"When the Brown family empire was on the brink of collapse, Arthur and his wife came to my father, begging for a marriage alliance. My father knew I had been in love with their son, Dale, for ten years. So he did it. He injected ten billion dollars into the Brown Corporation, saving them from ruin and marrying me to the man of my dreams. On our wedding night, Dale blindfolded me with a red silk scarf and took me again and again with a brutal, desperate passion. A month later, I went to find him, clutching a positive pregnancy test, my heart soaring with joy. I found him at a bar with his friends, in the middle of a bet. “So, what do you guys think?” Dale’s voice was slick with amusement. “After April got handled by a dozen of us, whose kid do you think she’s carrying?” His friends roared with laughter. “Come on, Dale, I only had her three times. No way it’s mine.” Another voice chimed in. “I saw how hard Zach was going at it. He practically drove her insane that night. I’ve got a hundred grand says it’s his!” That’s when I realized. The man in my bed on our wedding night hadn’t been Dale. It had been his friends. I stormed in, screaming, demanding to know why. He just shrugged, completely unbothered. “What are you crying about? If you hadn’t used your family’s money to blackmail me into this marriage, forcing Tina to leave the country, would I have done this to you?” “I’ll tell you what,” he sneered, “the day Tina forgives me is the day I let you go.” My heart turned to ash. I demanded a divorce, but he just laughed and threatened me with the video from that night. He locked me in the basement. “Don’t be in such a hurry to leave,” he’d said, his voice a venomous whisper. “My friends and I still have a bet going on whose bastard this is!” Eight months later, I died in childbirth in that basement, my baby dying with me. When I opened my eyes again, I had been reborn. I was back on the day the Browns came to my father, begging for the ten-billion-dollar bailout and the marriage alliance. This time, on my wedding day, it would be Dale Brown who cried his eyes out. … “April, darling, Dale is very fond of you, you know. If you marry into our family, he’ll be so happy.” I snapped back to the present with a jolt, staring at the earnest faces of Arthur Brown and his wife. I was alive. It was real. I had come back. Mrs. Brown took my hand, her grip soft, her smile painted on. “I know you’ve had a crush on Dale for a decade, sweetie. If our families were to be joined…” My parents exchanged a slightly awkward look. Everyone in the room knew the truth: the Browns were here because they were desperate, their company hemorrhaging money, and my family’s ten-billion-dollar investment was their only lifeline. But they also knew how pathetically in love I had been with Dale. They thought they were granting my deepest wish. But now, my only wish was for him to suffer. I pulled my hand back. “I don’t want to marry Dale Brown,” I said, my voice cutting through the polite chatter. Every head in the room swiveled towards me. The shock was palpable. Me, April Rhodes, the girl who followed Dale around like a devoted puppy, was refusing to marry him? Mrs. Brown’s painted smile faltered. “April, what’s wrong? Did you and Dale have a little fight? I’ll give him a good talking-to when I get home.” I shook my head. “There’s no need.” Arthur Brown, Dale’s father, studied me for a long moment. “Is this because of Tina?” When I didn’t answer, he sighed. “Tina is just a charity case our family sponsored. Dale only treated her well because he felt sorry for her.” He leaned forward, his voice a low, conspiratorial promise. “Don’t you worry. As soon as I get home, I’ll have her sent away. She will never appear in front of Dale again.” He’d said the exact same thing in my last life. And it had earned me Dale’s undying hatred. He blamed me for driving Tina away. It was his excuse for everything, for the wedding night, for gathering a dozen of his friends to defile and torture me. It was his excuse for locking me in the basement when I found out, forcing me to carry a child whose paternity was the subject of a sick betting pool. When my parents, worried sick, had finally come looking for me, Dale had shown them the video from that night. His face was twisted with resentment. “This is the fine daughter you raised!” he’d spat. “Sleeping with so many men behind my back! She’s disgusting!” The video broke them. My mother and father both collapsed, their health failing from the grief and shame. Dale felt no remorse. He brought Tina to see me in my prison, his lips curled in a triumphant sneer. “Once your parents are dead, I’ll take over the Rhodes Corporation and give it to Tina as an apology.” My soul had died long before my body gave out during childbirth. The memory sent a tremor of pure rage through me. My voice was low and shaking. “Dale Brown is not worthy of me.” Arthur’s face stiffened. “While it’s true the Brown Corporation is in a difficult position, if the Rhodes family is willing to invest, I can guarantee you won’t lose a penny!” He wasn’t lying. In my past life, after my parents’ investment, the Browns’ business had boomed. My family had made hundreds of millions in profits without lifting a finger. I had no intention of throwing that money away. “I will agree to the marriage alliance,” I said, my voice cold as ice. “But I will not marry Dale.” I looked directly at Arthur and his wife. “I’ll marry Fred.” The room fell silent. Then Arthur shot to his feet. “Fred?! You mean… Fred?” He stared at me, aghast. “But his legs… he’s paralyzed! He can’t even stand up! April, this is no time for jokes!” My own father rushed to my side. “April! Don’t be foolish!” I placed a calming hand on my father’s arm. Fred Brown was Dale’s uncle, his father's younger brother, but he was only four years older than Dale. We’d practically grown up together. Then, a car crash had put him in a wheelchair, and he had slowly faded from public life. In my last life, when Dale had me locked in the basement, it was Fred who found me. He’d banged on the door, his voice hoarse, yelling “Don’t be afraid!” over and over. And through the crack in the door, I saw it clearly: his legs weren't paralyzed at all. Dale had arrived with his thugs and beaten Fred half to death. I remembered Dale’s vicious words. “Still alive, Uncle? I told them to hit you harder. First you tried to steal my father’s business, now you’re trying to steal my woman? You’re pathetic.” Fred hadn’t even been angry. He had knelt before Dale. “Let her go. I’ll do anything you ask.” Dale had just laughed and slammed Fred’s head against the wall again and again. I would never forget the last thing Fred had said to me through the door, his voice broken. “April… I’ve been looking for you for so long.” So, no. Choosing Fred was not foolish at all. It was Dale who was going to pay. My resolve hardened. I looked at the Browns. “My mind is made up. I’m marrying Fred.” Seeing my unwavering determination, they had no choice but to agree. A wave of relief washed over me. Later that day, I went to the jazz bar Fred owned to find him. But standing right outside the entrance were Dale and Tina. The moment Dale saw me, the smile on his face vanished, replaced by a familiar scowl of irritation. “April? God, you’re annoying. Do you have to follow me everywhere?” His friends behind him burst out laughing. “Told you she’d show up tonight!” One of them jeered, “I bet if Dale told her to lick his shoes, she’d drop to her knees right now!” A wicked grin spread across Dale’s face. He looked at me, then pointedly tapped his designer loafer with his toe. A surge of disgust churned in my stomach. I stepped around him. “Get out of my way.” Dale froze, stunned. Then he grabbed my arm. “April, I know all about you using your family’s money to force this marriage. What kind of game are you playing now?” He leaned in, his voice a low sneer. “You think playing hard-to-get will make me look at you twice?” I glanced at him, my expression blank. “I’m not marrying you.” Dale was silent for a beat, then let out a sharp, mocking laugh. “You’re not? The Rhodes Corporation already wired the ten billion. Are you really still denying it?” He shook his head, his face a mask of contempt. “Do you have any idea how cheap you look, begging me to marry you like this?” I nodded calmly. “I do. That’s why I’m not doing it.” It took a second for my words to sink in. He just stared at me, dumbfounded. Tina chose that moment to speak, her voice a soft, wounded whisper. “Dale, darling… I think April is just upset to see me here. If you don’t marry her, the Brown Corporation will…” She trailed off, letting the threat hang in the air. “Never mind. I’ll just go.” Dale instantly released me and wrapped his arm around her. “Who the hell does she think she is? Even if she gets her wish and marries me, I’ll never love her.” He stroked Tina’s hair. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. We’ll go take our own wedding photos tomorrow. In my heart, you’re the only one who will ever be my wife.” His friends whistled and cheered, calling Tina their “sister-in-law.” Dale shot a smug glance over his shoulder at me, obviously waiting for my heartbroken reaction. In my previous life, he loved to watch me squirm. But now, I felt nothing. “Marry whoever you want,” I said, my voice flat. “I don’t care.” As I turned to leave, Tina stepped in front of me. “April, stop pretending. The media already reported on the marriage alliance this afternoon.” She looked down, her voice full of false magnanimity. “I can forgive you for hiring those thugs to humiliate me… but I’m begging you, please… take good care of Dale in the future.” The “thugs” were a complete fabrication, a story she’d invented to make me look bad and play the victim. I had tried to defend myself last time, but Dale never believed me. Now, I couldn’t be bothered to explain. At the mention of it, Dale’s face darkened. He glared at me. “Why are you begging her? A woman like her, who will stop at nothing to get what she wants, is nothing compared to you.” He turned his glare back to me. “This marriage is a business transaction. If I find out you’ve laid a single finger on Tina, I swear I will make you pay…” "
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