Chapter 1
“Cassie, this is a special free-range chicken I got from my hometown. It’s been stewing for hours. You just had your baby, you’re weak, so you need to replenish your strength.”
I looked at Serena, her face full of fawning sincerity, and scoffed internally.
In my last life, I misjudged her. I felt pity for her because her father had died young, and she and her mother came to work as maids in our house. I was exceptionally good to her.
I let her and her mom live with us, and we even went to school together.
Later, I found her and Julian, my childhood sweetheart, in bed together. I even fought tooth and nail to make sure the pregnant Serena married Julian, abandoning my long-standing affection for him just to right what I thought was a wrong.
I never imagined that my pity would cost me everything, leading to unimaginable torment and a brutal death in a foreign land.
Heaven must have had eyes for me, granting me this chance to be reborn. How could I ever let you steal my life again?
I kept the coldness in my eyes hidden, smiling at her. “Just leave it. I finished my postpartum meal. I’ll drink it later.”
Serena hesitated. “Okay, but remember to drink it later.”
Finally, she left the room, turning back three times.
She didn’t doubt my words; after all, we’d been close for so many years.
She just wasn’t entirely at ease not seeing me drink it herself.
Once she left and closed the door, I picked up the chicken soup and poured most of it into a cup, leaving only about a third at the bottom of the bowl.
Sure enough, Serena came back in shortly after.
After I nodded my permission, she pushed the door open, casually glancing at the bowl on my nightstand.
Seeing the bowl mostly empty, she visibly relaxed, her mood brightening considerably.
“Cassie, rest well. I’m heading off.” She finished, then gave a meaningful look at my baby sleeping soundly in the bassinet next to me.
A flicker of triumphant glee flashed in her eyes.
In my last life, the first thing she stole was my healthy, safe baby.
After she got her wish and married into the Lin family, the child she gave birth to was deformed.
Julian’s parents already disliked her because she’d used such a dirty trick to marry into their family.
With the deformed baby, her position in the Lin family became even more precarious. Almost no one treated her like a legitimate daughter-in-law.
Word spread like wildfire in our social circles. No one wanted anything to do with her; they all ostracized her.
She had no one to blame but herself. You can’t force your way into a world that isn’t yours, especially when you’re just looking to steal from others. In the end, you’ll reap what you sow.
After she left, I got up and put on my robe.
I carried the cup of chicken soup to the backyard and poured it into the dog’s bowl.
The dog, who had just delivered puppies, sniffed it out immediately. It eagerly lapped it up, and once it tasted the rich flavor, it quickly licked the bowl clean.
Back home, Serena stared excitedly at the deformed child in the bassinet.
She was waiting for that baby to magically transform into a healthy one without anyone knowing.
But time ticked by, minute by minute, and not only did the baby not change, black fuzz began to grow all over its body.
Serena gasped in horror, her eyes wide as she watched the baby sprouting fur.
The fur grew more and more, thicker and denser, quickly turning the baby into a dark, shadowy figure that looked truly monstrous.
In sheer terror, she let out a piercing scream: “Ah—”