My best friend stood on the rooftop, her pregnant belly evident as she sobbed her eyes out.

"Lily, if you don't green-light me and your dad, I swear I'll jump!"

Nearby, my father, visibly anxious, stamped his feet and, for the first time ever, slapped me.

"You ungrateful child, get Olivia down now!"

The slap snapped me awake, feeling like a new beginning.

This was before Olivia Walker had married into my family.

I glared at the woman on the rooftop, "Fine, then go to hell!"

——

"Lily, hurry up, what are you, deaf?"

Dad was so ticked off that he tossed aside his usual composure.

The face of the woman on the rooftop face was pale, her tears sparkling like crystals.

With a heavy heart, she said, "I'm sorry, Lily..."

Then, turning to my father with affection, she added, "But I truly love your dad. We're soul mates. I love him..."

As she finished, tears flooded her face again.

Seeing her tears, Dad's heart broke even more, and his fury at me ramped up.

"She's your best friend, and the child she's carrying is your biological brother!"

"How can you be so stone-cold?!"

Olivia Walker's beauty was undeniable, and her pale, distressed face only made her more sympathetic.

Even the bystanders intervened, "Save her first, lives are on the line!"

I faced Olivia directly, "You're right, you should be sorry."

After a pause, I added icily, "If you're keen on ending it, by all means, go ahead. I won't stop you."

Olivia's pupils dilated in shock as she looked at me, tears streaming down her face.

It was a pitiful sight.

She gave her father a long, meaningful look, then turned around decisively.

The crowd tensed.

Unable to hold back, Dad, despite being in his fifties, sprinted with the vigor of his youth.

He reached Olivia just in time, pulling her back from the edge by her waist.

They embraced and cried together, their sobs heart-wrenching.

Sighs of relief echoed from the onlookers, their tension finally easing.

Behind me, suppressed sobs came from a weathered woman at the corridor entrance on the top floor.

The wrinkles at the corners of her eyes spoke of age and emotion—resentment, sadness, and pain, which finally settled into a solitary resolve.

As she started to run, I dashed forward in desperation.

"Mom!"

The moment I hugged her, all my pent-up emotions spilled out.

But she didn't embrace me back, only mumbling, "Why... why?"

Yes, why? I had never understood, not until my death in my past life.

Olivia was my best friend, a brilliant student who had clawed her way out of poverty.

I was the pampered city princess.

I admired Olivia for her resilience and had her back through four years of college—food, housing, everything.

Yet when she first met my father, she quipped, "Lily, your dad is so hot, I could be his mistress!"

Seeing my displeasure, she brushed it off as a joke.

Little did I know, that meeting would flip my world upside down.

I had no clue when they got together, or how she ended up pregnant, only that one day my father chose to save her, and my mother jumped.

From that moment, I had no father or mother.

My father barred me from home and took back all the properties he had gifted me.

He declared that the Anderson family had its heir.

Olivia indeed had a son for him, and when the baby was a month old, I died in the heart of the city.

Even then, Dad shielded her from any fallout, cherishing her deeply.

As the onlookers snapped to, they started cursing Olivia.

"So she's the mistress. I wondered why she looked so young!"

But my father, triggered by their words, bellowed at them, "Cut the crap! I've been divorced for ages!"

He then looked coldly at my mother and me, "If you want to kick the bucket, just do it. Don't make a scene!"

In my previous life, I only found out about my parents' divorce after my mother passed away.

They had split during my college years, but kept it under wraps, pretending all was well.

I'm not sure when Olivia started seeing my dad, but it definitely wasn't after they divorced.

Distressed, Dad whisked Olivia away. As they passed, he softly warned my mom, "If you start spouting nonsense again, I won't let it slide."

I looked up just in time to see my father disappearing down the stairs.

A flicker of smugness crossed Olivia's face.

She rarely showed this side, at least not around me.

Previously, she always played the part of the poor, fragile innocent around me.

Well, it seemed she didn't need to anymore.

In my past life, I was fooled by such facades.

But now, with a second chance, there's no way I'll fall for that again.

After helping my mom back home, I was ready for some rest, but suddenly the door burst open.

Dad stormed in, his face stone-cold, and glanced at my mom and me without a trace of affection.

"I don't need to remind you who owns this house, do I?"

The dreaded moment had arrived as expected.

This is where my nightmare started in my previous life.

"Jim Anderson, do you have to be so cruel?"

Mom was devastated and looked at him in disbelief, but Dad, unflinching, said coldly, "I don't want to see you again in three days. After that, I need to be here to care for Olivia's pregnancy."

Olivia, clutching her belly, stepped forward, her usual softness replaced by a stern look, "Lily, I know you can't accept me, but I didn't wreck your parents' marriage."

"We got together after your father was already divorced..."

Olivia tried to explain further, but my father cut her off and looked at me sternly, "Why are you telling her this? We should just be together."

I stood up, grabbed Olivia before anyone could react, and started slapping her repeatedly.

SNAP!

SNAP!

SNAP!

SNAP!

"What are you doing!"

My father roared and shoved me aside. I lost my balance and fell.

He didn't have time to worry about me. He held Olivia in his arms, distressed, "Olivia, are you okay?"

Olivia, tearless yet visibly shaken, had her pale face covered in red slap marks, which oddly made her look healthier.

She shook her head helplessly, biting her lip while staring at me.

My father turned around, picked me up, and slapped me hard across the face.

"Olivia is your best friend. She's always considered your feelings. What about you?"

His eyebrows knitted in fury. "After we got together, she was scared you wouldn't accept it, so she asked me to keep it a secret. Even when she was pregnant, she didn't dare tell you. How could you be so ungrateful!"

I laughed out loud. It was absurd how the mistress felt sorry for the daughter of the original wife.

Mom pushed Dad away and said in a trembling voice, "Jim Anderson, why did you hit Lily? She is your daughter!"

Dad sneered, his gaze softening as it fell on Olivia, "We've been married for years, and you couldn't even give me a son, but Olivia gave me twins."

He looked at his wife, her face etched with sorrow, and said calmly, "Since we've been married so long, I'll give you a few more days. If I still see you here after a week, don't blame me for being harsh."

Mom suddenly laughed, a mixture of misery and defiance, "I leave? Don't forget who owns this house!"

Shocked, I looked at my mother, a chill running down my spine recalling my past life.

Dad pursed his lips and hesitantly added, "You bought this after we married. It's joint property. Even if we get divorced, it doesn't belong to you alone."

I stared at my father, feeling something shatter inside me.

"Get out! Get out right now!"

Olivia looked at my mother and me with barely perceptible cruelty in her eyes.

But when she turned to me, the cruelty vanished, replaced by a look of grievance and helplessness.

I saw it all, and hated myself for not seeing the obvious malice before.

Dad left dejectedly with Olivia, and the house returned to silence.

My mother locked herself in her room. I sat quietly on the sofa, but a bottle of perfume on the table triggered memories of the past.

Back in college, Olivia and I shared a dorm with Susan Carter and another girl.

Susan, despite the fact that she and Olivia came from the same town, often looked down on Olivia, mocking her both openly and subtly. We argued many times over this.

I vividly remember one time Susan's boyfriend got her a bottle of perfume, which she always worn.

One day after Susan sprayed her perfume, she complained about a strange odor on her.

She suspected Olivia had tampered with it, but without proof, the issue remained unresolved.

Details had faded out of my mind, but I could still recall Susan's words to me.

"If you help her now, you will regret it later."

I flipped through my address book and found Susan Carter's number.

"I told you ages ago her private life was a mess, but you just wouldn't listen."

When I reunited with Susan Carter, she gave me a look of regret.

"We hail from the same town. Her scandal was so juicy that even I, barely knowing her, heard all about it."

Susan propped up her chin, reminiscing slowly.

"She was dating her then-best friend's dad back in high school."

Maybe it's because I've always had this stereotype, but I wasn't surprised at all.

Susan continued, "It caused a huge scandal back then. Her friend's mom confronted her at the school gates and beat her up, forcing her to drop out for a year."

She gave me a knowing look and winked, "Guess what she did during her time off?"

I had my suspicions but just shook my head silently.

Susan smirked with disdain, "Birth giving! She had twins, a boy and a girl!"

According to Susan, the man eventually left his wife for Olivia, but since Olivia was underage, they just shacked up without making it official.

That memory of the first time I met Olivia flashed through my mind—no makeup, simply dressed, yet strikingly beautiful and unblinking.

Youth and innocence radiated from her face.

"I still have to head to work. If you need anything later, just hit me up."

Susan rushed off. I waved goodbye, then after a moment's thought, I followed suit.

She had sent me an address, and my mother and I trekked a thousand miles to that tiny village.

It truly was desolate. We traveled by plane to a high-speed train, then a bus, and finally a van.

Following her directions, I located the man.

Walter Quinn, about the same age as my father, watched his two children with adoration.

"Careful! You may fall down!"

After I showed him a photo of Olivia, he proudly claimed her as his wife.

But when I showed him the wedding photos of my father and her, Walter angrily tossed his thermos aside.

"If she hadn't borne me a son, how could I have afforded her schooling?"

"Now that she's hit the big city, she thinks she can ditch me? No way!"

Convincing Walter and the kids to come here took some effort, but I wasn't about to let them slip away that easily.

Meanwhile, as my father and Olivia busied themselves with wedding preparations, I bided my time.

Dad was over the moon, and the wedding was shaping up to be lavish.

My mom whispered sadly, "He wasn't wealthy at the start, and I didn't even get a proper wedding."

Mom and Dad had built their life together from scratch, yet here we were, at this bitter end. I hugged her tightly, at a loss for words.

"It's better to just get divorced. It took me over 20 years to see his true colors. I was such a fool."

My mother's deep sigh mirrored my own heavy heart.

As the wedding drew near, Olivia sought me out.

"Lily, you know, you're my only friend. How about being my bridesmaid?"

Surprisingly, I agreed. Though Olivia found it odd, she couldn't hide her excitement.

I had to be there—how else could I witness the impending drama?

In the past life, Olivia had asked the same, but back then, I had refused and even lashed out. My father resented me for that.

Well, it was not because I hurt Olivia, but because I nearly jeopardized his precious son.

Later, when I died in a bustling street, my father coldly remarked, "She deserves it, or the malice will always linger."

Olivia tentatively asked, "Lily, have you finally forgiven me?"

Her eyes were clear, her figure slim. It was hard to believe she had ever given birth. Even now, pregnant with twins, her belly was just slightly rounded.

Catching the brief flash of malice in her eyes, I smiled with a mix of distress and helplessness, "You're my friend, after all. I know now you didn't wreck my family. There's no reason for me not to attend."

A flicker of doubt crossed Olivia's eyes, quickly suppressed into feigned relief.

"Lily, I'm so relieved you can forgive me. You're my only friend. We'll definitely have a happy future together!"

I smiled noncommittally as Olivia's smile widened with a hint of triumph. After issuing some quick instructions, she left.

Watching Olivia's retreating figure, I calmly dialed Walter Quinn. His deep voice resonated, "I should never have sent her to school in the first place!"