My brother, Leo, felt so bad about my ten-year crush that he decided to play Cupid.

He drugged his best friend, Ethan, and delivered him to my hotel room.

I was forced to be the antidote.

When we woke up, Ethan coldly agreed to marry me.

But he left for Europe soon after the wedding, and for three years, my daughter and I waited for him to come home.

The day I went to pick him up from the airport, our daughter simply called out "Daddy."

That was all it took.

Nora, the woman holding his arm, couldn't handle the "betrayal."

She ran away in a blur of tears, right into the path of a drunk driver, and was killed instantly.

From that day on, I never saw Ethan smile again.

He stopped traveling and stayed by our side day and night, and I thought my long nightmare was finally over.

But on our daughter's third birthday, a fire broke out in our house.

My first instinct was to save Ethan and our daughter.

He just calmly locked the door, his eyes filled with a cold, pure hatred.

"If it weren't for you two, Nora would still be alive," he snarled. "Every day since she died has been hell, and I've been dying to drag you both down with me to keep her company!"

As the flames consumed my daughter and me, I finally understood just how much Ethan hated us.

Then I opened my eyes.

I was back on the night Ethan was drugged.

Watching him, flushed and panting as he staggered toward me, I used every ounce of my strength to push him away and dialed the number of the woman he'd always loved.

……

The sound of pained, heavy breathing sent a shiver down my spine.

I followed the noise and saw him.

Ethan, drugged, his face flushed red.

A few buttons on his black shirt were undone, and it was clear he was about to lose control.

"Sadie, come here..."

His eyes were hazy as he called my name in a hoarse whisper.

In my past life, I would have rushed over, sick with worry.

But now, I just backed away in terror.

That night was the reason for everything.

Ethan and I, both drugged, had a moment of passion that sealed our fates.

Afterward, he coldly agreed to marry me but spent all his time abroad, not caring if our daughter and I lived or died.

I only found out later that he went overseas because Nora, the love of his life, was there.

He only came back that day to make things right with her.

But our daughter called him "Daddy," and Nora, devastated, ran out into traffic and died, leaving Ethan to pin all his hatred on us.

The mistake hadn't been made yet.

If I wasn't the one to be his antidote tonight, my daughter and I wouldn't have to face that horrible destiny.

With that thought, I dialed Nora's number without hesitation.

"Is this Nora? You need to get to The Westin, Room 320. Now."

I braced my body against the door, keeping a burning-hot Ethan on the other side.

At the same time, a wave of heat started to spread through my own body.

I remembered what my brother had said in my past life, when he felt sorry for my unrequited love and drugged his best friend for me.

"Sadie, it's obvious you and Ethan have feelings for each other," he’d said, "but you're both so slow it's painful to watch. So I'm just giving you a little push to make him my brother-in-law sooner!"

"Leo, are you trying to ruin my life?" I'd screamed. "Let me out of here!"

But he just chuckled and shoved me into Ethan’s arms.

"I slipped something into your drink, too," he'd whispered. "Go enjoy yourself. You'll thank me for this tomorrow."

I couldn't help but laugh bitterly at the memory.

But Leo, you were wrong.

I was never the one Ethan loved.

About fifteen minutes later, a pale and frantic Nora arrived.

She eyed me suspiciously. "Sadie, everyone in our circle knows you're obsessed with Ethan. You expect me to believe you'd be this 'nice'? Wasn't he just having dinner with your brother? How did he suddenly get drugged? Or is this just another one of your little games?"

Nora assumed it was some kind of trick, but when she peeked into the room and saw it really was Ethan, her brow furrowed.

I pushed her toward the door as I explained.

"There's no time to explain, Nora. I know you and Ethan are meant to be. You don't want some other woman getting to him tonight, do you? He needs you. He's about to lose it."

I had no idea where Leo got that stuff, but it was potent.

In my past life, while Ethan still had some self-control, he bit his own tongue until it bled and clenched his fists so hard he nearly broke his own fingers.

In the end, he still couldn't resist.

But now that Nora was here, he probably wouldn't have to.

A muffled grunt came from inside the room.

The veins on Ethan’s forehead and neck were bulging, which made Nora gasp.

She blushed, straightened her clothes, and shot me a look over her shoulder.

"Well, at least you have some sense. You didn't try to take advantage of him. Now that I'm here, you can give up… wait, why is your face so red?"

I quickly shook my head and urged her to go inside.

The moment Ethan tore at Nora’s dress strap, I shut my eyes and closed the door.

Soon, I could hear noises from inside that I couldn't un-hear.

Every sound was like a knife twisting in my heart.