Part 2My Vampire Husband Never Believed Me, I Married Someone Else After Rebirth

Elena's POV

This was five years before my death.

Cassian and I had only recently been engaged.

During a banquet, hunters attacked.

I saw them closing in on Cassian in the back garden, so I deliberately made noise to draw them in the other direction.

The bullet in my shoulder was from that night.

I held on until I was sure Cassian was safe before I collapsed.

By the time members of the Ashford family found me, I was already unconscious.

Sophia walked to the bed with red-rimmed eyes and carefully took my hand.

"You're finally awake.

"You have no idea how worried everyone has been."

Her tears fell again as she spoke.

"That night was so dangerous.

"When all those hunters burst in and I saw you running toward the back garden, I was terrified."

She sniffed softly and tucked the blanket around me.

"But Elena, you shouldn't feel bad about it.

"You're only human. Being afraid is perfectly normal.

"It was so chaotic. No one would blame you for trying to find somewhere to hide."

My father listened and frowned slightly, but nodded.

"Elena, what matters is that you're safe.

"You're already hurt. Don't dwell on what happened that night."

Sophia paused, looking slightly embarrassed, then said quietly,

"As for Cassian... I wasn't thinking clearly either.

"I just saw the hunters about to hurt him, so I stayed behind to protect him and helped him hide.

"Thankfully, everyone made it out alive."

She said it as if it were nothing.

As if saving Cassian had been no more than a small thing she had done in passing.

But the people around her visibly softened.

Cassian stood beside her and said in a low voice,

"It wasn't a small thing."

Sophia looked up at him, her eyes reddening again.

"As long as you're all right."

I lay in bed, watching the scene in silence.

In my previous life, this was where it all began.

The moment I heard Sophia say I had run away in fear, I had sat bolt upright in bed.

The wound on my shoulder tore open on the spot, blood seeping through the gauze.

I hadn't cared.

I pointed at Sophia and told everyone, over and over.

"She's lying.

"I didn't run.

"I was the one who drew the hunters to the back garden.

"I was the one who saved Cassian."

Sophia had cried on the spot.

She said she had never meant to compete with me, that she just didn't understand why I would suddenly act this way.

The more I talked, the more frantic I became.

And she only cried harder.

In the end, even my father thought I was jealous of her.

Cassian stood in front of Sophia, and the way he looked at me grew colder by the second.

That argument had been ugly.

And I had spent the rest of my life failing to explain the truth of that day.

Back then, I had believed Cassian would eventually see the truth, so I had never given up.

After all, I loved him so much.

From the very first banquet where I met him, I had always loved him.

Our engagement had been arranged by the families.

I came from a human noble bloodline known for producing powerful half-blood heirs.

The Vale family needed a human bride of noble blood and suitable standing.

He had no particular feelings for me.

But he had always been polite and never refused the engagement.

On the day we were engaged, he put the ring on my finger himself.

"Since the engagement has been settled, I will fulfill my responsibilities."

That single sentence had kept me happy for days.

I told myself we still had time.

It didn't matter that he didn't like me yet.

There would be chances.

That was why, when Sophia stole the credit for saving his life and Cassian proposed to break off our engagement for her sake, I had panicked so badly.

I fought to explain.

I fought to prove the truth.

I believed that once Cassian knew the truth, everything would go back to the way it was.

I learned later.

Once someone decides you are lying, the more you say, the guiltier you look.

In my previous life, I had spent a lifetime explaining.

Cassian never believed me.

After Sophia died, he even blamed her death on me.

Thinking of this, I suddenly felt exhausted.

That weariness followed me from the deathbed of my previous life all the way here.

I no longer had the energy to argue, and I couldn't be bothered to say another word.

Cassian finally spoke.

"Elena."

His tone was still fairly calm.

"Sophia saved my life.

"I can't pretend nothing happened."

He paused, lowering his eyes.

"I want to end our engagement."

My father's expression darkened immediately.

"But Sophia's bloodline doesn't meet the Elder Council's requirements.

"Lord Cassian, since you already agreed to marry my daughter, I would hope you might reconsider."

Cassian frowned.

Before he could speak, I raised my hand.

Every pair of eyes in the room turned to me.

The ring was still on my finger.

I looked down at it for a few seconds.

In my previous life, I had treasured this ring for years.

Even as Cassian grew colder and colder after the wedding, I had never taken it off.

I always felt that as long as it was still there, there was something left between us.

Looking at it now.

The ring felt like nothing more than a burden.

I slowly slipped it off.

A faint mark lingered at the base of my finger.

Sophia froze.

The hospital room fell silent.

Cassian's brow twitched almost imperceptibly.

I set the ring on the bedside table.

"All right."

Cassian didn't seem to have heard clearly.

"What?"

I looked up at him.

In my previous life, I had spent a lifetime trying to make this man believe me.

Enough.

Once doubt exists, the verdict has already been passed.

In this life, I didn't want to explain anymore.

And I didn't want to keep waiting for a man who would never care about me.

"Cassian."

I said softly.

"I agree to end the engagement."