Chapter 1

The stepfather who tried to sell me hacked my abusive stepmother to death.

The ex-boyfriend who once strangled me to death contracted a ruinous infection along with the best friend who betrayed me.

When I visited my stepfather in prison holding my college admission letter,

he looked at me and asked, "Did you orchestrate all of this?"

I smiled. "Be careful what you say, Uncle Jack. Accusations require proof."

Early in the morning, smack! A stuffed doll hit me squarely across the face. A young boy stood in the doorway with bright, wide eyes, the corners of his mouth turned up in a smirk.

"Mom! The lazy girl won't make me breakfast! I'm starving!" The boy wailed at the top of his lungs, squealing like a stuck pig.

It grated on my nerves.

Hearing her precious son cry, my stepmother, Helen, barged into the room, her hair a disheveled mess. She grabbed a fistful of my hair in pure rage. "You little parasite, why aren't you up making breakfast for your brother?!"

A suffocating tightness still gripped my chest, and I gasped desperately for air.

The sharp, stinging pain on my scalp made one thing crystal clear: this was not a nightmare.

I had been reborn. I was back to being eighteen, on the exact eve of Jack Miller selling me off to Lucas Davis.

"What are you waiting for, you useless brat?!" Helen delivered a vicious kick to my side.

"I'm going, I'm going..." I curled in on myself, playing the part of a timid, cowed victim, but behind my lowered head, a cold smile touched my lips.

In my previous life, I had been weak, docile, and blind to people's true colors.

That compliance allowed every single one of them to climb the social ladder by stepping on my bones and drinking my blood, living lavish, pampered lives.

And in the end, they strangled me to death.

This time around, every single one of them would pay.

I glanced up and caught my stepbrother, Toby, grinning maliciously at me.

He had done that on purpose.

After serving breakfast to the three of them, I sat alone at the edge of the table, picking at the cold leftovers.

Jack sauntered over, his beer belly protruding. "Hey, you. Clean yourself up today and put on something nice. I'm introducing you to my boss's son. You'd better serve him well and get on his good side." A lecherous, greasy grin stretched across Jack's fat face. It was utterly sickening.

Two crisp hundred-dollar bills were slapped against my cheek. My heart skipped a beat. My chance had arrived!

Jack was just a low-level clerk in the city zoning department. Getting up there in years, his window for a promotion was closing fast. When he heard that his department head's son was still single, the wheels in his twisted head started turning.

In my past life, I had gone to this dinner too—only back then, it was after taking such a severe beating that I couldn't get out of bed for three days. I had shown up to the restaurant covered in bruises, trembling like a frightened animal.

This time, I was going to skip the beating. Pain wasn't on my agenda anymore.

I nodded submissively. Just as I reached out to take the cash, Helen rushed over and snatched the bills from my hand. "Why are you giving her so much money?! Does she really need all that just to wash her face?"

Jack's expression instantly darkened. He gripped his belt aggressively. "You stupid woman, if you ruin my shot at this promotion, I'll beat you within an inch of your life."

Helen flinched, her body trembling slightly, but she stubbornly held her ground. "A hundred is plenty for her!"

I sneered inwardly. What was a hundred dollars supposed to do?

She just couldn't bear the thought of losing her live-in maid who worked for free.