I'll Leave if You Don't Want Me

My mother is gravely ill and needs a million dollars for surgery. I run all over the city, desperately trying to borrow the money.

Just when I'm at my breaking point, my childhood friend shows up, holding a check for one million dollars.

His condition? He wants to marry me.

Everyone's waiting for me to say yes, but I calmly refuse.

Because in my last life, even after I married him, my mother still died. Her surgery failed.

Later, I accidentally overhear a conversation between him and a doctor.

"Christopher, you sabotaged the surgery just to transplant Alice's mom's kidney into Jennifer? Was it worth it? If Alice finds out, you’re done."

"I just want Jennifer to live. And honestly, marrying someone like Alice? My life is already over."

That's when I realize our entire marriage was nothing but a carefully woven lie. He did it all for the woman he truly loved.

"Don't worry, Alice. As long as I'm here, Ms. Morgan will get better soon. I'll take care of both of you."

I looked up and met Christopher Hudson's eyes, which seemed filled with concern.

That was the gaze that fooled me so perfectly for five whole years in my past life and cost my mom, Bethany Morgan, her life.

Around us, the other patients and their families started cheering. "Say yes! Say yes!"

Christopher and I had grown up together. We shared an unspoken affection that lasted over a decade.

If he hadn't fallen for Jennifer Crane, a college girl he was sponsoring, we might have been married by now.

When he proposed to me in my past life, I was deeply moved. At the time, I thought I still mattered to him.

After we got married, however, I realized I had just been a pawn in his grand plan. He stayed celibate for Jennifer the entire time.

I tried everything to please him and did my best to hold that marriage together. I never expected the whole thing to be a lie from the start.

In fact, he had Mom killed just to give Jennifer a kidney. The emotional blow was too much for me. I ended up in a car crash and died just like that.

However, fate gave me another chance and sent me back to the very beginning of it all.

This time, all I wanted was to save Mom and stay far away from those two "soulmates".

Presently, I reached out a hand.

Christopher thought I was taking the check from his hand. His lips curled in triumph.

Against his expectations, I pushed it back to him the very next second. "No. Marriage shouldn't be rushed. Two people who don't love each other won't find happiness."

His smile froze. "Alice, what do you mean? I'm serious. After all these years, don't you know how I feel about you?"

"I don't need this. Take your money back. I'll figure things out on my own."

Christopher sighed and shook his head, looking heartbroken.

"Alice,