Chapter 5

In my previous life, they pushed all responsibility onto me, portraying themselves as victims.

But before I died in my previous life, at least I knew it was an act.

In this life, I didn't know anymore.

If they truly didn't know the truth, if the explosion truly was an accident, then their anger now was real.

And I was the culprit who killed two people and destroyed a three-hundred-thousand-dollar luxury car.

"Stop hitting her!" An officer pulled my parents away. "The investigation isn't complete. You can't take matters into your own hands."

"What's left to investigate? She did it!" Mom wailed dramatically. "What sins did the Reynolds family commit to give birth to such a curse!"

I was brought back to the village and locked in the main hall.

Night fell. I curled up in the corner, my mind in turmoil.

Those memories from my previous life, those memories of my parents conspiring—were they real or fake?

If they were innocent, then what did my twenty years in the previous life even mean?

I felt confused. Had I really had a mental breakdown? Were all those memories from my previous life just hallucinations?

At midnight, I secretly slipped out through the window, wanting to check the pond again to see if I could find any clues.

I didn't expect to see my parents and brother at the pond.

Their voices were very low, but I still caught fragments.

"What do we do? The plan changed? Did she really sink the scooter?"

"If she really sank it, then whose was the one that exploded?"

"Forget it. It already exploded anyway. Let's proceed with the original plan..."

"What about those two lives? They really seem dead, but they're not the two people we arranged..."

"Who did it?"

"Don't know, but it works out. Saves us money on hiring actors."

My whole body went cold, as if plunged into ice.

They did have a plan.

The explosion, deaths, and debts in my previous life—they orchestrated all of it. It was all real.

But in this life, the explosion and deaths became real, beyond their expectations.

Yet they still wanted to proceed with the original plan, still wanted me to take the fall, to be their scapegoat!

"What about the scooter in the pond?" That was Brandon's voice. "Why is it gone?"

"Don't know. Is it possible she misremembered and never sank it at all?"

"Impossible. I checked the pond this morning. There was a hole in the ice—clear signs of something sinking."

"Then what happened? Did the scooter grow legs and walk away?"

"Who cares? Now there's no proof either way. Whatever she says, no one will believe her. We'll just insist it was her scooter and make her pay compensation."

"But those are two human lives. Will we really let her go to prison?"

"What prison? Just pay compensation. We'll pretend to help her bear the burden first, make her grateful, then send her out to work and earn money. Same as the plan—make her our cash cow!"

I knew it. What I heard before dying in my previous life wasn't a hallucination!

This was indeed their plan!

But if all this was real, then where did the electric scooter I sank to the bottom of the pond go?

Mom and Dad didn't know. Brandon didn't know either.

They just wanted to use the same trick again, to continue bleeding me dry.

Even if they couldn't bleed me, they just wanted to pin the blame on me.

But only by finding the electric scooter could I clear my name!

Just then, I suddenly remembered.

When I first bought the electric scooter, because I didn't have enough money, I chose an installment plan.

The seller installed a tracking device in an inconspicuous spot on the scooter.