Foolishly In Love

After my stepsister, Jennifer Nichols, died in a tragic accident, Julian Asher hated me for ten whole years.

He was the youngest star attorney in Vaxton Bay. He was always calm and composed, yet he never once hid his disgust toward me.

I gave up everything for him: my education, my family, my friends, even the inheritance I was meant to receive. I stayed by his side through the grueling bar exam and the brutal early days of his career.

But all he ever said was, "Miley, if you really want to please me, go ahead and die."

The only woman he ever loved in this lifetime was my stepsister.

And I realized that far too late.

It wasn't until a fire broke out unexpectedly in the courthouse archives and I was trapped upstairs that something changed. Julian ran in to save me.

The blaze devoured everything in its path. In the end, he shoved me out of the rubble.

The collapsing steel beams crashed down on him. Blood spilled everywhere.

Outside the operating room, I fell to my knees, begging the heavens to let him live. Before he died, he left me one final message with the doctor. "Miley, I hope we never meet again in the next life."

At his funeral, his mother slapped me hard across the face—again and again.

"You're a cursed wretch. Killing Jennifer wasn't enough for you; now you've killed my son too. I never should've agreed to let Julian marry you."

His father dragged me to my knees by my hair, forcing me to kneel.

"This is all my fault. I was too soft-hearted. Julian saved you three times, and all you ever brought him was misery!"

Everyone believed I was the reason Julian died. And deep down, I believed it too.

In the end, I slit my wrists and took my own life—only to awaken back in university, at the very moment we was supposed to get engaged.

This time, I made a choice. I would not chase after him again.

I would step aside and let him be with the one he loved most—my stepsister, Jennifer.

Miley's POV

"Miley, you used Asher Ventures as bait to force me into this engagement. Do you really think marrying me will bring you happiness?"

Julian Asher's cold, detached voice echoed in my ears as I stared at him.

He stood in front of me in a white shirt and sweatpants, his features youthful and untamed. He was nothing like the composed, sharp-tongued star attorney he would become in the future.

This was Julian at eighteen—the boy I traded my life to save.

I gulped, holding back my tears. "You don't want to marry me because... the person you truly love is Jennifer, isn't it?"

Julian let out a mocking laugh. "Yeah. You gonna make me marry her?"

I nodded solemnly. "I can."

My grandfather was a titan in the business world—one word from him could determine the fate of the Asher family. It was