The night my childhood best friend, bankrupt and broken, was about to have her virginity auctioned off, I didn’t raise a single paddle for her. I just sat there and watched. Then I canceled our arranged marriage and flew halfway across the world. I did it because, in my last life, I saved her, and she accused me of holding it over her head. After we got married, she treated me like a stranger for years, only to have twins with the man she truly loved. She even let their children poison me. As I lay dying, her perfect little family of four stood over me. “Finally,” she’d said, “our family can be together.” I died full of hate. This time, I decided to get out of their way and let them have their happy ending. 01 “Next up for auction, the virginity of the former heiress to the Sinclair fortune, Ms. Clara Sinclair.” The burning in my stomach vanished. I snapped my eyes open. I was back at the auction. The night they sold Clara’s virginity. Looking around at the familiar, opulent room, I realized I’d been reborn. On the stage, Clara’s eyes found mine, pleading for help. This time, I didn’t meet her gaze. I just looked down at my phone and scrolled. In my last life, the second she was brought out, I bought out the entire auction just to save her. We’d had an arranged engagement since we were kids, and the Sinclair family, grateful that I’d saved her from public humiliation, pushed for us to get married immediately. I’d been in love with her my whole life, so I’d happily agreed. But after the wedding, Clara’s face was a permanent mask of cold indifference. I thought it was just the trauma of her family’s downfall, so I tried to be even more loving, more patient. I was wrong. It wasn’t until I was on my deathbed, poisoned by her twin children—children she had with her one true love, Ethan—that I finally understood. She didn’t just not love me; she despised me. “If it weren’t for you and your moral grandstanding,” she had sneered, “Ethan and I would have been together years ago.” “Do you know why I never let you touch me? Because every single second I had to spend in the same room as you made my skin crawl.” “Now that you’re dying, our family of four can finally be together.” That’s when I knew. She hated me to her very core. “Two hundred thousand!” “Three hundred thousand!” The shouts from the bidders pulled me back to the present. Most of them were old, greasy CEOs, their eyes devouring Clara on the stage. She looked like she was about to cry. Her eyes met mine again, this time filled with the desperation of a drowning woman clinging to a piece of driftwood. I remained perfectly still, making no move to bid. Her virginity finally sold for a million dollars to Mark Sterling, the fifty-something CEO of Sterling Corp. She collapsed onto the stage floor. Everyone in our circle knew about Sterling. He was old, but his tastes were notoriously depraved. He had a reputation for taking beautiful young women and breaking them. Sterling sent his men to collect her. As they led her past me, her eyes burned with a hatred I recognized. It was the same look she’d given me as I died in our last life. I just hadn’t expected to see it so soon this time around. “Why didn’t you save me?” Her voice was laced with an entitled sort of fury. I knew then that she remembered, too. She was reborn, just like me. “Sorry,” I said, a smirk playing on my lips. “Not interested in your virginity.” I gestured to the diamond necklace that was now being displayed on the stage. “This, however, I am interested in.” With a casual flick of my wrist, I raised my paddle and bought it for a ridiculous price, just to make a point. Clara’s face contorted with rage. “We grew up together! We were engaged! You’d rather buy a stupid necklace than save me?” I let out a short, sharp laugh. “Your virginity? What’s that worth? This necklace, on the other hand, is a solid investment.” “You!” She was sputtering, her eyes blazing. The idea that I, who had always been at her beck and call, would speak to her this way clearly short-circuited her brain. “Julian, stop this,” she pleaded, her tone shifting. “It’s not too late. Just save me, and we can pretend this never happened.” It’s true what they say: the ones who are loved unconditionally are always the most reckless. I felt a cold sneer form in my heart. In my last life, everyone knew I adored Clara. I stood by her even after her family lost everything. And how did she repay me? She ignored me, refused to consummate our marriage, and secretly started a family with another man. The memory was a bitter pill. “Mr. Sterling,” I called out, my voice dripping with sarcasm. “Aren’t you going to collect your prize for the evening?” 02 Sterling, looking bemused, finally registered that Clara was still standing by my table. He gestured for his men to take her away. Clara shot me a look of pure contempt before being led out. After the auction, I went to her parents’ house. Mr. and Mrs. Sinclair’s eyes were filled with worry. The moment they saw me, they both fell to their knees. “Julian, please, you have to save Clara,” Mrs. Sinclair begged. “She’s our only child. This is all our fault.” Looking at the two of them, I felt a pang of sympathy. In my last life, when they found out I’d been poisoned, they were the ones who called the ambulance. They were too late, but they tried. They had known me since I was a boy and had always treated me kindly. After Clara and I married, they treated me like their own son. I told them what had happened and gave them a debit card with a million dollars on it, telling them to go get their daughter back themselves. Sterling, for all his vices, wasn’t a monster. The Sinclair family had once been powerful, and he would likely give them that much courtesy. Then, I told them I wanted to break the engagement. I also made them promise not to tell Clara where the million dollars came from. “Julian, you and Clara have always been so close,” Mr. Sinclair said, confused. “Why the sudden change of heart?” “She’s in love with someone else,” I explained. “And they’ve been together for a long time.” Their eyes widened in shock. “Is there some misunderstanding? Clara has never mentioned a boyfriend to us.” “I’ve seen it with my own eyes.” They were reluctant, but my sincerity must have convinced them. They agreed to talk to Clara when she got home. Clara was brought home safely, and I started the process of applying for a visa. I was ready to leave this whole mess behind. But while I was waiting for the paperwork to clear, I ran into her at a party. Everyone there had heard about what happened at the auction, but no one dared to bring it up. They just shot nervous glances between me and Clara. The second she saw me, her eyes filled with that familiar hatred. “Julian, playing hard to get has its limits. Don’t come crying to me when you want me back.” I didn’t understand. I was stepping aside, giving them what they wanted. Why was she still trying to humiliate me? I just smiled faintly and said nothing. She seemed to lose interest and walked away. Later that night, as the party was in full swing, Clara’s great love, Ethan, stormed in. He marched right up to me and punched me in the face. I stumbled backward, crashing to the floor. “Julian, what kind of a man are you?” he roared. “Your fiancée’s virginity is being sold, and you just sit there? You bought a stupid necklace instead!” “Clara’s life would be ruined if she married someone like you!” I glanced over at Clara, who was watching from a corner. The moment she saw Ethan, her eyes lit up with a tenderness I had never seen before. My mind drifted back. In our last life, she had never looked at me with anything but disdain. The only time she ever smiled at me was when she needed my help—and even then, it was a pained, forced expression. And the only time she needed my help was when Ethan was in trouble. She would humble herself, play the part of the loving wife, all for him. I used to think that if I was just good enough to her, one day she would see me. I forgot that you can’t melt a block of ice. My silence seemed to enrage Ethan even more. He grabbed the collar of my shirt and hauled me to my feet. “Are you deaf? I’m talking to you! Are you even human? You just watched your fiancée get sold off like cattle!” The other guests started whispering. “Julian is usually so obsessed with Clara. How could he not even be willing to spend a million to save her?” The taste of blood filled my mouth. I finally snapped back to reality and shoved his hands off me. “Why do you seem more concerned about my fiancée than I am?” I countered, my voice dangerously low. “Why didn’t you save her at the auction?” 03 The room went quiet. Everyone in our circle knew about my engagement to Clara. They also knew how she had always accepted my devotion as her due. Everyone had assumed we were already a couple. The sudden appearance of Ethan threw everything into question. All eyes were now on him and Clara. Ethan stammered, caught off guard. “I… I just couldn’t stand by and watch you do nothing! I don’t have that kind of money! If I did, of course I would have saved her!” Clara’s face paled as she looked at me. “You knew.” In my last life, I didn’t find out about her and Ethan until our wedding day. Ethan showed up, his eyes red from crying, and Clara’s eyes filled with tears, too. Her parents were there, so the wedding went on as planned. But on our wedding night, she ran off to be with him. She told me I owed them that, that if it weren’t for me and my “hero complex,” they would have been together. But when I finally couldn’t take it anymore and asked for a divorce, she refused, claiming she didn’t want to break her parents’ hearts. I loved her, so I waited, hoping she would come around. But my patience only made her bolder. She went abroad for a “business trip,” had his children, and then brought them home to live with us. When I found out the truth and confronted her, her reply was ice-cold. “I’m married to you, so what if I have Ethan’s children?” And when I finally decided to leave her for good, her twin children poisoned me. A bitter smile twisted my lips. “If I didn’t know, were you planning on playing me for a fool forever? After all, your true love couldn’t afford to save you, could he?” I shot a provocative glance at Ethan. Before he could speak, Clara jumped in. “You’re lying! Ethan was the one who scraped together a million dollars to save me from Sterling!” At that, I couldn’t help it. I laughed out loud. The audacity of some people was truly something to behold. I had specifically told her parents not to mention my name, because I didn’t want her to feel indebted to me again. I never thought Ethan would swoop in and take the credit. “What are you laughing at? You think that money came from you?” Ethan sneered, trying to sound confident. “Julian, you’re a heartless bastard. You don’t deserve anyone’s love.” I chuckled. “You’re right, it wasn’t me. But it’s pretty impressive that you managed to come up with a million dollars in just a few hours. Especially for a guy who usually can’t even scrape together ten thousand.” 04 A flicker of panic crossed Ethan’s face. Clara froze, her eyes widening slightly. “Clara, don’t listen to him,” Ethan said quickly, pulling up his sleeve to reveal a series of track marks on his arm. They looked horrifying. “I got the money by volunteering for a high-risk medical trial.” The crowd gasped. Clara’s face hardened as she glared at me. “You do nothing to help, and now you’re slandering the person who did! I want you to apologize to Ethan!” Ethan was a scholarship student Clara had sponsored through college. His family was poor. In my last life, he never worked a day after graduation because Clara supported him. Even after her own family went bankrupt, I gave her a huge monthly allowance, enough to maintain her old lifestyle. Most of that money went to him. The whispers started again. “No wonder Clara loves this guy. He really stepped up when it mattered.” “A million dollars is nothing to Julian, and he wouldn't even lift a finger.” “Clara, we support you! You can’t marry Julian.” “If he’s like this now, imagine what he’d be like after you’re married!” They all condemned me, as if I were the villain. But in my last life, I had cared for Clara for years, and in the end, she let her children murder me. What had I done to deserve that? I frowned. It was such an obvious lie, but everyone seemed to be buying it. What medical trial pays a million dollars, and pays it out in a matter of hours? These rich kids had no idea how hard it was for a normal person to earn that kind of money. Just then, Clara took Ethan’s hand and looked at me defiantly. “Julian, I’m officially breaking our engagement!” Then she kissed him, and he kissed her back passionately. Even now, she thought she was irreplaceable to me, that this would be the ultimate threat. “You can’t break the engagement!” Just as I was about to respond, Mr. and Mrs. Sinclair burst into the room. “Clara, we thought you and Julian were just having a little fight,” her mother cried. “Julian was the one who gave us a million dollars to save you! That proves he still cares about you!” “He told us you were in love with someone else, and we didn’t believe him. But it’s true.” Her father pointed a trembling finger at Ethan and threw a stack of photos at his feet. “This man is a drug addict!” Clara seemed to barely register what her father had said. She just stared at me in disbelief. “Was it really you who gave them the money?” I didn’t answer her question. I just said, my voice cold as stone, “I agree to break the engagement. From now on, you and I have nothing to do with each other.” Then I turned and walked out of the room. That night, Clara stood outside my house for hours, but I didn't even look out the window. I sent a text to both our parents, formally ending the engagement. The next day, my visa came through. I was on the first flight out.
? Continue the story here ?? ? Download the "MotoNovel" app ? search for "384993", and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel