1 I got accepted into Juilliard, the world's number one music conservatory. But my father burned my acceptance letter to ashes. My eyes wide with disbelief, I asked him in a trembling voice why he’d done it. He clamped his hands around my throat, veins bulging on his forehead. "You damned wretch don't deserve to go to such a good school!" Mom rushed over, not to help me, but to bind me with a thick rope. Tears streamed down my face as I looked at her. "Mom, didn't you always dream of me getting into a good school?" Mom didn't respond. She took a pair of scissors and stabbed me repeatedly. Blood painted my pants crimson. I was in agony beyond measure. When I was barely clinging to life, Dad dragged me to the edge of a septic tank. He threw me in, discarding me like refuse. The blackness consumed me, stealing my last breath. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day I received my acceptance letter. … Dad’s gaze was fixed on the letter in my hand. "Hand over that acceptance letter, now!" he demanded. "What if you go abroad and never come back? What about your mother and me, if we miss you?" His urgent voice pulled me back to reality. I glanced at the calendar on my phone, confirming it: I had truly been reborn. And it was the very day I’d received that acceptance letter. In my previous life, from the moment I’d set my mind on getting into Juilliard, Dad had begun to dote on me, meticulously taking care of my every need. From dawn till dusk, he’d prepare four nutritious meals for me. No matter how busy he was at work, he’d personally drive me to and from school. For Dad, my acceptance into Juilliard was more important than his own life. But after I was accepted, Dad’s demeanor abruptly shifted. He snatched my acceptance letter, holding a lighter to it until it turned to ash. My eyes, wide with disbelief, locked onto his. My voice trembled uncontrollably. "Why?!" "This is a top-tier institution with an acceptance rate of only 6.0%!" Dad’s hands clamped around my throat, veins bulging on his forehead. He roared, his voice laced with fury. "You damned wretch don't deserve to go to such a good school!" "The biggest regret of my life is spending money on your music lessons!" I gasped for air, my face growing paler and paler. Just then, Mom returned from buying groceries. I cast a desperate glance her way, pleading silently, "Mom..." To my horror, she didn't help. Instead, she retrieved a thick rope from the cabinet. Mom bound me tightly, leaving me unable to move. Tears of despair fell, one by one. I couldn't help but ask her, "Mom, didn't you always hope I'd get into a good school?" "Now that I've been accepted, why would you..." Before I could finish, Mom plunged a pair of scissors towards my private parts. I screamed in agony. Mom only pressed harder, continuing until a crimson tide stained my entire pants. Only then did she stop. By now, I was barely clinging to life. Mom turned to Dad, her voice chillingly calm. "Throw her in the septic tank!" "That way, the police won't be able to trace it back to us!" My body went numb with terror. Mom knew about my claustrophobia, how I’d been locked in an elevator as a child and was terrified of the dark. Yet, she chose to use the very thing I feared most to end my life. I mustered every ounce of strength, clutching at the hem of Mom's clothes. "I'm the child you carried for nine months!" Mom flung my hand away, her face contorted in a grotesque, triumphant smile. Dad dragged me to a septic tank on the outskirts of town. It was a secluded spot, far from any prying eyes. Indeed, a perfect place for someone to vanish without a trace. Dad's eyes held a chilling, sinister gleam. "After you're gone, I'll visit your grave and offer prayers." With that, he lifted me with both hands and threw me into the septic tank. I thrashed desperately in the suffocating darkness. Soon, my breath gave out. To my dying moment, I couldn’t comprehend why my parents, who had always urged me to study hard, would want me dead after I got into the most prestigious music conservatory. The suffocating sensation from my previous life swept over me again. I clenched my fists, my gaze resolute. This time, I had to uncover the full truth! 2 Seeing me hesitate, unwilling to hand over the acceptance letter, Dad’s tone softened. "Nora, if you go to school so far away, Mom and I will miss you too much!" he said, trying to sound genuinely concerned. "I was thoughtless before, pushing you to pursue music. I overlooked the fact that even if you're good, you might not become a star." "Everyone online says only the children of the rich and powerful become celebrities. We ordinary folks shouldn't dream of such things!" "You should be more practical. Just find a community college nearby, learn a trade. You won't have trouble finding a job after graduation!" I nearly scoffed. While our family wasn’t incredibly wealthy, we certainly had enough money to send me to school abroad. Dad was an executive at a publicly traded company, earning hundreds of thousands a year. Mom ran a bustling café, with hundreds of customers daily. Besides, Dad had repeatedly told me that I should just pursue my dreams and not worry about anything else. Why was he now so earnestly pushing me to attend a community college? His sudden change was utterly wrong. I clutched the acceptance letter tightly, glaring at Dad with simmering resentment. "Fine. You can have it." The gloom on Dad's face instantly transformed into excitement, his eyes gleaming with anticipation. Just as he let his guard down, I grabbed the vase beside me and smashed it over his head. Blood flowed freely as Dad screamed in agony. I turned and ran. I ran towards Ashley’s apartment, planning to ask her for help. In my previous life, after I died, my soul lingered, unwilling to leave the mortal realm due to the overwhelming resentment in my heart. My spirit watched as Mom and Dad went about their daily lives, their faces calm, devoid of any sadness. Only Ashley cried for me every night, holding my photo, and even put up missing person posters all over the city. Just as I was about to reach the entrance to Ashley’s building, a slender hand grabbed me. "You ungrateful wretch! How dare you hit your father!" It was Mom. Her eyes blazed with hatred, her breathing ragged. "Come with me to the hospital, now, to see your dad!" I forcefully pulled my hand away. "No! I can't go with you!" "Because you'll try to kill me!" Mom slapped me across the face. "We are your parents, who gave birth to you and raised you! How could we possibly try to kill you?" "You made your father's head bleed, and you show no remorse. Instead, you slander us!" "Even a wild animal isn't as malicious as you are!" If she wanted a scene, I'd give her a spectacle. I plopped down on the ground, wailing uncontrollably. "Waaah, I'm so miserable!" "I got into the best music conservatory in the world, but my parents don't want me to go there!" "They even destroyed my acceptance letter, waaah!" Instantly, passersby gathered, taking my side. "Are they crazy? Their child worked so hard to get into a top school, and they won't let her go!" "My daughter got into community college, and I threw her a celebration party! This girl got into such a good school, and her mother looks utterly miserable!" "Her mother's diamond ring is worth tens of thousands, yet she won't spend money to send her daughter to school. How cheap!" Mom was a businesswoman, always meticulous about her public image. Seeing everyone criticize her, she didn't dare retort. But she shot me a chilling smile, then quickly sent a message to Ashley. Soon, Ashley arrived. She embraced me, her face beaming. "My little Nora, you haven't come to see me in ages!" I leaned in and whispered everything Mom and Dad had done to me. Ashley turned to Mom, her face alight with anger. "Nora getting into a prestigious university isn't a good thing? How could you and Dad—" "But she got into Juilliard!" Ashley's face instantly went ashen. She moved to snatch the acceptance letter from my hand. "Give it to me!" My eyes wide with shock, I quickly hid the letter behind my back. Ashley slapped me hard across the face, her eyes bulging with rage. "Tear up that letter!" "Otherwise, our sisterly bond is over!" 3 In my previous life, Ashley didn't know I got into Juilliard. Mom and Dad told her I had run off with some random guy. They even forged a letter from me for her to read. In the letter, I said I would never come back. Ashley wept uncontrollably, vowing to find me. That's why she put up missing person posters all over the city. This time, Ashley knew I got into Juilliard. And just like Mom and Dad, she hated me to the bone. My eyes filled with despair, I looked at Ashley. "Sis, you used to love hearing me sing!" "You even said that if I worked hard on my vocals, I'd be the next Taylor Swift!" Ashley's face contorted into a grimace. "Wake up! You're not even fit to tie Taylor Swift's shoelaces!" "I never liked hearing you sing. Your singing was awful!" Mom grabbed my hand, urging Ashley. "Stop wasting time with her!" "Let's drag her back home and teach her a lesson!" Ashley immediately grabbed my other hand. Both Mom and Ashley used all their strength, pulling me towards our house. "Don't you dare take her!" The voice belonged to a tall, burly middle-aged man. He stopped Mom and Ashley with one hand. "It's a rare and wonderful thing for a young woman to bravely pursue her dreams! Yet you two want to destroy her dreams!" Mom looked at him with disdain. "I'm handling my own child, what business is it of yours?!" "Get out of my way, now!" "Otherwise, I'll call my people to come and deal with you!" Mom wasn't just bluffing. Because she ran a hair salon, she had connections in the shadier parts of town, with all sorts of dubious characters. Indeed, she had friends in the underworld. The middle-aged man, however, wasn't afraid of Mom's threats. He clenched his fists, gritting his teeth. "You scum don't deserve to be a mother!" "If you dare take this young woman today, I'll call the police!" Others also began to criticize Mom. "You're not short on money, and you're not suffering from a serious illness. Supporting your daughter's music education should be no problem at all!" "If a family is so poor they can't afford food, I could understand not letting their daughter go to an art school! But you're draped in gold and silver, all your clothes are designer brands, clearly a middle-class family!" "Your older daughter lives in a mansion and drives a sports car worth millions. Even if you can't afford to send your daughter to music school, you could ask your older daughter to help out!" Mom was speechless again. Ashley, however, looked even more furious. She glared at the crowd with simmering hatred. "You're just jealous of what we have!" "Our money doesn't grow on trees! Why should this brat waste it away overseas?" The middle-aged man retorted angrily, "My nephew tried to get into Juilliard three times and failed! That shows how incredibly difficult that school is to get into!" "But your sister got in on her first try, which proves how dedicated she is to her vocal training!" "Such a disciplined child, I don't believe she would recklessly squander her tuition money!" Many people nodded in agreement with the man. Faced with the surrounding crowd, Mom and Ashley were momentarily at a loss. But just as I thought they wouldn't be able to take me, Dad arrived. "You brute! Get home, now!" Dad's eyes burned with fury, his expression one of wanting to tear me apart. Behind him stood Mom's shady contacts. They wielded machetes, their presence menacing. 4 Ashley flashed Dad a smirk. "Good thing Mom's so sharp; she messaged you right away." So, Mom had called Dad to bring these men. Mom walked up to a burly man, her face full of feigned grievance. "Big Tony, he was blocking my way just now." Mom pointed at the middle-aged man who had helped me. Big Tony swung his machete at the man's throat. "Dare to mess with Boss Lana! You got a death wish?!" My entire body went limp with fear. But I still rushed forward, blocking Big Tony. "Don't touch him!" "I'll go back with my parents!" The crowd dared not utter a sound. They could only watch as my family led me away. But we hadn't walked more than a few steps when several police officers arrived. "In broad daylight, you dare to commit assault? All of you want to do time, huh?!" Big Tony immediately released the middle-aged man. Underworld figures feared the police most of all. In less than a second, they all vanished. Mom and Dad instantly became docile, standing motionless. Ashley, however, wouldn't give up. She quickly explained, "Officer, my sister here is stubborn; she insists on going to school abroad!" "We were at our wits' end, that's why we resorted to finding people to help!" I immediately countered, "Officer, I got into Juilliard, the world's number one music conservatory! It's a dream school for anyone who loves music!" "But my parents and my sister not only won't let me go, they want to destroy my acceptance letter!" The crowd also chimed in, supporting me. "She's right! Her family is acting as if they're possessed, forcing her to tear up the letter!" "They even wanted to drag the young woman back home and torture her severely!" "Her mother and sister both hit her, and they were quite violent!" "There's a surveillance camera right here on the street, Officer. You can check the video to see how ugly their family's true faces are!" The police immediately retrieved the surveillance footage. After watching the video, the officer sternly said to Dad, "You, as the head of the household, how could you lead such a reckless act?" "By any sane person's logic, if their own daughter gets into a good school, they'd happily throw a celebration!" "But your family is desperately trying to ruin your child's future. This is completely abnormal!" Dad remained silent. His eyes, however, were fixed on the acceptance letter in my hand, filled with resentment. "If you don't explain the situation, I won't let you take the young woman away." Faced with the officer's renewed interrogation, Dad frowned deeply and let out a long sigh. He pulled out his phone and searched online for a photo. Dad handed the photo to the officer. I secretly glanced at the picture, and a sharp intake of breath escaped me. I finally understood why they wouldn't let me go to Juilliard!
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