Crushed, Abandoned, Reborn

The truck driver would rather go to jail than pay. My father’s hair turned white overnight, and he collapsed in his hospital bed, exhausted from working late into the night.

I lay awake all night, hating myself for giving my true love to someone I never wanted, and also hating my own naivety.

It took losing my legs to see things clearly.

“Renee, what are you doing standing here in this scorching heat? Get in the car.”

Derek’s thoughtful reminder pulled me out of my memories.

Seeing that hateful face, I wanted to rush over and slap him hard. But one slap wouldn’t be enough.

In this life, I would make them all pay.

“Derek, I can’t go on this trip with you.”

I frowned, pretending to be embarrassed.

“What’s wrong?”

Derek’s face filled with concern.

Of course, I wanted to cut ties with his family as soon as possible. But I couldn’t say that out loud.

“Derek, the betrothal gift is being cut from 200,000 to 100,000. My dad agrees, but my aunt objects.”

“She says our Foster family has never given such a low betrothal gift, and we’ll be the laughingstock of the whole village.”

At the mention of money, Derek’s face darkened noticeably.

“But didn’t we already agree? Besides, the engagement is tomorrow. We can’t come up with that much money now.”

“I never even met your aunt when I visited your house before. Why is she suddenly against it?”

I sneered inwardly.

Yeah, he didn’t know. In my previous life, my aunt was against it. I got engaged under pressure and kept it a secret from her.

“Renee, the 100,000 is all I borrowed from others. Another 100,000 would cost me my life.”

“Everyone in the neighborhood knows about this. If anything goes wrong over the betrothal gift, how can we save our family’s reputation?”

Derek’s mother cried, “Taking out a loan to buy a house in the city is already a huge burden. You’re almost 30—why do you still listen to your family?”

“Her aunt is a bit too controlling,” Derek’s brother muttered quietly in the back seat, thinking I couldn’t hear him.

Derek’s sister-in-law, however, took my hand and offered some advice.

“Renee, it hasn’t been easy for you and Derek to get this far. It would be a shame to break up over what others think.”

“You live your life for yourself, not for others.”

When he preaches great truths, he sounds like an expert.

Yes, you shouldn’t live your life for others to see.

But his brother and sister-in-law took out a loan to buy a used BMW just to impress people. To avoid being laughed at, they act affectionately in public but fight behind my back.

He’s become a joke himself—and yet he comes to preach to me.

I didn’t expose his words, just nodded awkwardly. “Yes, I know what you mean.”

“But my aunt also wants me to live a good life.”

“You know, my mother passed away early, and my father worked away from home. It was my aunt who raised me. I can’t let her down.”

“But I love Derek deeply, and I know your situation. I’ll talk to my aunt when I get home.”

“You guys should go, or your camping tickets will be forfeited.”

I urged them to hurry. After all, if we were any later, we wouldn’t have caught the car accident.

“Well, I’m sure you can convince your aunt.”

Derek pondered for a moment, fastened his seatbelt, and started the car.

He seemed mysteriously confident in my love for him.

As soon as they left, I called a ride-hailing app.

I really needed to go back to my hometown.

After getting in the car and giving my phone number, I was thinking about how to tell my dad when I felt a sudden tap on my shoulder.

“Renee Foster?”