I was reborn on the very day my parents divorced. My younger brother insisted on staying with Dad and told me to go live with Mom. I knew what he was up to. He had also been reborn, and was jealous of the life I’d had in my previous life as the president of the Hughes Group. He wanted to take my place. He was smug about it, but I nearly laughed out loud. Did he really think he could just leave the Hughes family so easily? Was it really that simple? In my past life, after Dad retired and stepped down from all his positions, I officially took over the family business, becoming the sole leader of the Hughes Group. I became a rising star in the business world, living a life full of success and admiration. Meanwhile, my brother Johnny Hughes flunked his SATs, refused to find a job, and fell into a cycle of drinking and gambling. He drained Mom’s savings with every scheme he could think of, only to lose it all at the casino. When Mom could no longer give him a single cent, he started using the money I sent for her support to fuel his alcoholism. In his drunk rages, he even hit her. Under this constant strain, Mom, who was younger than Dad, looked like she had aged 20 years. When I found out what had been going on, I brought Mom to live with me. Johnny, pretending he was just visiting Mom, showed up at my place, shamelessly asking for money. “Theresa, congratulations on becoming the CEO,” he said with a smile. “I’m a little short on cash right now. You’re doing so well. Surely you can lend me a few million dollars?” I sneered, “I bet you want that money to gamble again, don’t you?” Over the years, I’d sent so much money to support Mom, only for it to be squandered by him in casinos. Just then, Dad, who was visiting my company, coughed a couple of times. “Theresa, Johnny is your brother. Don’t be so harsh just for a little money.” Johnny’s face lit up when he heard Dad speak up for him. But I kept my face cold, showing no sympathy. “Last time, Dad, you said the same thing. I paid off all his gambling debts and then gave him even more money. And now you’re asking me for the same thing again as if I’m an ATM? If I had a choice, I’d rather not have a brother like him.” Johnny was caught off guard by my sudden decision to draw a line with him. His face turned as red as a beet. Dad, unable to stand my defiance, went pale with anger. “So, you won’t even acknowledge Shirley’s son, huh? Johnny is your real brother! How can you treat him like this? I see. You’ve gotten too big for your britches and want to push us all away, don’t you?” I stared at him in disappointment. “Dad, I’ve called you Dad out of respect for how you raised me, but your actions are truly disappointing! To you, I’m not even your daughter in the Hughes family. I’m just here to manage the money for you and your two sons, right?” Dad’s face turned red with anger as I hit a nerve. “You think you can just hold onto the Hughes family fortune forever, but one day, you’ll get married! When that happens, you’ll belong to someone else’s family. Your brother will be the only one left to rely on. What’s the harm in patching things up with him now?” I was so frustrated by Dad’s shameless reasoning I nearly laughed. He was trying to trick me into believing he was looking out for my future. He honestly thought that? With his spoiled eldest son, Johnny, and his second son, who was on his way to being just as useless, what were they ever going to do for me or the company? Johnny, listening to this, suddenly seemed to have an epiphany. “Ah, so this is why Dad doesn’t care about me anymore. It’s you. You vicious woman, who stole all the Hughes family wealth! You don’t care about your own brother, and you treat Dad this way… The Hughes family is doomed with a woman like you. We’ve hit rock bottom!” Listening to his self-righteous speech, it almost sounded like I was some kind of scheming woman trying to steal the Hughes family’s fortune, instead of the hardworking person who had spent years building a small company into a large corporation. I didn’t want to argue anymore. I simply decided to show them the actions of who was really in charge of this company. I had the security escort Johnny out. Johnny struggled violently, his eyes bloodshot with rage, staring at me with a look full of hatred and resentment. “Theresa Hughes! A cold-blooded, heartless, and vicious woman like you doesn’t deserve to be my sister! If I could live my life over, I’d make sure you’d never ruin the Hughes family again!” I smiled and waved my hand at him. “Sorry, but I only believe in the present! The present is the only thing I can control. Anything like rebirth is just wishful thinking.” But what I never expected was that Johnny really seemed to believe I was the one who ruined his life, blaming all his failures on me. He even went so far as to get drunk, grab a kitchen knife, and sneak into the company’s underground parking lot to take my life. I was caught off guard while getting into my car, and before I could react, he stabbed me seven times from behind. I collapsed onto the ground. I lost so much blood that my body began to feel cold, and my vision blurred into darkness. But I could still hear Johnny’s crazed laughter echoing in my ears. “I’ll make sure you pay for trying to steal the family fortune! Do you think you can look down on me as a CEO? Everything in the Hughes Group is mine! I’m going to kill you, you bitch who’s stealing my inheritance!” As I was on the verge of dying, I couldn’t help but feel frustrated. I thought he was insane. If I had known, I would have sent him to a mental hospital long ago. My dad’s little company grew to this scale because of me! I thought, “The inheritance he was supposed to get was all gambled away long ago. What does that have to do with me? At least when I’m dead, the property will go to the lawyer. Most of it will be donated, and the rest will be given to my parents monthly. He won’t get a penny!” With that thought, I sank into complete darkness. I didn’t know how long it was before I regained consciousness. When I opened my eyes, I found myself back in the old house where we used to live as a family of four. My mom was holding a suitcase, looking helpless as Johnny, now throwing a tantrum, refused to go with her. He was crying so hard he could barely catch his breath, desperately grabbing onto my dad’s suit. “Dad, I don’t want to live with Mom! She doesn’t have a job. She’s just a housewife! Can you really let me suffer like this?” My mom stared at him, shocked and unable to believe her once-beloved son was now speaking so cruelly to her. I watched coldly from the side, feeling a bit amused. It was sickening to see such a young boy with that much malice and calculation in his eyes. It was like forcing a filthy adult into the body of a young person.
If I still couldn’t tell that Johnny had also been reborn, I would really be blind. I could see my dad’s hesitation too. The truth was, he obviously wanted his son to stay with him, to carry on the family line. But he had always played the role of the stern father, and Johnny, who had always been closer to his mother, insisted on staying with her. At first, after the divorce, they lived relatively well with the alimony and property split. But when Johnny failed his SATs and couldn’t find a job, he turned to drinking and gambling. All the money they had couldn’t fix the mess he’d made. It wasn’t until he saw me on the news that he realized our small family business had turned into a huge corporation. Regret hit him hard. That was when he started showing up at my door, shamelessly claiming that the Hughes family’s wealth should be shared with him, too. Although my father realized that this son had been spoiled beyond help, he couldn’t bear to see him suffer. So, at my father’s request, I gave Johnny the inheritance that was rightfully his, ahead of time. But a gambler was already in a bottomless pit, and money never stayed with him for long. Soon, he demanded more money from me, but how could I keep footing the bill for his gambling habits? It was probably from that moment on that he began to resent me, and he was willing to go to extreme lengths, even to become a murderer, just to make me pay. Now, as I stand at the crossroads of fate in Johnny’s eyes, I finally understand his logic. His thinking was simple. If he had stayed by Dad’s side, he would have inherited the entire massive Hughes Group, and I would have had no connection to the family fortune. I would have had to live off the Hughes family’s generosity. But I had underestimated the cruelty of human nature. When Dad finally relented and told Mom that both children would stay with him, Johnny threw another tantrum. “I don’t want to live with my sister!” He pointed at me, his eyes red and swollen, as if looking at an enemy with a blood feud rather than his own sister. “My sister has never liked me. If she stays here, there won’t be any place for me in this family. She’ll bully me!” Dad kept reassuring him that he would always be his most beloved son and that nothing like that would happen. But Johnny didn’t believe him. The moment he saw me, he started crying and throwing a fit again. Under Johnny’s relentless tantrums, Dad hesitated, clearly torn. It was obvious to anyone who mattered who held more importance in his heart. I sighed deeply, my face gloomy, but inside, I wasn’t bothered. In a way, Johnny was right. I really never liked him. After he was born, my parents seemed to forget about me. No matter what happened, they always sided with Johnny. Even when Johnny did something wrong, it was always me, the older sister, who got blamed for not keeping him in check. In that environment of blatant favoritism, how could I possibly feel any affection for him? As for the small company of the Hughes family, I didn’t care about it. In my past life, I had already endured enough unfairness within the Hughes family. It wasn’t until I stood at the top that no one dared to look down on me. If I could cut ties with the Hughes family from the start of this life, I’d actually be grateful to Johnny. Out of this sense of gratitude, I kindly reminded him, “When Dad marries someone new, don’t be as spoiled as you used to be. Or else, you’ll regret it. Johnny sneered, “I know. It’s just Shirley, right?” Mom looked up in shock. “You know?” Shirley Parker was Dad’s secretary. Dad, tired of Mom being a housewife with no common ground with him, had been having an affair for two or three years. After Mom caught him, he simply filed for divorce. Johnny didn’t care about Mom’s feelings. He loudly declared, “Dad works so hard every day to earn money and support the family. Mom, you’re no help at all. All you do is complain. You’re so unreasonable. It’s no wonder you couldn’t hold on to a man like Dad, someone destined to be successful!” Mom shook with anger, and Dad’s face looked considerably better. After all, he had the worst qualities of a man. He didn’t want his women to do well after leaving him. Johnny’s words were exactly what he wanted to hear. I couldn’t stand watching this drama any longer, so I took the initiative to grab my mom’s sleeve. “Mom, it’s clear that my brother and I aren’t getting along. Take me with you.” My mom was hurt by Johnny’s words earlier, and she quickly took me away. Dad agreed without hesitation, much more willingly than when Johnny was about to be taken away. Before we left, I took one last look at Johnny. He was clinging to Dad, acting all sweet. When he saw me looking, he thought I was staring at Dad, unwilling to part with the future wealth of the Hughes family. He shot me a sharp glare and mouthed, “The Hughes family’s money is mine!” I simply smiled. My family valued sons over daughters, still holding onto those old traditions of passing down the family name. Johnny staying with Dad would likely mean he’d inherit most of the family fortune one day. But I knew better than anyone how things worked. Dad might be able to hold onto what he already had, but growing the business to the scale it reached in the past without outside help, was nearly impossible. In my past life, I was the one who truly expanded the Hughes Group. I thought, “This time around, could spoiled and lazy Johnny manage that?” I could already see the final outcome clearly, and the smile on my face grew even brighter.
We owned several properties, and one of them was given to Mom as a new home for the two of us. It seemed like Johnny had really gotten under her skin. On our way there, Mom kept complaining about how no man was all the same. I heard her, but I didn’t really pay attention. After all, no matter how terrible men were, Mom still loved her son dearly. All these complaints were just words. If she could truly be that heartless, she wouldn’t have let Johnny keep draining her money in the past. I spent the next few days organizing the most valuable asset from my past life, the memory of future market trends, and putting together a business plan. I went to talk to Mom, hoping to convince her to start an online store. The internet was steadily maturing, but e-commerce was still a vast untapped market. In my past life, I had sensed that physical stores were on the decline, which quickly led the Hughes Group into e-commerce. Although we were successful, we weren’t the first to seize the opportunity. I knew Mom had over a million dollars in cash from joint marital assets, aside from the house. She was cautious by nature, not one to take investment risks, but she was good at saving money. If it hadn’t been for Johnny stealing from her and using the money for gambling, we wouldn’t have ended up in such a mess. As expected, Mom didn’t believe in my plan. She just told me to focus on my studies and not worry about these things. I didn’t try to argue. Instead, I shared a few stocks from my past life that had risen sharply during this time, telling her to wait a few months and see if I was right. With her skeptical look lingering, I went back to my room and checked my phone. Johnny had sent me a message. [Theresa, this is the last time I’ll call you sis. Last life, when I was at my lowest, you didn’t help me. You ate your fill while I got nothing. Now that I’m rich, I won’t do anything to you out of blood ties, but don’t come near me!] Seeing this ungrateful brat ignore the countless times I’d sent money to the family, just to criticize me, I wasn’t upset. I had seen through his true nature long ago. [Fine. From now on, we’re completely cut off. No more ties between us.] I would never go back to the Hughes family again. I just hoped Johnny would really keep his word and stay away from me from now on. One month later, for the first time in her life, my mom paid attention to the stock market. When she saw the stocks I had mentioned soaring, her look at me immediately changed. Following my suggestion, she cautiously bought a few shares. By the time I started college, she had already made a significant profit. The day before school started, Mom looked at her earnings and suddenly kissed me on the cheek. “Theresa, you’re amazing! I was right to give you this name after all!” I just smiled faintly. My name is Theresa Hughes, but I now go by Theresa Walsh, taking my mom’s last name. When my parents named me, they must have had high hopes and expectations for me. I thought, “Love doesn’t disappear. It just shifts.” So, after some time, that attention shifted entirely to my younger brother. I didn’t tell her about my past life. Before marrying Dad, Mom had been an intellectual. It would be easier to convince her that I was a business genius than to make her believe in reincarnation. “Mom, now do you believe in me? I can still analyze which stocks will rise. But, you know, opportunity doesn’t wait. Relying on stocks and other people’s decisions is not a long-term plan. It’s better to seize business opportunities and earn money on your own. If you’re worried, you can start with a small investment, and we can begin with a little online store.” In reality, even if we invested all our money, we wouldn’t be able to run anything big at the moment. My initial plan was to start small with an online shop, slowly getting into the e-commerce scene. Once I built up some experience, I would use the knowledge from my past life. By then, my new company would grow rapidly! Mom was still hesitating. I thought she was worried about losing money, but instead, she said, “Theresa, even though you’re studying locally, are you sure you can handle it all? I don’t know anything about this. I’ll probably rely on you for everything. Money is one thing, but what if it affects your studies?” At that moment, seeing the concern in her eyes, I suddenly felt my own eyes well up with tears. Whether in this life or the last, I had always held some resentment toward my mom. Before the divorce, she favored my brother. After the divorce, she took him with her but abandoned me. I felt sorry for her, being treated that way by Johnny. But in the quiet of the night, I couldn’t help but wonder, “Your son, the one you loved most, treated you like that. In the end, it’s your neglected daughter who saved you. Do you regret it?” But now, I had finally let go of those feelings. Maybe my mom was biased toward my brother for reasons of her own, but her love for me hadn’t vanished. It might have lessened, but it was still there. For the first time, I took the initiative to hold my mom’s hand. “Don’t worry, Mom. I’ll balance my time. If my grades drop or the online store doesn’t do well, you can stop me anytime!” And so, I began my busy life of juggling both school and work at a young age. I had forgotten most of what I learned before, but thankfully, I still had the foundation. With relentless effort, I found my classes weren’t too hard to manage. At the same time, even though I was just starting a small online shop, I approached it with full determination. I was committed to making it perfect so that within two years, my mom would see the impressive results of e-commerce and trust me even more. I was busy every day. Mom saw it and, feeling sorry for me, started learning about e-commerce and the internet to help share the load. “I’m at this age, and there aren’t many good jobs available. It might be better to try working with you on e-commerce.” Looking at her smile, I couldn’t help but smile. Just as my studies, career, and relationship with my mom were starting to settle into place, Johnny broke his promise and came knocking on our door in a desperate state. “Mom, you can’t just ignore me!”
🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “NovelMaster” app 🔍 search for “295160”, and watch the full series ✨! #NovelMaster #现实主义Realistic #浪漫Romance #魔幻Magic #重生Reborn #校园School #惊悚Thriller #励志Inspiring
Leave a Reply