Reborn, I Broke the Engagement to Bless His Love with His Siste

Five years into our marriage, Brandon Mason still loathed me.

*Usurper.* That's what he called me. A thief who had stolen a life that wasn't hers. He said I deserved to love in vain—to give everything and receive nothing in return.

Tears burned my eyes as I screamed back, cursing him. Telling him he'd betrayed his own heart. That he deserved a horrible death.

We were still screaming when the drunk driver's cargo truck swerved into our lane.

At the last second, Brandon yanked the wheel.

His side took the impact.

Inside the crumpled wreckage, pinned beneath twisted metal, he used his body to carve out a small pocket of space for me.

Even at death's door, he refused to touch me more than necessary.

"I'm sorry, Nora. I tried to love you." Blood bubbled past his lips with every word. "But she was too wonderful. After giving my heart to her... I couldn't give it to anyone else."

His breath hitched.

"We grew up together, but I can only be your brother. Never your lover."

Warm blood from his forehead dripped onto my face. It mixed with my tears.

"Nora, I'm dying a terrible death. Just like you said." His gaze began to drift. "Are you less angry now?"

The light was fading from his eyes.

"In the next life... please... let me be with her. Let me have my 'little sister,' okay?"

By the time the rescue team pried the door open, his chest had stopped rising.

Pinned beneath him, I was completely unharmed.

I screamed until my voice gave out.

Then I fainted.

When I woke, grief crushed my chest like a physical weight. I couldn't breathe under it. Couldn't see past it.

I slit my wrists to follow him.

But death was not the end.

I opened my eyes to the past.

Reliving this life, I made a decisive choice: cancel the engagement with the Mason family. Grant him his wish. Let him have his "little sister."

But there was one problem.

My younger sister had been stillborn.

——

"You want to call off the engagement?"

Father stared at me like his hearing had finally failed him.

"You've adored him since you were in diapers! At your *Zhuazhou* ceremony, you didn't grab the books or the money your mother and I prepared—you crawled straight to Brandon Mason and grabbed *him*!"

I lowered my head. My fingers twisted together until the knuckles turned white.

"That was a long time ago..."

Dad wasn't the type to force my hand. He studied me for a long moment, then sighed heavily.

"Fine. The Thomas family has other daughters. Your cousins would be more than willing to take your place."

"Dad." I cut him off. "Can you give the engagement to my younger sister?"

"What younger sister?" His eyes widened. "You're the youngest of your generation."

*Huh?*

I had assumed the "younger sister" Brandon spoke of so fondly was some distant relative I'd never met.

"There are cousins younger than you," Dad mused, "but you know the situation..."

I lowered my gaze.

Right. Aside from the twin who died at birth, I had no younger sister.

"Dad, let me choose who takes my place. For now, please don't tell the Mason family I'm backing out."

I left the house with a leaden weight in my chest, driving in a daze until I reached the cemetery.

My mother and my infant sister were buried there together.

I placed a bouquet of flowers on my mother's grave first. Then I set down jelly snacks and potato chips in front of the smaller tombstone beside it.

There was no photo on the small marker. Just cold stone.

"Little sister, if you can hear me... help me out. Let me find the 'sister' Brandon talked about, okay?"

I stood there for a long time, lost in thought.

Finally, I turned to leave.

A sleek Maybach had pulled up beside my car.

Brandon Mason stepped out, holding a bouquet.

We both froze.

A thousand words rushed to my throat, choking me. I didn't know where to begin.

My lips trembled. I wanted to ask if he was here to see *her*—my sister.

Then I saw the carnations in his hand.

*Right.* Today was Mother's Day.

"You... you're here to see Auntie?"

A cold sneer twisted his lips.

"Yes. Since my entire life is being dictated by others, I thought I should come complain to her."

His eyes cut into me like shards of ice.

"Congratulations are in order, I suppose."

He ground the words out through clenched teeth.

My fingernails dug into my palms. I fought back the burning in my eyes.

"Don't worry. If the one in your heart is still alive, I promise I will help you be with her!"

"Nora Thomas!"

Setting aside our previous life, this was the first time he had ever raised his voice at me.

"Don't speak of death. It's bad luck."

My vision blurred. "I mean it!"

"Nora."

He brushed past me, his shoulder clipping mine.