I Rejected My Barren Husband

In my first life, I stood in the funeral home's farewell hall on the day of Adrian's funeral. The only sound in my head was the last thing he had said to me. He had been the one who begged me not to let go in the first place. He knew I valued my pride more than my life. When his grandmother ordered me to leave him, I took off my engagement ring in front of both families. By the next day, other men were already sending formal proposals to my family. Adrian was the one who rushed to my building that night and stood in the rain until dawn. That was why I softened. I swallowed my pride, endured the gossip, and stood beside him against the entire Bennett family, year after year... I even buried the truth about his congenital sterility. I told myself that motherhood did not matter as long as I still had him. Yet with his dying breath, he accused me of "depriving" him of children. He branded those words into his final breath and left me to chew on them for the rest of my life. As if I would give him the satisfaction. I rose, hurled the white chrysanthemums at his memorial portrait, and set the whole thing on fire. Unfortunately, the flames spread too fast. Before I could escape, the smoke overwhelmed me, and I collapsed in the blaze. Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, I died in the fire and woke up in another life. I was 22 again, back on the day Adrian first received the jade whistle. Just as he had before, he ran toward me, youthful confidence blazing in his eyes, the whistle clenched in his hand. I stood still and stared at the young face I had not seen in decades. Scalding hatred churned inside me. Yet my expression remained calm. I lowered my eyes and betrayed nothing. Adrian took my hand and hurried me into the living room of the Bennett estate. Before his relatives and several family friends, he raised the jade whistle to his chest. He smiled as though he already knew what would happen. The whistle did not ring the first time. An almost imperceptible flicker of relief crossed his eyes. He did not look disappointed. The second time, it remained just as silent. Before his grandmother could speak, Adrian dropped to both knees. He knelt perfectly straight, his back rigid as he delivered a flawless little speech. "The whistle has failed to respond again and again. It seems Evelyn isn't the woman destined for me. Grandma, please end the engagement with the Parker family. Miss Parker shouldn't have to waste any more time on me." The stubborn set of his back looked exactly as it had when he once knelt in the family memorial hall and endured punishment. Except that in our first life, he had done it to marry me. Now he was doing it to cast me aside. At that moment, I knew for certain. He had come back too.