Bound by an ancient pact, father presented two sisters from a once-prominent family.
Caleb and I were to choose our wives.
The elegant and brilliant Celeste immediately fell for Caleb.
My gaze fell on Aurora, whose legs were crippled.
A heavy sigh escaped me; my heart, a foolish thing, softened, and I accepted her.
After our marriage, I scoured the world for doctors, desperately searching for a cure for her legs.
Her condition never improved.
She grew withdrawn, consumed by despair.
I tried to lift her spirits, my voice firm with encouragement.
I truly believed that if I was simply good enough to her, she would eventually find the strength to pick herself up.
But on the day our enemies ambushed us, she sprang from her wheelchair, shoving me directly into the line of fire.
“I’m sorry, I can’t just stand by and watch Caleb die.”
So, to save Caleb, I was expendable?
She gave me one last, deep look, then slammed the heavy door shut.
“I owe you for this life, but I’ll repay you in the next!”
I clenched my fists, my nails digging painfully into my palms.
It hit me then: her paralysis, her despairit had all been an act, solely for me.
When my eyes next opened, father’s familiar voice echoed, instructing Caleb and me to choose our wives once more.
I stared at the people before me, a chilling hatred seeping from my very bones.
Caleb glanced at the graceful and refined Celeste, then turned to me, his face etched with feigned concern.
“You’re too young, too sheltered,” he’d said, his voice laced with false pity. “How could I let you marry Aurora, crippled as she is? I’ll take her. It’s truly no burden.”
He’d said the exact same words in my previous life.
Back then, I actually believed he was the kindest soul alive. To spare him any perceived hardship, I refused.
“Caleb,” I stated, my voice resolute, “you and Celeste are clearly smitten with each other. How could I possibly stand in your way?”
I forcefully chose the supposedly crippled sister, Aurora.
For seven long years, I scoured the world for doctors and prayed for her recovery in church every single day.
Then, our enemies attacked. My beloved wife, the woman I had meticulously cared for for seven years, sprang from her wheelchair and, without hesitation, shoved me out to die.
“I’m sorry, I can’t just stand by and watch Caleb die.”
She didn’t even give me time to react before she slammed the thick, heavy door shut.
Caleb had dozens of bodyguards, and a secret escape tunnel just steps away from where he could have met Celeste.
He’d said he’d protect me first.
But after she pushed me, he didn’t call a single soul to my rescue.
I died, and he inherited a reputation for kindness.
The thought made a chilling, humorless laugh bubble up.
“Then let’s switch.”
The air instantly froze.
Caleb’s gentle expression stiffened.
Celeste’s head snapped up, and she blurted out, “No!”
Father’s face, too, darkened ominously, his authoritative gaze sweeping between Aurora and me.
“Nonsense! Your elder brother cannot marry a cripple!”
A wave of icy despair washed over me, a chill that seeped into my very bones.
So, you do know that marrying a cripple is unacceptable.
In my last life, when I chose Aurora, he hadn’t said that.
He’d called me sensible, praised me for ‘considering the family’s best interests,’ a true son of the Vances.
Just then, a clear, cool voice broke the silence.
“I am not crippled.”
To everyone’s stunned disbelief, Aurora slowly rose to her feet.
Her posture was ramrod straight, radiating a fierce, almost icy composure unique to her.
I stared, my blood turning to ice.
She’d been faking it the whole time?
What about all those sleepless nights I spent searching for a cure, then? What was that for?
I’d even sacrificed my own shares, begged Father to let her stay when she’d fallen out of favor! What was any of that, then?
It was all a cruel, twisted joke!
Seeing her now, I instantly understood.
She had been reborn, too.
So, her “I’ll repay you in the next life” from before? Just empty words.
Even given a second chance, she still wanted nothing to do with me.
Fine.
I had no intention of having her either.
“Mr. Vance, my business acumen might even surpass my sister’s.”
Aurora’s voice was calm and confident. With just a few concise sentences, she pinpointed the exact critical flaw in the Vance Group’s current strategy, her analysis even sharper than Celeste’s.
“I have a plan to turn our losses into profit within three months.”
Father’s shock morphed into unbridled delight.
I saw Caleb’s gaze on Aurora shift, a surprising, almost predatory gleam in his eyes.
He quickly reined in his expression, moving to Celeste’s side with a practiced look of concern.
“Celeste, I’m counting on you to take good care of Asher from now on.”
Celeste’s dark, resentful gaze landed on my prosthetic left eye.
The one that had been gouged out when I shielded Caleb from an attacker.
Celeste’s eyes were filled with disgust as she stated, word for word, “I implore you, Mr. Vance, cancel this engagement and grant me my freedom. I would rather start from scratch than marry Asher.”
Father’s face instantly darkened.
His stern gaze bore down on Celeste.
“Cancel the engagement?” he boomed. “You wish for the entire city to mock the Vance family, to brand us as untrustworthy?”
Celeste’s delicate brows furrowed, her gaze settling squarely on my faceor rather, on the dull, lifeless gray of my prosthetic eye.
“I am not worthy of Young Master Asher,” she said, her tone distant. “Please, Mr. Vance, grant me this request.”
Caleb immediately stepped forward, his face a mask of feigned anguish as he gently chastised her.
“Celeste, how can you say such a thing? You’re breaking Asher’s heart!”
Celeste looked at him, and her eyes instantly softened with tender emotion.
“If I cannot be with the man my heart truly desires, I would rather remain unwed for life.”
I almost scoffed aloud. What a performance of undying devotion!
A flicker of triumph flashed in Caleb’s eyes before he swiftly replaced it with his usual ‘concerned for others’ facade.
“Don’t be rash,” he urged. “Have you forgotten our enemies? They won’t spare you now that you’re vulnerable. I can’t just stand by and watch you fall into ruin.”
Celeste, predictably, was visibly moved, her gaze growing even softer.
A cold, cutting smile twisted my lips.
“Well, if that’s the case,” I drawled, “why not just let Celeste and Aurora both marry Caleb?”
“That way, the engagement isn’t broken, and all the ‘lovers’ are satisfied.”
“After all, the contract never specified Caleb couldn’t have two wives.”
“As for who’d be the official wife and who’d be relegated to a lesser status, Caleb can just decide, can’t he?”
Caleb shot me a glare that was meant to be scolding but held an undeniable spark of secret pleasure. “Asher, what nonsense are you spewing!”
Father’s gaze shifted to me, tinged with a hint of suspicion. “Are you truly rejecting both of them?”
I was unequivocal. “Absolutely.”
Aurora and Celeste both looked at me, their expressions mirroring each other’s disdain, as if to say, If even we don’t want him, who would?
Father pondered for a moment, then asked, “Then who do you intend to marry?”
“I want Sloane Knight,” I declared, “the sole heiress of the Knight family.”
A collective gasp filled the room.
Father himself shot to his feet, utterly stunned.
“Are you insane?” he roared. “That’s Sloane! The city’s most notorious wild child, who revels in scandal! Even the psychics predicted she wouldn’t live past thirty!”
The Knight family’s fortune dwarfed even our own Vance Group.
But Sloane was infamously rebellious and scandalous, and two years ago, she’d been struck by a grave illness. Every doctor agreed she wouldn’t see her thirtieth birthday.
Any man who married into that situation was signing up for a living hell.
Even with the Knight family’s promise to grant twenty percent of their company shares to their son-in-law, no one in elite circles dared to let their son marry into the Knights.
I straightened my back, meeting Father’s gaze with unwavering calm. “I am willing to marry Sloane, for the future of the Vance family.”
“But you must grant me ten percent of the Vance Group shares as a personal settlement.”
The cunning glint in Father’s eyes dimmed slightly.
An expected reaction.
His favoritism had never been for me; why would he willingly part with any shares to give them to me now?
I let out a short, cold laugh.
“Father, my face is disfigured. I’ll be powerless and alone in the Knight family. Without some leverage, how can I ever gain a foothold?”
“Besides, how many years does Sloane have left? Once she’s gone, won’t everything the Knights own ultimately become ours?”
A flicker of calculation crossed his face, and he finally nodded. “Fine, I agree.”
Upon entering the Knight family, I found myself treated with immense respect by Mr. and Mrs. Knight.
They not only personally guided me through their vast business empire, but also taught me the ropes themselves.
Two months later, my very first project there was a resounding success, its profits far exceeding all expectations.
Mr. and Mrs. Knight were overjoyed and hosted a grand celebration banquet in my honor.
At the banquet, I wore a sharply tailored suit, my posture impeccable, becoming the undeniable focal point of the entire room.
Caleb approached me, a glass in hand, his smile deceptively charming.
“Congratulations, Asher. But I must advise you, try not to get too carried away.”
He added, with a pointed smirk, “Especially when those ‘achievements’ are entirely thanks to someone else’s generous backing.”
I swirled the red wine in my glass, my gaze sharp.
“Caleb’s right,” I agreed, my voice dripping with sarcasm. “Father’s been propping you up for years. Funny how you still haven’t managed to accomplish even a shred of anything worthwhile.”
Father, who was conversing nearby, heard my words and, for the first time, shot Caleb a cold look.
Caleb’s face instantly crumpled into a wounded, pitiful expression.
“Asher, how can you speak to me like that? I’m only trying to help you!”
He then shifted his gaze to my eye, feigning concern.
“Your main priority now is to win Sloane’s heart, to well get things moving. But with that eye so ugly, it’s no wonder she can’t stand the sight of you.”
“If I’d known, I never would have let you marry into the Knights in the first place. You’d be better off just staying home than being kicked out onto the streets.”
My eyes blazed as I fixed my gaze on Caleb, each word biting.
“Caleb, have you forgotten how I lost this eye?”
“When those thugs attacked us, even with you wounded and the situation dire, I never once considered abandoning you. I held your hand and ran.”
“But how did you repay me?”
“Yet you tripped me, leaving me to be caught and have one of my eyes brutally gouged out!”
Caleb’s face went chalk white. Speechless, he could only stammer out a fake apology, “I’m sorry, Asher, I didn’t mean to”
“Cut the act!” I snarled, cutting him off. “Don’t think a few mumbled apologies can hide your utter viciousness.”
Celeste, shielding a sniffling Caleb, rounded on me, her eyes flashing fury. “Asher! That’s too far!”
Aurora was even more direct. She lunged forward, grabbing my wrist with surprising force, trying to yank me in front of Caleb.
“Caleb has always been kind!” she hissed. “You’re slandering him! Apologize to him, now!”
I violently shook her off, then, without a second thought, raised my foot and kicked out at her.
“Who the hell do you think you are?” I spat. “You’re nothing but Caleb’s dirty little secret, a mistress he’s too ashamed to acknowledge! Do you really think you have a right to speak here?”
Aurora stared up at me, her beautiful face filled with disbelief. “How can you say such a thing to me?”
Then her face hardened, and she gritted out, “Regardless, you will apologize to Caleb first.”
With that, she actually tried to trip me, aiming a kick at my shin, intending to force me to my knees before Caleb.
I struggled fiercely, then barked a low command to the security personnel behind me.
“Get her out of here!”
Aurora’s pretty eyes widened. “Why are you throwing me out?”
I sneered. “Because this is a Knight family event, and you, a mere mistress with no standing, have no right to cause a scene here!”
Aurora tried to shout again but was powerless to resist.
A week later.
Aurora burst in, her face etched with panic. She seized my arm, her grip surprisingly strong.
“Come with me, quickly! Caleb’s in grave danger!”
My heart remained utterly unmoved. I violently shook her off.
“Asher, please, come on! If you don’t go, the Thorne family will kill Caleb!” Aurora yelled, her face contorted in distress.
“I don’t care how he offended the Thorne family,” I retorted coldly. “What does that have to do with me?”
“Asher!” Aurora’s pretty face flushed crimson with rage. She gritted her teeth. “Caleb only chose that high-risk, high-reward project to surpass you! You’re responsible for this!”
I almost laughed. Caleb’s project failed, so he kidnapped his competitor, intending to force them out of business.
He hadn’t realized that the person was a tough nut to crack, nor that she was Jasper Thorne, the young heir of the powerful Thorne family, doing a stint in the business world. Caleb had tortured Jasper so severely that he was still in the ICU.
The Thorne family wielded immense power; a mere whisper from them could shake the entire city. They even operated their own private prison.
Anyone who entered that private hell emerged either crippled or driven insane.
“I don’t give a damn,” I scoffed, turning to leave.
“How is this not about you?”
“Asher, if you hadn’t done so well with your projects, showing off in front of Caleb, he never would have been provoked into doing something like this!”
Aurora blocked my path, her eyes rimmed with angry red, fixated on me. “Now, it’s your responsibility to go and atone for his sins, isn’t it?”
With that, she reached out and grabbed my arm, attempting to drag me toward a car.
Taking advantage of Aurora’s distraction, I slammed my elbow into her, seizing the opportunity to break free.
But before I could even catch my breath, I heard hurried footsteps behind me.
I turned to see Father approaching, with Celeste by his side.
Father’s face was grim, and Celeste’s eyes were chillingly cold.
My heart sank, a knot of foreboding tightening in my gut.
Celeste rushed forward without a word, clamping her hand around my arm.
“Let go!”
I roared, struggling desperately.
“Aurora!” Celeste yelled to Aurora, who was still wincing in pain.
Aurora immediately reacted, running over to help.
Two women against me, I found myself struggling to break free.
They wrestled me to the ground, binding my hands and feet with rope.
My eyes blazed with fury as I glared at Father.
“Father, what is the meaning of this?”
Father avoided my piercing gaze, his voice trembling slightly.
“Asher, don’t blame me. Caleb has never known hardship. He won’t survive the Thorne family’s torture.”
He wouldn’t survive?
So, he was willing to sacrifice me without a second thought?
I turned my head to Aurora, my voice filled with angry accusation.
“Aurora, are you truly doing this?!”
Aurora looked at me, a flicker of complex emotion in her eyes, but she still resolutely dragged me toward the car.
“Aurora, your attitude toward me hasn’t changed at all. Still as cruel as ever.”
Aurora looked back at me, her face devoid of any surprise.
“I’m sorry, Asher.”
Sorry?
I almost burst out laughing.
“Aurora, your apology is a joke. Push someone to their death, then offer a ‘sorry’?”
“I promise, this is the last time.” Aurora looked at me earnestly, her eyes shimmering with tears. “I’ve already figured out the loopholes in the Thorne family’s private prison. I’ll do everything in my power to protect you, to ensure you aren’t harmed.”
Upon arriving at the Thorne estate, Aurora immediately pushed me away and hurried toward Caleb.
She gently stroked Caleb’s back, her voice softer than I had ever heard it.
“It’s okay now, I brought him.”
“Grandma Thorne, Caleb is innocent. All of this was Asher’s doing.”
“All the harm Young Master Jasper suffered, Asher should bear it!”
Bound by rope, I lay on the ground in disgrace.
I struggled to turn my head to Celeste, my eyes holding one last, sharp scrutiny.
“You always prided yourself on your honesty and integrity, didn’t you? Why aren’t you telling the truth?”
Celeste avoided my piercing gaze, pulling a document from her pocket.
“I’m sorry.”
She whispered an apology, then handed the fabricated evidence to Grandma Thorne.
“This is proof that Asher was the mastermind behind Young Master Jasper’s kidnapping.”
My heart plummeted into an abyss of ice.
Grandma Thorne’s face turned ashen after reading the document. She waved a hand, and two men in black immediately stepped forward.
A flash of cold steel, and three agonizing stabs tore into my body.
“Ugh”
The searing pain made me grunt, and blood instantly stained my chest.
Everyone gathered around Caleb, comforting him with soft words, no one sparing me another glance.
Just then, a servant rushed in.
“Grandma, Jasper is awake!”
“He says it was Caleb who harmed him that night, not Asher!”
Grandma Thorne erupted in furious anger.
“Outrageous! Your Vance family dares to try and shift the blame!”
I thought I could finally escape this torment, but Father stepped forward.
After a string of reassuring pleasantries, he changed tack.
“I only have these two sons. Are you truly going to destroy my entire family?”
He pointed at me.
“Since Asher has already suffered punishment for Caleb, why not punish him double? Let’s consider this matter closed.”
My eyes widened, staring at him in disbelief, my voice hoarse. “Father, I am your son too.”
“For Caleb, are you truly willing to let me die?”
He averted his gaze uncomfortably.
Grandma Thorne glanced at me, then sneered, “Fine.”
I was dragged to the Thorne family’s private prison, iron chains locking my hands and feet.
One by one, the instruments of torture were laid out before me.
Steel needles pierced beneath my fingernails, the intense pain making my muscles seize up, cold sweat beading on my skin.
“Ah!”
My blood slowly seeped into the cold ground.
I don’t know how much time passed before Aurora walked in.
“Aurora, get me out of here, quickly!”
“Please, save me”
I gritted my teeth, my voice a ragged whisper.
But she merely frowned. “Can you be a little quieter? Caleb is terrified hearing your voice.”
I stared at her, incredulous.
“Even with me standing here, covered in wounds, your only concern is Caleb’s trivial fear, isn’t it?”
Aurora’s face showed a flicker of something akin to pity, her slender hands clenching, but her words remained cold.
“Just bear with it a little longer. Caleb isn’t feeling well; I need to go make him some ginger tea first.”
“Aurora, please! They’re going to put steel needles into my neck next! If you don’t take me now, I will truly die!”
Aurora paused for a moment.
“Just bear with it. Caleb can’t handle pain.”
She turned and left without another glance.
I closed my eyes, numbly feeling the sticky blood on my cheeks.
Sloane and Grandma Thorne emerged from the shadows.
Sloane draped a jacket over my shoulders, her fingers brushing away the blood-matted hair from my forehead, her voice laced with playful mockery.
“Honey, are these your family and the friends you grew up with?”
I looked at Grandma Thorne, my face devoid of emotion.
“Now, can you believe I have absolutely no loyalty left for the Vance family?”
Grandma Thorne nodded in satisfaction.
“Welcome aboard.”
From that day forward, I was no longer Asher Vance, the second son of the Vance family.
I was the Vance Group’s nightmare.
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