After I Let Him Marry My Stepsister, He Regretted It

Lucian Vaughn and I hated each other with a vengeance. He blamed me for the death of my stepsister, Victoria Sullivan. I hated him for crawling into bed with her while I was eight months pregnant. The first thing he did after taking control of the company was rip my two children away from me and force them to call the dead Victoria "Mommy." He displayed her photo in the most eye-catching spot in the house and brought the children to her grave for every holiday. I was shattered and furious. I signed the divorce papers and cursed him never to end up with the person he loved, not in this life or the next. He ripped the papers to pieces on the spot. His eyes burned red as he roared, "Nora, you owe Victoria. You can never repay that debt in this lifetime!" Then he imprisoned me in a villa outside the city, humiliating and tormenting me day after day for 10 years. Later, I escaped to a small town near the border and was caught in a landslide. The whole house vanished beneath the mud and debris. The rescue team searched for three days. I heard Lucian flew in from Empire City and tore at the dirt with his bare hands like a man possessed. When they finally pulled me from the rubble, I was already dead. He held me in his arms and sat beside the ruins all night, refusing to let anyone come near me. Before I died, I heard his voice, ragged and hoarse. "Nora, I failed you. If there is another life, I will let you go." When I opened my eyes again, I was somehow back on the day Lucian proposed to Victoria. This time, he slipped the ring onto Victoria's finger in front of all the guests. I smiled, rose to my feet, and applauded. "Congratulations, Mr. Vaughn. Congratulations, Victoria. I hope you two grow old together." In this life, I would finally give him what he wanted and turn the page on us for good. ***** The second I finished speaking, the room fell silent. Every head turned toward me. After all, everyone in our circle knew how over the top Lucian had been when he pursued me. For my birthday, he booked an entire amusement park and proposed at the very top of the Ferris wheel. When I was in a car crash, he threw himself over me without a second thought. He walked away with two broken ribs. He once swore I was the only woman he would ever marry. Everyone expected me to be the one by his side tonight. Lucian was staring at me too. A flash of surprise crossed his face, then vanished, leaving only coldness and suspicion behind. That was when it hit me. He had come back too. After Victoria died in my previous life, he had looked at me exactly like that, as if he wanted to rip me apart with his bare hands. All because of what Victoria said before she died. "Lucian, if there is a next life, will you marry me?" We spent our entire lives at each other's throats. Every year on Victoria's death anniversary, Lucian made me kneel before her photograph and repent. "You owe Victoria your life. You owe her everything!" Even the twins I had nearly died bringing into the world were raised to hate me. They threw my gifts to the floor and sobbed, "You killed Mommy Victoria! We wish you had never been our biological mother!" But then a landslide buried me beneath the wreckage. Lucian rushed to the scene and tore through the dirt with his bare hands like a man out of his mind. Even after his hands were soaked in blood, he refused to stop, all because he wanted me to let him have Victoria in the next life. So I only smiled, "Congratulations, Mr. Vaughn. Congratulations, Victoria. I hope you two have a happy marriage."