Chapter 1
On a cold, starry night, Edith Lovett lay in her hospital bed, staring blankly at the TV.
A news story about a wealthy family’s marriage was playing. “Today, Ms. Hallie Lovett and Mr. Kelvin Murphy were happily married. The wedding cost a hundred million dollars–unlike anything before…
“The Lovett family and the Murphy family are now united. Their powerful alliance is sending stock prices soaring…”
The screen was filled with flowers and crowds. Edith saw the bride and groom in fancy clothes. She also saw four young men in black suits–her four younger brothers.
She had been stuck in that hospital room for ten years, barely alive. And now, her brothers were at her enemy’s wedding.
The only thing Edith could feel was a deep, bone–chilling cold.
Suddenly, the sound of high heels echoed down the hallway. A moment later, the door burst open.
Edith looked up. A cold smirk showed on her pale face. “You’ve got time to see me on your wedding night? I guess Kelvin’s not that good, huh?”
Hallie stepped closer, one step at a time. Her eyes locked on the scars that crossed Edith’s face. Every time Hallie was upset over the years, she’d come here and slice another line across Edith’s skin.
“You’re already so ugly,” Hallie growled. “Why is Kelvin still thinking about you? Why?”
She had thought her wedding night would be the happiest time of her life. But when she and Kelvin got close, he accidentally called out Edith’s name.
Her husband calling out another woman’s name in bed–nothing could humiliate Hallie more.
Edith let out a cold, mocking laugh. “You can try all you want, but you’ll never get what was never yours.”
Her look of scorn lit a fire in Hallie’s chest.
“You bitch!” Hallie screamed.
Her eyes locked onto Edith’s hair. Even after ten years in bed, Edith still had long, shiny hair.
Hallie pulled a pair of scissors from who knows where. She grabbed Edith’s hair and started hacking away like a madwoman.
“Why does Kelvin still care about a woman who’s already been married?” she shouted. “Why does he want you, even after I ruined your face? Now your hair’s gone too. Let’s see how you seduce anyone now!”
Hallie’s hands were wild and rough. Hair fell all over the floor. Cuts opened on Edith’s scalp, and blood ran down her face, making her ruined features look even worse.
Edith didn’t seem to feel any pain. Slowly, she reached up.
Her spine had been broken in a car crash. She could no longer stand. After years in bed, her limbs were weak and useless.
Her hand moved slowly, but she still managed to grab the scissors tossed near her pillow.
Edith’s life had been ruined by Hallie ever since she was twelve.
Scandal after scandal–Hallie set her up again and again, until Edith turned against all four of her brothers.
One of them ended up disabled, another got seriously sick. And Edith herself had spent ten years paralyzed in a hospital bed, her face destroyed, barely surviving.
All of it was Hallie’s doing. Even if she died, Edith swore she’d drag Hallie down with her.
But she’d still overestimated herself.
She lunged forward, but Hallie, strong and healthy, dodged the scissors with ease. Then she shoved Edith hard.
Edith fell from the bed like a dead leaf. There was a loud thud, and blood poured from the back of her head.
The nurse outside the room rushed in. She checked Edith’s breathing, then gasped in horror. “S–she’s not breathing…”
Hallie looked almost disappointed. She hadn’t had enough fun yet. Edith dying like this felt like a waste.
She clapped her hands and said coldly, “Wrap her body in a sheet. Dump it in the mountains somewhere.”
She wanted Edith to be torn apart by stray dogs, to burn forever in hell.
Hallie turned and walked out. But as soon as she stepped into the hallway, she saw a man in a wheelchair coming toward her. It was Cedric Lovett–one of Edith’s brothers.
“What are you doing here?” Hallie snapped.
She gave a sharp laugh. “You’re in a wheelchair for life, thanks to Edith. And you still came to see her?”
Cedric pressed his lips together and spoke softly. “She’s still my sister. I had a dream something bad happened to her.”
Hallie’s smirk deepened. “Need I remind you how your mother died?”
Cedric’s hands curled into fists. His face went pale. “I wasn’t the only one who had that dream. All of us did.”
Hallie scoffed again. Edith had just died, and all four of her brothers dreamed of it–like some twisted sibling connection.
Her voice turned icy. “Have you really forgotten the pain? Forgotten how you ended up like this? Forgotten how Zachary’s face got destroyed? Forgotten how Joseph went blind from smoke? Forgotten how Shaun never spoke again after the fire?”
Every word hit Cedric like a knife, stabbing deep into his chest and twisting hard.
That fire had ruined all four of them—and it was Edith who started it. He wanted to forgive, to move on, but every time someone brought it up, the pain came rushing back.
Without saying a word, Cedric turned his wheelchair and rolled away from the hospital.
The hallway slowly emptied, and inside the room, the scent of blood kept spreading.
Everything hurt. Edith felt like her head was about to explode.
“Edith?” Someone was calling her. “Edith, wake up.”
She snapped her eyes open.
In front of her was a face–older, with a few wrinkles. She recognized him right away. It was Dallas Zimmerman, the butler of the Lovett Manor.
But she clearly remembered–Dallas had died in the fire all those years ago. She had no idea why he was standing there now, looking at
her.
“Edith, you’re home,” Dallas said politely. “Let me take you inside.
She looked up at the house. It was the Lovett Manor. The home she had grown up in She hadn’t seen it in years–not since the car crash that killed her mother. After that, they sent her away.
Then her stepmother, Karen, moved in with Hallie and slowly took over everything that once belonged to the Lovetts.
Years later, just before Edith turned eighteen, Karen brought her back–with hidden motives.
Edith touched her face. It was smooth.
Her long hair hung over her shoulders, a little messy from the wind. Her legs could move. She could stand, she could walk. Her hands were free of scars.
She wondered if she was back in the past.
