My husband, Julian Harlow, has died, leaving behind a five-million-dollar debt.

I decide to inherit his debt right away. However, my best friend, Evangeline Frost, goes crazy from worry because of my decision.

In my previous life, Evangeline had advised me to not inherit Julian's debt because he didn't have any assets. So, I signed the agreement to give up on inheriting his assets and declare that I had nothing to do with Julian in order to escape from the debt.

But the debtors kept haunting me. They even kidnapped my son, Shawn Harlow, just to force me to pay the debt.

The debtors were extremely violent and ruthless. On top of that, they kept using Shawn's safety as leverage over me. Every time they forced me to pay the debt, I felt as though I was being tormented slowly yet painfully.

In just 24 hours, I asked all of my relatives for help, but I was only able to gather 100 thousand dollars.

In the end, Shawn never escaped from his fate. I was sold to Northreach by the cruel debtors in order for the debt to be cleared.

But that was when Evangeline claimed that her own son had finally returned to his roots, thus successfully inheriting the assets of a billionaire.

I finally found out that said billionaire was actually my dead husband when I watched the news on the TV. Only then did realization dawn on me.

Julian was pretending to be poor this whole time. It turned out that Evangeline's son was actually his illegitimate child. The assets that I had given up all went to Evangeline and her son in the end.

Filled with resentment, I tried to escape back to the country in order to settle the score with Evangeline, only to die to the electric fence surrounding the slave camp in Northreach.

When I open my eyes again, I've returned to the day Evangeline tells me to give up on the assets.

"Fine… So a broke guy like Julian Harlow has no savings to speak of. But why should you be the one to pay off his five-million-dollar gambling debts?

"Maribel, you might as well give up your inheritance rights. If you don't inherit the assets, you naturally won't inherit the debts either. The debt collectors won't be able to do anything to you."

Outside the door, the debt collectors were furiously pounding on the door, banging so loudly it made my chest ache.

On this side of the door, my best friend, Evangeline Frost, was earnestly urging me to renounce my inheritance.

In my previous life, I had believed her. I gave up my inheritance rights because I didn't want to be responsible for my husband's debts.

But the debt collector, Leo Hunter, was a lawless thug who didn't care about any of that. He was convinced I had money and was simply refusing to pay. He kidnapped my son, Shawn Harlow, and used the most extreme methods to force me to settle the debt.

Those harrowing moments were still etched in my memory even in this life.

Leo kept finding new ways to apply pressure. Every time he sent me a message, I was pushed closer to the edge of a complete breakdown. Time and time again, I watched as blood-stained objects were delivered to me, and my heart felt like it was being ripped out.

I called every relative I could, but in the end, I only managed to scrape together ten thousand dollars.

I fell to my knees at Leo's feet, begging him to spare Shawn's life, until my throat was raw and my knees were scraped bloody. But he claimed that I was merely putting on an act and insisted I be taught a lesson.

In the end, Shawn still didn't make it. The moment his blood stained my vision red, my entire world collapsed.

It wasn't until the third day after I had been sold to Northreach that I regained consciousness.

Shawn was gone, and I had no way to return home.

I was stripped naked and thrown onto a muddy wooden plank, waiting for the doctor to come harvest my kidney.

Yet on the old TV beside me, the face of my late husband appeared—Julian Harlow, the CEO of a publicly listed corporation with a net worth exceeding multiple billions of dollars.

And the heir to his estate was the illegitimate child Julian and Evangeline had behind my back.

That was when I finally understood why Evangeline had been urging me to renounce my inheritance rights. As long as I gave it up, the billions of dollars in inheritance would all go to her and her son, while my son and I would fall victim to the debt collectors.

I refused to accept it. I did everything in my power to escape so I could get my revenge on Evangeline. But at the end of the day, I was in a slave camp in Northreach, where not even a fly could escape.

I died on the electric fence, my body charred so badly that my features were unrecognizable.

When I opened my eyes again, I found myself back on the very day Julian's creditors came to our house, banging on the door.

This time, I wasn't going to let Evangeline get her way. They weren't going to get a single penny of what rightfully belonged to my son and me!

I shook Evangeline's hand off. The diamond bracelet on her wrist dazzled so brightly that it made my eyes hurt.

"Julian is my legally-wedded husband. No matter what he left behind, I'll inherit it."

Outside, Leo kicked the door open. When he saw the bare, empty room, he frowned. Leaning against the doorframe, he waved the IOU in his hand, reminding me that the gambling debt was not a small sum.

Yet I declared firmly, "I'll take responsibility for this five-million-dollar debt."

That single sentence made Evangeline's eyes bulge. "Mari, with your family's situation, don't you need to borrow money just to pay for the funeral? That's five million dollars! How can you just agree to it?

"If you renounce your inheritance now, you'll at least be able to keep the house your family left you. If you don't, you and Shawn won't even have a place to live!"

Seeing me remain silent, Evangeline assumed I was considering her words. She immediately pulled an inheritance renunciation agreement from her Birkin bag and pushed it toward me.

"This is what you should be signing. If not for yourself, at least think about Shawn. If you can't repay the debt, you'll be labeled a worthless deadbeat. How will Shawn ever hold his head high at school later?" she urged, her voice thick with concern.

I, however, started sizing up the luxury items covering her from head to toe. None of it was fake—every item was genuine.

In the first year of my marriage to Julian, I finally saved enough to buy a pair of pure silver rings for us.

Evangeline tapped the line where my signature was supposed to go. The rose-gold band on her finger alone was worth more than ten of my wedding rings.

In our third year of marriage, I was harassed at work and wanted to change jobs. Julian told me to endure it. We were about to start trying for a baby and needed the money for baby supplies.

Evangeline leaned in close to my ear, urging me to sign. Her oversized earrings bearing a certain logo alone could've bought enough baby formula to feed Shawn until he was 18 years old.

Later, when I became pregnant, I felt sorry for Julian being the sole breadwinner. I didn't even dare spend a few extra dollars on fruit.

Then, when Shawn was born, he weighed just over four pounds and was put in an incubator. Julian said we couldn't afford it, and maybe we shouldn't save him.

I insisted on borrowing money from every coworker I had and dragged Shawn back from the brink of death.

By the fifth year of marriage, Shawn was ready for kindergarten. I worked three part-time jobs just to get him into a good one.

As for Evangeline, after she gave birth, she checked herself into a luxury postpartum retreat that cost over 4,000 dollars a night and stayed there for about a month.

I hadn't dared to ask her, thinking that she'd hooked up with some rich businessman and didn't dare to tell me. As it turned out, the person she'd hooked up with wasn't anyone else. No, it was my very husband who had pretended to be a broke, good-for-nothing nobody in front of me.

Even now, she exuded seductive charm as she continued urging me to sign the papers. After more than ten years, she was still thriving and youthful. As for me, I'd overexerted myself, and the corners of my eyes were etched with weariness.

My whole body trembled with rage just thinking about the way the two of them had played me for a fool.

How could they? Why should Shawn and I bear all the hardship while Evangeline and her son enjoyed all the luxury?

Even the middle-aged lady next door chimed in, oblivious, "Maribel, just give up the inheritance. Once you cut ties, you and your son will be able to live in peace!"

Evangeline crossed her arms. Her lips curled, one eyebrow raised. Her expression screamed, "See? I told you so", and "Just trust me. I won't steer you wrong".

After all, any normal person would understand the stakes here.

But I refused to listen. Without another word, I tore up the renunciation agreement.

"Even if I end up homeless, I'll repay Julian's debts for him," I said. "It's just a gambling debt. I can't let a little money be the reason Julian turns over in his grave."

Evangeline straightened, staring at me as if I were an idiot. Meanwhile, Leo stared at me viciously, warning me not to try any tricks.

But I wasn't the least bit afraid. I merely handed over the house deed as a show of good faith.

"Leo, this house is worth at least a few hundred thousand dollars. Give me three days. Once the funeral is over, I'll be sure to get you the money."

Seeing that I was even willing to put the house on the line, Evangeline realized I was serious and immediately flew into a rage.

"What good does putting the house up do? You're still short over four million dollars! How are you supposed to come up with that?

"Forget about three days! You and Shawn won't even have a place to stay. Are you planning to freeze to death on the street in this weather?"

As soon as she finished, she shoved a new copy of the agreement right up in my face.

But I just slipped my arm through hers and pretended to be all sad and pitiful. "Evangeline, you're my best friend. I know you wouldn't have the heart to see me and Shawn end up on the streets, right?"

Her eyes widened a fraction as she instinctively pulled her arm back. "I… I…"

The neighbor slapped her thigh. "Maribel, your friend here looks like a really loyal friend. I remember you used to help her look after her kid before, right?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Her son is about the same age as mine. They even have very similar-looking eyes. People who don't know better might even think they're brothers—"

Evangeline's eye twitched, and she cut me off before I could even finish. "O-Of course I wouldn't let you end up sleeping on the streets. Since you don't have a house anymore, you can just come stay at my place. We're… best friends, after all."

Her voice trailed off at the end, terrified I might notice something was off.

…

That very night, I moved into Evangeline's house with Shawn. The nearly 1,500-square-foot apartment was understated but undeniably luxurious, with crystal chandeliers, huge oil paintings on the wall, and a full wall of wine cabinets.

This was the first time Evangeline had ever let me into her home.

Opening my mouth in exaggerated shock, I gasped, "Evangeline, I had no idea you'd been living this well these past few years."

"It's a rental," she stammered. "The landlord was desperate to lease it out, so I got a great deal."

Oh, really? I ran my fingers along the subtle markings on the edge of the frame—Harlow Group's logo.

All the items in this place had clearly been bought by Julian for Evangeline and her son. Otherwise, how could she, with her 3,000-dollar-a-month salary, possibly afford to live in a place like this?

If Julian hadn't suddenly dropped dead, I would have cracked his skull open just to get some answers.

Why the hell had he pretended to be poor?

By day, he lived with me in a cramped, few-hundred-square-foot apartment, living hand to mouth. By night, he came here, holding another woman in a multimillion-dollar home.

Was this some kind of sick hobby of his?

I'd been married to Julian for over ten years. When we got married, he had nothing to his name. I hadn't hesitated in the slightest to let him move into the family house my parents had left me.

My parents had died young, so when I met a man like Julian, who had been willing to cook for me and take care of me, I immediately gave him my whole heart.

Back then, when he'd said he'd wanted to strike out on his own, I handed over all the savings I'd scraped together from years of work and let him take his shot.

Who knew he'd only lose the money over and over again?

I thought that since he didn't have money to throw around, he couldn't get into too much trouble.

What I never imagined was that not only was he rich, but he also had another woman on the side. And the very mistress who kept him from coming home was none other than my best friend of many years, the one I'd told everything to.

I roughly estimated the furnishings and decor in Evangeline's home. Any single item was probably worth enough to cover that five-million-dollar debt.

Yet what she wanted was for me and Shawn to fall into the depths of hell, without even a grave to rest in.

How could I not hate her?