On the way back, Hailey Tang leaned against the car window with her eyes closed, quietly replaying the memories of her previous life.
She first met Ethan Yu when she was just 12 and he was 18. From that moment on, she had fallen madly in love with him.
But he never loved her back.
To tie her fate with his, she took advantage of him at a banquet one night when he was drunk. They ended up in bed—and in the eyes of the powerful Tang family, that meant he had no choice but to marry her.
At only 18 years old, Hailey naively thought that becoming his wife meant she could have his heart.
But that was only the beginning of her nightmare.
Ethan was cold and indifferent toward her—at times, outright hostile. No matter how much love she gave or how desperately she tried to please him, he never once softened.
Later, when she suspected something was going on between him and Lin Xinyue, the jealousy drove her mad. She screamed, cried, threw tantrums. She even laid hands on Lin Xinyue, trying everything she could to pull them apart.
But it backfired.
Her madness only pushed Ethan further away. He came to despise her, avoiding her like the plague.
She endured his icy silence every day, while watching him and Lin Xinyue grow closer.
Desperate and consumed by jealousy, Hailey completely lost control.
Spoiled since childhood, she went to extremes—once even ramming her car into Lin Xinyue's to scare her.
She never meant to kill her, just wanted to give her a warning.
But that incident was the last straw for Ethan. It marked the beginning of his emotional bond with Lin Xinyue—and the official end of his tolerance for Hailey.
He finally started to care about someone else. And as their love bloomed, Hailey spiraled further into insanity.
She resorted to self-harm, hired people to kidnap Lin Xinyue, tried every cruel tactic she could think of… but every single scheme only backfired.
Instead of saving her marriage, she pushed Ethan and Lin Xinyue even closer together.
He ended up hating her—truly, to the bone. And he was hell-bent on divorcing her.
Cornered and broken, Hailey made the ultimate decision—to die with Lin Xinyue.
But fate spared Lin Xinyue. Someone pushed her out of the way just in time. Hailey's car hit someone else, and that person died.
The verdict? Death sentence.
Sitting in prison, waiting for her fate, she had all the time in the world to think.
She realized how stupid she'd been. Throwing her entire life away for a man who never loved her. What a joke.
This life, she would never make the same mistakes again.
Not only would she stay far, far away from Ethan Yu—she would help him.
Yes, help him and Lin Xinyue be together.
Let them have each other.
…
When Hailey returned to the home she once shared with Ethan, she was overwhelmed by a strange sense of disconnection.
Once upon a time, she treated this place like her sanctuary. Every detail of the décor had been chosen by her hands.
But to Ethan, it had never been home. He rarely came back.
She had spent most nights in this house alone, waiting.
Thinking about how cold he used to be in her past life, she didn't feel angry anymore—just foolish.
Her world had revolved around him completely. She had lost herself.
What could be more pathetic?
But now… she was grateful. Grateful that she had been given a second chance.
This time, she would live for herself.