I was sitting at the police station. My landlord scolded me harshly and pointed at my nose. Out of nowhere, my mother called and berated me mercilessly.

“Chloe went to your place and disappeared! Did you lose her?!”

“I know you’ve had grudges against me and your brother all these years, but how could you take it out on your niece?”

In my previous cycle, when my mother told me Chloe was missing, I panicked and searched for her everywhere. Instead of helping, my mom and brother’s entire family dragged me to court without hesitation.

I could not understand it. Chloe disappeared on her way to my place. How was that my fault?

I begged the police to clear my name and review all the surveillance footage in the city.

But the footage showed Chloe arriving at my door that day, and I opened the door for her. After that, she was gone, as if she had vanished into thin air.

I stared blankly at the footage of her hopping cheerfully into my apartment. I had no way to explain myself.

My sister-in-law lost it. She was convinced I had killed Chloe and threw boiling oil at my face in a fit of rage.

I ended up in the hospital. I was disfigured and completely crushed, both physically and emotionally.

No matter how hard I tried, I could not recall ever opening the door for Chloe.

When I opened my eyes again, I found myself back on the day Chloe disappeared.

“Where on earth have you been? Do you know Chloe is missing?!”

My mother, Emily Davis, was grinding her teeth in anger as she yelled at me on the phone. It felt like she might spit at me through the screen.

I frowned and said coldly, “If she’s missing, then go look for her. What’s the point of calling me?”

There was a brief silence on the other end. Perhaps she was stunned by my response.

But the yelling resumed almost immediately.

“It’s all your fault, you jinx! How else could Chloe go missing?!

“She said she was coming to visit you yesterday. You didn’t even bring her back! Did something happen to her?!

“If anything happens to her, I swear I won’t forgive you!”

My mom kept shouting, but I felt nothing.

I had always cared about Chloe. But I no longer tried to look for her. Instead, I hit the mute button on my phone and turned to look at the landlord, Sophie Walker. She was standing next to me. Her face was red with anger.

“Are you going to pay or not? Is this really something that needs the police involved?”

Sophie rolled her eyes in frustration. Even with her stern face, I could see the exhaustion in her eyes.

Yesterday morning, I accidentally blew up Sophie’s kitchen while cooking. Ever since, I was stuck at the police station with her.

Sophie’s solution was simple. She wanted 30,000 dollars in compensation, but I refused to pay.

“Everyone, listen. She had a perfectly fine house, but she gave it away as a wedding gift to her brother. Now, she’s renting my place and blew up my kitchen. She won’t pay for it! She’s been here for two days and still hasn’t shown any remorse.”

Since yesterday, Sophie has been going on and on about how stupid and unreasonable I was. She thought it was ridiculous for me to give the house I owned to my brother and sister-in-law, David and Margaret Carter. She also accused me of being even more unreasonable and rude by refusing to pay for the damage.

Because she kept yelling, a crowd gathered outside the police station. Some elderly people pointed at me, and young people filmed me with their phones and posted videos online.

I was not angry as I watched the crowd turn me into a joke. Instead, I nodded with satisfaction.

Just as the crowd was getting bored and about to leave, I took out the settlement agreement I had prepared earlier and handed it to Sophie.

“I’ll pay you 50,000 dollars. I know I’ve caused you a lot of trouble these past couple of days.”

Sophie, who had been pointing at my nose and ranting moments ago, froze. She stared at the settlement agreement in her hands in disbelief.

The nearby police officer was also stunned. He remained silent as I transferred 50,000 dollars into Sophie’s account without hesitation.

The crowd’s perception of me shifted instantly. I went from being seen as a deadbeat to a reasonable person in the blink of an eye. Everyone was left speechless.

They could not understand why I seemed like a completely different person after just one phone call. It was as though I had been anticipating that call the entire time.

I ignored the bewildered stares around. I got into my car and drove away.

As I checked my phone, I noticed countless missed calls and messages from my mother. I decided to listen to a few of her voice messages.

“Why are you doing this? Chloe was such a sweet girl. She loved you so much. Why would you hurt her?”

“Even if you’re my daughter, I can’t protect you anymore. This time, I’ll ensure you’re sent to prison!”

I sneered. In my previous cycle, when Emily said that after Chloe went missing, I felt heartbroken. I did not question it at the time.

Emily had always favored the boys and often neglected Chloe. At the slightest provocation, she would either hit or scold her.

It made me wonder how she pretended to be so devastated by Chloe’s disappearance.

I stepped hard on the accelerator and sped home. I could not wait to expose her fake concern.

Countless people could provide an alibi for me. I was curious to see what tricks she and my other family members would use to try to force me into submission.

This time, the tables might turn. I would be the one sending them to the police station.

In my past cycle, when I rushed home in a panic, dozens of relatives were already blocking my door.

Emily was in the middle of the crowd. She threw a tantrum and demanded an explanation from me.

“Grace, I never thought you could be so cruel. You’re her aunt! Chloe loved you so much. How could you do this to her?

“Tell me, where did you hide her? Or did you already kill her?!”

I did not even know where to begin in the face of her wild accusations.

I had no idea Chloe had visited me. I had not seen her at all.

But my hesitation made everyone believe Emily.

They were convinced that I held a grudge and had taken it all out on barely five-year-old Chloe.

“I know I haven’t treated you well, but if something is wrong, just talk to me. If it’s really that serious, you can talk to David. Chloe hasn’t done anything wrong.

“It was wrong of me to ask you to give your house to David as a wedding gift, and it was wrong for me to ask you to pay for David and Margaret’s wedding. But don’t take it out on Chloe!”

She sobbed and sniffled. Without any shame, she listed all the wrongs I had suffered over the years.

But the sacrifices that I had made willingly out of selflessness were being used against me as reasons for hurting Chloe.

Emily, who had always been rude and unreasonable, portrayed herself as a poor old woman who had lost her granddaughter.

I stumbled over my words as I tried to say, “I didn’t even know Chloe was coming to see me. How could I have hurt her?”

Suddenly, David appeared out of nowhere. He slapped me across the face in front of everyone.

“Even with the noose around your neck, you won’t admit it! How much do you really hate me?!”

My head rang, and my vision was blurry from the slap. A metallic, sweet taste of blood filled my mouth.

“David, you don’t believe me either?”

I stumbled to my feet. The crowd was pointing and whispering. This made my vision blur even more.

I had no idea what I had done wrong. I could not understand why they were blaming me for everything.

Then, I looked up and saw Margaret standing in the distance. She was staring at me. She slowly walked toward me.

I felt like she was my last hope. I rushed toward her in a frenzy.

I knew Margaret had a fiery temper, but she was always an objective and reasonable person.

If she believed me, maybe there was still a chance to fix this.

“Margaret! You know me! Do you think I would ever hurt Chloe? I’ve always been good to her. I didn’t even know Chloe was coming to meet me.”

I blurted out, but she just stood there and stared at me coldly.

“Why did you hurt Chloe? Did you really kill her? Where is she? Why is she missing?

“The evidence is clear as day. How long are you going to keep denying it? Do you really think I’ll believe you?”

I stared in disbelief at the video Margaret was holding. I played it repeatedly.

The video showed Chloe knocking on the door of my rental apartment. After a while, the door opened, and Chloe skipped excitedly into my apartment.

“How is that possible? I never saw Chloe that day.”

I grabbed Margaret’s phone and watched the surveillance video over and over again.

But there was no denying it. The little girl in the video was definitely Chloe, and the apartment she entered was mine.

“Grace Carter, you’re not even fit to be a human! How could you be so vicious? Why did you hurt Chloe?”

Margaret’s voice was cold, but there was a strange smile on her face.

She lunged at me and slammed me against the wall. Without a second thought, she poured a pot of hot oil onto my face.

“Die, you filthy woman! Give me back my daughter! If you don’t, I’ll make you regret being alive!”

The scorching hot oil ran down my face as it burnt every inch of my skin. I collapsed to the floor and cried out in pain.

I could feel the oil seeping into my skin and clothes. It felt like every inch of me was on fire.

My mouth, fingertips, and scalp were all scorched and swollen from the hot oil. I could not even speak a full sentence. Those who were watching thought that the punishment was not harsh enough.

Even when Emily gave up on my treatment in the hospital, I could not understand where that strange surveillance footage had come from.

In my final days, every moment was filled with excruciating pain.

But luckily, when I opened my eyes again, fate gave me a second chance.

When the car stopped downstairs in the neighborhood, I noticed Emily acting the same way she had in my previous cycle. My once kind and amiable relatives glared at me with disgust.

“Grace, if you want to blame someone, blame me. Please, give Chloe back to me. What did you do to her?”

She scrambled to her feet. She was half squatting and half kneeling. She genuinely looked heartbroken.

By this point, a crowd had gathered. They craned their necks and stared at me curiously.

“Grace, you’re a sensible child. If you’re angry, don’t take it out on a child. Hurry up and bring Chloe here. Otherwise, you could really end up in prison.”