Chapter 1

After my parents passed away in a tragic accident, my Aunt Brenda took me in.

She seized every penny of my inheritance and all my parents' assets.

I didn't care back then. I viewed it as a way to repay her for the cost of raising me.

Just as I was about to graduate from college, Brenda claimed she was diagnosed with terminal cancer and needed a full-time caregiver.

Without a second thought, I threw away my promising future to stay home and nurse her.

Brenda used to hold my hand and say, "Don't worry, Sadie. You're like my own daughter. When I'm gone, this house will be yours."

But twenty years later, on her deathbed, her biological son who had been missing for two decades suddenly reappeared.

He sneered at me and said, "Everything belongs to me. What right do you have to stay here?"

Brenda looked at me with cold, healthy eyes and spat, "You really thought I'd give you the house? You're just a servant I kept around for free."

I screamed for justice, but the sheer rage and years of exhaustion caused my heart to stop right then and there.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the very day Brenda first claimed she had cancer.

1

"Sadie, I'm not just saying this for my health. You're a college student now. Don't you know how expensive your tuition is?"

"Do you have any idea how much money I've poured into you over these last three years?"

"I thought you'd appreciate my hard work and at least try to save a penny, but here you are, sneaking around buying expensive coffee?"

Aunt Brenda looked at me with a face full of agonizing disappointment.

In her eyes, I was a criminal, a parasite who didn't know how to be grateful.

She pointed at my new bag and hissed, "You spent fifteen dollars on this tote? Does it work any better than a plastic grocery sack?"

Her icy voice cut through the air, finally pulling my consciousness back to reality.

I had actually been reborn.

I was back to the moment right before she faked her illness.

In my past life, this was the turning point.

It was summer break of my junior year, and I was planning to take on extra shifts at a local diner to cover my own expenses.

I had been working part-time since high school to fund my education, so hard work was nothing new to me.

But my advisor had just called with incredible news: I had been selected for the prestige study abroad program.

I was heading to Kensington University, my absolute dream school, with a full scholarship for my final year.

I was so happy I could have cried.

That evening, I rushed home to share the news with Brenda.

But instead of being proud, she exploded in a fit of rage.

"Why does a girl need that much education? Do you know how much a flight to the UK costs?" she screamed.

"Aunt Brenda, I'll be working and I have a scholarship. I won't ask you for a single dime," I pleaded.

I thought that would satisfy her, since I truly wasn't a burden on her wallet.

Instead, she started wailing, calling me an ungrateful leech.

"I worked myself to the bone to raise you, and now you want to run away to another country? You just want to abandon me!"

"I've looked after you all these years, just us against the world!"

"I neglected my own son just so I could provide for you, and this is how you repay me?"

She began her performance right at the front door, loud enough for the whole neighborhood to hear.

Within minutes, the busybody neighbors had gathered around.

They listened to her sob story and began casting judgmental looks in my direction.

"Now Sadie, your aunt has been good to you. You're almost done with school, and you're just going to leave her high and dry?" one neighbor chirped.

"Exactly. You need to learn some gratitude, girl," another added.

The whispers of the neighborhood didn't sway my resolve to go to Kensington.

I promised everyone that I would still take care of Brenda even from abroad, and I even signed a $200,000 promissory note to her.

I told her, "I don't have the money now, but as soon as I graduate and get a job, I'll pay you back every cent. Keep this note. If I ever ignore you, use it to sue me."

Seeing my sincerity, the neighbors changed their tune and tried to convince Brenda to let me go.

She wasn't happy, but she snatched the note and begrudgingly agreed to let me pack my bags.

That day twenty years ago was the happiest moment of my life.

Even though it meant I'd be broke and in debt to her, I didn't care. I was free.

But then, just as I got my passport, the nightmare began.

Brenda claimed she had been diagnosed with advanced stage cancer.

Seeing her pale and trembling in that hospital bed, my heart shattered.

Since my parents died, she was the only mother figure I had. I genuinely loved her.

The diagnosis felt like a death sentence for both of us.

She grabbed my hand with a weak grip and sobbed, "Sadie, I know you want to go abroad. But I'm so sick. I need someone by my side. The doctor said if I have someone to care for me, I might last a few more years…"