Author: Momo Chan

I died, and the killer turned my corpse into a wax figure, giving it to my brother as a birthday gift. That day, they celebrated wildly next to my body, even smearing cake on my face, laughing and saying “Happy Birthday.” It’s as if they remembered today was my birthday too, but how could they remember? After all, they didn’t even know I was dead, and even if they did, they probably wouldn’t care. The day I died, it was raining heavily, probably heavier than any storm you’ve ever seen. I felt like even my floating soul was soaked through. I hurried back home, hesitating at the doorstep, afraid that water droplets from my body would stain the doormat and Mom would yell at me again. Oh right, I’m a ghost now. Even if I had water on me, it wouldn’t drip onto the mat. I don’t have to fear Mom scolding me anymore. I happily stomped on the doormat, and when I was done, I entered the house. The living room was warm with the heater on. It felt so cozy. My brother suddenly looked in my direction, tilted his head in confusion, then went back to playing his game. The aroma of braised pork and cola chicken wings wafted from the kitchen, along with Mom’s voice. “Leo, call Lily. Why isn’t she back yet?” Mom still cares about me. “If she doesn’t come back soon, tell her to never come back. Just asking her to buy a gift for Ryan, and she’s making such a fuss. It would’ve been better to raise a pig than to raise her.” I had earned $1,200 for tuition from part-time jobs and summer work, and Mom wanted me to give $1,000 to buy a phone for my brother. She even asked me to pay $200 for household expenses, not leaving me a single penny, indirectly forcing me to drop out of school. “If it weren’t for her, Ryan wouldn’t be… like this…” Mom started mumbling complaints about how I caused my brother to become mentally challenged. I could recite it by heart now. It was always about how I stole my brother’s nutrients in the womb, and how I rushed to be born first, causing my brother to be born later and suffer oxygen deprivation. I weighed five pounds at birth, while my brother was just over three pounds. But I was just a fetus then, what did I know? I sat on the sofa, looking up at the Ultraman-themed birthday backdrop. It read “Happy 20th Birthday Ryan” and had his photo printed on it. My brother and I were born on the same day. It was raining that day, so I was named Lily Rain. Because my brother was born a minute later than me, he suffered oxygen deprivation and almost didn’t make it. Mom and Dad named him Ryan Long, hoping he would live a long life. Dad was unpacking a very tall and large package: “We can’t have raised her for over a decade for nothing. She still needs to come back to take care of Ryan. Otherwise, what will happen to Ryan after we’re gone?” My brother was playing Snake on his phone. He was really good at it, the snake’s body quickly filling up the phone screen, reaching first place. “Ah!” Dad’s scream startled Mom who was cooking in the kitchen and my brother, who was so shocked that his snake hit another snake, ending the game. He stomped his feet, shouting and throwing a tantrum, “I’m dead, I’m dead.” Dad quickly tried to calm him down: “Don’t say such unlucky things. Even if your sister dies, you won’t.” Mom came out and was also startled, because Dad had finished unpacking that big package. It was a wax figure, a lifelike wax figure that looked exactly like me, as if crafted by a master wax artist. I looked at the smiling wax figure and trembled in fear. This wasn’t a wax figure, it was my corpse!

Looking at my corpse wax figure, smiling but unable to hide the fear, still holding a phone in its right hand. I remembered. I remembered how I died. I was working as a housekeeper to earn money, and the killer was the client I worked for yesterday. He wore glasses and looked gentle and refined, seeming very kind. He said he had been looking forward to meeting me for a long time. He said tomorrow was my birthday, so he wanted to make me a birthday gift. I asked him strangely if we knew each other. The killer said he knew me from a post titled “What does it feel like when your parents don’t love you?”. My answer was “Probably that if I died somewhere, they wouldn’t know for a month, and even if they did, they wouldn’t care.” Because of a casual answer, I was targeted by the killer. Really, it’s so helpless and scary to be alone on the internet. The killer looked gentle, and even when he killed me, he was gentle. He was afraid I would be in pain, so he fed me sleeping pills, gave me anesthesia, and then drained my blood. He was even gentler than when my parents beat me. He really made me cry to death. Before I died, he let me call my parents. He said if they called me “precious daughter” just once, he would let me go. But Dad didn’t answer. I called ten times, and he never picked up. Mom answered quickly, but she started scolding me as soon as she picked up, yelling at me for not coming home to cook and for not taking good care of my brother. She cried and scolded, “How did I give birth to such a jinx like you? I should have drowned you in the toilet when you were born.” With the anesthesia, I couldn’t feel the pain in my wrists, but waves of pain kept hitting my heart. “Mom, I’m dying. Can you call me your precious daughter just once?” Mom cursed again, mixed with the sound of her cooking. “If you want to die, buy your brother’s phone first, then go die. Even if you die, I’ll arrange a ghost marriage for you and use the bride price to find a wife for your brother.” “Precious daughter? What a joke. You’re nothing but a jinx.” The call ended, and with it, my chance to live. As my blood drained away, my corpse still held the phone. Dad received a timed text message sent from my phone by the killer and read it out loud. “Mom, Dad, this is the last gift I’ll ever give to my brother, an unforgettable gift. Do you like it?” Mom, holding a spatula, stared at my corpse wax figure, very angry. “Yesterday she said she was going to die, and today she sends a wax figure back. Why didn’t she send her corpse back? I could have at least burned some money for her.” I stood next to the corpse wax figure, mimicking its pose of holding up a phone. Mom, this is my corpse. Mom, please burn more money for me. I was already so poor when I was alive, having to work as a child laborer since middle school. I don’t want to have to work after death too. Mom, you need to burn some clothes for me too. My clothes are all wet, and it’s very cold. I’ve tried to wring out my clothes several times, but they’re still soaking wet. Good thing I’m a ghost, the water droplets on my clothes stay on me forever. Otherwise, if they dripped on the floor, Mom would scold me again. Like when I was little, it was raining outside, and I waited until dark, but Mom never came to pick me up. I walked home in the rain by myself, and the water dripping from my body dirtied the doormat and wet the floor. When my brother came out, he slipped and fell, and Mom scolded me, beating me hard with a clothes hanger. Dad just stood by, smoking, and advised Mom. “Don’t hit the kid’s face. If you leave scars, we won’t be able to sell her for a good price when she grows up.” He talked about me like I was a pig being raised for slaughter. Oh, in their eyes, I was even less than a pig. After all, a pig doesn’t come out of Mom’s belly, doesn’t steal nutrients from a brother in Mom’s womb. Dad looked at my corpse wax figure and cursed it as unlucky, wanting to throw it away. But my brother liked it very much, hugging the corpse wax figure and not letting go. “This is my sister, my sister. We can’t throw her away. I want to play with my sister.” Because my brother was mentally challenged, as innocent as a child, our sibling relationship was still okay. In fact, it was my brother’s innocence that repeatedly healed the wounds I suffered in this family. When Mom hit me, my brother would clumsily protect me, saying, “No hit… sister… hurt.” When Mom wouldn’t give me food, my brother would secretly hide chicken legs for me to eat, always getting his clothes greasy. When Dad forced me to drop out of school to work, and I cried all night, it was still my brother who clumsily comforted me, making me laugh, threatening to run away from home to force Dad to let me go to school. My suffering wasn’t because of my brother, but because of my parents who didn’t love me. My brother wanted to keep my corpse wax figure, and our parents, who indulged him in everything, certainly had no objection. My brother happily brought out his paints and started coloring the wax figure. He tilted his head and looked at me, as if he could see me, and asked, “What color does sister like?” “Green.” I answered, and my brother picked out green paint. I like green because it symbolizes endless life. Mom stared at the wax figure for a long time, until she smelled something burning in the kitchen and cursed as she walked away. Dad took out his phone and called me. “Ring… Ring…” The sound of the call connecting was like my heartbeat. I became hopeful. The phone in the hand of the corpse wax figure wasn’t a model, it was my phone! Would Mom and Dad discover that I was dead, that this was my corpse? Would they regret it? Would they kneel in front of my corpse, crying bitterly, regretting how they never treated me well in these twenty years?

Unfortunately, the phone didn’t ring, and the screen didn’t light up. Dad tried calling twice and then gave up, only cursing that I didn’t even come back for my brother’s birthday, not caring about my safety or whether I was alive or dead. They wouldn’t wait for me to come back for dinner, let alone wait for me to cut the cake together. They ate the tender braised pork knuckles and delicious cola chicken wings. My brother even had a bowl of longevity noodles and two red eggs. I sat next to my brother, pretending I was part of this family, my hand passing through the chopsticks, pretending to pick up a piece of braised pork to eat. I closed my eyes, imagining how delicious it must be. It should taste similar to restaurant food. I had never eaten Mom’s cooking, and I wasn’t allowed at the table. Mom would only put the gnawed bones and leftover food in a copper basin, like feeding a dog, and leave it for me to eat. Indeed, all these years they had treated me like a dog. To them, giving birth to me and raising me was the greatest kindness, and I should be grateful and not ask for more. I wondered if they discovered I was dead, would they make me a birthday feast too, order a cake for me? Before they finished eating, my brother started clamoring for cake. Mom and Dad put a birthday crown on my brother, lit the birthday candles, and sang the birthday song. “Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you…” “Happy 20th birthday, Ryan. Make a wish quickly, be sure to wish that you’ll become smart, exchange your sister’s life for your intelligence.” I stood by, smiling bitterly. My brother and I were twins, and every year on our birthday, Mom and Dad would mention me, but not to wish me well. Instead, they would have my brother make a birthday wish every year to exchange my life for his intelligence. In the past, I was always hurt by such words, but this time I sincerely hoped my brother’s wish would come true. I was already dead, it shouldn’t be for nothing, right? “Mom, this time brother’s wish will come true.” But my brother shook his head, “Don’t want sister to die, want sister to have happy birthday.” In this family, only my brother remembered that today was my birthday too. Mom and Dad remembered too, but they didn’t care, which hurt me even more. Mom angrily said with a stern face: “You can’t. You can only wish to exchange your sister’s life for your intelligence.” My brother didn’t understand what “life” meant, but he was very stubborn. This year, he just wouldn’t make that wish. It’s strange, when I was alive, my naive brother happily made this wish every year. Now that I’m dead, my brother refuses to make this wish. My brother insisted on not making the wish, and Mom got so angry she hit the back of his hand. My brother cried pitifully and suddenly lay on the ground, rolling around. My six-foot-tall, handsome brother was lying on the ground, throwing a tantrum and crying like a three-year-old. It really didn’t look good, and it wasn’t right. It was painful to watch. I crouched next to my brother, comforting him like I used to. “Brother, make the wish quickly. Sister is already dead, this time the wish will surely come true.” My kind and innocent brother should get better, should become smart. I don’t know if my brother heard what I said, he just kept throwing a tantrum. “I don’t want to be smart, I just want sister, I want sister.” Mom was so distressed she wiped away tears, then started cursing me again with all sorts of nasty words. Dad looked at my brother rolling on the ground, very annoyed. “It’s just a wish. We’ve been making this wish for twenty years, and we haven’t seen Lily die or Ryan become smart.” “If wishes really came true, I would have killed Lily long ago.” Dad angrily grabbed a handful of cake and smeared it on the neck of the corpse wax figure, the action really looked like killing someone. It’s not surprising. If they could choose, they would have preferred that I was the one who came out late, that I was the one who suffered oxygen deprivation and became mentally challenged. If I had been born later that year, if I had been the one with brain damage, would they have treated me the way they treated my brother, never giving up, spending all their money to give me rehabilitation training? Look at them, they know today is my birthday too, but they don’t bless me at all. Instead, they wish they could kill me. Seeing Dad’s action, my brother stopped crying, got up and grabbed some cake to smear on the wax figure’s mouth. “It’s sister’s birthday, eat cake, sister, eat cake quickly.” My brother was happy, and so were Mom and Dad. They all grabbed cake and smeared it on the wax figure. They were very happy, they were celebrating wildly. Perhaps they felt relieved that I was dead, and were celebrating. I didn’t care. I just pretended they were celebrating my birthday. This was the first time Dad, Mom, and my brother celebrated my birthday together. I happily sang the birthday song to myself: “Happy 20th birthday, Lily Rain.” “My wish is…” I seemed to have no wishes. I guess a dead person’s wish would probably be to have a better life in the next reincarnation. But I don’t want to be human anymore. So I’ll wish that in my next life, I won’t be human. I’ll be a cat or a dog, even a pig or a duck, anything but human. Being human is too tiring. After making my wish, I closed my eyes to blow out the candles. The candles went out, and the room suddenly went dark. When candles go out, wishes are supposed to come true. Ding dong. The sudden sharp doorbell sound startled my parents again. Dad pushed Mom out, telling her to answer the door. I followed behind Mom to open the door. Mom only opened half the door, saw it was a strange man, and asked warily, “Who are you looking for?” Seeing who it was, I fearfully stepped in front of Mom. Because this was the killer who murdered me!

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “NovelMaster” app 🔍 search for “294774”, and watch the full series ✨! #NovelMaster #现实主义Realistic #惊悚Thriller #重生Reborn #魔幻Magic #励志Inspiring #浪漫Romance #擦边Steamy

My niece was slandered by a male classmate at school. However, my sister-in-law insisted on using an encouraging educational approach to resolve the issue, turning enemies into friends. She greatly praised the boy: “Auntie wants to thank you for looking after our Lily at school. I heard that whenever she’s bullied, you stand up for her. You’re such a little gentleman.” Later, the boy’s behavior escalated. My niece was dragged to a grove after school, humiliated by multiple people, and ultimately chose to end her life by jumping into a river. When I tried to seek justice for my niece, I was pushed into traffic by my sister-in-law and the boy, crushed to death by a truck. When I opened my eyes again, I had returned to the day my niece asked me for help. The phone rang abruptly, startling me awake. It was my niece calling. I was in the United States at the time. Looking at the clock on my phone, it was daytime here, but late night for my niece back home. My hands trembled as I answered the call. Hearing the familiar voice on the other end, I suddenly snapped back to reality. “Aunt Evelyn, I haven’t done anything wrong, but there are boys in my class who keep bullying me,” my niece said in a hurt tone that made my heart ache. “They’ve given me a nasty nickname. They call me ‘cow’ and say my chest is so big because lots of men have touched it. They even offer to ‘introduce’ me to guys for free.” It was at that moment I realized I had truly been reborn. In my previous life, I had fainted at my niece’s funeral, staring at her black and white photo, her sweet voice calling me “Auntie” still echoing in my ears. After regaining my composure, I had decided to seek justice for my niece, only to be pushed into oncoming traffic by my sister-in-law and that boy, crushed to death by a truck. I never imagined I would return to this point. My niece continued crying: “I mentioned it to Mom once. She said it was because I dress too provocatively, that’s why the boys treat me that way.” “She even called me a slut who deliberately tries to attract attention.” Lily was an excellent student, top of her class. But she was going through puberty, with acne and some baby fat, which was perfectly normal for her age. However, the boys in her class had started vicious rumors about her body. I remembered how in my previous life, my sister-in-law Sophia had always looked at Lily with disdain. I often heard her degrading comments: “How did I end up with a daughter like you? You look nothing like me – fat and ugly, worse than a pig. What good is being a bookworm?” “Besides, it takes two to tango. If there wasn’t something wrong with you, why would those boys only pick on you and no one else?” Later, as Sophia did nothing to intervene, the rumors about Lily spread like wildfire. Even the teachers at school started to believe them. My brother worked away from home most of the year, absent from his daughter’s upbringing. Lily reached out to everyone for help, but no one believed her. I was the only one, far across the ocean, who encouraged her to fight back bravely, to report it to the authorities. I promised I would come back and stand up for her, to help her get justice. But before I could finish my studies and return, Lily developed depression from the constant pressure. She ended up jumping into a river to end her life. Before she died, she left me one final message: “Aunt Evelyn, life has been so exhausting. Mom and Dad don’t love me, they even hate me. If that’s the case, why did they bring me into this world?” “Aunt Evelyn, in my next life, I want to be reborn as a cat by your side. I want an owner who loves me, to feel the warmth of being held in someone’s arms…” I broke down in tears when I saw it, immediately booking the next available flight home. When I arrived, I learned that Sophia was pregnant. Not only was there no trace of sadness on her face over Lily’s death, she even seemed joyful. She didn’t even attend Lily’s funeral, saying the dead were inauspicious and would harm her precious son. She was about to happily welcome a new child, while my dear niece lay buried in the ground. Now, faced with my niece’s plea for help, I responded firmly: “Don’t cry, Lily. If they won’t look after you, I will!” “Don’t be afraid. I’m coming back right now to stand up for you.” This time, to prevent tragedy from repeating, I flew back early. Holding Lily’s hand, I went straight to confront Sophia. Sophia had always been a pampered wife. She married my brother right after college, controlling his salary and never experiencing the harshness of society. She dressed up extravagantly every day, while dressing Lily in rags. She didn’t even give Lily clean school uniforms – the poor girl had to wash them herself every weekend when she came home. Whenever Lily was home, Sophia acted like an absentee landlord. Not only did she make Lily do mountains of housework, but she also had Lily prepare her three meals a day. Usually, housework was done by a part-time maid. Sophia only cared about eating, drinking, and having fun, never lifting a finger. When she first married into the family, Sophia had said: “I came to your family to be treated like a princess, not to suffer. After all, I never did anything at home – my parents waited on me hand and foot.” I returned earlier than expected, catching Sophia off guard. “Why are you back so soon?” she asked in shock. My face was cold as ice. “If I didn’t come back now, my niece might be strangled to death at school while you sit by and do nothing. I’m afraid I wouldn’t even have a chance to claim her body.” In my previous life, when Lily became the target of vicious rumors, Sophia, who adored men, insisted on using an “encouraging” approach to resolve the issue. She wanted to turn enemies into friends through kindness. Not only did she personally buy gifts and bring them to the school, she even fawned over the boy spreading the rumors: “Auntie wants to thank you so much for looking after our Lily at school. I heard that whenever she’s bullied, you stand up for her. You’re such a little gentleman. At such a young age, you’re already so responsible. Any girl who marries you in the future will be very lucky.” Encouraged and validated, the boy became even more unrestrained. Later, as the rumors intensified, Lily was dragged to a grove after school, humiliated by multiple people. This became the final straw that broke her. I clenched my fists. “Sophia, Lily is being bullied at school. Have you ever stood up for her even once? You don’t care at all about what happens to her at school!” At this moment, Sophia pouted, her eyes brimming with tears. “If you put it that way, then I really have no way to explain myself.” “Lily dresses so provocatively at such a young age, deliberately trying to seduce men. No wonder people criticize her. I’m just trying to educate my own child – what do you know about it?” I nearly laughed in disbelief, eyeing her new dress. “Well Sophia, I see you’ve kept yourself in great shape. You’re even more alluring than those young girls.” “Walking down the street in such a short skirt, if some random guy lifted it up, I suppose that would just be a testament to your charms. You should be proud, right?” Sophia flushed with embarrassment and anger, stomping her foot: “Evelyn, what nonsense are you spouting? Your brother likes me dressed this way. Stop trying to drive a wedge between us!” “This is my freedom to dress how I want. If other people want to look, how can I control their eyes?” I snorted in disdain: “Oh, so you understand the concept of freedom of dress, Sophia? Tell me, how exactly is Lily dressed provocatively?” “And accusing Lily of seducing men – maybe you’re the one desperate for male attention. After all, my brother is away from home so often. It must be hard for you, lonely night after lonely night.” Sophia trembled with rage, pointing a shaking finger at me. “Don’t you dare slander me! I gracefully accept admiring glances as recognition of my beauty. Lily is far too young – she’s just a hormonal teenager in heat!” Throughout this exchange, I had kept a firm grip on Lily’s hand. She remained silent the whole time. I couldn’t be bothered arguing with Sophia’s hypocritical logic any further. I turned and took Lily shopping for new clothes. We got rid of the old uniforms that clung to her like a straitjacket, and contacted the school to order new ones custom-made. I even applied for a teaching position at her school. With my overseas qualifications, I easily got the job. This time, no one would dare bully my precious girl. Lily was in Class 3 of 7th grade. I specifically requested to teach Class 3, taking over as their English teacher and homeroom teacher. After all, in my previous life, when this incident occurred, not only did that teacher fail to criticize the boys, she even subtly mocked Lily. She was utterly unfit to be an educator. Most ironically, that kind of person was even awarded “Most Beautiful Teacher.” Though the school leadership felt it was inappropriate, they agreed in order to retain talent. On my first day, I immediately spotted the boy who had spread those vicious rumors. He had yellowed teeth and was chewing gum, his eyes carelessly scanning the skirts of the girls in the front row. From time to time, he would rub his chin, whispering and laughing with the boys next to him. I coldly glanced at the class roster. His name was Ryan Thompson. He had three older sisters and was the spoiled baby of the family, clearly a pampered brat with no discipline. Just as Lily sat down, he gave her shoulder strap a hard tug, grinning maliciously. “Hey cow! Which guy did you sleep with this weekend? How come your uniform got bigger? Looks like you’ve been well-nourished and filled out even more!” Lily flushed with shame and anger. But Ryan brazenly unhooked the back of her uniform. “Wonder when I’ll be lucky enough to service you and contribute to your development.” His voice was low, but full of provocation and mockery. The surrounding students heard and stifled their laughter. “Yeah, what’s the use of good grades when you’re such a slut?” Lily clutched her loosened uniform, furious and on the verge of tears. She was about to retort when she broke down crying instead. She had always been introverted and quiet. I knew she was no match for these despicable boys. So, just as I finished introducing myself, I strode down from the podium with a cold expression, heading straight for Ryan. In the next instant, I, a black belt in Taekwondo, grabbed Ryan’s hand and slammed it hard on the desk. He sucked in a sharp breath of pain. “Ow! Teacher, are you here to teach martial arts?” He stared at me in shock and fear. I smirked coldly. “Such a foul mouth. Did you rush out this morning and have breakfast in the toilet? Some people are naturally gifted academically. Did you think everyone has a brain full of garbage like yours? If those soft tissues in your head are useless, you might as well take them out and use them for hotpot – at least they won’t go to waste.” “And the rest of you, you think it’s hilarious, don’t you? How would you feel if someone publicly lifted your clothes or pants? Would you still be laughing then?” I swept my gaze over the stunned students, continuing loudly: “Using someone else’s reputation as a joke for your own amusement – are you students or the scum of society?” “By the way, spreading false rumors can be prosecuted as defamation. That’s the first lesson I’m teaching you today!” “Today you’re mocking and teasing Lily Moore. What if one day rumors are spread about you, and others look at you with colored glasses? Put yourself in her shoes – wouldn’t you feel hurt?” “It only doesn’t hurt because the knife isn’t stabbing your own body.” After all, they were just middle school students. Their skin was still thin, and several girls who had laughed earlier now hung their heads in shame. But Ryan rubbed his hand, still looking unconcerned. He even snorted disdainfully. “Fine, you win. I’ll remember this, Miss.” I knew a little tyrant like him wouldn’t give up so easily. But I was prepared to face anything. Most of the students were won over by their new teacher. They became attentive in class, the room so quiet you could hear a pin drop. That evening back in my dorm, I received a call from Ryan’s mother. Before I could speak, I heard yelling from the other end: “Miss Moore, you’re throwing your weight around as a new teacher, taking out your temper on my son! Using my son as a scapegoat to establish your authority – you must feel so smug.” I calmly responded, “Mrs. Thompson, your son was the ringleader in spreading vicious rumors about a female student. As an educator, I was simply setting things right.” The parent on the other end scoffed. “My son is the most obedient and sensible child. If that girl hadn’t done those filthy things, how could there be such rumors? You can’t favor students with good grades just because my son’s academic performance is average!” “If my son suffers any psychological trauma from this, can you take responsibility?” She continued smugly: “As a teacher, when faced with students like my son whose grades are average, you should use an encouraging approach. That’s the only way to bring out students’ potential.” I raised an eyebrow, not expecting someone to share Sophia’s mindset. How could I not fulfill your wishes? I smiled coldly as I spoke: “I understand what you mean. Don’t worry, I promise I’ll make you satisfied.” Seeing me back down, the tone on the other end became even more triumphant. “It’s good that you understand, Miss Moore. After all, you’re new to teaching and inexperienced. It’s normal. In the future, you should listen more to us parents’ opinions. It will help you improve.” I hung up the phone and immediately contacted my friend at the print shop, asking her to rush an overnight job for me. The next day after school, I had people hang an extra-long banner right at the school gate. All the passing parents and students saw it. The red background with white text was very eye-catching: [Warmly congratulate Ryan Thompson of Class 3, Grade 7, for maturing early and growing strong by spreading vicious rumors about female classmates, truly becoming a real man!] I had given Lily a hidden voice recorder earlier, instructing her to secretly record Ryan’s slanderous comments.

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “NovelMaster” app 🔍 search for “294773”, and watch the full series ✨! #NovelMaster #现实主义Realistic #惊悚Thriller #重生Reborn #魔幻Magic #励志Inspiring #浪漫Romance #擦边Steamy

She was fifteen when she came to our house. Skinny and malnourished, she looked like a little monkey. I treated her like my own sister, never imagining that at eighteen, she would crawl into my bed. On the night of her eighteenth birthday, I opened my eyes to find her holding handcuffs. “Brother, I’ve been waiting for this day,” she said. “You’re mine!” (1) I sat in the living room downstairs, absentmindedly letting my hot Americano turn cold, still unable to believe what had happened. Holy crap, I slept with Autumn last night! Her closed eyes next to my pillow this morning, Her arms tightly wrapped around my waist, And our naked bodies! Mom will kill me when she returns from her trip. That was Autumn, for God’s sake! She’s my sister! Not by blood, but that hardly makes a difference! (2) Yesterday was Autumn’s eighteenth birthday, Which fell during the Lunar New Year celebrations. My parents were away on their annual honeymoon trip, And I, a junior in college, was brain-dead from writing papers and in desperate need of fresh blood. So I took the initiative, And invited her classmates over for a party. As a miserable college junior, I got excited and drank quite a bit. I only remember constant laughter and chatter, And a pair of eyes locked on me. When I woke up again in the middle of the night, I thought I had dreamed of Autumn kissing me, which seemed absurd. Her fan-like eyelashes kept fluttering in my mind. My throat was dry, and I tried to reach for the water glass with my eyes closed, [Why can’t I move?] I tried to shake my hand, but it wouldn’t budge. [Am I having sleep paralysis?] I opened my eyes groggily and saw Autumn in front of me. The night light was on, and she was kneeling on top of me. Everything was eerily similar to my dream. “Autumn? What are you doing here?” I asked, feeling dizzy and unable to think clearly. Autumn didn’t say anything. Her dark eyes came closer and closer. She lowered her head, Her cool lips touched mine, gently kissing me open, And she passed some water into my mouth. I swallowed unconsciously. It was a bit sweet. The sensation was so similar to my dream, I couldn’t distinguish between dream and reality for a moment. “I want more,” I said. She reached for the water glass and took another sip. The glass bottom made a “clack” sound as it met the table surface, Then there was silence. I waited anxiously, Forcing my closed eyes open again, Under the dim wall light, she was holding a pair of silver handcuffs That gleamed coldly, Shocking me into clarity for a moment. Before I could think further, She kissed me again, Water trickled down the corner of my mouth, Her lips moved inch by inch to my earlobe, At the end of what I thought was a dream, I heard her say, “Brother, you’re mine.” “I’ve finally waited for this day.” (3) Footsteps sounded on the stairs, and I hurriedly picked up the coffee in front of me. “Brother, haven’t you had enough?” a cool voice asked, the content of her words making me choke. Yesterday, I seemed to keep asking for water, Because my mind was full of Autumn’s— “Enough or not? Want more?” “Cough cough cough” The violent coughing made me bend over involuntarily. Autumn hurried over from the stairs, Took the coffee cup, and gently patted my back. My face must have been red, either from coughing or from her closeness. I could feel the heat! She took a few tissues and handed them to me, Her slender, fair fingers with a hint of pink at the joints contrasted with the white paper. Last night, it was these hands that— A roaring sound seemed to rise in my ears, and I suddenly stood up. “What we did was wrong!” I blurted out, words tumbling out like beans. “I’m your brother, we can’t date!” “You’re still in high school!” “Everyone was drunk last night!” “We’re both adults now, so it’s not really a big deal, right?” I finished speaking in a rush and realized Autumn hadn’t said a word. I looked up at her, a bit surprised. Her usually expressionless face bore a faint smile. “What are you talking about, brother? What happened last night?” “I only remember you seemed drunk, and I was a bit tipsy too.” “You said you were hot, and Mrs. Zhang was downstairs, so I helped you take off your clothes.” “Then I was too tired and just fell asleep.” “Do you remember anything else, brother?” “Do you want to tell me about it?” Her eyes looked at me seriously, clear and innocent. I was stunned. Was last night just my dream? Autumn had never lied to me, I never doubted what she said. Holy crap! I couldn’t have been such a pervert to Autumn, could I? The sensations in the dream felt so real, The unusual feelings in my body made me scream internally. [Adam, you big pervert!] I couldn’t help but doubt myself, Am I… lacking female company, or… Could I possibly like Autumn? (4) Autumn was the daughter of my mom’s friend, Her father had an affair, and a planned charcoal incident took both parents’ lives. Autumn was probably the only hope her mother didn’t want to give up in her despair. Her mother had timed it perfectly when Autumn wasn’t home, She was in high school, a day student, Friday was supposed to be a happy day off. But when she returned home and opened the door, Instead of her mother’s smiling face and the familiar smell of home-cooked meals, Choking carbon monoxide rolled into the hallway, and two cold bodies lay sleeping on the sofa. This became Autumn’s nightmare every night. Autumn’s relatives were far away in her hometown, long out of touch. Her father had transferred his assets to someone else, her mother had spent lavishly, and years of drama had left their once well-off family in dire straits. Autumn became an orphan, a hungry orphan. The day my mom brought Autumn home, I had just finished my college entrance exams and was on vacation. “Who’s this?” I asked. I had been out partying all day, my voice hoarse from singing, my face tired, just wanting to go to sleep quickly. As soon as I entered the door, before I could dramatically call out “Mom—”, I met eyes with Autumn on the sofa. She wore a white shirt that had almost lost its color, school uniform pants, her hair was messy, there was a smudge of dirt on her nose, she was thin, very thin, her shoulder blades were like thin sheets, her jawline was clearer than my life plans, I felt I could snap her in half with one move, she looked dazed and very nervous. “Hello, brother. I’m Autumn,” she said. This was my first conversation with Autumn. Her crisp voice, unlike the coquettish voices of teenage girls, was like a gentle stream, instantly increasing my liking for her. I nodded at her and ducked into the kitchen. My mom was chatting with Mrs. Zhang and was startled by my sudden appearance. “So you remember to come home? Had enough fun?” she said. My mom gave me a knock on the head, “Stop, stop, if you keep hitting me, I’ll really turn into a chestnut!” I said, rubbing my head. “Who’s that outside, Mom? Autumn? That’s a pretty name.” I asked excitedly while grimacing in pain. “That’s your Aunt Wang’s daughter. Such a good child, but when her relatives heard there were no savings left, no one wanted to take her in. I was close with your Aunt Wang, and I didn’t want to see a good child’s growth stunted. We can afford to raise her, so I brought her back.” “We won’t do the formal paperwork and household registration, but we’ll support her education and let her live with us.” “What do you think, Adam?” “Huh?” I was listening intently and was caught off guard by the question. It was my mom’s way of doing things. As far as I could remember, she and my dad had always been involved in charity work, with countless donations and volunteer activities every year. “I think it’s fine. We have money anyway, and I’ve always wanted a sister. You and dad won’t have another child, so isn’t this perfect?” I said. “What does Autumn say?” I was more concerned about the opinion of the poor little girl. “I told her there’s an older brother in the family, and she should get along well with you. She nodded in agreement.” “But how did you know her name was Autumn?” My mom looked at me suspiciously. “She told me,” I said, pointing to the living room. “That’s strange, she’s only been nodding at me. This child hasn’t spoken since I picked her up.” “We just got home. Why don’t you go help your sister get familiar with the environment? She seemed to be shaking earlier.” Having found out what I wanted to know, I quickly accepted this fact, We only had one child in our family, and I had long wanted a companion! Autumn saw me come out of the kitchen and nervously stood up from the sofa, “Brother…” she began hesitantly. “I’m here, you’re so good!” I walked over and patted her shoulder. Up close, I could see that Autumn was really pale, with thick eyebrows and bright eyes. Her eyes weren’t big but were very deep, with slightly drooping corners. Her eyelashes were straight and fluttering, blinking at me, wet and puppy-like. But her shoulders were really bony. I looked at the double swimming ring around my belly and made up my mind to feed her more! She looked a bit panicked, took a step forward, and stared at my hand. “Dirty…” she said. I was stunned and felt a bit sad, Poor thing, how was her sad childhood any different from those novel heroines I read about! I would become her warm guardian angel! Protect her in the name of the moon’s justice! I raised my hand and gently brought it close to her nose tip, Slowly wiping away the dirt on her nose. Feeling her warm skin trembling slightly under my hand, I felt like I was truly a beautiful, kind, and generous big brother. “From now on, I’ve got your back!” I declared. Who would have thought that this promise would trip me up for a lifetime? (5) After Autumn asked me, I didn’t know how to respond. The doorbell saved me from my twitching lips. “Mom! Dad!” “Auntie, Uncle.” My parents came back early! Weren’t they supposed to be away for a month?! I stepped forward to take the luggage from my dad’s hand, but Autumn was faster. Her palm brushed against my hand as she passed, still burning hot. I withdrew my hand, unconsciously rubbing it. My mom came in and scrutinized me carefully. I felt a bit guilty under her gaze, I had to admit, the question of whether I liked Autumn or not Had torn open a layer in my heart, Many scenes that once seemed normal Now carried an ambiguous and romantic air in my mind. Did my mom notice something?! No, wait! Wasn’t last night’s craziness just a dream? What am I afraid of? I straightened my back, innocent people have nothing to fear! “Have you gained weight these past few days?” my mom asked. Her words struck me like lightning, deflating my confidence. “I haven’t~” I frowned, “Dad, control your wife! She starts criticizing me as soon as she gets home.” “It does look like you’ve put on a bit of weight, son,” my dad said, handing a cup of tea to my mom and sitting down on the sofa with a smile. I knew it! These two are always lovey-dovey without me! “Autumn! Come here quickly!” I called out. Autumn had gone to the kitchen to do something. Only Autumn would be on my side. After calling out, I felt a bit of regret. Damn, I called out of habit! We still hadn’t resolved the awkward situation from earlier. Autumn came over and sat down next to me. “We came back because of Autumn’s household registration issue,” my mom said. “Yesterday was Autumn’s coming of age ceremony, she’s eighteen now and can have her own household registration. We promised Autumn before that we’re a family. Respecting her wishes, we’ve separated Adam’s household registration from your father’s.” My mom handed over a brand new, bright red family registry booklet. Autumn opened it, there was only one page, Just Autumn herself. I looked at Autumn’s expression, she didn’t seem sad or happy. “Thank you, Uncle and Auntie,” Autumn stood up and bowed. I was already a bit nervous and stood up with her. “Thank you, Mom and Dad,” I said. The three of them stared at me with wide eyes. What did I say?! Why am I thanking them?! I raised my hand and covered my face. My parents burst out laughing, Through the gaps between my fingers, I saw Autumn laughing too, her eyes curved like a little fox. “Dinner’s ready!” Mrs. Zhang called from the kitchen, As I turned to pass by Autumn, “Not fat at all,” she said. Her gentle voice was like a wind I couldn’t catch, brushing past my ear. My ear felt a bit itchy, like spring rain plucking harp strings, joy welling up inside me. Congratulations on growing up, Autumn. (6) On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the Lantern Festival, we eat tangyuan (sweet rice balls). My grandparents had long since moved from our hometown to the city, But I needed a video shot for my assignment, so I wanted to go back to our hometown to film. Needless to say, my parents wouldn’t agree, “The house back home is empty! What are you going back for?” “It’s so far away, it’s not safe for you to go alone!” “It’s not okay even if you go with Leo. Are two boys safer? Doesn’t he want to spend time with his grandparents?” No matter how much I argued, my parents wouldn’t budge. Luckily, I’ve always been a bit rebellious. At five in the morning, while my parents were still asleep, I crept downstairs with my backpack, Paused for a moment as I passed Autumn’s room, But resolutely continued downstairs, Quietly, quietly, I closed the front door. I turned around, about to cheer silently, When a dark figure standing outside the door nearly made me scream. The figure quickly covered my mouth. “It’s me,” a familiar voice said. I relaxed. It was Autumn. “What are you doing?!” I was a bit angry, “You nearly scared me to death!” “Brother’s going out without me?” Autumn took a step forward, looking down at me, her voice contrasting with her imposing stance, sounding hurt. “I…” I deflated immediately, Rummaging in my pocket, I handed her a hand warmer, Her hands had been so cold just now. “It’s not that I didn’t want to bring you, you’re in your senior year, you need to study hard.” Actually, when I thought about going back home, Autumn was the first person I wanted to bring, but she needed to study, so I didn’t invite her, because I knew, Autumn would never refuse me. “One day won’t make a difference, let’s go,” Autumn took my backpack and put it on her own back. It was still dark, the streetlights made the ground look clean and even, our footsteps left side-by-side tracks in the untouched snow. I excitedly stepped left and right, Small snowflakes floated in the air, cool as they slipped into my collar. Autumn reached out to adjust the hood at the back of my neck. “But what if my parents scold me? They’ll scold you too!” I worried. “Not afraid,” she replied. “What if it interrupts your studies?” “Not afraid.” “Why are you coming back home with me?” “Don’t want you to be scared.” (7) The train tickets back to our hometown were sold out, so we had to buy afternoon bus tickets. After finishing two large Cokes at McDonald’s, it was finally time to board the bus. Our hometown wasn’t very close, and by bus, it would take more than a day, which meant we would have to stay overnight at an inn. The bus was very crowded, with luggage piled everywhere. A weathered worker was holding a cup of instant noodles, a mother in the back corner was discreetly breastfeeding her baby, an old man was squinting at his old-fashioned phone with a speaker, all sorts of people, each unfamiliar face bearing the joy of going home. Autumn and I found our seats and hugged our bags. The bus wasn’t well-ventilated, the smell wasn’t pleasant, and I felt a bit motion sick. Autumn opened her jacket, patted her shoulder, gesturing for me to lean over. “Get some sleep, or you’ll get carsick later,” she said. Her legs were very long, curled up in the seat, her brows slightly furrowed. Poor thing, I felt bad for her. I leaned over, burying my nose in her clothes and taking a deep breath, The familiar soap scent made me genuinely drowsy. Autumn’s shoulder was still as thin as before. The little 5-foot carrot had grown quickly, in the blink of an eye, she was now about 5’5″. I unconsciously nuzzled closer, It’s good, I didn’t fail in my feeding efforts. “Wake up, brother,” Autumn called softly. I groggily woke up to Autumn’s voice. Outside it was pitch black, with only a large searchlight. Autumn shielded my eyes with her hand, afraid the light would hurt them. She lowered her head, her voice very gentle, “We need to stay at an inn for the night, it’s not safe to walk in the snow at night.” “Okay,” I agreed. Still dazed, I got off the bus with Autumn. In the middle of nowhere, there were no other houses, just one lonely inn. The bus driver assigned rooms based on the tickets. I was paired with the breastfeeding brother, and Autumn with another guy. Autumn held my hand as I was about to go in. I turned back to look at her. “Rest well tonight. If you’re cold, I packed some hand warmers in the bag,” she said. I don’t know if it was the dark night intensifying my uneasy feelings, or if the snow’s reflection cast a soft light on Autumn, but at that moment, I didn’t want to leave her. “Hey, brother, do you know this young lady?” the other guy asked excitedly as he approached the inn’s entrance. “This is my wife, it’s inconvenient for her to get up at night to feed the baby,” he said, supporting the brother holding the child. Looking at Autumn and me holding hands, “You two are a couple, right? This is perfect, let’s switch rooms.” Seeing the hopeful looks in the brother and guy’s eyes, and the baby waving its arms and legs, I have to admit, I was shamefully tempted. Autumn nodded in agreement before I could say anything. The family of three happily left our sight. Autumn explained, “Brother taught me to help others when we can. I did it.” “Autumn is so good,” I praised. (8) “Honey water, brother,” Autumn said, handing me a thermos. The water inside was just the right temperature. She efficiently spread the blanket down the middle of the bed, took out some clothes from her bag, and laid them on the bed. I finished drinking the water just as Autumn made an excuse to go downstairs to buy something. “I’m going to buy a pair of slippers, it’s too dirty here,” she said. Perfect, I could take a quick shower. I quickly finished showering and ran out of the bathroom. Barefoot, I came face to face with Autumn, who was holding the slippers. Autumn’s expression was poor. She pushed me up and led me to the bed. For the first time, I looked down at Autumn from a higher angle. “Aren’t you afraid of getting a stomachache, brother? The floor is very cold,” she said. I mumbled that I understood and crawled under the covers. My little heart couldn’t bear to look at Autumn now, it was beating so fast. Autumn didn’t shower and lay down fully clothed. I closed my eyes for a while, not feeling very sleepy. Just as I was about to say something, unfamiliar sounds came from next door. I pricked up my ears. What was that?! Listening carefully, oh my god, next door someone was… was…

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “NovelMaster” app 🔍 search for “294772”, and watch the full series ✨! #NovelMaster #现实主义Realistic #惊悚Thriller #重生Reborn #魔幻Magic #励志Inspiring #浪漫Romance #擦边Steamy

My husband committed suicide on our wedding night. My mother-in-law frantically tore at my clothes, telling everyone that I was responsible for her son’s death. Everyone thought she had gone mad. Only I, smiling at her crazed state, leaned in and whispered softly, “You’re next.” My husband, Mark Foster, committed suicide. On our wedding night, he suddenly rushed to his mother, who hadn’t left yet, and frantically shouted at her, “Do I have a sister?” My mother-in-law, Evelyn, firmly denied it: “Your father only has you as his son. Where would a sister come from?” After hearing this, Mark laughed maniacally, turned around, ran to the balcony, opened the window, and jumped straight down. As we left the funeral home, Evelyn was crying her heart out, barely able to stand. She had to rely on Richard, my father-in-law, to support her. Richard’s eyes were red and bloodshot, the pain of losing his son had turned his hair white overnight. He looked much older than before. I followed behind them, wearing all black, my already thin frame looking even more fragile. It seemed like a gust of wind could blow me away. Many relatives and friends looked at me with pity in their eyes. After all, I had just gotten married, and my husband committed suicide. I went from being a bride to a widow in an instant. How could they not feel sorry for me? Some people came forward to comfort me: “Lily, what’s done is done. You’re still young, you need to look forward.” These words were said neither too loudly nor too softly, just loud enough for my mother-in-law to hear. She suddenly turned her head, looking at me with hatred in her eyes. “It’s you! It’s all because of you, you harbinger of bad luck! You’re the one who caused my son’s death!” “My son was such a good person, so cheerful and optimistic. But as soon as he married you, he committed suicide. You’re a jinx, a cursed thing! Give me back my son!” Evelyn became more and more agitated as she spoke, her eyes flashing with a fierce light. She suddenly lunged at me and grabbed my throat. A tremendous sense of suffocation washed over me. I clawed at her hands, trying to break free from her grip, while desperately gasping for air. But I still couldn’t escape the feeling of near-death brought on by the lack of oxygen. Fortunately, Richard and some relatives and friends quickly pulled Evelyn away from me. Only then was I able to break free, sitting on the ground and taking big gulps of fresh air. Evelyn, unable to strangle me, was unsatisfied and continued to shout and scream, trying to lunge at me again: “Lily White, you cursed thing, I want you to pay for my son’s life! Go die, go die!” The commotion attracted many passersby who stopped to watch. Richard, seeing that she was making such a scene and feeling embarrassed, couldn’t help but slap her face: “Shut up!” Only then did Evelyn quiet down. Seeing that Evelyn had stopped making a fuss, Richard turned to look at me: “Lily, your mother-in-law is grieving the loss of her child. She’s temporarily lost her senses. Don’t take it to heart.” I nodded with red-rimmed eyes: “Dad, I understand Mom’s feelings. I don’t blame her.” My obedience brought a hint of satisfaction to Richard’s face. He nodded at me with a gentle tone: “You’re a good girl. I’m sorry for what you’ve been through.” Because Evelyn was too emotional, I had to leave early. Back in our marital home, the silence in the room was suffocating. I stood in front of the wedding photo of Mark and me, looking at his sunny and handsome face. My vision blurred with tears. This marital home was carefully decorated by Mark and me together. All the furniture was what we both liked best. Who could have imagined that the sunny, cheerful guy who had sworn eternal love to me during the day would become a broken corpse by night? I sat quietly in the marital home until late into the night, finally falling into a drowsy sleep leaning against the bed. The next day, I was awakened by the loud sound of an electric drill outside the door. Opening the door, I saw Evelyn with a locksmith trying to force open my front door! As soon as she saw me, Evelyn rushed over uncontrollably, grabbed my clothes, and pushed me out of the door. “Lily White, you caused my son’s death, and you still dare to live in my son’s house? Get out!” “Mom, don’t do this. This is my home too, it’s Mark’s and my home!” I pleaded desperately. But Evelyn spat at me viciously: “Bah! This house was bought by my son. You caused his death, you jinx, and you still have the face to stay here? You still want to call this your home? You’re an orphan with no parents, how could you afford a multi-million dollar apartment? Shameless thing!” As Evelyn cursed, she picked up my belongings and threw them out. The room quickly became a mess. When Evelyn was about to destroy the wedding photo of my husband and me, I finally couldn’t bear it anymore and rushed over to protect the photo tightly: “Mom, I beg you, please don’t. This is the only memento Mark left for me.” Evelyn was unmoved. Unable to destroy the wedding photo, she started punching and kicking me frantically. “Sir, please help me call the police, please help me!” I could only cry out to the locksmith for help. The locksmith outside had been stunned by what he was seeing. Looking at the frenzied Evelyn and pitiful me, he promptly took out his phone and called the police. Only after the police arrived did Evelyn reluctantly stop. She then turned to the police and tearfully accused me of trying to take over the family property after her son’s death. With no other choice, I took out the property deed with my name on it: “Mom, this house really is mine.” However, after seeing the property deed, Evelyn became even more agitated. “Lily White! This house was clearly bought by my son. It must be you, you must have tricked him into transferring the house to you and then killed him!” Her eyes were bloodshot, her shrill voice almost piercing the eardrums of everyone present. “Lily White, you’re a murderer! I’ll make you pay for my son’s life!” Saying this, she rushed over to strangle me. The police nearby hurriedly came forward to stop her, protecting me behind them. However, Evelyn was out of control by now. She frantically waved her hands trying to hit me, and all the police protecting me suffered as a result. In the end, the police, in anger, took both her and me to the police station. Even so, Evelyn showed no remorse. Sitting in the police car, she looked at me with venomous eyes: “Lily White, you killed my son. I will definitely make you pay for my son’s life!” I leaned back against the seat, my face pale, still with a hint of grievance. I turned to look at Evelyn, the corner of my mouth curling up imperceptibly: “Mom, don’t you know how Mark died?” Upon hearing this, Evelyn’s face turned deathly pale. Not long after entering the police station, Richard came. He took Evelyn and me out of the police station with an extremely displeased expression. I noticed that when he saw Evelyn, his hand moved slightly, but in the end, he forcefully restrained himself from slapping her. He only coldly rebuked Evelyn: “If you dare to do such embarrassing things again, don’t blame me for being unkind!” Evelyn looked up at him, and there was a hint of panic in that glance. She moved her mouth, wanting to say something, but upon seeing me beside her, she tightly closed her mouth again. Perhaps because of Evelyn’s false accusations, Richard felt he owed me something. He rarely let me ride in their car, personally sending me home. On the way, Richard apologized to me on behalf of Evelyn in a gentle tone: “Lily, your mother-in-law has been in a bad mood lately, always suspicious. Don’t take it to heart. Rest assured, no one in the company will gossip about this matter.” However, I didn’t obediently agree as I had before. Instead, I turned back with red-rimmed eyes, looking at Richard sitting in the back seat, and choked out: “Dad, I know Mom is upset about losing her son, but I’ve lost my husband too!” “Mark and I had even bought tickets to Bali, but that night he suddenly rushed out inexplicably after talking to Mom for a few words, and then jumped off the building.” “Dad, I’ve been holding back from asking, but with Mom repeatedly tormenting me like this, I really can’t take it anymore. I just want to know, Mom, what exactly did you and Mark talk about? Why did it make Mark suddenly jump to his death?” In the car, following my last question, the atmosphere instantly became as if we had fallen into an ice pit. I saw Richard’s expression change from calm to shocked and then to angry in an instant. He stared at Evelyn with wide eyes, his gaze almost spitting fire: “The last time our son died, he was talking to you?” Evelyn was silent, lowering her head and not daring to make a sound. I looked at them, finding their expressions particularly interesting. Richard didn’t notice my gaze. He stared fixedly at Evelyn and roared: “Speak! What exactly did you say to our son?” This shout not only frightened Evelyn but even made the driver’s body tremble. Evelyn couldn’t help but whimper softly, pitifully saying: “I, I didn’t say anything. That night Mark suddenly ran out and asked me if he had a sister. I said no, but then he turned around and jumped off the building.” “Why would he suddenly ask this question?” Richard’s eyes flashed. Evelyn answered tearfully: “I don’t know either. Besides, whether he had a sister or not, how could that be related to Mark’s suicide? Could it be that someone forced him to commit suicide?” As she spoke, she unconsciously looked up at me again, meeting my deep gaze. She suddenly became agitated, grabbing the pensive Richard and pointing at me, shouting: “It’s her, it must be her. That night, besides me, it was only her in the bridal chamber. Mark was with her in the bedroom before he came out. It must be her who killed Mark!” My eyes instantly welled up with tears: “Mom, before Mark came out to find you, he was opening wedding gifts with me.” But Evelyn shrilly retorted: “You’re lying! Mark never liked opening gifts since he was a child. How could he possibly open gifts with you?” “But I like it, and Mark was just accompanying me…” At this point, I was already in tears. Mentioning that night was like hanging my heart on a scaffold and repeatedly torturing it. Just a second before, we were so sweet, and the next second, Mark was left with only a broken corpse. Evelyn wanted to refute me again, but was sternly stopped by Richard. He looked at me, crying with tears streaming down my face, his eyes filled with pity: “Wipe your tears. Mark wouldn’t want to see you suffering like this in heaven.” I nodded chokingly and wiped away my tears with a tissue, but my eyes still held a mist that hadn’t had time to dissipate, looking hazy. When getting out of the car, Richard instructed me: “Take good care of yourself when you get back. Don’t think too much. Your mom won’t act up again.” “Thank you, Dad.” I turned back and choked out a word of thanks. Richard met my misty eyes and his expression unconsciously froze for a moment, but he quickly came back to his senses and smiled gently at me. Watching the car leave, a hint of mockery flashed in my eyes. After returning from the police station, Evelyn never came to bother me again. After resting quietly for a while, I returned to work at the company. The company I work for is Foster Group. Yes, it’s my husband’s family company. I currently hold the position of Deputy Manager in the company, a position I didn’t get because of my relationship with Mark Foster. On the contrary, Mark Foster and I got to know each other after I became Deputy Manager. At that time, he held a nominal position of Manager in the company, but he actually lacked work experience. Richard often asked him to learn more from me. As we interacted more, we became familiar with each other, and our relationship gradually changed from superior and subordinate to a romantic one. Actually, my mother-in-law looked down on me, but Mark liked me and insisted on marrying me. Richard didn’t oppose me marrying Mark. He thought I was capable at work and would be a good helper for Mark’s career in the future. Originally, Mark and I had taken a two-month honeymoon leave and planned to go on a nice honeymoon after getting married. Unexpectedly, Mark… Now only I returned to the company alone. The employees of the company saw my haggard appearance and all showed sympathetic looks. During lunch, Richard rarely invited me to have a meal with him. While eating, he kept asking me if Mark had said anything strange before jumping off the building. I shook my head, with red-rimmed eyes, and answered: “No, Mark was opening wedding gifts with me before he went out. But he seemed to receive a text message before going out.” Richard immediately became serious: “What text message?” I lowered my head, feeling somewhat guilty: “I don’t know.” Richard sighed somewhat helplessly and didn’t say anything more. When Mark jumped, his phone was smashed to pieces along with him. Now it’s impossible to check the text messages. So, what text message he received, except for himself, no one else knows. Back home, I opened my email and was startled by the flashing ghost GIF on the screen. Then a message came through SnapChat: How is it? Satisfied? I replied: It’s fine. Wait for my news. The other party responded: Okay. I closed the computer, went downstairs to buy a basket of fresh fruit, and drove to Evelyn’s house. When Evelyn saw me arrive, her face immediately darkened, and she coldly asked: “What are you doing here?” I held the gifts I bought for them, feeling very depressed: “Mom, I wanted to see where Mark grew up.” At the mention of Mark, Evelyn exploded instantly. She pushed me away, causing me to fall down the steps at the entrance of the villa, scattering the fruits I had bought all over the ground. “Get out of here, you harbinger of misfortune! This is not a place for you to come!” Evelyn slammed the door shut. I looked at the closed door, closed my eyes for a moment, got up from the ground, and slowly picked up the fruits one by one. Tears fell uncontrollably. Suddenly, Richard’s voice came from above: “Lily, why are you here?” I looked up and saw Richard standing in front of me. I quickly wiped away my tears and forced a smile: “Dad, I just wanted to come home and see. This is where Mark grew up, I wanted to take a look…” By the end, my tears were flowing uncontrollably again. Richard looked at the scattered fruits on the ground and seemed to understand what had happened. He sighed and squatted down to help me pick up all the fruits back into the basket: “You’re a good girl, what a pity…” I wiped my tears: “Dad, can I ask you for something? Can I stay here for a while? I’ll just stay in Mark’s room. This is Mark’s home, and here I can feel Mark’s presence, as if he hasn’t left, as if he’s still with me. Please, Dad.” Richard looked at me with complex emotions: “But, you know what your mom is like…” “It’s okay, I’ll just stay in Mark’s room. I absolutely won’t have any conflicts with Mom,” I quickly promised. Richard eventually softened and agreed. Seeing Richard agree, I immediately brightened up, picked up the collected fruits, and was about to walk towards the front door. But as soon as I lifted my leg, I felt a sharp pain in my right ankle. I couldn’t help but cry out in pain and crouched down. Richard turned back and saw me holding my ankle, my face pale, with beads of sweat already forming on my forehead. He quickly came forward and asked: “What’s wrong?” “It’s nothing…” I smiled and quickly stood up, bravely taking a step forward, but soon crouched down again in pain. Richard quickly squatted down to check. I tried to cover it up, but he impatiently moved my hand away. My slender ankle was already swollen high. My skin was originally fair and delicate, and the faint bruise on my ankle made the uninjured parts of my skin look even more delicate and soft. Richard’s pupils contracted imperceptibly for a moment, but he quickly stood up: “Don’t move. I’ll take you to the hospital.” He called for the driver to bring the car over, helped me limp into the car, and took me to the hospital. At the hospital, after a series of examinations, it was found that I had a minor fracture in my ankle and needed three months of rest. After the doctor put on a cast and prescribed medicine, Richard took me back to the Foster home. Originally, I wanted to say it wasn’t necessary, but Richard felt that my fracture was caused by Evelyn, so she should take care of me. When we got home, Evelyn saw Richard bringing me in and immediately started making a fuss, wanting to drive me out. But Richard didn’t give her any face: “You broke Lily’s ankle, so you should take care of her! If you’re not willing, get out right now.” Seeing Richard angry, Evelyn immediately became docile and reluctantly agreed to let me stay in Mark’s room. But it was impossible for her to take care of me. Fortunately, there was a housekeeper, Mrs. Liu, who was responsible for bringing me meals and water every day. Mark’s room had its own bathroom, so I didn’t need to wander around deliberately. Richard saw my obedience and was very pleased. Although Evelyn didn’t care much about me, he would occasionally come to the room to see me and ask how my foot was recovering. Sometimes he would even discuss work situations with me. I had worked my way up from the bottom to the position of Deputy Manager, so naturally, I was very familiar with various aspects of the company. Therefore, Richard and I could always have pleasant conversations. Sometimes, as long as he opened his mouth, I could naturally follow up on his next sentence. Gradually, Richard’s attitude towards me became more and more amiable. Obviously, both my work ability and my personality were very much to his liking. He often came home to chat with me, and sometimes when the company encountered some problems, he would even message me to ask for my opinion. Under my advice, the company even secured several big deals that were previously impossible to get. Richard’s attitude towards me completely changed to one of appreciation after this. He liked talking to me more and more, as if he had found a kindred spirit in me. However, occasionally, I felt that the way Richard looked at me was a bit different, as if he was seeing someone else through me. Because Richard visited my room too frequently to talk, it soon aroused Evelyn’s suspicion. Evelyn began to frequently enter and exit my room after Richard entered. She would bring me a plate of cut fruit, or a cup of hot water, or juice. She acted like a caring mother-in-law. Even Richard was surprised and couldn’t help but praise Evelyn: “You’re finally starting to act like an elder should.” Evelyn gave Richard a coquettish glance: “Wasn’t it because of Mark’s incident earlier that I couldn’t come to terms with it?” But when she turned her face, her eyes were as cold as if they were filled with ice shards when she looked at me. I pretended not to see the disgust in her eyes and obediently accepted what she handed over: “Thank you, Mom.” Evelyn looked at me with a fake smile: “You’re welcome.” After saying this, she twisted her voluptuous waist and left the room. Richard watched Evelyn leave and smiled at me: “Your mom is just tough on the outside but soft on the inside. She was stuck in a rut before, but now that she’s come to terms with it, she won’t give you a hard time anymore.” I nodded seriously. But I saw Evelyn’s skirt flashing past the door. Evelyn was eavesdropping outside the door! I blinked and looked carefully at the door again, thinking I must have seen wrong. The door had always been open. If Evelyn wanted to listen, she could have just come in and joined the conversation. Why hide outside? Besides, Richard and I were only talking about work. What was worth eavesdropping on? I quickly put this matter out of my mind. A month later, accompanied by the housekeeper, I went to the hospital to remove the cast from my foot.

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “NovelMaster” app 🔍 search for “294771”, and watch the full series ✨! #NovelMaster #现实主义Realistic #惊悚Thriller #重生Reborn #魔幻Magic #励志Inspiring #浪漫Romance

Have you ever used a mask that can transform your appearance? There are only three sheets in a box. Use one box, and all the acne and scars on your face disappear, leaving your skin flawless. Use two boxes, and your face becomes slimmer, your eyes bigger, and your nose more defined. What if you could use three boxes? Hehe, your face would be completely renewed, stunningly beautiful, just like… just like you’ve become a different person. Interested? DM me. I never thought Sophia’s face could change so quickly. Two days ago, when I visited her house, her face was swollen like a pig’s head due to an infection from plastic surgery. The housekeeper was still wiping pus from her face. But now, her skin was smooth and delicate, as white as porcelain. Even the twisted scars from the stitches were gone. Seeing my surprised expression, she explained, “I didn’t expect this product to be so miraculous either.” I wanted to ask what product it was, but I held back, knowing I couldn’t afford it anyway. Even though it should have been a happy occasion, Sophia still frowned, looking listless. Her mouth twitched slightly, and I couldn’t help but ask with concern, “Sophia, your mouth…” A flash of panic crossed her eyes as she covered her mouth, “Is it twitching?” I nodded. “Maybe the nerves were damaged during the previous surgery and haven’t fully recovered yet.” Just as I was about to comfort her, a small figure appeared on the second floor. “Miss Wilson, good afternoon.” Noah waved at me like an old bureaucrat. He was only 7 years old, but his gesture seemed oddly out of place.

I smiled at him as I walked towards the stairs, surveying my surroundings. Under the golden lights, classical music filled the vintage two-story mansion. Four gold-edged carpets were inlaid on the marble floor. A sandalwood tea table sat in the center of these carpets. The house was filled with the scent of sandalwood. Perhaps because I couldn’t appreciate this deep color scheme, I didn’t find it elegant or noble, but rather mysterious. I originally hadn’t planned to take this part-time job because it was a full 20 kilometers from my university. But Noah’s housekeeper, Aunt Lucy, had sought me out twice. “You look so quiet; you must have a good temper too.” “Noah has a bit of autism, so we wanted to find a gentle teacher.” The crow’s feet at the corners of her eyes moved up and down as she not only offered me double the pay but also promised to drive me to and from work every day. It would have been ungrateful to refuse at that point.

Noah’s bedroom-study was on the second floor. Despite being only 7 years old, he had an exceptionally strong ability to learn, grasping everything after just one lesson. And Aunt Lucy, who lived next door to him, would always bring fruit. I secretly rejoiced at how lucky I was. Not only did I teach a smart student, but I also got to enjoy all kinds of fruit. Noah often curled up in Aunt Lucy’s arms, seeming even closer to her than to his mother. Aunt Lucy would always comfort him, “Just hang in there a little longer, it’s almost time.” I thought her concern was unnecessary, as Noah didn’t seem to resist learning at all.

After finishing the lesson, Aunt Lucy drove me home as usual. Despite being nearly 60 years old, her driving was very steady. “Miss Wilson, do you have a boyfriend?” she asked. I looked at my acne-covered face in the car mirror and sighed. Seeing her crow’s feet directed at me, she said, “Your face is a minor issue. Even Sophia’s condition could be fixed.” My mind suddenly flashed to Sophia’s appearance, and I couldn’t help but ask what she had used. Aunt Lucy stared at the red light ahead, her mouth opening and closing, “A mask.” A mask? You’ve got to be kidding. In all my years, I’ve never heard of a mask that could fix a botched plastic surgery. I guess Aunt Lucy, at her age, probably hasn’t even used a face mask before. I didn’t pursue the topic and changed the subject, mentioning that Sophia seemed a bit down today. “If it weren’t for her cheating husband, she wouldn’t have gotten plastic surgery.” “She even hid it from me. It wasn’t worth the suffering.” Aunt Lucy looked very angry; I could tell she really cared for Sophia. As we reached the school gate, I caught sight of a familiar figure. It was Lucas. Aunt Lucy noticed me staring at him and gossiped, “Is this the boy Miss Wilson likes? He’s quite handsome.” I blushed as I got out of the car.

Lucas had been my secret crush for three years. I had even changed my college choice because of him. Not only was he academically excellent, but he was also very handsome. But he probably didn’t even know my name. Because I didn’t even have the courage to say hello. How I wished I could get rid of all this acne on my face and slim down my cheeks. But I didn’t have as much money as Sophia. Still, I thought that when I had the chance, I’d ask her what exactly she had used. Even if I couldn’t afford it now, I could save up, right? Unexpectedly, because final exams were coming up, I took three days off. When I saw Sophia again after those three days, I was shocked once more.

Her originally delicate and refined appearance had suddenly taken on an exotic beauty. Her round eyes had become European-style double eyelids, and her chubby nose had become straight and defined. There was no sign of swelling on her face. Could this also be due to that product? Seeing me arrive, she pulled me to sit on the sofa. “Rachel, I’m really upset.” I looked at her stunningly beautiful face, with a smile on her lips. I was completely confused. This expression didn’t look upset at all. But her large, blinking eyes were devoid of any sparkle. She murmured, “My husband is determined to divorce me.” “Sigh, everything has been in vain.” If it weren’t for her voice sounding truly sorrowful, I would have thought she was pretending. After speaking, she collapsed onto the sofa and stopped talking to me. I watched as her mouth and eye corners twitched along with her shoulders. I didn’t feel comfortable asking her about the product either. 6 Halfway through the lesson, I suddenly heard a loud crash. I instinctively rushed out of the room. Classical music echoed through the empty house, and Aunt Lucy stood at the door, staring wide-eyed at the floor below. As I approached, I saw Sophia lying face-up in a pool of blood, wearing a deep blue cheongsam. On the gold-edged carpet, she looked like a blooming blue rose. It was so sudden that I was stunned on the spot. Aunt Lucy cried out and ran downstairs, nearly falling. She checked Sophia’s breath and shook her head. From behind me came Noah’s childish voice, “911? 325 Green Hill Street. Someone has committed suicide.”

It took nearly an hour for the ambulance to arrive. Sophia had no external injuries but had died from asphyxiation due to a broken neck from the fall. The surveillance footage showed her walking up to the second floor in a daze, then smiling at the camera before jumping. It was initially determined to be suicide. Half an hour after the body was taken away, I finally started to recover a bit and quickly went to check on Noah. To my surprise, he wasn’t crying. Maybe because he was so young, he didn’t understand what death meant. But Aunt Lucy was crying uncontrollably. Between sobs, she said, “Why did you give up?” “If this man wasn’t good enough, couldn’t you have found another?” “How foolish, so foolish.” Aunt Lucy had taken care of the mother and son for six years. In her heart, Sophia must have been like a daughter to her. It was indeed difficult to accept this sudden loss. The police asked some questions. It was only then that I learned from Aunt Lucy that Sophia had been suffering from depression for a long time. Her husband’s insistence on divorce had been the last straw. The medical examiner asked Aunt Lucy to find the medication Sophia had been taking. She knelt on the ground and handed me a key, “Rachel, it’s over there. You go, I’m too upset.” She pointed to the storage room at the corner of the second floor.

There weren’t many things in the storage room, and it was very tidy. On the shelf nearest the door was a row of medicines. I couldn’t tell which was which, so I just cradled them all in my arms. As I was about to leave, I noticed a faint red glow coming from the opposite shelf. Curious, I took a closer look and saw it was a box of face masks. “Transformation Mask.” Could this be the product Sophia had used? The mask Aunt Lucy had mentioned? I wanted to take a closer look, but the police asked if I had found the medication. I hastily put it aside and rushed downstairs with the medicines. They were just ordinary antidepressants, nothing suspicious. The police asked Aunt Lucy to go to the station to give a statement. They told me to take Noah for a walk outside, fearing he might be scared. But Noah refused to leave, insisting on staying at home. I was scared too. One of the officers, probably seeing that I was quite young, volunteered to stay with us. I reluctantly agreed to stay.

With a pounding heart, I turned off the classical music. The photo of Sophia on the table sent chills down my spine. Surprisingly, she didn’t look young before the surgery. The tired face with deep nasolabial folds rivaled mine. I turned the frame face down and hurried upstairs to wait with Noah in his room. I had my bag ready, planning to leave as soon as Aunt Lucy returned. “Miss Wilson, you won’t be coming back anymore, will you?” Noah asked. Maybe he sensed my unease. I patted his head, “I’ll come back to see you when I have time, don’t worry.” I wasn’t in the mood to teach him, so I put on a cartoon for him on the computer. But he didn’t seem very interested. After a while, I couldn’t hold it anymore. “Noah, stay here for a bit. I need to use the bathroom.” To my surprise, as soon as I entered the bathroom, I saw that glowing box of masks next to the mirror.

For a moment, I forgot my fear and, as if possessed, looked at the back of the box. There was no ingredient list, only instructions for use. Step 1: Drop a drop of blood on the mask sheet. Step 2: Write down the effect you want to achieve with a red pen. Step 3: Apply for over 30 minutes and wait. Note: Each box can only be used for one type of modification. For example, types include: skin texture, facial features, bone structure. Using three boxes has a miraculous effect. I hastily stuffed it into my bag. Then I remembered I had left the key in the storage room, and I recalled there were two more boxes in there.

The faint red glow seemed so eerie. But as I touched my own furrowed face and thought of Sophia’s transformation, my heart stirred with desire. Sophia was quite generous; surely she wouldn’t mind if I used a few of her masks. Aunt Lucy probably wouldn’t remember how many boxes of masks Sophia had anyway. But wouldn’t this make me a thief? Besides, the owner had just died. It didn’t feel right to steal her things. I hesitated and put the mask down. But my mind was filled with memories of being disliked and mocked since childhood. No boys wanted to sit next to me in school. When I didn’t have money for the bus fare, no one was willing to help. Even the boy I had liked for three years probably didn’t know I existed. I gritted my teeth and grabbed the two boxes of masks, stuffing them into my bag. I hadn’t been paid for the past two weeks of part-time work anyway. Worst case, I’d forgo the money. If Aunt Lucy asked me, I’d just firmly deny knowing anything. I locked the door and wondered where to put the key. I didn’t dare go downstairs, but luckily, I saw that Aunt Lucy’s door was ajar.

I placed the key on her bedside table and accidentally discovered a faded photograph in her wallet on the desk. It showed a man and a woman who looked very well-matched. Strangely, the woman in the photo looked a bit like Sophia, but the photo was dated 30 years ago. I remembered Aunt Lucy saying that she saw Sophia as if she were looking at herself. This must have been Aunt Lucy when she was young. I never imagined she had been so beautiful in her youth. Aunt Lucy returned quickly. She seemed calmer than before. “Rachel, after what happened, I can’t drive you home today.” I clutched my bag, feeling relieved. As I was leaving, Noah wrung his hands, looking at me longingly.

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “NovelMaster” app 🔍 search for “294770”, and watch the full series ✨! #NovelMaster #现实主义Realistic #惊悚Thriller #重生Reborn #魔幻Magic #励志Inspiring #浪漫Romance

I received a call from the police, saying they needed my cooperation in an investigation. Was this some kind of scam call? “Yes, I went to Thailand. I used my card to buy an elephant,” I replied dismissively before hanging up. Not long after, the phone rang again. It was the same number. “This isn’t a scam call. We mainly want to inquire about Mr. Zachary Walsh’s disappearance,” the voice said. Are scammers getting this thorough now? They even know about my good-for-nothing husband who never comes home? Then I heard him continue, “We received a missing person report from his wife, stating that Mr. Walsh disappeared after meeting with you.” Wait, his wife? Confused, I rummaged through my things to find our marriage certificate. Looking at the official seal, I wondered aloud, “Then who am I?” When the police came to my door again, they didn’t just talk to me there. Instead, they asked me to come to the station for questioning. When I arrived, I saw a young, pretty pregnant woman sitting in a chair outside. She was so thin that if she hadn’t been wearing maternity clothes, you wouldn’t have known she was pregnant. Next to her, constantly comforting her, was a middle-aged woman who bore some resemblance to Zachary. Coincidentally, I knew both of them. One was Zachary’s aunt, and the other was the homewrecker who had ruined my marriage. Sophie Jenkins jumped up when she saw me, pointing and yelling, “It was you, wasn’t it? You wanted more money and didn’t want to divorce him, so you did something to my husband! Otherwise, how could he just disappear without a trace?” How ridiculous. Although Zachary and I were discussing divorce, we hadn’t even signed the papers yet. And she was already calling him her husband. “Don’t want a divorce? I married that man because I was blind. Only someone like you would treat him like a treasure. You two deserve each other,” I shot back, refusing to back down. “You accuse me of harming him? Why don’t you look at yourself? If I remember correctly, Zachary didn’t put a single thing he gave you in your name, right? And he never gave you more than $1000 at a time, did he?” I knew all too well how stingy Zachary was as a man. I couldn’t understand why anyone would want to be his mistress. “You’re not very good at being a mistress, are you? Everything he gave you, he can take back whenever he wants. Even if you managed to become the official wife, he’d still toss you aside when he’s done with you.” At this point, Zachary’s aunt, Zoe, tried to intervene. “We’re all family here. Why are you fighting like this? The most important thing right now is to find Zachary. You can’t get divorced if he’s not here, right, Rachel?” I gave her a cold, mocking smile. Only Aunt Zoe could say such nonsense. When my in-laws were on their deathbeds, I was running around taking care of everything. Not a single person told me that Zachary was out there with a mistress. The whole family treated me like a fool. Back then, when I wanted to hire professional caregivers for my in-laws, how did Aunt Zoe try to persuade me against it? She said, “Rachel, dear, it’s best to take care of your own family members. You don’t know how scary it is these days. There are so many stories online about caregivers abusing the elderly.” I replied, “I’ll visit my parents-in-law every day after work. They’re in the hospital, so nothing like that will happen.” Aunt Zoe then put on a sour face and said, quite unhappily, “Rachel, I don’t mean to criticize you, but you’ve already failed to give Zachary children. Now that his parents are sick and need you, how can you not take care of them yourself? You’re his wife, you’re one unit.” Back then, I didn’t realize how ridiculous Aunt Zoe’s words were. I even thought she had a point. Now, looking back, it’s absurd. I retorted, “Listen to yourself. Is that how a human being talks? Before Zachary disappeared, every time you said we were family, it was to convince him to leave me with nothing. Now that he’s gone and you realize you can’t get anything, suddenly I’m family again? Do I look like some kind of pushover to you?” Aunt Zoe’s face turned ashen. She tried to pull the elder card on me again, like she used to. I wasn’t falling for it anymore. “Enough. Don’t bother with this act. You can’t even manage your own son, and now you’re trying to meddle in my life when Zachary and I are already estranged? What are you, the world police?” At this point, the female detective from earlier and a few other officers came to break up the argument. Aunt Zoe and Sophie didn’t dare to make a scene anymore. They could only watch as Detective Miller and I walked into the interview room. Detective Edwards and a young officer I hadn’t seen before, who seemed to have a perpetual scowl, were there to question me. Detective Edwards informed me, “We found Mr. Walsh’s fishing gear downstream in the reservoir. We suspect he might have fallen into the water and had an accident.” I couldn’t help but laugh. The scowling young officer said, “This is serious! We’re talking about a man’s life here.” I replied, “I’m sorry, officer, but as you know, I’m a woman whose marriage was betrayed. The mistress is right outside with a baby bump. If it were anyone else, I’d be worried and concerned. But when it comes to Zachary Walsh, I hope he’s dead already.” Detective Edwards calmed down the young officer and handed me some photos. “This is what we wanted to discuss. According to our investigation, you were also near Linjiang Reservoir last Friday. Security cameras near Linjiang Supermarket caught you on tape. Can you tell us why you were there?” The photos showed me wearing a baseball cap, sunglasses, a face mask, a green sun protection shirt, white pants, and sneakers. Coincidentally, I was wearing the exact same outfit today. “I have legs, don’t I? I can go wherever I want,” I replied coldly, my tone somewhat confrontational. The young officer tried to intimidate me, “Ma’am, please answer our questions seriously. This isn’t just a missing person case anymore. If you can’t prove your innocence, we have the right to arrest you.” In reality, they couldn’t, because they had no evidence to prove my guilt. But many ordinary citizens don’t know this, so when the police say things that are half-true, those with guilty consciences might confess. But I had nothing to hide. I didn’t want to waste any more time here, so I told the truth. “I went there to discuss divorce matters with him.” Detective Edwards asked, “Didn’t you and Mr. Walsh already reach an agreement? Why did you need to discuss it again? And why didn’t you say this earlier?” My craving for a cigarette hit me again. I asked Detective Edwards for one and said, “Actually, we hadn’t. Before, he wanted a divorce and I didn’t, so he kept dragging things out. Now, I want a divorce and he doesn’t, so he’s the one dragging his feet.” “Why did Mr. Walsh change his mind?” they asked. I smiled bitterly. “For money, of course.” “At first, he wanted to get rid of me cheaply, and I didn’t agree. Later, I wanted to take what rightfully belonged to me and leave, but he thought it was too much and disagreed.” “So he refused to talk to me, kept stalling, and wouldn’t meet me face to face. When I called, he’d just say one thing.” The scowling officer asked, “What did he say?” “He’d say, ‘I’ll only accept you leaving with nothing. If you agree, we’ll divorce. If not, forget it.’” Detective Edwards asked, “And Sophie Jenkins was okay with this situation? Her baby must be about six months along now.” I laughed mockingly. “What could she do about it? I built this business with Zachary. I only stepped back from the company because I had to take care of his dying parents. That’s why I lost so much control and ended up in this situation.” “I have the means and ability to fight Zachary. As long as he still cares about his reputation and doesn’t want to be shunned by his business partners, he has to deal with me, no matter how annoying it is.” “But what leverage does that whore outside have? The baby in her belly? I couldn’t have children before, but when I couldn’t give birth, didn’t he just find another woman to have a kid with? Everything she has, Zachary can take back whenever he wants. He’s just deluding himself, thinking he’s in love with her. Are you satisfied with this explanation?” “Answer what we ask, don’t try to deflect. How did you know Zachary would be there? Did he tell you? Did you see him?” The scowling officer tapped the table. I gave him an OK sign. “Of course he didn’t tell me. The mistress told me. But I didn’t see Zachary either. He didn’t want to meet me. Sophie was afraid Zachary would come after her, so she only told me his general location.” She was desperate to become the official wife but couldn’t get Zachary to budge, so she tried to work through me. “We heard from Ms. Jenkins that you had blocked her. How did she tell you?” they asked. “Public phone. All the calls taunting me to hurry up and divorce Zachary came from public phones.” I opened my call log on my phone to show them. Indeed, there was a 5-minute call from a public phone the day before Zachary disappeared. “Instead of suspecting me and questioning me all the time, why don’t you ask Sophie Jenkins? Maybe she did something out of jealousy because she couldn’t become the official wife. The first time she came to make a scene, it was with Zachary, you know.” Detective Edwards said, “Tell us more about that.” I smiled, feeling genuinely cheerful for the first time since hearing that Zachary might have met with an accident. “Because at that time, Sophie didn’t know Zachary had me as his legal wife. When she found out, of course she went to confront him!”

Soon after, I left the police station. I didn’t know that Detective Edwards and his team had a discussion about this case. Detective Edwards asked, “What do you think, sir? Can we trust her?” Detective Thompson shook his head, then nodded. “Rachel Quinn is different from Sophie Jenkins. She has very high psychological resilience. She’s definitely hiding something. Her words are half-truths and half-lies. We can only believe about half of what she says.” The scowling officer, Detective Wilson, said, “In my opinion, we should lock her up and interrogate her repeatedly. It won’t take long before we know exactly what she’s hiding.” Detective Miller scolded him, “Are you trying to get us all fired? Don’t drag us into your misconduct!” Then she turned and pulled out some documents. “Uncle Thompson, according to our investigation, Sophie Jenkins is also hiding something and has a motive for committing a crime.” This piqued everyone’s interest. What motive could a soon-to-be-official mistress have? Could it really be a crime of passion? “The phone records Rachel Quinn gave us show that Sophie Jenkins did indeed use a public phone to call and taunt her the day before, and told her about Zachary Walsh’s plans for the next day.” “We confirmed this from the surveillance cameras near the phone booth. As for the other things Rachel mentioned, including property and car titles, it’s true that none of them are in Sophie’s name. We also found many compromising photos of Sophie on Zachary’s phone, suggesting he might have used them to blackmail her.” “I discovered something else during the investigation,” Detective Miller continued. Detective Thompson gestured for her to go on. “When the Walshes were still happily married, they sponsored many students. Sophie Jenkins was one of them. At first, she was genuinely deceived by Zachary. Many neighbors know about this incident.” Detective Wilson said to Detective Edwards, “The case seems to have become more complicated.” Detective Edwards smiled. “Actually, the case isn’t that complicated. What’s complicated is the human heart.” Detective Thompson made a decision. “Alright, let’s question Sophie Jenkins next.” When I got home, I looked around the empty house and sank comfortably into the couch. Everything belonging to the second person in this house had long been cleared out. Now, this house that Zachary and I had shared after our marriage was no different from the home of any single woman. Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Irritated, I dragged myself up to look through the peephole. It was Zachary’s cousin, Zack Walsh. I opened the inner door but left the outer security door locked. At this point, I had zero goodwill towards anyone in the Walsh family and didn’t want to let them set foot in my house. “Sister-in-law!” Zack greeted me enthusiastically, then tried to come in. “Aren’t you going to invite me in?” “No,” I said flatly, with no intention of playing host. “I don’t deserve to be called your sister-in-law or a member of the Walsh family. Let’s cut the pleasantries. What are you here for?” When Zachary’s parents were critically ill, Aunt Zoe hadn’t contributed a penny or lifted a finger to help. But as soon as the old couple passed away, she brought her son to demand money. That’s why our two families had a falling out long ago. She stood in front of the coffins with a tattered notebook, itemizing everything—how much more money her parents had given her brother when they divided the family assets, what things Zachary’s parents had borrowed from her after the wedding. Finally, in front of everyone at the funeral, she said, “You’re my nephew’s wife, so I won’t be too hard on you. Back then, when times were tough for everyone, I couldn’t bring myself to ask. Then when my poor brother fell ill, I couldn’t say anything either.” “Now that you’re doing well, it’s time to settle these accounts. I won’t ask for too much. Just pay me back based on the current value after the relocation compensation, and we’ll call it even.” Someone couldn’t stand it anymore and spoke up. “Zoe Walsh, what kind of person are you? You didn’t say a word all these years, and now that your brother is dead and not even buried yet, you’re forcing your nephew’s wife to pay up. What kind of logic is that?” Aunt Zoe shot back, “Mind your own business, Zhang! This is a family matter. It’s none of your concern!” Then she turned back to me and said, “I came to help as soon as your in-laws passed away. You’re a respectable person, daughter-in-law. Don’t try to weasel out of this debt!” By that time, I already knew about Zachary’s affair. Even at the funeral, we were like strangers, not exchanging a single word. Seeing Aunt Zoe’s greedy expression made me even more disgusted. “If you think Grandpa and Grandma shortchanged you back then, go ask them about it,” I said coldly. Aunt Zoe immediately became upset. She raised her voice at the funeral, “Everyone here knows that I got less than my fair share back then. My brother knew it too. Now he’s not even in the ground yet, and you’re already denying it!” Zack also got angry. “Sister-in-law, I’ve always been polite to you. Now that you and Zachary are doing well, you won’t even help out family? Not even paying back what you owe? What’s that about?” Zachary, who had been greeting guests outside, finally came in. He arrived just in time to hear these words. “Debt? What debt? Do you have any evidence? Any IOUs? Haven’t I helped you before? You’re just a hopeless case, and you have the nerve to make a scene!” Zack immediately shouted back, “You helped me? You just look down on me. You have such a big company, but you only let me run errands. Meanwhile, you’re living the high life and even keeping a mistress!” Under the watchful eyes of the onlookers, Zachary’s face turned ashen. Seeing that her son was about to derail the conversation, Aunt Zoe quickly handed over that tattered notebook. “How can you say there’s no evidence? Look, look at this. I’ve kept a detailed record of everything over the years, down to the smallest items. It’s been so hard on me.” “Besides, according to the law, I have inheritance rights to my brother and sister-in-law’s property.” I was really tired of dealing with the Walsh family’s nonsense. I replied, “If you want to talk about the law, then go through the legal process. The company was started by Zachary and me together, and we’re both still alive. Where do you get inheritance rights from?” “If you’re talking about inheriting from my in-laws, they’re lying in coffins right behind us. Go wake them up and have them give you whatever you want. I won’t interfere with their belongings. Whatever they say to give you, I’ll give you.” “As for you saying Grandpa and Grandma gave you less back then, go find the elders who were present when the family divided the assets and have them redistribute everything. I have no objections to that either.” The people around us were trying to hide their smiles. My in-laws were dead, and the grandparents and elders who had been present at the family division had long since passed away. “If you’re not satisfied, then sue me. I have plenty of money to hire lawyers and fight you in court. If I lose the case, I’ll pay whatever the court decides!” Aunt Zoe burst into tears and ran to hug my father-in-law’s coffin. “Brother, you’ve just left us, and your son and daughter-in-law are already disowning me. They’re ganging up to bully us. How did I end up with such a miserable life…” Aunt Zoe’s wailing was giving everyone a headache. I decided I’d done my part and got up to leave. After all, I had a clear conscience. Zachary grabbed my arm. “Where are you going? We still need to send my parents off on their final journey.” At that moment, Aunt Zoe was inside, wailing and cursing, “That woman in your family is cold-hearted. No wonder her husband went out to find a mistress.” Zachary looked a bit embarrassed. I laughed coldly. “Where am I going? To rest, of course! I just didn’t want to argue with you at the funeral today.” “For everything else, go find your mistress and deal with it together!” With that, I went home. I heard from relatives later that Zachary really did bring Sophie Jenkins over. When I heard this news, I couldn’t help but laugh bitterly. I completely ignored it, just focused on taking inventory of our assets and organizing the company shares. I disappointed many people who were hoping to see me make a fool of myself. Similarly, Zachary’s behavior made many of his business partners refuse to work with him anymore, or at least give him a hard time behind the scenes. Only then did Zachary start to behave himself a bit more. So I’ve long known what this family is like. Zack coming to visit me today was definitely up to no good. Hearing my unfriendly tone, Zack put on an angry face. “Don’t be so stubborn. You know what you did. If you still want to live comfortably as a rich woman, you’d better listen to me and give me what I’m owed.” “Keep dreaming. I’ll say it again: if you want to sue, I’ll see you in court.” Zack suddenly gave a strange smile and said in a low voice, “I saw it, you know!” I laughed, exasperated. Zack and Zachary were cut from the same cloth—one a gambler, one a womanizer. I must have been crazy to waste my breath talking to him. “Bang!” I slammed the door in his face. Soon after, I heard cursing from outside the door. “Damn it! Rachel Quinn, you murderer! You’ll regret this! I’m going to report you!” Not long after, I was called to the police station again. But unlike the previous polite conversation, this time I got the treatment that suspects in TV shows usually get. “Rachel Quinn, we’ve received a report that you killed Zachary Walsh. Do you have anything to say about this?” Detective Thompson asked. This time, Detective Thompson and the scowling young officer, Detective Wilson, were questioning me. “A report? Was it Zack Walsh who reported it? He’s just a gambler who would do anything for money. You can’t trust what he says.” I looked at them. “Besides, you don’t have any evidence, and you haven’t issued an arrest warrant. I could sue you for unlawful detention.” Detective Thompson suddenly said, “You probably don’t know yet. We found Zachary Walsh’s body.” Detective Wilson said sarcastically and triumphantly, “We’ve seen plenty of people like you. You’d better tell us everything. Don’t try to hide anything!” The person who reported it wasn’t Zack Walsh. At that time, he was just making threats outside my door. Linjiang Reservoir used to be Linjiang Village. Ten years ago, the government relocated us villagers to Linjiang City to build the reservoir. The villagers and graves were all moved, and the original site became the reservoir area. Well, not all the graves were moved. Many young people from the village had gone to work in big cities. When they made it big, they brought their elderly parents to live with them in the cities. They were too busy with work to move the family graves, so they just swore they would come back every year to tend to the graves. But how could they tend to graves at the bottom of a reservoir? The young people had no choice but to learn how to scuba dive. This year, a young man brought his wife to dive and pay respects to his ancestors. When they went down, they saw Zachary Walsh’s body floating in the water. This news spread quickly. Combined with people hearing about Zack Walsh coming to my door to make a scene, someone reported me and had me arrested. Of course, the two officers didn’t have the kindness to tell me these details. At this point, I didn’t know where exactly the body had been found. “I thought Zack Walsh would keep using this to extort money from me. I didn’t expect him to report it to the police so quickly. If he had been this decisive before, he might have made his fortune already.” Detective Wilson frowned, seeming to want to say something, but Detective Thompson stopped him. “So you admit that you killed Zachary Walsh, right?” “Yes,” I smiled and asked them for a cigarette, slowly confessing the process. After we relocated, Zachary and I used the money to start a small business, contracting landscaping work for residential communities one by one. When the business became somewhat successful, Zachary liked to go fishing at Linjiang Reservoir. His favorite spot was a hill that used to be popular with kids in the old Linjiang Village. This hill used to overlook the entire Linjiang Village, but now it only saw water. He particularly liked this place. Only the Walsh family knew about this. So when Sophie Jenkins called me, I knew Zachary would definitely come to this spot to fish. That’s why what I said earlier about not seeing Zachary was a lie. I did see him, and we got into an argument. That day, he seemed strange, not feeling well, chewing on something in his mouth. When we were arguing, he bit down and swallowed it. Usually, when we argued, it would end up in a physical fight, leaving both of us bruised and battered. But that day, after we pushed each other a few times, he got impatient and turned away, seeming unwilling to fight with me. Zachary said to me, “When I wanted a divorce before, didn’t you drag it out? Now you want a divorce? Well, I’m going to drag it out. I won’t divorce you!” I said, “Zachary Walsh, you bastard. You cheated on me, and your whole family kept it from me. I was in the dark, taking care of your parents. Now I’m done with this, and you won’t sign the divorce papers. How can you do this? Aren’t you afraid of karmic retribution?” Zachary gloated, “The one who can’t have children is you. Let me tell you, I’ve got a mistress now. In a few months, I’ll have a son. I’ll bring them to live wherever you live. Wherever you move, we’ll move there too!” I was shaking with anger, hating him. “I can’t have children because of whom? I’ll ask you one last time! Are you really not going to sign the papers? Even if we go to court?” He laughed loudly, “You’ve tried taking me to court before, haven’t you? Did the judge grant the divorce? If you take me to court again, I’ll admit my mistakes, I’ll repent, I’ll beg you not to divorce me in front of the judge. You still won’t be able to divorce me! Hahaha!” Zachary finished laughing and said, “This is all because you’re greedy. If it weren’t for the fact that you took such good care of my parents, I wouldn’t even let you keep the house you’re living in now. Since you’re so insatiable, you can leave with nothing!” My anger had reached its peak, and I suddenly felt calm. I looked at him coldly, all the love and feelings I once had for him when we struggled together were gone. Time and again, I watched this man become more and more shameless and unfamiliar. He turned his head and sat on a small stool to fish, not looking at me, seemingly certain that I would leave after our argument like before. But this time, I didn’t. I picked up the fishing rod that had fallen to the ground during our scuffle and hit him hard on the head. Zachary fell to the ground. I threw the rod into the reservoir and turned to leave. When I got home, the first thing I did was find a good lawyer and ask for legal advice. “At that time, I wasn’t sure if he was alive or dead. Indeed, one shouldn’t do things that weigh on their conscience. I never imagined this scene would be witnessed by Zack Walsh. If I were him, I would have reported it to the police directly instead of hiding the body to blackmail me. If I go to jail, wouldn’t all the money be his?” I finished recounting the process of the incident to the two officers while smoking my third cigarette. I thought about how I had wasted my life on this scumbag, and it really wasn’t worth it. Detective Thompson stood up. “We understand the process of what happened. Next, we will charge you with intentional injury.” I was stunned for a moment, not understanding why it was intentional injury and not murder. Zachary had drowned, which meant that after Zack Walsh discovered this, he went to check on Zachary’s condition after I left. Zachary wasn’t dead; he had just passed out. After considering for a while, Zack dragged Zachary into the bushes, waiting for him to die there. That’s why he didn’t dare to report it to the police and wouldn’t have reported it. “If the case could be closed like this, that would be for the best,” Detective Miller sighed deeply. Detective Edwards continued, “According to Zack Walsh’s statement, he only ignored Zachary’s death and didn’t push him into the water.” “Moreover, he said he knew Zachary was there because Sophie Jenkins told him.” Detective Wilson asked, “Could he be lying?” “We did find an abandoned phone at the scene where Zachary was killed, and there were multiple missed calls from Sophie Jenkins on it. If it was just a normal drowning, we could consider that Zachary woke up and fell into the lake due to a concussion. Sigh!” “We need to be rigorous in our investigation,” Detective Thompson, with years of criminal investigation experience, tapped the table to remind everyone not to let their thoughts wander too much. “There are still things we haven’t discovered about this case. First, where did Zachary’s fishing gear go? Second, who pushed Zachary into the reservoir? And third, the time of death.” At this moment, the forensic expert pushed open the door. “The time of death is here!” He handed the report to everyone. “There’s also an interesting thing. There were remnants of sleeping pills and undigested preserved plums in the victim’s stomach.”

I didn’t expect to be summoned for questioning again so soon. At this time, my lawyer was explaining to me how to defend myself. “Ms. Quinn, do you know what Zachary Walsh ate on the day of the incident?” Detective Thompson asked. I found this question strange. “To be honest, by that point in our relationship, I wouldn’t have cared if he ate dirt.” “Did you bring him anything to eat?” I was even more puzzled. “Putting aside why I would bring him anything, do you think he would eat anything I gave him?” “You like to eat preserved plum candy, don’t you? If Zachary had invited you to talk things over and brought you candy, would you have eaten it?” I sighed deeply. I don’t like preserved plum candy, but if he had come to talk things over properly, I probably would have. They let me go again. The source of the sleeping pills was found. It was in the preserved plum candy that Zachary ate before he left. According to Sophie Jenkins’ statement, she had made the candy by hand. Zachary had asked her to make it, intending for me to eat it. He had told her to put it in any food. Recently, Zachary had bought a large accidental death insurance policy for me, which was one of the reasons he was unwilling to divorce. Sophie thought this man was truly terrifying, wanting to kill his wife when their relationship had broken down. But Sophie couldn’t disobey him. When she first realized she had been tricked, she wanted to have an abortion and leave. But Zachary wouldn’t allow it. He threatened her with her private photos. Sophie’s reputation among Zachary’s family and friends was already bad, which was the result of Zachary’s threats. But back in her hometown, her parents still took pride in her. So she had no choice but to endure. So she put sleeping pills in the homemade preserved plum candy. Because she was pregnant and craving sour and sweet things, it wouldn’t arouse Zachary’s suspicion. When Zachary drove alone to go fishing, Sophie called to sweet-talk him into eating the candy. She hoped Zachary would have an accident on the way due to the effects of the drug. Because if anything happened to Zachary, she wouldn’t have to live with a guilty conscience. If Zachary died, that would be even better. She wouldn’t have to endure a despicable man without dignity, wouldn’t have to worry about being controlled without financial freedom, work freedom, or social freedom, and wouldn’t have to constantly fear being abandoned when she had nothing. She casually told Zack Walsh that Zachary would come into some money soon, and informed him of Zachary’s recent schedule. Zack Walsh, who had no money and was deeply in debt, would definitely go find Zachary. This way, he would be the first to discover Zachary, whether alive or dead. No matter what state Zachary was in, Zack Walsh would notify her. Because notifying her might get him money, but notifying me would definitely not get him any money. But what she didn’t expect was that Zachary disappeared. So Sophie lived in constant fear and anxiety, waiting for judgment. She was afraid he was alive, and afraid he was dead. She was worried that not reporting it would make her suspicious, so she was the first to file a police report, and desperately tried to frame me. Because she knew that no matter whether Zack Walsh went to find Zachary or not, I would definitely go. Sophie was also charged with responsibility. When I heard this news, I laughed coldly but didn’t say much. But the case wasn’t over yet. Both Sophie and I had motives, but according to our statements, neither of us committed the crime. Because Zachary didn’t just drown; there was more to it.

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “NovelMaster” app 🔍 search for “294769”, and watch the full series ✨! #NovelMaster #现实主义Realistic #惊悚Thriller #重生Reborn #魔幻Magic #励志Inspiring #浪漫Romance

After graduating from high school, my adopted sister got into a diploma mill, while I was accepted into Oxford University. My dad rewarded her with an apartment, but kicked me out of the house. Jade waved the property deed in front of me, gloating. “Amelia, what does it matter if you’re their biological daughter? You’ll never be able to compete with me.” The next day, I moved into the most expensive villa in the city, tears in my eyes. “Now this is fitting for an heiress! Haha!” Jade was the daughter of my dad’s good friend. Her mother died when she was young, and when she was ten, her father died in an accident at a construction site. My parents felt sorry for her and adopted her, thinking I’d have a companion. Little did they know, she would try to gradually replace me and take everything for herself. Of course, how could a child raised with a privileged education lose to an outsider putting on an innocent act? The day before my interview, Jade bought bubble tea for everyone in our class. She even made a grand announcement from the teacher’s podium. “I’ll cover the cost of our class gathering dinner.” Everyone cheered and praised her from below. As the noise died down, Fiona Taylor, who sat in front of me, deliberately spoke loudly with a sarcastic tone. “Jade, you’re so generous! Not like some people who have money but won’t even treat everyone to a few dollars’ worth of bubble tea.” Since middle school, Jade had been pretending not to know me at school. She was afraid that my outfit without designer logos would be associated with her. I rested my left cheek on my hand, watching these hypocrites praising each other. When Jade brought the bubble tea to me, she pretended to be kind. “Amelia, don’t mind what Fiona said. She’s just straightforward, try to understand.” I ignored her, rolled my eyes, and reached for my textbook. “Splash!” The bubble tea that had been sitting steadily on the desk suddenly spilled all over the floor. While I was still staring at the spilled tea in confusion, Jade was already playing the victim beside me. “Amelia, if you hate me, just say it. There’s no need for this.” All the students who had been focused on their homework looked up at the commotion. Fiona immediately stood up and went to Jade’s side, supporting her swaying body. “Amelia, Jade was kind enough to buy bubble tea for everyone. Not only are you ungrateful, but you’re also wasting her kindness. How can you be so heartless!” This works? What a manipulative bitch. Jade could go straight to the Film Academy with her acting skills. Seeing that the whole class was looking at her with sympathy, I knew that no matter how I explained, it would be useless. I glanced at the camera on top of the podium. Let’s see how you’ll act your way out of this one. “If everyone thinks I’m bullying her, then let’s go to the office and check the camera footage!” Hearing about the camera, Jade, who had been acting weak and pitiful, immediately came forward and grabbed my hand. “Amelia, I don’t want to make a big deal out of this. If you don’t want to apologize, let’s just forget about it.” “Framing someone and then playing innocent?” Before I could speak, a deep, sarcastic male voice came from behind.

I turned back in surprise. It took me a moment to remember. He was Henry Carter, a repeating student who had just transferred to our class. I had been so focused on studying that I hadn’t paid much attention to him before. Jade’s scheme had been exposed in front of everyone. Her eyes filled with tears as she bit her lip. “Henry, don’t say that. It was clearly her…” “Cut the crap. If you have any shame left, clean up the mess on the floor and go back to your seat to do your homework. Stop chirping here and disturbing my sleep.” Henry impatiently interrupted her. At this point, the classmates were all whispering and gossiping about Jade. Jade glared at me hatefully and ran back to her seat, pretending to sob. Tsk tsk, how pitiful~ Haha, serves her right! Seeing the situation, Fiona didn’t dare to be arrogant anymore and quietly shrank back to her seat. I covered my mouth and lowered my head, secretly laughing.

When I returned home after school in the afternoon. Jade tactfully told my parents about what happened at school. Without distinguishing right from wrong, my dad immediately asked me to apologize to Jade at the dinner table. “Amelia, how could you throw such a tantrum? Quickly apologize to Jade.” I looked up and saw Jade flash a challenging smile in the moments when my parents weren’t looking at her. As soon as my dad turned his gaze to her, she put on a teary-eyed act. “Dad, maybe Amelia was just in a bad mood. Don’t blame her.” Bad mood my ass. I had received an offer from Oxford University, I was in a good mood every day. Hearing this, my dad became even more convinced that I was being unreasonable. “Jade, don’t speak up for her. She’s just been spoiled since childhood.” I calmly put down my chopsticks and responded quietly. “Dad, I didn’t do anything wrong. Jade is twisting the facts.” My dad had always been very strict with me. Because they only had one daughter, he and mom didn’t allow for any mistakes in my upbringing. They always admonished me not to be too willful, not to be ostentatious, to be humble. When Jade threw tantrums, was arrogant, and overbearing, they never disciplined her. If it weren’t for the fact that her last name was Foster and mine was Wilson, I would have doubted whether I was their biological daughter. This was the first time I had ever talked back to him like this, and I could see he was holding back his anger. “Amelia, your father is just looking out for you. You can’t be so willful in life,” my mom came to my side and tried to persuade me in a low voice. Ever since Jade came to our family, my parents always believed her side of the story and did whatever she said. This time, I really exploded! “Ever since she came into this family, you’ve always listened to her side of the story, and everything I say is wrong. I said it wasn’t me, so it wasn’t me!” My dad finally couldn’t hold back. He slammed his bowl on the dining table and raised his hand to strike me. I gritted my teeth and glared at him, not showing any fear at all. In the end, he couldn’t bring himself to hit me. He sighed and lectured me. “Amelia, Dad just hopes you can be a magnanimous person, not so petty.” Hah, magnanimous. I’ve already been magnanimous enough, so much so that my mom and dad have almost become hers.

Since she came into the Wilson family, she’s known how to please my parents. The most common things I heard from my parents were: “Amelia, look how well-behaved Jade is, she never gives us any trouble.” “Amelia, you need to learn to be independent. Jade has been without parents since she was little, you should be more understanding of her.” “Jade is so good, at such a young age she already knows how to think of us.” … I’ve had enough of these words. What’s the difference between having parents and not having them in a family like this? They only know that Jade has no parents and needs to be given fatherly and motherly love, but what about me? Letting Jade parasitize the Wilson family for so many years, it’s time for me to take back the familial love that belongs to me. This was the first time in many years that I had such an unpleasant argument with my parents. I’ll deal with that little bitch after the interview in a few days. That night, I took a shower and lay down in bed to sleep peacefully. “Bang!” The door was kicked open by someone. Whoever it is, disturbing this young lady’s beauty sleep, don’t expect to walk out of this room in one piece. No need to guess, it must be that bitch. My parents happened to be on a business trip abroad tonight, she’s dead meat. She stood in front of me arrogantly with her arms crossed. “Amelia, didn’t you already receive an offer from Oxford University? Why are you still going for an interview? What are you pretending for?” This person has completely worn away my patience. I was originally planning to let her have a few good days. But since she’s asking for a beating, I’ll grant her wish. I got up stretching lazily, giving her a disdainful look. Ugh, how disgusting. “Yes, I’m pretending. Why shouldn’t I show off when I have the ability to?” Jade sneered. “Amelia, no matter how hard you try, Mom and Dad will only listen to me. In their hearts, you’re just a spoiled daughter.” “Jade, I really don’t know what’s going on in your head. My last name is Wilson and yours is Foster. The Wilson family will eventually be mine. If you don’t try to please me now and instead provoke me, the consequences will be very bad for you.” Jade hated nothing more than her last name being Foster. Previously, she had hinted several times that she wanted my dad to change her last name to Wilson, but was always rejected by my dad. My dad might be loyal to his friends, but he’s not stupid enough to let an outsider compete with his own daughter for the family fortune. Jade was angered by my retort and lunged at me, trying to grab my hair. What she and my parents didn’t know was that while she was attending those art classes that I had already mastered in middle school, I was learning Taekwondo. I dodged to the side and grabbed her long hair, pulling it back. “Ah! Amelia, you dare hit me, I’m going to tell Mom and Dad!” I pinned her to the ground and quickly slapped her twice. Her fair cheeks immediately showed the imprint of my hand. Hah! I’m not the saintly protagonist from some tragic drama. I’ve always been the one hitting others, never the one being hit. Except by my dad! “Since you said I hit you even when I didn’t, I might as well not lose out.” “You dare!” Still talking tough while pinned down! “Slap!” I gave her another backhand slap. “This slap is to tell you not to provoke me when I’m sleeping.” Jade howled beneath me. “Ahh! Amelia, I’m going to kill you…” “Slap!” Another slap for her. “You can scream your throat raw tonight, Mom and Dad won’t come to save you.” I only stopped beating her when she begged for mercy, then I dragged her up. I kicked her out the door. Shut the door! That felt good. This is how you should deal with people like her. Warm-up complete, now I can sleep well.

In the morning. I got up early to wash up. I put everything I needed to prepare into my bag. After getting ready, I went downstairs and saw a shocking sight. Jade had actually gotten up so early, and she was in the kitchen. This was the first time in eight years since she came to our family that I’d seen her making breakfast! I glanced out the window, wondering if I should bring an umbrella. It must be about to rain heavily. Seeing me come downstairs, Jade ran over to me with that swollen smiling face. I leaned back in disgust. Her tone had also become much gentler. “Amelia, I made breakfast for you. Let’s go to the interview together after we eat.” There’s no such thing as a free lunch, she must be up to something. I squinted at the exquisite breakfast on the table. A voice in my heart told me not to eat it. She couldn’t have tampered with the breakfast, could she? Seeing that I wasn’t touching the utensils, Jade urgently urged me from the side. “If you don’t eat now, we’ll be late. We have an interview today.” I gave her a cold sidelong glance, and she quickly ate her portion clean. “I’ve finished mine, are you satisfied now?” I used a fork to pick up a small section of sausage. Jade watched me with an expectant face, as if she couldn’t wait for me to eat it immediately. As the sausage reached my mouth, I stopped. “This sausage is too greasy, I’ve lost my appetite. Let’s go to school.” “Bang!” Jade angrily slammed the table as she stood up. “Amelia, don’t push your luck. I got up early to make breakfast for you and you dare not eat it!” Looks like it didn’t go according to her expectations, and now she’s furious. “Jade, you know very well who you are. I’m the genuine heiress of this family, it’s your honor to make breakfast for me.” I held up the milk and extended it to her. “Do you dare say you didn’t tamper with this food?” Jade looked at the milk, her confidence immediately deflating. She started putting on her innocent, pitiful act again. “Amelia, I was too excited earlier and didn’t express myself well. I really made breakfast for you with sincere intentions.” “Alright, if that’s the case, drink this milk and I’ll let bygones be bygones.” “Amelia! You…” Faced with this glass of milk, Jade actually retreated a few steps in fear. I knew this bitch was up to no good. I continued to hold the milk up to her mouth, and she turned pale with fright. “Enough! Amelia!”

How did Dad come back? Wasn’t he supposed to be on a business trip for a week? I looked towards the door, Dad seemed to have rushed back, I didn’t even see his luggage. He walked over and swatted the milk out of my hand onto the floor. Jade immediately hid behind him. Crying pitifully. “Dad, last night Amelia beat my face swollen and wasn’t satisfied. This morning I made her breakfast to make her happy, but Amelia actually thought I was trying to poison her.” Dad saw her red and swollen cheeks and immediately believed her side of the story. “Amelia, if Jade hadn’t posted on Instagram last night and we saw it, we wouldn’t have known you hit her so hard. You’re getting more and more out of hand!” Hah, so that’s why she did it, to let Mom and Dad see. I’m not some stupid protagonist from a depressing story who lets an outsider suppress me. “Jade, stop acting weak in front of Dad. If you didn’t poison it, then eat my portion!” She’s really good at acting, this bitch! I grabbed her from behind Dad and pressed her head towards the breakfast plate. She screamed in fear. “Dad, save me! Amelia, what have I done to offend you? Just because I told Dad you bullied me at school, you’re treating me like this?” “Amelia, what are you doing! You dare to act like this in front of me!” Dad pulled me away, his hand raised to strike me. “Young miss, please stop fighting. You have an interview today and you’ll be late if you don’t leave now!” The family driver, Uncle Lee, appeared just in time, and Dad’s hand stopped in mid-air. He glared at me angrily, with a look of disappointment. “Amelia, after your interview, move out of this house. You need to go out and experience life. You’re too willful and unreasonable.” I didn’t argue, just felt disappointed by Dad’s bias. I picked up my bag and walked straight out the door. 6. After the college entrance exam, I packed all my clothes and called a moving company. I absolutely won’t stay in this house for another second. Jade came to my room, strutting arrogantly. She waved the property deed in front of me, gloating. “Amelia, what does it matter if you’re their biological daughter? You’ll never be able to compete with me.” “Dad said that whether or not I can get into college, he’ll arrange everything for me in the future. This house is his gift for my coming of age.” I pretended to approach her with a dejected face. “Jade, you’re so lucky. I have nothing, even if I got accepted into Oxford University, what’s the use?” Jade thought I was really beaten down by her scheme. She leaned in close to my ear, gloating. “Amelia, even though you didn’t get any rewards, at least you got into Oxford University. You can rent a place to live when you get to college, haha.” Looking at her smug expression, if she knew that this house originally belonged to her biological father, she’d probably be furious. A month before the interview, I accidentally overheard my parents talking about this house in the study. This house was bought by Jade’s father, who had saved money working at construction sites his whole life. He paid for it in full. Before he died, he left the property deed with my dad, to be given to her when she turned eighteen. Although it wasn’t in a great location, her biological father really loved her and made sure she had a safety net before he passed away. I never expected Jade to be so heartless. For the sake of becoming a rich heiress, she didn’t even want to keep her own last name. Moreover, her biological father was a taboo subject for her. She only acknowledged her identity as the young miss of the Wilson family. Her father’s identity as a worker only made her feel ashamed. Looking at her like this, I just found it laughable. I didn’t want to waste any more words on her. I’m moving into my big villa now!

When Grandpa found out I had been kicked out, he immediately gave me the most expensive villa in the city. He said that my acceptance into Oxford University brought glory to the family, and this was just the tip of the iceberg. In the future, all of the Wilson family’s assets would be mine. As soon as I arrived at the villa, the servants lined up to welcome me. This… is a bit too extravagant, isn’t it? I usually don’t like such a high-profile entrance, but who can refuse when their family is rich? Haha… “Welcome home, young miss!” At the end of the line of servants stood a small, white-haired old man in a suit, smiling kindly. That’s my grandpa. I immediately dropped my luggage and ran to him. “Grandpa!” “Oh my, my dear granddaughter, you seem to have grown taller.” I pouted, “Come on, we just saw each other last week, how could I change so quickly?” Grandpa laughed heartily and led me inside. The villa was very large, with a medieval-style interior, grand and luxurious. Grandpa first took me to sit in the pavilion. He had the servants bring some of my favorite cakes. I hadn’t eaten these cakes in a long time. Grandpa really loves me the most, it warmed my heart. I wolfed down several pieces. Seeing this, Grandpa frowned. “Did you suffer at your parents’ house? Tell Grandpa, I’ll go beat up your dad!” I drained my tea in one gulp. Pouting, I imitated Jade’s teary-eyed look and threw myself into Grandpa’s arms. “Grandpa~ They all bullied me~” I told Grandpa everything that had happened. After listening, Grandpa angrily slammed down his teacup.

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “NovelMaster” app 🔍 search for “294768”, and watch the full series ✨! #NovelMaster #现实主义Realistic #惊悚Thriller #重生Reborn #魔幻Magic #励志Inspiring #浪漫Romance

Emma didn’t do her winter break homework and got called to the principal’s office. I rushed to the school, fuming, only to discover her homeroom teacher was my arch-nemesis from high school. Emma hid behind me, giggling: “I did my research, sis. Our homeroom teacher is single. Don’t miss this chance.” What chance? The chance to get revenge for when he pantsed me in front of everyone back then?! In the office, Adrian glanced at me and quickly lowered his head, seemingly trying to hide a smirk. I never imagined that Emma’s new homeroom teacher would be Adrian. Everyone has a few people from their school days that they’ll never forget. As luck would have it, Adrian was that person for me. I cleared my throat, breaking the awkward silence. “Um, Mr. Huo, about Emma not doing her homework, it’s our fault as parents. We’re sorry about that.” Adrian pushed up his glasses and picked up a report card from his desk. “Emma’s grades are usually very good, and she’s been improving lately. But she suddenly stopped doing her homework these past couple days. I’ve asked her why, but she won’t tell me. That’s why I called you in.” I turned to look at Emma. She stuck out her tongue at me and said mysteriously: “This is all for your sake, you know.” Before I could process what she meant, Adrian asked: “What do you mean, ‘for her sake’?” I shot Emma a warning look, gritting my teeth: “What nonsense are you spouting?” Ignoring me, Emma quickly snatched her unfinished homework from Adrian’s desk and dashed towards the door. “Mr. Huo, I’ll go finish my homework now. You two can chat about the rest!” Emma vanished in a flash, leaving Adrian and me staring at each other awkwardly. What is that little devil up to now? The atmosphere in the office was tense. Despite the freezing temperature outside, I was sweating profusely. As I was about to wipe the beads of sweat from my forehead, I saw Adrian offer me a tissue. The tissue had a faint jasmine scent. Looks like Adrian’s taste hasn’t changed. “Thanks.” Adrian chuckled: “Since when did the Queen of the Moon become so polite?” I nearly choked. How could he still remember that ancient nickname? Well, if that’s how he wants to play it… “Long time no see, General Huo.” Adrian’s face finally showed a hint of embarrassment. “It has been a long time indeed.” I thought Adrian might say something like “long time no see, I’ve missed you,” but instead, he said: “No wonder Emma’s not doing her homework. Looks like you’ve been a bad influence.” I forced a smile, glaring at Adrian: “Maybe it’s just that the teacher isn’t very good?” “If I could teach even you properly, how could it be the teacher’s fault?” Adrian’s expression remained neutral, but I wanted to punch him. What kind of comment was that?! The atmosphere grew quiet again. Adrian sat at his desk flipping through lesson plans while I stood to the side, fidgeting. Come to think of it, it’s been seven years since we last saw each other. We were at a loss for words after so long. On the way home, I stared at the new contact in my phone, my mind drifting back to thirteen years ago. Adrian and I met in middle school when we were assigned as desk mates. Back then, he was the dumb son of a nouveau riche family, and I was a warmhearted tomboy. At first, I was pretty unhappy with my wimpy desk mate, but if anyone dared to bully him, it was like they were slapping me in the face! Maybe it was my influence, but he gradually became more and more sharp-tongued. We’d have small arguments every three days and big fights every five days, yet somehow we remained desk mates throughout. Of course, this wimpy desk mate had his good points too. He was great at studying. I managed to go from being at the bottom of the class to successfully applying for college, and that was largely thanks to his help. For a long time afterward, I suspected our homeroom teacher must have been blind. How could she not see Adrian and me fighting every day, yet still keep us as desk mates? When I got home, I was confused to see Mom had prepared a huge spread of dishes. “Mom, why did you cook so much?” Mom’s voice came from the kitchen: “Your aunt and cousin are coming over later. Oh right, how did it go at the school? Did Emma get in trouble?” “Oh, it was nothing. Just the new homeroom teacher getting to know the situation.” “That’s good. Emma has always been such an easy child, much better than you were in school. I still remember your teachers always telling me at parent-teacher conferences how you argued with your desk mate every day.” Mom said as she brought out a pot of soup from the kitchen. I pouted but didn’t say anything. After all, what Mom said was true. But now I was more worried about another issue – the uninvited guests, my aunt and cousin. Ever since we were kids, my cousin Vanessa always had to compete with me on everything. She’d come brag to me when she got better grades on finals, when she got into a better college than me, when she found a better job after graduation… I wonder what she wants to show off this time.

Soon enough, Vanessa arrived, strutting in with her swan-like neck and sitting on the sofa like some high-society lady. “Oh my, Lily, why is your makeup so cakey? I’ve told you before not to use cheap cosmetics. If you can’t afford good ones, just let me know. I’d be happy to buy some for you.” “Really, sis?” I pretended to be excited and grabbed Vanessa’s arm. “Then can you get me a set from Yves Saint Laurent?” Vanessa clearly wasn’t expecting me to be so thick-skinned. Her expression almost slipped. I’ve grown up over the years too. The old method of fighting fire with fire is outdated. These days, it’s all about sincerity. Sincerity is the ultimate weapon. Seeing the situation, Aunt Linda quickly changed the subject: “Lily, you have no idea how busy your cousin has been since she got promoted to manager. She doesn’t have time to go shopping for things like that anymore.” Aunt Linda emphasized the word “manager” heavily. Looks like this was the purpose of their visit. I pretended not to understand and continued: “Then I’ll just send Vanessa the link. All she has to do is pay.” Sensing the awkward atmosphere, Mom hurriedly called us to eat. I didn’t push it any further and happily sat down at the table to munch on my chicken wings. Mom knew what my aunt and cousin were like, but since she and Aunt Linda were sisters, she could only tune out when Aunt Linda started bragging. At the dinner table, Aunt Linda brought up Vanessa’s promotion to manager again. “Our Vanessa became a manager before she even turned 30. That’s quite an achievement in our family. But there’s even bigger news coming.” Vanessa blushed coyly and nudged Aunt Linda: “Mom, nothing’s confirmed yet. Don’t say anything.” Seeing Vanessa like this, Aunt Linda got even more excited. “I think Adrian is such a nice boy. You two should date seriously. Bring him over sometime to meet your aunt. Lily, you don’t have a boyfriend yet, right? You should start thinking about it. It gets harder to find a good match as you get older. Lily, you’ve always been so loud and boisterous. You can’t be like that after you get married.” Adrian? My heart skipped a beat. Was it the Adrian I was thinking of? Or just someone with the same name? Vanessa quickly answered my unspoken question. “Lily, you must know Adrian, right? He went to the same high school as you. I think you were even in the same grade?” I forced an awkward laugh: “How would I know any Adrian?” But Vanessa wouldn’t let it go: “Really? Adrian was the most popular guy in your high school. You didn’t know that?” I always knew Adrian was popular. In high school, lots of girls would crowd around our classroom door between classes to look at Adrian. They called him the “campus heartthrob” and “dream guy”. Many girls wrote him love letters. Some even gave their letters to me to pass on to him. When other classmates asked those girls why they trusted me to deliver the letters, weren’t they worried I might be a rival, the girls’ responses were quite cutting. They told me, “I can tell from the way you look at him that you’d never like Adrian.” Unfortunately, they were wrong. Mom noticed my strange expression and put a piece of steak on Vanessa’s plate. “Lily was always such a troublemaker in school. How could she remember any classmates? By the way, how did you two meet? What’s that boy’s family background like?” Mom’s questions successfully opened Aunt Linda’s floodgates. I couldn’t hear clearly what they said after that. My mind was filled with thoughts of Adrian. How could he be dating my cousin? That night, I tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep. The little moon-shaped night light on my bedside table cast a soft yellow glow. Adrian had given it to me when we graduated high school. I’d kept it all these years – seven years had passed in the blink of an eye. Yeah, we hadn’t been in touch for seven years. It was normal for him to have a girlfriend. But why did it have to be my cousin? I dreamed about Adrian that night too. I dreamed about us spilling ink on each other while fighting over a pen, getting punished to stand in the hallway for arguing during class, him trash-talking me while I was running… Days passed slowly. My parents suddenly had to go on a business trip and asked me to pick up Emma from school on the weekend. From far away, I could see Emma standing next to Adrian, waving at me. Don’t just wave, come over here! Emma showed no signs of walking over, so I had to steel myself and approach them. Adrian’s face was as handsome as ever, but thinking about him dating my cousin made my heart ache. Emma looked very excited. She grabbed my hand and said: “Sis, Mr. Huo is coming to our house for a home visit tomorrow.” Compared to my shocked expression, Adrian seemed quite calm. Adrian smiled at me: “Is Emma’s guardian okay with the home visit?” “Huh? Oh, sure.” “Sis, why don’t you send Mr. Huo our address? Didn’t you two exchange contact info?” “No need.” My mouth moved faster than my brain: “He knows it.” “Knows what?” I realized I’d misspoken and quickly covered: “I mean I know, I know. I’ll send it later.” “Then I’ll trouble Emma’s guardian.” I felt an intense gaze on me. My cheeks burned as I dragged Emma away, practically fleeing. On the way home, Emma asked if I’d been chatting with Adrian. The answer was of course no. Emma sighed in exasperation: “Oh Lily, what am I going to do with you? Mr. Huo is young, handsome, and rich. I worked so hard to set you two up. If you don’t make a move, someone else will snatch him up!” So this was Emma’s true motive for getting called to the principal’s office. I felt like such an idiot. I suddenly remembered my cousin’s situation. “Emma, are you sure your Mr. Huo really doesn’t have a girlfriend?” “Of course I’m sure. I investigated for ages.” Then what was going on with my cousin and him? I turned to glare at Emma: “Can’t you focus on your studies? Why are you always thinking about useless things?” “Studying is so simple, how much of my brain power could it possibly take? Look, I got first in the school again.” Now it was my turn to break out in a cold sweat. I wanted to say more, but Emma cut me off. “Sis, you’re not getting any younger. It’s time for you to start dating. Stop thinking about that night light guy.” “What night light guy?” “The guy who gave you that moon night light.” Are kids these days all so precocious? I feel like I’ve been left behind by the times. “Don’t be ridiculous. The one who gave me the night light was just a friend.” Emma looked at me like I was an idiot: “If he was just a normal friend, why do you treasure that night light so much? There’s even a love letter hidden under it.” “Emma! You actually read my love letter?!” That night, I typed and deleted messages in the chat window over and over. It was past 10 pm when I finally sent Adrian my home address. Adrian replied quickly. “I know.”

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “NovelMaster” app 🔍 search for “294767”, and watch the full series ✨! #NovelMaster #现实主义Realistic #惊悚Thriller #重生Reborn #魔幻Magic #励志Inspiring #浪漫Romance

Karen loved spreading rumors about me. I said, “This meat doesn’t seem fresh. Let’s not eat it to avoid getting sick.” Karen told others, “My daughter-in-law won’t let me eat meat.” I secretly bound Karen to a “Make It Real” system. Every lie she told would become reality. Karen always spread rumors about me. She liked to cook and do laundry for her son, taking care of him. Worried she might overexert herself, I said, “Let me do it. You shouldn’t tire yourself out.” She immediately went around the neighborhood spreading gossip: “My daughter-in-law thinks I’m not capable enough. Oh, how I suffer!” I tried to explain: “You misunderstood. I meant you should just enjoy life, and I’ll handle the chores.” She went around spreading more rumors: “My daughter-in-law told me to hurry up and enjoy life while I can. She said she has many years ahead, so she can do more work. This old lady doesn’t have much time left, you know.” Over time, everyone in the neighborhood knew me as the “wicked daughter-in-law” who mistreated her mother-in-law. My reputation got worse and worse. People would point and whisper about me whenever I went out. I had no choice but to complain to my husband, Jack. But he was impatient: “Mom doesn’t mean any harm. Why are you making such a big deal out of it?” “So I’m just supposed to put up with this mistreatment?” My eyes welled up with tears. “It’s just people talking. You haven’t lost a pound of flesh, have you? Stop being so dramatic.” Jack ignored me, picked up his phone, and went to his room to play games. He even locked the door, claiming he didn’t want me to disturb his gaming session. But I could faintly hear a female teammate’s coy voice coming from the room. I was heartbroken. This family – not a single decent person among them. “My birthday is next week. Make some arrangements, will you?” Karen came over with a smug smile. If you didn’t know better, you’d think she was a kind and gentle mother-in-law with that fake sweet demeanor. Well then, I’ll give them one last chance.

I made a reservation at a restaurant in advance. It was a well-reviewed establishment that served Karen’s hometown cuisine. I figured she’d like it. I also bought her a bracelet as a birthday gift. On her birthday, I took Karen to the restaurant and ordered many of her favorite dishes. She was beaming with joy, praising me for being so thoughtful. I presented her with the bracelet, and her shrewd eyes lit up: “My dear daughter-in-law, I knew I was right to treat you well.” Jack looked at me approvingly. The whole family seemed satisfied with the birthday arrangements. I thought this might finally ease the tension between us. But Karen started gossiping again: “Oh my, that daughter-in-law of mine! She couldn’t even be bothered to cook for me on my birthday. She insisted on wasting my son’s money at some fancy restaurant. Young people these days just don’t know the value of money!” “And she gave me a bracelet. What use does an old woman like me have for such things?” These rumors quickly reached my ears. I was completely disillusioned with them. I would make them pay for this. That night in my dreams, a voice asked what I wished for. I said, “Since Karen loves to spread rumors, let all her lies become reality.”

When I woke up, Karen was chatting with the neighbors in the community as usual. She raised her voice dramatically: “My daughter-in-law won’t let me take a shower. Can you believe it? Who doesn’t let people shower?” In reality, last night when I was in the middle of my shower, she had insisted on going first. I was covered in soap bubbles at the time, so I said, “Wait a moment, let me rinse off first.” Just like that, I became the bizarre daughter-in-law who wouldn’t let her mother-in-law shower in others’ eyes. But I wasn’t upset, because the system on Karen had taken effect. That evening, when I was in the middle of my shower, Karen once again demanded that I get out so she could go first. Before I could even process it, my body automatically responded, “I’m sorry, Mom. Could you wait a bit?” Then I took my time finishing my shower. Just as I was about to turn off the water, the supply suddenly cut off. Soon after, a notice about an emergency water outage came through on the property management SnapChat group. Karen couldn’t take her shower and was very uncomfortable. The next day, she predictably spread more rumors: “My daughter-in-law deliberately dragged out her shower time to prevent me from bathing.” So that night, I showered exactly as she said – slowly and meticulously. I washed every inch of my body, exfoliated, and even applied body lotion. By the time I finished the whole skincare routine, an hour and a half had passed. Just as I got out, another water outage notice came from the property management. Karen glared at me, then started arguing with the property management in the group chat. She angrily sent dozens of 60-second voice messages, being extremely aggressive. The property management responded at first but eventually stopped replying. Furious, she cursed: “Useless bunch! I hope you all lose your jobs tomorrow!”

Sure enough, all the property management staff were laid off the next day, but no new staff were hired to replace them. Coincidentally, the neighbor across from us was renovating their balcony, which blocked the light from Karen’s bedroom. The neighbor was a fierce old lady with a muscular son, so Karen didn’t dare confront them directly. She wanted to complain to the property management instead. But since all the staff had been laid off, there was no one to handle the issue. Karen was beside herself with frustration. She started cursing at the neighbor’s house: “What’s the point of renovating? It’s just a stupid balcony. It won’t be any use even after it’s done.” A few days later, we heard that the neighbor’s son had been promoted and transferred to a big city. He was taking the whole family with him. When Karen heard this news, she was furious but couldn’t do anything about it since the neighbors had already moved away. With nowhere to vent her anger, she came to pick on me again: “Look at other people’s children. Why can’t you take me to a big city?” “Well, that’s because their son is capable. Why don’t you ask your own son?” I retorted. “You… you useless thing! Be careful, or my son might leave you. There were plenty of girls who liked him back then!” Karen snapped, her spit nearly flying in my face. But her words played right into my hands. I replied nonchalantly, “That’s right. Since so many girls liked your son, why don’t you find him a rich one?” “Oh, you have a point.” The old woman dropped her act in front of me, her eyes gleaming with greed. Perhaps she had also noticed that everything she said lately was coming true. She continued to flaunt her power: “You two should get divorced right away. My son will bring home a rich daughter-in-law soon!” “Alright then.” I immediately picked up my phone, ready to call Jack. Karen was stunned, not knowing what to say for a moment. In the past, I had always been good-tempered and prone to compromise. She had never seen me act like this before. Hearing me suddenly agree to divorce, she felt a bit uneasy. But then she thought that her words would surely come true, and Jack would definitely bring home a rich daughter-in-law tomorrow. She relaxed and cleared her throat, putting on airs in front of me again: “Don’t blame me for being too cruel. It’s your own fault for not having children or giving me money all these years of marriage. I’ve already been more than fair to you.” These past few years were crucial for the growth of my career. Although I had a soft personality, I would never give up my career just to have children. As for giving them money, I always bought whatever they needed or wanted, and even gave them pocket money from time to time. Perhaps in the eyes of such greedy people, I would only be considered filial if I handed over my entire salary. But now, I was about to start a brand new life. This family would have to face the consequences of their actions.

Jack answered the phone and readily agreed to the divorce. Although he tried to hide it, he couldn’t conceal his excitement. Karen was also at ease now. She started cursing me as she used to: “I’m not exaggerating, but women like you won’t find any man who wants you. With no husband and no children, you’ll just grow old alone!” Hearing this, I almost laughed out loud. In her shallow, backward thinking, not being able to get married and not having children were the worst curses for a woman. I found her pitiful and didn’t bother to say more. I immediately started packing my belongings to leave. I was halfway through packing when Jack returned with his new love interest. The woman clinging to Jack’s arm was beautiful, wearing a plain, light-colored dress and nestling coyly in his embrace, looking every bit the perfect wife. “Oh my, is this my new daughter-in-law? She looks like the daughter of a rich family at first glance. I can tell she’s very virtuous,” Karen said, grinning from ear to ear. The woman blushed shyly: “Auntie, you’re too kind. My father just owns a small company, it’s not much really.” “Don’t call me auntie, call me Mom!” Karen naturally took her hand. Well, I shouldn’t call her Karen anymore. I should call her Karen now. The woman seemed a bit flustered by Karen’s enthusiasm. Jack gently intervened: “Her name is Sophia. You can just call her Sophia, Mom.” Sophia. Of course it was her. When I suspected Jack of cheating, I checked his phone and found shopping orders with Sophia’s name as the recipient. Coincidentally, she was the daughter of a major client at my company. As Karen said, she was indeed a rich man’s daughter, genuinely wealthy. But…

After the divorce, I threw myself into work, bringing huge profits to the company. My boss greatly appreciated me and decided to promote me with a substantial raise. Karen still couldn’t shake her gossipy habits and kept sending me SnapChat messages bragging about Jack and Sophia’s happy life: “Sophia cooks voluntarily, and her cooking is excellent. You should really learn from her.” “Of course, I’ll learn well. So I can prepare a feast for you when I visit your grave,” I replied. Karen stopped responding. I found it amusing, like playing with a virtual pet. Recently, our company’s collaboration with Sophia’s father, Robert, achieved a significant milestone with high profits. My boss was very pleased. After my promotion, my boss valued me even more and assigned me to attend a dinner to build a good relationship with Robert. I gladly accepted. At the dinner, Robert brought Sophia along. After a few drinks, Robert squinted at me with drunken eyes: “You look quite pretty.” “You’re drunk. Let me have the driver take you home to rest,” Sophia quickly intervened before I could speak. “Thank you,” I said with relief, looking gratefully at Sophia. Robert was a well-known lecher, and everyone knew it. My boss sending me to this dinner was precisely because of this. Sophia tucked a strand of her smooth hair behind her ear and glanced at me casually: “I should be the one thanking you.” 8. With Sophia’s help, I successfully completed the collaboration with Robert. My boss was delighted and gave me a big bonus. My virtual pet Karen sent her usual greeting right on time: “I heard Sophia’s father’s business is booming lately. He made a fortune. We’re about to live the good life!” “Yes, that’s right. But it’s most important to hold the power in your own hands. You should arrange for Jack to work in Sophia’s father’s company,” I deliberately guided Karen. “Oh, you’re right. You finally said something useful,” she replied. Soon after, Sophia told me that Jack’s family was crying and making a fuss about wanting to work in their family company. Robert thought his son-in-law had potential, so he not only arranged an important position for Jack but also gave him some shares in the company. This made Jack ecstatic, and his family became even more arrogant and domineering. Karen went around bragging like a loudspeaker: “Our Jack is going to make big money!” Not long after, news came that Jack had been hospitalized. It turned out he had been hit by a car and broke his leg. The car owner was wealthy and, fearing trouble, immediately compensated Jack with $100,000 to avoid further responsibility. I almost laughed myself silly when I heard the news. Make big money? Indeed, he did.

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “NovelMaster” app 🔍 search for “294766”, and watch the full series ✨! #NovelMaster #现实主义Realistic #惊悚Thriller #重生Reborn #魔幻Magic #励志Inspiring

I was working at a bar when I saw my girlfriend dirty dancing with my trust fund roommate. In a fit of rage, I went home and inherited a billion-dollar fortune. Later, when my trust fund roommate publicly declared himself the young master of the Landson family, I almost laughed out loud. How come I’d never heard I had a brother? My dad transferred me $200, saying it was what was left after selling this year’s ducks and buying new ducklings. He told me to treat myself to a nice meal. Looking at my dad’s message, tears welled up in my eyes. I transferred the money right back. “Dad, keep the money to buy yourself some new clothes. I’m working three jobs now, I can totally support myself!” Putting away my phone, I wiped the plates with renewed vigor. At 8 PM, I quickly hopped on a shared bike to head to my next job. Though my family was poor, making a living by raising and selling ducks, I was lucky enough to have found a girlfriend who truly loved me. In just three days, it would be our one-year anniversary. I loved Tina with all my heart. When she wasn’t feeling well, I’d buy her lots of supplements. She loved looking pretty, so I’d work extra shifts to buy her new clothes and jewelry. At that moment, I was silently calculating that when this week’s paycheck came, I could buy Tina a necklace and treat her to a fancy dinner. Before I knew it, I had arrived at my last job of the day – Blue Ocean Bar. Manager Zhang cursed at me, “Lucas, why are you so late? Mr. Chad is here tonight, we’re swamped.” I quickly put on my uniform. “Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of Mr. Chad.” Chad was a well-known trust fund kid in the city and also my college roommate. He had always been a big shot on campus. Because I couldn’t be bothered to flatter him like the other roommates, drinking with him and playing games, Chad had never liked me much. Now he was drinking happily, and at his signal, one of his lackeys shouted, “Tonight’s drinks are on Mr. Chad!” The whole place erupted, the music growing even more upbeat. I carried a tray to Chad’s table, lowering my head to pour him a drink. Unexpectedly, another roommate Leo was there too. He used to always steal my stuff in the dorm, and after a big fight, we had completely fallen out. Seeing me, Leo finally found a chance to mock me. “Well if it isn’t our star student Lucas. You act so high and mighty at school, but here you are working as a bartender behind everyone’s backs?” Almost everyone at the table was in my class. Hearing this, they all looked at me in surprise. I kept my head down, silently doing my job. I was about to leave for the next table when I caught a glimpse of a familiar figure. Tina, who always claimed to be feeling unwell, was dancing provocatively in heavy makeup and hot pants, throwing herself into Chad’s arms. I stared in disbelief, the tray falling from my hands. To make sure I wasn’t seeing things, I grabbed the girl’s wrist and pulled her close. It really was Tina.

Tina was also startled to see me, frowning as she told me to let go. Without realizing it, my grip had tightened, turning her face pale. Chad kicked me to the ground and looked down at me with disdain. “Why are you hanging out with this trash?” Tina weakly leaned into Chad’s arms, tears falling. The scene made my blood boil. I punched Chad to the ground, pointing at his nose and cursing. “Have you no shame? This is my girlfriend!” Leo piped up, yelling, “Your family just raises ducks for a living. What made you think anyone would be interested in you? Chad could ruin you and your family with the snap of his fingers!” Manager Zhang had people throw me out of the bar, cursing me as a troublemaker. I wandered the streets in a daze. Memories of my time with Tina floated through my mind, bursting like bubbles at the slightest touch. Maybe Leo was right. How could anyone look at me twice? Just then, my phone rang. It was a message from my dad. “Son, come home for a bit. Dad has something important to tell you!” Since I didn’t need to buy Tina a necklace anymore, I splurged on a taxi home. When I got there, I saw my dad directing workers to move things. Remembering my dad’s serious tone on the phone, I had a bad feeling. “Dad, did something happen to our family?” My dad was too busy to answer me, so I kept pestering him. “Are we short on money and need to sell the house? How much do we need?” I started regretting taking a taxi home and planned to find two more jobs to help support the family. But my dad just laughed. “Son, you know about Landson Corp?” Of course I knew Landson Corp, a mega-rich company with over 10 skyscrapers. I could work my whole life and never come close to their level. “But what does Landson have to do with us? Aren’t we just duck farmers?” My dad smiled. “Duck farming is just one of our poverty alleviation industries. We have 30 other industries too!” My dad held up three fingers. I was still in shock. Just then, a well-dressed man came over and respectfully said to my dad, “Mr. Landson, we’re almost done moving everything.” My dad nodded slightly. “Be careful on the road. These are all the memories my son and I have from over the years.” I was so excited I could barely speak. “Dad, what did he just call you?” At that moment, my phone buzzed. I looked at the message: “Bank transfer received: $1,000,000.” My dad patted my shoulder. “Your dad is Mr. Landson. Son, all of this was a test for you. Now that I’ve seen you’re willing to work three jobs instead of asking your family for money, I know you’ve passed the test.”

The butler helped me move into a villa in the east side of town. It was decorated lavishly – I still wasn’t used to the change in status. “Young master, please let me know if you need anything.” I looked at the stern-faced man and tentatively asked, “Can you help me recover the chat history on my computer?” “Of course, young master.” Tina always deleted all traces after using my computer. Once when she logged into her SnapChat on my computer while I was looking something up, she got angry and told me not to touch it. I was certain she was hiding something from me on her SnapChat. The butler truly was capable of anything. He quickly recovered the chat history for me. Looking at the screen full of flirtatious messages between Tina and Chad, my hands trembled slightly. It turned out that while I was staying up late revising her papers, she was out on dates with Chad watching movies. When I was working three jobs a day to buy her a gift, she was doing unspeakable things in Chad’s car. When I was worried sick because I couldn’t reach her on the phone, she was drinking all night with Chad at bars. Even when Tina got angry saying I was disturbing her studying, she was asking Chad why he wasn’t coming to see her, if he had found a new girl. Tina wouldn’t even kiss me, saying she wanted to save it for our wedding day. But she was doing the complete opposite with Chad, their chats incredibly explicit. The bags I saved up to buy her, she used as trash bags for Chad to throw up in when he was drunk. Since she cherished them so little, we might as well settle the score. I gathered all the records of money I spent on Tina, transfers I made, gifts I bought over the years, along with these explicit chats, and made them into a PowerPoint presentation. I sent it to Tina and Chad’s shared thesis advisor. Professor Liu was known for being strict and upright. I didn’t need to do anything more.

The next day back at the dorm, Leo saw I hadn’t come back all night and started mocking me. “Weren’t you all tough yesterday, punching people? How come you didn’t even dare come back to the dorm last night?” I asked, “Where’s Chad?” Leo’s face twisted into a lewd grin. “Of course he’s spending the night with your precious Tina!” I kept my expression neutral. “Oh, I guess rats from the gutter and cheating dogs really are a perfect match. “And stop calling her ‘my Tina’. We’re not together anymore.” Just then, Chad stormed in looking furious. He grabbed my collar. “Did you do this?” I calmly gripped the hand holding my collar. A cracking sound came from his joints. I may not have had much, but working all those jobs had made me strong. Chad was no match for me. He let go in pain. I whispered in his ear, “If you don’t start showing me some respect, I don’t mind sending this PowerPoint to the whole internet.” Coming out of the dorm, the sun was shining and a gentle breeze lifted my mood. My phone rang. It was Tina, crying. “Lucas, why did you do this? Don’t you care about our relationship at all?” I scoffed. “If you had any conscience at all, you wouldn’t be able to say that.” “Can’t you help me explain to Professor Liu that it was just a joke? Otherwise I’ll really be in trouble! “Aren’t you afraid I’ll never forgive you, that you’ll never get me back?” I simply hung up. She was still trying to threaten me, really thought I was a good backup plan. I had been busy lately learning about the company’s business, running around all day. Tina and Chad couldn’t find me anywhere. Later I heard from classmates that they both lost their grad school offers. That PowerPoint was still in my hands. Chad didn’t dare retaliate against me, he could only grit his teeth and bear it.

We were now in our senior year. After losing their grad school offers, Chad and Tina were planning to start job hunting. I now had a basic understanding of Landson Corp’s operations. My dad wanted me to intern at Landson, but to observe me in the role of an intern. Landson had always promoted based on merit, so the intern identity was what I needed. Starting from the bottom and working my way up was undoubtedly the fastest way to gain experience. Before I left, my dad called out to me, “Oh right, there’s a scholarship student I’ve been supporting who’s also coming to intern at the company. I think he’s in your major at your school.” My dad scratched his head, thinking hard for a while. “I remember he was quite a humble kid. What was his name again? Oh right, Chad.” I couldn’t help but chuckle when I heard this. “I do know him, but he’s not very humble at all.” Chad had always bragged about being a trust fund kid and a prince of the city’s elite. After returning to Landson, I had learned about the famous families in A City, but I hadn’t come across any surnamed Chen. I had always been curious which family Chad was from, but before I could ask my butler to look into it, it turned out a surprise was waiting for me here. I just hadn’t expected Chad himself to be a scholarship student. Instead of cherishing this hard-earned opportunity, he used the money my dad gave him to party, looking down on poor students like me back then, never even glancing at us. Since he wanted to come to Landson, let him come. After all, my dad had supported him financially. I might as well evaluate the results for my dad personally. At a class meeting to discuss everyone’s job plans, Chad and Tina were cuddling in their seats, completely disregarding that they were on campus. Seeing me arrive, Leo the bootlicker spoke up first: “Lucas, after what you did to Chad, you have the nerve to show your face?” “Oh? How did I hurt him? Do tell.” Leo’s voice had been incredibly loud, quickly drawing the attention of our classmates. Chad’s face darkened as he scolded Leo to shut up. I asked Leo back, “If Chad is so great, he could go study abroad if he didn’t get into grad school, why isn’t he going?” Leo stammered, unable to answer. Chad lazily spoke up, “My dad is in a hurry for me to take over Landson, so I can only cut my playtime short by a couple years.” With those words, the whole class erupted in whispers. “I knew Chad was rich, but I didn’t realize he was this rich. That’s Landson Corp we’re talking about.” “I heard from my cousin’s sister’s friend that Mrs. Landson’s surname is Chen. His dad must really love his wife to let him take her surname.” “Wow, it’s like a novel come to life. I’m totally shipping this.” “Lucas is such a clown. He has the nerve to mock others when he doesn’t even know what he’ll do after graduation.” “Don’t worry about that. I heard his family raises ducks. He always smells like ducks, he can just go back and inherit his dad’s duck farm.” Chad had clearly heard these comments too. He pulled Tina closer, looking at me provocatively. Just yesterday I had my butler deliberately leak false information to Chad that Landson had no heir. Now he already dared to openly claim this title. He really wasn’t afraid of death. I tuned out the mocking voices and reported my intention to intern at Landson to the class president. I left under the scrutinizing gazes of my classmates.

On the first day of the internship, Chad still couldn’t change his bad habits. He arrived late with Tina in tow, both bowing and scraping as the manager berated them for a long time. After the manager left, Tina glared daggers at his back and asked Chad, “Why don’t you have any face at your own family’s company?” Chad explained, “You just don’t understand. My dad arranged for me to learn from the bottom up. If I don’t keep it secret from them, how can the work go on? “Look at you, the future Mrs. Landson without an ounce of grace.” Tina playfully hit his chest, calling him naughty. But her smile froze when she saw me. “Lucas, you really did get into Landson.” I ignored them, taking my coffee back to my desk to continue organizing documents. Chad quickly caught on, whispering to Tina, “This guy only knows how to study. Landson probably just barely hired him after seeing his resume. A bookworm like him won’t last long.” The reality was quite the opposite. This bookworm received plenty of praise from the manager for outstanding work. As for Chad and Tina, they still couldn’t get the hang of things after countless explanations, getting yelled at daily. After one such scolding, Tina angrily threw a project book onto my desk, still using her old commanding tone: “Lucas, do this for me.” I couldn’t be bothered to look up at her, I still had a lot of work to finish. Seeing no reaction from me, Tina snatched the pen from my hand and demanded, “Lucas, what do you mean by this? How can you just ignore me? You weren’t like this before.” “How else should I treat you? Who are you to me?” Tina bit her lip, tears welling up in her eyes. She clearly wasn’t planning to give up. I took the project book and flipped through it briefly, feigning confusion as I asked, “Isn’t this all basic stuff? Didn’t Chad teach you? He is the young master of the Landson family after all. Surely he wouldn’t let his girlfriend stoop to begging me, a nobody.” I said this while staring straight at Chad. As expected, he angrily pulled Tina away. I don’t know what they schemed together, but when they came back, Tina had regained her haughty attitude, even giving a cold snort as she passed by me. A few days later, rumors spread through my project department that Chad was the Landson heir. He must have been desperate, resorting to his old tricks in the company. These rumors were exaggerated beyond belief. Even the manager dared not yell at Chad much lately. Chad humbly stated to the department that he was here to learn, and asked everyone not to leak the news of him being the heir. People around him gradually began to flatter him. You could see they really wanted to build a connection. “Young Master Chen, when you inherit the group, don’t forget about us old colleagues.” Chad agreed to everything, then began to mock me indirectly. “But we should still rely on Lucas. He’s always been a top student at school, even I couldn’t get close to him. Someone like that is bound to rise quickly in the company. I just don’t know if he’ll still look at us by then.” Those people were all shrewd. They quickly understood Chad’s meaning and joined in ridiculing me for being arrogant. But while Chad was gaining a reputation by relying on a non-existent identity, I was memorizing the company’s current internal branches and business models one by one. On the day of the project presentation, Chad volunteered to go on stage first to show his PowerPoint. As soon as I saw that PowerPoint, I laughed. So this is what he was waiting for.

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “NovelMaster” app 🔍 search for “294765”, and watch the full series ✨! #NovelMaster #现实主义Realistic #惊悚Thriller #重生Reborn #魔幻Magic #励志Inspiring