Arabella Thornton stood by the sink and looked up at the young face in the mirror.
The edge of the paper pasted on the mirror had curled up, and the faucet kept dripping, tick, tick, tick.
It was real. She had really come back.
Back twenty years. Back to 1967, when everything had only just begun.
That year, she was seventeen, only a few months away from eighteen. Her parents had suddenly met with disaster, and the whole family was gone except for her, along with a huge fortune.
The Thornton family was one of the biggest names in Hushi, but she was their only child.
So of course, people started eyeing her.
The ones who set their sights on her were the three brothers the Thornton family had raised.
The very people who should have protected her turned into wolves and devoured her whole.
Knock knock knock!
Someone was rapping on the door.
"Arabella, why are you still not out?"
"Are you feeling sick? If something hurts, just tell me."
Jasper Thornton spoke from outside the door, his voice sounding full of concern.
Arabella's nails dug hard into her palm.
It was him. This man who acted like her eldest brother. Not long after her parents were buried, he had grabbed her trembling hand and tricked her into signing a marriage paper.
Back then she had been terrified, still young, knowing nothing. Whatever he said, she believed.
Once she signed, the two of them were husband and wife. Jasper Thornton got hold of the family money, then shut her away in the basement.
All year round she never saw sunlight. The only thing she could do was listen through the vent to the sounds outside.
She heard him making a fortune in business with her family's money. Heard him bringing all kinds of women home. Heard him using her money to give gifts, pull strings, and climb higher and higher!
She had tried over and over to run away, and every time they dragged her back.
The last time, Jasper Thornton gave her to a foreign businessman, a sick bastard.
That man tortured her till she was half dead. Jasper Thornton was afraid of taking the blame, so he forced medicine down her throat. Delirious, she ran out of the villa and was hit by a car.
When a person is dying, hearing is the last thing to go.
So she heard the final line Jasper Thornton said—
"This is my wife. She's not right in the head. She ran out on her own just now. It's my fault for not keeping a close eye on her…"
…
Arabella Thornton dragged herself out of that bitter memory, turned, and walked out of the bathroom.
When Jasper Thornton saw her come out, he finally relaxed. His eyes looked gentle as he stepped forward, wanting to take her hand in an intimate way.
"Thank goodness you're all right. If you hadn't come out soon, I was about to break the door down."
Arabella dodged his hand. Scene after scene from the past flashed through her mind, yet the same sweet smile as always still hung on her face.
A trace of gloom flickered through Jasper Thornton's eyes. Truth be told, he didn't really like this younger sister, but he had to admit it—this face of hers was truly beautiful, and that skin was so fair and tender it looked like water could be squeezed from it.
If she behaved herself, then after he got the Thornton family fortune, he wouldn't mind keeping this delicate little flower well enough.
The daughter of the richest family, and one day she'd be able to do nothing but please him in bed. Just the thought of it made his blood stir.
Arabella lowered her head. "Big Brother, let's go back."
The two of them went one after the other and returned to the sitting room.
Arabella almost greedily drank in every familiar thing around her.
This was the old house she had lived in since she was little, yet from the day she lost it to the day she died, she had never once been able to come back.
There were still two people sitting in the parlor.
Dorian Thornton and Callum Thornton.
Her second brother and third brother.
They were not related by blood, but they had grown up together and lived as family for seven years.
Now her parents had only just died, and they already couldn't wait to show what they really were.
Jasper Thornton, as the eldest, married Arabella Thornton and took the Thornton family property.
The other two brothers split off a sum of money and used it to pave the way for themselves.
In her previous life, all three of them became local powers in their own right.
And every bit of it had been built by stepping on Arabella Thornton's flesh and blood.
All three of them were good-looking, and all three were experts at pretending, so right up to the moment Arabella died, nobody ever knew what kind of beasts they really were.
Jasper Thornton hurriedly handed over a fountain pen.
"Arabella, sign it. Once you sign, it's settled. Next month when you turn eighteen, we'll go register the marriage."
Arabella did not reach for it. Instead, she glanced at Dorian Thornton and bit her lip.
"Big Brother, I still want to think about it a little more."
Jasper Thornton clenched the pen tightly. "Why? Didn't we already agree on this?"
"Now that Father Thornton and Mother Thornton are gone, there are bound to be plenty of people outside plotting against you. That Preston Hartley, he's clearly after the Thornton family fortune. I'm the only one who can protect you."
"We grew up together from childhood. Don't you trust me?"
Arabella's eyes reddened slightly, as if she had done something wrong. Her lashes trembled, and when she spoke, her voice was soft and light.
"Big Brother, it's just... Second Brother and Third Brother have both treated me pretty well too. I can't bear to part with them either."
The moment those words came out—
the whole room fell dead silent.
Crack—!
The fountain pen in Jasper Thornton's hand was crushed straight into two pieces.
Dorian Thornton and Callum Thornton both lifted their heads at the same time, their eyes suddenly shining with a frightening light.
If it were possible, which one of them wouldn't want to marry Arabella Thornton?
Whoever married her would get the biggest share of the Thornton family property.
It was only because Arabella had always stuck to Big Brother before that they had no opening, so they had stepped back and thought taking a split of the money would do.
Jasper Thornton's jaw tightened.
"Arabella, stop fooling around."
"Big Brother, how is this fooling around?"
Dorian Thornton strode over, dropped himself onto the sofa right beside Arabella, and stared at her face with naked greed.
This was a real treasure chest in human form.
Whoever married her would become the richest man in Hushi in one shot.
"Arabella, if you think Second Brother is all right, then why not marry me? You're so pretty and delicate. I've liked you for a long time already."
"Arabella, Third Brother wants to marry you even more. Did you forget? Back then I was always the one taking you out to play."
Callum Thornton refused to fall behind. He quickly came over too and sat down on Arabella's other side.
One left, one right, boxing her in between them like hunters guarding a little rabbit that had wandered straight into a trap.
"Have you two had enough or not!"
Jasper Thornton's eyes were already red. Everything had been just about done, and then this happened out of nowhere!
His chest was burning with fury.
"Arabella, you know very well how good Big Brother has been to you. When Father and Mother had their accident, I was the one staying by your side the whole time."
"Big Brother, that's a bit unfair of you to say. Wasn't I always with Arabella too? I even bought her little things all the time."
"Arabella, Third Brother is the one who dotes on you most. When you were little, you even said you'd marry Third Brother when you grew up!"
Arabella had already gotten what she wanted, and she couldn't be bothered wasting any more words on the three of them.
She stood up, bit her lip, and let her gaze pass over all three faces. She still looked as soft and easy to bully as ever.
"You all say you're good to me, but I... I don't feel it."
"How about this? In one month I'll be eighteen. I'll watch how each of you behaves. Whoever treats me best, that's who I'll marry!"
"I'm a little tired. I want to go back to my room and rest."
After saying that, she turned and walked away quickly, heading straight to her room.
Bang!
The door slammed shut hard.
Jasper Thornton looked at his two brothers with a dark face and said in a low, restrained voice,
"You two have some nerve. Now you're competing with me? Didn't we agree on this from the beginning? I'd marry Arabella Thornton, get the Thornton family property, and then split some with you!"
Dorian Thornton shoved his hands into his pockets, raised his brows, and looked completely unconcerned.
"Big Brother, that was when Arabella was always clinging to you. Things are different now. She thinks I'm the better choice, so of course I've got to give it a try."
"Exactly, Big Brother. Arabella's changed her mind now. You can't just stop us, can you?"
Callum Thornton picked up the marriage paper from the table and tore it straight into shreds.
"Big Brother's name is written on this. Maybe later on it won't be of any use anyway."