After being kicked out of the Bennett family, the fake heiress set my rented apartment on fire.

I was burned within an inch of my life, yet not a single person reached out to help.

My biological mother clung protectively to the fake heiress and scolded me in disappointment and fury.

“Did you set the fire on purpose to kill Olivia?”

“She only came to persuade you to come home, and you’re this vicious!”

When my brother saw my scorched face, he shielded Olivia’s eyes.

“Don’t look—such bad luck.”

My father shook his head coldly, cursing me as a useless waste who had brought this on herself.

My fiancé, relieved to be rid of me, turned and proposed to the sobbing Olivia.

And there I was, struggling in the searing agony of the flames until I died, my heart full of hate.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day I had been brought into the Bennett family.

“I know my sister only grabbed the steering wheel and caused me to lose control because she hates me. I won’t blame her,” Olivia said sweetly.

“It’s just… I was so scared. I was afraid I’d die there and never see Mom, Dad, or Ethan again…”

Clutching her scraped knee, Olivia wept pitifully to our parents.

At her words, my mother instinctively slapped me across the face.

“How can you be so cruel? We wanted to make it up to you, and the first thing you do is try to kill Olivia.”

“If you want revenge, go find that damned mother of hers—don’t take it out on Olivia!”

My brother Ethan Bennett grabbed me hard—fresh out of surgery, my leg still in a cast—and yanked me down to the floor.

I braced myself on the ground, trembling from the pain.

“Sure enough, a stray raised outside has no manners—rotten to the bone!”

“Apologize to Olivia right now!”

Realizing I had been reborn, I didn’t even have time to feel relieved.

Two hours earlier, Olivia had eagerly volunteered to pick me up—

Only to deliberately hit the gas instead of the brake and send me flying.

With a metallic taste in my throat, I bit my lip, forcing back the urge to defend myself.

I lifted my eyes to glare at the very people who had killed me in my past life, hatred boiling inside.

The scene before me overlapped perfectly with my memories of that lifetime.

I had once sobbed and pleaded, explaining over and over that I hadn’t hurt Olivia.

But no one had believed me.

To them, Olivia was the sweet, innocent little princess everyone adored.

They didn’t know she had smashed my father’s most prized collectible, injected glue into my mother’s skincare, and keyed my brother’s new car—

Then turned around and blamed it all on me.

She tore up my homework, jabbed holes in my skin with a compass, and led classmates to corner and humiliate me in the restroom.

I had explained, cried, and raged.

All I ever got in return was harsher scolding and deeper disgust.

I began to doubt myself—maybe I really wasn’t good enough, maybe that’s why they didn’t like me.

I reflected, tried harder to please every single one of them, even Olivia, who had harmed me countless times.

But in their eyes, my efforts looked like guilt after doing something wrong.

That only encouraged Olivia to torment me even more.

Even after I was forced to move out of the Bennett home, she didn’t let me go.

She came to my apartment, cursed and beat me, then, her face twisted with malice, lit the place on fire.

“Only when you’re dead will Mom, Dad, Ethan, and the title of Bennett heiress truly belong to me!”

Once again, the agony of the flames and the despair of dying engulfed me.

Hatred surged in my chest, and before I could hold it back, I coughed up blood.

My mother and Ethan stepped back, holding Olivia protectively, their faces full of disgust.

“How disgusting,” my mother spat.

Olivia’s eyes filled with tears as she asked timidly,

“Mom, now that my sister’s back… will you still want me?”

My mother pulled her into her arms and soothed her gently—

“Olivia’s such a good girl. How could Mom ever give you up?”

Ethan Bennett ruffled her hair in agreement.

“In my eyes, Olivia is my only sister!”

Then he kicked me and threatened,

“If you don’t apologize to Olivia, you can forget about stepping foot in the Bennett home!”

In this life, I couldn’t care less about that so-called life-or-death family bond.

And I refuse to be the spineless Madison Clark I once was.

Whoever crosses me will get it back double.

I shot Ethan a fierce glare and sneered,

“Is that a tumor sitting on your neck?”

“If I really wanted her dead, I’d stab her with a knife—not just let her scrape her knee.”

All three of them stared, wide-eyed, stunned.

Leaning on the bedframe, I forced myself to stand.

“Let me clear something up—you’ve misunderstood. I’m not here to ‘reunite with family.’ I’m here to cut ties.”

“Based on Olivia’s standard of living and my seventeen years of emotional damages, you can just pay me the equivalent in cash. From now on, I don’t want to see you people ever again.”

My mother’s breath came hard and fast with rage.

“You want to cut ties with us? Outrageous!”

“In your eyes, is money more important than your father, mother, and brother?”

“We’ve already announced your existence to the world. Doing this puts us in a terrible position!”

Ethan scoffed,

“I knew it—she only acknowledged us for the money. What a disgrace to the Bennett family.”

Years ago, after Olivia’s biological mother swapped us, she left me in a dumpster to fend for myself.

It was my grandmother, who scavenged for a living, who took me in and raised me with great hardship.

Two years ago, Grandma was diagnosed with severe lung disease. I juggled school and odd jobs, just trying to save enough for her treatment.

They refused to help.

Instead, to punish me, they abandoned me in the hospital.

When I was discharged a month later, I returned to the house I had spent six miserable years in during my past life.

Olivia stood in the doorway with her arms crossed, her expression venomous.

“You’re really hard to kill. Not even that could finish you off.”

“Even if you’re back, so what? As long as I’m here, Mom, Dad, and Ethan will never give you a second glance.”

Her bulldog barked at me from her side.

I smirked coldly.

“Relax. I’m not interested in fighting you over a pile of garbage.”

I didn’t want them—but in this lifetime, Olivia wouldn’t get them either.

Suddenly, she grabbed my hand and shoved it against herself, then stumbled back two steps and screamed, pretending to fall.

The scene played out just as Ethan walked in.

He rushed over and slapped me hard across the face.

“Madison Clark! How dare you push Olivia? Just because you’ve got Bennett blood doesn’t mean you can throw your weight around!”

I licked the blood from the corner of my mouth, then jumped up and slapped him back—harder.

“Stray dogs cross the street to avoid me. What the hell are you?”

“Hit me again, and I’ll break your arm.”

Ethan had never suffered such humiliation in his life. His eyes went blood-red with rage.

In the past, whenever Olivia framed me, I would freeze in fear.

But now, I hooked my lips into a smirk, yanked her up by the arm, and said,

“That fall was pathetic. Do it again—for real this time.”

Her pupils dilated in shock.

I gritted my teeth and shoved her to the floor with all my strength.

Her body hit the ground with a dull, heavy thud.

By the time Ethan snapped out of it, Olivia’s wails were echoing through the entire mansion.

I clapped my hands and smiled in satisfaction.

“Remember that feeling. Next time you cross me, it’ll hurt even more.”

Ethan Bennett shot me an angry glare before carrying the sobbing, wailing Olivia Bennett off to the hospital.

The housekeeper told me my parents had a social engagement tonight and wouldn’t be home for dinner.

I kicked the bulldog that had been barking at me from the corner and strolled leisurely upstairs.

God, it felt amazing not to be the doormat anymore.

The next day, the four of them sat around the dining table, each face darker than the bottom of a burnt pan.

Olivia dabbed at her tears now and then, sniffling pitifully.

My father cast me a sharp look and told the housekeeper to bring another chair.

Auntie Wang brought it over, but no one moved to make room.

I gave a short, cold laugh and stepped in to spare her the awkwardness.

“Don’t bother. From now on, just send my food up to my room.”

“I don’t exactly have an appetite staring at them.”

It wouldn’t be long before Olivia, just like in my last life, would find some excuse to kick me off the table entirely, leaving me to eat with her dog.

When they didn’t react, I picked up a piece of bread, eating as I turned to leave.

Suddenly, my father slammed the table with a loud crack and barked,

“Leaving before your elders finish speaking? Have you no manners at all?”

“Just like your mother and brother said—rotten to the core.”

I met his glare without a hint of deference.

“You’re the one who chose to speak the moment I stood up. What am I supposed to do?”

“And no matter how rotten I am, I’m still your blood. If there’s a problem, maybe it’s in the source.”

He froze mid-breath, nearly choking on his own anger.

“You’ve gone too far! Disrespectful! Today you’re getting a proper lesson!”

He roared for the butler to fetch the family discipline.

Olivia’s eyes glinted with satisfaction as she curled her lips in a smirk.

My mother pressed her lips together in silence, while Ethan looked like he was settling in to watch the show.

The butler handed my father a rattan whip as thick as my wrist. He glared at me with severity.

“Disrespecting your elders, harming your siblings, a vile nature with no remorse—do you admit your fault?”

In my past life, thanks to Olivia, I had suffered many such punishments.

The worst time, I was whipped until my back was split open, the wounds deep enough to show bone, and I nearly died from complications. I was bedridden for two months.

My eyes flicked to the whip and my stomach clenched, but I kept my chin high and shot back,

“Under mutual respect, I’m a polite young lady. If you think I was rude, maybe you should first reflect on your own attitude.”

His gaze on me grew even colder. He pointed the whip at me.

“Sharp-tongued brat! You caused Olivia’s car accident before, and yesterday you pushed her, giving her a concussion—how dare you talk back?”

So this was all about taking Olivia’s side again.

“You’re all blind, of course you didn’t see her run me over and break my leg, then frame me. She only—”

The rest of my words were cut short by the whistle of the whip slicing through the air, striking my back.

Once. Twice…

The pain exploded through my scalp, my body arching involuntarily as I shivered, teeth clenched against the agony.

After five blows, my father flung the whip to the ground and barked,

“Now do you understand your mistake? Will you apologize to Olivia?”

I straightened slowly, met his gaze with defiance, and suddenly smirked.

“I’ll apologize—if you tell me how much you’ll pay me for it.”

His eyes bulged in fury, fists tightening until his knuckles whitened.

“Ungrateful wretch! I’ve never seen such a vile child in my life!”

He was shaking with rage, and my mother quickly stepped in to calm him, helping him sit back down.

“Alright, alright. We know her nature now—just take your time to teach her. Don’t get yourself worked up.”

Then she turned her reproach toward me—