Chapter 2

"None of you better even think about my money. I'm absolutely giving this three hundred thousand to support my boyfriend's business."

When Linda May's voice rang in my ears again, I instantly realized I'd been reborn.

In my previous life, after my mother-in-law announced her online romance, she spent every day calling him "baby" and "sweetheart."

Before long, she couldn't wait to pull out three hundred thousand to support her boyfriend's business venture.

Working at the Anti-Fraud Center, I immediately recognized this as a scam.

My mother-in-law was over sixty, a rural woman with limited education.

Besides money, what else could this person possibly want from her?

When I discovered the three hundred thousand had already been transferred, I nearly fainted. I worked through the night, getting colleagues to help freeze the scammer's account.

After that, I pulled strings and called in countless favors to recover the money from the account.

But once the money was recovered, my mother-in-law could no longer contact her boyfriend. She flew into a rage:

"This is all your fault! If you hadn't insisted Raymond was a scammer, I would've made who knows how many more hundreds of thousands by now.

Now he's blocked me!"

She maliciously edited surveillance footage of me trying to warn her and posted it online, claiming I was preventing older women from pursuing happiness.

I never imagined a good deed would destroy my entire life.

Fortunately, fate gave me a second chance.

"Mia Johnson, are you deaf? Can't you hear me talking to you?"

I snapped back to reality and pretended to look apologetic:

"Linda, is three hundred thousand enough? Let me have Nathan scrape together more."

Linda scrutinized me for a few moments before pursing her lips.

"Nathan's my son, of course he'll support me. What about you---how much are you planning to contribute?"

I froze.

From her tone, Nathan's contribution apparently didn't count.

I needed to chip in money too.

I pointed at Nathan, who stood silently nearby. "Nathan and I are family. What he gives represents both of us."

Linda swatted my hand away, her cloudy old eyes widening:

"You married into this family to serve us! Nathan's money has nothing to do with you!"

So marrying in meant I'd been sold to the Williams family?

If Nathan hadn't gotten on his knees before my parents, begging them to let their daughter marry him, I never would have married down.

I'd genuinely considered myself part of this family.

But them?

This time, I wouldn't be so foolish.

I didn't argue with Linda. Instead, I looked dejected:

"Linda, I'll be honest with you. My parents need money for surgery recently."

"I've already taken out one loan. If I apply for another, the bank probably won't approve it."

When Linda heard I was giving money to my family, she immediately started cursing.

"Look at you! You haven't brought much money into this house, but you're giving it all to outsiders!"

Her words got increasingly ugly, dragging my parents into it too, her face full of disgust.

In my previous life, my parents already had high blood pressure. To clear my name, they'd rushed around speaking up for me.

Finally, while arguing with Linda to defend me, they got so worked up that they both passed away.

Thinking about it, I clenched my fists, my resolve hardening.

This time, I would make this family pay a terrible price.

"Linda, that's not fair. When Nathan was unemployed, wasn't I the one supporting the household? Why don't you mention that?!"

Seeing the topic shift toward him, Nathan stammered:

"Linda, three hundred thousand isn't a small amount. Who would..."