Chapter 2

They tried to drag my brother away, refusing to let the marriage happen. They argued that the villagers only knew *someone* in the family had defiled the fool girl, not specifically who.

Their plan was obvious: I would go to jail for him.

Again.

Even though the trajectory of this life had completely shifted, I was still the designated sacrifice.

My heart turned to ice.

My brother leaned in and whispered something in their ears.

Mom and Dad's expressions shifted instantly. They sized up the woman again, skepticism warring with greed, before finally nodding.

"If it's really like you say, then let the marriage happen."

"But if it's fake, you run. We'll make your brother take the fall..."

My brother seemed terrified I would try to steal her back.

He insisted on holding a banquet that very night and demanded I help with the preparations.

The entire village knew he had taken a fancy to Jasmine McLaughlin—a girl so intellectually disabled she couldn't care for herself. Not only had he dragged her into the cornfield, but now he wanted to marry her.

A crowd gathered outside, mocking him. They said he was thinking with his dick, willing to take a fool just to get laid.

My brother's eyes went red with rage. He pointed a shaking finger at them.

"When my wife claims her inheritance, you'll all come crawling back like dogs!"

"You'll kneel on the ground and beg me, and I won't give you a single cent!"

The villagers laughed harder.

"A fool with no parents who can't even wipe her own ass? You're banking on her?"

He stomped his feet and ran back into the house.

Naturally, Mom dumped her anger on me. She grabbed my arm and twisted the flesh until I gasped.

"They're cursing your brother, cursing your parents! Why didn't you stop them? Why didn't you curse back?"

She went inside to coddle my brother.

My dad, in a fit of pique, flipped the table.

"Forget the banquet! We aren't doing it!"

Bowls and chopsticks shattered against my body. He pointed at me, his face twisted with disgust. "Clean this mess up, or I'll clean *you* up."

I stood there, eyes stinging, clutching my bruised arm. My heart was a frozen wasteland.

Jasmine McLaughlin, wearing a red cotton jacket, shyly entered the courtyard and stumbled upon the scene.

She didn't hesitate. She walked straight toward me.

My heart leaped.

Memories of the fifty years we spent together in my past life flashed through my mind. How she used to shield me when my parents beat me and called me worthless. How she held me after every blow.

My throat tightened. I couldn't help but soften my voice as I said her name.

But she looked at me with cold, guarded eyes.

"Bad man! Don't you dare hurt my husband."

I froze.

She snatched a knife from the ground and drove it into my arm.

When I didn't dodge, she paused for a second, confused, but her voice remained vicious.

"My husband told me everything. You love bullying him."

"You even drugged me and my husband! You bullied me because I'm a fool! You wanted to ruin us!"

"A bad person like you—the fool girl curses you to die a horrible death!"

A boulder smashed into my chest. I bit my lip until copper flooded my mouth, my voice trembling.

"I brought people to save you..."

She scoffed, cutting me off. Her gaze was strange—wary and sharp.

"I don't believe you!"

"When the fool girl isn't foolish anymore, I'm going to get revenge on you! I'm going to kill you, you bad person!"

Her eyes were completely clear. The hatred wasn't part of her act.

She genuinely believed my brother's lies.

The last ember of warmth in my heart extinguished.

I wiped away my tears, shoved her aside, and walked away.

Behind me, I heard her go into the bridal chamber to comfort my brother.

I walked into the woodshed.

My brother had thrown all my belongings in there. My clothes and books were torn to shreds, a deliberate mess.