Melina Solberg is twenty-eight when she learns she has three months to live. Her fiancé Adrian never shows up at the hospital. When she returns home, she finds him in the arms of her stepsister Lisa. She runs out in despair and is struck by a vehicle. In her dying moments, her life flashes before her: her mother Elise died saving her from a fire; her father Henrik blamed her and grew distant; her stepmother Vivian and stepsister Lisa tormented her for years, keeping her from the company and the
I am back for sweet revenge - The Ice Smile and a Lone Investor
When I opened my eyes, the light slipping through the gap in the curtains seemed much weaker than yesterday.
Winter mornings in Fredhaun were always like this. Gray clouds hung low, and the wind from the sea rattled the windows. In summer, this city was bright even at five in the morning, but in this season, it remained dim even past seven.
Melina Solberg got out of bed and stood before the mirror.
She touched the silver locket at her chest. Her mother's keepsake. Last night, she had opened and closed it over and over—but today, she hid it beneath her blouse.
*(Today, it truly begins.)*
The morning after the broken engagement. Inside the Solberg estate, it was quiet, as if yesterday's commotion had been a lie. No—too quiet.
The air in the mansion was waiting for something. The calm before the storm, so to speak.
*(I have nothing but a bad feeling.)*
She suppressed a wry smile. In her previous life, this atmosphere alone would have made her tremble. Every time she heard someone's footsteps approaching, her heart would seize up.
But now, it was different.
She slipped on a gray pantsuit and tied her platinum blonde hair back into a single tail. The woman in the mirror stood with her back straight.
"It's fine."
She murmured quietly. Her voice was calmer than she had expected.
That was when it happened.
There was a knock at the door. Twice, three times. A regular, refined knock.
*(Here it comes.)*
Before she could respond, the door opened.
"Good morning, Melina."
Vivian Vestman stood there.
Her glossy black hair was gathered into a chignon at the back of her head, secured with a pearl barrette. A white blouse and a dark navy pencil skirt. On the ring finger of her right hand was a large ruby ring, a gift from Henrik.
Forty-eight years old. Her stepmother. A director of the Wilson Family Group, and the de facto ruler of this house.
"Oh my, you're already ready."
Vivian smiled. Her lips drew a soft curve. But her narrow, brown eyes were not smiling at all. They were cold, all the way through, like ice.
From behind her, a sickly sweet voice rang out.
"Good morning, big sister."
Lisa poked her face out, her honey-colored curls swaying softly. Round, large blue eyes. A petite frame. Her twenty-one-year-old stepsister tilted her head like a kitten, just as she always did.
Melina looked at the two of them in turn, then bowed her head quietly.
"...Good morning."
Her voice was calm. She had nothing to feel guilty about, no reason to be timid.
Vivian stepped into the room. She walked over to the window and touched the white curtains with her fingers.
"I was up late last night, talking with your father."
"Is that so."
"Yes. Adrian's parents called several times as well. They wanted me to confirm whether your feelings had changed."
Vivian opened the curtains slightly. Gray light illuminated her face.
"Melina. I'll ask you one more time—is canceling the wedding truly your own will?"
It was phrased as a question, but it was a command. In her previous life, just hearing this voice would have made her body freeze.
Melina looked Vivian straight in the eye.
"Yes. It's a decision I made myself."
A moment of silence.
Lisa giggled.
"Hey, big sister, Adrian was really hurt, you know. He called me last night. His voice was trembling, you know?"
A sickly sweet voice. But her eyes weren't smiling. If anything, they gleamed like a cat enjoying the hunt.
"Because you did something like that, I felt so, so sorry for him. I stayed on the phone with him the whole time."
Lisa tilted her head and looked up at Melina with upturned eyes.
"I've gotten really close with Adrian."
Memories from her previous life flickered through her mind.
That rainy night. The light burning in Adrian's room. Two shadows reflected in the window. A man and a woman, holding each other.
*(I know. I know everything about you two.)*
Melina let a quiet smile form on her lips.
"Is that so. Good for you."
Lisa's smile twitched.
"...What's with that tone?"
"Good for you. Getting close with someone you get along with is a good thing."
She said it flatly and headed toward the door. She had to go to work today.
"Wait, Melina."
A sharp voice at her back. Vivian's tone dropped a level.
"Do you understand what you're doing? The Wilson Family Group's stock price was connected to Holt Law Firm through your engagement. If you nullify the marriage, it will damage the family's honor. You may not understand, but in the adult world, there are all sorts of transactions."
Vivian slowly approached Melina.
"It's for the family. Isn't that only natural?"
Her catchphrase.
In her previous life, she had been bound by those words over and over. For the family. For the house. For the company.
*(And what did you do, saying that?)*
Melina turned around and looked at Vivian.
"Vivian. I got engaged for the family. But I realized I also have to take responsibility for my own life."
"Responsibility?"
"Yes. Pretending to live someone else's life would be rude to that someone, wouldn't it? To Adrian, and to Lisa too."
Lisa's expression changed.
"W-why am I being brought into this!?"
"Oh my, because you brought him up."
"So what, are you trying to say something about me and Adrian!?"
"I haven't said anything. There's no need to panic so much."
Lisa's mouth opened and closed wordlessly.
*(Because it hit the mark.)*
Melina murmured in her heart. The old me would have cried and apologized on the spot.
"Vivian. This is my decision. Thank you for your concern. But I've already made up my mind."
With those final words, Melina left the room.
She walked down the hallway. Her heart was properly calm.
*(The old me would have been trembling.)*
Even so, her palms were slightly damp with sweat.
When she stepped outside, the cold sea wind struck her cheeks.
Fredhaun City was a port town on the northern European coast. Population: 420,000. It faced a fjord inlet, and in winter, temperatures dropped to minus ten degrees. It was cold today, too. Her breath came out white.
The Solberg estate was in the Grünedahl district, twelve kilometers southwest of the city center. It was a magnificent three-story mansion, rebuilt after the old house burned down in a fire.
*(I don't intend to stay in that house much longer.)*
Melina crossed the garden and passed through the estate gate. She would spend nearly an hour on public transit heading to Wilson Tower.
The tram rattled through the city.
Wilson Tower. A twenty-two-story glass high-rise. The headquarters of the Wilson Family Group. A massive box of white stone and glass rising along the harbor district waterfront. It was also a city landmark.
*(My workplace. At the very bottom.)*
Same as her previous life. Basement level one, General Affairs Department.
She didn't take the elevator—she went down the stairs. The entrance to the basement was at the back of the building, at the end of a dimly lit corridor.
"Good morning."
When Melina spoke, the air in the General Affairs Department stirred slightly.
The room was long and narrow, with a low ceiling. Several fluorescent lights were on the verge of burning out, their white light flickering. Old steel desks lined the walls, and the seat by the window at the very back—there was a window even in the basement—was Melina's designated spot.
To be precise, it was a window-side storage area piled with men's cardboard boxes, a broken humidifier, and stacks of dust-covered documents.
"Oh, Melina. It was from today, wasn't it?"
A female employee in her late forties approached with a smile.
*(This person hasn't changed from my previous life, either.)*
Belen Norgaard. A veteran of the General Affairs Department whose daily routine was tormenting Melina.
"Yes. I look forward to working with you."
"Likewise. Oh, and about those documents on your desk—could you look through them by the end of the day? Some ledgers whose deadlines were yesterday have piled up a bit. I've heard you're smart."
Belen's voice was sweet. But her eyes were appraising Melina.
*(In my previous life, that mountain of documents took me three weeks.)*
But this time was different.
"Understood. Also, um... excuse me, but could you tell me where the old ledgers are stored? I'd like to reference past records as well."
Belen looked momentarily surprised.
"The warehouse. On basement level two. I have the key... well, let me know if you need it."
"Thank you."
Melina took her seat.
The chair creaked. On the desk were an old calculator stained with ink and a desk calendar from ten years ago.
*(The trust system with a guardian. The conditions for revoking voting rights. And the management records from my mother's era.)*
There was a mountain of things she needed to examine. But she couldn't rush.
First, she picked up the pile of ledgers in front of her.
Noon came.
She had no intention of going to the employee cafeteria. In her previous life, she had been afraid to eat with anyone. Always alone, just coffee from the vending machine.
But today, she made her way to the convenience store in the basement.
*(If I don't get proper nutrition, my body won't hold up.)*
Her previous life's body had been broken somewhere. Ravaged by a brain tumor, she'd had no appetite. But this body was healthy.
She bought a sandwich and warm tea and returned to her seat. She ate at her own desk, not in the break room.
*(Belen enjoys watching me drown in documents. The old me would have worked overtime in tears, blaming myself, sinking into despair...)*
Melina bit into her bread while scanning the numbers in the documents.
It was astonishing how well the information entered her head.
*(Patience and memory—I've always had those.)*
But in her previous life, she had used them in the wrong places. Wanting to be liked, performing the version of herself others wanted.
Not anymore.
In the afternoon, as she worked on transcribing the ledgers, she listened carefully to the conversations around her.
"...So apparently, at the next board meeting, a capital alliance with Berg Capital is going to be on the agenda."
"Berg Capital—you mean that one?"
"Nikolai Berg. Founded an investment firm at twenty-six—young, but a sharp representative. He was in the paper the other day for making a major investment in an IT startup."
*(Nikolai...)*
Melina's hand paused for just a moment.
She had known that name in her previous life, too. But the Melina of her previous life had never crossed paths with him down on basement level one.
*(After I died, that man...)*
No. That was a matter of the other world now.
Evening came.
It was already dark outside. On basement level one, one lost all sense of time.
Just past five o'clock, the entrance to the General Affairs Department suddenly buzzed.
"Hey, look. That person..."
"It's Nikolai Berg, from Berg Capital."
Melina raised her head.
A man stood there.
Dark brown hair, nearly black. Deep green-gray eyes. A tall frame of 187 centimeters. A dark navy three-piece suit that showed off the clean lines of his body.
Nikolai Berg.
He scanned the room and immediately found Melina.
*(Did he just look straight at me first?)*
Expressionless, Nikolai walked directly toward Melina.
"Excuse me. I had business with the head of General Affairs, but it seems they're away."
A low, composed voice.
"Ah, yes. The section chief just went upstairs..."
"I see."
He stopped in front of Melina's desk.
Every gaze in the room was fixed on the two of them.
"...Solberg, was it."
Melina felt a slight jump near her heart.
*(He knows me?)*
"Yes. I'm Melina Solberg."
"Nikolai Berg. Representative of Berg Capital. I'm in talks with the WFG board about capital participation. I was on my way back from that today."
He held out a business card.
Melina hurriedly took out her own. The thin slip of paper she'd had made right after joining the company, handed out when she'd finally secured employment. But right now, it was all she had.
In the moment they exc
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