Chapter 2

I set my mug down. The ceramic clicked sharply against the glass tabletop.

The sound wasn't loud, but it instantly silenced the noisy living room.

I looked up, scanning their faces—each wearing an expression of faux concern while secretly waiting for drama—before letting my gaze settle on Chloe’s tearful face.

I held out my hands, looking utterly innocent. "I already sold the apartment."

"What?!"

Chloe looked as if she’d been struck by lightning. She leaped up from the floor, screaming, "You sold it?! How could you sell it! When did you sell it? Why didn't you tell me beforehand?!"

Watching her fly into a panic, I feigned confusion.

"It's my property. I can sell it whenever I want, to whoever I want. Chloe, are you confused? Do I need your permission or an advance notice to sell my own place?"

"You... you..."

Chloe was trembling with rage, pointing a shaking finger at me, unable to form a coherent sentence. "You did this on purpose! You knew I needed a venue! You did this deliberately!"

"Deliberately?" I countered with a light scoff. "Am I psychic? How was I supposed to know you'd come begging to use my place for your wedding?"

Chloe choked on her words.

"A buyer happened to need a move-in-ready place urgently," I continued smoothly, "so I just let it go."

The truth was, the very first thing I did after waking up in this life was contact a real estate agent. I listed the place thirty thousand dollars below market value, demanding an all-cash offer and a three-day closing. In this market, a deal like that was basically free money. The agent's phone rang off the hook. I signed the contract that very night, and the deed was officially transferred just this morning.

As of right now, legally speaking, that property had absolutely nothing to do with me.

"I don't believe you! You just didn't want to help me!"

Chloe resorted to throwing a full-blown tantrum, dropping heavily onto the floor. "Emma, you can't be this cruel! Are you seriously going to stand by and watch me die?!"

"Watch you die?" I laughed, as if hearing the world's most ridiculous joke. "Chloe, the venue broke the contract. Go demand compensation from them, or go find another backup location! What are you doing throwing a fit in my living room? Do I owe you something?"

Aunt Brenda snapped at me, "Emma! What kind of attitude is that? Chloe is on her knees begging you! Where is your conscience?"

"We're all family! How can you be so cold-blooded? Do you only feel happy seeing your own cousin fail to get married?"

"Seriously, Emma, you're being completely unreasonable," the other relatives chimed in, their voices buzzing in my ears like a swarm of annoying flies.

In my last life, I had been drowned by their moral grandstanding.

They loved standing on the moral high ground, being generous with other people's resources, forcing me to sacrifice my own interests just to save face for Chloe.

I sneered, shifting my sharp gaze directly to Aunt Brenda.

"Aunt Brenda, since you care about Chloe so much and value family ties so deeply, didn't you just buy a massive house in the suburbs? Three floors, huge backyard, gorgeous curb appeal. Why don't you let Chloe have her wedding there? Your place is huge, so a few guests won't hurt, right?"

Aunt Brenda’s face instantly twisted.

"W-What are you talking about? My place... it's too far from downtown! It's inconvenient!"

"Oh, inconvenient, is it?" I raised an eyebrow. "What about Uncle Mark? Don't you own a vacant commercial space downtown? Clear it out and it'd make a decent hall. And Uncle Dave, don't you have a townhouse sitting empty?"

"Funny how all of you have real estate, yet you're all fixated on my tiny condo that's already been sold. You call me cold-hearted, but none of you are offering up your own houses for her wedding. Doesn't that make your hearts even colder and harder than mine?"