In the previous cycle, I had happily gone back and showed my entire family the gramophone. I also played the record Laura gave me for a few days.

But from that day onward, I felt as if someone was controlling my life. All of the misfortunes that happened after that were things that I could not endure.

While William my brother William was on his way to work, a car came out of nowhere and crashed into him. His entire body was covered in wounds, and his limbs were shattered.

After I finished dealing with his funeral affairs in the hospital, I received a phone call from my neighbors saying that my father fainted due to grief. When he woke up, he lost his mind.

Not only could he not remember who I was, but he also kept mumbling about how we should all die.

One day, while I went out to buy groceries, he slipped and fell from our balcony on the eighteenth floor. His whole body was broken. The police could not even retrieve his full corpse.

Before I recovered from the shock of losing two of my family members, another disaster came knocking on my door.

My university notified me that they were going to forfeit my graduation certificate and were going to expel me as punishment.

The reason for it was that they found out that I cheated during an exam, but I never even took that course!

The university refused to listen to my explanation, and I got so angry that I aged by decades overnight. Sores broke out all over my body, and they let out a vile stench.

I wanted to talk to Adam about my grief, but he refused to open the door for me. “Why won’t you reflect on yourself? Could it be that you’re actually misfortune incarnate?”

For a time, I could not even register what he said.

In disgust, he pinched his nose. “Anya, look at you now. You look like a monster. What’s the point of you coming to me?

“You deserve this, you know? Because of you, William died in a car crash, and Colin fell to his death. You really do bring bad luck to everyone around you.”

Tears fell from my eyes right away, but I could not say a single thing in response.

Even so, Adam refused to take any pity on me. He gave me a mocking sneer. “And that stench of yours is nauseating!

“Just go, and don’t come to me anymore. I don’t want you bringing your misfortune to me.”

In the next second, he slammed the door in my face.

Dejected, I went back home, only to realize that he blocked my number and all my socials.

As I stood on the balcony, I simply could not understand why things had changed so suddenly. But I had a feeling that something was controlling me, though I had no clue what it was.

…Until I saw my uncle uploading a video of him buying a luxury car in the family group.

Gary Thompson, my uncle, and his entire family were deadbeats. They had no money and usually had to borrow money from their relatives. How could he possibly have any money to buy a luxury car?!

I visited Laura and was just in time to see her open the letter of acceptance to an Ivy League university, even though she was someone whose grades were so bad that she could not even get into high school!

When she saw me, Laura asked smugly, “Anya, why are you in such a miserable state? It’s no wonder why Adam dumped you. If I were him, I wouldn’t want you either.”

I ignored her mockery and went straight to the point. “How did Uncle Gary get the money to buy his car? I thought he’s a deadbeat.”

Laura’s expression instantly changed. She placed her hands on her hips and yelled at me. “What’s the meaning of this, Anya?! Are you jealous of other people living good lives just because your father passed away?!

“What my family buys has nothing to do with you! You’re definitely just jealous because you’re an orphan now!

“I’ve never seen someone with a heart as evil as yours! It’s your own fault that your entire family died!”

Laura’s words cut into my heart like knives. It hurt so much that I wanted to scream.

Once Laura chased me out, I went to the elevator while my head was still swimming, but I made a misstep and fell.

My corpse was only discovered a few months after my death.

By then, Laura had already married Adam. Both of them opened a company and soon became the richest couple in the area.

That thought made me gnash my teeth in anger.

“Anya, I still have some business to take care of. I have to leave now. Enjoy the food. I won’t be bothering you two anymore.”

Laura grabbed her handbag and gave Adam a look.

Adam immediately stood up and said, “Sure, we won’t be keeping you.”

“Anya, I only managed to buy that gramophone after visiting a lot of shops. You have to give the record a listen when you’re back home,” said Laura before she left.

I nodded with a smile.

In less than two minutes after she left, Adam answered a phone call in a seemingly nonchalant fashion. “Do I have to leave now? But I’m in the middle of something.”

That person said something, and Adam gave me a troubled look.

I knew that Laura was actually the one who made the call.

If she left first before Adam, I would not end up suspecting them.

I nodded nonchalantly.

Adam hurried over to hug me. “Babe, you’re the best. I’ll come visit you in a few days, okay?”

“Sure.”

While Adam apologized, I saw excitement in his eyes.

At the moment he left, I even heard Laura’s voice through his phone.

Once they left, I ate and drank to my fill before I went to a music store and bought a gramophone that looked exactly the same as the one Laura gave me.

When I got home, William asked me puzzledly, “Why did you buy two gramophones, Anya?”

I just smiled and said nothing. Instead, I grabbed two records of cliche classics and played them.

Songs that were so common that everyone was sick of them started playing.

I started clapping to the rhythm, and even my footsteps became much lighter.

But William suffered from it since he was a professor in the department of music. He covered his ears.

Just when I finished playing an entire recording, Laura called. She sounded lazy and breathless. I could immediately tell what happened to her.

These two sure were eager.

“Anya, how’s the gramophone? Have you tried it? Is it good?”

“It sure is. William said it’s good too.”

Laura could not help it. She started laughing. “That’s great! At least my efforts didn’t go to waste! Use it often! The record I gave you is a limited edition.”

After exchanging a few more pleasantries, Laura ended the call, but I still heard the coughing from the man on her side.

These two pieces of trash were waiting for me to make a fool of myself!

I caressed the lines on the gramophone. It was like a living thing and felt warm under my fingers.

“Why don’t you use up your annual leave, William? You don’t have anything urgent on hand, so you could take some time to keep me company instead.”

Even though I had returned to the past, the memories of the previous cycle still brought me great pain, and I did not want to remember them at all.

After some thought, William agreed to it, even though he did not understand why I would suddenly request that of him.

I also booked an appointment for my father to get a full body checkup from the most famous specialists in the country.

The results showed that my father was fine. In fact, he was in the perfect picture of health.

Because of it, I felt marginally relieved.

Once I was done with those things, I hurried back to the university and asked the academic affairs office about my graduation. I even asked my lecturers about this, and they said that since I was an outstanding student, nothing would go wrong with my graduation.

In order to prevent any unforeseen circumstances, I managed to secure the video that was used to accuse me of cheating in the previous cycle, and I watched it without sleep for three days before I was finally certain that I could not be found anywhere in it.

With a huge sigh of relief, I fell asleep.

When I woke up, I found my phone bombarded with miscalls from Laura and Adam.

Apparently, Gary’s lenders had come to him. Since he had no money to give them, they destroyed his house and even beat him up so badly that he was hospitalized.

I took my sweet time to call Laura. The moment the call went through, I heard Laura’s choked-up voice. “Anya, we’re in trouble, and I really don’t know what to do.

“Could you keep me company? I don’t dare to step outside.”

I knew that the lenders were standing guard around the hospital and waiting for Laura and her family to step out.

If this was in the past, I would have hurried over, but I only said in a troubled fashion, “Some problems came up with my graduation, and I have to go back to the university.”

“Oh!” Laura exclaimed. “Okay. Could you come find me once you’re done?”

When I went to the hospital, it was already the next day.

Since Laura could not leave the hospital, she had not eaten anything for two days, and she was starving. “Anya, don’t you care about your own uncle anymore?”

I went over and apologized to her. “I didn’t do it on purpose. There were some problems at the university. Anyway, how is Uncle Gary? Did he get hurt anywhere important?”

Laura smiled wryly, but there was resentment in her eyes. “He’s fine this time. But don’t worry. Soon, we won’t have to live like this anymore.”

As she said this, I could see eager excitement in her eyes.

I said nothing and only smiled.

Things were not going to go how she wanted.

Later on, I did my best to avoid getting into contact with Laura. I kept pretending to be busy looking for a job, and even Adam seldom came to visit me.

But he was happy about that since it meant that he did not actually have to rack his brain for excuses to go on dates with Laura. I had even almost run into them a few times while they were busy being sickeningly sweet with each other.

On this day, I sent William and my father on a plane so that they could go on a holiday abroad.

Right after they left, Laura called me. “Anya, what have you been up to lately? Do you have time to come to the hospital? My father misses you.”

It was indeed time for me to go over.

When I pushed the door open, Laura was wiping off the porridge on Gary’s body.

Something was off about Gary’s face. He looked like his head was not all present. Not only did he throw the things on the table on the floor, but he also kept pinching Laura’s elbow. He pinched her so hard that several parts of Laura’s skin were red and bleeding.

“What happened here, Laura?”

At the sound of my voice, Laura turned around.

It was then that I saw her face clearly. Many red pimples had popped up on her face, and some had burst. Pus kept oozing out of them.

Seeing me staring at her, Laura stiffly wiped off the pus on her face. “I don’t know what happened. I might be suffering from some sort of inflammation. My father is alright as well. He could just still be suffering from a concussion.”

I raised my eyebrows and did not question this any further.

But Laura started asking around, “How’s William and Uncle Colin?”

The eager look in her eyes made me put up an act and shake my head as I sighed. “I don’t know what happened. William has been in a daze as if he’s sleepy all the time, and my dad can’t quite remember the people around him anymore.”

Laura sighed in relief and grumbled, “Then, it’s about to happen soon.”

“What did you say?”

The sight of my puzzled expression made Laura immediately shake her head. With a forced laugh, she changed the topic. “By the way, Anya, about the record I asked you to play at home, what did your family say about it? Did William and Uncle Colin find it nice?”

I scratched my head in a troubled fashion and opened my photo album. “William is on a business trip. My dad’s head hasn’t been entirely clear lately either, so I didn’t have the chance to play your record.

“I used the gramophone to play some classics, but it broke down. Could you find a place to repair it?”

Laura snatched my phone and looked at the photo, only to see that the needle of the gramophone had been bent.

She trembled with rage.

“Are you stupid?!

“I got you the gramophone and record for you to play music on it, not for you to play with it?!

“Go ask William how to fix it, then play the record for both of them!”