When He Betrayed Me, I Turned to His Brother

Chapter 1

Sophie's POV:

I snapped my eyes open.

My assistant's voice pierced through my thoughts like shattered glass.

"Miss Stanley, we've finally found Mr. Warner!"

Hearing those familiar words, I realized I had been reborn.

This time, however, I felt none of the wild joy that had overwhelmed me in my previous life.

I simply nodded calmly.

A flicker of confusion crossed my assistant's face. He couldn't understand. After all, everyone knew how obsessed I had once been with Ethan Warner. How could I possibly be so composed now?

But I couldn't explain it.

Nor was there any point in trying.

In my previous life, after Ethan disappeared without warning, I searched for him relentlessly for three months. By the time I finally found him, I had lost so much weight that I was nearly unrecognizable.

When I did find him, he was working at his first love's auto repair shop.

Ignoring his wishes, I insisted on bringing him home. I even hired the country's top psychologists to help him recover the memories he had lost.

When those memories finally returned, his first love, Farrah Hayes was devastated.

She fell into depression.

Not long afterward, she took her own life.

On the night of Farrah's funeral, Ethan never came home.

When he returned the next morning, he looked utterly exhausted, as though every ounce of life had been drained from him.

I knew he was suffering.

So I stayed by his side quietly and offered what comfort I could.

What I never expected was that he would come to resent me for dragging him away from the peaceful life he had built.

Then came the earthquake.

I was caught near the epicenter and buried beneath the rubble, left hovering between life and death.

Ethan rushed toward me like a madman.

He ignored his family's desperate attempts to stop him, dragged me from the wreckage, and fought desperately to keep me alive.

But I knew the truth.

He did it because I was his wife.

Not because he loved me.

This time, I would be the one to end the engagement that had trapped us both.

I would never repeat the mistakes of my previous life.

Half an hour later, the Warner family's butler sent me a message.

Butler: Miss Stanley, we've found Mr. Ethan Warner. However... he insists on bringing Farrah Hayes, the woman who saved him, back with him.

Attached was a recent photograph.

Ethan had lost weight.

Dressed in a grease-stained work uniform, he was lying beneath a lifted car, inspecting its undercarriage.

I stared at the image for a long moment before replying.

Sophie: Understood.

Then I left the company and headed straight for the Warner residence.

Some people, and some matters, had to be faced sooner or later.

The atmosphere inside the villa was oppressively quiet.

Ethan's parents both looked uncomfortable when they saw me. It was obvious the butler had already informed them that Ethan was bringing another woman home.

Not long afterward, the sound of brakes echoed from outside.

A car had arrived.

Ethan stepped out first.

Instinctively, he moved to shield Farrah as she climbed out behind him.

Her eyes sparkled with amazement as she took in the luxurious Warner estate.

The moment Ethan's mother, Camilla, saw her, her expression darkened.

Ethan's father, Nathan, broke the silence.

"It's good that you're back. Let's sit down and talk."

Farrah greeted everyone warmly.

After making her rounds, she finally turned toward me.

"And who might this young lady be?" she asked with a pleasant yet vaguely provocative smile.

Every pair of eyes immediately shifted to me.

Farrah was clearly a clever woman.

Her instincts had already identified me as a threat.

I paid her no attention.

Instead, I turned calmly toward Camilla and Nathan.

"Camilla, Nathan, I came here today to dissolve the engagement between Ethan and me."

The room instantly fell silent.

Ethan's gaze sharpened.

Almost reflexively, he pulled Farrah behind him, as though protecting her from something.

"Sophie, what are you talking about?" Camilla asked in disbelief. "You two grew up together. You went to school together. Why would you suddenly call off the engagement?"

My eyes briefly swept over Ethan.

He was quietly comforting Farrah, his attention entirely on her.

Then I looked away.

"I have my own path to follow," I said softly. "And Ethan has the life he wants to live. This engagement would only become a set of chains that bind us both."

After speaking those words, I ignored the dark look that crossed Ethan's face.

I turned and walked out of the Warner residence.

Behind me, I could only hear the helpless sighs of Camilla and Nathan.

The moment I stepped through the front gates, an enormous weight seemed to lift from my shoulders.

For the first time in a very long while, I felt truly free.

In my previous life, our engagement and eventual marriage had left us both scarred beyond repair.

Since he was so desperate to escape the life we shared, this time, I would grant him his wish.