The woman in the photo had sad eyes.

Jiang Yue hadn't noticed this three years ago. This was the last photo of her mother, taken weeks before she died in a car accident.

Jiang Yue had avoided thinking about that terrible day. It was the day her life changed. Not only because of the death of her mother, but also because of her rebirth. Her reincarnation.

Jiang Yue was with her mother during the accident. Everyone thought she was lucky to survive that fatal day. No one knew that the original Jiang Yue had already passed away. The Jiang Yue now was the soul of Jiang Yue from the future.

She didn't know how this came to be. Maybe the gods pitied her and gave her another chance to be happy. She didn't understand why she was reincarnated either. In the first place, she didn't die because someone plotted to kill her. She died because of her own choices. Wrong choices. She didn't die with any grievance nor regrets. Okay, who is she kidding?

Jiang Yue did have regrets, but she didn't think that was enough reason to be reincarnated.

It had been three years since the accident, and honestly, she really didn't want to go back to her family. Three years ago when Jiang Yue realized she reincarnated, the first thing she did was to ask her maternal grandfather to send her abroad. She already knew that her father would marry another woman. Not just a random woman, but his mistress. And Jiang Yue knew that this event would be the start of her doom.

Her father, Jiang Chanming, didn't love her mother. He married her out of convenience. However, her mother, Wang Rou, loved Jiang Chanming like a sunflower loves the sun. She practically worshipped her husband. So when Wang Rou discovered that Jiang Chanming was seeing another woman behind her back, she was heartbroken.

Wang Rou was the only daughter of the prestigious Wang Family. Her pride couldn't take the fact that her husband was cheating on her. But, unlike those cliché novel stories, Jiang Yue's mother was an intelligent woman. She didn't try to kill the mistress, nor her husband's bastard daughter.

No, she was smarter than that: Wang Rou transferred the entirety of her properties and company shares to her daughter.

As they say, 'hell hath no fury like a woman scorned'.

This earned the ire of Jiang Chanming. Since he could do nothing to his wife, due to her status as the daughter of the Wang Family, he turned his anger towards their only daughter, Jiang Yue. He started to ignore and scold her. He then abused her emotionally and psychologically. This led to Jiang Yue yearning for fatherly love. She longed for his love and attention.

In her past life, Jiang Yue always wanted to make her father happy. She craved his approval.

However, Two months after her mother's death, Jiang Chanming brought his mistress, Lu Shi, into their home. He then announced that he will marry her in a month. Jiang Yue was devastated- broken hearted. Especially after learning that she had a half-sister. Jiang Mian was born only two months after her.

When she saw that her father doted on Jiang Mian so much, Jiang Yue became jealous and unreasonable. She started competing for attention. She wanted what Jiang Mian wanted, bullied her, and called her names. When she heard that Jiang Mian had a crush on Yu Chen, their university's hunk, Jiang Yue directly asked her maternal grandfather to set up an engagement without even knowing the man.

Yu Chen didn't come from a prestigious family. His family was rich but not as wealthy as the Wang Family. Her grandfather tried to disapprove, but Jiang Yue threw a tantrum and threatened to sever her ties with the Wang's. She acted irrationally and started defying her grandfather. When her grandfather suggested a prenuptial agreement, she was enraged. She didn't want Yu Chen to feel like she didn't love him. She wanted to show off to the world, or rather Jian Mian, that she and Yu Chen were in love.

Jiang Yue wanted to laugh at her previous self's foolishness. How could she even like a man like Yu Chen? Yet she still chose to marry him in her past life. Little did she know that Jiang Mian and Yu Chen were already long-time lovers by the time Jiang Yue had married him. Yes! She became the antagonist of her stepsister's perfect love story! She was now the only obstacle to their sincere love and affection.

After three years of marriage, Yu Chen divorced Jiang Yue so he could marry her younger sister. To her dismay, he got half of her property during their divorce. Thinking about it now, Jiang Yue couldn't help but be angry at her former self. How could she be so senseless? She wasted her youth because of people like them.

In this lifetime, Jiang Yue will make sure not to spare any time in associating herself with toxic people. Nope, She will not even spare a single emotion for those people. She will not get revenge nor get angry. They do not deserve her attention. Not her stupid father, not her manipulative stepmother, not her white lotus step-sister and certainly not the arrogant and dumb Yu Chen.

"Young Miss, it's almost dark. The old master called to ask where you will stay tonight." A respectful voice interrupted her thoughts.

Jiang Yue looked at the man standing next to her. He had short cropped hair and amicable black eyes. It was Wang Bolin, her trusted bodyguard, and personal driver. He was personally picked by her grandfather to serve her. Wang Bolin has handsome features for a man in his forties, but he was determined not to marry. He used to serve as a guard for her mother before she got married. Rumor has it that he never got married because he loved her mother.

"I'm going to my mother's house. Tell Grandfather I will visit him tomorrow," Jiang Yue answered. It was around two hours ago that she had landed in Xin City; the place where she was born.

She looked back at the photo in her hands, and then at the tombstone. She let out a long sigh and allowed herself a few minutes of mourning.

Before walking away from her mother's grave, Jiang Yue murmured, "I'm back Mother! I am back."

....

Edit: This does not affect the cost of the chapter. May 05, 202

My new novel is up! This will be the first of my Seven Deadly Sin's series!

Book1: Sloth- Lazily Yours

Book 2: Pride

Book 3: Envy

Book 4: Gluttony

Book 5: Greed

Book 6: Lust

Book 7: Wrath

Book 6: Lust

Book 7: Wrath

Thank you so much for your support. I hope you will also add my new novel to your library.

This novel will have the same faceslapping and more funny and sweet scenes. Of course, smut is expected too. Wink.

Want to buy me a coffee? https://ko-fi.com/theblips

Discord: https://discord.gg/kXsa2DN