Letting Her Fall

So, I always felt that as sisters, I should help whenever I could.

But I did not expect that she would never pay me back.

Aunt Lorelei looked surprised, clearly not convinced I could afford a designer brand with my salary. "I know you young people love buying labels to keep up appearances, but that's not a smart move for the long term.

"You'll be 26 next year. Honestly, you should find a wealthy guy just like Monica did. Then you could just ask for the things you would've needed to spend a few months' salary to buy."

I didn't respond, and the atmosphere grew awkward.

My other aunt, Karen Hall, quickly stepped in to smooth things over. "I think Monica and Tabitha are both great. One is married well, and the other has a good job. The only one struggling is my son. He's almost 30, but his job is average, and he still doesn't have a girlfriend…"

Aunt Lorelei took the bait and immediately switched her attention to setting my cousin up.

I looked at Monica, who was sitting beside us. She still hadn't said a word, and her expression hadn't changed at all.

My instincts told me something was off about her.

Ever since Monica had gotten married, the family group chat had been livelier than ever.

Every few days, Aunt Lorelei would send updates about the new gifts Monica and Howard had bought for her.

Whenever she posted, relatives would flood the chat, saying how lucky she was and how thoughtful and capable Monica and Howard were.

Aunt Lorelei never got tired of showing it off.

But then I suddenly realized she hadn't mentioned anything about Monica's job in a long time.

Back when Monica worked as a model, every runway show and photoshoot was posted in the family chat without fail.

Later, when relatives asked about her work, Aunt Lorelei finally said, "Howard felt bad that she was working so hard, so he told her to quit and stay home. They're not short on money, anyway."

One evening after work, I stepped out of the elevator and ran right into Monica.

I instinctively stepped back, feeling guarded.

After all, she had killed me in my previous life. Being alone with her still made my heart jump.

Before I could say anything, she rushed over and hugged me. "Tabitha, what am I supposed to do?!

"Howard cheated on me! He thought I was fooling around with someone before, so he forced me to quit my job. But all this time, he was the one sneaking off to a hotel with someone else…"

Monica cried hysterically while accusing her husband of cheating. She was sobbing so hard that her voice nearly broke.

She talked and talked, but I said nothing.

When she didn't get the comfort she expected, she finally asked, puzzled, "Why aren't you saying anything?"

Her confusion made sense. In the past, I would have been cursing him out with her.

I stared at her expressionlessly. "This is the life you chose, isn't it?"

I had wanted to say this in my last life, but by then, I was already bleeding out.

"It's all my mom's fault. If she hadn't forced that blind date on me and pushed me to marry him, I wouldn't be suffering like this."

She was still the same as before. Whenever her choice didn't turn out the way she wanted, she blamed everyone but herself.

If she hadn't been tempted by money in the first place, Aunt Lorelei wouldn't have been able to force her into anything.

A moment later, someone pounded on the door urgently.

I already knew it had to be Aunt Lorelei, so before Monica could stop me, I went and opened the door.

Sure enough, the moment the door cracked open, I heard Aunt Lorelei shouting, "Monica, have you lost your mind? Talking about divorce over something this small?!"