After my boyfriend and I got engaged, he reported me to the police. He accused me of demanding an exorbitant bride price. When the police approached me, I returned the 18,800 dollars bride price without hesitation.

In my previous life, because of my obsession with my boyfriend, I endlessly argued with the police about the bride price when they came to inquire. In front of everyone, I insisted that my boyfriend wouldn't report me over such a small amount of money and claimed the police made a mistake.

My mother, who had a heart condition, chose to believe me and fought for me with reason. In the end, when my boyfriend showed up, he pointed at me and yelled, "Gold-digger! Raising the price at will!"

The bystanders assumed we had taken an exorbitant amount of bride price and accused my mother of 'selling her daughter.' My mother, infuriated, suffered a heart attack and passed away.

Even though I had returned the bride price, Mrs. Royce still berated me relentlessly as a gold-digging scammer at my mother's funeral.

In the end, during the funeral, amid everyone's condemnation, I was pushed and hit my head on my mother's tombstone, bleeding profusely. I died confused, right in front of my mother's grave.

***

In this life, my boyfriend successfully reclaimed the bride price, as he wished and my mother, calmed by my persuasion, didn't suffer a heart attack.

However, not long after, he knelt and begged me to accept 188,800 dollars in bride price along with all his assets. The surrounding murmurs and the buzzing voices startled me awake.

The suffocating pain of losing my loved one and the piercing agony of my fractured skull felt vivid as ever. I clutched my chest, trying to calm myself.

"Miss Reed? Miss Reed?" Looking at the familiar-faced police officer in front of me, I realized I had been reborn. Reborn on the very day Thomas Royce reported me for demanding an exorbitant bride price.

I remembered that before long, the noise from the quarrel would wake my mother, who was resting. And then, to defend me, she would join this absurd farce.

To prevent my mother from being disturbed, I swiftly opened WhatsApp and transferred 18,800 dollars to Thomas in front of the police. I thought that would be the end of it.

Unexpectedly, Thomas, who had been hiding in the shadows, appeared the moment he saw the transfer record. This time, he didn't call me a gold-digger.

Instead, he said, "You clearly took 188,800 dollars from me, so why are you now transferring 18,800 dollars back? What does this mean?"

He looked at me with bitter disappointment, "I thought you were greedy and wouldn't repay, but I didn't expect you to play tricks. You think, just because the bride price was given in cash and there's no record, you can cover it up, right?"

Seeing his heart-wrenching act, I couldn't help but feel speechless. Thomas and I had met through a blind date. Since we were both older singles, neither of us demanded much financially.

We quickly hit it off and even had a sweet and passionate courtship. My mother was eager to marry me off and his mother was eager to gain a daughter-in-law.

The bride price of 18,800 dollars was a result of discussions between our mothers and I never expressed any opinions from beginning to end.

Thomas only showed up briefly at the engagement ceremony. Seeing Thomas's current act, it was hard not to treat him as a scammer.

"The bride price was always agreed to be 18,800 dollars, a decision between our mothers. If you don't believe it, go ask your mom!" I rolled my eyes at him and lifted my foot to walk back inside.

But Thomas rushed up and grabbed my hand, "You're not leaving! If you don't return the money today, I'll accuse you of fraud!"

"Olivia, who's making all this noise?" My mother's voice rang out, sending a wave of panic through me.

My face turned pale instantly and the image of my mother gasping for breath in the previous life was fresh in my mind.

But in Thomas's eyes, my pale face became evidence that I had indeed taken the bride price for myself.

In the past, Thomas had always shown concern and warmth toward my mother, but this time he ignored her entirely, unlike his previous eagerness.

All he cared about was using my pale face as proof to show the crowd.

He grabbed my chin and turned my face to the crowd, "Look! Everyone, just look! If she didn't take it, then why does she look so guilty?"

Neighbors and passersby started criticizing me, "These days, bride prices are always in the tens of thousands. For an average family, that's their life savings!"

"Young lady, it's better to part amicably and return the money."

"Stop defending her. Who knows, maybe this is her regular scheme."

Standing at the doorway, my mother listened to everyone's accusations. Like a protective lioness, she pulled me away from Thomas and shielded me behind her.

I stared at her back, red-eyed, as she faced the mob alone for my sake, "What exorbitant bride price! It was clearly just 18,800 dollars. If even that is too much for Thomas's family, how could I dare let my daughter marry into such poverty?"

The clenching of Thomas's fists told me his patience was hanging by a thread. When we were together, there had been a bond of mutual understanding.

We both came from single-parent families. Life hadn't been easy for our mothers, so our engagement was just a simple family meal and a brief ceremony. But I never expected him to use the bride price as leverage against me.

"Mrs. Reed, I truly admire you for raising Olivia on your own. It's not easy, but …" Thomas covered his face, "I need to say this, my mother has it tough too. If I'd known back then that the deal was for 18.800 dollars, this marriage wouldn't have happened!"

Seeing my mother on the verge of erupting, I quickly patted her chest to calm her down. While comforting her, I searched her pocket for her emergency heart medication.

Thomas noticed my flustered behavior and his expression faltered briefly.

Just as my mother swallowed the pill, we heard Mrs. Royce rushing over, crying, with his childhood friend, Tara Dissick, in tow. As they ran, Mrs. Royce shouted loudly, "This is a fraud! A fraud!"

I felt a surge of relief, thank goodness my mother had taken her medicine. In my previous life, Mrs. Royce had been relentless and aggressive.

Her sudden appearance this time couldn't mean anything good. As expected…

"Officers, look here! I have evidence," Mrs. Royce proclaimed.

Tara, ever so dutiful, handed her tissues while helping her open her phone to show the police.

Hearing the mention of evidence, my mother grasped my arm tightly. Our eyes met, both filled with confusion.

The police officer looked at the video and asked me seriously, "Miss Reed, please review this footage. Do you have any objections to its authenticity?"

I glanced at the video. The beginning showed Mrs. Royce preparing the bride price alone, none of us were present. The later footage showed our happy engagement meal, with everyone cheerful as we finalized the ceremony.

In the video, it was clear the cash Mrs. Royce placed in the gift box exceeded 18,800 dollars. Until the moment we took the gift box away, no one had touched it.

My brows furrowed. In my previous life, they had never produced such a video.

Before I could react, Mrs. Royce sat down on the ground, wailing, "I worked so hard to send Thomas to school by myself. Life has been tough enough! Originally, we agreed on 18,800 dollars, but the night before the engagement, the family raised the price! I thought Thomas really liked this woman, so I gave up all my savings."

"I assumed Thomas and Olivia had come to an agreement. Everything was so rushed that I didn't ask too many questions. But who knew even Thomas didn't know about this? Now that we've come to claim the money, they're pretending it never happened! My hard-earned savings!" she whined.

The onlookers were curious about the so-called evidence.

Tara, helping Mrs. Royce wipe her tears, took the opportunity to share the video link with everyone, "Everyone, take a look! Mrs. Royce is such a kind and honest woman. Thomas's engagement should've been a joyful event, but the more they thought about it, the more suspicious they felt. Imagine, raising the price on the bride price and even Thomas didn't know about it!"

"So ... so it feels like a scam!" Tara glanced at me timidly, as if she were scared.

Her gentle explanation, coupled with her fragile and innocent demeanor, quickly earned the trust of many.

Thomas pointed at me, giving his final ultimatum, "Olivia, give the money back to my mom and we'll drop this matter."

I sneered and slapped his hand away, "Even if we go to court, I'll say the same thing. We only received 18,800 dollars as the bride price and I've already transferred it back to your account. Whether you accept it or not is up to you!"

I turned to the police, "Officer, I request a thorough check of the video's integrity. If there's a missing segment before we took the gift box, the video cannot be used as evidence."

I glanced at Mrs. Royce, my tone calm, "After all, the missing footage might be when someone took part of the bride price. As for who that might be? Only someone aware of the raised price would know when to take the money."

Mrs. Royce jumped up from the ground upon hearing my words, "What are you implying? The one who raised the price was your mother!"

My mom, struggling to contain her anger, defended herself firmly, "I, Lilian Reed, have always been honest and straightforward. I never asked for the bride price twice!"

Mrs. Royce looked furious. Thomas grabbed a bottle of water and hurled it at me.

Before I could dodge, a sharp pain shot through my eye. "Ah!" I cried out, my mother's worried voice echoing beside me.

Before I could recover, Thomas shoved his mom's phone into my face. The cold and sharp edge of the phone hit the same spot, causing another stab of pain. "Look! Look at this message from your oh-so-good mother!" he shouted.

I struggled to open my teary, blurred eyes. The WhatsApp message read: [In-law, the bride price is 188,800 dollars. Otherwise, don't expect to see Olivia tomorrow!]

Tara added fuel to the fire, "Mrs. Royce stayed up all night trying to gather the money. It caused her chronic headaches to flare up for days!"

I stared at the message. Its assertive tone didn't seem like something my mom would say. But the account in the chat window was indeed hers.

Before the police could step in, Tara turned to my mom, her voice gentle, "Mrs. Reed, may I see your phone to confirm your chat history with Mrs. Royce?"

My mom's visible panic made my heart sink.

Seeing this, Mrs. Royce immediately pressed further, "Take it out! Lilian!"

Fidgeting with her clothes, my mom stammered after a long pause, "I ... I deleted the chats."

Mrs. Royce keeps berating, "Feeling guilty, are you, Lilian? Why are you delete the chat history? Show us your phone! Let's see if you only deleted mine or everyone else's as well! If it's just mine, you're clearly guilty!"

***

"Exactly! Let's have a look!" Once again, the crowd's words became daggers aimed at us.

"She seemed honest, but who knew?"

"Unbelievable. She wouldn't even take small advantages while buying groceries."

"You don't get it. Petty gains are nothing!"

"Plenty of people like to act virtuous while doing shady things."

My mom's chest rose and fell rapidly. Her face turned pale as she muttered intermittently, "I ... I didn't ..."

I panicked, utterly at a loss. Had my rebirth been for nothing? Was I doomed to repeat the same fate?

Eyes rimmed red, I looked at Thomas and pleaded in a low voice, "Can we not talk about this for now? My mom has a heart condition. Regardless of who took the money, this is too much for her to bear today."