When my husband, Leonel Mallord, and I just moved into our new house, my mom, Margery Holbrook, came to ask me to let my cousin, Jessica Holbrook, live in my old house. Margery even tried to persuade me, saying it was for my own good. She said earnestly, "Your Grandma helped pay for your college tuition, and this is the time for you to repay her kindness. Don't be ungrateful, Hilda Armisen. And don't embarrass me in the Holbrook family."

I sneered.

In my previous life, Margery forced me to let Jessica live in my house.

At that time, my uncle, Nathaniel Holbrook, forcibly took over my old house. I was six months pregnant, but I still went to reason with Nathaniel. However, I was beaten and had a miscarriage. I was even pushed into the river and died from excessive bleeding. Later, my husband lost his job due to being involved in this conflict with the Holbrook family and couldn't afford the mortgage for our new house. In the end, he became homeless.

***

It was a cold winter. I was rescued from the man-made lake by some kind-hearted people.

When I got in the ambulance, I felt that the baby in my belly had already lost his life.

I snuggled up in Leonel's warm embrace and felt that I might also die soon.

At that time, I swore in my heart, If time could go back and let me choose again, I would never agree to let Jessica live in my house.

I swear.

Unexpectedly, when I opened my eyes again, I actually returned to four months ago.

When I saw the delivery boxes in the corner of the new house as well as my husband who was busy unpacking the boxes, I felt extremely happy. I silently vowed to myself that I must not do anything stupid again this time.

I lowered my head and looked at my slightly bulging belly, thinking, Thank God. My baby is still alive.

I took a breath, put the noodles on a plate, and then carried the plate out.

"Hilda, now that you're pregnant, you need to get enough nutrition. So, I got two chickens from Nathaniel. He has dozens or even hundreds of them. He said you can eat chicken as much as you want. But Jessica doesn't want to raise chicken with him. She wants to work in the city. Since you've moved out of your old house, why not let her move in? It'll be good for both of you."

As soon as I put down the plate and sat down at the dining table, I heard Margery say so, which were the same words from her as in my previous life.

Margery carried the two live chickens in her hands, her eyes full of concern for me. It was as if she really cared about me, her pregnant daughter.

But I knew clearly in my heart that Margery was just trying to use my old house as her bargaining chip to let her get more respect from her family when she went back.

"No, Mom. Leonel and I bought this new house with a loan. Since I'm pregnant, I definitely can't do my job as well as before in my work. So, we plan to rent out the old house and use the rent to partially cover the loan. This way, we won't have that much pressure."

I smiled and naturally refused Margery's suggestion.

Margery said to me with a sigh, "You may think it's fine now. But when your belly gets bulging, you'll I was right. I'm your mother. How could I harm you? Let Jessica be by your side. She's your cousin, and she can help you. Maybe you'll need her to run errands and pay fees for hospital check-ups.

"Besides, Jessica is a graduate of a community college majoring in accounting. If she moves in, she can definitely help you when you need one."

Margery started to ramble non-stop.

Upon hearing Margery's words, I got angry.

"Mom, Jessica is already in her twenties, and as you said, she graduated from a community college with a major in accounting. How is it possible for her not to be able to find a job in the countryside? Nowadays, factories in rural areas offer high wages, and even larger factories are located in rural areas. Do you really think she can't find a job there?

"Besides, I am your biological daughter. Why do you like Jessica so much? Do you want her to support you when you get old?"

I stood up in anger and yelled at my mom.

Then, I grabbed Leonel's hand and went back to the bedroom with him.

Margery had always been very kind to Jessica and Nathaniel's family since I was a child.

When I was little, my family was not well-off. But Margery would buy two portions of fish or meat, keeping one for her own family and sending the other to Nathaniel's family.

At that time, Jessica always dressed like a little princess, and she could always get pocket money from Margery.

But as for me, Margery's biological daughter, I always dressed like a beggar. All the clothes I had were old ones that Margery gathered from relatives. They were either too big for me or too short and couldn't even cover my ankles.

After I received the college acceptance letter, my dad found out that the tuition he had saved for me had already been used by Margery to pay for Jessica's private school tuition.

Because of that, my dad got so angry that he collapsed to the ground and had a heart attack.

However, he still had to go to the construction site to do the dirtiest and most tiring work, just to earn enough money for my tuition.

After that incident, Margery stopped visiting Nathaniel and his family for nearly four years.

I thought Margery had already learned her lessons. However, I was wrong.

After I directly refused Margery last time, she didn't mention the idea of letting Jessica stay at my house again.

I thought Margery finally understood who was more important in her own family, and I thought that this matter was over.

Thus, I planned to rent out that old house as soon as possible.

I wanted to change the tragic ending of me and Leonel.

Because of my severe morning sickness, I had to stay in the new house and hadn't been able to go to the old house to arrange everything.

It turned out that I was too positive. I should have acted swiftly.

Those who wanted to take advantage of me came before I was prepared.

One day, I took a short video outside and bought some vegetables and fruits. I thought I could cook at home while making some videos for my social media account.

But before I even opened the door of my house, I heard a loud noise inside.

It turned out that Margery brought Nathaniel and Nathaniel's family here.

The moment I opened the door, I regretted giving the key to Margery.

The TV was blasting loudly, and the floor was covered with all kinds of fruit waste.

My two younger cousins were running around the house, throwing sofa cushions and delivery boxes everywhere, making a mess.

My aunt, Dorothy Lange, and Nathaniel were sitting on the sofa, enjoying their leisure time together with a happy look on their faces.

Jessica was in the study, sitting in front of my desk and playing with my laptop.

When I saw all these, I felt the rage twisting inside me.

I thought that after I started over and directly refused them, Nathaniel and Jessica would stay away from me.

I really didn't expect them to be so shameless to come to my house and cause trouble for me.

And it was even my mom who brought them in.