, did that mean I had to hand over my entire life?

At that moment, the world before my eyes went dark.

It felt as if I had been tied up in an abandoned alley, staring into a darkness with no end.

In the end, even the fiance who had supposedly loved me for years had to be handed over to her.

"Vivian was hurt so badly because of you. Can't you just endure it?"

When I finally broke and tried to speak up, Damian only looked at me with cold reproach. "You can't even show compassion to your own family. Thea, do you have a heart at all?"

I would never forget that night.

Vivian had a depressive episode and climbed onto the rooftop terrace in the middle of the night, crying that no one loved her.

The moment I heard, I rushed upstairs to save her.

But she turned around and shoved me off with brutal force. I hit the ground, mangled and drenched in blood.

Damian rushed over. He saw me clearly on the ground, moaning in pain, but he still ran straight upstairs and pulled Vivian into his arms, gently wiping away the tears at the corners of her eyes.

"Silly girl. You are the one I have loved all along."

Under the romantic moonlight, he put the veil on her himself and kissed her sweetly.

No one cared about me, the one who had been cruelly pushed off the building. Blood filled my mouth as something deep inside me ruptured, but none of it hurt as much as the stabbing pain in my chest.

Damian had clearly seen me...

So why didn't he save me?

I waited and waited, begging for a chance to live.

I was still alive.

But all I got was a body growing cold, my blood draining out of me, and a miserable death filled with despair.

As I floated in midair, I saw the smug smile at the corner of Vivian's mouth.

So she had never developed amnesia at all.

The so-called shooting had been nothing more than a performance she staged herself.

Because she liked Damian too and was consumed by jealousy, she deliberately destroyed my engagement party.

She turned my life into a nightmare.

Why?

Carrying all my resentment and hatred, I opened my eyes again.

I was back on the day Vivian pretended to lose her memory after the shooting.