Reborn Before the Divorce

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In the third month after I married Sebastian, I slit my wrists.

When my soul floated in the air, I thought I would see him weeping bitterly, holding my corpse and kneeling before my grave day and night in repentance.

But none of that happened.

Sebastian looked at my body and said, Disgusting.

He had no regrets, no sadness.

Instead, my death gave his non-blood-related adopted sister Melissa a position---she leapt to become Mrs. Whitmore.

When I opened my eyes again, I was reborn, back to the day of my suicide.

Why should I kill myself? The one who deserved to die was never me.

I dropped the knife and walked out of the room.

Before Sebastian moved Melissa into our marital bedroom, I signed my name on the divorce papers.

When I felt the pain, I realized I had been reborn. The memories before my death kept flashing through my mind.

I had tried to kill myself entirely because half an hour earlier, I had received a message from Melissa.

A photo---her on top, Sebastian below, in an extremely intimate position, and in the car no less, that narrow and quiet space.

I was furious.

I frantically called Sebastian. He didn't answer. When I called several more times in succession, he hung up directly.

Everyone in the capital knew that I loved Sebastian like my life depended on it, that I couldn't live without him.

I even earned the nickname "yandere beauty Charlotte."

At that moment, the thought of Sebastian doing those things with another woman drove me truly insane.

I quickly created a SnapChat group, pulled in all our mutual friends, and declared I was going to kill myself.

Everyone in the group urged me to calm down.

Only Sebastian sent a cold message: "Whatever."

I desperately wanted to extract even a tiny bit of love from Sebastian, so I actually live-streamed slitting my wrists.

In the video, all our friends were shocked.

Sebastian finally reacted. He cursed me under his breath, calling me a psycho, and rushed back.

He finally came back from that other woman's side.

How wonderful.

He could only be mine and mine alone.

But I had cut too deep. I really died.

Floating in the air, I was desperate to see Sebastian awaken to his love for me, to see if he would hold my corpse in agony. But he did nothing and had me cremated.

A month later, he even married Melissa, who seized my position as the rightful Mrs. Whitmore.

This suicide made me understand: loving myself is better than loving a man.

Sebastian, I'm done loving you.

The text message from Melissa was still on my phone. I wasn't polite in my reply.

"Sebastian likes passive, delicate girls. He doesn't like slutty ones like you."

She went silent.

I walked out of the bathroom and threw everything I had prepared for suicide into the trash.

Following Sebastian around for ten years, constantly begging him for that tiny bit of love, only to trap myself for the rest of my life---it really wasn't worth it.

I sent Sebastian a text message.

"The divorce papers only need your signature."

Sebastian came back quickly. His first words were: "Not dead yet? Changed tactics---now you want a divorce?"

Two sarcastic jabs, but he was stating facts.

In my previous life, I was able to marry Sebastian entirely because of a business partnership between our families.

At the time, the Whitmore family was on the verge of bankruptcy, their business set back decades. After I married in, it was essentially using the Sterling family's blood to fill the Whitmore family's bottomless pit.

So whenever I brought up divorce, Sebastian would compromise.

Back then, I thought his compromise was love, the only love he had for me.

Now I understand---it wasn't love, it was profit. Sebastian was compromising for the Whitmore family's development.

I adjusted my emotions and saw Melissa standing behind Sebastian.

Melissa was two years younger than me. The Whitmore family had adopted her from an orphanage years ago.

She had grown up with Sebastian since childhood---childhood sweethearts.

And I was just a willful, selfish, spoiled girl in his eyes.

I handed him the divorce papers. "Sign them."

Sebastian laughed mockingly and casually tore up the divorce agreement, not caring what I thought at all.

"Melissa is moving in. Give her your master bedroom. You don't have a problem with that, do you?"

A problem?

How would I dare have a problem?

In my previous life, it was the same.

Melissa insisted on living in the master bedroom that Sebastian and I shared.

I refused, so she had to sleep in the side room. Then she fell out the window.

She claimed the bed in the side room was next to the floor-to-ceiling window, so she accidentally fell.

It was quite an accident indeed. What normal person sleeps without closing the floor-to-ceiling window?

Sebastian blamed me for that incident.

He said to teach me a lesson and locked me in a dark room without food or water. By the time he remembered me, I was barely alive.

My best friend defended me: "Get divorced, Charlotte. If you keep tormenting yourself like this, that scumbag Sebastian will be the death of you."

But back then, my brain was broken, and I actually argued back.

"Why does he only treat me badly and not others?"

"Why does he only want my life and not others'?"

"He loves me. He loves me to death."

Hearing these words, my friends gradually distanced themselves from me and stopped contacting me.

Thinking back on those words now, I was such a fool.

Since Melissa loved stealing nests so much, I'd give her this bird's nest.

"Fine."

I calmly agreed.

A flash of surprise crossed Melissa's eyes. All the schemes she had prepared were now useless.

She looked me up and down repeatedly, then tugged on Sebastian's arm.

"About that thing..."

Melissa trailed off suggestively.

Sebastian pushed up his gold-framed glasses---the movement refined and elegant. I used to love this gentleman-scoundrel act of his.

Now I realize, even if a dog did this, I would have loved it. Pure sickness.

Sebastian spoke: "Melissa's health isn't good, and she needs to prepare for pregnancy. Take care of her for the next two weeks. I remember you studied nursing, right?"

Yes, I studied nursing. For him.

Back then, Sebastian was constantly drinking at business dinners for the nearly bankrupt Whitmore family, which damaged his stomach. He lay in the hospital for over ten days.

He couldn't afford a nurse, so I taught myself for a few days and took care of him around the clock for two weeks.

I didn't even blink. When he raised his hand, I handed him water. When he turned over, I gave him a massage. I was more diligent than a servant.

I thought he would remember my kindness, but he only remembered me as a free nanny.

I readily agreed again, but I took back what should have been mine.

"Sebastian, give me back the three Sterling family seals I gave you, and I'll agree."

Those three seals were the great heroes that helped the Whitmore company rise from the dead.

Originally, my parents didn't agree to my marriage to Sebastian.

But I insisted on choosing him.

So my parents gave me three seals representing our entire family enterprise.

As long as I held these three seals, many companies would be willing to cooperate with the Whitmore family in the future.

Mom also told me that whenever I took back these three seals, they would come get me even if they were on the other side of the world.

When I gave Sebastian these three seals, I told him they would help his career.

In my previous life, I also brought this up with him.

Instead, he pointed at my nose and cursed.

"Charlotte, what the hell is your Sterling family? What are these three seals? You really think you're something special? Without your Sterling family, the Whitmore family can still rise again."

That's when I learned: you can't warm up an ungrateful wolf.

You can't warm up a heart made of stone either.

What he doesn't want, if I gave it to a dog, at least the dog would wag its tail at me.

Sebastian disdainfully pulled one out from his pocket and gave it to me. "The other two---I'll give you one every two weeks."

I knew what he meant. He wanted me to take good care of Melissa during this half-month period.

After giving them all, I would leave.

By then, my parents would naturally handle the divorce procedures for me.

I withdrew all my admiration for Sebastian. I desperately wanted to see---when he was no longer the Whitmore family's young master, when he was begging with a mountain of debt on his back, would Melissa still love only him?

For the remaining days, Melissa moved in.

Her pregnancy preparations in my previous life had made me so angry I was hospitalized. I even developed anxiety disorder and nearly went insane.

Because the pregnancy Melissa was preparing for was Sebastian's child.

Melissa said she had her own beliefs. Since the Whitmore family adopted her, she had to repay them.

Sebastian had already married me, and I hadn't had children for three years. She couldn't bear to see the Whitmore family line end, so she was willing to sacrifice herself to bear an heir for the Whitmore family.

She proposed IVF with Sebastian.

It sounded nice calling it IVF, but behind the scenes, they had clearly had sex many times.

Melissa sent me those photos and videos one by one. I was so stimulated I vomited blood.

I was disheveled, sallow-faced, and utterly wretched when I found Sebastian at his company.

He was in an international conference at the time. I burst right in, ruining his project, crawling on the floor and hugging his legs, begging him to love me, begging him to have a child with me.

I even said: "I guarantee the child I give birth to will be smarter and more blessed than Melissa's."

My outburst damaged Sebastian's image.

He had someone lock me up. Unable to stand my tantrums, he sent me to a psychiatric hospital. Only after I was tortured into submission did he bring me back.

Even now, thinking about it makes my heart ache.

Why did I debase myself like that?

As for Melissa, she didn't know that the reason Sebastian and I hadn't had children in three years was because my parents had investigated.

The Whitmore family carried genetic disease genes. Any children born would either be disabled or have cerebral palsy.

So, to get back the Sterling family's three seals, I was more nervous about Melissa's belly than a maternity nurse would be.

At eight in the morning, I had the kitchen prepare soup and sent it to Melissa.

Melissa took a sip and threw it on me.

"What garbage is this? Be careful or I'll tell Sebastian."

I endured it.

At noon during her rest, I found professionals to apply body oil to her skin to help keep it refined.

Melissa specifically demanded I do it myself.

"Charlotte, are your precious hands okay with serving me?"

I endured again.

At ten at night, Sebastian came home and entered the bedroom with Melissa.

Sebastian pretended to be troubled.

"Charlotte, this is all for me. You love me so much, you'll understand, right?"

I stood by the door, listening to the sounds of lovemaking inside, when I received a call from my parents.

"Charlotte, your mother and I received the seals."

"Are you planning to come home?"

One more left. Once I took the last one, all the projects under Whitmore Enterprises would come to a complete halt.

Because over these three years, all the projects were stamped with my Sterling family seal. All the partners only recognized the Sterling family.

I stood at the door, peeking through the crack at the two people pressed together inside, and smiled.

"Mom, Dad, remember to pick me up in a week."

During the two weeks of caring for Melissa, I barely slept or ate.

I lost a significant amount of weight. Sebastian's evaluation of me, however, kept getting better.

He often stared at me in a daze, occasionally spitting out a few decent words from his dog mouth.

"Charlotte, if you were always this obedient and didn't make a fuss, how nice that would be."

I pressed my lips together and smiled without speaking.

I won't make a fuss anymore. I just don't know if he'll make a fuss when Whitmore goes bankrupt.

Sebastian placed the last seal in my hand.

Afraid he would regret it, I put the divorce papers on the table again and reminded him.

"Remember to sign tonight when you come back."

Sebastian's eyes filled with more mockery.

"What, now that Melissa's pregnant, you're going to pull that live suicide stunt again?"

"Charlotte, if you die, I'll collect your corpse."

I lowered my head without speaking, knowing he meant what he said.

So I won't be as foolish as in my previous life.

I originally wanted to pack some things to take with me, but realized there was nothing worth packing.

Sebastian left through the front door, and I got in my car through the back.

I turned off my phone, threw away the SIM card. From now on, mountains high and roads far.

Sebastian, I'll be waiting in New York to watch you fall.

I blocked all his messages, but forgot about the SnapChat group I'd created when I threatened suicide.

On my first day away, the first person to tag me in the group was our mutual friend Mason.

He was also the one who called me a simp most viciously, because his family had always cooperated with Sebastian, so whatever Sebastian did, Mason was enthusiastic about covering for him.

Thinking back now, on the day I attempted suicide, he was also the one shouting the loudest in the group.

"Charlotte, just die already. I've never seen a female ghost with such an obsessive love brain. Besides, what do you have that's better than Melissa?"

At this moment, Mason was shouting even louder than that day.

"Charlotte, besides playing suicide, can you also play missing? If you crawl back now to apologize to Sebastian, I can still put in a good word for you and have Sebastian give you the free gift when he buys jewelry for Melissa."

Put in a good word?

Can a dog even speak human language?

I clicked on the video Mason posted. It was from the afternoon of the day I left.

He was accompanying Melissa at the mall buying the most expensive jewelry. The two were lovey-dovey---if you didn't know better, you'd think they were actually husband and wife.

How was I so blind in my previous life?

From the video, Sebastian had reserved the entire mall for her and was buying extremely luxurious and expensive items.

Mason was right.

The jewelry Sebastian used to give me were all free gifts from what he bought for Melissa---worthless, and I had to beg him for them.

But I was a bit puzzled.

Does Sebastian have money to buy jewelry now?

I contacted a friend in the capital and got the complete video.

In the continuation of the video, the two spent a long time selecting items. During this, Sebastian first received a text message.

[Dear Mr. Whitmore, your bank account has been debited xxxxxx. Remaining balance: zero dollars.]

Seeing this message, he thought it was a scam and paid no attention.

"Charge the card."

The clerk took the black card, but returned in less than a minute.

"Mr. Whitmore, I'm very sorry, could you use a different card? This one won't go through."

That simple sentence left Sebastian confused. He then tried many other cards, but none would go through.

Sebastian suddenly remembered the text message and quickly called the company's finance department.

"Lisa, where's the money in my account?"

Finance: "Mr. Whitmore, because we breached our contracts, all the money in the company accounts has been paid out in compensation."

Breach of contract?

All the money paid out in compensation?

Melissa heard these words and let out a shriek.

"Sebastian, it's Charlotte. It must be her."

Sebastian took a sharp breath and immediately called me, but my phone was unreachable.

He left me messages.

"Charlotte, what game are you playing? Where's the company's money?"

"Charlotte, answer me."

Unable to contact me, Sebastian felt helpless because his phone was going crazy receiving text messages.

Half were from the company demanding the seals.

Half were from partners demanding payment.

And another half were astronomical breach-of-contract fees.

I could clearly see Sebastian's fingertips trembling, just like how my heart trembled when I saw him with Melissa.

You see.

A person can live without love, but absolutely cannot live without money.

The video ended there.

I clicked my tongue lightly. It seemed Sebastian's good brothers still didn't know about Sebastian and the company's situation.

I saved the messages he sent me, planning to let this group of people see later who was shamelessly begging whom.

I collected myself.

I was about to meet with partners---companies that had previously cooperated with Sebastian. They intended to withdraw their projects from the capital and come to New York to work with me.

Then I received crazy tags in the SnapChat group again.

It was actually Melissa.

That haughty tone and the attitude of giving charity to a pitiful wretch made me nauseous.

"Charlotte, Sebastian said as long as you come crawling back and appear before him, he'll forgive you."

"A woman can't be too difficult. Men don't have much patience, especially men at the top of the pyramid like Sebastian."