To buy my younger brother a house, my parents constantly squeezed me dry, even going so far as to send me to Africa to make money. It eventually led to me contracting malaria and dying in a foreign land. Even after my death, they refused to claim my ashes, only wanting the fifty grand I'd worked so hard to save. When I opened my eyes again, I was back to the day my parents were forcing me to either go work in Africa or get married. This time, I ripped up the plane ticket right in front of their faces. I’d make a hard choice to get married. 1 As soon as the words left my mouth, my brother, Mark, stared at me with a mix of surprise and disbelief. "Sis, are you sure you want to marry that disabled guy, Hank Sullivan?" "From what I hear, he's a man who can't even take care of himself. Sure, the Sullivans are offering fifty grand for the dowry, but this is about your happiness for the rest of your life." Hearing Mark's words, Mom and Dad fell silent, their eyes fixed on me, as if testing the sincerity of my words. After all, I'd vehemently opposed the idea of marrying him before. They could be excused for questioning my sudden change of heart. In my past life, they’d forced me to choose between working in Africa and getting married. I hadn't hesitated to choose Africa; back then, I thought it would be a better option to get away from them and have my own free life. But just a month later, I contracted malaria in Africa and eventually died. And my parents, upon hearing the news of my death, didn't shed a single tear and even refused to attend my memorial service. They refused to accept my ashes. In the end, my ashes were scattered in the Congo River, never to return home. They even said, "We don't want anything that belonged to her; just send back her bank cards and valuables." My soul floated in the air, watching Mom say those cold words to my boss. At that moment, even though I was already dead, I felt a sharp pain in my heart. I was heartbroken that my parents had never loved me, that in their hearts, I was just a money-making machine. Reborn, I no longer had any affection for them. This time, I would repay them in kind. "Alright, since you've made up your mind, we'll respect your decision," Dad said, quickly sealing the deal after a moment of silence, afraid I'd change my mind. 2 With Dad's approval, Mark naturally didn't say anything more. But Mom still harbored some suspicion about my sudden change. "Amy, haven't you always prioritized your career? How come you suddenly had a change of heart and decided to get married?" "Besides, you were very much against getting married when you found out about this." Mom's sharp words and piercing gaze were fixed on me. "You're not up to something, are you?!" Her words made Dad frown and look at me with suspicion. "Amy, I'm telling you, you better behave yourself, or I'll lock you up in the house until your wedding day." Even though I already knew how ruthless my parents were, experiencing it firsthand still made me feel cold. I was still Mom's flesh and blood, carried for ten months, so why couldn't they give me just a little bit of love? From a young age, they had always taught me to give everything good to Mark. Just because I was the older sister. And in my past life, I had done just that; after college, I worked hard to give all the money I earned to Mark. When he wanted an iPhone, I bought it for him with the money I earned tutoring. When he wanted Air Jordans, I subsidized him with my scholarship money. I was like Mark's endless ATM, providing him with all kinds of financial convenience. Even my parents told me to spend all the money I earned on Mark. In such a twisted family environment, I eventually died in a foreign land to earn money to buy him a house. Seeing my silence and the somewhat ugly look on my face, Mom breathed a sigh of relief and spoke to me. "Amy, don't blame us. Your parents aren't capable, so your brother can only rely on you. You're the older sister in the family, so it's only natural for you to shoulder this responsibility." "Think about it, you're not getting any younger, and it's time for you to start thinking about marriage. Marrying Hank Sullivan will give you fifty grand in dowry money, which you definitely wouldn't get marrying someone else; you might even have to pay them." "But if you really don't want to get married and want to go to Africa, we won't stop you. Whatever path you choose, your dad and I will respect your decision." What beautiful words. On the surface, they were pretending to be concerned for me, but in reality, they were only thinking about Mark. As long as Mark needed something, they would always choose to sacrifice me to fulfill him. Having experienced that cold affection in my past life, I had seen through them. But I knew that now wasn't the time to show my hand, so I could only hide my emotions and then look up at my parents and speak, catering to their words. "Mom and Dad, I've thought a lot about it these past few days. After all, Africa is a foreign country, and I don't know anyone there. I still want to stay by your side. Besides, what Mom said is true; sooner or later, I'll have to get married anyway, so I might as well marry Hank Sullivan. That way, we can have fifty grand in dowry money to buy a house for my brother and ease the burden on the family, don't you think?" Hearing these words, the suspicion in Dad's eyes faded a little. Even Mark, who was sitting on the side, took the initiative to stand up and agree with my words. "Sis, I'm so glad you see it that way. I knew you were still the sister who loves me the most." Of course, Mark would be excited, but I knew it wasn't because he was moved by my sacrifice, but because he was excited to have fifty grand in cash soon. After all, I had always been regarded as his ATM by my family. Even if they blatantly sold me for money, I'm afraid he wouldn't have any objections. "Amy, it's great that you can think that way." "We raised you to be so outstanding because we wanted you to be a good role model for your brother and to lend a helping hand when he needed it. Now it seems you've done a great job." After saying this, Dad turned to Mom and told her to prepare my dowry properly. "Even though our family isn't wealthy, what Amy said is right; we still need to have the necessary things, so that our whole family won't be looked down upon after we marry her off." That's right, after I finished saying that I agreed to get married, I told Dad that I hoped the family could give me a grand wedding, since marrying off a daughter was, in a way, a matter of pride for the whole family. If my dowry was poor, people who came to watch the show would say that the Zhangs were selling their daughter instead of marrying her off. Dad, a man who cared so much about his reputation, fell silent after hearing my words, but I knew that he was starting to waver. So, hearing his words, I smiled slightly. And this was just the beginning. 4 After Dad and Mark left, Mom walked up to me. "Amy, what are you planning by suddenly deciding to get married?" I knew that Mom wasn't someone who could be easily fooled. She had been sitting silently all this time not because she really believed me, but because she was trying to figure out how much truth there was in my words. After all, I was her child, and she knew my personality and temper too well; she knew that I wouldn't easily fall for a disabled man. But they didn't know that just a week after I married him, Hank Sullivan's family became millionaires because of the redevelopment of their land. The Sullivan family of four, although they now lived in a ninety-square-meter house in the city, also owned a lot of land in the countryside. Because of government renovations and development, all of the Sullivan family's land was requisitioned. In this way, a large sum of demolition money fell into their hands, and they became millionaires overnight. And Hank, although disabled, was smart enough to seize the opportunity and start a company, taking advantage of the foreign trade boom. In just half a year, the company went public, and at the same time, his net worth soared. When this news reached my parents' ears, they were filled with regret. "It's such a pity. If we had let Amy marry that disabled man, maybe we would have gotten a share of the wealth." "And you don't know, that Hank Sullivan went abroad after he got rich, and the leg that was crippled was actually cured, and now he can walk just like a normal person." "Now that he has money and power, many young girls are eager to marry him, but he doesn't even look at any of them." "After all, he's rich now; what kind of girl can't he have?" These words from Mom in my past life were still echoing in my mind. Now that fate had given me another chance to be reborn, I had to seize this opportunity. In my past life, I stubbornly wanted to rely on my own efforts to get rid of a family like the Zhangs, but I didn't know that relying on others might be faster. So, marrying Hank was the best choice for me right now. Although I hadn't met Hank in my past life, I had met his parents and sister at the wedding. Hank's sister was fair-skinned, and even though her family wasn't well-off at the time, her parents were very gentle with her, even speaking in soft voices. It was clear that their family was very warm. And that warmth was exactly what I longed for and pursued. Snapping back to reality, I looked at Mom standing in front of me and smiled slightly. "Mom, what could I be planning? After all, this money is going into the Zhang family's pocket, isn't it?" 5 The wedding day arrived quickly. Hank's parents were very satisfied with me, after all, I wasn't bad-looking to begin with. Fifty grand in cash was displayed in front of my parents, and I knew that this money could be considered a lifetime's savings for the Sullivans at the moment. After all, they knew that their son had physical defects, and ordinary girls wouldn't want to marry someone like that. But I had volunteered to marry and take care of Hank, so they must have felt somewhat guilty towards me. Mark and Mom, seeing the pile of money, rushed over and began counting it. And Dad urged me from the side. "Don't be so slow, hurry up and serve tea to your in-laws!" I glanced at him, and then respectfully handed the brewed tea to Hank's parents, who quickly accepted it and happily responded. Actually, it wasn't just them who should be grateful to me. I should be grateful to them for giving me a home. Even if they hadn't gotten the demolition money, Hank hadn't started a company, and hadn't gone abroad to treat his disability, I wouldn't have any complaints. As Hank's wife, I would take care of him wholeheartedly for the rest of my life. After the wedding ceremony, I was sent to the bridal chamber. This was the first time I had seen Hank's true face, and he was lying quietly in bed as I walked over slowly. With just one glance, I was stunned by his looks, after all, this was the first time I had seen his face. I had always thought that because he had a physical defect, he wouldn't be very good-looking, but I didn't expect that his appearance was very cold, with a high nose and a hard face, and even the skin exposed on his arms was somewhat fair. No wonder so many girls were eager to show him favor when they found out he was rich in my past life. When he met my gaze, his earlobes turned slightly red, and then he coughed softly. "It's getting late, let's rest." I nodded, then went to the bathroom to tidy myself up and changed into a set of pajamas. Before leaving, I used a basin of warm water to wash my face and then took a clean towel. Under Hank's surprised gaze, I directly unbuttoned his clothes and helped him wipe himself down. "I'll help you wipe down, anyway, I'll have to take care of you in the future." He was about to reach out to stop me, but I stopped him directly. Seeing his red neck and earlobes, I couldn't help but chuckle softly. I didn't expect him to be so innocent. A week later, everything from my past life happened as scheduled. As soon as the government's demolition money arrived, I proposed to go abroad to treat Hank, and my in-laws naturally had no objection, and Hank nodded in agreement. Just as we were about to leave, I saw Mom rushing over. The shrewdness in her eyes made me frown.
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