The True Heiress's Second Chance

My name was Charlotte Clark.
On my 30th birthday, the poor guy I married years ago spent a fortune of one billion dollars just to celebrate with me.
He became famous thanks to live-streaming and then transformed into a devoted husband.
Every day, he either bought me jewelry or took me shopping for luxury goods.
I loved emeralds, so he chose the biggest and most expensive ones. Diamonds were delivered to me by the pound.
His every word and action made me feel like the most cherished woman on earth. Everyone in Lyrinia envied me.
"Charlotte, you're so lucky. Who would've thought that the poor guy from back then would now be a business tycoon everyone in Lyrinia wants to get close to?"
Madison, the fake heir, spoke with a sour tone. She probably had another argument with her playboy husband last night. Her eyes were still swollen.
She looked so defeated and haggard it broke my mother Sarah Clark's heart.
She immediately took Madison's hand and gently comforted her, saying, "You know, Jaxon Bennett originally wanted to marry you. If you hadn't married that playboy, you could have been Mrs. Bennett now, living in luxury. But sadly, life doesn't give us second chances. Charlotte, the wealth you enjoy now, Madison allowed you to have. You must remember Madison's kindness and not just think about living a comfortable life..."
I thought, "Listen to this. Can anyone believe these are words from my own parents? Madison is just their adopted daughter. Apart from being good at playing the poor thing, what connection does she have with them by blood? It's as if I, their biological daughter, was adopted."
"You two enjoy your meal."
It was my birthday today, and I had hoped to hear some words of blessing from them.
But clearly, I was just dreaming.
I turned and walked away decisively.
As I stepped toward Jaxon, a loud bang sounded above my head, and countless flower petals rained down.
Jaxon kneeled before me.
"Charlotte, I was so poor when I married you. Thank you for always supporting and standing by me. They say men become bad when they have money, but this is my promise!"
Jaxon had his assistant bring out everything he owned.
He promised that he would never change his heart, and if he did, he would return to being a poor man.
This action immediately sparked gossip among our friends and family.
"Did you see that? These two men are like two extremes."
"Yeah, one's a playboy, the other's a devoted husband. Charlotte truly is the real heir of the Clark family. No matter how much Madison is favored, the Clark family will always reserve the best for their biological daughter."
"I heard Madison's husband, the playboy, never spends the night at home. He even has illegitimate children, more than one..."
The chatter was too loud.
I didn't pay much attention, lost in Jaxon's deep affection, not noticing the hatred in Madison's eyes.
The next morning, when I was driving alone after leaving the hospital, planning to tell Jaxon that he was going to be a father, my brakes suddenly failed.
I was already in a panic.
And at that moment, Madison drove straight into me.
"Charlotte, I was supposed to be the favored Mrs. Bennett. You stole my happy life. Since I've had enough of living, let's die together!"
Madison's face twisted with malice as she slammed me into the cold ocean waters.
The car quickly sank.
I desperately banged on the windows, trying to escape, hoping to save myself and my baby, but the endless water swallowed us up...
When I opened my eyes again, I heard fireworks outside.
"Charlotte, even if you drag it out for another two or three hours, you'll still have to marry Jaxon. If it weren't for him acting in time, your father would have been dead long ago. You can't compare to Madison. She's not even our biological daughter. She's under no obligation to repay our favors. Now hurry up and get ready."
Sarah's voice shocked me.
I thought, "Hadn't I drowned, along with the car, sinking to the bottom of the sea?"
I quickly sat up.
Looking into the mirror, I saw my flawless skin, my slim waist, and my face so youthful that it seemed to radiate collagen.
This was amazing. I had been reborn, back to the day I first married Jaxon.
At this point, Jaxon was still poor.
There was no wedding car.
I didn't wear a wedding dress. I just changed into a long pink gown for the wedding.
The reason I kept delaying it wasn't because I didn't want to marry Jaxon but because I was testing whether this poor guy was truly worthy of my lifelong commitment.
It happened to be the hottest part of summer. Jaxon had been waiting for me outside in the scorching sun, and I knew, then and there, that I would marry him without any hesitation.
Having lived another life, I didn't want Jaxon to suffer anymore.
I quickly twisted the doorknob.
Before stepping out, I saw Madison dressed in a pure white wedding dress, her eyes red. "Mom, the one Jaxon truly loves is actually me."
"Uh?" Sarah froze.
Madison blushed and said, "Mom, I'll prove it to you." Then she lifted the hem of her dress and went downstairs.
I silently closed the door and walked over to the window.
Just in time to see Jaxon and Madison in a tight embrace.
No matter how Madison had convinced Jaxon, this hug only confirmed one thing to Sarah. Jaxon and Madison were the real couple.
As for the great heir in the Lyrinia who still hadn't come to greet the bride...
Sarah suggested, "Since Charlotte doesn't want to marry Jaxon, why don't we let her marry Dominic instead?"
My father, Thomas Clark, nodded. "The Montgomery family has a good background, and Madison is so sensible. She always feels like she owes Charlotte, which is why she's been so self-sacrificing. If only Charlotte were half as thoughtful as Madison."
Madison had taken Jaxon from me, yet in their eyes. She was the one enduring hardships.
Madison was always well-behaved, excellent in school, and talented in various arts, making them proud.
As for me, their biological daughter, whom they only found two years ago...
Since I wasn't raised by them, I was different in many ways. They saw me as reclusive and hard to get along with. The fact that they rescued me from that poor mountain village was already enough to consider me lucky.
They didn't even ask for my opinion. They had already decided to replace the groom.
I thought, "Isn't that laughable?"
When I was about to marry Jaxon, they said I shouldn't rely on them and that I should work hard while young.
But now, with Madison marrying Jaxon, they were offering cars and houses, practically giving everything from the Clark family away to support her.
It almost felt like Madison was their real daughter.
"Charlotte, this time, the glamorous Mrs. Bennett will be me. You can only marry Dominic Montgomery, that playboy. Bye now."
Seeing the sorrow in my eyes, Madison smugly hummed a tune, then was swept away by Jaxon into the wedding car.
I couldn't help but feel confused.
At this point, Dominic wasn't yet the playboy he would later become, but Madison already knew what was coming. So she must have also been reborn!
I thought, "Steal away, Madison. You'll never know that I actually made Jaxon the big shot in Lyrinia ten years later. They think I come from a poor mountain village, but they have no idea that the family who adopted me, the Marshall family, is the real Lyrinia's elite. My several older brothers spoiled me, and of course, they supported my career with everything they had. Jaxon knows that I made him who he is. As long as I'm by his side, his wealth and power will never fade. That's why he showers me with love and attention. But now, Madison shows kindness, and he agrees to marry her, not because he loves her so much, but because he sees how advantageous it is for him. Jaxon has always been this way. Whoever is good for him, he treats them well."
By the time night fell, Dominic still hadn't shown up. He only sent a driver to pick me up.
The driver apologized.
I smiled slightly. "It's fine. I don't mind. When we get to the Montgomery Manor, please let me know."
I closed my eyes, Dominic's face filling my mind.
I thought, "You poor fool. If only you knew the bride had already been switched from Madison to me, you'd be thrilled."

Dominic and I can be considered childhood friends.
The Marshall Manor, where I was adopted, was right next to the Montgomery Manor. Every winter and summer break, my brothers would often take me over to the Montgomery Manor to visit.
It was during these visits that I met the quiet and reserved Dominic.
The Montgomery family came from a political background. Dominic had an extraordinary talent for hacking, so much so that at a young age, he was already working for the country.
In this second life of mine, I learned that the reason the Montgomery family and the Clark family decided to form an alliance through marriage was because Dominic thought the Clark family heiress was actually the Marshall family heiress.
But when he saw the bride's last name was Clark, not Marshall, he was already feeling let down. That day, when he accompanied Madison home, he saw me and Jaxon walking hand in hand back to my family's house.
It was then that he recognized me.
Because Jaxon and I were so affectionate, he didn't want to interrupt us.
Afterward, the once-admired heir of Lyrinia became a despised playboy.
"We've arrived."
The driver stopped the car.
I sat inside, peeking through my veil, and said to him, "Dominic should be feeling better by now, right? He can come out and meet me now, right?"
When the driver had gone to pick up the bride earlier, he mentioned that Dominic had caught a cold and developed a high fever, which was why he couldn't come to greet me personally.
"Well..." The driver stuttered, clearly uncomfortable.
I immediately understood.
The Montgomery Manor was brightly lit but completely empty.
Dominic was faking being sick.
He was resisting this marriage of convenience but couldn't break it off immediately due to business interests. His only choice was to freeze out the bride, waiting for her to lose heart and ask for a divorce so that the Montgomery family wouldn't lose face.
No wonder Madison was always crying. From the moment they got married, Dominic had deliberately ignored her.
"Please, take this to Dominic. No matter where he is, just tell him I will wait for him for one hour!"
I took out a grass ring I had woven from a bundle of weeds and handed it to the driver.
The driver hesitated for a moment but then started the car and rushed off.
I didn't go inside.
I stood outside the Montgomery Manor waiting.
One hour had sixty minutes.
In that not long, not short time, I received several voice messages from Madison, seven or eight in total.
They weren't anything special, just recordings of her and Jaxon doing their thing.
She was also reborn.
She naturally knew that I, married to Dominic, would be alone in the bed right now, so she sent those sounds to provoke me.
Not getting a reply from me, Madison sent another message: [Charlotte, so what if you're the real heiress of the Clark family? The one Mom and Dad love the most is still me. Just wait. Everything in the Clark family will eventually belong to me. While you cry in your lonely bed, Jaxon will spoil me like a queen. You, on the other hand, will end up as a lonely, unloved, abandoned woman, a poor thing that even your own parents prefer over you!]
I thought, "This foolish woman. I couldn't wait to see her reaction when she realized everything was different this time. Did she really think marrying Jaxon would make her the glamorous Mrs. Bennett?"
A cold sneer flashed in my eyes.
Just as I was about to check the timer to see if the hour was up, a black SUV rushed toward me.
"Ms. Marshall, is that you?"
Before I could even open the door, the man jumped out of the car through the window. It was Dominic.
He had come in such a hurry that he wasn't wearing a jacket, and several buttons on his white shirt were undone.
Under the dim streetlight, I could vaguely make out the strong, sculpted shape of his chest.
I cleared my throat.
The timer showed 59 minutes and 40 seconds.
"Fine, I'll give you that. You're not late!" I looked up, looking at the man who smelled of alcohol and had a strong hint of perfume on him.
This man, my sister's husband in my past life, was now going to be my husband.
"Where the hell have you been?"
I glared at him, my expression fierce.
He was tall, easily over 6.2 feet. With the sharp aura he carried from years of training, it wasn't just a challenge to provoke him. Looking him in the eye was enough to make anyone nervous.
But I wasn't afraid of him.
I slapped him across the face.
Pointing to the ground, I coldly said, "Why are you standing there like an idi*t? Aren't you supposed to be at the Clark Villa for the wedding? Don't you even know how to propose?"
Then, there was a collective gasp.
I noticed that a few of Dominic's friends had come back with him.
One by one, they were completely stunned.
They seemed unable to believe that Dominic, the fearsome eagle everyone feared, could be humiliated like this by a woman.
"Just wait, she's done for. Dominic never wanted this marriage in the first place."
"Slapping her husband on their wedding night. Who does she think she is, setting rules for Dominic right from the start?"
"Dominic, let this kind of woman get as far away from you as possible. There are plenty of women at the club, so why bother with her?"
"Everyone, come greet her!"
Dominic said, standing tall, then suddenly dropped to one knee, holding up a ring made of grass and proposing to me.
"Ms. Marshall, I didn't expect you to still keep this ring. I thought our childhood games were just that, games. I thought I was the only one who took it seriously. I didn't realize you cherished our past, too. I'm really happy. Truly, so happy. I thought my bride was going to be someone else, which is why I didn't go to the wedding, but they dragged me to the club. Of course, I only had to drink, and I swear, I didn't touch any of those other women!"
I thought, "Whose husband would say something like that during a proposal?"
Then, three exceptionally good-looking men jumped out of the SUV.
They stood in a row.
In unison, they called out, "Hello, Mrs. Montgomery."
I didn't rush to respond. Instead, I seriously looked at the man in front of me.
"Dominic, after we're married, I won't mess around, and my husband can only be loyal to me. No flirting, not even in work-related situations. You have to keep yourself clean.
This is a must. While there's still time, think carefully. Are you sure you want to give up all those other women for me? If you promise, you can't regret it, and you can't break your word. If you can't do it, I won't stick around with just one man."
I had told Jaxon the same thing when I married him.
Loyalty was the foundation of any marriage.
Even though I knew Dominic had feelings for me, I still had to lay down the ground rules.
"Ms. Marshall, as long as you're the bride, I'll do anything," Dominic said, almost afraid I'd change my mind.
He hurriedly slipped the grass ring onto my finger.
"Ms. Marshall, today, in front of my friends, I swear, if I ever break my vow, may I never..."
Dominic didn't finish the sentence.
I quickly covered his mouth. I barely had a chance to start over in life, and I wasn't about to become a widow too soon.
Dominic, in turn, pulled me into his arms.
His prominent Adam's apple bobbed up and down, and anyone could see that it was a clear sign of a man stirred with passion.
"Kiss her, kiss her. It's a wedding now!" the three men teased, grinning.
Dominic quickly shielded me with his body.
Seeing that they still hadn't left, he scolded them, "A moment like this is worth a lot. Go, go, get out of here."
These three were his close friends.
Before leaving, they made some suggestive remarks, reminding him to take care and go slow.
I couldn't help but blush furiously.
I had to admit. There was a big difference between men who spent years in the military and those who just hung out at the gym, like Jaxon.
In Dominic's arms, I only had one feeling, just very solid.
"Ms. Marshall, I'm sorry you had to go through this. After we get home, I'll give you a grand wedding," he said, holding me effortlessly in his arms.
At 5 feet 4 inches and nearly 100 pounds, I felt tiny next to him.
The reflection in the giant glass window showed our size difference, and it was striking, like a wolf and a bunny.
As soon as we stepped inside, Dominic kissed me, holding me like a soft rabbit.

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