From Rebirth To Refund: Return My Life, Keep The Ring Novel – After my rebirth, when Lucas Mitchell’s secretary once again used the excuse of pouring wine to playfully stamp a rubber “LOSER” stamp on my face, I didn’t slap her like I did in my previous life. Nor did I throw a tantrum like a shrew demanding divorce when Lucas defended his secretary, as I had done before. Instead, I calmly smiled at Lucas. “She’s really quite adorable. You two have fun together.” “Let’s consider our 7th wedding anniversary celebration ended early. I’m heading home now.” I picked up my purse and left the private dining room without looking back.
I had no choice, really. After all, my divorce from Lucas in my previous life had been absolutely devastating. He crushed me with the precision of destroying a business rival, holding onto his assets with an iron grip. Even after consulting every lawyer in the city, I only managed to get $48 in divorce settlement. Right after the divorce, I was diagnosed with cancer. When the pain became unbearable, I lost all dignity and knelt before Lucas. But he let his secretary slap me three times and still wouldn’t give me a penny.
In the end, penniless, I froze to death at the doorstep of the home I had lived in for seven years. So really, what’s dignity compared to staying alive? But I didn’t expect Lucas to chase after me. He grabbed my hand. “Listen to me, Sophia. Jessica is just young and playful. She thought stamping you with that would make you laugh.” “She doesn’t have any malicious intent. She grew up with me, she’s always been mischievous, and since she sees you as my wife, she just lost her sense of boundaries for a moment.
Don’t be angry with her.” Lucas had said these exact words in my previous life too. Back then, being humiliated by Jessica with that rubber stamp had already made me tremble with rage. Hearing Lucas defend Jessica with such gentle words completely set me off. In front of all our friends, I slapped Lucas and screamed “DIVORCE!” before running out of the room. I was so foolish then, thinking I could threaten Lucas with divorce. But I ended up walking through the cold winter drizzle for four hours, tears streaming down my face.
My heels rubbed my feet raw and bloody. I even caught a fever of 104°F from getting soaked. While I lay at home barely clinging to life, Lucas didn’t call me even once. Instead, he took Jessica on an overseas business trip that very night. Photos and videos of him adjusting Jessica’s dress straps and her kissing his cheek even made it onto their company’s gossip board. The irony was too much. I couldn’t help but smirk. But in the next instant, Lucas angrily shook off my hand. “How many times do I have to tell you? Jessica is my father’s friend’s daughter. I
‘m just looking out for her.” “It’s just a rubber stamp. You can wash it off at home. Can you please stop getting jealous over nothing because you’re imagining things about my relationship with her?” Seeing the sudden anger rise on his face, my heart felt bitter. But it wasn’t because of him—it was for my past self. In my previous life, after the divorce, I suffered from pancreatic cancer, the most painful cancer in the world. Every day I was either being jabbed with long needles by nurses until my face was covered in tears and snot, or clutching my abdomen, rolling on the floor crying and begging to die. When I had no money left, I even took a fruit knife and stabbed my emaciated body over and over, just hoping to get one full night’s sleep.
Even in that state, I couldn’t bear to sell our wedding ring to pay for pain medication. When the doctor told me I only had a month to live, I still dragged my skeletal body to find him, hoping to remarry. After all, when my parents died, he had sworn to me that he would stay with me for life. But when I finally reached the home we had shared for seven years, after begging the security guard on my knees to contact Lucas. Lucas only heard me call his name once before calmly saying, “Sophia, we’re divorced. Your affairs have nothing to do with me anymore. Stop bothering me.” Then he hung up. I collapsed in the backyard of the mansion we had shared for seven years.
In my final moments, I saw him holding Jessica, dating and kissing intimately in the home I had lovingly maintained, using the dishes I had bought, drinking from the wine glasses I had carefully selected. My heart ached until I could barely breathe. Not wanting to relive those memories, I quickly composed myself and smiled calmly. “Lucas, I’m really not jealous, and I’m really not angry with Jessica. I’m just tired and want to go home. You should go back now.” A few traces of surprise flashed across Lucas’s face. While he was stunned, I didn’t look at him again and turned to walk toward the street.