My sister-in-law, Giselle Galdani, had just finished grad school when she insisted on marrying the cafeteria chef. To my surprise, my husband and his family, who usually cared a lot about social class, actually supported her.

Having worked in the police force for many years, I instantly recognized the chef’s family was fugitive fraudsters and that they were burdened with millions in debt.

If they actually got married, Giselle’s life would be ruined forever. So in my previous life, when my sister-in-law brought her boyfriend home, I immediately intervened to stop the marriage.

My husband and his family believed me and forced my sister-in-law to break up with him. Her boyfriend, however, drank heavily because the marriage didn’t happen and eventually died in a drunk driving accident.

Upon hearing the news, Giselle completely broke down. She posted the recording of me persuading them to break up online, saying it was all my fault and the man was killed in the accident.

I was subjected to a vicious online backlash, while my husband and his family retreated into silence, refusing to speak up for me.

Unable to bear the pressure, I jumped from a high building. After I died, angry netizens broke into my home and burned it down my old house.

My husband’s family stood by, watching helplessly as my parents perished in the flames. My husband scattered my family’s ashes in a garbage dump, then smiled as he embraced my sister-in-law.

“Giselle, it’s all your sister-in-law’s fault! Those three deserve to die for your happiness.”

I died filled with resentment. When I opened my eyes again, I was back to the day Giselle brought her boyfriend home.

Looking at my sister-in-law’s expression, I smiled. This time, without my interference, I would see who would sacrifice themselves for her happiness.

——

“Sister, what do you think of my boyfriend?”

Giselle’s shy voice snapped me back to reality. In my past life, this was the moment I exposed the man’s real family situation to my mother-in-law and husband.

They immediately kicked him out of the house and forced my sister-in-law to break up with him.

Back then, Giselle fell in love with her senior from university and married him, eventually living a wealthy and happy life.

That man had only intended to trick my sister-in-law into marrying him so that her family could pay off his family’s millions in debt.

When the marriage didn’t happen, he drowned himself in alcohol daily, finally crashing into someone while drunk driving and dying instantly.

Upon hearing the news, my sister-in-law completely broke down. She blamed me entirely for the man’s death. She posted online the recording of me trying to stop them from breaking up that day.

I was subjected to online harassment and it caused huge trouble at my workplace. Unable to bear the pressure, I jumped from the rooftop.

My parents, because of me, were burned alive in their home. My sister-in-law and her husband’s family just watched helplessly as my parents burned to death. In the end, they scattered all three of our ashes in the garbage.

As the ashes swirled through the air, my sister-in-law’s husband consoled her, “Giselle, your sister-in-law’s family deserved to die! That man was driving a sports car worth tens of millions when he died. His family is much richer than your current husband’s family.”

“Your sister-in-law ruined such a perfect match for you. Her entire family deserved to be buried alongside your happiness!”

If they had checked the news, they would’ve seen the car was just a rental he used to lure his next target. The chilling memory sent a shiver down my spine. Perhaps my pale face caught his attention and my husband suddenly grabbed my wrist.

“Helena, don’t be so jealous of Giselle’s happiness and nitpicking again! I saw that guy pull up in a Ferrari. I recognize that car, it’s worth a million to eight million dollars!”

“Maybe being a chef is just his hobby, maybe he’s actually a rich kid!”

My sister-in-law chimed in quickly. “Honestly, I’ve suspected it too. He’s a chef, but his cooking isn’t that great. I bet he’s some rich kid experiencing life just like they always show in TV dramas.”

A glint of suspicion flashed in my mother-in-law’s eyes, but she still seemed uneasy.

She pulled me aside and whispered, “Helena, could you look him up in your company system? Find out what his parents do. Only when we know the truth can we be completely at ease.”

Before she could finish, my husband cut her off sharply, “Mom, why are you being so suspicious just like Helena?”

“She’s already so incompetent in everything. Then what do you expect her to investigate? What does she know? Are you sure?”

“That’s true, Mom, I don’t know.”

I quickly stepped forward to interrupt my husband. “Mom, Giselle’s boyfriend is fine. Didn’t Martin say he drives a car worth tens of millions? He can’t be bad.”

Seeing Giselle nestle into that man’s embrace, a cold chuckle rose in my heart. In this lifetime, I would like to see whose lives would be sacrificed to bury this ‘happy life’ of my sister-in-law.

Probably afraid this hard-won golden groom would slip away, the very next morning, Martin announced Giselle was going to register their marriage with that man.

“Helena, as her sister-in-law, you should go too with her.”

Reborn into this life, I had far too many things to do, so how could I have time to spend with them?

“I can’t go. I have a duty today. Wish Giselle happiness for me.”

Martin sighed, looking defeated. “You’re never there when I need you. But since you didn’t cause trouble for Giselle’s wedding yesterday, I’ll forgive you this once.”

The moment Martin stepped out the door, I immediately called my parents, urging them to avoid contacting the in-laws or Martin during this period. Then I rushed back to the office to check the newly issued wanted notice.

What I saw terrified me. I thought only Felix’s parents were involved in overseas fraud, but he wasn’t just in debt. He was also a serial abuser. He’d driven away two ex-wives and one of them was still listed on his household records.

The man was missing. Looking at his address in the mountains, where there was no road access yet, a cold sweat broke out on my back.

Marrying into this family wouldn’t just be a matter of being deceived, I might even lose my life.

My sister-in-law’s innocent smile as a child and her sinister grin when my parents were burned to death in my previous life, flashed repeatedly in my mind.

Just as I was struggling with this dilemma, the urgent ringing of my phone interrupted my thoughts. Seeing it was Giselle calling, I answered immediately. Before I could speak, her sobs cut me off.

“Helena, did you do something to sabotage us? Why did they say his parents are criminals when Felix and I went to get our marriage certificate? They dragged him in for questioning for ages! What does that even mean?”

“Tell me, are you just jealous of my happiness?”

“Helena Wagner! I just praised you this morning and now you’re causing trouble for me! Can we even live like this anymore?”

Her resentful tone snapped me back to reality. I checked today’s schedule and saw that the girl assigned to investigate the case was the kindest in our team.

I checked the time. I’d probably asked everything I needed to ask. The man probably wouldn’t confess anything. Maybe if I waited any longer, she’d blurt out the man’s actual situation to my sister-in-law’s family.

Remembering the tragic end I suffered in my previous life after getting involved, I quickly said, “I didn’t know anything. I’ll have my colleague come back right away.”

After hanging up, I immediately called my colleague.

“Jessica, couldn’t you pick a better time to question someone? It’s their wedding! What’s the point of interrogating them like this! Come back right now.”

Jessica sounded confused on the other end but still replied, “Got it, Ms. Wagner. I’m coming back right now.”

A few minutes later, I saw Giselle’s Instagram story. The accompanying photo showed two hands clasped tightly together and two marriage certificates.

Martin and his mother had also posted on their Instagram accounts. The photos showed a large box of cash and another large box of gold.

I roughly estimated the total value. The total value was likely over a million.

Seems this man really went all out to secure his in-laws’ support. Seeing Martin’s beaming smile in the photo, I forced a smile too.

It seemed the final primary task of my rebirth wouldn’t require much mental effort. If things went smoothly, perhaps everything would fall into place soon.

That evening, I returned to my parents’ house and had dinner with them. As I was leaving, my mother grabbed my hand, a hint of worry flashing in her eyes.

“Helena, did you and Martin have a fight? If something’s wrong, talk to us. Don’t keep it silent inside your heart, okay?”

The memory of them being burned alive in my past life flashed through my mind. I held back tears and patted my mother’s hand.

“Don’t worry, Mom. Everything’s fine. But you two must listen to me!”

Although my parents didn’t say anything more, the worry in their eyes hadn’t faded much. Their expressions made me determined not to wait any longer and to get things sorted out as soon as possible.

After reporting to my workplace, I went to a bar and had a few drinks, not returning home until late at night. The moment I walked in, I saw Martin sitting on the sofa with a sour expression.

Spotting me, he threw his slipper straight at me and yelled, “Helena Wagner! There’s no wife in the world who acts like you! Not only do you go out and get wasted, but why didn’t you cook dinner for me?”

I deliberately didn’t dodge the slipper as it came flying at me. Martin had thrown it with considerable force. My cheek immediately began to bruise.

I picked up the slipper and slapped it straight across his face. “Are you crippled, or did you never grow arms? If you’re hungry, can’t you cook for yourself?”

Though the blow didn’t hurt much, it was enough to enrage Martin. He stared at me in disbelief, quickly got up, grabbed my throat and pinned me against the sofa.

“Helena, how dare you hit me?”

“Let me tell you, Giselle’s husband is a rich kid! He just called me ‘brother’ today and gave me a car.”

“If you treat me right, you’ll live in luxury. But if you keep this up, life with you is unbearable! I’ve got a brother-in-law like that, so what kind of wife can’t I find?”

I looked at Martin’s face with a mocking smile. “That man is lying to you all, like fooling your whole stupid family!”

“Martin, go ahead and try it! See which woman would marry a useless loser like you! Can’t make money, can’t do housework, all you know how to do is hit women!”

Anger exploded in Martin’s eyes. He slapped me hard across the face, then grabbed the nearby trash can and smashed it against me.

“You bitch! How dare you call my family idiots! I want to divorce you!”

I said firmly, “Divorce? Martin, do you even have the guts? You’re just all talk!”

Martin was furious like a mad dog. “Helena, I’ve had enough of you! Divorce, right now!”

I replied, “Fine! Whoever doesn’t divorce is a coward!”

Five hours later, Martin and I emerged from the Office of Vital Records. Staring at the divorce acceptance notice in my hand, I turned away and forced a smile.

With this final primary task completed after my rebirth, I felt much more at ease.

After I finally got the divorce certificate, I was free from that family’s tens of millions in debt and the walking disaster Giselle had brought into our lives.

To avoid any entanglement with Martin during the divorce cooling-off period, I went straight from the service office to my parents’ house.