Part 1Rejected in Rebirth, Desired Too Late

It is the night before the family holds the lottery to decide our arranged marriages, and I happen to overhear my family talking to Julia Quinton, the woman I love.

"I never thought Xander would burn us all to death in our past life. Thankfully, we've all been reborn. We have to make sure Xander doesn't get drawn in the lottery tomorrow."

Julia feels nothing but utter disgust for me. "There's no way I'll ever marry him again now that I've been reborn!"

If that is how they feel, I decide to give everyone what they want. I tamper with my lot and marry someone else instead, only for all of them to end up regretting it.

* * *

Our two families, the Quintons and the Johnsons, had been family friends for years.

Thus, once Calvin Johnson, my younger brother, and I reached adulthood, both families agreed to draw lots between the two of us for Julia Quinton's hand in marriage.

They were well aware that the lottery was just for show, though, as my marriage to Julia was practically a done deal.

I never could have guessed that everyone had been reborn before the draw except for me and that I was the one responsible for their deaths in the past life.

That explained so many of the things that had left me bewildered.

Mom and Dad, who usually favored me, suddenly allowed Calvin to belittle me and make cutting remarks at my expense. Julia, who had been hugging me affectionately a day prior and insisted on marrying me, treated me with complete revulsion the next day.

I never could have guessed that the truth would turn out this way, though. Why did I do those things in my past life? Could I have killed them? Did I really have to pay for something I had supposedly done in my past life? I lay in bed that night and wept in silence.

I showed up at the lot-drawing site the following day with my eyes swollen from crying, only to be met with nothing but cold glares from everyone.

Mom glanced at me and scoffed. "Why did you come here looking like this, Xander? Did you deliberately make yourself look this awful just to disgust us?"

I looked at Mom, feeling a lump in my throat. Mom had always spoiled me the most, yet now she hated me more than anyone.

"Let's do the draw now," Julia said, breaking the tense mood.

I knew Julia wasn't sticking up for me. She was just worried that if things dragged on, something might derail the draw.

Everyone kept their eyes on Julia as she pulled a lot from the box, all the while keeping a close eye on me in case I tried to tamper with the draw.

I actually did tamper with the lot—I wrote Calvin's name on my lot instead. I loved Julia, but I wasn't that foolish. They all hated me, and Julia practically wished I were dead. If my name were drawn, they wouldn't be happy, and I'd be the one who suffered for it.

Upon seeing Calvin's name on the lot, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, followed by smiles spreading across their faces again.

I was the only one who couldn't smile in the situation.

Calvin held up the lot and flaunted it right in front of my face. "Do you see this, Xander? I'll be the one marrying Julia this time!"

I felt a pang in my chest as I tersely congratulated him.

Julia wrapped her arm around Calvin's and glared at me coldly. "Why bother talking to him, Calvin? You should be on guard around him. You wouldn't want him to scheme against you again.

"He acts all proper and respectable, but behind everyone's back, he's capable of all kinds of nasty things. He wouldn't even qualify for the draw if he weren't a member of the Johnson family."

I gradually grew pale as Julia continued to tear me down. It turned out that this was what she thought of me.

I couldn't help but ask, "Do you really think so poorly of me, Julia?"

I couldn't bring myself to believe that someone I had cared about for so long actually thought so little of me.

Julia looked coldly at me. "Isn't it obvious? Do you want me to start listing off all your other flaws, Xander?"

I felt no hatred toward Julia as I looked at her, only a strange sense of unfamiliarity. It turned out that what I had once believed was mutual love had apparently only been wishful thinking on my part. I stood in the middle of the crowd, feeling completely out of place among everyone who had been reborn.

I silently returned to my room in the attic. I had been given the attic as my room ever since their rebirth.

I snapped out of my thoughts when my phone suddenly rang. I glanced at the unfamiliar number and answered it.

"Hey, Xander. I'm Irene Quinton."

I heard the sultry voice coming from the other end. I had heard of Irene before—she was the Quintons' other daughter and Julia's older sister. She was disabled from the waist down and had stayed out of the public eye for years, leaving me to wonder why she suddenly reached out to me.

"I know you tampered with the draw, Xander."

I was stunned, wondering how she found out. I then thought of something and asked, "Have you been reborn too, just like everyone else?"

I knew I had hit the nail on the head after noticing her silence.

"W-What do you want from me?"

"I want you to marry me, Xander."

I was stunned into silence after hearing that. I had never even met Irene before, yet she suddenly wanted to marry me.