Rebirth: A Life for a Life

I avoided Marcus and went to the study.

When I unlocked my phone, I found exactly what I expected—Mirabelle was livestreaming. In my previous life, she had done the same thing, sharing her "day in the life of a rich family's housekeeper" online.

She even claimed she was going to follow the lady of the house and challenge herself to reverse aging in thirty days, going from 40 back to 20.

At the time, her viewers were in stitches, flooding the chat with comments. "Ma'am, you'd have to be remade from scratch. If you can go back to 20 in 30 days, I can go back to kindergarten!"

When I first came across her stream, I didn't give it much thought. I assumed she was just attempting to make some money. I never expected her to actually look noticeably younger.

Mirabelle gradually rose to fame online, amassing hundreds of thousands of followers. Netizens demanded to know how she had managed to pull it off. Eventually, someone discovered that Marcus and I were her employers.

By then, I had undergone a dramatic change. However, as the CEO of Hawthorne Group, I still had to attend numerous business events that had been planned months in advance.

Netizens compared my event photos with those of Mirabelle.

"Damn, Mirabelle, are you picking up beauty tips from your employer or draining her dry?"

"I remember the heiress of the Hawthorne family being a real beauty. Her face alone made Hawthorne Group's shares climb. What happened to her?"

Hawthorne Group was in the skincare and cosmetics industry, so when its CEO seemed to age overnight, its stock price plunged.

I watched as Mirabelle held up the skincare products she'd scavenged from my trash and showed them off to her viewers, claiming they were gifts from me. Then, she announced her 30-day reverse-aging challenge all over again.

A cold dread coiled inside me because my death had happened precisely 30 days after she moved into the villa. I created a throwaway account and left a comment under the sea of mocking messages.

"There's no way you can do that in 30 days. Do you have another method? Tell me, and you can charge me however much you want."

Mirabelle plastered a smile on her face, leisurely patting those skincare products onto her face. "I don't have any other method. I merely do whatever Mrs. Pembroke does. It'll work if you truly believe in it!"

Before I knew it, more spots appeared on my face, and fine lines formed around my well-cared-for eyes. I immediately checked Mirabelle's livestream. Her skin looked noticeably fairer and silkier.

"Is it just me, or does her skin look even better now?"

"You're right! The spots on her face are lighter, and her crow's feet have faded."

"She must've turned on a beauty filter."

Mirabelle immediately inched closer to the camera. "I'm not using any filter, and I'm barefaced."

Looking at her face, a shiver ran down my spine. This was clearly an exchange; she shed her years by stealing mine.

Just then, a desperate thought flashed through my mind. What if I stopped taking care of myself and actually made myself look worse? Would that stop her from stealing my youth?

I started using harsh skincare products until my skin turned red and inflamed. I also quit exercising and gorged on high-calorie junk food every day. In no time, my figure went out of shape.

I kept a close eye on Mirabelle. Yet, much like in my previous life, she continued to get younger. My ruined skin and out-of-shape body didn't affect her at all.

When Marcus returned from his business trip, he was startled by my appearance. With open contempt, he said, "Rosetta, my company's anniversary is in a few days. If that's how you're going to show up, forget it; don't bother going. I refuse to be humiliated because of you."

Mirabelle's lips curled slightly, yet she feigned concern. "Why don't you make a trip to the beauty salon, Mrs. Pembroke? I'm sure Mr. Pembroke isn't thrilled about how much junk food you eat. How can a woman hold on to a man if she lets her face and body go?"

I let out a mirthless chuckle, returned to the study, and called my assistant. "Cancel all my upcoming business events. Also, look into someone for me."