“What did you say?
I didn’t hear you.”
Evelyn Vale deliberately tilted her head, pretending not to understand.
A cold laugh bubbled inside her.
In her previous life, this had been the exact moment when everything had begun to fall apart.
The day Alexander Blackwood returned home covered in injuries, Claire had seized the opportunity to manipulate her.
She had encouraged Evelyn to go to Grandfather Blackwood and demand that the engagement be broken.
The reason?
Alexander had become crippled.
Evelyn remembered it all too clearly.
She had been young.
Naive.
Stupid.
And cruel enough to stab another knife into a man’s already wounded heart.
She had rejected Alexander when he was at his most vulnerable.
Worse, her actions had caused Grandfather Blackwood—who had once adored her—to become completely disappointed in her.
In her previous life, when Damien eventually framed her and sent her to prison, Grandfather Blackwood had never visited her.
Not once.
The old man who had once treated her like his own granddaughter had completely turned his back on her.
And yet…
The person who had ultimately helped her escape her nightmare had been Alexander.
The very man she had humiliated.
The very man whose heart she had wounded.
The very man she had abandoned.
Evelyn’s chest tightened.
She suddenly raised her hand and slapped herself hard across the face.
Smack!
Claire froze.
“Evelyn, why did you just slap yourself?”
A trace of uneasiness crept into Claire’s eyes.
She picked up one of Evelyn’s shirts from the bed and draped it over her shoulders before staring at her strangely behaving sister.
Was Evelyn still half-asleep?
Had she started sleepwalking again?
“A mosquito.”
Evelyn’s expression remained completely blank.
She couldn’t smile at Claire.
Not genuinely.
It took everything she had not to grab the woman by the throat and kill her on the spot.
Claire studied her suspiciously for another moment.
Then, apparently satisfied with the explanation, she continued speaking as though nothing had happened.
She repeated her earlier suggestion, patiently trying to persuade Evelyn to break off her engagement with Alexander.
But Evelyn barely listened.
A cold light flashed across her eyes.
The corners of her lips lifted into the faintest mocking smile.
Then, before Claire could finish speaking, Evelyn suddenly interrupted.
“Where’s Ethan?”
Claire’s throat had gone dry after talking for so long.
Being interrupted only made her irritation worse.
But she carefully suppressed it.
“Ethan is still taking a nap.”
The moment she finished speaking—
Evelyn rushed out of the room.
She moved so quickly that Claire could only stare after her in shock.
“Evelyn?”
For several seconds, Claire stood frozen.
Then her expression changed.
“Damn it!”
She hurried after her.
The task Damien had given her wasn’t finished yet.
Evelyn was acting strangely today.
Normally, just hearing Damien’s name was enough to make Evelyn’s eyes light up.
If Damien told her to go somewhere, she went.
If he told her to do something, she did it.
He could point toward the east, and Evelyn would never think of going west.
But today?
Claire had been talking for so long, yet Evelyn hadn’t reacted to Damien’s name at all.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
Meanwhile, Evelyn had already reached the room beside her own.
She pushed the door open as gently as possible.
Then she froze.
A boy lay quietly on the bed.
His small body was completely still, his limbs resting neatly against the sheets.
“Ethan…”
Evelyn’s eyes immediately filled with tears.
She walked toward the bed on trembling legs.
Slowly, almost afraid that touching him would make him disappear, she reached out and placed her hand over his.
Warm.
Soft.
Alive.
Evelyn’s breath caught.
Twelve-year-old Ethan Vale was slightly chubby, with round cheeks and plump little hands.
Exactly as she remembered him.
Except…
In her memories, he had been dead.
Her little brother had died because of her blindness.
Because she had trusted the wrong people.
Because she had failed to protect him.
“Ethan…”
A tear rolled down Evelyn’s cheek.
“Thank you for still being alive.”
Her voice trembled.
In her previous life, she had spent countless nights wishing she could turn back time.
Now she had been given exactly that chance.
This time…
I’ll protect you.
I’ll keep you safe.
I won’t let anyone hurt you again.
No one.
Evelyn leaned down and kissed Ethan’s forehead.
Then she picked up a towel and gently wiped the fine layer of sweat from his face.
Only then did she notice something.
The electric fan was missing.
Ethan’s forehead was damp with sweat, and his clothes were sticking slightly to his skin.
Evelyn’s expression darkened.
She looked toward the doorway.
Claire had finally caught up.
But Evelyn didn’t even spare her a glance.
Instead, she walked straight toward the room belonging to William Vale.
William was also on the second floor.
He was one year older than Ethan and Claire’s biological brother.
Unlike Ethan, who was Evelyn’s younger brother, William was Claire’s biological sibling.
The complicated history of the family had always been something Evelyn had tried not to think about.
Claire and William had been born before their mother, Margaret Vale, married Evelyn’s father, Richard Vale.
Their biological father had been involved in a terrible accident.
He survived for three years after becoming permanently paralyzed, but eventually passed away.
Less than six months later, Margaret married Richard.
She brought Claire and William with her, and the three of them moved into the large garden estate in the heart of Ravencrest City.
The estate had originally belonged to Evelyn’s biological mother, Victoria Vale.
Victoria had died from severe hemorrhaging while giving birth to Ethan.
The tragedy had not ended there.
Ethan had suffered prolonged oxygen deprivation before birth, leaving him with significant developmental impairment.
Although he was twelve years old, his mental development was closer to that of a five-year-old child.
Evelyn had never cared about any of that.
To her, Ethan was simply her little brother.
Her family.
The one person she should have protected with her life.
She reached William’s bedroom.
The door was partially open.
Evelyn stepped inside.
William was fast asleep.
Two electric fans were pointed directly at him, filling the room with cool air.
He looked perfectly comfortable.
Evelyn’s expression immediately hardened.
She had come intending to take one of the fans back for Ethan.
But then she stopped.
Her eyes settled on William’s sleeping face.
Something felt strange.
She stared at him for several seconds.
Then her heart skipped.
William’s sleeping posture…
His facial features…
Even the slight curve of his eyebrows…
They were remarkably familiar.
Evelyn slowly stepped closer.
She stared at him as though seeing him for the first time.
Then realization struck her.
William looked almost exactly like her father.
Richard Vale.
Not merely similar.
It was as though someone had taken Richard’s face, reduced it in size, and placed it on a younger body.
A perfect copy.
Evelyn’s eyes widened.
How had she never noticed this before?
In her previous life, she had been so consumed by Claire and Damien’s lies that she had never stopped to truly look at the people around her.
She had trusted the wrong people.
Ignored the obvious.
And overlooked truths hiding in plain sight.
Evelyn’s gaze slowly darkened.
Perhaps this second chance had been given to her for more than revenge.
Perhaps there were secrets in the Vale family that she had never discovered.
Secrets that had been sitting right in front of her all along.