I grew up with Ryan Parker, and we got married right after college graduation. After ten years of marriage, I still couldn’t have children. I felt incredibly guilty towards him and willingly quit my job to focus on getting pregnant. But my husband had long been involved with my housekeeper’s daughter. They sold off my family’s assets and plotted to kill my parents. They made me infertile, locked me in the basement, and forced me to watch their happy family of four while I died full of hatred. When I opened my eyes again, I had returned to my senior year of high school. Ryan Parker and I had been engaged since childhood. The year I graduated from middle school, Ryan’s father’s company went bankrupt due to mismanagement. Unable to bear the enormous debt, Ryan’s father chose to jump off a building. My parents felt sorry for the orphaned Ryan and his widowed mother. They paid off their debts and covered all their expenses. In other words, my family was supporting them. After college graduation, Ryan started working at my family’s company and married me. My parents were kind-hearted, but they ended up raising two ungrateful wolves. Ryan and his mother resented my parents for not paying off their debts before his father’s suicide. They conspired with others to kill my parents. Ryan also made me infertile and used my guilt to take control of my family’s company. By the time I discovered all of this, Ryan and his mistress already had two children. That day, after countless attempts at IVF, I finally succeeded in getting pregnant. Excited, I ran downstairs to share the joyful news with my beloved husband. It was also the day my family’s company declared bankruptcy. Ryan finally didn’t need to keep up appearances with me anymore. He brought his two children to meet me. I stood stunned at the bottom of the stairs, looking at the happy family of four. The two children looked just like Ryan. I couldn’t even deceive myself. “Ryan Parker, who are they?” I asked. “My wife and sons,” he replied. Tessa, sporting a baby bump, walked over to me step by step. She was my housekeeper’s daughter. “Miss High-and-Mighty, what good is your status now?” she sneered. “Your family’s assets are mine, and your man loves me.” She snatched the report from my hand. “Oh my! You’re pregnant?! How is that possible after all those birth control pills?!” Birth control pills? I had never taken any. Suddenly, I remembered the vitamins Ryan had prepared for me, always reminding me to take them. I turned to confront him, but Tessa pushed me down the stairs. I instinctively tried to protect my belly, but it was futile. A sharp pain shot through my abdomen. I struggled, begging Ryan to take me to the hospital. I saw Ryan covering his sons’ eyes, looking at me like I was trash. “Save me…” I pleaded. No one paid any attention. I felt blood slowly seeping from between my legs, my body growing colder. In my final moments, I heard Ryan’s voice. “Finally dead. If only she had been in the same car as those two old fools, we wouldn’t have had so much trouble.”
“Chloe? Hello?” “This is Mrs. Chen’s class. How dare you zone out?” I found myself sitting in my high school classroom, as if waking from a long dream. I had returned to my senior year. “Tessa Thompson.” Hearing that name again, my hand clenched tightly around my pen. Tessa, with her high ponytail, stood up confidently from her seat to answer the teacher’s question. I turned my head slightly and saw Ryan through the gap of Tessa’s arm. And his eyes full of adoration. So Ryan had fallen for Tessa this early on. Ryan and Tessa consistently ranked first and second in our grade. In my previous life, they got into the same top university. I thought Ryan had fallen for her in college, but it turns out it was much earlier. Actually, at the beginning of high school, I was the top student. The kind that could beat the second place by dozens of points. Ryan always told me that my consistently outperforming him made him anxious. He said that with my family’s wealth, whether I went to college or not wouldn’t make much difference. He said his feelings for me wouldn’t change regardless of my grades, and that I should enjoy life instead of spending all my time studying. Gradually, influenced by him, I only got into an average college for my entrance exams. He, however, got into a top university along with Tessa. After we married, my ordinary degree became a reason for Ryan’s mother to look down on me. She felt that my average college education wasn’t good enough for her son who graduated from a top university. Thinking back now, I must have been out of my mind or kicked in the head by a donkey. Why did I pin my entire life on a man? And a man who relied on my family’s support, no less.
During the break, I buried my head in my books. Although I hadn’t completely neglected my studies in my later years, I wasn’t as diligent as I had been in my freshman year. Given a second chance at life, I was determined to catch up on everything I had fallen behind on. My deskmate nudged my arm. Ryan had come over. “Chloe, this is for you,” he said. Just like in my previous life, it was a star bottle. I caught a glimpse of the reluctance hidden in Ryan’s eyes. “Thanks,” I said casually. As if he had completed a task by giving it to me, he turned and left without wanting to linger a moment longer. I carelessly placed the star bottle on my desk and continued reading my book. My deskmate stared at the star bottle for a while, then nudged me again. “Chloe, about this star bottle…” “What about it?” I asked. “I think I’ve seen it with Tessa before…” I nodded, still appearing to be focused on my book, but I was listening intently and keeping an eye on Tessa from the corner of my eye. I saw Tessa listening to Ryan explain a problem with a coy expression. I also overheard Ryan’s cronies talking. “Why is Chloe so calm today?” “Yeah! Ryan gave her something, hand-delivered it! Shouldn’t she be crying with joy?” “You don’t think she knows it’s something Tessa rejected, do you?” “As if! Getting something Tessa doesn’t want is an honor for her!” I remembered that in my previous life, when I received this star bottle, I had indeed reacted just as those boys expected. I was excited. I cried with joy. It was one of the few gifts Ryan had ever given me. That day, I posted about it on all my social media accounts. Back then, my deskmate had said the same thing to me, but I had flown into a rage. I looked at my deskmate with guilt-ridden eyes. Her face, still chubby with baby fat, looked terrified. She crossed her arms defensively, “Girl, I’m straight!” Way to ruin the mood. I went back to reading my book.
After school, I couldn’t wait to get home. I missed my parents. I also wanted to tell them that I wanted to break off the engagement, that Ryan and his mother were ungrateful wretches. I excitedly rushed into the house but didn’t see a trace of my parents. I asked the butler, “Where are Mom and Dad?” “Miss, have you forgotten? The master and madam are abroad. They won’t be back for another two weeks.” Right, I had forgotten. I also realized something else. My father had always valued loyalty and friendship. He and Ryan’s father had been best friends, which was why he had paid off the Parker family’s debts after Ryan’s father died. If I suddenly brought up breaking off the engagement, Father would only think I was throwing a tantrum and definitely wouldn’t agree. But was I just going to let Ryan and his mother live comfortably for these two weeks? I couldn’t accept that. “Has the living allowance for the Parker family been given?” I asked. The butler replied, “Before the master left, he gave them three months’ worth of living expenses. It’s only been a month and a half.” The butler thought I wanted to give the Parker family their living allowance. As if I would. “Is it possible to freeze that card?” I asked. “You mean the one for the Parker family?” I nodded without hesitation. “That’s a card under the master’s name. It would require the master to do that.” If I couldn’t freeze the card, I could at least do some accounting. Since my middle school graduation, my family had been supporting Ryan and his mother. They needed to spit out every penny they had swallowed! “Gather all the records of payments made to the Parker family over the years. I want to see how much they owe us.” Back when Father had offered to pay for Ryan’s education, Ryan had been adamant about paying it back once he started working. The butler’s face showed confusion, but he couldn’t hide his smile. I wanted to slap myself hard. Even the butler could see that the Parker family was taking advantage of us. How had I been so blind in my previous life? During dinner, I received the account statement. “Thirty thousand dollars a month in expenses?!” Faced with my shocked expression, the butler nodded calmly. I only knew that my family was covering all the Parker family’s expenses, but I had no idea their spending was almost on par with my family, who lived in a mansion. “The master values loyalty, and young Mr. Parker is your fiancé. This amount of money is nothing to the master, so he didn’t pay much attention to it.” I ate my dinner with a cold expression. Now that my eyes were open, how could I let people treat my family like an ATM?
At the teacher’s suggestion, our class formed study groups. Ryan, Tessa, three other classmates, and I were in one group. On the weekend, we met at the city park to study and discuss problems together. Ryan and Tessa arrived together. Now that I was immersed in my studies, I had no reaction to seeing them together. “Chloe, that question you asked last week really stumped Ryan. He even came to me to discuss it,” Tessa said. I glanced at Tessa, who was trying to make conversation, and saw the poorly concealed pride in her eyes, as well as the necklace around her neck. It was a limited edition piece from a luxury brand’s current season. Tessa was just my housekeeper’s daughter. The only reason she could attend the same high school as me was because my parents wanted me to have a companion. My family even paid her tuition. Where did she get the money to buy luxury goods? I had thought too highly of her. I had even considered letting her off the hook if she had been influenced by Ryan. Now I see, I won’t let her off at all. She can’t escape either. “Is that so?” I asked back. “But that question wasn’t difficult. I’ve already solved it.” “Re…really?” Tessa’s smile became a bit stiff. Ryan accused me, “If you’ve solved it, why waste my time?! My time is precious, you know?” “I just solved it,” I said innocently, pointing at the exercise book spread out on the stone table and Sam, who was sitting on the stone bench. Seeing Ryan’s expression like he had eaten something bitter, I felt very pleased. Ryan pulled Tessa to sit on the other side. I sat down too, continuing to eagerly bombard Sam, the real academic genius, with questions. I had to bribe him with a month’s worth of breakfasts before he agreed to tutor me. This was a true academic genius, the kind who could sleep through classes and still consistently rank tenth in the grade. Ryan and Tessa sat together, looking like a perfect couple. He was explaining problems to her, occasionally glancing at me. In his eyes, I should be madly in love with him now, ready to throw money at him to appease his anger. I did plan to go to him, but not to throw money. Towards the end of this group study session, I solemnly expressed my gratitude to Sam. Then, “Ryan, I have something to discuss with you.” I didn’t notice Sam’s initially pleased expression suddenly turn gloomy. Ryan wore a ‘just as I expected’ look and reluctantly said, “What is it? Speak.” I looked at Tessa and the other classmates, smiling somewhat mischievously. “I don’t mind, but you might care. Are you sure you want to do this here?” Ryan pulled me to the side. I handed him the account statement from my pocket. “You said it yourself back then that the money you used from my family was considered a loan. You’re an adult now, so here’s the bill. Remember to pay it back.” Ryan didn’t even look at the bill. With a face like death, he said, “You want me to pay you back?!”
🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “NovelMaster” app 🔍 search for “294784”, 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
Leave a Reply