"I know the Mercer family has wronged you. I've been trying all this time to make it up to you. But do you really have to divorce me right now?"

"There's only a few hundred left in the house, and you've taken every bit of it. What about Leo? He's your own son. He's burning up with a high fever. Are you trying to leave him to die?"

The man's voice echoed through the shabby little room. The man who had once stood straight and proud now looked worn down and low, even his voice carrying a pleading note that made the heart tighten. Who would have thought that this man in front of her had once been the commander of the Blood Wolf assault unit, so imposing back then, yet now reduced to this?

Evelyn Ashford felt like her head was stuffed with cotton. The words in her ears jabbed at her like needles, making the pain pound harder and harder. She could only force herself to open her eyes. The moment she did, she froze, staring blankly at the man before her.

Adrian Mercer!

Her husband—no, that wasn't right, her ex-husband! Hadn't they already divorced long ago?

And back then things had turned so ugly between them. They'd fought so hard, said they'd never see each other again as long as they lived. The divorce had been such a disgraceful mess that it became a joke for everyone else to talk about. So why was he standing here in front of her again?

And the way he looked now was exactly the same as when he had just come down to the countryside. What on earth was going on?

Evelyn's mind was in complete chaos. Her head throbbed so badly that she held it for quite a while before it finally hit her—she had been reborn.

And not just reborn, but sent back to the very moment when she had been making a scene about divorcing Adrian, ready to abandon her husband and child and run.

Evelyn lifted her head and looked at Adrian. The man who had once been so tough and unbending now had heavy dark circles under his eyes, stubble all over his jaw, and exhaustion written across his whole face. Even his eyes were red. In her last life, all she could think about was leaving the Mercer family. She never noticed that this man had already been ground down by the weight of life until all his old sharpness was gone.

Adrian had originally been one of those military sons from the compound. His father had been a famous commander in a military district, a man with real power and standing. As for her, she was just the daughter of the Red Flag Brigade leader from the countryside. Their backgrounds were worlds apart. They should never have crossed paths at all. But fate had a way of playing tricks.

That time Evelyn had gone to town to buy things, she ran into a thief on the way back. Adrian, who happened to be in the countryside on official business, saw it and stepped in, catching the thief and saving her money.

To Adrian, it had only been a small matter, no more than lending a hand. He was a soldier. If he saw someone stealing, how could he possibly ignore it? But Evelyn took one look at his fine features and started having ideas. She insisted that since he had saved her, she had no way to repay such a life-saving favor except by marrying him.

Evelyn was pretty, bright-eyed and lovely, even more striking than many girls in the city. But Adrian felt they had only met by chance and had no such feelings for her. Besides, he had only done what he ought to do. As a soldier, protecting the people's property was part of his duty. Why would he need any repayment for that?

But Evelyn simply would not let it go. She insisted on marrying Adrian to repay him.

Adrian naturally refused. So Evelyn ran to his unit and made a scene. She cried, threatened to kill herself, and said that if Adrian wouldn't marry her, she'd jump into the river. To force the marriage, she even claimed that when Adrian saved her, he had touched her body, so how was she supposed to marry anyone else after that? She said he had to take responsibility.

In those days, a woman's reputation was more important than anything. Evelyn spread that story everywhere, saying she would marry no one but Adrian. If he refused, she would cry, make a scene, and threaten death again and again.