Chapter 1

My father chose two vampires as marriage prospects for my sister and me.

One was an immensely powerful pureblood aristocrat.

The other was Cassian, crippled by a silver curse. Confined to a wheelchair, he was a laughingstock—wracked by phantom pains and constantly on the verge of madness.

In my past life, I chose Cassian.

I drained my own blood to ease his agonizing curse. I shielded him from the relentless mockery of the Vampire Court. I even gambled my life in werewolf territory to beg for his cure.

But he never seemed to get better.

I didn't care. I remember holding his hand and telling him, "It doesn't matter. No matter what happens to you, I will always stay by your side."

Until the accident. A pack of rogue werewolves ambushed us.

Cassian shoved me precisely into the path of their claws.

Just to shield my sister, Serena, from the fatal blow.

Silver claws completely shredded my throat.

Through my fading vision, I watched Cassian stand up from his wheelchair.

The terrifying aura of a Vampire Lord erupted from him, crushing the werewolves instantly. Countless night-thralls emerged from the shadows, dropping to their knees at his feet.

That was when I understood. He was never paralyzed, and he was never mad.

Because Serena hadn't chosen him, and because he wanted absolutely nothing to do with me, he faked the illness to disgust me for years.

Then, he used my life to save his true love.

"I'm sorry for deceiving you. But I couldn't just watch Serena die."

"Elara... whatever I owe you, I'll repay in the next life."

In the bone-piercing cold, I took my last breath.

When I opened my eyes, I was back on the exact day my father forced us to make our choice.

...

I took a massive, shuddering drag of air. My fingers instinctively flew to my neck. Smooth skin. No blood. No severed windpipe.

"Put away that pathetic look, Elara," my father's harsh reprimand echoed through the drawing room.

I was back.

"Father, don't be so hard on her," Serena's voice chimed in.

She turned to me, her eyes brimming with condescending sympathy. "Let Elara choose first. A Blood Contract requires absolute devotion, and she... needs someone who can tolerate her."

The exact same script as my past life.

Everyone in the City of Night knew the pureblood aristocrat, Julian, was dead set on Serena.

All Serena had to do was play the generous sister to force me into a corner.

Under the unspoken rules, to save the family's face, I would be forced to pick up the most embarrassing, pathetic cripple.

My gaze shifted from Serena to Cassian in his wheelchair.

In my last life, I couldn't bear to steal what Serena loved. I swallowed every insult and walked toward him.

But I was not stepping into that same wretched mud pit a second time.

"Sure."

I raised my hand, my fingertips deliberately hovering over Julian's Blood Contract.

Julian's face instantly twisted in disgust. He slammed his hand over the contract, completely shredding the superficial courtesy vampires usually afforded their human vassals.

"Don't touch it," Julian glared at me viciously.

He immediately turned to prove his loyalty to Serena. "My Blood Contract belongs only to Serena. You think you are worthy of tainting my bloodline?"

Serena covered her mouth with a dramatic gasp. "Julian, please don't speak to my sister like that. She just doesn't know any better."

"Relax your fangs," I said, meeting Julian's furious red eyes. "I never planned on picking you anyway."

I already knew exactly how this rigged game ended. Why would I ever step back into it just to humiliate myself?

Right then, a harsh, grating scrape of metal shattered the silence of the room.

Cassian stood up from his wheelchair.

"Serena." Cassian's voice was dark gravel, thick with frantic devotion. "Even if I have to do this all over again, I refuse to miss my chance. Choose me. I am not mad, and I am not crippled. It was all a disguise. But I'm done acting."

Dead silence dropped over the room. Serena stood frozen in shock.

My fingers slowly tightened around the signing pen in my hand.

This wasn't just the confidence of a sudden cure. The dark obsession in Cassian's eyes was something born only from the agony of a life-and-death separation.

He came back, too.

In my past life, in this exact same drawing room, I had knelt in front of him, meeting his evasive gaze. 'Come home with me, okay?'

I remembered how his muscles had instantly seized up. He must have been shocked that someone would unconditionally accept him when he was pretending to be rotting garbage.

But there was no turning back.

After that, he simply watched.

He watched me endure the relentless mockery of the entire Vampire Court to find his cure. He watched me wither under the exploitation of our Blood Contract.

And in the end, he felt entirely justified in shoving me onto the claws to save his precious favorite.

He only ever wanted to use me. To him, I was nothing but a disposable tool, entirely replaceable even as he drained my blood and bones dry.

The last lingering ache in my chest evaporated into cold, crystalline clarity. Since they were so fated to be together, they could destroy each other for all I cared.

I twirled the pen between my fingers, then casually tossed it into the wastebasket nearby.

"Since you are clearly inseparable," I said flatly. "I choose neither."