Theater: NovelMaster | Language: English
Synopsis
Tags: Lucid Male Lead, Rebirth & Revenge, Instant Karma, Toxic Ex, Satisfying Reversal, Pianist
In the third year of our marriage, my wife still refused to let me touch her.
She claimed she had severe germaphobia and hated physical contact.
That was until I caught her at a motel with her first love, and the two of them beat me to death to keep it a secret.
Reborn to the day of our college graduation, I stepped aside and let them have each other, wanting nothing more to do with either of them.
Five years later, she had become a world-renowned pianist, attending an elite business gala with her boss—that very same first love.
Catching sight of me, Nicole crossed her arms and sneered in disgust.
"Ugh, talk about bad luck. Look at this pathetic dog, still daydreaming about getting my attention!"
I smiled, wrapping my left arm around the heiress of the Crawford family while holding our daughter's hand with my right.
Later on, Nicole showed up at my hotel room in barely-there lingerie, banging frantically on my door.
"Didn't you promise you'd only ever love me? Lucas, please! I'll do anything—let's have a baby together!"
"Oh, Nicole, you look absolutely breathtaking tonight! Such elegance... truly the definition of a master pianist!"
A middle-aged socialite walked over with a glowing smile, eyes full of envy.
"Standing next to Mr. Reed, you two look like a match made in heaven. A true power couple!"
Nicole tilted her chin up slightly, a smug smirk spreading across her face.
Marcus Reed stood beside her, beaming with pride as he mingled effortlessly with the surrounding elites.
"Exactly! Having you two together is the ultimate fusion of big business and high art!"
Basking in the endless wave of compliments, Nicole held her head even higher.
She tossed her hair over her shoulder, completely intoxicated by her own vanity.
"You're all too kind. I merely dedicated myself to the piano, and Marcus has been so wonderfully supportive," Nicole said with mock modesty, though her voice dripped with arrogance.
"Nicole? Marcus? Wow, what a coincidence running into you guys here!"
A man in a sharp suit hurried over, his face plastered with an obsequious grin.
It was our old college classmate, Greg Carter.
Nicole raised an eyebrow, a flicker of disdain crossing her features before she smoothed it over with a polite smile.
"Oh, Greg. What a surprise."
Greg's gaze flicked between Nicole and Marcus, and he gave an exaggerated thumbs-up.
"Nicole, look at you now—a world-class artist! And standing next to someone like Mr. Reed? An absolute dream team!
I knew I had an eye for greatness back then. Unlike some people who were totally out of their league, trying to bag a swan when they were nothing but toads. I bet that guy is still a complete nobody."
Leaning closer to Nicole, Greg practically purred with flattery:
"I always said Lucas Vance wasn't worthy of you. It's a blessing you ended up with Mr. Reed—this is real destiny.
By the way, Mr. Reed, do you think you could put in a good word with my boss? About that... promotion..."
Marcus cast him a dismissive glance and gave a faint nod.
Across the room, I finished briefing my assistant on the summit's itinerary. Seeing an elderly janitor drop her cleaning supplies, I walked over, picked them up, and handed them back to her.
Greg, having sharp eyes, spotted me instantly. A wide, mocking grin split his face, and he pointed straight at me.
"Well, well, look who it is! Speak of the devil—Lucas Vance!
Look at you, reduced to cleaning up trash for the janitor! How pathetic can you get?"
Nicole looked over in the direction he was pointing. Her expression turned entirely to contempt, and she let out a cold sneer.
"And here I thought he might have made something of himself. Turns out he's just an errand boy. Absolutely hilarious."
She lifted her chin, eyes full of scorn.
Marcus crossed his arms, the corners of his lips curling into a derisive smirk.
"Don't be so harsh, Nicole. The man's just trying to earn an honest living. Somebody has to do the dirty work at the bottom of the food chain, right?"
Laughter erupted from the surrounding crowd. The janitor grew visibly nervous and whispered to me,
"Sir, you don't need to help me. I don't want them talking about you like that."
I smiled and shook my head, calmly tossing the rest of the debris into the bin.
Seeing no reaction from me, Greg grew bolder. He strutted over and deliberately shoved my shoulder, knocking some trash back onto the floor.
He put on a face of fake innocence.
"Oops! My bad, didn't see you there. Then again, you're pretty clumsy at your job, aren't you?"
Marcus chuckled.
He reached into his breast pocket, slid out a sleek black business card, and flicked it casually toward me.The card fluttered through the air and landed right by the trash pile near my feet.
Marcus kept his arms crossed, a mocking sneer plastered on his face as he raised his voice for everyone to hear:
"Lucas, for Nicole's sake, I'll throw you a bone.
My firm happens to need a new cleaner. From the looks of it, you've got plenty of experience. If you're interested, you can start tomorrow."
He paused, his eyes gleaming with condescension.
"Of course, my company doesn't just hire anyone. The standards are high.
If it weren't for your past with Nicole, I wouldn't waste my breath on you.
You ought to thank her. Otherwise, you'd be stuck picking up garbage in places like this for the rest of your miserable life."
Nicole covered her mouth, letting out a tinkling, contemptuous laugh.
"Lucas, stop trying to play tough. Marcus is doing you an enormous favor. Just take the janitor job and be grateful. At least you'll have an actual paycheck instead of embarrassing yourself out here.
And drop the delusion that you still have a shot with me. Stalking me all the way to this summit must have been exhausting.
Marcus is only offering this because he's a generous man who doesn't hold your past obsession against you."
Greg chimed in immediately, "Exactly! Lucas, don't be ungrateful. When Mr. Reed offers you a lifeline, you take it and say thank you!"
I stared at Nicole, preening like a proud peacock, and genuinely wondered what I had ever seen in her.
In my previous life, I had spoiled her rotten. Whatever she wanted, I broke my back to give her.
Those outrageously expensive piano masterclasses? The moment she asked, I paid for them without a second thought, just so she could chase her dreams.
For her, I abandoned my true passion and talent—computer science—and plunged headfirst into real estate.
She had insisted real estate was where the real money was. No matter how much I tried to explain market trends, she demanded I make it work.
Only later did I discover she pushed me into it because Marcus Reed was in real estate.
Back then, I foolishly believed that as long as I made her happy, every sacrifice was worth it.
Reality was brutal. Lacking experience and guidance, my investments collapsed one after another. I lost everything, and my family, furious at my reckless choices, cut off my financial support entirely.
Even then, I never blamed her for a single second.
Yet she shot down every idea I had, constantly demanding I live my life according to her whims.
She remained obsessed with luxury handbags and sports cars. When I ran out of money to fuel her vanity, she pressured me into taking out predatory loans.
To be with her, I had completely severed ties with my family. They couldn't understand my sudden obsession with bad investments, thinking I had lost my mind over a woman.
I was broke, exhausted, and running myself ragged day and night just to pay off the interest.
I still vividly remembered the day she demanded a limited-edition designer bag that I simply couldn't afford.
"Lucas, look at you! You're a complete loser! I must have been blind to ever end up with you!"
Nicole had stood before me with her arms crossed, her eyes brimming with disgust.
"Do you know how many guys begged for a chance with me? Being with you is the biggest curse of my life!"
It was true. Nicole was stunning, and she had no shortage of suitors in college. I had fallen for her the moment I laid eyes on her.
That was why, once we got together, I cherished her with everything I had.I looked at her back then, my voice cracking with desperation.
"Nicole, I gave up everything for you. Why can't you see that?"
"You call that giving up everything?" Nicole had scoffed. "Look at yourself—broke, useless, drowning in debt. I should've listened to Marcus and stayed far away from a failure like you."
"Marcus, Marcus, Marcus! That's all you ever talk about!"
I couldn't help raising my voice. "If you loved him so much, why did you choose to be with me in the first place?"
"Because you wouldn't stop chasing me! I was young and stupid, and you tricked me!"
Nicole's eyes flared with anger.
"It was only after being with you that I realized you couldn't give me the life I deserved!
Look at Marcus—young, wildly successful, driving supercars, living in penthouses! And you? You can't even buy me a damn designer bag!"
"So you regret being with me?"
A wave of bitter cold had washed over my chest.
"Then why didn't you just reject me from the start? Why let me do all those things for you?"
"Hah! You did all that willingly! How is that my problem?"
Nicole had curled her lip in disgust.
"Besides, I wanted to see how far you'd go for me. Who knew you'd be so pathetic that you couldn't even manage a simple real estate project?"
"I tried my best! I threw away my passion for tech and jumped into an unfamiliar industry just for you! Do you have any idea how hard that was?"
I had shaken my head in sheer exhaustion.
Nicole sneered.
"One word of advice from Marcus is worth a hundred of your pathetic attempts. If I had listened to him back then, I wouldn't be stuck living like this.
You simply can't give me what I want. I regret ever touching you. You wasted my best years!"
Four years together—one year of dating and three years of marriage.
Throughout all that time, she used her germaphobia as an excuse to keep me at arm's length. We never once shared genuine physical intimacy.
Over time, I had accepted our sexless marriage, genuinely believing she suffered from an uncontrollable psychological aversion to touch. Heartbroken as I was, I chose to endure it in silence.
Until that fateful afternoon, when my phone buzzed with an anonymous text.
The moment I read the message, my brain went completely numb.
My hands trembled violently as my eyes locked onto the screen. It was an address for a luxury hotel, complete with a room number.
Dread coiled in my gut, but a naive part of me desperately prayed it was just a sick prank.
I rushed to the hotel. Standing outside the room door, my heart pounded against my ribs.
Before I could even raise my hand to knock, muffled, breathless moans leaked through the door.
The blood in my veins turned to ice.
All that remained in the world was that sickening, unmistakable sound.I strained my ears, and the woman's voice was agonizingly familiar.
The door clicked open.
Marcus Reed stood before me, completely bare-chested.
His hair was a mess, his skin flushed with lingering heat. Panic flashed across his eyes for a split second before vanishing behind a wall of cold arrogance.
Inside the room, Nicole sat on the edge of the bed, wearing sultry lingerie I had never once seen her put on for me.
Terrified that their affair would ruin their reputations, the two of them dragged me inside, beating and kicking me until my breath stopped entirely.
I could still feel the sheer, suffocating despair of my dying moments.
I snapped out of my memories. The agony of the past washed away like a receding tide, and Greg's repulsive face came back into sharp focus.
"Lucas, someone as useless as you belongs down in the dirt," Greg sneered, utterly pleased with himself.
Ignoring him, I turned toward a nearby table to sit down. Greg stuck his foot out to trip me.
Expecting it, I caught my balance and stepped down hard directly onto the toe of his polished dress shoe.
"Fuck! Are you blind? You just ruined my shoes!"
He hopped back, pointing aggressively at my face, his voice dripping with venom.
"What the hell are you standing there for? Get on your knees and wipe it clean! Consider it your apology, you worthless temp!"
The sycophants surrounding Marcus erupted into snickers, eyeing me with naked mockery.
I stared at Greg coldly, saying nothing.
Just then, Nicole frowned. A complicated flicker of emotion crossed her face, and she bit her lip, hesitating for a fraction of a second.
"Greg, that's enough," Nicole said abruptly, her tone edged with irritation.
"Whatever he is, there's no need to take it that far."
Greg blinked in surprise. He immediately softened into a sycophantic grin.
"Nicole, I'm just putting him in his place. Trying to stand up for you, that's all."
"I said drop it," Nicole brushed him off, turning her head away to hide a sudden trace of unease.
Marcus also frowned, clearly annoyed. "Greg, don't waste your breath on trash like him. We have important business to attend to."
Greg nodded vigorously, bowing slightly. "Yes, of course, Mr. Reed. You're absolutely right."
The group moved toward an executive lounge table and sat down.
Marcus took a sip of his champagne, a glint of greed in his eyes.
"I heard the heiress of Crawford Enterprises and the heir of Vanguard Group are both attending tonight. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
If we can secure a partnership with either of them, our company's future will be completely set."
Marcus set his glass down, scanning the grand ballroom.
"I heard rumors that the two corporate giants are merging through marriage," an older business owner chimed in beside Marcus. "Honestly, does that leave any room for smaller fish like us? By the way, Vanguard's heir hasn't shown his face in public for years. I was actually hoping to introduce my daughter to him!"
Nicole gave a faint nod, a calculating gleam flashing in her eyes.
Just as Marcus and his circle were plotting how to cozy up to Crawford Enterprises and Vanguard Group, a sudden ripple of excitement washed over the crowd.
Everyone's eyes shifted toward the grand entrance.
I knew she had arrived.
Eleanor Crawford entered the hall in a stunning evening gown. Her regal grace and natural elegance outshone Nicole by miles.
Seeing Eleanor's face, the jealousy in Nicole's eyes practically spilled over.
Beside Eleanor walked her brother, Ethan Crawford, holding our daughter's hand.
Marcus's eyes lit up instantly. He set down his glass, adjusted his tie, and rushed forward with eager steps.
"Miss Crawford! What an absolute honor to meet you tonight."
Marcus plastered on his most charming smile, his gaze hungry for approval.
Others swarmed forward, showering Eleanor with lavish compliments.
"Miss Crawford, you look magnificent tonight! Truly breathtaking!"
Not wanting to be left behind, Nicole pushed through the crowd, putting on a radiant, flattering smile as she addressed Ethan.
"You must be the young master of Vanguard Group. So young, yet so accomplished!"
Ethan's brow furrowed in utter disgust. He didn't even grant Nicole a single glance.
At that exact moment, my daughter wriggled free from Ethan's hand, took off running straight toward me, and cried out sweetly:
"Daddy!"
The entire room froze.
The smiles on Marcus's and Nicole's faces instantly shattered.
Eleanor glided over, her lips parting into a tender smile as she took my hand.
"Lucas, darling. Sorry to keep you waiting."
Chapters (4)
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Watch & Promotions
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