Introduction

The heavy scent of lilies usually meant a formal dinner, but today, they heralded my future.

My parents, William and Catherine Vance, sat across from me, ready to present three velvet boxes, each holding the name of a suitable husband.

This was the day they' d chosen my alliance, a fate pre-ordained by family honor and tradition.

But I' d lived this day before.

Three times, in fact.

Ethan Cole, Liam Hayes, Noah Miller-my past husbands-all secretly, desperately, loved just one person.

Chloe Davis, the meek and innocent estate manager' s daughter, was the true object of their affection, and I was merely a shield.

A convenient placeholder to protect their families from the scandal of marrying "beneath" them.

Each of my previous marriages had been a loveless charade, ending in tragedy and their deaths-all linked to Chloe' s endless dramas and manufactured crises.

I was discarded, neglected, and used, an unwilling participant in their twisted love story for another woman.

My family remained oblivious, pushing me towards another sacrificial alliance.

The cold fury of that realization was a bitter taste in my mouth.

How could I have been so blind?

So utterly disposable?

The pain was a familiar ache, but this time, it fueled a quiet resolve.

Not this time.

Not again.

With the knowledge of my past lives, I looked at the three boxes before me and declared, "No."

Then, I made my own choice: Blake Sterling, a self-made tech billionaire, an outsider who would be my alliance-and my freedom.

This life, I decided, would be different.

This time, I would choose my own future.