Chapter 1

At my coming-of-age ceremony, my mother, Lydia Hudson, presented me with a pair of earrings worth tens of millions right in front of everyone. Every face in the room was filled with envy, and Stephanie Meyer, my brother Charlie Quinton's girlfriend, was no exception.

She slapped Charlie hard across the face.

"Does your mom even remember she has a son? When I first visited, she tossed me a one-million-dollar welcome gift like it was nothing. Your sister turns 18, and she gets earrings worth a fortune right in front of you. Charlie, are you really her son?"

Stephanie's outburst finally snapped Charlie out of his daze. Before he could respond, I quietly held the earrings out to him.

"Charlie, give them to Stephanie. She's prettier and carries herself better than I do. They'd suit her more."

Charlie stared at me in shock. Mom, however, rushed in and snatched the earrings back.

"This is your coming-of-age gift. How could you give them away?"

She looked like she was defending me, but behind that facade lurked a darkness that made my skin crawl.

In my previous life, the moment I put on those earrings, my body began to deteriorate at a terrifying pace. Overnight, the beauty everyone once admired became an 80-year-old woman with a face covered in freckles.

Meanwhile, Mom went from 60 to looking 18 again.

Things only spiraled from there. When I tried to see a doctor, Mom insisted it was just stress and locked me in the basement.

In the lightless basement, Mom no longer bothered to hide her crimes. Only then did I realize she had given me the Soul-Sworn Earrings, a pair of earrings designed to trade one life for another. She had taken my youth, my 18-year-old face and body, while I would continue to age rapidly under the earrings' backlash until I burned myself out completely.

I was fortunate that Stephanie rescued me, but before I had the chance to thank her, a mob of deranged haters rushed out of nowhere and stabbed me to death.

As the last of my blood drained away, Stephanie ripped the earrings from my ears and glared at me with a twisted grin.

"The first time I visited, your mom gave me only one million dollars. And you? You get earrings worth tens of millions just for your birthday. How is that fair? The Quinton family inheritance is mine. If you dare to take it from me again, this is what happens."

It was only after my death that I learned she had been the one spreading rumors online, calling me a spoiled leech and inciting those fanatics to kill me—all because she couldn't stand that Mom had given me those earrings.

I supposed the Heavens had mercy on me and gave me a second chance at life.

I stared at the earrings, glowing with that same eerie light, and smiled. I would give Stephanie the Soul-Sworn Earrings she wanted, but once she took them, there was no turning back.