Rejected in Rebirth, Desired Too Late

It is the night before the family holds the lottery to decide our arranged marriages, and I happen to overhear my family talking to Julia Quinton, the woman I love. "I never thought Xander would burn us all to death in our past life. Thankfully, we've all been reborn. We have to make sure Xander doesn't get drawn in the lottery tomorrow." Julia feels nothing but utter disgust for me. "There's no way I'll ever marry him again now that I've been reborn!" If that is how they feel, I decide to give everyone what they want. I tamper with my lot and marry someone else instead, only for all of them to end up regretting it. Chapter 1 Our two families, the Quintons and the Johnsons, had been family friends for years. Thus, once Calvin Johnson, my younger brother, and I reached adulthood, both families agreed to draw lots between the two of us for Julia Quinton's hand in marriage. They were well aware that the lottery was just for show, though, as my marriage to Julia was practically a done deal. I never could have guessed that everyone had been reborn before the draw except for me and that I was the one responsible for their deaths in the past life. That explained so many of the things that had left me bewildered. Mom and Dad, who usually favored me, suddenly allowed Calvin to belittle me and make cutting remarks at my expense. Julia, who had been hugging me affectionately a day prior and insisted on marrying me, treated me with complete revulsion the next day. I never could have guessed that the truth would turn out this way, though. Why did I do those things in my past life? Could I have killed them? Did I really have to pay for something I had supposedly done in my past life? I lay in bed that night and wept in silence. I showed up at the lot-drawing site the following day with my eyes swollen from crying, only to be met with nothing but cold glares from everyone. Mom glanced at me and scoffed. "Why did you come here looking like this, Xander? Did you deliberately make yourself look this awful just to disgust us?" I looked at Mom, feeling a lump in my throat. Mom had always spoiled me the most, yet now she hated me more than anyone. "Let's do the draw now," Julia said, breaking the tense mood. I knew Julia wasn't sticking up for me. She was just worried that if things dragged on, something might derail the draw. Everyone kept their eyes on Julia as she pulled a lot from the box, all the while keeping a close eye on me in case I tried to tamper with the draw. I actually did tamper with the lot—I wrote Calvin's name on my lot instead. I loved Julia, but I wasn't that foolish. They all hated me, and Julia practically wished I were dead. If my name were drawn, they wouldn't be happy, and I'd be the one who suffered for it. Upon seeing Calvin's name on the lot, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, followed by smiles spreading across their faces again. I was the only one who couldn't smile in the situation. Calvin held up the lot and flaunted it right in front of my face. "Do you see this, Xander? I'll be the one marrying Julia this time!" I felt a pang in my chest as I tersely congratulated him. Julia wrapped her arm around Calvin's and glared at me coldly. "Why bother talking to him, Calvin? You should be on guard around him. You wouldn't want him to scheme against you again. "He acts all proper and respectable, but behind everyone's back, he's capable of all kinds of nasty things. He wouldn't even qualify for the draw if he weren't a member of the Johnson family." I gradually grew pale as Julia continued to tear me down. It turned out that this was what she thought of me. I couldn't help but ask, "Do you really think so poorly of me, Julia?" I couldn't bring myself to believe that someone I had cared about for so long actually thought so little of me. Julia looked coldly at me. "Isn't it obvious? Do you want me to start listing off all your other flaws, Xander?" I felt no hatred toward Julia as I looked at her, only a strange sense of unfamiliarity. It turned out that what I had once believed was mutual love had apparently only been wishful thinking on my part. I stood in the middle of the crowd, feeling completely out of place among everyone who had been reborn. I silently returned to my room in the attic. I had been given the attic as my room ever since their rebirth. I snapped out of my thoughts when my phone suddenly rang. I glanced at the unfamiliar number and answered it. "Hey, Xander. I'm Irene Quinton." I heard the sultry voice coming from the other end. I had heard of Irene before—she was the Quintons' other daughter and Julia's older sister. She was disabled from the waist down and had stayed out of the public eye for years, leaving me to wonder why she suddenly reached out to me. "I know you tampered with the draw, Xander." I was stunned, wondering how she found out. I then thought of something and asked, "Have you been reborn too, just like everyone else?" I knew I had hit the nail on the head after noticing her silence. "W-What do you want from me?" "I want you to marry me, Xander." I was stunned into silence after hearing that. I had never even met Irene before, yet she suddenly wanted to marry me. Chapter 2 I asked, "Why do you want to marry me?" Irene countered, "Don't you want to know what actually happened in your past life, Xander?" I recalled the scenes from the past two days as joyous music for Calvin and Julia's engagement celebration echoed from downstairs, while everyone kept congratulating them. I remained silent for a few seconds before replying, "I'll marry you, then." Irene clearly hadn't expected me to agree so easily. She remained silent for a while before she hummed in assent. I was prepared to end the call after seeing that she had nothing else to say. "Hold on!" Irene spoke up, stopping me from hanging up. "Is there something else?" "You didn't hurt a single person in your past life." Irene sounded totally calm, almost detached, but that one simple statement made my heart race. In the past two days, everyone had believed that I was responsible for the fire that killed them. I didn't want to believe it myself, but when everyone kept insisting that it was true, I started to doubt myself. Yet, at this moment, Irene finally told me I hadn't hurt anyone in my past life. That sheer feeling of being trusted brought tears to my eyes all over again. "What actually happened in our past life?" If I hadn't been the one who set the fire that killed them, then there had to be another explanation for their deaths. What really happened in our past life? I figured Irene wouldn't answer me when she fell silent on the other end again, but then she finally spoke up, "You'll find out the whole truth once we get married." "Alright…" I figured Irene probably had her reasons for keeping it to herself. I was willing to wait until we got married to find out the truth if she wasn't ready to tell me now. Calvin and Julia's wedding was only a month after the draw, so the whole family was busy getting everything ready for the big day. I knew how much they hated me and kept their guard up around me, so I kept to myself in the attic and hardly ever went outside. Calvin probably couldn't stand seeing me living peacefully, so he took it upon himself to stir up trouble with me. He came to the attic while I was painting—one of the few hobbies I had, as I hoped to become a painter if given the opportunity. He scowled the moment he walked in. He then spoke with obvious ridicule and spite in his voice, asking, "Do you really just spend your days in a place like this, Xander? You're living in a total dump!" Though the attic was small—and cluttered with all kinds of things—and clearly inferior to the other rooms in the house, it wasn't nearly as bad as Calvin made it out to be. I knew Calvin wasn't there to pay me a friendly visit, so I set my paintbrush down and waited for him to get to the point. Calvin seemed annoyed when his taunt fell flat. He adopted a delicate, vulnerable tone, making it seem as though I had bullied him even though I hadn't done a thing. "What's with the long face, Xander? Do you not want me around?" "Not at all," I replied flatly. Calvin grew annoyed when he couldn't get a reaction out of me. "I came here today because I want the villa in the western part of the city, Xander. It's got great vibes and a fantastic layout, perfect for newlyweds like Julia and me." He stared fixedly at me, a look of sheer determination in his eyes. Mom and Dad had given me that villa for my 18th birthday. They had carefully chosen the property because they planned for Julia and me to live there after we got married. Yet, now that Julia was no longer going to be my wife, the villa no longer felt like it belonged to me either. Calvin let out a mocking laugh after seeing that I didn't respond immediately. "You don't seem very keen on giving me the villa, Xander. I'll just tell Mom and Dad that I don't need the villa, then." I watched Calvin leave, fully aware that Mom and Dad would take his side if he brought them over. I couldn't help holding onto a sliver of hope, though. What if they stood up for me this time? They had loved and favored me for so many years, after all. What if they still cared about me somewhere deep down? That lingering flicker of hope vanished the moment Mom walked into the attic, as one glance from her was all it took for me to know she was backing Calvin. She slapped me hard across the face the moment she walked in, not even bothering to say anything. I could feel the stinging sensation spreading across my cheek, as if my skin were being peeled off alive, but that pain was nothing compared to the ache in my chest. Mom used to be the one who had loved me the most, after all. "Go transfer the ownership of the villa to Calvin this instant, Xander!" Mom ordered coldly, making it clear she expected me to obey. "I don't want to," I said firmly, looking directly at Mom. Mom's expression instantly hardened. "What's wrong with us taking back the property your father and I gave you? You can get the hell out of this house if you refuse to hand it over to Calvin!" That threat would have meant something if Mom still cared about me. Chapter 3 Julia seemed to have heard that something had happened to Calvin and came running over. She immediately laid into me the moment she walked in. "I've already told you that I don't love you anymore, Xander! Why are you still picking on Calvin?" I looked at Mom, Julia, and Calvin ganging up on me and saw no point in continuing the conversation. "I won't hand over the villa. If you want to cut all ties with me, go right ahead—I won't stop you. I also never bullied Calvin. He was the one who came here looking for a fight." I packed up my easel and got ready to leave. Calvin's eyes were filled with malice as he pretended to accidentally knock over the paint, ruining my painting. I had planned to submit this piece to the national competition. I was almost done with it, yet Calvin ruined it just like that. He shot me a provocative look, confident that I would have to take this sitting down. Unfortunately, Calvin had miscalculated. I didn't hesitate for a second before striking him across the face, putting so much weight behind it that he tumbled right onto the floor. Mom and Julia immediately shielded Calvin. "Get on your knees and apologize to Calvin this instant!" I looked at them and saw the same look of disgust on both their faces. "Get out of my way!" They both instinctively stepped aside after hearing the absolute coldness in my voice. I ignored them and walked out. … It wasn't long before the wedding day arrived. Julia and Calvin's wedding was held at a banquet hall that glowed under champagne-colored lights, creating an elegant, almost dreamlike setting. There was a white velvet carpet that ran from the entrance to the ceremony area at the end of the aisle, while ivy and champagne roses wrapped around the pillars on either side. Their wedding ceremony proceeded in an orderly manner as a classical piano piece played in the background. Dad furrowed his brows as he looked around the banquet hall. "Where the hell is Xander? How could he not show up for Calvin's wedding? How disrespectful of him!" Calvin pretended to be hurt. "Xander probably couldn't bear to see me marry Julia. He had been in love with Julia for so many years, after all." "I have no problem with you marrying Julia," I said, my voice reaching the crowd before I stepped into view. I stepped into the banquet hall wearing a suit, drawing everyone's attention as I walked in. "What's going on here? Why are both of the Johnson brothers dressed in wedding suits?" "Is Xander wearing the finale piece from Pandora Fashion Week? I could've sworn they don't lend that one out." Calvin stared at me with pure jealousy, his fingernails digging into his palms. He instantly put on a pitiful act, tearing up right on cue. "Julia is marrying me, Xander. Did you dress up like this because you're jealous and want to steal her from me?" Dad couldn't stand seeing Calvin being mistreated and immediately laid into me. "It's Calvin and Julia's wedding today! Did you show up dressed like this just to humiliate Calvin?" Those few remarks were enough for the crowd to buy into that version of the truth. "Xander looks like such a decent guy. Who would've thought he'd try to go after his own brother's wife? You can't really judge a book by its cover, huh?" "How repulsive! Julia clearly has no interest in him, but he still insists on clinging to her! His desperate routine is honestly so obnoxious!" "Xander should be branded a disgrace for trying to steal his own brother's wife. He seriously needs a reality check if he thinks he's in Julia's league." I stood there as belittling whispers and insults poured in from every side. I never realized people could hold so much malice toward someone they didn't even know personally. I had put on a suit, not because I wanted to compete with Calvin for Julia, but because Irene would be coming to the wedding as well. I didn't bother explaining because I knew no one would believe me anyway. Calvin watched from the side, making no effort to hide how pleased he was to see everyone condemning me. Their collective slander stopped dead in its tracks as the Quinton family arrived. Julia wasn't the only one who came—Irene was there too. Though few in attendance had actually met Irene, everyone instantly recognized who she was—the disabled eldest heiress of the Quinton family. "Why did Irene show up for the wedding ceremony?" "It could be because the sisters get along really well." "Oh, my God! S-She's actually standing up!" Irene actually stood up from her wheelchair, leaving everyone in total disbelief. She slowly made her way over to me while facing the crowd's bewildered gaze. She stopped right in front of me, held out her hand, and said, "I'm here to marry you, Xander."