“You wretched woman—go die.”

“You took my mother’s place for decades, and now you’re useless.”

“……”

Jiang Manyue lay on the bed, clothes in tatters, her body festering with rot and stench, as she watched her adopted son set the fire with her own eyes.

Ma Xiaojun, the very son she had raised into a capable man—burned her alive on that hospital bed.

After her death, her consciousness turned into a drifting soul.

She watched as her husband gently embraced another woman, while Ma Xiaojun called that woman “Mom.”

“Mom, that wretched woman is finally dead. Now you can be with Dad openly.”

Her husband Ma Xiangyang spoke coldly, “Good thing you faked your death back then and used her identity to go to university.”

“That wretch Jiang Manyue stood in our way for decades. Her death is just a way to compensate you.”

When Jiang Manyue saw the woman’s face, she was in complete disbelief.

Bai Wanrou, her widowed sister-in-law who had supposedly died in a fire forty years ago, hadn’t died at all—she had been secretly living with her husband.

The two embraced tearfully. As it turned out, her adopted son was never her older brother’s child but the son of Ma Xiangyang and Bai Wanrou.

She had raised their child for forty years out of guilt and remorse, worked tirelessly to keep the family running, only to end up without even a proper burial.

Jiang Manyue was consumed by hatred. The resentment in her chest wouldn’t let her pass on peacefully.

Until everything around her began to clear, and a tall man in a suit stood before her.

“Jiang Manyue, what are you throwing a tantrum for now?”

“Wasn’t this marriage something you begged for? What are you trying to pull this time?”

The man frowned in discontent. His familiar voice was cold and impatient.

Jiang Manyue still felt as though she were trapped in a dream, her mind in a daze.

Ma Xiangyang? He looked so young now, barely in his twenties.

Jiang Manyue touched her smooth, fair cheek. She was no longer the haggard old woman.

She hadn’t died of depression and breast cancer in a hospital bed. She was young again, alive and full of energy.

Her blood froze. The searing pain of being engulfed in flames still lingered.

She pinched the soft flesh of her arm hard from within her sleeve. The sharp pain that followed cleared her mind completely.

This wasn’t a dream. She had really been reborn!

Jiang Manyue looked down at her red dress and the silk flower pinned to her chest. It bore the words “Bride” and “Groom.”

They were standing together as guests at the factory canteen banquet watched curiously.

This was… a wedding?

The date was August 1st, 1983—the day of their third wedding ceremony.

Why the third?

Because during the first wedding, Bai Wanrou had suddenly collapsed from a fever.

Ma Xiangyang hadn’t cared that she was the bride. He had carried his widowed sister-in-law to the hospital.

During the second ceremony, Bai Wanrou had been harassed by a thug. He had abandoned the entire banquet to help her.

And today was the third wedding attempt, also the day everything went terribly wrong.

Sure enough, anxious voices rang out from the entrance.

Lao Zhang, the cotton mill’s gatekeeper, ran in frantically. “Bad news, Deputy Director Ma!”

“The cotton mill is on fire. Comrade Bai Wanrou is trapped inside. Hurry, go save her!”

“What?” Ma Xiangyang didn’t hesitate. He immediately turned to leave.

But his wrist was suddenly grabbed.

Turning around, he saw it was Jiang Manyue.

His eyes flashed with irritation and impatience. “Jiang Manyue, what are you doing?”

“This is a matter of life and death. Wanrou is in danger, I have to save her.”

“If your brother hadn’t saved me all those years ago, I’d be dead by now. I owe your sister-in-law my life.”

“Don’t be petty and jealous. Let go of me right now.”

“……”

The painful memories overlapped, he was saying the exact same words he had in the previous life.

Jiang Manyue remembered clearly what would happen next, it would be the start of her downfall.

Today, Bai Wanrou would be trapped in the fire, and she would cling tightly to Ma Xiangyang, refusing to let him go.

She had insisted on completing the wedding ceremony before letting him leave.

By the time he got to the fire, Bai Wanrou was already dead.

He had screamed at her in rage, nearly divorcing her on the spot.

Everyone knew Jiang Manyue had chased after Ma Xiangyang for seven years. Even the wedding was something she had begged for.

She had knelt to beg for forgiveness, only to be branded as the woman who killed her sister-in-law.

But she had loved this man too much. To save the marriage, she offered her parents’ death benefits as compensation.

She never had children, choosing instead to adopt Bai Wanrou’s son Ma Xiaojun.

She took care of a paralyzed mother-in-law, a blind father-in-law, and provided a generous dowry for her husband’s sister.

She had worked selflessly for the family all her life, only to suffer from severe depression and breast cancer before her early death.

She had pinched every penny to send her adopted son to university, giving her all until she was completely drained.

But Bai Wanrou had never died in that fire. She had hidden away, stolen Jiang Manyue’s university acceptance letter, and lived under her name.

She had secretly been involved with Ma Xiangyang the whole time.

Jiang Manyue was the one who bore all the blame, and died a pitiful death.

Her eyes were bloodshot as she gripped Ma Xiangyang’s wrist even tighter.

She had once ignored the nervousness and panic in his eyes. This wasn’t how a man looked at his sister-in-law.

It was fear, fear of losing his beloved.

And she had been blind, foolish, and couldn’t see the truth.

She thought he was just repaying a debt by favoring his sister-in-law. Jealousy had clouded her mind and fooled her for a lifetime.

Meanwhile, the wedding guests watched with interest. Many were ready to gossip.

“What’s this? The cotton mill caught fire, and that Bai Wanrou is trapped?”

“This is Jiang Manyue’s third wedding attempt, right? If this one fails, it’ll be a complete joke.”

“Deputy Secretary Ma really cares about that widowed sister-in-law. Bet he’ll leave her again.”

“……”

If Ma Xiangyang walked out again today, Jiang Manyue would truly become a laughingstock.

Everyone expected her to plead and beg again, just like before.

Back then, it was these vicious comments and cruel ridicule that had driven her to madness, stopping him from saving Bai Wanrou.

Ma Xiangyang’s brows furrowed in anger. His voice was filled with reproach.

“Jiang Manyue, don’t be unreasonable, or else—”

Before he could finish, Jiang Manyue let go of his hand.

Not only did she not stop him, she said something completely unexpected.

“Xiangyang, you’re right.”

“Big Brother and Sister-in-law were kind to you. Your life belongs to her. You can’t just watch her die.”

Ma Xiangyang’s scolding words caught in his throat, and his look of contempt froze in place.

He had expected her to cling to him and insist on completing the ceremony, but she was actually telling him to go save Bai Wanrou.

Jiang Manyue looked sincere and composed, anyone witnessing this would call her gracious and understanding.

She held back the surging hatred in her heart, forcing down the cold smile tugging at her lips.

This time, not only would she not stop Ma Xiangyang from saving his precious sister-in-law, she would personally send this scumbag into the flames.