My sister and I were reborn. It happened on the exact day our parents finalized their divorce. This time, she sprinted straight toward our father, crying a river of tears. "Dad, take me with you!" She shot me a look that failed to hide her smug triumph. She wanted to trade lives with me? She only saw me rising from the ashes like a phoenix, completely ignorant of the grueling strength it took for me to crawl out of that blazing inferno. I smiled. I laughed at her wild delusions, and I smiled with the profound relief of a massive weight lifting off my shoulders. 1 I opened my eyes, my head spinning as I stood there. I looked down at my worn-out white sneakers. Wait a minute. Wasn't I just at Harper's wedding? Didn't she trick me into helping her with her dress, only to shove me off a fourth-floor balcony to my death? I opened my hands, staring in disbelief at my perfectly intact body. Was I... reborn? Harper's sobbing voice echoed in the room: "Dad, take me with you!" We really were back on the day of our parents' divorce. I snapped out of my daze and looked up. Harper shot me a look full of barely concealed triumph. She wanted to trade lives with me? Perfect. That was exactly what I wanted. Harper had been driven mad with jealousy over my life in our previous timeline. In that life, she went with Mom, and I went with Dad. She was lazy, refused to study, ignored everyone's advice, and ended up eight months pregnant, having a cheap backyard wedding in a rural, run-down town. I, on the other hand, attended her wedding on the arm of the aloof, wildly handsome billionaire, Rowan. Dressed in an elegant, custom gown, I stepped gracefully out of a luxury car. When she pushed me over the railing, her eyes glowed with pure, venomous envy. "Go to hell! This is all your fault! You stole Dad! If you hadn't, I'd be the one standing there married to a billionaire!" Because I was wearing heels and a long dress, I couldn't move fast enough. I could only grab onto her tightly, refusing to let go. Amidst the screams of the guests, we plummeted off the balcony together. She truly believed that as long as she chose our father, she would automatically become the main character of a beautiful, glamorous life. No, she was dead wrong. She only saw my glittering exterior. She had no idea how much blood and sweat I spent clawing my way out of that hellhole. What I envied most in my past life was the freedom of an ordinary, mundane existence. Thanks to her, in this life, I finally get to cherish it. Harper's desperation to cut ties infuriated our mother. Harper scoffed, "Why would I go with you? So I can end up as a high school dropout working minimum wage?" Mom clutched her chest, struggling to breathe. "You... you ungrateful... get out!" I stepped in front of Mom, my face cold as I glared at Harper. "Mom gave up everything for us, and this is how you speak to her? You're heartless!" Harper had the nerve to laugh. "What does Mom matter? I'm going to have a brand-new mom soon. She's young, beautiful, and rich—a thousand times better than her!" Perfect. That was exactly the reaction I needed. I needed Mom to hear Harper's true thoughts so this toxic mother-daughter bond would shatter completely. I wanted to leave Harper with zero escape routes. Sure enough, Mom grabbed a decorative vase and hurled it at the wall near her. "Get out! From now on, Stella is my only daughter. I have nothing to do with you anymore." Harper dodged easily, rolling her eyes. "Following you just means a life of manual labor. Have fun barking like a junkyard dog." Smack! I lunged forward and slapped her hard across the face. "You actually hit me?" She covered her stinging cheek, her anger mixed with absolute shock. Without a second word, before anyone could react— Smack! A matching red handprint appeared on the other side of her face. Damn, that hurt. My hand was completely numb. When dealing with someone like Harper, physical action is the only language she understands. Wasting time talking is pointless. In our past life, she pushed me off a building and killed me. These two slaps were just a welcome gift for our new lives. Infuriated, Harper screamed and lunged at me, trying to tear at my clothes. Our dad, Marcus, quickly stepped between us, not forgetting to scold me. "Stella, I am so disappointed in you. How could you treat your sister like this?" I shot back instantly, "Is what I did worse than what you did? You cheating piece of trash!" His face drained of color. His lips moved, but for a long time, he couldn't form a single word. Mom chimed in at the perfect moment: "Both of you, get out. The garbage collectors are coming soon." Pfft. I couldn't help but laugh out loud. Mom was incredibly strong. Even at a time like this, she still had her sharp sense of humor. Before leaving, Harper didn't forget to flaunt her victory. "I'm going to take back everything that belongs to me! Stella, just wait for your karma!" I didn't care at all. Right back at you, sister. Just like in our past life, Marcus left with nothing. He left the tiny, outdated, two-bedroom apartment to Mom. Since he had hooked a young, wealthy heiress, he naturally didn't care about this dump. Harper, who in the past life threw massive tantrums refusing to let our dad remarry, was now offering her most devout blessings for his new union. Little did she know, this was the beginning of her absolute nightmare. That new woman had a twenty-year-old brother with severe violent tendencies, locked away in their basement. But right now, Harper didn't know a thing. 2 I didn't tell anyone about my parents' divorce, but somehow everyone in my class found out. They looked at me with probing, curious eyes, whispering behind their hands. The class representative, Paige, couldn't stand it anymore. She stood up and slammed her hand on her desk. "Shut up! Every single one of you! If you have time to gossip, go memorize some vocabulary! Did you all ace the midterms or something?" Paige was fiercely righteous and handpicked by the homeroom teacher, so everyone was a little afraid of her. The crowd sheepishly fell silent, returning to their seats and burying their heads in their books. Paige walked over to me and patted my shoulder. "Stella, you got first place again on the midterms. I'm going to work even harder for the finals and close that five-point gap between us!" I waved my vocabulary booklet at her and smiled. "Let's work hard together!" Paige lowered her voice. "About your family..." Her expression was full of disapproval. "It was your sister who told everyone. She told everyone in her class that your parents split up, and you're basically not family anymore. So if she comes looking for you later... "Ugh, I don't even know how to say it. Just... keep your guard up around her." I nodded sincerely. "I will. Thank you, Paige." It turned out that when the midterm honor roll was posted at the school gates, some of Harper's classmates teased her. "You two have the same parents, but you're miles apart. Your sister is a genius." She furiously shot back, "Who is family with her? Our parents divorced ages ago! We have nothing to do with each other. Don't ever mention her name to me again, it's bad luck!" Harper's grades had always been terrible. She was lazy, arrogant, and incredibly vain. No matter how much our mother pleaded with her, she refused to glance at her textbooks. If it weren't for that, she wouldn't have ended up working in an Amazon warehouse in our past life. In this life, she eagerly accepted the wealthy stepmother's gifts—designer clothes from head to toe. Her vanity only multiplied. Once, between classes, Paige went to the teachers' lounge to hand in assignments and saw Harper being lectured. When Paige came back, her expression was complicated. "Your sister is really something else. "Her math teacher was breaking down her weak spots and advising her to do more practice problems. Do you know what she said? "She said, 'I'm going to study abroad anyway, so my grades don't matter. Only snobs like you care about test scores.' "The math teacher was so furious he said he'd never teach her again. "All the other teachers gave her terrible reviews too. They said having a student like her is pure bad luck." I smiled, completely unbothered. "Sounds exactly like something she'd do." That idiot. She hadn't even secured her footing in high society, and she was already acting like royalty. Alienating her mother at home, offending her teachers at school. Whatever. Her life had nothing to do with me anymore. All I needed to do was focus on studying and get into the best advanced placement class in the school. And, I needed to make absolutely sure I never crossed paths with Rowan again. In our past life, to the outside world, I was the object of his intense, overwhelming affection. But only I knew the truth. I was just a songbird trapped in a gilded cage, completely stripped of my freedom. I had no privacy, no friends. Every single action was strictly monitored by him. I was isolated on an island he meticulously carved out for me. Whenever he traveled for business, I could be eating breakfast and receive a call from him. "Stella, drinking milk on an empty stomach isn't good for you." I would look up, spotting the tiny red light of a hidden camera blinking in the darkness. 3 In my past life, looking at my approachable, youthful stepmother, I often wondered why she chose to be with my father. Not only that, she specifically demanded that my father bring one of his daughters to be her stepdaughter. Until one night, I heard someone quietly unlocking my bedroom door. Half-asleep, I felt someone leaning over my bed, staring at me. I tried to pry my heavy eyelids open, comforting myself that I was just imagining things. But then, a wave of hot, foul breath hit my face, immediately scattering my exhaustion. At the same time, hands started roughly grabbing at my clothes. I snapped my eyes open in horror and fumbled for the bedside lamp. The light revealed a strange man with a deeply unsettling, manic grin. Terror clamped around my throat like an invisible hand. I couldn't even scream. I just kicked out as hard as I could, but the next second, he bounced right back onto me like a rubber ball, his hands violent and bruising. From the living room, I heard the sound of my dad's slippers as he came out to get a glass of water. Like grasping at a lifeline, I screamed toward the sliver of light under my door, "Dad! Help!" The footsteps moved closer, and then... they stopped. I heard my stepmother's gentle voice: "It's fine. Tommy is just playing rough with her." My dad calmly replied with an "Oh." He even added a lecture for me: "Tommy is sick. You need to accommodate him. Don't hurt him." The living room light clicked off, plunging the space back into darkness. Extinguished right along with it was every shred of hope in my heart. He knew everything. That woman didn't marry him out of love. She married him—and demanded a stepdaughter—out of a twisted, sick, selfish desire. She figured my dad was a pushover, easily manipulated. She planned to lock me in this house, letting her violently unstable brother use me as a punching bag and whatever else he wanted, keeping the "problem" entirely in the family. Because of the massive difference in physical strength, I struggled desperately. The man suddenly stopped, sitting up in surprise. Like a completely different person, he gently wiped my tears. He smiled, a dark, unpredictable look in his eyes. "Don't worry. I won't kill you yet. I'll wait until you're eighteen. Then we can play forever!" He glanced up at the smoke detector on the ceiling, its tiny light blinking, and his smile deepened ominously. "Actually, from the moment you laid down in this bed, I've had my eye on you." Boom— Something in my mind collapsed completely, crumbling into ruins. From then on, I kept a heavy metal flashlight under my pillow. Before going to sleep, I checked the reinforced locks on my doors and windows a dozen times. Most importantly, I covered the smoke detector with clothes until it was completely blocked. Finally, I barricaded the door with my dresser and desk. One night, Tommy managed to break the window lock and crawled into my room. I screamed, swinging the heavy metal flashlight wildly. I struck him hard, right in the groin. He collapsed into the mess on the floor, crying and laughing with that bizarre, chilling grin. He really was a complete psychopath. It was Rowan who helped me escape that house completely. Due to the severe psychological toll of those terrifying nights, my grades plummeted a month before the college entrance exams. Amidst the sighs of my teachers, I failed to get into the Ivy League school I wanted and went to a second-tier local university instead. That was where I met my classmate, Rowan. He had money, and he had his own demons. When he lost control, he cared about absolutely nothing. For ten million dollars, he paid off my father's mounting debts and had my father and stepmother practically pack me up and deliver me to his private estate. When I turned eighteen, Rowan officially brought me out into the world—under the title of his fiancée. I thought I had escaped the devil's grasp, but I had only fallen into another, gilded cage. Rowan was deeply unwell. He was paranoid, dark, and every cell in his body radiated an intense, suffocating possessiveness. 4 In my past life, our last public appearance together was at Harper's wedding. The groom was dangerously thin and had a shifty, rat-like face. His ill-fitting suit hung loosely on his frame, a giant, tacky red flower pinned to his lapel. His mother shared his exact facial features, though she was short and stout. She looked overjoyed, chatting with guests while spitting sunflower seed shells everywhere. Harper stood under the brutal sun, eight months pregnant, her heavy, overly-rouged bridal makeup doing nothing to hide her awkwardness. She stood lost amidst the noise. She had dropped out of school at sixteen, went out to work, and became one of the millions of warehouse workers for Amazon. On the assembly line, there was a guy named Tyler who made no secret of his attraction to her. Harper originally looked down on him, but the attention from the opposite sex satisfied her vanity. Ignoring our mother's advice and strong opposition, she moved in with Tyler. Then, she accidentally got pregnant. Under Tyler's relentless pleading, she kept the baby. At the clinic door, she remembered Tyler's promises and refused to go in. "Mom, Tyler said he'll marry me! I can't get rid of this baby!" "You're only eighteen! You have your whole life ahead of you. This Tyler guy has no money, no looks, and his mother hasn't even come to see you once since she found out you were pregnant. You've completely lost your mind!" Harper argued back, "Tyler said his mom respects me a lot. She promised to give us an eight-thousand-dollar wedding gift." My mom's face darkened significantly. "Is eight thousand dollars a lot? Are you really that desperate to marry into his family?!" They parted on terrible terms. Tyler's mother arrived from the countryside carrying a massive load of cheap luggage, squeezing into the tiny apartment Harper and Tyler shared. She wiped the sweat from her forehead. "Harper, don't worry. From now on, I'll be your new mom!" Harper looked at the "nutritious meal" Tyler's mom served her: instant ramen with a cheap hot dog, a fried egg, and two sad leaves of lettuce. She felt a mix of complicated emotions. Her pride wouldn't let her back down to our mother. She touched her stomach, thinking: Everything will get better. But as her belly ballooned, her mother-in-law never mentioned the eight thousand dollars again. The cheap, outdoor barbecue wedding in the rural town was loud and dusty. Harper twisted a cheap, thin gold bracelet on her wrist—one her mother-in-law had borrowed from a neighbor—eagerly waiting for her family to arrive. A fleet of ten luxury black SUVs sped toward the venue, the guests whispering in obvious envy. "That's a huge motorcade. Who's got that kind of money?" "Look, they're slowing down. Are they here for this wedding?" "Did Tyler meet some rich friends working in the city?" ... The sleek, aggressive luxury sedan came to a smooth stop. A dozen bodyguards stepped out instantly, lining up in two rows, opening the doors for Rowan and me. A young woman screamed, "Oh my god! Rowan Vance! That super-rich tech CEO!" "Wow, he's so handsome! Way better looking in person than in the magazines!" Some girls whispered, "The woman next to him must be his fiancée." "She looks so elegant! No wonder he doesn't date models." "I love a guy who doesn't hide his relationship and is completely devoted!" The older folks didn't recognize him, but hearing he was a billionaire, they quickly pulled out their flip phones to take pictures. I wore a simple, elegant gown. With Rowan's gentlemanly guidance, my delicate ankles in diamond-encrusted heels stepped gracefully out of the car. The surrounding crowd gasped. "So beautiful, like an angel came down to earth!" "Those clothes, that car... they look incredibly expensive. I didn't know Tyler's family had connections to high society." "But his wife doesn't look like she comes from money at all." "Hey! Look closely. The woman getting out of the car looks a little like the bride. Could they be sisters?" "You're right! I heard the bride has a sister who's three years older. But their parents divorced. The older sister went with the dad, and the younger one went with the mom. The dad is a university professor, you know!" "Tsk, standing next to each other, you can't even tell the age difference. The older sister looks ten years younger than the bride." "Exactly! If the younger sister had gone with her dad back then, maybe she'd be the one living the high life right now!" ... The crowd's gossip wasn't hidden at all. Every word landed in Harper's ears. Her face flushed bright red, glaring fiercely at her mother-in-law and husband nearby. They were both wearing fawning, sycophantic smiles, eager to go over and network with Rowan and me. 5 During my freshman year of high school, my parents' marriage fell apart. My dad was a teacher. He gave people the impression of being cultured and refined. He wore thick-rimmed glasses and always dressed in earth-toned casual wear. My mom's educational background was far less impressive. Because her family was poor, despite having excellent grades, she was forced to drop out of middle school and go out to work at a young age. Whenever we went back to her hometown, my grandmother would always specifically warn her: "Be good to Marcus! His family didn't look down on you. That's a blessing for you!" Harper and I could never understand how two people from such vastly different worlds ended up together and built a family. On New Year's Eve, my dad had a few too many drinks. With his face flushed red, amidst the cheering of Harper and me, he confessed his love to my mom. "Honey, if you hadn't encouraged me and paid for my college tuition, I wouldn't be where I am today..." My mom was as shy as a teenage girl, her eyes red as she rested in his alcohol-scented, loving embrace. A week later, my mom caught my dad hugging a young woman on the street, the two of them kissing passionately at a red light. My mom, stubborn and resilient, immediately filed for divorce. Using the excuse that I was older, she chose to take Harper. She knew Marcus spent less time with Harper and secretly favored his younger daughter. She intentionally went against his wishes. "Stella, what are you thinking about? You're so spaced out." Rowan leaned close to my ear, his breath ambiguous, carrying his unique, cold cologne. I snapped back to reality and smiled at him. "Nothing." Tyler's mother's eyes darted around. "Oh, it's the sister-in-law! Please, have a seat." Tyler looked at the car we arrived in, clicking his tongue in admiration. "That car must be incredibly comfortable to drive." His mother smacked the back of his hand. "That's nothing. Harper's sister is your sister. She'd definitely let you borrow it for a few days, no problem." Rowan scoffed coldly, sweeping a disdainful gaze over them. Tyler immediately pinched his mother's arm, mouthing at her to shut up. I looked up. On the red carpet, Harper looked haggard and bloated. She forced a smile, dragging her heavy body slowly toward me. "Sister, you look beautiful today. Did Dad..." Rowan, a man of few words, cut her off. "He couldn't make it." Harper's face went bone white. Since our parents divorced, we rarely contacted each other. I was attending the wedding as my father's representative. She suddenly spoke up. "Sister, there's something wrong with my dress. Can you come help me adjust it?" After all, we were sisters. I followed her up to the fourth floor. The rural, self-built house was spacious but completely unfinished due to lack of funds. The walls were bare concrete, and there were no railings installed on the balcony, leaving it open to the wind. Harper insisted on pulling me outside to chat. "It's stuffy in the room. Let's sit outside. Even though there's no railing, the view is nice..." The next second, her face changed. Her eyes shot absolute venom as she shoved me violently toward the edge. "Go to hell! This is all your fault! You stole Dad! If you hadn't, I'd be the one standing there married to a billionaire!" Because I was wearing heels and a long dress, I couldn't move fast enough. I could only grab onto her tightly, refusing to let go. Amidst the screams of the guests, we plummeted off the balcony together. Like everything was playing in slow motion, I caught a glimpse of Rowan's ever-calm composure completely shattering. He was panicked, terrified, even throwing his arms open as he sprinted forward, trying to catch me. This was fine. I was finally escaping him. I resigned myself to my fate and closed my eyes. ... 6 I sat at my desk, looking out at the vibrant green oak tree through the window, lost in a daze for a moment. There was only one month left until the high school entrance exams. In my past life, focusing entirely on studying without distractions was an unreachable luxury. But now, the desire to change my destiny through education was at its absolute peak. My mom knocked on the door and walked in holding a plate of freshly sliced fruit. Her eyes were filled with maternal ache. "Here, have some fruit. You've lost weight these past few weeks. Studying is important, but your health is more important. You need to balance work and rest." In her past life, she was a woman trapped by love, eventually consumed by resentment. In this life, she was a mother whose heart and soul were devoted entirely to me. Honestly, I had to thank Harper for her heartlessness. She gave me a chance to start over, and she gave my mother the courage to break free from her cage. Yesterday is gone, tomorrow is not yet here, but today requires everything I have. Keep moving forward, never look back. Finally, the last exam ended. The moment I walked out of the testing center, I felt a massive weight lift off my shoulders. With the faint memories of my past life and the grueling hard work of this one, the exam papers felt like a walk in the park. The cicadas in the trees chirped loudly, celebrating the summer. My mom saw my relaxed expression and instantly let out a sigh of relief, walking over with a popsicle she had timed perfectly. "You must be boiling. Here, have a popsicle." I took it and opened the wrapper. "Let's share." That summer break was fulfilling and joyful. During the day, my mom and I ran a stall selling dried goods. When there were no customers, I opened the books I brought from home. When my mom had a chance to sit down, she would lean in and read with me. When the exam results came out, my score was far above the cutoff, and I easily got into the high school's advanced placement program. Nina called me. "Oh my god! You are incredible! A near-perfect score! I concede total defeat this time." I laughed and replied, "You did amazing too! Only ten points behind. We're going to be classmates again." The summer was fiery and bright, making everything feel full of hope. When a person is filled with hope for the future and motivated to push forward, they don't feel the exhaustion or the struggle. Carrying a heart full of excitement, I began my first week as a high school student. A week into the semester, I ran straight into Harper in the cafeteria. She looked incredibly tense, her eyes bloodshot and slightly bulging. Not wanting to engage with her, I turned to leave. "Stop right there!" Her voice, fueled by rage, echoed behind me. Noticing the strange looks from people around us, she frantically grabbed me and dragged me outside. She pulled me to the empty athletic field. Harper glared at me viciously. "You did this on purpose! You deliberately set me up to jump into a pit of fire." Me: "???" Harper gritted her teeth. "That woman has a psycho brother in the basement! He's always wandering around near me, it's terrifying." I was completely speechless, rolling my eyes straight to the sky. "What does that have to do with me?" Harper scoffed. "Let's trade back. I want to go live with Mom." I let out a long, sarcastic "Eww," dragging the syllable out. Harper: "That woman said she actually likes you better." She continued, lost in her own logic: "Anyway, you survived in that house just fine in your past life, so you definitely have more experience. Give Mom back to me." I practically spat at her. "How thick is your skull?" I turned around sharply, absolutely refusing to entertain her nonsense. Arguing with someone whose brain is that diseased was just breathing in the scent of sheer stupidity. That night after late study hall, I saw Harper standing at my apartment door. The weather was getting colder, and my mom had started a side hustle selling hot food from a food cart. I put my keys back in my pocket and stepped back warily. "What are you doing at my house?" Harper was shamelessly brazen. "This is my house too." I sneered. "You made it crystal clear back then that you were cutting all ties with us." She bit her lip, guiltily looking down at the floor. Me: "Wait here if you want. Bye!" I turned and headed down the stairs, intending to go wait for my mom to finish her shift. Harper followed me like a stray dog. "I'm going with you!" Afraid she would ruin my mom's mood, I chose a different route.
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