You can't be the Only One with Me Around

Watching those two human traffickers meet such a miserable end was the most satisfying thing ever.

Not only did Jethro and Melinda get me—a child groom—without spending a single cent, but they also found wives for Tavian and Faron. They wouldn’t stop praising me, calling me smart and saying I was their family’s lucky charm.

Aside from keeping me from leaving the house, they treated me fairly well. I spent my days following Gracie, the town idiot, around, calling her “sister” and playing with her. Ever since she found out I was supposed to be her future husband, she started giving me the chicken drumsticks her parents stewed to make her stronger.

But Mabel and Fabienne weren’t as lucky.

They were tied up almost every day, used and abused by Tavian and Faron. Within six months, Mabel was pregnant.

That only made me feel better. Those two had spent their lives selling people like livestock—now, they got to experience what it was like to be trapped, powerless, and violated.

Gracie might’ve been an idiot, but she was nice to me.

She listened when I talked, and she even convinced Jethro and Melinda to let me go to school with her. She protected me too, refusing to let them order me around like a servant. At first, they resisted, but when she threw a tantrum—crying, screaming, and even refusing to eat—they gave in.

So, they sent me to the town school with her, though they changed my name to Jorren and told everyone I was just some orphan they had taken in.

The whole town believed it.

They saw how well-behaved and smart I was and never suspected a thing. They even praised Jethro and Melinda for being such good people, saying that kindness brings good fortune—after all, their daughter had found herself such a wonderful companion.

I treated Gracie like a real sister, looking after her in every way I could.

Once, she twisted her ankle in the hills behind the town, and I carried her all the way home, walking until my feet were covered in blisters.

That was the moment Jethro and Melinda completely let their guard down. They believed I genuinely cared about their daughter.

And in a way, I did. Not in the way they thought, but because she was kind.

Out of everyone in that house, in both of my lives, she was the only one who had ever treated me with real kindness.

In my last life, she had been the only reason I hadn’t been completely broken by the abuse. Her mind was simple, her world pure—she had no cruelty in her.

Ten years passed in the blink of an eye.

I turned into an adult now, and Gracie was 20.

I knew my real parents and the cope would find me soon.

And my little brother—he’d be switching back into his own body any day now.

So, on the day of my coming-of-age ceremony, I told Jethro and Melinda, “Please arrange a wedding for me and Gracie.”

It was time for their whole family to pay for what they had done to me in my last life!

Rural weddings were always a big event.

They set up a huge tent at the town entrance, and every household pitched in to help.

I put on a sharp and tailored suit while Gracie wore the white wedding gown her parents had picked out for her.

She was glowing with excitement, holding my hand as she beamed up at me.

“Jorren, you look so handsome!”

But when she noticed how distant I was, her smile faded, and she asked anxiously, “You’re not happy?”

I forced a smile and took out a handkerchief, gently wiping the drool from her chin. “Of course, I’m happy.”

Over the years, she had done nothing but treat me well.

But her family deserved to die.

At the party, every household had its own table, which made my plan even easier.

As I went around making toasts with Gracie, I discreetly slipped a slow-acting poison—hidden under my fingernails—into the wine glasses of Jethro, Tavian, and Faron.

I had learned about this particular poison in chemistry class. It was easy to get in farming communities like ours, where every household kept pesticides and fertilizers.

A small dose wouldn’t kill instantly. First, they’d get sick—diarrhea and vomiting.

Two days later, their organs would start shutting down.

And then, they’d die.

They drank with big, dumb smiles, completely unaware.

Within minutes, they started clutching their stomachs in pain.

The party erupted into chaos.

Everyone thought the food had gone bad and scrambled to call an ambulance.