When Love Turns Deadly

In my previous life, I was just a helpless nine-year-old, only able to give my sister warnings that then seemed so futile.

On the day we said our final goodbyes to her, I confided in my Aunt Emily—the one who had always showered us with love.

Tears streaming down her face, she whispered, "If only I'd known when they asked me, I would've told the truth. Your sister wouldn't have had to go through all that pain."

Then, with a stern look, she grabbed my shoulders. "Joanna, you mustn't breathe a word of this to anyone else. If you do, you'll be left without parents and a grandmother. We can't afford to take care of two more kids on our own."

I nodded, but inside, my thoughts were racing.

In my previous life, Aria's car crash was the start of a cruel plot. They lured me back home, took my life, and harvested my organs for my brothers.

When Aunt Emily caught wind of what happened, she confronted them, but they were too much for her. She died fighting them.

Then, my parents had the nerve to pin it all on my nearly eighty-year-old grandma.

The courts let her off easy, swayed by her age and the family's so-called forgiveness.

In my new life, having been reborn, there was no way I would let them have it easy.

Once the funeral was over, my parents wasted no time splurging on a four-bedroom house in town using my sister's settlement.

They were all smiles, moving in and showing off to every relative and big shot they could invite.

In the Old Stone Village where we lived, my father was the first to own such a grand place.

He could not stop grinning.

I trailed behind them, clutching my Aria's picture to my chest.

When Mom struggled with my brothers, she spun around and pushed one into my arms without a second thought.

She did not notice the framed photo I was holding—the one of my sister who had passed away, and my little brother accidentally bumped his head against the glass.

He started wailing at the top of his lungs.

Dad came running at the sound of tears, laying into Mom. "How can you be so careless with the kids?"

Mom caught sight of the photo I was clutching and pointed right at me.

"What are you bringing this bad omen into the new house for? You've even hurt your brother. Get rid of it now!"

I could not let go of my sister's photo. It was the only one of her left in this world.

Dad stormed over, yanked the photo from my arms, and tossed it into the trash.

"If I catch you bringing this back in, I'll thrash you."