Chapter 1

After Mom married Anthony Collins, the hairstylist, she dressed me up like an anime character to help my stepfather promote his salon.

I attracted a bunch of clueless girls to get their hair done, making my stepfather famous.

Later, I found out he was secretly preying on those girls.

I reported him.

He went to prison for twenty years.

Mom hated me for ruining her marriage and his future. In a rage, she locked me in a pigsty out in the small town.

She fed me slop and forced me to sleep in a manure pit.

Finally, on my twelfth birthday, she fed me a piece of cream cake laced with poison.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back to the day before my father died.

*****

Mom was pulling me along, telling Dad she was taking me with her for a haircut.

I looked down at my clean dress. No manure or slop stains.

My body didn't ache, and my skin wasn't covered in sores.

In that moment, I knew I had a second chance to live my life.

But the image of Mom's twisted face from my previous life still seemed to haunt me.

Terrified, I yanked my hand from hers and started wailing. "I don't wanna go with Mom! Every time, Mr. Collins would take Mom into the back room and close the door, then they'd fight.

"Last time Mom was yelling and screaming, saying she was gonna die. What if he really kills her this time?"

Mom jolted, shrieking at me. "Nicole, what kind of nonsense are you spouting?"

Flustered, she tried to cover my mouth.

I bit her hand hard and threw myself into Dad's arms.

Dad caught me, his face full of surprised delight.

I'd never been this close to him before.

Mom had always told me Dad wanted a son, that he'd tried to smother me right after I was born. If not for her, I wouldn't be alive.

So, I clung to Mom.

I was like a remote-controlled toy around her, never stepping out of line.

The opposite was true for Dad. I hated him, fought him on everything, wished he were dead every day.

That was why, in my previous life, even though I knew "getting a haircut" meant Mom was secretly meeting that stylist, I still willingly covered for her.

And what did it get us? Both Dad and I ended up dead.

The same thing wouldn't happen in this life.

Thinking of this, I grabbed Dad's shirtfront, my voice trembling pitifully. "Daddy, believe me, I'm not making it up. I even heard the apprentices at the salon say Mr. Collins 'snagged' Mom, a rich lady, and could just coast for life now."

Then, I put on my most innocent face and asked Dad, "Daddy, what does 'snagged' mean? Does it mean he's gonna kidnap Mom?"

Dad's face darkened instantly.

Mom went pale, lunging at me like a madwoman.

Dad quickly put himself between us.

Unable to reach me, Mom started yelling. "Nicole, have you lost your mind? Spouting such garbage in broad daylight? You're taking some salon apprentice's dumb joke seriously? Hurry up and come with me. I finally got this appointment. If we miss it today, I won't get another."

I shrank back, burying my face against Dad's solid back, and cried out, "Mom, so we miss it. What's the big deal? It's not like you'll die if you don't get your hair done."

Mom looked ready to explode.

Dad reached back to pat me reassuringly, eyeing Mom warily. "Fiona, talk to the child properly. Why are you so worked up? Guilty conscience?"

Mom was speechless for a second.

Caught off guard, she couldn't think of a good excuse.

She just stomped her foot and started throwing a tantrum to hide her panic. "Harry, what are you implying? Maybe you're the one with the guilty conscience!

"Tell me, are you seeing someone else? Starting to find me annoying, and don't trust me anymore, is that it? Fine. You two are in this together. I just won't go then. Happy now?"

With that, Mom stormed upstairs.

Normally, this kind of drama would make Dad immediately call the driver to take her to her appointment.

But this time, Dad just watched her go without a word.

I finally let out a sigh of relief.

In my previous life, on this very day, under the pretense of a haircut, Mom met with that stylist Anthony and plotted a fire that killed Dad.

At the funeral, Mom cried her eyes out, swore she'd never remarry, and would raise me alone.

But just two weeks after Dad died, Mom took her millions and married Anthony.

She bought him a fancy new salon downtown and always dragged me along.

My cute anime hairstyles attracted tons of girls, business boomed, and Anthony became a local celebrity.

But later, I found out Anthony wasn't just creepy with me. He was secretly preying on the girls who came to the salon.

I gathered my courage and reported him.

Mom tried to lie to the police. "My husband is a great man. It's those silly little girls throwing themselves at him. He was just being friendly, maybe a little too friendly, but he shouldn't be blamed. You should be on our side."

Her outrageous comments angered the victims' parents and people online.

Suddenly, everyone was demanding that Anthony be punished severely.

Mom panicked.

During the trial, to get her husband off, she actually said, "You say my husband sought out those girls? But they all came because of my daughter Nicole. What does Anthony have to do with it? If anyone should be punished, it should be Nicole."

After that, even though Anthony got twenty years, the furious parents turned on me.

I faced relentless bullying at school like never before.

And Mom? She'd laugh hysterically every time she saw me humiliated, saying through gritted teeth it was all my fault, my punishment.

Later, school bullying wasn't enough for her. She pulled me out of school.

For what felt like forever, she kept me in a pigsty, made me sleep in filth, fed me slop, and pulled out my long hair strand by strand.

And after finding Anthony's diary, she fed me that poisoned cake.