Chapter 1

In my previous life, I drained all my savings to help my husband, Wendell Cervantes, start his business.

Yet on the eve of the company going public, I received the divorce papers and stock transfer agreement he had sent.

The beneficiary was his secretary, Aurora Mercer.

The moment I woke up and traveled back in time, I burned every single joint account passbook in the safe.

This time around, when Wendell asked me to discuss his investment plan, I turned around and signed a contract with his rival company.

All the anniversary gifts he had sent me went straight into the shredder.

I even anonymously sent his most prized business proposal to his competitors.

Wendell once promised to give me a home, but in the end he refused to pay even the heating bill for my hospital room.

This time, I would make sure he couldn't even utter the word "sorry."

He could only watch on the financial news as I became the new industry darling, forever out of his reach.

*****

I opened the joint property passbook in the safe and gently pressed the lighter.

My team members stared at me in shock.

"Mrs. Cervantes, are you out of your mind? Isn't this everything you two own together?" Derek Garrett blurted out.

A moment ago, I was extending an olive branch to my team members, inviting them to start a new studio with me.

The next second, I opened the safe and burned all the joint property I had with Wendell to ashes.

The flames danced in the ashtray, devouring the last passbook.

Contrasting with the ashes was a brand new land deed beside it.

I glanced up at Derek.

In my previous life, he was fired by Wendell on a pretext for speaking up for me and later ended up delivering takeout.

"Husband and wife?" I chuckled and pulled a folder out of my bag. "Check this out."

It was the documents I had taken from the apartment first thing last night after traveling back.

It contained the invoice for the luxury house Wendell bought for Aurora in the company's name, the bank statements of overseas accounts, and the record of his appointment with a divorce lawyer.

I never expected they were hidden in the most conspicuous living room drawer of the entire apartment.

But in my previous life, I was busy with company affairs day and night, completely unaware that this divorce agreement and stock transfer had been planned for so long.

While the team members were shocked, they looked at me with concern.

But I stared calmly at those prominent agreements, and my thoughts suddenly drifted back.

*****

In my previous life, young me was fixing a printer in a cheap rental house. Wendell stood nearby, kicking aside a cup of instant noodles in frustration.

"Hurry up. Mr. Madison's proposal has to go out tonight," he snapped.

But the printer did not get fixed that night. Wendell flew into a rage and smashed the small rental house to pieces.

My cheek was cut by flying glass shards. I broke out in a cold sweat, endured the discomfort in my stomach, and called Shane Madison to apologize.

After it was over, I watched Wendell smoking on the balcony and left the rental house in a fit of anger.

Halfway down the stairs, I saw Maeve Cervantes.

Back then, I was isolated and bullied in the dim orphanage, forced to fight with dogs for food.

It was her who happened to pass by dragging Wendell by the ear.

Maeve found me squatting under a tall tree, digging something, my fingernails covered in blood.

She rushed over and grabbed my hand. When she saw my ashen and thin face, she felt very distressed.

She gently wiped the sweat off my face and wrapped my bleeding hand with a warm scarf.

I watched Maeve with guarded eyes, but her warmth melted right through my defenses.

The moment before I lost consciousness, she held me tightly in her arms.

I did not understand why Maeve was being kind to me.

After all, the orphanage director always said I was a heartless kid, that no one would ever like me.

At that time, Maeve's backlit face seemed to overlap with the one I saw when I woke up in the orphanage.

She was clutching a lunchbox, a bit unsure as she spoke to me.

"Malia, what's wrong? Did that brat upset you again? Don't worry, I'll go give him a piece of my mind," she said.

My heart twisted with emotion as Maeve brought me home from the orphanage.

I lived in their house for ten years. But a tragedy two years ago took the pillar of their family.

So I used all my life savings to help Wendell start his business.

I wanted to take a little of that sorrow off Maeve's face.

But in the end, on the cold hospital bed, she cried and told me an unexpected truth.

That was when I started mocking myself. Guess there really was no such thing as a free lunch in this world.

*****

Snapping out of my thoughts, I picked up a charred scrap from the ashes. The words "joint account" were still faintly visible.

"Do you know why I picked today?" I asked.

I opened my email, which showed the merger invitation Wendell had just received.

I said, "Tomorrow he will use this money to acquire the rival company. And you?"

I pulled up the confidential HR document. The names of everyone present were on the layoff list.

Everyone looked at me with grief and anger.

I pushed over the land deed and the business proposal. "Now, those who are willing to come to my new studio can sign the share agreement tonight."

When Wendell rushed into the lounge, he saw Derek throw his employee ID into the trash can.