Chapter 2

Five years ago, the Jennings family's finances were in disarray, and I used this to force him to marry me. He disagreed, so I asked my parents to step in and threaten him using the entire Jennings family.

The day he had to get engaged to me, he gritted his teeth and said he wished I would die. Now that he knew I was dead, would he feel that he had avenged himself?

I gazed over, only to find that he was trembling and stretching out his hand, as if in disbelief.

'Is he afraid? What is he afraid of?' I wondered.

However, before that hand touched the newspaper, the phone rang.

Nicholas subtly exhaled in relief. When he picked up the call, Madison was crying, "Nicholas, won't Astrid clear things up for me? So many people online are criticizing me!"

His earlier fear vanished, and Nicholas now seemed heartbroken. "Maddie, stop crying. I will find Astrid and won't let anyone ruin things for you."

After hanging up, he stopped looking at the newspapers and shouted, "Astrid, I know you're right here!"

"I'm warning you, this is what you owe Maddie. Besides, you took my money. You can't get away with this! You have two days to upload a clarification video or none of the children in that orphanage will live!"

That said, he turned around and strode off, his frame slicing through my soul as he went. Rushing over here was all for Madison, and rushing away now? Same reason.

I shook my head with a wry smile.

The orphanage had long been burned down to ashes. How could children who had already reincarnated be killed again?

The landlord cursed a few times and left. Death's voice echoed in my ears. "Astrid, you have 24 hours left before your soul is annihilated."

When I followed Nicholas home, Madison was live-streaming, crying, and pleading her innocence. "The person in the video is Astrid! She hates me for ruining her life of luxury and refuses to come out and clarify things..."

Nicholas entered and hugged her. "Why are you crying again?"

Madison looked up, tears streaming down her face. "Astrid still won't forgive me? But she's the person in the video..."

I sat on the bed I used to sleep on, resting my chin on my hand as I watched the tears roll down Madison's delicate face.

In the short year she had been back with the Rhode family, she cried almost every day.

She cried because I locked her in the orphanage's storeroom while I pretended to be the Rhode family's daughter and went home with my adoptive parents. She cried about the hardships she endured as she lived on the streets, starving, suffering from the cold, and almost being sexually assaulted. She cried again about how I beat and verbally abused her, pushed her down the stairs, and threatened to kill her.

My adoptive mother felt sorry for her, while my adoptive father whipped me, calling me a heinous sinner.

I protested that I had never done those things, so she cried again. She cried until Nicholas made me kneel before her and beg for forgiveness, but that only made her cry even more sadly.

"Astrid, I know I ruined your life of luxury, but it was all originally mine!"

Due to her remark, I was kicked out of the Rhode family, and she naturally became the one engaged to Nicholas.

I still remembered the smug smile she gave me when I left, but I never imagined I would see her crying again four years later.

Hearing Madison's words, Nicholas hesitated for a moment before silently turning off the camera.

"Maddie, I'll have Astrid take the blame for this, and the clarification video will be uploaded within two days. Once this crisis is over, I'll hire several investigative firms to find out who uploaded the sex tape. Once we find out... We'll clear Astrid's name and send her abroad; she won't bother you anymore."