Chapter 2

But Sarah snatched my phone and smashed it onto the floor.

"You want to ruin this family!" she shrieked. "What will the neighbors think of us?"

"Even if you don't care about us, think about Leo!"

"Leo needs to find a good wife. If people find out his sister is a loose whore who calls the cops on her own family, no decent girl will ever marry him!"

That was the breaking point.

My face flushed with rage, and I screamed at the top of my lungs, "I didn't do anything wrong! Why do you never believe me?!"

From beginning to end, she only cared about their precious reputation. My safety, my trauma—none of it mattered.

I packed my bags and moved out that very night.

With almost no money left, I had to rent that filthy, run-down studio in the slums.

Before Leo could say another word in the present, the front door rattled open again.

We turned our heads. Richard was home.

His eyes instantly locked onto Leo. He smiled warmly and walked toward him.

Leo, currently trapped in my body, had no idea of the danger he was in.

He opened his mouth to say, "Dad..."

But it was cut short by a blood-curdling shriek.

Richard grabbed Leo by the hair, yanking his head back violently.

"You little bitch, you actually dare to show your face here?"

"You smashed my head with a lamp and ran away, and now you walk right back into my house?"

Without another word, Richard slammed Leo's face directly into the remaining birthday cake.

As Leo gasped for air, his face covered in cream and blood, Richard laughed hysterically.

Then, he threw Leo to the ground and kicked him hard in the stomach.

Sarah stood by, watching the violence with complete indifference.

I secretly pulled out my phone to record the scene.

But Richard caught me. He snatched my phone, waving it in my face.

He narrowed his eyes, studying me. "You... seem a bit different today, son."

### 4

I played it cool, leaning in to whisper in Richard’s ear. "I just got a notification. Chloe’s accidental death insurance policy is officially active. It's time to make our move."

Richard froze, then burst into a sinister laugh, patting my back. "That's my boy."

He finally stopped kicking Leo.

He took a napkin, casually wiping the blood off his hands.

Then, he looked down at Leo and said coldly, "Get your ass back to work. If I don't see the money next month, you're dead."

Hearing the word "work," Leo panicked.

He crawled to Richard's feet, begging, "No, please! I can't work there! I'll die!"

Hearing this, I knew for sure—Leo had indeed been reborn too.

I knelt down beside him, staring into his terrified eyes. "Are you going to be 'accidentally' pushed, or will you just 'slip and fall' on your own?"

Leo quickly looked down, his guilt written all over his face. He knew exactly how I had died in the previous life.

Richard didn't want to waste any more time. He dragged Leo up by his collar.

He kicked the front door open.

Before Leo could even react, Richard threw him out onto the concrete corridor.

Just then, our neighbor, Helen, was walking up the stairs with a grocery bag.

She frowned, immediately rushing over to help Leo up.

She glared at Richard. "How can you treat your daughter like this?"

"No matter what she did, you can't just throw her out like garbage! She's a young girl, aren't you worried about her safety?"

Hearing her stand up for me, my eyes welled with tears.

Helen was the only person in my entire life who had ever shown me unconditional kindness.

I remembered when I was a kid, Leo and I got into an argument.

He had intentionally smashed a glass cup Sarah had given me.

I screamed at him, asking why he did it.

He just shrugged, saying it was just a cheap, ugly giveaway cup Sarah got when she bought his expensive thermos.

Sarah had thought it was too ugly, so she threw it to me.

But what was garbage in Sarah’s eyes was a treasure to me.

Hearing the noise, Sarah had rushed in.

Leo immediately started crying, claiming I was bullying him.

As long as Leo cried, Sarah would always take his side, no questions asked.

That day was no exception.

Sarah demanded I apologize to Leo.

I asked why I had to apologize when he was the one who broke my things. In Sarah's eyes, my defense was just "talking back."

She threw me out of the house into the freezing rain.

"Oh, you think you're tough?" she sneered. "Don't bother coming back until you apologize!"

With a loud slam, the heavy wooden door shut in my face.

The echo of that slam seemed to ring in my ears for years.

I sat on the cold concrete steps alone, unable to comprehend why my own mother hated me so much.

I kept waiting for that door to open.

I promised myself that the moment she opened the door, I would swallow my pride and apologize.

But I waited for hours.

The sun went down, the temperature plummeted, and I eventually fell asleep, shivering.

Suddenly, someone tapped my shoulder. I woke up instantly.

I looked up, expecting to see Sarah, but my smile froze.

It wasn't Sarah. It was Helen.

Her eyes were filled with deep sorrow and pity.

She gently patted my head and took me to her apartment.

She cooked a warm meal for me and gently wiped the food from my mouth.

That was the first time in my life I felt what a real home felt like.

Back in the present, Richard completely ignored Helen.

He slammed the door shut, muttering, "Mind your own business, old hag."

He then turned and walked back to his room.

Three days later, I received a Snapchat message from Leo.

In my past life, to get cash for Sarah and Leo, I had taken a salary advance.

The contract required me to work for at least four months, or pay a massive penalty.

Leo was currently broke, and no one in the family would give him a dime.

With no other choice, he had to go to the construction site and work my high-rise job.

The message read:

"I know you're reborn too. I know exactly where Mom keeps the bank transactions and the contract for the insurance policy."

"You're in my body now. If you don't come meet me, I will take the evidence to the police and make sure you rot in prison!"

"Fine. Tomorrow at 1:00 PM," I replied.

The next day, I arrived at the familiar construction site.

The terror of my past life seemed to play out before my eyes.

I stood at the exact spot where my "accident" had occurred.

Just as Leo reached out to push me, I proactively let myself fall backward over the edge.

I saw the sudden terror and confusion in Leo’s eyes.

But I didn't fall to my death. I landed safely on a massive giant inflatable rescue cushion that the police had set up below.

The police immediately surrounded the area.

*You're still as stupid as you were in your past life, Leo.*