My husband Ethan's childhood sweetheart, Vanessa, always loved to steal my things. After being reborn, I realized that I'd never be able to compete with her even if I fought until death. So I simply put price tags on all my personal belongings. She used her motion sickness as an excuse to always sit in my husband's passenger seat. I stuck a payment QR code right on the front passenger seat: One hundred thousand for annual membership, twenty percent off for renewals. She took a liking to my project proposal. The moment my husband Ethan knocked on my office door, I spoke without even looking up: "Five hundred thousand. Transfer it and I'll change the name to hers immediately." On our son's birthday, I pushed aside my work and rushed to the kindergarten to pick him up. But he looked up at the teacher and said, "She's not my mom. I won't go with her." As we stood at an impasse, Vanessa arrived late, holding the gift I'd prepared for my son. My son immediately rushed over and hugged her legs. "Teacher, look carefully. This is my real mom." My husband was about to explain. I looked at my son expressionlessly and extended my hand. "Five million. I'll have you adopted to her today."
Ethan looked at me in disbelief. "Isabelle, are you seriously taking out your anger on our son?" "He's only four years old! Know when to stop!" A flash of shock crossed my son's face when he heard my words. Then his little face flushed red, and he hugged Vanessa's legs even tighter. "Five million then! I don't want you as my mean mom anyway!" So in his eyes, the me who woke up two hours early every day to prepare nutritious breakfasts for him, who gave up promotion opportunities just to spend more time with him—I was this hateful. Vanessa busied herself playing the good person, trying to smooth things over. "Ryan, I taught you not to be this rude." My son pouted unhappily. "She's rude too. The day before yesterday when Dad was with you, she kept calling and bothering Dad!" "Auntie also taught me to fight fire with fire against bad people!" Ethan's expression suddenly changed. "Isabelle, that day was because Vanessa..." I cut him off with a raised hand. "You spent our wedding anniversary with her. That costs money too." Ethan froze in place, as if he suddenly didn't recognize me. After a long moment, he pulled out a card from his wallet and threw it directly on the ground. "Isabelle, even your own son hates you. You really should look for the reason in yourself." He put his arm around Vanessa and got in the car. The exhaust sprayed all over my head and face. I just silently crouched down and picked up the bank card from the ground. The pain of the card's corners digging into my palm only strengthened my resolve to do this. After all, in my past life, when Ethan let Vanessa steal my things, I cried and made scenes. Not only did I fail to win his love, but my mother's burial plot was given away by him to Vanessa—just to bury her pet dog. In a fit of rage, I slapped Vanessa and angrily demanded a divorce from Ethan. I thought this would make him realize his mistake. Who knew that to teach me a lesson, he actually agreed directly. He even hired a top divorce lawyer and exploited loopholes to have me leave with nothing. A few days after the divorce, I had a sudden heart attack. I couldn't even afford to call an ambulance. I struggled to crawl to the hospital. Facing the astronomical medical bills, I had no pride left. I called Ethan over and over again. Not only did he not answer, he even had Vanessa use his phone to send me voice messages. "Isabelle, you willingly gave me this man. There's no taking him back." Desperately waiting for life-saving money, all I got in the end were her photos showing off. In the final moments of my life, I watched helplessly as Vanessa wore my bathrobe, sprayed my favorite perfume, and kissed my husband on the clean silk bedding I had washed. In this new life, without love, at least I could get enough money to save my own life. I just never expected that my son, whom I couldn't let go of in my past life, would also turn against me for Vanessa. Before I could feel sad, my phone suddenly rang. It was a call from the doctor. "Ms. Sullivan, we've successfully matched a heart for you. We can schedule the surgery for next month." Hearing this good news, my legs went weak and I had to lean against the wall to barely stay standing. In this life, I finally wouldn't die desperately in a hospital corridor. Just as I hung up, Ethan sent me a message: "My attitude earlier was bad. I promised you before to redo our wedding ceremony. The designer delivered the custom wedding dress to the house. Can you come back and try it on?" I didn't reply to him, nor did I refuse. Five years ago when I married Ethan, his family had just gone bankrupt and was too poor to even afford a wedding. Back then, I firmly believed he was capable and would make a comeback someday. That he would give me a grand wedding that everyone would envy. Who knew that after he actually became successful, a Vanessa would appear to steal his attention and our son's affection. I still hadn't gotten that wedding to this day. When I got home and pushed open the door, I saw Ethan and our son surrounding Vanessa in a wedding dress, praising her endlessly.
Catching sight of me at the door, Ethan's smile froze on his face. He quickly walked up to me and reached out to embrace me. "Isabelle, here's the thing..." "Vanessa's mother doesn't have much time left. Her biggest wish before passing is to see Vanessa get married." "Vanessa still doesn't have a boyfriend. I plan to first pretend to hold a wedding with her. Your wedding will have to be postponed..." I stared at Vanessa. The wedding dress that had been custom-made to my measurements fit Vanessa, who was a head shorter than me, perfectly. Vanessa pretended to speak weakly: "Ethan, maybe we should just forget it. After all, Isabelle has been waiting for five years. I feel bad about this." She made a show of trying to take off the dress but was stopped by my son. He crashed into me like a cannonball. "Bad woman! You must be jealous that Auntie looks like a fairy in the wedding dress! Your stomach looks like old tree bark—nothing looks good on you!" I was knocked hard to the ground, too pained to recover for a long time. Seeing my pained expression, my son felt a bit guilty. But he still stood there with his neck stiff. Ethan rushed over to pull me up. "Ryan! Why did you push Mommy?" His gaze fell on my abdomen, his expression somewhat reluctant. "Isabelle, if you really mind, I'll have someone else pretend with Vanessa..." I shook off his hand and stood up by myself. "I don't mind." I opened my phone calculator. "Besides the wedding and the dress, I need to add the money for your wedding night with her..." Before I could finish calculating, Ethan slapped my phone out of my hand. "Isabelle, are you sick? Ryan is right here!" "Vanessa and I are completely innocent. I really don't understand how you became like this!" I looked up at him. "She wants to steal everything I have. I can't compete with her, so asking for some monetary compensation is wrong too?" Ethan was speechless. His chest heaved violently, as if he was extremely angry with me. "I can't be bothered to argue with you." He pulled out his phone and jabbed at the screen as if venting. The next second, a deposit notification popped up on my phone. "I must have been blind back then!" Ethan pulled the two of them out and slammed the door so hard it shook. I looked at the string of zeros on the screen, desperately holding back my spinning tears. When I first got together with Ethan, he had nothing. I shared a discounted hamburger with him and lived in a dark, damp basement. Back then, he often felt indebted to me. After work, he'd deliver food just to earn extra money to buy me cakes that other girls loved. When I casually mentioned that clothes were hard to dry, he spent half a month's salary to buy me a small dryer. When I caught him drinking cold water in the middle of the night to fill his stomach, I cried out of heartache. But he just held me tighter and choked up, saying I had suffered with him, vowing to compensate me well once he had money. But after he turned his life around, every single thing he tried to compensate me with was stolen by Vanessa. Now I was just fighting for some financial compensation for myself, and in return I got "I must have been blind." I tried to take deep breaths and scrolled through my phone to distract myself. But my social media feed was full of posts from Vanessa. Ethan had taken her to discuss wedding plans. The venue renderings she posted were the exact version I had carefully refined bit by bit according to my own preferences. I never imagined that the wedding I'd looked forward to for so long would end up benefiting my own husband and another woman. I gripped my phone tightly and was about to block her. But my eyes inadvertently caught sight of her wrist. When I saw clearly what she was wearing, I couldn't hold back anymore. I rushed straight to her location!
"Give me back my bracelet!" I lunged at Vanessa, trying to snatch back the bracelet. This was the only keepsake my mother left me. I'd carefully preserved it all these years. I couldn't even bear to touch it more than necessary. I never thought Vanessa would steal this too! Before I could get close, my son suddenly pushed me down. He spread his arms wide, firmly blocking Vanessa. "I gave it to Auntie!" "Name your price. I'll transfer the money now!" My son raised his phone watch, making a show of scanning my QR code to pay. I was so shocked I couldn't even feel the pain. Looking at my son, I felt my hands and feet go numb. "Ryan, what did you just say?" My son impatiently repeated: "I asked you how much. Isn't everything for sale if the price is right?" "Just name your price already." I felt like someone had suddenly squeezed my heart tight. I couldn't even breathe. When my son was still at the age where he could barely speak clearly, I had shown him this bracelet. I told him that this bracelet was a symbol of his grandmother. That my mother was gone forever, and I could only think of her through this object. Back then, his small body had buried itself in my arms as he consoled me in his baby voice: "Mommy still has Ryan." And now, wearing the phone watch I bought him, he wanted to buy my most treasured possession to give away. Vanessa pretended to take it off. "I'm sorry, Isabelle. Ryan said you never wore it, so I thought you didn't want it anymore." Ethan, who had been negotiating with the wedding staff, heard the commotion and hurried over. Seeing Vanessa's motion to remove the bracelet, he immediately looked at me with displeasure. "Isabelle, what are you making a fuss about now?" "It's just a bracelet. Your hands are too thick to wear it anyway. It would just sit there unused. What's wrong with letting Vanessa wear it?" I finally couldn't hold back and shouted, "That's my mother's keepsake!" "Vanessa, you even want to steal this? Aren't you afraid my mother will come find you at night?" Hearing my words, Ethan's face showed some embarrassment. "It's fine, Vanessa. Give it back to her. I'll buy you a new one." "Wearing a dead person's things is unlucky." My son immediately chimed in, "Right! Let Dad buy you a bigger, prettier one!" With that, he took the bracelet Vanessa had removed and threw it directly at me. "Don't throw it!" I reached out in shock to catch it, but could only watch helplessly as the bracelet fell heavily to the ground. Shattered into pieces. In that instant, I felt like a part of me shattered with it. I knelt on the ground, desperately picking up the fragments, tears falling heavily on the floor. "Stop picking them up." Catching sight of the bloody cuts on my hand, Ethan frowned and reached out to pull me up. "It's just an object. Is it really worth it?" I swatted away his hand, my eyes bloodshot. I slapped the divorce agreement I'd prepared long ago onto his face. "No need, Ethan. Let's get div—" Ethan misunderstood, thinking the divorce agreement was a stock transfer agreement. He gripped the document, his face cold. "Isabelle, asking for money isn't enough for you now? You're even setting your sights on the company?" "I bet you deliberately let our son take the bracelet, using my guilt to get company shares, right?" He sneered and signed his name without even looking. "What great scheming. I won't hold it against you this time." "But I won't tolerate you using the same tricks a second time!" He flung the documents at me and walked away without looking back. I sat on the ground, watching the papers scatter everywhere, and laughed bitterly. He didn't know there wouldn't be a next time. I didn't want him or our son anymore. In the following days, I spent every day at the hospital. The money Ethan compensated me with was not only enough for my surgery but also covered all the subsequent follow-up examinations and care. After successfully getting the heart transplant, I could completely rewrite the tragedy of my past life and begin anew. Finally, on the day of surgery, as I waited for anesthesia, the doctor suddenly took off his gloves. "I'm sorry, Ms. Sullivan. Your surgery can't be performed today..."
My heart tightened. "What do you mean? Why can't it be done?" Although I'd used the best medicine for myself, myocardial disease had always been dangerous. Just during the waiting period for surgery, I'd had no fewer than three episodes. The most serious time, I nearly died. I was pushed into the emergency room for a full twelve hours. Only through an intense will to survive did I pull through. My body had no time left to wait. The doctor looked troubled. "The heart you were matched with was just reassigned." I clutched my chest desperately. "Reassigned? By whom?" "Did they pay you more money? Whatever they're paying, I'll double it!" The doctor didn't dare respond at all. He put on his mask and tried to escape. I rolled off the operating table and followed closely behind him, nearly breaking down. "You know my condition. I can't wait any longer. How can you just reassign it like that?" "This is no different from murder!" My screaming soon attracted many people. I roared, "Who exactly stole my heart? Can rich people control other people's lives?" The onlookers were indignant and soon found the instigator. I rushed over recklessly, but the moment I saw clearly, all the blood in my body froze. It was Ethan. He was blocking the operating room entrance, not letting anyone break in. Vanessa, crying at his side, saw me and immediately grabbed my arm. "Isabelle? Are you saying my mom stole your heart?" She fell to her knees directly in front of me. "I was wrong before for always taking your things. I'm sorry. I apologize to you." "Take out any grievances you have on me, but please spare my mother, okay?" Ethan's expression immediately changed. "Isabelle, just because you don't have a mother, you want to make Vanessa lose hers too?" "How can you be so vicious?!" My nails dug deeply into my palms, my teeth nearly drawing blood. "Ethan, her mother has cancer. A heart transplant won't cure it at all. Vanessa is deliberately—" Before I could finish, Vanessa suddenly started kowtowing to me. "Isabelle, I'll return everything to you. I'll never bother Ethan and Ryan again." "I'm really begging you. How much money do you want? I'll give you money, okay?" My whole body went cold. I was so angry I could barely speak clearly: "Who wants your money! I want the heart! Give me back the heart!" "Enough!" Ethan flew into a rage and grabbed me. "To harm Vanessa's mother, you even faked an illness and used people's sympathy to cause trouble. Isabelle, this time you've really gone too far!" He called security and had me dragged out directly. I struggled desperately but couldn't break free no matter what. My heart also beat more and more violently, my chest hurting so much it felt like it would explode. When I was thrown to the hospital entrance, a suffocating sense of near-death swallowed me whole. I painfully reached out my hand to call for help, but the onlookers spat at me. "Bah! We almost let you trick us into harming someone. Still acting even now!" My hand fell powerlessly. In my last moment of consciousness, I only hoped that in my next life, I would never, ever see Ethan again. On the other side, after completing the surgery for Vanessa's mother, Ethan rushed to hold a wedding with Vanessa without stopping. But when exchanging rings, his mind was full of images of Isabelle. That day at the hospital, she had looked very haggard. He was still somewhat worried. "Sorry, Vanessa. Let's end the ceremony here for now." "Auntie is already confused. She probably won't suspect anything." With that, he pulled off his boutonniere and called his assistant: "Check Isabelle's medical records." Ten minutes later, the assistant called back, his voice somewhat apprehensive: "Mr. Harrison, the records show that Mrs. Harrison has acute myocardial disease. The heart transplant surgery was scheduled for a week ago..."
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