Chapter 1

To catch the attention of spoiled heiress Natasha Sturridge, my brother, Samuel Beckford, destroys her 800,000-dollar emerald pendant during a charity gala and trashes a shrine dedicated to her ancestors.

Natasha doesn't say a single word and immediately calls the police.

However, Samuel assumes Natasha is just playing hard to get. Not only does he crash her wedding, but he also publicly claims she is pregnant with his child.

Later, he is beaten within an inch of his life by her bodyguards.

Mom and Dad simply stand on the sidelines and watch Samuel ruin his life, despite loving their children more than anything else in the world.

It is because both my parents and I have been given a second chance at life.

Chapter 1

Andrew's POV

Ever since he was a child, my brother, Samuel Beckford, dreamed of getting rich overnight. He genuinely believed he was the dominant male lead in a romance novel.

To catch the attention of spoiled heiress Natasha Sturridge, he acted like a total lunatic. In fact, in my past life, his insanity caused my parents and me to lose our lives.

Instead of the fiery confrontation Samuel expected after destroying Natasha's family heirloom—an emerald pendant she had worn for a decade—he was met with nothing more than a lawyer's letter.

However, Samuel simply assumed that Natasha was playing hard to get.

"None of you understand! This is the beginning of my fiery romance with a spoiled heiress!"

Mom and Dad had no idea what to do. In the end, they did everything they could to scrape together enough money to pay off the astronomical compensation fee, just to keep Samuel from getting locked behind bars.

When Samuel found out what was going on, he confronted Natasha with tears in his eyes, exclaiming, "Do you really think you're all that just because you have some money? I just accidentally broke your pendant. Do you have to be so petty?"

Natasha couldn't be bothered to entertain his antics and had him shipped off to Gold Miller Cave, a ruthless and merciless place.

But Samuel still wasn't willing to give up and continued doing foolish things. When he discovered that Natasha enjoyed horseback riding, he bought a donkey from the countryside and made up all sorts of excuses to ride it in front of Natasha every day.

"You like horseback riding, don't you, Natasha? Well, I like riding donkeys. We're practically a match made in heaven!"

His words caused everyone to burst into laughter.

The Sturridges also became the laughingstock of their social circle.

In a fit of anger, Natasha sent Samuel to Afrondo to fend for himself.

My parents and I were beside ourselves with worry when we learned what had happened to Samuel. Although we had to risk our own lives, we managed to drag Samuel back home.

Shockingly, Samuel didn't show even a trace of gratitude after we saved him. On the contrary, he trapped us inside the house after turning on the gas stove.

"The male and female leads have to go through a series of trials and tribulations before they can finally be together. Why did you have to ruin my plans when I was on the brink of success? You're nothing but burdens to me, so you should just die!"

Samuel had completely lost his mind.

My parents and I drowned in despair as we lost our lives to gas poisoning. Seconds before I succumbed to the darkness, I could still hear Samuel's manic laughter.

"I'm the male lead! I'll definitely succeed in getting together with Natasha!"

I lost consciousness after that.

…

When I opened my eyes again, the first things I saw were Mom's and Dad's ecstatic faces. They pulled me into a hug with tears in their eyes, exclaiming, "We were given a second chance at life! I'm going to watch that ungrateful brat dig his own grave with my own two eyes this time!"

My phone rang the moment the words left their lips.

"Samuel's signing his own death sentence, Andrew," my best friend said. "He destroyed Natasha's emerald pendant in front of everyone. I heard she spent 800,000 dollars buying it at an auction!"

A few seconds later, he sent me a video.

Samuel was wearing a mismatched suit in the video. Pouting his lips as if he were completely innocent, he rushed toward Natasha and ripped the emerald pendant right off her neck.

Faced with her stormy expression, he said innocently, "That emerald pendant was probably a low-quality product, Natasha. It snapped the moment I touched it."

He then tried to lean against her, but she swiftly dodged out of the way.

Suppressing her fury, Natasha hissed, "That pendant was worth 800,000 dollars. You couldn't even buy another one even if you had the money. I'll make sure you rot behind bars."

Although her voice was devoid of warmth, Samuel still fearlessly tried to close the distance between them.

Chapter 2

Andrew's POV

Fixing a seductive look on his face, Samuel crooned, "How could you slander me like that, Natasha?"

Natasha had no interest in entertaining him and left the premises, leaving him alone to bask in his own happiness.

Samuel truly believed he had successfully caught Natasha's attention.

In our past lives, he had come up with the same terrible idea because he couldn't find any other way to approach her. To clean up his mess back then, Mom and Dad had to sell their kidneys for cash, though they still failed to raise the full 800,000 dollars.

In the end, Natasha told them they didn't need to pay the rest of the debt simply because she felt sorry for them.

However, Samuel completely misconstrued her mercy, falsely assuming she stopped demanding compensation because she had developed feelings for him.

I scoffed as I thought about the past and locked my phone.

Meanwhile, Mom's and Dad's faces had turned a ruddy red from pure anger.

"That ungrateful brat! We're leaving him completely on his own in this life. Besides, with the system in place, the deeper a grave he digs for himself, the greater our rewards will be!"

"We'll be living the high life once he finally signs his own death sentence!"

While my parents' chests heaved with fury, I secretly found a profound sense of relief. After being reborn, Mom, Dad, and I had activated a fate-bound system. As long as we respected Samuel's original trajectory and let him keep digging his own grave, we would be rewarded handsomely.

That was why we were letting Samuel fend for himself this time around.

…

As expected, a formal lawyer's letter was delivered to our home shortly after Samuel broke the emerald pendant. But none of us were willing to lift a finger to clean up after him anymore.

When Samuel returned from the police station, he seemed completely unbothered by the letter. In fact, he was in high spirits as he browsed an online shopping app for new clothes.

"Mom, Dad, my current clothes are way too old," he complained. "Why are we even in a low-income household? Why are you guys so useless? But whatever, it's fine. I've successfully caught Ms. Sturridge's attention. It won't be long now before I become 'Mr. Sturridge' and start living in luxury."

Samuel was just as hopelessly stuck in his delusions as before.

However, instead of trying to knock some sense into him, Mom and Dad smiled encouragingly. "You're right, sweetheart. You're so handsome and you have such a great personality. You'll definitely succeed in becoming the Sturridges' son-in-law."

Samuel's eyes lit up. Their words only fueled his overconfidence.

Right on cue, the system wired 20 million dollars straight into our account. Mom and Dad grinned from ear to ear as they checked the balance on their phones.

Assuming they were just happy for his grand prospects, Samuel excitedly exclaimed, "I've already completed the first step of getting acquainted with Natasha. Now, I just need to keep catching her eye!"

…

Over the next few days, Samuel went to the Sturridge residence to work as their driver. He wept crocodile tears, telling Natasha he was broke and desperate to work off his debt.

Surprisingly, Natasha actually agreed to his request—a move that only made him even more certain she was playing hard to get.

Emboldened, Samuel started acting like the master of the house around the Sturridge residence. Although he was technically just a driver, he ordered the household staff around, demanding that they wait on him hand and foot.

"I'm the future son-in-law of the Sturridge family," he boasted. "You should seize this opportunity to suck up to me while you still can!"

That wasn't all. In the dead of night, he would sneak into the master bedroom and lie down right next to Natasha while she was fast asleep. His creepy antics pushed her patience to the absolute limit, prompting her to fire him on the spot with a stern warning to stay away.

Naturally, Samuel only became more motivated by her rejection.

"What a dishonest woman. I know you've got feelings for me deep down!"

Unable to take another second of his harassment, Natasha finally ordered her security team to beat him to a pulp.

…

Samuel called me countless times while lying bedridden in the hospital.

To avoid dealing with him, Mom and Dad used the system's reward money to take a lavish vacation abroad.

I finally answered one of Samuel's calls, pitching my voice to sound apologetic. "I've been completely swamped with work lately, Sam. I honestly can't get away."

Chapter 3

Andrew's POV

"Is there a misunderstanding between you and Ms. Sturridge? Why don't you ask her to visit you at the hospital?" I asked, deliberately setting the hook to push Samuel into even deeper trouble.

As expected, Samuel—whose brain was entirely consumed by delusions of marrying into elite wealth—swallowed the bait whole.

He let out a sharp scoff before exclaiming, "You've hit the nail on the head, Andy! There's some pathetic simp hanging around Natasha right now, trying to drive a wedge between us. That loser is just getting in the way of our true love!"

He hung up abruptly without waiting for a reply.

I just stared at the darkened screen of my phone, a cold smile playing on my lips.

…

I ignored Samuel completely for the next few days. But it wasn't long before a breaking news headline caught my eye.

The young heir of the Gordon family had been brutally ambushed and was currently fighting for his life in intensive care due to massive blood loss.

Although the news broadcast blurred out the assailant's face, I recognized him instantly.

It was Samuel.

I never imagined he was unhinged enough to commit a violent assault.

Right on cue, the system wired 50 million dollars straight into my bank account—a handsome reward for subtly nudging Samuel further down the path of self-destruction.

…

Enraged, Natasha shipped Samuel off to Gold Miller Cave—a notoriously brutal place where he would face relentless torment. Yet, I couldn't shake the feeling that this still wasn't the end of it.

After all, Samuel was a certified lunatic. I had no doubt he would convince himself that even sending him to a horrifying place was just Natasha's way of playing hard to get.

Events proved my instincts entirely correct.

Not even two weeks later, Samuel managed to escape from Gold Miller Cave.

During that exact period, Natasha was preparing for her high-profile wedding to the Gordon family heir.

When Samuel found out, he panicked, convincing himself that Natasha was being forced into an arranged marriage against her will.

"Her mother must be coercing her into this marriage for business interests! Why can't we be together when our love is so pure? Why must the heavens play cruel tricks on us like this?"

At that point, I was completely numb to his insanity. Anyone with a functioning pair of eyes could see that Natasha avoided him like a plague victim. How on earth did he twistedly conclude that they were star-crossed lovers?

Yet, remembering the system's rules, I put on a sympathetic face and fed right into his ego.

"You're right, Sam. Great love always faces trials. I'm sure that once you overcome this hurdle, the two of you will finally be together."

Deeply moved by my fake support, Samuel resolved to crash the wedding.

I snickered quietly to myself as I watched him march off with his shoulders squared in reckless determination.

In our past life, Samuel had dragged Mom, Dad, and me down to our graves. In this life, I was more than happy to help accelerate his absolute ruin.

…

The next day, Samuel brazenly barged into the venue of Natasha's wedding ceremony, instantly becoming the center of attention as gasps echoed through the hall.

"What's Natasha up to now?"

The guests began to whisper among themselves, eagerly waiting to watch the Sturridge family suffer another public humiliation.

Natasha stood at the altar, her expression as dark and threatening as a gathering storm.

Yet Samuel remained trapped deep inside his main-character delusion. Gazing at her with adoring eyes, he choked out dramatically, "I know you're only marrying him under duress, Nat! That's why I'm here to rescue you. Leave this place with me!"

Absolute chaos erupted the moment those words left his mouth, with murmurs and harsh criticisms flying from every corner of the room.

Knowing Samuel was digging a grave from which he'd never return, I quietly slipped out of the hall.

An hour later, my phone buzzed with an unexpected call from Samuel.

He sounded breathless, his words tumbling out in jagged, stuttering gasps. "Get up to the penthouse suite on the top floor of the hotel right now, Andy. And bring a clean change of clothes for me."

I could already hazard a terrifying guess at what he had done, but I asked anyway, "What on earth did you do?"

A chilling draft swept down my spine the moment he answered.

I never in a million years thought he would be unhinged enough to pull something like this!