Chapter 1
I watched my sister, Eliana Meyer, die before my eyes, stabbed by gangsters who were supposedly trying to save me. At least, that was what everyone believed.
In the aftermath of her death, my mother, Grace Meyer, made an unthinkable suggestion that I should marry Eliana’s widower, Caleb Grant, to ensure her seven–year–old daughter Zoey would be properly cared for.
Under Caleb’s roof, I endured countless humiliations and brushes with death, all to protect my young niece.
Yet the truth, when it finally emerged, was far more twisted than I could have imagined. Eliana hadn’t died at all. She was very much alive, flaunting her new life on the arm of a wealthy man.
“Madelyn, I must thank you,” she said with a smirk, “for enduring that sadist on my behalf. Not only did you raise my troubled daughter, but you’ve also left me quite a generous inheritance–tens of millions of dollars.”
Even young Zoey, whom I’d sacrificed everything to protect, turned against me. She joined Eliana in spreading vicious rumors that I had murdered Caleb.
The cyberbullying that followed was relentless.
But fate, it seemed, had other page one I was reborn and found myself thrust back in time to the moment when Grace first suggested I marry Caleb.
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“Eliana is gone, and Zoey is only seven!” The words pierced through my consciousness. “That poor child could end up dead at the hands of some cruel stepmother before she even has a chance to grow up!”
My stomach churned with phantom pain as I tried to make sense of my surroundings.
The scene before me was awash in white. Mourners with bowed heads, their quiet sobs filling the air.
Grace clutched at my legs, her wails echoing through the funeral hall.
The familiar voice brought me back to full awareness.
I was reborn!
Noticing my lack of reaction, Grace struck me across the face.
“Madelyn Meyer, you heartless bastard!” She rose to her feet, her eyes blazing with fury. “Your sister died saving your life, and you can’t even shed a single tear? How can you be so cold?”
I touched my stinging cheek and met her gaze with steel in my voice. “Eliana didn’t die saving me. Those criminals were after her.”
In my previous life, I’d discovered that Eliana had somehow managed to clear a massive debt overnight.
Before I could uncover the source of her sudden wealth, she was
Chapter 1
her death.
Grace suggested that I marry Caleb to repay his years of kindness to our family and to ensure Zoey wouldn’t suffer at the hands of a stepmother.
Caleb threatened to demand repayment of all the money he’d given our family if I refused.
Grace couldn’t come up with so much money.
With my father long dead, Grace had worked multiple jobs just to raise me and Eliana up.
In the end, I had no choice but to agree.
Only after the marriage did I discover Caleb was a sadist who took pleasure in torture.
I endured his brutality to shield Zoey, never knowing that she stood outside the door during my ordeals, laughing at my screams.
I raised Zoey with great difficulty, and Caleb died. But it turned out to be a complete scam.
This time would be different. I wouldn’t be manipulated into paying Eliana’s debts or sacrificing myself.
Grace’s face contorted with rage at my defiance. “You must have caused Eliana’s death! Why else would those men spare you?
You must have been involved with them somehow and them to kill your sister! My poor daughter couldn’t even rest in peace because of you!”
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The gathered mourners began to whisper, their accusations growing bolder with each passing moment.
I’d never understood Grace’s blatant favoritism toward Eliana throughout our childhood.
Though we were twins, she’d chosen to send Eliana to community college while denying me the chance to attend a prestigious university.
It wasn’t until my dying moments in my previous life that I’d learned the truth: Eliana and I weren’t true twins at all.
She was the product of Grace’s affair with her first love, and everything had been orchestrated to pave the way for Eliana’s happiness.
“Since Eliana died in your place, you should marry Caleb,” Grace declared.
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ir Gifts
After rebirth, I rejected my sister’s inheritance
Chapter 2
The statement shocked the assembled mourners into silence, though none dared speak in my defense. This was, after all, Eliana’s funeral.
I let out a bitter laugh. “Mom, Eliana is dead. Why should I marry her husband?”
Grace’s grief vanished instantly, replaced by an unsettling smile. “You can care for Zoey, and you’ll finally have someone to marry. Isn’t that perfect?”
Perfect? It was perfect only for Eliana’s schemes and Caleb.
Before I could respond, a male voice cut through the tension.
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Caleb appeared, dressed inappropriately bright for a funeral, striding purposefully toward us. “Your mother is right,” he said. “Now that Eliana is gone, it makes sense for you to marry me, Madelyn. As Zoey’s aunt, you must care about her welfare more than anyone else would.”
He pushed Zoey in front of me.
I saw something in the seven–year–old’s expression that chilled me to the bone. There was a darkness there that no child should possess.
Zoey had always been troubled. Eliana had dismissed her behavior as a sign of exceptional character, claiming she was “different” from other children and destined for greatness.
But I remembered how she’d progressed from tearing classmates‘ dresses to deliberately blinding another child with a pencil.
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Chapter 2
As Zoey grew older, I increasingly felt that something was wrong.
Grace had always excused Zoey’s violence as the natural response of a motherless child.
When Caleb had turned his perverted attention toward Zoey, I’d stepped in to protect her, becoming the target of his sadistic impulses instead.
I’d worked myself to exhaustion to keep her in school, enduring Caleb’s torture to protect her.
Yet she’d responded by treating me like a servant and joining in the abuse. She’d justified it by saying I deserved it for “killing” her mother.
I endured it silently out of guilt.
When Eliana came back, Zoey brushed me off without a second thought, eagerly spreading lies about me murdering Caleb for his inheritance.
Eliana had long been aware of Zoey’s violent tendencies. To escape from the sadistic father–daughter duo, she faked her own death and left me to deal with all the fallout.
Now, facing Grace and Caleb’s calculated manipulation, I couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
The sudden sound startled everyone present.
“Does this mean you’ll marry Caleb?” Grace asked, overjoyed.
