Cruel Family

"No! I cannot let you marry that thug! I will not! You're my precious daughter!"

Christina held our mother's hand and swayed it. She cooed, "John Doe is not a thug, Mom! He's an honest farmer. Strong and brave too! You can't insult him!"

Oh God, her cloying voice almost made me throw up. Unbelievable. She must know no shame if she could twist a crass thug like John into an honest farmer. She thought his violence was strength and courage?

I knew why she picked John all of a sudden. In my previous life, I kept the food in my storage space, but cooking in a famine was more obvious than fire in the night. The starving people gathered their forces and tried to take my food away.

John, being a thug, would never let anyone take his food. Thanks to me, he had full meals all the time. With his size and strength, he fought the starving people off, and there were dozens of them. Thanks to him, our food was safe.

Christina was one of the leaders of those people. John beat her up pretty badly, and that left a mark in more ways than one. This time, she wanted to copy me and marry him.

Christina promised, "It's okay, Mom. John is going to come in handy, I swear. I didn't make this decision out of nowhere. Just let me have this! When you find out how useful he is, you'll be glad I married him. I'm not going to marry anyone else! Just him! Mom, please!"

My mother refused to see her daughter marry a thug. Not her beloved daughter, anyway. "I thought you liked Zacharias. You wanted to marry him! Look at him, he's perfect. Handsome and runs a family-owned food store. Why'd you suddenly want to marry… John?"

Zacharias Shaw. The mere mention of that name made Christina frown. She was reminded of her past life. Zacharias refused to join her criminal activity. Thanks to that, she suffered all of John's blows. She thought Zacharias was inflexible and stupid. The mention of that name alone frustrated her.

"There's nothing good about him. He's weak. Sure, he's better at reading, but compared to John, he's nothing! Besides…"

Christina's eyes darted around. She was coming up with something venomous. And then she looked at me, her eyes dripping with malice. "Catherine hooked up with him. I won't take anything that bitch has touched. Disgusting."

"I—"

Before I could even defend myself, my mother slapped my face. Blood trickled out of my mouth. "So you destroyed my daughter's marriage? How dare you! You know she likes Zacharias, and you seduced him? What would people think if they found out?"

"Yeah, you bitch! You know no shame at all! I've half the mind to tear up your face. That'll teach you not to seduce anyone!"

Christina looked and sounded so indignant, as if I'd really hooked up with Zacharias. She slammed her foot into me.

Then, an idea hit me. I raised my head and met her eyes. "You're accusing me of adultery. I'll tell the chief about this. I can, you know."

My mother slapped me again. "You wouldn't dare, you useless piece of shit! I'll tear your mouth off!"

Christina patted my face smugly. "Oh, I'm not accusing you. I have proof."

They escorted me to Zacharias' house and stormed his place. Then, they found lingerie within. Christina bawled and told everyone about this. She demanded Zacharias take responsibility and asked for 500 as a wedding gift.

Five hundred in this era was about fifty thousand in the future.

"You slept with my sister, Zacharias! You have shamed my family! You have to take responsibility for my sister, or my family will hunt you down!"

Christina's ruckus got the attention of Zacharias' neighbors, and gossip began flying around.

"I can't believe Zacharias is that kind of guy. And he looks so proper too."

"Yeah. He barely works anyway. Bet all the books he read fried his brains. Of all the people, he hooked up with the Lawson girl everyone hates?"

"Oh, what a disgrace. They know no shame. Well, guess he has to take responsibility. Trash deserves to be with scum. They should stay together. No good person deserves them."

Zacharias frowned. He noticed the hole in the story and looked at me. Though they claimed I'd hooked up with him, he was still a gentleman. "Ms. Lawson, are you sure the lingerie is yours?"

Of course it wasn't. Christina's face spoke of her nerves. She darted over and slapped me across my face. The taste of metal filled my mouth, and I could not say a word.

"Well, say something! That lingerie's yours, isn't it?"

My mother knew something was up. She darted over and wrapped her hands around my neck until I was suffocating and couldn't even breathe a single word. She growled, "Say something, girl! We know it's yours! Now confess already!"

Zacharias asked solemnly, "Is it yours, Ms. Lawson?"

I hung my head low. Pushing the pain around my throat aside, I said, "Yes."

The two women heaved a sigh of relief and arrogantly asked Zacharias for a wedding gift.

They had no idea I was relieved as well.

This was my chance. My parents married me off to a thug in my last life so they could gather enough funds to get my sister her wedding gift. This time around, I wanted to marry the famous intellectual, Zacharias.

I wondered if my sister would regret it if she found out she let the best guy go, and to a… bitch like me.

Bullies

Zacharias sold whatever valuables he had and wrote to his family just to take out a loan. In the end, he gathered 500 dollars and gave it to Christina.

Christina married John, and she looked glamorous.

Once we got married, I gave Zacharias an IOU and told him I'd pay him back.

"You don't have to." He tore the IOU apart. "Money's not important. Sometimes a harder life works wonders for a scholar."

He turned on the lamp and started reading, his face unreadable. I stared at his profile and was reminded of his end in my previous life.

He gave all the food he had to Christina, and the famine took his life.

Zacharias took the exam two times. He wanted to study, to go higher, but alas, he never could take the exam after the famine.

Christina ruined his life. Poor thing.

I wrapped up the revision books the system gave me and placed them on his desk. "I brought nothing to this family. Nothing but these books. If you don't mind, we can read together."

Good books were hard to find in this era. Zacharias' eyes, always calm, finally had a hint of warmth this time. He was looking at me.

…

I came out of my home only to be met with Christina and John smirking at us.

"You read and read all day and keep going to school. You think you can get into college? You failed the exam twice. Give up. I bet you're trying to get away from labor. If anything happens, you'll be the first to die!"

Christina couldn't stop gloating after she took the five hundred. Everyone respected her. She told them I was used goods, and Zacharias failed his exam twice because he was unlucky. She wanted to hurt us.

Disgusted, I turned, but Christina grabbed my hand and whispered, "Your learning system is useless. I'll make sure the famine kills you. Say goodbye to your exam!"

"Don't worry, we'll take the exam and ace it." I flung her arm away, and she took the momentum to fall to the ground.

"Hey, what are you doing? I just wanted some food for the winter! Why did you beat me up, my sister?"

The shouts and screams got the neighborhood's attention. John was going to attack me, but Zacharias came running out and pushed him away.

"My sister and her husband's beating us up! All I wanted was some food! They came back from the city, so they must have some! I need to survive the winter, that's all, and they beat us!"

Thanks to her, Zacharias' and my reputation was in the gutters. The neighborhood thought she was the victim, so they took her side.

"I can't believe it. Zacharias was anti-violence, but he's beating someone up?"

"The Lawson girl corrupted him! Didn't you hear her sister? She slept with a lot of men before she hooked up with Zacharias. She's a bitch!"

"It's just some food. Winter's bad for everyone. She can share it with her sister. Unbelievable!"

With people backing her up, Christina stood up proudly and jabbed a finger in my face. "Even if you won't give us the food, we'll take it ourselves! The family raised you, Catherine! Zacharias' wedding gift isn't enough to pay the debt! You will give us the food! It's what you owe us!"

Before we could say anything, Christina grabbed John and barged into our house. Seconds later, they moved all our food out and looked smug.

Furious, I grabbed a hoe and came back out. Pointing the hoe at her, I said, "Raised me? As if! I lived in hell with your family! The wedding gift's more than enough to pay you back!

"Zacharias' family had to scrimp and save just to have enough food to give us! Zacharias needs it to survive the winter! I will not let you take it! If you take even one single grain, I swear I'll end your life right here!"

Christina wasn't afraid at all. Her eyes darted, proof that she was hatching another plan. Then she turned to the onlookers. "The Shaws might be stingy, but we are not! After I take the food, I'll share it with you! One pound of food for everyone who helps!"

Winter was hard to survive, especially when the harvest season did not produce anything well. The people swarmed us and knocked my hoe off my hand. Then all of them helped Christina take my food away.

Zacharias and I tried to take it back, but the bastards kicked us down and attacked us. Grime and dirt covered our bodies, and we looked defeated.

"Look at you, dear stingy sister. And your husband too. You have nothing but useless books. This winter will be your grave!"

I grinned happily and patted the dust off Zacharias as I consoled him.

The food? Moldy and filled with insects. No, it wouldn't kill, but food poisoning and severe diarrhea would hit them. I told Zacharias to specifically ask for that kind of food from his family.

I thought, 'No, you're the one who's going to die, Christina.'