She had been the center of attention since childhood, with enough suitors to line up from the banquet hall to the street; she was long accustomed to being approached by strangers.

"Thank you."

She gave a polite smile, her tone somewhat distant. She turned back to continue chatting with her friends, clearly showing little interest in him.

Julian’s hand, reaching out mid-air, stiffened as his heart sank.

He didn't understand why she hadn't fallen for him at first sight in this life.

But it didn't matter; he had plenty of time and patience.

From that day on, Julian began a clumsy but determined pursuit.

Every day, he appeared punctually at the gates of the elite private school owned by the Sterling Group, holding her favorite strawberry cake.

When she attended equestrian lessons, he waited silently outside, warding off suitors with ill intentions.

When she felt down after failing an exam, he saved his allowance for a month to buy the limited-edition doll she had been talking about.

When she was criticized by her father and shed tears of grievance, he awkwardly handed her a tissue and said with a flushed face, "You aren't wrong; your father is just too strict."

Gradually, Sera was moved by his sincerity and persistence.

This young man wasn't like the others who only coveted her family’s status. He remembered her preferences and appeared whenever she needed him. The way he cherished her in his eyes couldn't be faked.

Half a year later, on a drizzly evening, Julian gathered the courage to confess. Sera nodded with a red face, and the two officially became a couple.

Once they were together, Julian spoiled Sera like a princess.

He remembered all her dietary dislikes and personally cooked sweet and sour ribs for her. He studied business intensely, wanting to be able to stand on his own so she wouldn't suffer. He rejected all advances from other women; his eyes and heart held only her.

People around them mocked him for still being "henpecked," but Julian was happy to be so.

He knew he owed her too much from the previous life, and in this one, he would make up for it with all the love he could give.

After graduation, Sera’s father offered to bring Julian into the Sterling Group, even willing to let him manage core projects.

But Julian refused.

In his last life, he had used the Sterling family's resources to rise rapidly, but he gradually lost his original intent and took everything for granted.

In this life, he wanted to give her happiness through his own abilities, no longer living under the Sterling shadow.

"Dad, thank you for your kindness."

Julian spoke seriously. "I want to start my own business. Once I've achieved success, I will marry Sera with full honors."

Sera's father looked at his determined gaze, then at his daughter's supportive face, and finally nodded.

The path of entrepreneurship was exceptionally difficult.

Without the support of the Sterling family's resources, Julian hit walls everywhere.

Capital shortages, demanding clients, pressure from competitors, and betrayal by partners—on countless late nights, he fretted over business plans in a rented room, falling asleep from sheer exhaustion.

It broke Sera’s heart. Several times she wanted to use her family’s resources to help him, but Julian refused every time.

"Sera, trust me. I will definitely provide a good life for you on my own."

He would hold her, his voice weary but resolute.

Though worried, Sera chose to believe him and supported him silently.

She would cook late-night snacks for him when he worked late, encourage him when he was frustrated, and secretly give him her allowance to help his cash flow.

Through their joint efforts, Julian’s small company gradually gained momentum. Though small in scale, it developed steadily.

Looking at the gentle and considerate Sera by his side, Julian was filled with gratitude.

He felt that in this life, he had finally escaped his fate and could spend his life with the woman he loved.

But he didn't expect that the gears of fate had already begun to turn in the shadows.

Just as the company was taking off, he met Bianca.

That day, he went to the hospital to visit a sick employee. In the corridor, Bianca, clutching her chest and looking pale, crashed into his arms.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."

She apologized frantically, her gaze weak and her face full of helplessness, like a frightened deer.

Julian’s heart seized.

This scene was exactly the same as in the previous life!

His instinct was to push her away, but seeing her pale face and helpless eyes, a sense of pity inexplicably surged within him.

He helped her sit down and poured her a glass of water. "Are you okay? Do you need me to take you to the emergency room?"

"No need, thank you."

Bianca looked at him gratefully, tears shimmering in her eyes. "I just have low blood sugar; I'll be fine after a rest. My name is Bianca. I will definitely repay you if I get the chance."

From that day on, Bianca began to appear frequently in Julian’s life as if by "coincidence."

She would "happen" to run into him downstairs at his company, "happen" to eat at the same restaurant, and "happen" to encounter difficulties that required his help.

She told him of her lonely and helpless background—how her parents died young, how she was bullied by relatives, and how she had to work to support herself.

Her gaze was so innocent, so pitiful.

Though he was wary, Julian couldn't help but pity her.

He thought to himself that as long as he kept his distance and didn't repeat his past mistakes, it would be fine.

But he didn't realize that Bianca’s goal from the very beginning wasn't him, but his company.

Using Julian’s pity, she drew closer bit by bit, stealing his business plans and client resources.

She also deliberately created misunderstandings in front of Sera, implying she and Julian were intimate.

Sera began to grow unhappy. She saw Julian and Bianca getting close, saw Bianca wearing the same bracelet as her, and saw the loss of client resources. Her heart was full of grievance and insecurity.

She confronted Julian, but he felt she was being unreasonable. "Sera, you're overthinking. Bianca and I are just ordinary friends. She’s very pitiful, and I'm just helping her out."

He had forgotten. In the previous life, this was exactly how he had broken Sera’s heart time and again for Bianca's sake.

Bianca moved faster and faster. She united with Julian’s competitors to leak the core trade secrets she had stolen and manufactured a fake investment scam that threw Julian’s company into an unprecedented crisis.

With the loss of clients, the breaking of the capital chain, and the resignation of employees, Julian’s company was soon on the verge of bankruptcy.

While he was at his wits' end, Sera found him, her eyes red as she said, "Julian, let's break up."

"Stop making a scene!" Julian said irritably. "The company is in trouble right now; I don't have the energy to explain things to you."

"I'm not making a scene." Sera’s voice carried a sob. "I saw you with Bianca, and I see the company like this. I'm tired."

Julian wanted to explain, but looking at Sera’s disappointed eyes and the mess before him, he found he had no defense.

Sera turned and left, her silhouette resolute.

As he watched her figure disappear around the street corner, Julian felt as if his heart had been hollowed out.

The company finally went bankrupt.

Julian went from being high-spirited to having nothing.

In his lowest moment, Bianca found him.

The weakness of the past was gone from her face, replaced by a grotesque smile. "Julian, you lost."

"Why?" Julian roared. "How did I ever wrong you? Why would you ruin me like this?"

"Wronged me?" Bianca sneered. "You and Sera Sterling joined forces to suppress me in the last life, causing my reputation to be ruined. In this life, I am merely taking back what I deserve!"

Julian trembled, looking at her in disbelief. "You were reborn with your memories too?"

"That's right," Bianca said with a smile. "I wanted to watch you be abandoned by everyone and lose everything, just like what I went through in the last life!"

So it was all her conspiracy! She knew from the start that he had been reborn, and she approached him intentionally just for revenge!

Julian collapsed completely.

He thought that by doing his best he could change fate, but he hadn't expected to fall into a trap step by step.

He lost his company, lost his lover, and lost everything.

Bianca didn't give him much time to react.

She had already arranged everything. On a pitch-black night, Julian was kidnapped by Bianca’s men and taken to an abandoned warehouse.

"Goodbye, Julian."

Bianca looked at him, her gaze icy. "This time, no one is coming to save you."

With the sound of a gunshot, Julian fell into a pool of blood.

In the final moment before his consciousness faded, the image that flashed through his mind was of Sera on her fifteenth birthday, wearing that pink princess dress and smiling radiantly.

In the end, he still couldn't change the outcome.

In the last life, he failed her and used his life to atone.

In this life, he tried his absolute best to love and protect her, yet he still couldn't escape the arrangements of fate, eventually being consumed by hatred.

Perhaps some fates are destined from the very beginning.

No matter how one struggles, there is no escape.

Far away in a foreign country, after learning of Julian’s death, Sera was only silent for a long time before finally letting out a soft sigh.

She didn't know about Julian’s rebirth, nor did she know about those hidden conspiracies. She only knew that the young man who once tried his best to pursue and spoil her was gone forever.

She wiped away her tears and turned toward her new life.

Only on certain quiet nights, seeing the moonlight outside the window, would she occasionally think of that boy who had flushed while handing her a tissue, and of his vow to "make her happy." A faint sense of regret would rise in her heart.

This rebirth, after all, was just an illusion, leaving behind only a regret that could never be mended.

(The End)