Chapter 1

I worked in the underworld for five years and finally earned one chance to go up to the human world and visit my daughter.

Who could have guessed that my precious daughter, born with asthma, was so hungry she couldn't even afford a single dinner roll!

And all because his second wife and her stepdaughter had gone and found some so-called guru.

They claimed my daughter would jinx my husband's wealth and shorten his lifespan.

So my husband threw his own penniless daughter out of the house.

I was so furious the lid of my coffin couldn't hold me down.

I turned right around, went back to the underworld, and signed another ten-year labor contract with the ghost officers.

Then I was reborn in the body of my comatose mother-in-law.

And just before my husband could announce that his stepdaughter was his only heir, I bellowed at the top of my lungs.

"Go tell that undutiful son of mine to get over here!"

...

When Simon got the news and rushed over, he found me sitting up in the hospital bed, full of energy.

Tears of excitement welled in his eyes as he leaned in close.

"Mom! You're finally awake!"

I have to say, watching him call me "Mom" without the faintest clue was really satisfying!

He'd never dream, not even in death, that his former wife had been reborn in his own mother's body!

I sat cross-legged, not even bothering to lift my eyelids.

"Come here."

Once Simon eagerly sat down beside me,

I raised the hand that didn't have an IV in it and gave him one loud, ringing slap!

"You undutiful son! What did you promise me back then? You swore you'd treat Ada and her daughter well for the rest of your life."

"And now look!"

"Ada is dead, and you actually threw her only daughter out of the house too?! Are you even human?!"

Simon saw stars from the slap. He covered his face, hung his head, and stood in front of me, mumbling.

"Mom! The guru said Althea is bad luck for me, that she jinxes my fortune and even my lifespan..."

"Oh, please!"

I sprang up out of the hospital bed, pointed at his nose, and cursed him out.

"What guru! He says it and you just believe him?!"

"What century are we living in? You'd actually disown your own flesh-and-blood daughter over garbage like that?!"

"I could just as easily say your fate is too harsh and you jinx your wives to death—want to believe that?!"

Simon was so rattled by my tirade that he caved on the spot.

"Okay, okay, okay! I'll send someone to bring Althea back, all right, Mom? Please calm down!"

I sat back down, my eyes fixed on Simon, cold and menacing.

"Go find her right now! If I don't see my granddaughter within two hours, I'll make you pay!"

Simon nodded over and over and turned to run.

Just then his second wife, Jeanette, came into the ward with her daughter.

The two of them were carrying fruit and drinks and all, and they smiled when they saw me.

"Mom, I'm Jeanette, Simon's wife now."

"This is my daughter, Hailey, your granddaughter."

"We heard you were awake, so we hurried right over to see you..."

Standing there in my hospital gown, I looked the two of them up and down with a critical eye.

Back when my mother-in-law fell into her coma, I myself was still alive and well.

Jeanette, or whatever her name was, my mother-in-law had never even met her.

Now that I was reborn in my mother-in-law's body, naturally I wore the expression of someone seeing them for the very first time, and gave them a couple of once-overs.

Then I jumped up, pointed at Hailey, and rounded on Simon, eyes blazing.

"You undutiful son! When did you go and have a daughter this grown behind my back?!"

"She's got to be about the same age as Althea! You actually cheated while you were married?!"

And before he could explain, I hit him twice more, until his face was swollen.

Jeanette went pale with fright and rushed over to break it up.

"No, Mom... you've got it wrong!"

"She's my child with my ex-husband, not Simon's!"

I pulled my hand back at just the right moment and eyed them suspiciously.

Simon, his face bruised and swollen, nodded.

"You and Dad used to warn me every day not to fool around. How would I ever dare have a secret love child!"

I looked at him and sneered.

"If she's not your love child, then what right does she have to be your heir!"

Was Simon an idiot?

If his mother were really here, she'd absolutely call him brainless too!

Jeanette and Hailey both looked rather sour.

Hailey looked at me with a reproachful gaze, her voice sugary and whiny.

"Grandma! My mom and I haven't done anything to you, so why do you have to say such hurtful things!"

"The guru said that Althea, she..."

"I don't believe a single word out of that so-called guru!"

I stared sharply at Hailey and spoke slowly, one word at a time.

"The only granddaughter I acknowledge is Althea."

"If anything happens to her, I'll lay all of it on you and your mother!"