On the day my sister and I were born, a wandering fortune teller came to our door. She prophesied that one of us would soar to the top, marrying into unimaginable wealth. The other would fall from grace, becoming a shameless beggar. After graduation, my boyfriend, the heir to a multi-billion dollar empire, proposed to me. But on the eve of my wedding, I was in a horrific car accident. My parents told everyone I was in a vegetative state and had my sister take my place at the altar. The next day, my sister wore my wedding ring and sat in the bridal car. Meanwhile, my parents pulled the plug on my oxygen, watching me suffocate to death. They cremated my body and buried the urn in an unmarked grave in a potter's field. Ten years after my death, my sister finally gave birth to a son, securing her position as the heir to the family fortune. The city's elite came to celebrate. But at the baby's first birthday party, the child began bleeding from every orifice, wailing in agony. My sister fell ill, wasting away to nothing. My "husband" personally flew in a Feng Shui master from Hong Kong. He held my sister, comforting her: "Don't be scared, babe. Once I destroy that bitch's spirit, I'll use her soul to make a chamber pot for our son." My parents invited the clan elders to curse my name. "Restless even in death! Haunting our precious daughter and grandson... you deserve to have your soul shattered!" The master set up his altar on the unmarked grave where my urn was buried. But suddenly, his face went pale. "Her name isn't in the Book of Life and Death. Who exactly died ten years ago?" 1 As soon as the master spoke, my parents and sister turned white as sheets. They stammered, "Of course... of course it was Ella. Our family hasn't had any bad luck except for her." My parents were being evasive, but the guests watching the spectacle exploded with whispers. "Who else could it be? Mr. Jiang has been charitable his whole life, it's just his bad luck to have such a cursed daughter! How could the master not find her name?" "Master! Are you scared?" "No," the master frowned, his fingers moving rapidly in calculation. When he looked up again, his expression was graver than ever. "I have consulted the spirits, and the spirits do not lie. The deceased is absolutely not the elder sister, Ella!" He suddenly leaned into my sister's face. "Mrs. Chen, do you feel like your insides are being pierced by ice picks? Do you feel a chill in your bones? This is a sign of a vengeful spirit attachment. If we don't resolve this soon..." "I'm afraid you and this little young master will be buried with her overwhelming resentment!" Everyone took a step back in fear. My sister clutched her chest and let out a scream that didn't sound human. "Ah—it must be Emma! She's back! She wants revenge, she wants to kill me..." My parents' faces darkened. They rushed forward to cover her mouth. "What nonsense are you talking about?" "Everyone in the city knows your sister died in an accident. It has nothing to do with you. You're just suffering from postpartum depression..." The master smirked, a meaningful glint in his eye. He raised his peach wood sword and began chanting. My father finally lost his patience, pointing at the master's nose. "Do you know what you're doing or not?" My ex-boyfriend, Julian Chen, handed over a blank check. "If you can scatter that evil spirit's soul, the Chen family will reward you handsomely." The master stopped moving and said quietly: "Karma is inescapable. Mr. Chen, if you want her name written in the Book of Death, condemning her to eternal suffering, you must tell me everything the deceased experienced in life." He paused. "And, the deceased's real name." My parents looked at my sister, who was screaming in pain while clutching her sick child. Heartbroken, they nodded and began their story. Back then, my car was found at the bottom of a cliff on a winding mountain road. Fallen with it was a truck driven by a notorious local thug. My car was smashed to pieces, and I was barely breathing. Police investigations later revealed witnesses who saw me acting intimate with the thug before the accident. Some even claimed I got out of his truck with disheveled clothes. The story was that we were fooling around too intensely, causing both vehicles to plummet off the cliff. At this point, my father sighed heavily. "A family tragedy." "We never expected Ella to fulfill the fortune teller's prophecy. Shameless, mixing with thugs, ruining herself until she lost her life." The master murmured, seemingly communicating with something invisible. The next moment, his voice became ethereal and commanding, as if channeling a god. "Incorrect. There was more than one death." "Mr. Jiang, if you truly want to save your daughter and grandson, you must tell the whole truth." My father clenched his fists, his old face flushing red. "Indeed, there was more than one. It was too shameful, so our family kept it a secret." "But to save my daughter, I have to say it today." "We privately hired a forensic doctor back then. In Ella's womb... there was a three-month-old bastard child. Sinful!" When my parents spoke of this, their faces were full of disgust and regret. "If we had known she was fooling around and got pregnant, we should have broken her legs and locked her in the house." "To be honest, this isn't the first time she's harmed my other daughter. Ten years ago, when she first married Julian, she was pregnant, but miscarried for no reason." "Thinking back now, it must have been Ella and that bastard child haunting them from underground!" As the words fell, the air around Julian instantly dropped to freezing point. "Good... very good." "If I don't destroy this ghost myself and avenge my unborn child, I am not a man!" He looked at my sister with pity. "Baby, you've suffered all these years." While he gazed lovingly at my sister, the master interrupted coldly. "Still incorrect!" "If the deceased's life experience is wrong, her name cannot be entered into the Book of Death!" "If Mr. Jiang still refuses to tell the truth, then I cannot help you." My parents froze, conflict in their eyes. Just then, the baby's cries became even more piercing, as if someone was strangling him. My mother sighed deeply. "At this point, there's no need to hide it." "Ella wasn't just involved with a thug; she was also entangled with a group of beggars. She really fulfilled the prophecy of becoming a beggar." "We don't know if the child in her belly belonged to the thug or one of the beggars. It's truly a sin!" My mother wiped away tears. "The Jiang family has been scholars for generations, clean and innocent. Why did such a scandal happen to us... it's my failure as a mother." The master pointed his peach wood sword directly at my father, shouting sternly. "Still can't write it! What secret is so big that you'd risk your own daughter and grandson's lives?" My father couldn't say another word. My mother looked at my sister with tears in her eyes, a mix of heartache and helplessness. Julian supported my father, his voice deep. "Father-in-law, don't worry. I swear here and now, no matter what happened, I will always love my wife." My father was moved to tears. He looked at my mother and decided to stop hiding. "With Julian's word, we might as well tell the truth." "Actually, the one who died wasn't the older sister, Ella. It was the younger sister, Emma." His thoughts drifted back ten years. "The night before the wedding, Emma suddenly got into a severe car accident and fell into a coma. After discussing it, we decided to have Ella pretend to be Emma and marry in her place. We thought we'd switch them back when Emma woke up." "None of us expected Emma to just... go. Later, we thought if Ella's identity was revealed, it would ruin your marriage." "Helplessly, we had to go along with the mistake. Ella became Emma, and the dead Emma... we renamed her Ella." The master realized. "No wonder I couldn't find the name Ella in the Book of Death." After the truth was out, the master's ritual went smoothly. "The Book is ready, but the dead soul's resentment has not dissipated. The problem must be at her burial site." Everyone arrived at the desolate potter's field and froze. The master looked at the scorched earth amidst the tall weeds, understanding dawning in his eyes. "Miss Emma died with no one to mourn her. Her resentment has solidified and can now harm the living! She came back this time for revenge." Hearing this, my parents' faces turned extremely ugly. My sister collapsed to the ground, blood seeping from under her skirt. "Emma, don't blame me. I didn't mean to steal your Julian..." Her eyes reddened, and she cried miserably. "I'm sorry, Emma. If you want a life, take mine alone, don't hurt my child! I'm sorry, I'm sorry... I couldn't bring you back, I could only take care of Julian for you. Please, rest in peace!" She kowtowed desperately to the scorched earth. I floated in mid-air, feeling like my chest was blocked by these hot tears. Ever since that fortune teller made the prophecy, my parents decided my sister was the future "Golden Phoenix" and pampered her. As for me, the daughter destined to be a shameless beggar, they treated me like trash. My sister lived in a sunny luxury suite; I was banished to a damp, dark storage room with a broken bed. Growing up, they always called me shameless. If I smiled at a delivery guy, they accused me of being loose. I grew up in silence. Until I met Julian, I didn't know life could be sweet. He never thought I was unlucky or weird. He never looked at me with charity. I still remember him ruffling my hair with a smile. "Emma, there is no destiny in this world that cannot be broken." I used to believe him implicitly. Until we met again ten years later. Julian had a child with my sister. They were a loving couple. So what if he once loved me like his life? Ten years is enough to wash away any love completely. My sister is the Golden Phoenix. I am the shameless beggar. This is my fate. When I snapped back to reality, Julian had already ordered men to dig up the scorched earth. There was only an overturned, rotten wooden box. Seeing what was under the box, everyone gasped sharply. "What is that? Why is it so evil?" The box was opened, revealing a pitch-black clay jar. The mouth of the jar was covered in dense charms drawn in cinnabar. My ashes were gone. Seeing this, my parents panicked too. "We watched Emma's ashes being buried with our own eyes. How could they be gone? And this jar..." The master sucked in a cold breath, fear appearing on his face. Ignoring everyone's questions, he closed his eyes tight. After a long while, he opened them, sweating profusely. "Since the older sister took the younger sister's identity, their birth dates should have been swapped too. But the birth date suppressing this jar is still Emma's own. It can no longer suppress the vengeful spirit!" "Also." He turned abruptly, meeting my sister's panicked eyes. "The younger sister has used the birth date to attach herself to the older sister! The missing ashes... must be with the older sister!" As his words fell, my sister instinctively touched her handbag. It felt cold and slimy. She shuddered, realizing her bag didn't contain designer lipstick, but a handful of bloody ashes! "Something's wrong." My sister screamed, throwing the bag far away. The master shook his head. "Throwing it away is useless. The power of a vengeful ghost isn't something mortals can resist. Her hatred is focused entirely on you." My sister crawled over, crying and kneeling before the master. "Master, save me!" "I'm already sick like this. Her next step is definitely my life!" My parents forced themselves to calm down. "As long as you can save our daughter, the Jiang family will reward you heavily!" "First, we must swap the birth dates back. Since fate was exchanged, 'Ella' is already dead. The birth date on the jar must be changed to hers." The master pondered. "As for the rest... the only plan now is to lure her out. But who has the courage?" "I do." Julian stepped out from the crowd after comforting his sick son. His tall figure radiated reliability. "Whether you are Ella or Emma, you are the wife I've loved for ten years. Since someone wants to harm you and our child, I will make her wish she were dead!" "The ghost Emma hates my wife because of me. Since her hate is born of love, I will hold a grand soul-summoning ceremony for Emma to lure her out." My parents exchanged glances and sighed in relief. My sister felt the deep love and leaned weakly into Julian's arms. "Julian, I'm so scared. Luckily I have you. The baby and I only have you." Julian held her steady, his eyes gentle. "Don't be afraid. I'm here." Through that slightly weathered face, I could faintly see the boy from ten years ago. In a rainstorm, he used all his strength to push me away from a mudslide, breaking his own leg. When I was kidnapped, he blocked a fatal knife for me, leaving a hideous scar on his left shoulder. In a fire, he gave me the only respirator, nearly dying from smoke inhalation himself. But ten years later, he doesn't belong to me. To lure me out and destroy me, Julian bought a full-page ad in the newspaper announcing the grand soul-summoning ceremony. When my sister had nightmares because of this, he dropped contracts worth hundreds of millions to stay by her side all night. Never leaving her. He even played her favorite piano pieces. Back then, I begged him several times to play for me. He always said he was too busy. I thought he was just bad at expressing himself. Now I know, he just wouldn't play for me. When my sister fell asleep in his arms, he lovingly wiped away her tears. "Don't worry, babe. I will protect you forever." "Whether it's a person or a ghost hurting you, I won't let them have a good end!" Everyone said Julian was determined. Once he dealt with my vengeful spirit, he would surely forgive my sister's well-intentioned deception and reconcile. But they didn't know— Julian had been waiting for this day for ten years. 2 The soul-summoning ceremony was set for three days later, on the top floor of the city's most luxurious hotel. Julian rented the entire venue, decorating it even more grandly than our wedding ten years ago. A red carpet stretched from the elevator to the altar, lined with white roses—my favorite flower when I was alive. All the city's media were invited, cameras aimed at the center of the altar. Julian stood there in a black suit, his face cold. My sister, the fake "Emma," wore a white dress, holding his arm. Her face held a sickly flush and a hint of smugness. She knew that after today, the vengeful spirit of Emma would be gone from this world. She, the real Ella, would be the rightful, unique Mrs. Chen. My parents came too, sitting in the front row, looking at Julian with the pride of having snagged a golden son-in-law. The master paced on the altar, his peach wood sword glinting coldly. The auspicious time had arrived. With a shout, the master pasted my birth date onto a straw effigy. "Emma Jiang, I know your resentment is deep, and you died with grievances!" "Today, Mr. Chen has set a feast for you to settle this!" "If you know what's good for you, drink this wine of reconciliation and reincarnate early. If you persist in your obsession, don't blame my sword for being ruthless and shattering your soul!" He poured a cup of wine on the ground. Julian took the peach wood sword and walked step by step toward the straw effigy representing me. His eyes held a coldness and resolve I had never seen before. Ten years ago, he used those hands to bandage my wounds, wipe my tears, and put a ring on my finger. Ten years later, he was going to use those same hands to send my soul to the eighteenth level of hell. I floated in the air, feeling a tearing pain in my heart. I hated him. I wanted to appear right now and ask him: what did our companionship ten years ago, those life-and-death moments, mean to him?! The corners of my sister's mouth were already curving up. She spoke softly, her voice low but caught by the surrounding microphones. "Julian, let it go. My sister... she's pitiful too. Let's not be too ruthless." She acted kind as always. Julian didn't turn his head. "Mercy to an evil ghost is cruelty to the living." He raised the peach wood sword, aimed at the straw effigy's heart, and stabbed down hard! Thud. A muffled sound. But the one who fell wasn't the straw effigy. It was my sister, Ella. She spat out a large mouthful of black blood and fell straight to the ground, twitching all over. The crowd went into an uproar. My parents screamed and rushed up. "Ella! Ella, what's wrong?!" The master froze too. He looked at his unharmed altar, then at the fallen Ella, cold sweat breaking out on his forehead. "No... this isn't right..." "My soul-summoning array... wasn't summoning Emma..." Julian turned slowly and threw away the peach wood sword. He looked down at Ella struggling in pain on the ground. There was not a shred of pity on his face. Instead, there was a bottomless, suppressed hatred of ten years. He squatted down, leaned into Ella's ear, and asked in a voice only they could hear. "Ella." "Ten years ago, at the winding mountain road where Emma crashed... why were you waiting there in advance?" Ella sounded like a strangled chicken, making gurgling noises. She opened her mouth, blood foam bubbling out, but she couldn't say a word. My parents were stunned too. My dad pointed a trembling finger at Julian. "Julian... what does this mean? Why is Ella..." Julian ignored him. He just stared coldly at Ella, like looking at a corpse. "Ten years, Ella. I've thought about this question every day." "The road where Emma crashed was remote, late at night, with no cameras. How could you be there so coincidentally?" "You told me you were there to pray. Praying for our wedding." His voice was soft, but it cut into Ella and my parents like a knife. "I believed you then." "I held you, comforted you, told you everything would be fine." "I even agreed to your parents' ridiculous request to let you take Emma's identity." He smiled, a smile full of endless mockery and icy hate. "I was such a fool, wasn't I?" "I treated the murderer who killed my fiancée like a treasure and protected her for ten years." Dead silence in the hall. Reporters' flashbulbs went crazy, capturing this dramatic reversal forever. The master had quietly retreated to the side, wiping sweat, acting like none of this involved him. My mom finally reacted, screaming and lunging at Julian. "You're talking nonsense! Our Ella is so kind, how could she harm her own sister! Julian Chen, are you crazy?!" "Crazy?" Julian stood up slowly, straightening his immaculate suit. He didn't even look at my mom, his gaze locked on the twitching Ella. "I wish I were crazy. Then I wouldn't dream of Emma every night." "She asks me, covered in blood, why." "Why didn't I trust her." "Why did I marry her murderer." His voice suddenly rose, filled with ten years of suppressed pain and rage, like a desperate beast. "You tell me, why!" He kicked over the champagne tower next to him. Glass shattered piercingly, accompanied by gasps from the guests. My dad's face was ashen, clinging to the last shred of dignity. "Julian, let's talk calmly. There must be a misunderstanding..." "Misunderstanding?" Julian looked like he heard the biggest joke. He pulled a phone from his pocket and played a recording. A rough man's voice echoed through the hall, sounding drunk and boastful. "...That Jiang family eldest daughter, she's slutty and ruthless. Gave me a pile of cash to hit her sister's car... said just to injure her, stop the wedding. Who knew that bitch's life was so cheap, she rolled right off the cliff..." "...Afterwards, the eldest daughter gave me hush money to disappear. Heh, with that money, I've been living like a king..." The recording wasn't long, but it exploded like a bomb in everyone's ears. My parents' faces drained of color instantly. Ella stopped twitching, staring at Julian with utter disbelief and despair. "No... not true... this isn't real..." she mumbled, voice broken. Julian stopped the recording and threw the phone at my father's feet. "Father-in-law, you shouldn't be unfamiliar with this voice." "Ten years ago, the one who handled the aftermath of Emma's accident was this Captain Wang. He took 500,000 in bribes from the Jiang family to hastily rule a murder as an accident." He paused, a cruel arc forming on his lips. "And that thug who caused the accident didn't die either. He is currently in my basement, waiting for a reunion with his old lover, my dear wife, Ms. Ella Jiang." 3 When the thug was brought up, the air in the banquet hall seemed to solidify. He was beaten black and blue, dragged like a dead dog by two bodyguards, and thrown in front of Ella. Ten years of easy living made him fat, but that face, those cloudy, greedy eyes—Ella and my parents recognized him instantly. "Ah!" Ella let out a piercing scream, crawling backward on hands and knees, trying to get away from the man. My parents were shaking, pointing at Julian, lips trembling, unable to form a sentence. "You... you..." Julian ignored them. He squatted down, grabbed the thug's chin, and forced him to look into Ella's terrified eyes. "Look closely. Is it her?" Scared out of his wits by the killing intent in Julian's eyes, the thug nodded frantically. "It's her! It's her! Mr. Chen, she ordered everything back then! She said if I stopped her sister's wedding, she'd give me a huge sum..." "Shut up! Shut up!" Ella screamed hysterically, cutting him off. Her hair was a mess, makeup ruined like a ghost. Not a trace of the elegant wealthy wife remained. "Julian, listen to me! It's not like that! I was tricked by him! He... he blackmailed me!" "Blackmailed you?" Julian sneered. "Then what about this child?" He threw a document onto Ella's face. A paternity test report, black ink on white paper, like a death warrant. "Ella, I had a vasectomy ten years ago. After Emma died, I never planned to have any children." "Whose bastard is in your belly?" Ella's crying stopped abruptly. She looked at the report in disbelief, then at Julian, and finally her gaze landed on the dying infant. The "Golden Grandson" she used to solidify her status and inherit the billions. Now, it was a joke. Irrefutable proof of her infidelity and promiscuity. "No..." She broke down completely, holding her head, letting out inhuman wails. My parents collapsed too. It was over. Everything was over. They schemed for ten years, thinking they finally flew up the branch to become phoenixes. In the end, it was all for nothing. The so-called billionaire heir was a bastard! My mom suddenly went crazy, rushing up to slap Ella's face left and right. "You slut! Shameless thing! You've lost all the Jiang family's face!" "How dare you! How dare you do such a thing!" My dad recovered too, roaring at Ella. "We raised you for nothing all these years! This is how you repay us? Huh?" A luxurious night banquet turned into an ugly farce. Guests pointed, reporters' cameras faithfully recorded everything. The Jiang family was finished. From today on, they would be the city's laughingstock. And the orchestrator of all this, Julian Chen, just watched coldly. Like watching a monkey show that had nothing to do with him. Only when Ella was beaten half to death by my mom did he wave his hand, letting bodyguards pull them apart. "Don't kill her yet." His voice was terrifyingly calm. "I haven't told you why she and your precious grandson fell ill." He turned to the master who was already scared silly. "Master, tell them what 'Midnight Soul-Breaking Powder' is." The master walked out trembling, falling to his knees. "Mr. Chen, spare me! Spare me!" "This 'Midnight Soul-Breaking Powder' is an ancient poison. Colorless, tasteless. Mixed into food, even gods can't detect it. The poisoned person will feel like ten thousand ants eating their heart every midnight and noon. Bone-piercing pain. Day after day, until their essence is exhausted and they die." "And this poison passes from mother to fetus." "The young master... he... carried the poison from the womb..." Hearing this, my parents were struck by lightning, standing frozen. They looked at the infant with blue skin and weak breath on the hospital bed, then at Ella who was like mud on the ground. The last light in their eyes went out. "The poison... you poisoned them?" My dad asked hoarsely. Julian didn't deny it. "Yes." He looked at Ella. No love, no hate in his eyes. Only dead barrenness. "The bird's nest soup I fed you daily, the milk I fed that bastard... I added something to all of it." "Ella, you made me lose my love and my unborn child." "I will make you, and your bastard, taste what it means to live a life worse than death." 4 The sky fell on the Jiang family. Overnight, Jiang Group stocks hit limit down, partners withdrew investment, banks called in loans. The empire my father spent his life building collapsed instantly under Julian's thunderous revenge. Media coverage was overwhelming, headlines shocking. [Billionaire Wife Swap: Sister Murdered, Elder Sister Takes Over with Bastard Child!] [Ten-Year Scam: Chen CEO's Revenge, Jiang Family Becomes Laughingstock!] [Venomous Heart: Sister Murders Sister to Marry into Wealth!] My parents became rats crossing the street; everyone shouted to beat them. As glorious as they were before, they were that pathetic now. Villas seized, luxury cars towed. Even buying groceries meant getting pelted with rotten leaves. They finally understood what it meant to be deserted by all, to have nothing. They came to find Julian, kneeling outside his company, begging with snot and tears. "Julian, for Emma's sake, give us a way out!" "We know we were wrong! We really know!" Julian looked down coldly from the floor-to-ceiling window on the top floor at the two tiny figures below. Like looking at ants. He didn't go down. He just had his assistant send them something. A USB drive. Inside was a video. Ten years ago, in a VIP hospital room. I lay on the bed, covered in tubes, vital signs weak. My parents stood by the bed. No sadness on their faces, only impatience and calculation. "Why isn't this girl dead yet? Every day is another medical bill," my mom complained. My dad frowned, looking at the door, lowering his voice. "Wait a bit. After Ella and Julian's wedding, we'll say... rescue efforts failed." "Wait for what! Long nights bring many dreams!" My mom's eyes turned vicious. "She's a vegetable anyway. Keeping her is a burden. Why don't we..." She reached out, slowly moving toward my oxygen tube. "...give her a hand." The video ended there. I floated in the air, watching my parents' faces twist in extreme terror. So, my death wasn't an accident, wasn't fate. It was my own parents, paving the way for their "Golden Phoenix," who pulled my oxygen plug with their own hands. They suffocated me to death. Julian's assistant stood before them, conveying his boss's words expressionlessly. "Mr. Chen says he has already given this video to the police." "Also, Mr. Chen found out some other things." The assistant paused, tone mocking. "For example, that fortune teller's prophecy that Miss Emma would be 'shameless and become a beggar.' It was actually because since she was a teenager, Miss Emma secretly donated all her allowance to a homeless shelter. She often volunteered, chatting with homeless people, bringing them food." "In those people's eyes, she wasn't bad luck. She was an angel." "But the Jiang family twisted this kindness into 'fooling around with beggars'." "Truly laughable." My parents were completely dumbfounded. They stood there blankly, as if their souls had been sucked out. They always thought I was a stain that would shame the family. They used that ridiculous prophecy to define my life, feeling justified in their coldness, cruelty... even murder. But in the end, they discovered that what they destroyed with their own hands was the only light in their family. Regret and despair drowned them like a tide. They finally understood that Julian's revenge wasn't for money or power. He wanted to execute their hearts. He wanted them to rot slowly in endless regret and pain.
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