Just as we were leaving my in-laws' house, a girl named Shelly Hill suddenly dropped to her knees in front of me, tears streaming down her face. "Please, help me! Take me away! My dad wants to marry me off to some old poor guy for money."

　　I looked at her tear-streaked face but didn't say anything.

　　Ashley, seeing her distress, reached out to help her up. When I stayed silent, she kept pleading, "Please, save me! I can work and earn money. I just want to get away from my dad. I don't want to marry."

　　Her eyes were full of tears, and anyone would have felt sorry for her.

　　But having been reborn, I knew how cruel she really was.

　　In my past life, she knelt before me in the same way. Not wanting to see a young girl’s life controlled by her father, I brought her home without much thought.

　　Within a few days, she got along well with Patrick. Not just Patrick, even my mother-in-law, Diane, who rarely visited, praised her endlessly.

　　As my pregnancy progressed and I became more burdened, and since she hadn’t found a suitable job, Diane suggested Shelly stay home to take care of me, with a monthly salary from me.

　　I couldn’t bear the thought of her serving me forever, so I suggested she go back to school.

　　With tears in her eyes, she grabbed my hand and said, "Catherine, I don’t want to go to school. I just want to stay by your side and take care of you. Please don’t make me leave. Everyone has their own aspirations."

　　Hearing this, I never brought it up again.

　　She got more comfortable in my home, eating whatever she liked and never checking with me. She even used expensive gift sets worth thousands without blinking an eye.

　　I treated her like a sister and didn’t fuss much, only criticizing her once.

　　One day, she said to Patrick in my presence, "When your little brother is born, your mom will only love him and not you."

　　I scolded her, and she immediately apologized with red eyes, saying, "Don’t be mad. It’s all my fault. I was just joking with Patrick."

　　That night, obedient Patrick, catching me off guard, pushed me to the ground.

　　My pregnancy was already difficult, and this fall led to my abortion.

　　Everyone in the family urged me to let it go, but how could I, being hurt by my own son?

　　After I got pregnant, I often felt unwell and experienced hallucinations. This incident worsened my condition.

　　I couldn’t focus on anything else and became more despondent. During this time, Shelly grew closer to Ashley, and Patrick obeyed her every word.

　　I had no idea just how twisted Shelly really was until I found out what she'd done-- She drugged Ashley, slept with him, and then forced him to take responsibility for her.

　　But it was too late for me to do anything. She pushed me from a high place, claiming to others that I had taken my own life out of despair.

　　Her acting skills deceived everyone, and she replaced me as the lady of the house.

　　I snapped out of my memories and calmly refused her, "I can’t help you."

　　Seeing my refusal, she gave me a strange look and quickly turned to Ashley, begging, "You watched me grow up. You can’t just leave me to die..."

　　As she continued to argue, I interrupted, cutting off Ashley’s opportunity to respond. "Our families are pretty close. If your dad finds out I took you, he’ll cause trouble for my parents. We can’t afford that."

　　Ashley, always kind-hearted, would have helped Shelly if he didn’t understand the consequences.

　　I hurriedly pushed Ashley into the car, and we left quickly.

　　As we drove away, I glanced in the rearview mirror and saw Shelly still kneeling there, her fists clenched, staring at us with a look that could kill. A cold sweat broke out on my back, and I quickly looked away.

　　Back at home, I couldn’t shake her last look from my mind. I had this nagging feeling she wouldn’t just let this go. Sure, I managed to refuse her this time, but what about the next time? As long as we kept visiting, we were bound to run into her again.

　　I talked it over with Ashley and suggested his parents, Robert and Diane, move to the city for a few months. It would be more convenient for me during my pregnancy, and the house across the street was already prepared for them.

　　Within a few days, Robert and Diane moved in, and I finally felt a bit more at ease.

　　Shelly’s wedding was less than a month away. Once she was married, she’d have no reason to bother us anymore. I counted the days, not daring to relax until her wedding day passed.

　　I thought the nightmare from my previous life was finally over. Feeling relieved, I convinced Ashley to spend a few days at a friend’s place for a little getaway.

　　But things didn’t go as planned.

　　Just as we got back from the trip and were leaving the train station, we saw a crowd gathered ahead. Curious, we went to take a look and saw a man harassing a young woman. As I was about to pull Ashley through the crowd, the girl turned her head and locked eyes with me.

　　My heart skipped a beat. It was Shelly. What was she doing here?

　　Panic surged through me. She was supposed to be married. Why was she out here just days after her wedding? What was going on?

　　The pain of being pushed down the stairs in my past life came rushing back, along with the memory of her triumphant smile. I was on the verge of breaking down, but I forced myself to stay calm. I grabbed Ashley’s hand, trying to leave.

　　Suddenly, Shelly broke free from the man and ran towards us, shouting, "Ashley, help me! I don’t know this man!"

　　All eyes were on us.

　　Ashley, always concerned about appearances and with a soft heart, couldn’t ignore her. Shelly’s tears made him insist on taking her home with us.

　　When I refused, he argued with me. "She has nowhere else to go. She’s just a young girl in trouble. How can you be so heartless?"

　　Shelly, seeing my stern face, apologized with red eyes, "I’m sorry for causing trouble. Since Catherine doesn’t want me, I’ll just leave." She wiped her tears and started walking towards the exit.

　　Ashley, feeling even more sympathetic, stopped her and looked at me. "Catherine, she’s on her own. Her dad won’t know she’s with us. Let her come home with us. She has nowhere else to go!"

　　People around us started whispering, and some even took out their phones to take pictures. If I kept insisting she leave, I’d look like the bad guy, so I reluctantly agreed.

　　During the entire drive to Robert and Diane’s place, I wore a stern expression. As soon as we got inside, Shelly started crying again, trying to kneel and thank me.

　　Seeing her act made me feel sick, and my face grew darker.

　　Ashley, noticing my reaction, quickly took the bags from me and handed them to Shelly. "Shelly, please help put these away. Go wash up and join us for dinner."

　　Watching Shelly skillfully organize the items and head to the kitchen, I felt a wave of doubt. How did she know her way around my in-laws' house so well? Even I didn’t know where everything went.

　　"Shelly sure knows her way around. Look at how she's organizing everything—I didn't even know where half this stuff should go," I said, keeping an eye on her reaction.

　　Sure enough, her hands paused, and her face showed a flicker of unease.

　　"Shelly's such a hardworking girl. You can tell she's been through a lot," Diane chimed in, missing my point completely and instead praising her.

　　A chill ran through me. In my previous life, Diane had started praising Shelly within two days, just like now. Shelly was just as skilled at winning people over as before.

　　Throughout the meal, I couldn't stop watching her. I wanted to find any cracks in her façade. It couldn't be a coincidence that she knew exactly where to find us at the station. The bus fare from the village wasn't cheap either.

　　A conclusion started to form in my mind. Could she have been reborn like me?

　　I didn't kick her out, but I also didn't agree to let her stay.

　　In my previous life, the family wanting to marry her had promised her father, Andy Hill, $20,000 if she married into their family. How could Andy give up that kind of money? He must be searching for her everywhere.

　　It didn’t take long to find Andy's contact information.

　　If Shelly could "coincidentally" run into Diane, then Andy could just as easily "run into" Shelly.

　　Two days later, Diane called me in a panic. "I was out grocery shopping with Shelly and we ran into Andy. He's demanding to take her back. What should we do?"

　　Ashley and I rushed over to Robert and Diane's house. When we arrived, the three of them were in the living room, with Diane standing between Andy and Shelly, trying to keep them apart.

　　The moment Shelly saw Ashley, her eyes were glued to him. She begged, "Ashley, please help me. He’ll ruin my life." She ran over, clinging to Ashley's pant leg, crying pitifully.

　　Ashley, unable to bear it, bent down to help her up.

　　I held his hand down and pointed at Andy. "We took her in because she had nowhere to go, but now her own father is here to take her back. We have no reason to keep her anymore."

　　"But her father is going to..." Ashley looked troubled.

　　Andy, hearing my words, grew more forceful. "She's my daughter. You had no right to take her in the first place. If you try to stop me, we'll take this to the police!"

　　Diane and Ashley, although kind-hearted, weren't keen on getting into legal trouble.

　　Despite Shelly's desperate pleas for help, Andy took her away in the end.

　　After she left, Diane's eyes were red with tears, looking as if her own daughter had been taken away. Ashley, too, looked dispirited.

　　I didn't care about their feelings. I felt a great sense of relief, convinced that Shelly wouldn't escape this time.

　　But to my surprise, she was back a few days later.

　　As soon as I walked in, I saw Shelly sitting on the couch, her face streaked with tears, large drops still falling. Diane, without even looking up, was tenderly applying ointment to her wounds.

　　Shelly looked up at me, her gaze suddenly sharp. My breath caught in my throat. Was she planning to confront me directly?

　　Before I could react, she dropped to her knees in front of me, grabbing my hand, her eyes full of innocence and grievance. "I don’t know what I did to offend you, but why do you dislike me so much?"