A Revenge Reborn

Chris staggered back from the blow, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth, his eyes filled with shock.

Penny and Martin looked as though they, too, had been slapped, their faces frozen in disbelief.

Penny reached out to gently cup Chris’s swollen cheek, her heart aching for him.

“What right do you have to hit him? Have you lost your mind?”

Martin stepped in front of me and spoke with righteous certainty.

“Chris is still Mom’s son. If she hits him, she must have had her reasons.”

I patted Martin on the shoulder and replied with a cold smile.

“What right? Because I’m his mother.

“Let me give you some advice, Penny. When a mother hits her son, it’s not madness; it’s discipline.

“If I don’t teach him now, society will teach him later.”

Just then, a memory from Felicity’s past surfaced in my mind.

It turned out only Martin had been raised by Felicity.

When Chris was born, her husband, Noah Rembrandt, tragically passed away.

To keep the Rembrandts from falling apart, Felicity had no choice but to leave Chris in the care of a nanny.

Chris had always believed that Felicity favored Martin and neglected him.

He even made it difficult for Felicity to remarry, claiming that she must always mourn for Noah, and that if she remarried, he would make sure she was never welcome in the Rembrandt home.

When Penny repeatedly targeted Felicity, Chris saw it all clearly yet never once stopped her.

When I had been with Chris in my previous life, I had pitied him.

Now I saw him for what he truly was: an ungrateful wretch.

Since I had taken over Felicity’s body, I decided it would be my turn to teach Chris how to be a filial son.

After the chaos in the hall spiraled out of control, Penny struck first, deliberately revealing the bruises on her arm.

“Ever since I married into the Rembrandts, Mom has found fault with me every single day.

“If she wasn’t accusing me of dressing too provocatively, she was saying I was too close to Martin.

“When Chris spoke up for me, she even hit him. Is that really my fault?”

She cried with tears clinging to her lashes, stirring waves of sympathy online.

[You disgusting old hag! At your age, you’re still competing for male attention.]

[You’re making all women our age look bad!]

[Her husband hasn’t even been dead that long, and she’s already been cycling through men.]

[Now that she’s old and can’t pull anyone, she’s set her sights on her own sons. Is she trying to commit incest? How vile!]

[Don’t cry, Penny. You did nothing wrong. The one at fault is that hag!]

One unbearable comment after another flooded my vision.

When I thought about how Felicity had endured such abuse every single day while she was still alive, I was reminded of the cyberbullying I had suffered in my past life.

Even though ‘Rose Denning’ was already dead, these people still refused to let me go.

I shoved the video at Penny’s face.

“Either you come forward and clear things up,” I said coldly, “or you walk away.”

Penny immediately collapsed into Martin’s arms.

“I love Martin. I’m begging you! Please don’t take him away from me. I can’t live without him.”

Martin rubbed her shoulder gently as he tried to soothe her.

“Mom isn’t that kind of person. There must have been some misunderstanding.”

In the past, Felicity had repeatedly endured everything because she didn’t want Martin to be caught in the middle—until that forbearance cost her life.

But times had changed.

I had no intention of holding back.

“I think Penny just doesn’t want me around. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have gone online saying I hit her.

“I might as well just die and be with your dad.”

At my words, Martin immediately turned on Penny.

“When did Mom ever hit you? Delete that video right now!”

Penny looked utterly aggrieved.

In a place Martin couldn’t see, she shot me a vicious glare.

Just as she was about to delete the video, Chris stopped her.

“Mom, you were the one at fault for embarrassing everyone in public.

“Penny only wanted to teach you a lesson. There’s no need for you to blow things out of proportion.”

I laughed in anger.

Penny immediately found her confidence and began fanning the flames beside Martin.

“That’s right, Martin. I did it for Mom’s own good.

“Don’t you think she’s been acting like a completely different person since she suddenly came back to life?

“Situations like this usually mean she needs a man, or, like Rose, she’s just jealous of my good fortune, and so she’s deliberately targeting me.

“If it really comes to it, we should just send Mom to a psychiatric hospital.”

At that point, I could no longer endure it and violently overturned the coffee table.

Everything on it clattered to the floor.

Water spilled everywhere as all three of them sprang to their feet, faces filled with terror.

I was just about to slap Penny across the face when she suddenly thrust out her stomach and screamed.

“Go on—hit me right here! I’m carrying the Rembrandts’ legitimate heir.

“If you’ve got the guts, then hit me!”