chapter 2
Ethan Shaw. The fiancé my parents had handpicked for me. In my father’s eyes, he was the perfect match—accomplished, well-bred, impressive by every metric that mattered.
But the real Ethan was nothing like that. He was a ruthless businessman who refused to be controlled by anyone, least of all his own family. He played the fool while devouring everyone around him. Whatever he wanted, he got, no matter what it took. And God help anyone who tried to override his choices.
While I was still lost in thought, his voice cut across the table, blunt and cold.
“I’m seeing someone. I’m not marrying Nora.”
His gaze landed on me through the centerpiece, undisguised contempt written all over his face.
So he really did despise me that much. The old me had been such a fool.
In my previous life, I hadn’t taken his words seriously. I knew how these things worked—powerful families didn’t abandon a merger over one man’s objections. I had simply turned to his parents with a polite smile and said:
“Mr. and Mrs. Shaw, I hope you can sort this out soon. We wouldn’t want to delay the timeline.”
And just like that, Rose had been put on a plane by the Song family. The plane crashed. Rose died.
Ethan and I married as planned, and that was the beginning of the end for the Whitfield family.