Chapter 1

In my past life, I vanished on my way back to my hometown.

By the time they found me, I was lying in a cornfield beside the village idiot, my clothes torn open. The mob branded me a rapist, shattered my legs with iron pipes, and dragged me off to prison.

My younger brother stole my identity. He took my university admission letter and went to the capital in my place.

But his stolen life didn't go as planned. For three years, wealthy second-generation students tormented him like a dog. Eventually, he was framed for a crime, thrown in prison, and finally jumped off a building to end his misery.

As for me, I was released due to insufficient evidence.

The following year, the "fool girl" was reclaimed by her father—the richest man in the region. It turned out she wasn't a fool at all. She had feigned madness to survive the schemes of her stepmother and stepsister.

And I? I had been knocked unconscious by thugs hired by her stepsister, used as a pawn to frame her.

After my release, I inherited a multi-billion-dollar family business, cleared my name, and moved abroad, leaving the envious villagers choking on their regret.

Now, I was back.

But this time, my younger brother beat me to the cornfield.

When I arrived with the search party, he was rolling around in the dirt with the woman who had been my wife in my previous life.

Seeing us approach, he smirked, his eyes gleaming with triumph.

"Little brother, she's quite a catch. In this life, it's my turn to enjoy her. You can go rot at that crappy university."

I stepped forward, intending to pull him off her, but the woman lunged and sank her teeth into my arm.

To my shock, she shielded my brother, glaring at me with venomous eyes.

"I won't let you touch him!"

I swallowed the bitterness rising in my throat.

That very night, I boarded the train to the capital.

1.

I left my brother standing in the cornfield, his clothes disheveled, grinning like a man who had finally snatched the trophy he had always coveted.

"Mom! Dad! I want to marry her! I'm going to take responsibility for the fool—I mean, Jasmine McLaughlin!"

The smugness on his face landed like a fist to my chest.

I remembered how, in my previous life, he had come to find me right before his death. Under the guise of bringing me local specialties, he had barged into my villa, a knife gripped in his white-knuckled hand, and lunged at me hysterically.

My bodyguards had pinned him to the marble floor before he could get close.

Pinned down, he had screamed and cursed at me.

"Daniel Joyce! That night, I saw you get knocked out and dragged into the cornfield! I ignored it on purpose! I waited until the next day to bring the village to find you!"

"I wanted you in prison so Mom and Dad would give me your admission letter!"

"I thought once I got to the capital, I'd be someone important."

He had laughed then, a broken, weeping sound that made my skin crawl.

"I didn't expect to be played like a dog by those rich kids. They ruined my life! Now I have nothing. Why should you, an illiterate rapist, live so well? I refuse to accept it! If I could do it over, I absolutely wouldn't switch places with you! You're the one who should suffer in the capital! You!"

When the police arrived, he had shoved everyone aside and leaped out the window, dying on impact.

Now, reborn, he had taken the lead. He had turned the unconscious Jasmine McLaughlin into his "conquest."

The woman's gaze was clouded and confused, but the moment she heard him mention marriage, her face flushed crimson. The joy in her eyes—usually hidden behind a mask of stupidity—couldn't be contained.

She lowered her head, her voice solemn and clumsy.

"Even though the fool girl is dumb-dumb, the fool girl will treat you well!"

It was exactly what she had promised me in our past life.

But my parents exploded.

*Slap!*

My mother's hand connected with my face. My cheek burned.

"What kind of older brother are you? How could you let him get tangled up with a retard? He's destined to marry a rich city girl!"