The one who spoke was their uncle, Daryl.

This old man was infertile and had spent his life raising his deceased elder brother’s sons, Erick and Willie.

"Uncle, I’m already over forty," Erick sighed. "I’ve worked these fields all my life, and no woman would want me. Unlike my brother—at least he got to marry our cousin. Me? I’m not that lucky."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. No wonder their son turned out to be a fool.

The next second, I pretended to finally understand what was happening and burst into tears, trembling in fear.

"You said we were going to eat candied haws! Why did you bring me here instead?"

Willie and his wife stiffened, their eyes darting toward the neighbors’ houses. Probably afraid my crying would alert someone, they quickly crouched down to comfort me.

Rosemary and Sally chimed in with forced smiles. "Good girl, don’t cry. If you marry this brother, you’ll have even tastier things than candied haws!"

I sniffled, tilting my head in pretend confusion. "Really?"

Relieved, they nodded eagerly.

I pointed at Simon, who was still drooling, and asked innocently, "But I’m so young. How can I be his wife?"

They laughed as if it was the most natural thing in the world. "All girls grow up to be wives, Lauren. If you stay with him from a young age, you’ll be treated even better in the future!"

"Oh." I pretended to understand and obediently nodded.

They exchanged relieved glances, then turned to Willie and his wife.

"The girl is here. Our car is parked at the village entrance—it’s too noticeable. Better settle the remaining 10,000 dollars quickly."

Willie wasted no time, nudging his wife to fetch the money.

As soon as Rosemary and Sally got their hands on the thick wad of cash, they grinned and began counting under the dim glow of a kerosene lamp.

The light flickered across Erick’s face. His expression shifted.

He turned to Rosemary, his tone suddenly friendly. "Big Sister, have you eaten? You must be tired from the journey. Why not stay for dinner?"

Daryl, about to scold him for delaying, paused when he noticed Sally’s face illuminated by the lamp. His eyes gleamed with an unsettling light.

I seized the moment.

"Uncle, Grandpa," I piped up, looking at Erick and Daryl. "Do you have wives?"

They shook their heads.

"Perfect!" I clapped my hands, pointing at Rosemary and Sally. "These aunties can be your wives!"

The two women froze, mid-count.

"What nonsense are you saying, little girl?!" Rosemary snapped.

I ducked behind Simon, feigning innocence. "But you just said all women have to marry. Since Lauren can stay and be a wife, why can’t you?"

Erick’s dark face flushed red with excitement. He set down his wine pot, rubbing his hands together.

Daryl, a man who had been single for decades, swallowed hard. One had never found a wife; the other had lost his young bride because of his inability to have children. The temptation was too much.

The realization hit Rosemary and Sally like a slap. Their eyes darted toward each other. In a panic, they reached for their pockets, but before they could grab their phones, Erick and Daryl lunged.

"Brother," Erick said with a grin, "if we keep them, we won’t have to pay that 10,000 dollars."

Willie’s eyes widened at the suggestion, but it only took him a second to agree. "That’s a damn good deal."

Rosemary and Sally’s screams were muffled by the rancid socks stuffed into their mouths. They thrashed violently, but against three farm-hardened men, their struggles were useless.

Willie’s wife fetched hemp rope and tape. Within minutes, the women were bound and gagged, tossed like sacks of grain into the woodshed.

Their van? Driven away under the cover of night—sold in the city for an easy profit.

By dawn, Rosemary and Sally had been dragged back—one claimed by Erick, the other by Daryl.

Seeing the two human traffickers meet such a fate filled me with satisfaction.

Not only had Willie and his wife unknowingly lost the money they spent on buying me as a child bride, but their eldest brother and Uncle had also gained wives—whether they wanted to or not. They showered me with praise, calling me the Conrad Family's lucky star, marveling at my cleverness.

Aside from forbidding me from leaving, they treated me fairly well. I spent my days following Simon, calling him "Brother" and playing with him. The fool adored me. Ever since he learned I was his future wife, he would give me all the chicken legs from the meals his parents prepared to nourish his body.

Later, I discovered that Rosemary and Sally weren’t as fortunate.

Tied up day after day, they became Erick and Daryl’s playthings, their anger and frustration taken out on them. Within half a year, Rosemary was pregnant. The poetic justice of it all only deepened my satisfaction—those vile traffickers were finally experiencing the very suffering they had inflicted on others.

Meanwhile, Simon was truly kind to me. He obeyed my every word and even persuaded Willie and his wife to send me to school with him. He protected me, shielding me from their demands for labor. At first, Willie and his wife resisted, but when Devin cried, threw tantrums, and even went on a hunger strike, they had no choice but to relent.

I was allowed to attend the village school, but only under the alias "Zhang Amber." They told everyone I was an orphan they had taken in out of kindness. The villagers, seeing my obedient and intelligent nature, believed them without question. They even praised the Zhangs for their generosity, saying that good deeds had rewarded them with such a wonderful daughter-in-law.

Over the years, I cared for Simon like a younger brother. Once, when he sprained his ankle in the mountains, I carried him home despite the blisters forming on my own feet. Willie and his wife were convinced that I truly cared for their son.

And in a way, I did.

Simon, despite his foolishness, had a heart purer than anyone I had ever known. Across both of my lives, no one had ever treated me with as much genuine kindness as he did. In my past life, under his protection, I had avoided the complete mental collapse that the abuse could have driven me to.

A decade passed in the blink of an eye.

I had finally grown into adulthood. Simon was now 20. I knew my real family, along with the police, would soon find this place. My sister would soon take my place.

It was time.

On the day of my coming-of-age ceremony, I went to Willie and his wife and asked them to arrange a wedding for me and Simon.

It was time for their family to atone for their sins.

The village came alive with celebration. A large shed was set up at the entrance, and every household pitched in to help. I wore a red wedding dress, while Simon, dressed in a suit, beamed with joy. He held my hand, eyes shining with pure admiration.

“Amber, you’re so beautiful,” he whispered, then hesitated as he noticed my distant expression. “Are you unhappy?”

I forced a smile, gently dabbing the saliva from his chin with a handkerchief. “No, I’m very happy.”

He had treated me well. But his family deserved nothing but ruin.

The village wedding banquet was held in the traditional style—each household sitting together at long tables, making my plan effortless.

As I toasted each guest alongside Simon, I discreetly let the poison, hidden beneath my fingernails, dissolve into the wine glasses of Willie, Erick, and Daryl. It was a common agricultural toxin, one I had learned about in chemistry class. Easily obtained, undetectable, and slow-acting.

At first, they would experience nausea and diarrhea. Within two days, their organs would shut down, and they would die in agony.

They drank with laughter, toasting my supposed good fortune.

Then, the first cramps hit.

One by one, they clutched their stomachs, their smiles twisting into grimaces of pain. The banquet erupted into chaos. The villagers, thinking it was food poisoning, scrambled to call an ambulance.

But the mountain road was too remote, and the county ambulance would take at least two or three hours to arrive.

The poisoned guests were helped back to their rooms, but soon, the sound of their pained complaints echoed from the backyard.

By the fifth time Willie stumbled toward the backyard, clutching his stomach, realization finally dawned on him. His bloodshot eyes snapped toward me, filled with suspicion and rage.

"Why is it only us? Why aren’t the others sick?" His voice was hoarse, laced with growing fear.

For a long moment, he just stared at me—cold, calculating—before barking an order at Simon.

"Watch her! Don't let her run!"

Simon, confused but obedient, nodded dumbly.

I didn't hesitate. In the next second, I pulled out the knife hidden in my sleeve and pressed it against Simon’s neck.

"If you don't want him to die, let me go!" My voice rang out, sharp and furious.

Willie and his wife's faces drained of color. The villagers, startled by the sudden turn of events, murmured among themselves.

"What’s going on?" someone whispered.

Taking a deep breath, I raised my voice for all to hear.

"I was trafficked here ten years ago!"

A stunned silence fell over the crowd.

Willie's wife was the first to react, her shrill voice breaking through the hush.

"She's lying! If she was really trafficked, why didn’t she say anything all these years?"

"That’s right!" Willie added, his tone laced with urgency. "She just doesn’t want to marry Devin! That’s why she’s making up these ridiculous accusations!"

The villagers hesitated, doubt creeping into their expressions.

"If you didn’t want to get married, why not say so earlier?" someone muttered.

"You’re really going to slander Willie’s family like this?" another accused.

I gritted my teeth. I had expected this. The villagers were used to turning a blind eye, to choosing the simplest explanation. And I couldn’t argue—not yet. Everything had to unfold exactly as it had in my past life.

Only then would my sister remain unsuspecting. Only then would she exchange bodies with me.

And just as I had predicted, the sharp wail of sirens cut through the tense air.

My heart pounded. My parents had arrived—with the police.

At that moment, I turned my knife toward Erick and Daryl, who had just stumbled out of the backyard, their faces pale and contorted in pain.

"They’re hiding trafficked women in their homes!" I shouted. "If you don’t believe me, go check!"

Gasps rippled through the crowd.

A hushed murmur spread like wildfire.

"Wait… isn't it strange how Erick suddenly had a baby nine years ago? He claimed he found it while herding sheep…"

"I remember hearing screams from Daryl’s house at night," another villager added hesitantly. "He always said it was just the TV…"

Realization dawned on them, their unease growing into suspicion. Then, in a wave, they surged toward the houses to see for themselves.

Erick and Daryl saw the shift in the crowd and panicked.

"You little bitch!" Erick roared, lunging at me with reckless fury.

I had no time to react.

The knife was wrenched from my grasp. A brutal kick sent me sprawling to the ground.

Pain exploded through my ribs, but before I could recover, Erick grabbed a nearby hoe and swung it down toward my head.

"No!"

Simon screamed, struggling against his parents as they held him back.

The impact came hard and fast. A searing pain tore through my skull, warm liquid trickling down my face. My vision blurred.

They were going to kill me.

I curled in on myself, shielding my head as their fists and feet rained down on me.

Then—

"Police! Stop right there!"

The commanding shout echoed through the chaos.

Relief washed over me, and I let the darkness take me.

---

When I woke again, two days had passed.

The sterile scent of antiseptic filled my nose. My head was tightly bandaged, an IV dripping steadily into the back of my hand.

At my bedside, my parents sat with tear-streaked faces.

"My daughter!" My mother’s sobs broke through the fog in my mind as she threw herself onto me. "You’ve suffered so much! We’ve been searching for you all these years… We finally found you!"

My father, usually a man of few words, choked back his own grief. "We’ll do everything to make it up to you, sweetheart."

Behind them, my sister stood silently. But as soon as our eyes met, her lips curled into a knowing, triumphant smile.

A cold shiver crawled down my spine.

And then—

A voice echoed in my mind.

It wasn’t mine.

"System, use the last chance to exchange my body with Nadine’s."

Darkness swallowed my vision, and I collapsed once more.

But this time, when I opened my eyes, the pain was gone. My perspective shifted—I had returned to my own body.

On the hospital bed, my sister clung to my mother, her cries filling the room.

"Mom, Dad, it was Nadine! She's the reason I was abducted!" she suddenly shrieked, pointing at me with pure hatred.

"What?!"

My parents spun around, their faces contorted with fury.

"Nadine! What is she talking about?!" my father demanded.

Panic surged through me. I shook my head frantically, tears spilling down my cheeks.

"Mom, Dad, I would never hurt my sister! You have to believe me!"

Before they could respond, the door swung open, and a uniformed officer stepped in, his expression grave.

"We've uncovered the truth about Kathy's abduction," he announced. "She is suspected of human trafficking and intentional poisoning. She needs to come with us for further investigation."

The pride that had been gleaming in Kathy’s eyes just moments ago shattered. Her face drained of color as she let out a frantic scream.

"Impossible! What nonsense are you spouting?!"