When I got my second chance at life, the first thing I did was scatter my husband’s ashes. In my last life, he faked his death, leaving his ‘orphan’—his younger brother’s son—in my care. He told me to treat his family, a supposedly widowed sister-in-law and her nephew, well. I worried my daughter, Lily, wasn’t sharp enough to make her own way, and I thought maybe the nephew could look out for her if she couldn’t find a partner. So, I agreed to his dying wish. For Kyle, I gave up the secure job I’d worked hard and paid so much to get, and I emptied out our family savings to help Kyle and his wife settle in the city. Years passed. They rose through the ranks to become high-ranking officials. I took Lily, hoping they’d give her a stable job. But Dean, my supposedly dead husband, appeared at their office. He ordered Kyle to kick my daughter to the ground. “I thought you’d changed,” he sneered. “That you weren’t the desperate village woman who clung to me for a chance to move to the city anymore. But no, you’re still the same, trying to scheme for that worthless dead weight!” He instantly had us thrown out. To keep up his good name, he even forced Lily into a remote, abusive marriage as a second wife to Old Man Riley, deep in the mountains. I was so enraged, my old illness flared up, and I collapsed and died right there on the street. When I opened my eyes again, I was back—the day Dean faked his death.
“Oh, Dean, what are Lily and I going to do without you?” I dragged Lily, and we scattered all the ashes into the river. I turned to see Melody, teeth clenched, panting with barely controlled fury. She’d been waiting at the hospital for ages, expecting me to take the ashes to a proper burial site. She never thought I’d just come straight to the river, not even letting her see Dean one last time. “Big Brother Dean died because of you! How could you just throw his ashes into the river like that?!” Those were her *ex-husband’s* ashes! Melody had dug them up just to trick me, wanting me to re-bury them. But I’d just tossed them away, and she was livid. Still, she managed to rein in her anger and dragged out her son, Kyle. “Big Brother Dean always said you were such a good wife, but you’d do something like this, throwing his ashes away? How can I possibly trust you with my child?!” Dean hadn’t been able to entrust Kyle to me, so she had to step up herself. She pulled out a will from her pocket and tried to shove it into my hand. I immediately slapped it away. “I can’t read. And Dean never mentioned having any kids while he was alive. Don’t try to play your dirty tricks on me.” I turned to leave, but Melody panicked. She lunged, grabbing a fistful of my hair. “I’m Big Brother Dean’s sister-in-law! And Kyle is the only male heir to the family name! How dare you refuse to care for him? Get out of Big Brother Dean’s house, now!” “Who are you telling to get out? Say that again, I dare you!” Without another word, I rolled up my sleeves, ready to settle all the scores from my past life. But Leo, the man who’d brought Melody to find me, stepped in front of me. “No one jokes about a dead man, Jade,” he said. “Melody really is Dean’s distant sister-in-law. Everyone at the hospital and the factory knows it. Dean didn’t tell you because he didn’t want you to be burdened.” Leo had saved my life once. In my last life, I listened to his every suggestion, raising Kyle by hand until he was an adult. But I never knew he and Dean had been deceiving me for twenty-eight years! “Distant sister-in-law or not, I’m not raising anyone!” I yelled. “I’m a widow just trying to keep my daughter fed, waiting for a job assignment from the county. I don’t have time to babysit some dead man’s dead weight!” Melody’s face went scarlet. “Who are you calling dead weight? I’m a city girl from a sophisticated background! How dare you call me dead weight?!” Just as we were about to start fighting again, Leo pointed a finger at me, scolding, “Jade! You and Dean were married! No matter how tough things are, you can’t let his sister-in-law suffer!” He dragged me to the river, making me look at the ashes I’d just scattered. “Factory Manager Dean always cherished you above all else,” he said, his voice softening. “He’d worked so hard to get those special holiday dessert tickets, but he didn’t keep a single one for himself, making sure you and Lily had all the treats. And every month, he handed over every penny of his hundred-dollar salary the moment he got it. Now that Dean is gone, it’s only right that you look after his sister-in-law.” Leo gently patted my shoulder, speaking earnestly. “I know you adore Lily, but no matter how well you treat her, she’s still a girl. She’ll marry into another family one day. Melody has brought a boy, a son, into your life. If you take good care of him, you’ll honor Dean’s memory and ensure you have someone to rely on in your old age.” Suddenly, a dull thud came from behind me. I spun around to see Kyle squeezing Lily’s throat, his hands wrapped tightly around her neck. “You worthless dead weight! You money pit!” “While you and your mom were hauling sewage on a barge, my mommy, daddy, and I were eating mooncakes on a pleasure cruise! Do you even know what a mooncake is, you pathetic bumpkin who’s never even seen a movie!” I’d worked on boats for years, always slow to hear news from the county. If Leo hadn’t let it slip, I would have spent my whole life never knowing the truth. Dean had told me the factory was struggling, but for years, he’d actually been the factory manager, earning ten of the largest bills every single month. Ten of the largest bills. That money could have kept Lily from going to bed hungry. It could have saved me from wearing rags on the boat, freezing to death in the damp wind. All these years, through two lifetimes, he never told me the truth. Thinking of those days of meticulously budgeting every five dollars, I delivered a stinging slap across Melody’s face.
“Kyle is your and my husband’s bastard, isn’t he?! You shameless homewrecker, you stole my husband’s money and then you have the nerve to ask me to raise your child?! You’ve got some nerve!” I swore I would rip their smug faces apart, but Leo stopped me again. “Jade, Jade, calm down.” I wouldn’t listen. “Give me back my money! That’s my money, and my daughter’s money!” “Dean ate my food, drank my water. I even had to borrow money to buy him underwear fabric! How dare he give all his money to Melody?!” “When my daughter was burning with fever and turned stupid because I couldn’t afford her medicine, that vixen was probably cozying up in the same bed with Dean, you heartless monster! Why didn’t you just die with him?!” The grievances of two lifetimes finally erupted in that single scream. I couldn’t help but sob, expecting Leo to help me get my revenge. Instead, he raised his hand and slapped me twice. “Try cursing Melody again, I dare you!” he spat. “To say such filthy things over a bit of money—how could Factory Manager Dean have married such a selfish lunatic like you?!” Leo’s disgusted tone shocked me. He and I had worked on boats together. Since I was fifteen, he had been my most respected mentor. What was Melody to him? How dare Leo, like Dean, treat me this way for some stranger?! Leo’s face showed no hint of remorse. He turned, picked up Kyle, and placed him in the three-wheeled cart. “Don’t worry, sister-in-law. Dean was my good brother. If this ungrateful wretch Jade won’t help, I’ll look after you for Factory Manager Dean!” Melody smiled and thanked him. Leo helped her into the cart. Before leaving, he tossed a bundle of miscellaneous vouchers and ration coupons down the embankment. “If you won’t even help a dead man, don’t ever call me master again! I don’t have a cold-blooded apprentice like you!” He had thrown away the money and vouchers I’d given him to help me find a job. The official job placement letter he’d secured for me was tucked into Melody’s pocket. He looked at her with doting eyes. “This is the best factory in our county. Dean and I used to work there. If you need anything, everyone will be happy to help.” His words struck me. I suddenly realized that everyone knew. The doctors at the health clinic, the workers at Dean’s old factory—they all knew. They knew Dean was cheating, they knew his death was suspicious, yet they turned a blind eye. Not one of them told me the truth. And here I was, foolishly crying over his death, willing to sell my own blood, just to protect his belongings. Kyle, whom I had raised by hand in my previous life, sat in the cart, laughing hysterically, clutching his stomach as he watched Lily chase after the scattering vouchers, stumbling down the hillside. Melody’s face beamed with triumph. “Trash is trash, no matter how hard they try to climb. You and your daughter, you’ll always be beneath us.” I picked up stones and hurled them at the three-wheeled cart, screaming, “Dean’s crappy factory won’t last! Your worthless son will never amount to anything!” “Melody, just you wait! You and those two monsters from the family—none of you will have a good ending!” “One day, I’ll make you beg me, on your knees, to pick up every single one of those vouchers you threw away today!” I cried, hugging Lily tightly, watching yet another one of my closest friends abandon me. My heart was ripped to shreds. Lily wiped the fresh scrapes on her knees and carefully handed me each retrieved voucher. “I’m here, Mama. Don’t be scared. I’ll never leave you.” Her bright eyes reflected all my cowardice. I held my daughter close, vowing that this would be my last hysterical cry before I succeeded.
After sending Lily to the county boarding school, I brought out all of Dean’s clothes, pants, and the mahogany furniture he’d custom-made. “Half-new, plus a sturdy vintage bicycle! Come take a look!” People were drawn in, but before they could ask too many questions, Leo shouted at them. As the new factory manager, he was trying to make a show of support for Melody, inviting everyone to the most expensive restaurant in the county. “What are you doing here? These are Dean’s things! How dare you drag them out into the street to sell?!” Leo frowned, rummaging through my makeshift stall. He stopped cold when he saw a Hero fountain pen. “You’re selling this pen? Don’t you remember it was a gift Dean gave you on his first day assigned to the countryside?” I stared at the crowd pressing around my stall. For some reason, the bum at the back of the line looked suspiciously like Dean, who was supposedly dead. Was he following Melody to the factory, even in his fake death, just to protect her from potential trouble? I scoffed internally. What a devoted husband. “To put food on the table, I even sent Lily away. What’s so precious about a dead man’s belongings that I can’t sell them?” Many county leaders were nearby. If I blurted out that Dean was having an affair with Melody, she could easily accuse me of slander. I had more important things to do. Lying about selling my daughter would also make them less likely to target Lily. “Dean just died, and you’re already rushing to sell your daughter and his things? Even a brothel madam wouldn’t be as heartless as you!” The bum at the back of the line scoffed, his voice neither too loud nor too soft, making everyone around him start to murmur. “Who acts like this as a wife? Factory Manager Dean just died, and she’s already rushing to divide the property. Does she think she won’t live to see tomorrow?” “The new factory manager said she’s just jealous of her husband and his sister-in-law, that’s why she’s doing this to be spiteful. Such a rotten heart, no wonder she could only give birth to a worthless dead weight.” Leo cleared his throat, waiting for the crowd to quiet down. “You can sell them, but you have to give half the money to Melody.” “She came all the way from the city. Dean is gone, so she’s rightfully entitled to half of the things in his house.” “Exactly,” the bum at the back of the line said. “Anyway, you can’t have any more children, so why don’t you just give all the money to Melody? Let her raise her son properly. Maybe he can even become a top scholar for the family name.” I sneered, picking up a teapot and smashing it on the ground. The crowd gasped. I then picked up the fountain pen and threw that down too. “Don’t you all think I’m disloyal for selling my dead husband’s belongings? Fine then! I’ll just smash it all and burn it for Dean, so he’ll remember how good I was to him down there!” The boisterous crowd instantly fell silent. Melody, having enjoyed the show, came out smiling to smooth things over. “Sister-in-law still hasn’t gotten her job assigned, and Big Brother Dean is gone. She finally had a daughter, but even Lily has been sent away.” “She’s tormented herself into looking like an eighty-year-old just to put food on the table. How could I possibly ask her for money?” She placed her almost-empty jar of vanishing cream in my hand, her fair, soft fingers pulling out a brand new, crisp hundred-dollar bill. “I’m sorry, sister-in-law, I don’t have anything smaller.” “Please, help me clean the pen and figure out how much change you owe me.” I heard the bum behind me let out a mocking chuckle. Without a word, I handed her the pen and the bill. Melody, not getting the reaction she wanted, looked disappointed and walked away with Leo. The bum, who had been dogging their every step earlier, stayed behind. He picked up the suit jacket with red embroidery and examined it closely. “You recognized me, didn’t you? How did you know I wasn’t dead?” He pulled down his scarf and, without waiting for my answer, continued, “While the things haven’t been sold yet, take Melody and Kyle home and treat them well. When I’m done with my business and come back, I might even be magnanimous enough to pay you a nanny fee.” “But if you keep being this stingy, haggling over every penny, then your husband will truly be dead. No matter what happens to you and Lily, I won’t come back to look at either of you again!” I snatched a needle from my sewing kit on the table and jabbed it into his palm. Grabbing his arm, I burst out laughing. “You’d better be dead, Dean! Otherwise, I’ll make Melody pay back every single cent of the money you gave her for five years!”
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