His Rejected Bride Reborn for Vengeance

On my deathbed, as illness consumed the last of my strength, the heir of the Valente Syndicate himself drove to the mountain clinic in the Silverpeak range to retrieve the experimental antidote that was supposed to save my life.

The whole world praised Aldric Valente for his devotion to me.

Yet this devoted man was, at that very moment, in the back room of our compound with my elder sister, debating whether they should marry during the mourning period after my death or wait a year for the whispers to die down before she moved into the Valente heir's compound.

Augusta's voice trembled, soft and frightened: "If anyone finds out we swapped the antidote with a lethal compound to kill her, I'm ruined."

"And now I'm carrying your child. What we've done to Camilla Falcone... it isn't right."

Aldric kissed her. "Don't be afraid. If anyone's to blame, it's her. She's the one who made the Proving Kill at the Selection. That kill was meant to be yours."

"She was nothing but a thief who stole your place as the heir's wife."

When I opened my eyes again, I had been reborn, back at the Selection. I shifted my aim.

……

Don Hadrian Valente's edict still echoed in my ears: "Whichever daughter of the allied families makes the Proving Kill today shall become the heir's wife."

The white fox stood just ahead, beside a great tree deep in the hunting preserve the Commission kept for occasions like this. One shot was all it would take. With my aim, I would not miss. The title of La Prima Donna would be mine for the claiming.

But the memory of that bone-deep, soul-shredding agony from my past life made me clench my teeth. In this life, I would never let myself become the heir's wife again.

I knew Augusta was close behind me. In my previous life, I had made the kill first and claimed the title, and that was what set everything in motion. That was why she and Aldric had conspired to poison me.

They had despised me for it. Because I made the Proving Kill, Augusta could never marry into the Valente household. So when I fell gravely ill, they switched my remedy and let me die choking on bitterness and regret.

What if, this time, I let her become the heir's wife instead?

But Augusta was petty to her core. The hatred from a past life's poisoning was not something I could simply forgive and forget.

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of a rider galloping toward me at full speed. Augusta Falcone, right on my heels, just as she had been before.

I pretended not to notice and let out a startled cry. "The fox!"

Then I tilted my arrow just slightly and sent it sailing past the fox, into the tree trunk behind it.

"Out of the way!" A sharp shout made me dodge aside. Two feathered arrows streaked toward the white fox. One struck it dead center. The other went wide and lodged in the hind leg of a rabbit nearby.

I let out a sigh of feigned disappointment. "How did I miss?"

The riders trailing behind us broke into cheers. "Magnificent shot!"

One of the Valente soldiers leapt from his horse and retrieved the fox. He examined the arrow's fletching. The crest etched into it bore the Falcone name.

"A daughter of the Falcone family has made the Proving Kill!"

His voice carried through the trees and echoed across the grounds beyond.

Augusta sat tall in her riding clothes atop her horse, looking down at me with triumph blazing in her eyes. "Little sister, I'm so sorry. The heir's wife. That title is mine." She wheeled her horse around and rode off, radiating satisfaction.

Out on the hunting grounds, Lenora Valente examined the white fox presented before her, her face alight with pleasure. "As expected of a daughter from the Falcone family. Superb horsemanship, flawless aim, a killing blow straight through the eye without so much as a scratch on the pelt."

Then she turned to me with a warm smile, extending her hand. "Camilla, come here, dear. You've made the Proving Kill. I shall announce the arrangement myself and proclaim you the heir's wife before every family in attendance."

Below the platform, Aldric Valente watched me with a face carved from ice, and Augusta stood at his side, preening.

The moment Lenora's words left her lips, every daughter of the allied families turned to me with envy in their eyes. Augusta's gaze went red at the rims.

I looked at Aldric's expression, growing darker by the second. I turned my mother's gold ring slowly around my finger with my thumb. Once. Then I stepped forward and sank gracefully to my knees.

"Signora Valente, I must confess. The Proving Kill was not mine. It was made by my elder sister, Augusta Falcone."

"I would not dare claim credit that is not mine. I beg you to see the truth."

"The title of the heir's wife rightfully belongs to my elder sister, Augusta. I would never presume to take what is hers."