Reborn to Ruin the CEO,I Swapped the Bride and Let Him Beg

When Rhys Gilbert's sworn sister and I were stabbed to death together, he was at a concert with his little canary.

The kidnappers called him. Rhys Gilbert. Two women. Only one lives. Choose.

Rhys hung up.

He had a thing about crowdshated them, actually. But that night, he stayed with his precious songbird until the encore faded and the lights came up.

By the time they found us, our bodies had long gone cold.

He sighed. "I thought it was a scam call."

A pause. Then: "They did die because of me, I suppose. If there's a next life, I'll treat them better."

Next life?

Oh, there was a next life.

And in this one, neither his sworn sister nor I loved him anymore.

My eyes flew open.

The gilded chandeliers. The clink of champagne flutes. The suffocating perfume of old money.

I was back at that galathe one where Rhys Gilbert had chosen me as his fiance in my previous life.

Across the room, my gaze locked with Joan Henson's. Rhys's sworn sister. My once-rival.

The same shock reflected in her eyes.

She remembered too.

Savannah Gilbert's voice sliced through the moment, dragging us back:

"Rhys, both Ursula Pruitt and Joan have adored you since childhood. Tonight, you will choose your bride."

Rhys tugged at his tie, already bored. "If I can't marry Janet, does it really matter who I pick?"

His mother's expression hardened. She pulled him aside, but her hissed words carried:

"Marriage is a transaction. That Janet Foxkeep her on the side if you must, I don't care. But the family needs this alliance."

Janet Fox.

Rhys's golden canary.

A bar server. Nobody, reallyuntil a year ago, when someone slipped Rhys a drug and Janet became his convenient antidote.

Since then, they'd burned hot and reckless, a cheap drama ripped straight from late-night television.

But the Gilberts would never accept a girl with no pedigree. So Rhys, ever the dutiful son when money was involved, agreed to marry for the family.

He barely glanced at either of us before raising a lazy hand in my direction. "Fine. I'll take Ursula."

I knew exactly why.

The Pruitts were old academic aristocracyrespectable, refined. I'd been groomed to be agreeable, to swallow grievances, to never make a scene.

The perfect wife to look the other way while he kept his little songbird in a gilded cage across town.

Joan's family, though? The Hensons moved in circles both legitimate and... less so. And Joan herself was fire and teethshe'd loved Rhys just as fiercely as I had in our past life, but she'd never have tolerated his wandering.

"Hold on."

Joan stepped forward, cutting him off. "She's too docile. Boring. Pick me instead."

I froze.

After everythingafter dying togetherwhy would she still want to marry him?

She leaned close, her whisper meant only for me: "Relax. I don't love him either. Not anymore. I just refuse to let him and that canary live happily ever after."

Savannah's brow creased with concern. She looked to me. "Ursula, surely you wouldn't agree to this...?"

"It's fine, Mrs. Gilbert." I lifted my chin, keeping my voice steady. "Joan loves Rhys more than I ever could. I withdraw willingly."

Savannah blinked, caught off guard, but recovered quickly. "Well... if you're certain."

Rhys studied me for a momentone flicker of curiositybefore his face settled back into indifference.

Typical.

In my past life, after he'd chosen me, Joan had waged war. Public humiliation. Tabloid scandals. Anything to claw back his attention.

I'd smiled through every slight, maintained my composure in front of cameras, then gone home and driven my nails into my palms until they bled.

And for what?

When the kidnappers called, Rhys had dismissed it like spam.

If he'd cared even a fractionsent someone to check, made one callwe might have lived.

But his world had only ever had room for Janet Fox.

Now, reborn, Joan and I had no interest in fighting over scraps of a man who'd let us die.

"Well then," Savannah said briskly, moving on, "the wedding will be in two weeks. The old master doesn't have long, and seeing Rhys married is his final wish."

"Wait."

Joan raised a hand, her voice carrying across the room.

"An alliance requires sincerity, Mrs. Gilbert. The Hensons are prepared to cede our West End territories." Her eyes locked onto Rhys, cold and unwavering. "But in return, your son cuts ties with Janet Fox. Completely."

She was nothing like me.

I'd been raised to endure in silence. In my previous life, even after learning about Janet Fox's existence, I'd refused to make a scene.

A girlhood full of quiet longing had left me clinging to fantasies about Rhysfoolish hopes that marriage would change him, that he'd finally settle down.

Instead, Janet's schemes multiplied. She drove wedge after wedge between us until the distance became a chasm.

And in the end, she dragged both me and Joan straight to hell.

Joan held Rhys's gaze without flinching. Her voice cut like a blade: "Keep her around, and you spit in my family's face. So tell meis this engagement still happening or not?"

Rhys's expression darkened. He turned to Joan with barely concealed irritation.

"You grew up in this world. Why are you being so petty? Men have women on the side. Everyone does it."

Then he pivoted to me, his tone softening into something almost coaxing. "Honestly, I think I still prefer you, Ursula."

I lowered my eyes.

Prefer me. What a joke. He didn't want mehe wanted a well-behaved ornament. A wife who'd stay silent at home while he planted his flag wherever he pleased.

I lifted my gaze to meet his, and I understood exactly what he was waiting for.

He wanted me to fight for him. To scramble for the position of his fiance so that all the whispers and humiliation would land on my shoulders instead.

"Rhys." My voice came out steady, loud enough for everyone nearby to hear. "I already made my position clear. I'm stepping aside."

I paused, letting the words settle.

"Your mother and Joan both spoke plainly. A marriage alliance concerns two families' reputations. This isn't children playing houseyou don't just swap brides on a whim."

Rhys's face flushed crimson. His knuckles went white around the edge of a nearby table, but no retort came.

Mrs. Gilbert stepped in smoothly, her smile never wavering.

"I won't meddle in young people's affairs. Sort it out yourselves." Her gaze sharpened. "But understand this: the Gilbert family's bride will come from either the Pruitts or the Hensons. No exceptions."

The banquet wound down. Neither Joan nor I spared Rhys another glance as we headed for the parking garage.

I'd just pulled open my car door when Rhys's footsteps caught up. He stepped in front of me, blocking my path.

"Ursula, what's gotten into you tonight?" He gripped the door frame, leaning in. "Everyone knows you've been in love with me since we were kids. You said it yourselfyou'd never marry anyone else."

I studied his anxious face, and unbidden, memories surfaced.

The night his stomach ulcer flaredI'd sat beside his bed until dawn.

When rivals sabotaged him in a business dealI'd begged my father to call in favors and bail him out.

Every time he frowned, I'd turned the mirror on myself, wondering where I'd fallen short.

Until the kidnapping.

The kidnappers' leering grins. His impatient sighs over the phone. And finallythe flat, dead tone of a disconnected line.

While my body grew cold on that warehouse floor, he was tangled in Janet Fox's sheets.

"I didn't know any better back then." I pulled my hand free, my voice calm. "Now I do. If I stop fighting for you, you won't have to feel torn anymore. Everyone wins."

Something flickered in Rhys's eyespanic, maybe. He reached for me again.

"Ursula, let's talk about this"

A butler came rushing toward us, breathless.

"Young Master! There's been an incident. Miss Fox and Miss Henson both fell into the lake. They're shouting at each other!"

Rhys's face went cold. "Unbelievable. Have they no sense?"

For a split second, I thought he meant Janetthat her showing up here at all was the problem.

Then he spat out the rest.

"This is obviously Joan bullying her! Janet's timid and innocent. She'd never survive that woman's viciousness." His lip curled. "Absolute shrew."

Every word dripped with bias, as if he'd already witnessed Janet weeping and wronged.

It had been the same in our last life.

The moment Janet cried, the whole world became her villain.

Back when Rhys and I were still together, she'd summon him at will. I'd be burning with fever; he'd be watching fireworks with her. My birthday would come; he'd be sharing street food at her favorite stall.

A bitter ache spread through my chestnot for him, but for the foolish girl I used to be, waiting and hoping for scraps.

And Joan? She'd been just as blind.

Whoever wanted to be a Gilbert bride could have at it.

The incident had taken place in a surveillance blind spotclearly chosen with care.

By the time I arrived, Janet was thrashing in the water, crying for help. Joan was struggling nearby.

"Janet!"

Rhys sprinted to the shore and dove in without a second's hesitation, swimming straight for Janet.

"Don't be scaredI've got you!"

He didn't spare a single glance for the woman he'd just gotten engaged to.

He wrapped his arms around Janet and hauled her to shore, patting her back with exaggerated gentleness.

Meanwhile, Joan was still bobbing in the freezing water, choking, dragging herself toward the edge inch by painful inch.

In the end, she pulled herself out alonefingers scraping against the rocks, clothes plastered to her body, water streaming down her face.

Janet trembled in Rhys's arms, eyes brimming with tears.

"It's all my fault... I made Miss Henson angry." Her voice hitched. "She didn't mean to push me in."

Rhys's head snapped up. He glared at Joan, fury twisting his features.

"Joan! Have you lost your mind? If you have a problem, take it up with mewhat kind of coward shoves Janet into the water?"

Joan, still coughing violently, rolled her eyes.

With Rhys as her audience, Janet's performance shifted into high gear.

Tears spilled down her cheeks like a broken strand of pearls. Her voice quavered.

"I shouldn't have hoped for the impossible. I only wanted to beg Miss Henson not to tear us apart!"

"But I've given up now." She gazed up at Rhys, the picture of tragic resignation. "Mr. Gilbert, I come from nothing. I'm not worthy of you. We should end this."

"All I ask is that Miss Henson shows mercy... and lets me go."

"Don't say that!" Rhys pulled her tighter against his chest. "I will never leave you. Not in this lifetime."

He shot Joan a venomous look. "As long as I'm breathing, no one is going to force you away."

Joan let out a cold, humorless laugh.

"She's the one who appeared out of nowhere, saying she wanted to talk. Led me to the lake, threw herself in, and dragged me down with her."

Her lip curled. "Oh, and let's not forget what she said: 'Mr. Gilbert's heart has always belonged to me. Even if you marry him, you'll be nothing but a widow with a living husband.'"

"Enough!" Rhys cut her off, shielding Janet like she might shatter. "Joan, if you're going to lie, at least make it believable. Janet is the most timid person I knowshe would never jump into a lake on her own!"

"And she's too innocent to say something like that."

He looked down at the trembling woman in his arms, his voice softening. "Don't be scared, Janet. No one is going to slander you."

Then he turned back to Joan, disgust written across his face.

"You vicious woman. Don't think you can drive a wedge between us."

I stood a few paces away, watching the scene unfold.

Rhys only ever believed what he wanted to believe.

I stepped forward.

"Joan is blunt, yes. But she's always been straightforwardshe wouldn't stoop to underhanded tricks to frame someone."

Rhys whipped around to face me, his gaze ice-cold.

"Ursula, what are you playing at? You've always competed with Joan behind closed doors. Now you're suddenly defending her?" A sneer twisted his lips. "It's because you're jealous of Janet, isn't it? I used to think you had some sense of decency. Turns out you're just like Joanscheming, spiteful, and impossible to reason with!"

Every word landed like a stone. I felt nothing.

Rhys lifted his chin, voice ringing with self-righteous conviction.

"Let me make one thing clear to both of you. If my family weren't forcing my hand, the only woman I'd ever marry is Janet." His eyes swept over us with contempt. "Even if you get my name, you'll never have my heart!"

With that, he scooped Janet into his armsshe was still sniffling on cueand strode away without looking back.

But Janet, nestled against his chest, turned her head just enough to catch our eyes.

And smiled.

A faint, knowing curl of the lips.

I watched Rhys disappear around the corner, then turned to Joan.

"Are you sure you want to marry him?" Joan's brow furrowed. "There are plenty of ways to make their lives miserable without throwing yourself into the fire."

She shook her head immediately. "Absolutely not. The way he looked at her just now made me sick."

She paused, something clicking behind her eyes. "Waityou said there were other ways. What did you mean?"

I didn't answer directly. Instead, I asked her a question.

"The kidnapping in our last life. Have you ever wondered who was behind it?"

Joan's expression went blank. She frowned, thinking hardthen her head snapped up, pupils contracting.

"It was... Gwendolen Pruitt?"

"Yes." I confirmed her suspicion.

Gwendolen was my cousin.

She'd been born rotten, cruelty woven into her very bones.

Back in school, she'd led the pack of bulliesonce locked a classmate in the bathroom and doused her with ice water, all because the girl was prettier than her. When the incident blew up, she got slapped with a major disciplinary mark. Later, she beat someone badly enough to land them in the hospital, made the evening news, and earned herself a stint in juvenile detention.

She came out worse. Smoking, drinking, scamming her own family for cash. They'd cleaned up her messes more times than anyone could count. The Pruitt clan had been trying to disown her for years.

She'd always stolen what was minetoys, clothes, even friends.

As for Rhys Gilbert? She'd been obsessed with him for ages, throwing herself at him with every trick she knew. He never gave her a second glance.

So when she heard that either Joan or I would be marrying him, jealousy nearly drove her mad.

A week before I was kidnapped in our previous life, she'd suddenly turned sweetinvited me to afternoon tea, casually prying into my schedule.

At the time, it felt off. Now I understood. She'd been scouting.

The private investigator's report later confirmed everything.

Joan's eyes lit up. "You mean"

"Exactly," I cut in. "The Gilberts only specified the bride must come from the Pruitt or Henson family. They never said it had to be you or me. Gwendolen's branch still counts as Pruitts. She qualifies."

"But will our families agree?" Joan still looked uncertain.

"Let's find out."

We went home separately.

To my surprise, when my parents heard about Rhys's blatant favoritism and Janet Fox's existence, their reaction was unanimous.

My father set down his teacup. "If the Gilbert boy is that worthless, this marriage isn't worth having."

He paused. "My daughter's happiness comes first."

Joan's side was even more direct. Her father slammed his palm on the table the moment she finished:

"Benefits bought by selling my daughter? The Hensons don't need them. Find a way out of thisI'll handle whatever comes."

The resistance was far less than I'd expected.

The next day, Joan and I went to the Gilbert estate together.

Rhys's expression soured the moment he saw us.

I played word games with him: "The Pruitt family has changed their mind. They've agreed to the marriage."

His tension visibly easedthen his gaze cut to Joan, wary.

He expected her to make a scene.

But Joan only shrugged. "No objections here."

Rhys relaxed completely. A hint of a smile tugged at his lips.

I continued, "But my family has one condition. The Pruitts are traditionalthe wedding must follow Chinese customs."

After all, once that red veil went on, he wouldn't know who the bride was.

Rhys just wanted this settled. He waved his hand impatiently.

"Fine, whatever. As long as you behave after the wedding and leave Janet alone, I don't care."

His eyes held nothing but relief at checking this off his list.

As for Gwendolenwhen she learned she'd be marrying Rhys Gilbert, she nearly jumped for joy. She agreed without hesitation.

On the wedding day, the hotel ballroom glittered with light.

Joan and I stood among the guests, masks covering our faces, watching Gwendolen walk toward the ceremonial platform in her red veilarm in arm with Rhys Gilbert.

Rhys stood at the altar in his tailored tuxedo, going through the motions with his mind clearly elsewhere.

Beneath the red bridal veil, Gwendolen's smile stretched so wide it nearly split her face.

Joan leaned in, her voice dropping to a whisper. "I can't wait to watch Gwendolen and Janet tear each other apart. Nothing more entertaining than watching dogs fight over scraps."

I raised my glass, watching the newlyweds on stageeach harboring their own agendaand clinked it lightly against hers.

"Patience. The real show's about to begin."