Chapter 1 Rebirth

"You've worked for years. You must have saved up a lot, right?"

I opened my eyes to find my mother expectantly staring at me.

She asked me the same question in my last life.

I was abducted by human traffickers twenty years ago. Finally, I was reunited with my family.

The moment I moved back home, my parents began to ask about and hint at my savings.

I was vigilant and kept quiet.

However, I had not expected them to be able to hear my thoughts. They were even to lure me into thinking about my bank account details, passwords, and PIN codes. While I was away, they stole the 200,000 I had been saving up for my own shop.

When I begged and pleaded for them to return the money, they only scoffed and smirked at me.

"We gave you life. It's expected for you to pay us back!

"If our son didn't need money for his wedding, we would never have taken you in."

They took away all my identification documents and forced me to work at one of those shady factories that overworked and underpaid its workers, all so the money could go to them.

Not long after that, I drew the attention of Jason, that perverted man.

That man wanted to steal me away and force me to bear his kids in some remote village. To make me give in to him, he dragged me into some dark alleyway after work to have his way with me.

I fought like my life depended on it, and I finally escaped. However, back home, my family heard what happened through my thoughts.

They approached Jason and sold me to him for 20,000.

He dragged me back to the village and locked me up in the pig pen, where I was tormented for months before I finally ended my life to get away from the humiliation.

To my surprise, I opened my eyes once more and back to the day it all started.

I looked around me. Everyone was staring at me with greed in their eyes.

What a joke. I had wasted over a decade of my life seeking my family. Yet, they were just beasts in human skin.

"I asked you a question. How much have you saved up?"

Dad repeated the question when I did not answer.

I snapped out of my thoughts and hesitantly shook my head.

"I did not graduate from a university, and I had always been working entry-level jobs. I don't have anything saved up."

When I said that, everyone's face went dark.

"Didn't you say you started working at thirteen? Do you really have no savings?" Suspicion shone on Mom's face.

I shook my head once more.

"My pay was always low. All the money I earned went to my bills and expenses."

"You're useless!" she barked out.

"Since you're back, get a job and help out at home. Your brother is getting married soon. He needs money!"

I nodded obediently.

That finally caused her face to look less unpleasant before she headed to the kitchen, grumbling the whole way.

When the kitchen door closed behind her, I instantly started sulking in my thoughts.

'I must have saved up around 200,000 over the years.'

The eyes of my dad and my brother, who were still in the living room, instantly lit up. They snapped their heads around to stare at me.

I continued to think in my mind.

'Didn't Mom use that money yesterday to help Mr. Warner, the neighbor, with his financial crisis? Why ask me this now?'

'She even made me lie to Dad…'

I instantly saw my father's face go pale with fury.

He abruptly dashed into the kitchen.

Soon, I could hear crashes as a fight broke out in the kitchen.

"Tell me! Where is the money? When did you use it to help that cheat?" Dad sounded furious.

"I didn't! I didn't do it..."

Mom cried as she denied the accusations, but that only made the beating worse.

After all, it was not like she had never done that before.

She came from the same village as Mr. Warner, and they had dated a few decades ago.

They lived close to each other now, so she would rush over to help him whenever he was experiencing any difficulty. Dad even caught them a few times.

The beating in the kitchen lasted more than ten minutes.

In the end, Dad dragged Mom out of the kitchen, bruised face and all.

"You'll go and ask for the money now, or I'll kill you!"