Letting Her Fall

The cold knife sank into my body, and I collapsed at my cousin, Monica Newman's, feet.

Blood kept pouring out of me, soaking through the carpet.

Even as I died, I couldn't understand it. She was the one who had begged me over and over to steal her papers from her mother so that she could get married.

Yet now that her life wasn't as comfortable as she had hoped, she blamed everything on me, claiming that I had pushed her into getting married.

As my body grew colder and colder, Monica's cruel curses faded along with my breath.

When I opened my eyes again, every memory from my death rushed back into my mind.

Monica, the person I had once treated like family but had ended up killing me, was sitting right in front of me.

I had been reborn.

And just like in my previous life, once Monica's mother, Lorelei Newman, found out that she had secretly been dating a guy from a modest background, she immediately set up a blind date out of anger.

Monica was beautiful, and she had become a model after graduating from the arts academy.

At every family gathering, relatives would always say to Aunt Lorelai, "Monica is so gorgeous. She's definitely going to marry into a wealthy family someday."

Aunt Lorelei would act humble on the outside, but she was thrilled on the inside.

Monica and I had grown up together, and there were always boys hovering around her.

Once she got into the arts academy, the boyfriends she dated were all ridiculously handsome.

This boyfriend was no exception.

He was also a model, just like her.

"What's the use of being handsome? He can't even afford to buy a home for you to live in after you get married. Are you planning to spend your whole life paying off a mortgage with him?"

Every word out of Aunt Lorelei's mouth was filled with criticism.

Monica snapped back, "So what?! The guy you picked is nothing but rich. He's so greasy-looking that he makes my stomach turn."

Then she suddenly turned to me and said, "Right, Tabitha?"

I remembered this scene from my past life. She had asked me the exact same question.

Back then, I didn't even think before taking her side, and soon after that, I had helped her steal her papers from Aunt Lorelai so that she could get married.

She had said love shouldn't be chained down by money, so she had marched straight ahead and tied the knot.

Even though they had made some money working as models, the job was unstable.

The mortgage, the car loan, and all the household expenses piled up way faster than they could keep up.

As she watched her friends on social media marrying into comfortable families, living in big houses, and driving nice cars, jealousy ate away at her until every argument about money turned into a full-blown fight.

Two years into the marriage, she finally exploded. And somehow, she decided every bit of it was my fault.

She blamed me for not convincing her to go to the blind date. She blamed me for stealing her papers for her, ruining her chance to marry rich.

She said every miserable thing in her life was because of me.

So, she had stabbed me to death to release her anger.

Thinking about all this, I pulled myself together and said earnestly, "Monica, Aunt Lorelei just wants you to have a better life. She would never hurt you."

Aunt Lorelei looked at me proudly. "See? At least Tabitha uses her head. You're the only silly one here. If you don't marry someone who can provide for you, you'll be the one suffering later."

Then Aunt Lorelei went on and on, introducing the blind date.

Monica didn't say a word, but I could tell she was already starting to waver.