Chapter 2

No wonder Mom had dragged me to that senior singles mixer, trying to get me to cozy up to all the rich old guys in the crowd.

I'd managed to slip away back then.

Now she was probably kicking herself, putting on this whole dramatic act just for my benefit.

I calmly put my phone away, pushed open the door, and dashed to the window, grabbing Mom before she could do anything reckless.

"Mom, if you jump from the second floor, you won't die. Worst case, you'll just end up with a few broken bones," I said. "Want me to take you up to the roof?"

When I dashed toward her, I nearly sent her right out the window.

Mom freaked out, clinging to me and pushing me back inside. She sat down safely too.

Mom sobbed, tears streaming down her face as she complained, "Leona, you're just wasting all the effort I put in for you.

"There are people out there who would do anything for a chance like this, but no matter how hard they tried, they'd never get it."

I held back my revulsion and stayed silent.

My dad came over and slapped me so hard it sent my head spinning.

"You troublemaker! Your mom's only doing this for your own good," he snapped. "You dress all flashy just to get noticed by rich guys, don't you? Why do you always have to stir things up every single day?"

Mom, her eyes swollen and red, was wringing her hands in misery. "Being a mom is tough. Kids just never get how much their parents go through for them."

I stood off to the side, clutching the edge of my shirt, not knowing what to say.

No one even noticed my messed-up makeup. Dad was totally blind to everything else, just busy comforting Mom.

"Forget it. She's just an ungrateful brat," he muttered.

Suddenly, I got the urge to see if I could outdo Mom playing the victim.

And just like that, my dad handed me the perfect opportunity.

"Oh, by the way, Leona, your scholarship money should have hit your account by now, right?" Dad asked.

Mom stopped crying at once. She grabbed my hand. "Leona..."

Before she could even wipe her tears away, I dropped to my knees and started sobbing even louder, drowning out her voice.

"Mom, my scholarship money got stolen," I wailed. "Those girls beat me up so bad, I'm covered in bruises."

I yanked up her sleeves and pant legs, showing off the fake bruises Leia had drawn, then started slapping myself.

"I'm so sorry, I really let you guys down," I cried. "Why don't you guys just beat me to death? I'm totally useless."

Mom just stood there, totally stunned. She grabbed onto Dad for support before her eyes rolled back and she blacked out, collapsing right against him.

Dad didn't even blink at my sob story. He was just fuming that the cash he'd been counting on was gone.

It looked like what I did wasn't enough to shake them up. Time to crank it up a notch.

I dashed into the kitchen, snatched up a kitchen knife, and pressed it hard against my neck.

This was one of Mom's signature tricks. But she'd only ever hold it there for dramatic effect, never even letting the tip graze her skin.

I was way more hardcore than her. I slashed my neck, and blood welled up instantly.

Their faces finally showed some real fear.

Not missing a beat, I slashed my wrist too.

Thanks to what I'd learned from my previous life's suicide attempt, I knew exactly where to cut. It would look terrifying, but not enough to actually die.

Blood gushed from the wounds, splattering onto the floor.

I smeared my bloody hands across my face, mixing tears and blood. "Dad, Mom, the money's gone because of me. I can't let you live the good life.

"I'm too embarrassed. Sorry for being unable to take care of you two anymore."

At that moment, one couldn't even tell if it was blood or tears streaming down my face, with all those bruises mixed in.

Seeing I was actually going through with suicide, Mom suddenly snapped to attention, scrambling out of Dad's arms and snatching the knife away from me, afraid.

"Oh my god, Leona. Why do you have to go to such extremes?" she cried.

They couldn't let me die now. After all, I was still useful to them.

Right away, Dad grabbed some tissues and rushed over to stop the bleeding.

"Who took the money? We need to call the cops," Dad demanded.

I put on my best scared act. "It... it was the school bully, Leia.

"She said if I dared to call the cops, she'd turn us in and make me pay back every penny of the scholarship money I ever got."

Dad and Mom exchanged a look, both of them uneasy.

They knew deep down they didn't really deserve the money, so there was no way they'd risk calling the cops.

With me hogging all the drama, Mom had no choice but to awkwardly wrap things up.

"Well, if the money's gone, it's gone," she said to me. "Honey, you poor thing. Life really screwed you over. It's so bad you got beaten up like this. Go lie down in bed."

I nodded, clutching my wounds. As I turned away, I couldn't help but grin.

It seemed like my performance finally got Mom's seal of approval. She actually said "life screwed me over."

Suddenly, I remembered what Leia said earlier, that my parents had gone to her place to borrow money, and she even asked if I wanted to borrow some too.

Back in my previous life, I dragged things out so long that my parents never saw a dime from Leia's family.

But in the end, I still ended up selling my body just to fund their endless spending.

This time around, no way I'd get in their way.

Of course they should borrow the money. No way I was stopping them this time.

Leia's dad was a loan shark. If my parents didn't owe money to someone so ruthless, how were they ever gonna crash and burn even harder?

And after borrowing the money, they'd have to pay it back. But how are they gonna pull that off?

I was secretly looking forward to the part.

And sure enough, just a couple days later, I was in my room practicing when I heard Mom's sobs.

She was working on her embroidery, needle in hand, rambling on, "Ugh, how long do I have to keep doing this just to scrape together enough for your tuition? My eyes are about to go blind.

"Poor me. I've been orphaned since I was a kid, never got to learn anything, and now I'm stuck making a few bucks with this.

"Unlike you, all educated and able to make real money, but you just won't lift a finger."

Her whole act was like needles, each word pricking at my nerves and making me squirm.

If I hadn't lived through all this once before, I might've actually been naive enough to think Mom was earning the money for my sake.