Sky-High Bride Price

After my boyfriend and I got engaged, he reported me to the police. He accused me of demanding an exorbitant bride price. When the police approached me, I returned the 18,800 dollars bride price without hesitation.

In my previous life, because of my obsession with my boyfriend, I endlessly argued with the police about the bride price when they came to inquire. In front of everyone, I insisted that my boyfriend wouldn't report me over such a small amount of money and claimed the police made a mistake.

My mother, who had a heart condition, chose to believe me and fought for me with reason. In the end, when my boyfriend showed up, he pointed at me and yelled, "Gold-digger! Raising the price at will!"

The bystanders assumed we had taken an exorbitant amount of bride price and accused my mother of 'selling her daughter.' My mother, infuriated, suffered a heart attack and passed away.

Even though I had returned the bride price, Mrs. Royce still berated me relentlessly as a gold-digging scammer at my mother's funeral.

In the end, during the funeral, amid everyone's condemnation, I was pushed and hit my head on my mother's tombstone, bleeding profusely. I died confused, right in front of my mother's grave.

***

In this life, my boyfriend successfully reclaimed the bride price, as he wished and my mother, calmed by my persuasion, didn't suffer a heart attack.

However, not long after, he knelt and begged me to accept 188,800 dollars in bride price along with all his assets. The surrounding murmurs and the buzzing voices startled me awake.

The suffocating pain of losing my loved one and the piercing agony of my fractured skull felt vivid as ever. I clutched my chest, trying to calm myself.

"Miss Reed? Miss Reed?" Looking at the familiar-faced police officer in front of me, I realized I had been reborn. Reborn on the very day Thomas Royce reported me for demanding an exorbitant bride price.

I remembered that before long, the noise from the quarrel would wake my mother, who was resting. And then, to defend me, she would join this absurd farce.

To prevent my mother from being disturbed, I swiftly opened WhatsApp and transferred 18,800 dollars to Thomas in front of the police. I thought that would be the end of it.

Unexpectedly, Thomas, who had been hiding in the shadows, appeared the moment he saw the transfer record. This time, he didn't call me a gold-digger.

Instead, he said, "You clearly took 188,800 dollars from me, so why are you now transferring 18,800 dollars back? What does this mean?"

He looked at me with bitter disappointment, "I thought you were greedy and wouldn't repay, but I didn't expect you to play tricks. You think, just because the bride price was given in cash and there's no record, you can cover it up, right?"

Seeing his heart-wrenching act, I couldn't help but feel speechless. Thomas and I had met through a blind date. Since we were both older singles, neither of us demanded much financially.

We quickly hit it off and even had a sweet and passionate courtship. My mother was eager to marry me off and his mother was eager to gain a daughter-in-law.

The bride price of 18,800 dollars was a result of discussions between our mothers and I never expressed any opinions from beginning to end.

Thomas only showed up briefly at the engagement ceremony. Seeing Thomas's current act, it was hard not to treat him as a scammer.

"The bride price was always agreed to be 18,800 dollars, a decision between our mothers. If you don't believe it, go ask your mom!" I rolled my eyes at him and lifted my foot to walk back inside.

But Thomas rushed up and grabbed my hand, "You're not leaving! If you don't return the money today, I'll accuse you of fraud!"

"Olivia, who's making all this noise?" My mother's voice rang out, sending a wave of panic through me.

My face turned pale instantly and the image of my mother gasping for breath in the previous life was fresh in my mind.

But in Thomas's eyes, my pale face became evidence that I had indeed taken the bride price for myself.

In the past, Thomas had always shown concern and warmth toward my mother, but this time he ignored her entirely, unlike his previous eagerness.

All he cared about was using my pale face as proof to show the crowd.