I Was Reborn and Laughed as My In-Laws’ Family Was Destroyed by Their Own Actions

“Maybe being a chef is just his hobby, maybe he’s actually a rich kid!” My sister-in-law chimed in quickly. “Honestly, I’ve suspected it too. He’s a chef, but his cooking isn’t that great. I bet he’s some rich kid experiencing life just like they always show in TV dramas.” A glint of suspicion flashed in my mother-in-law’s eyes, but she still seemed uneasy. She pulled me aside and whispered, “Helena, could you look him up in your company system? Find out what his parents do. Only when we know the truth can we be completely at ease.” Before she could finish, my husband cut her off sharply, “Mom, why are you being so suspicious just like Helena?” “She’s already so incompetent in everything. Then what do you expect her to investigate? What does she know? Are you sure?” “That’s true, Mom, I don’t know.” I quickly stepped forward to interrupt my husband. “Mom, Giselle’s boyfriend is fine. Didn’t Martin say he drives a car worth tens of millions? He can’t be bad.” Seeing Giselle nestle into that man’s embrace, a cold chuckle rose in my heart. In this lifetime, I would like to see whose lives would be sacrificed to bury this ‘happy life’ of my sister-in-law. Probably afraid this hard-won golden groom would slip away, the very next morning, Martin announced Giselle was going to register their marriage with that man. “Helena, as her sister-in-law, you should go too with her.” Reborn into this life, I had far too many things to do, so how could I have time to spend with them? “I can’t go. I have a duty today. Wish Giselle happiness for me.” Martin sighed, looking defeated. “You’re never there when I need you. But since you didn’t cause trouble for Giselle’s wedding yesterday, I’ll forgive you this once.” The moment Martin stepped out the door, I immediately called my parents, urging them to avoid contacting the in-laws or Martin during this period. Then I rushed back to the office to check the newly issued wanted notice. What I saw terrified me. I thought only Felix’s parents were involved in overseas fraud, but he wasn’t just in debt. He was also a serial abuser. He’d driven away two ex-wives and one of them was still listed on his household records. The man was missing. Looking at his address in the mountains, where there was no road access yet, a cold sweat broke out on my back. Marrying into this family wouldn’t just be a matter of being deceived, I might even lose my life. My sister-in-law’s innocent smile as a child and her sinister grin when my parents were burned to death in my previous life, flashed repeatedly in my mind. Just as I was struggling with this dilemma, the urgent ringing of my phone interrupted my thoughts. Seeing it was Giselle calling, I answered immediately. Before I could speak, her sobs cut me off. “Helena, did you do something to sabotage us? Why did they say his parents are criminals when Felix and I went to get our marriage certificate? They dragged him in for questioning for ages! What does that even mean?” “Tell me, are you just jealous of my happiness?” “Helena Wagner! I just praised you this morning and now you’re causing trouble for me! Can we even live like this anymore?” Her resentful tone snapped me back to reality. I checked today’s schedule and saw that the girl assigned to investigate the case was the kindest in our team.

I checked the time. I’d probably asked everything I needed to ask. The man probably wouldn’t confess anything. Maybe if I waited any longer, she’d blurt out the man’s actual situation to my sister-in-law’s family. Remembering the tragic end I suffered in my previous life after getting involved, I quickly said, “I didn’t know anything. I’ll have my colleague come back right away.” After hanging up, I immediately called my colleague. “Jessica, couldn’t you pick a better time to question someone? It’s their wedding! What’s the point of interrogating them like this! Come back right now.” Jessica sounded confused on the other end but still replied, “Got it, Ms. Wagner. I’m coming back right now.” A few minutes later, I saw Giselle’s Instagram story. The accompanying photo showed two hands clasped tightly together and two marriage certificates. Martin and his mother had also posted on their Instagram accounts. The photos showed a large box of cash and another large box of gold. I roughly estimated the total value. The total value was likely over a million. Seems this man really went all out to secure his in-laws’ support. Seeing Martin’s beaming smile in the photo, I forced a smile too. It seemed the final primary task of my rebirth wouldn’t require much mental effort. If things went smoothly, perhaps everything would fall into place soon. That evening, I returned to my parents’ house and had dinner with them. As I was leaving, my mother grabbed my hand, a hint of worry flashing in her eyes. “Helena, did you and Martin have a fight? If something’s wrong, talk to us. Don’t keep it silent inside your heart, okay?” The memory of them being burned alive in my past life flashed through my mind. I held back tears and patted my mother’s hand. “Don’t worry, Mom. Everything’s fine. But you two must listen to me!” Although my parents didn’t say anything more, the worry in their eyes hadn’t faded much. Their expressions made me determined not to wait any longer and to get things sorted out as soon as possible. After reporting to my workplace, I went to a bar and had a few drinks, not returning home until late at night. The moment I walked in, I saw Martin sitting on the sofa with a sour expression. Spotting me, he threw his slipper straight at me and yelled, “Helena Wagner! There’s no wife in the world who acts like you! Not only do you go out and get wasted, but why didn’t you cook dinner for me?” I deliberately didn’t dodge the slipper as it came flying at me. Martin had thrown it with considerable force. My cheek immediately began to bruise. I picked up the slipper and slapped it straight across his face. “Are you crippled, or did you never grow arms? If you’re hungry, can’t you cook for yourself?” Though the blow didn’t hurt much, it was enough to enrage Martin. He stared at me in disbelief, quickly got up, grabbed my throat and pinned me against the sofa. “Helena, how dare you hit me?” “Let me tell you, Giselle’s husband is a rich kid! He just called me ‘brother’ today and gave me a car.” “If you treat me right, you’ll live in luxury. But if you keep this up, life with you is unbearable! I’ve got a brother-in-law like that, so what kind of wife can’t I find?” I looked at Martin’s face with a mocking smile. “That man is lying to you all, like fooling your whole stupid family!” “Martin, go ahead and try it! See which woman would marry a useless loser like you! Can’t make money, can’t do housework, all you know how to do is hit women!” Anger exploded in Martin’s eyes. He slapped me hard across the face, then grabbed the nearby trash can and smashed it against me. “You bitch! How dare you call my family idiots! I want to divorce you!” I said firmly, “Divorce? Martin, do you even have the guts? You’re just all talk!” Martin was furious like a mad dog. “Helena, I’ve had enough of you! Divorce, right now!” I replied, “Fine! Whoever doesn’t divorce is a coward!” Five hours later, Martin and I emerged from the Office of Vital Records. Staring at the divorce acceptance notice in my hand, I turned away and forced a smile. With this final primary task completed after my rebirth, I felt much more at ease. After I finally got the divorce certificate, I was free from that family’s tens of millions in debt and the walking disaster Giselle had brought into our lives. To avoid any entanglement with Martin during the divorce cooling-off period, I went straight from the service office to my parents’ house.

Three days later, my social media feed was flooded with posts from my mother-in-law’s entire family. Giselle and that man had held their wedding ceremony. Honestly, it was almost the most extravagant wedding banquet I’d ever seen. But when I saw Martin’s social media post, I couldn’t help but laugh out loud. The man had hired actors to pretend to be his parents. My mother-in-law couldn’t stop smiling at her “elegant” in-laws. Just as I was engrossed in the scene, Martin called me. His voice boasted arrogantly on the other end. “Helena, you can still back out now. Let me tell you, Giselle has really snagged a rich husband for our Galgani Family this time! My brother-in-law just said he’d introduce me to a beautiful college student as a girlfriend.” I replied to him, “Martin, you should take a good look at yourself. The cleaning lady at my office mistook you for the new security guard the other day! Forget college students, even the cleaning lady wouldn’t give you the time of day!” Martin’s composure shattered instantly on the other end. “Helena! You—” “Get lost! Stop trying to disgust me every chance you get!” Before Martin could finish, I hung up. This time, his rage would probably last until we got the divorce papers. My mother, who was cooking in the kitchen, came out after hearing the noise. Her gaze toward me held a hint of worry. “Helena, did you and Martin have a fight?” “Mom, Martin and I are divorced .” I expected my mom to tear up again, but instead, she sighed with relief and smiled. “Helena, I was so worried you were being mistreated. It’s so good that you’re willing to get a divorce. Martin has become more and more unreliable over the years. A grown man like him still relies on you to support the family. It’s good that you’re divorced.” Watching her back as she cooked, I fell deep in thought. In my past life, my mother had also hinted at problems in my marriage to Martin. She believed a man unwilling to take responsibility must have a problem. But Martin was my first love. I clung to the memory of our early happiness, refusing to let go. That stubbornness led to disaster. But this time, it won’t happen again. Martin never contacted me again, but his social media feed updated incessantly with the captions: [I bought a ten-thousand-dollars belt.] [Parked his sports car outside the university to pick up girls.] [Went to the movies with girls.] [Stayed in three thousand dollar a night hotels.] On the day I went to the Office of Vital Records to get my divorce certificate, I saw my mother-in-law’s entire family dressed to the nines. She wore a gold lock bigger than a bicycle lock and looked at me with utter contempt. “Divorce my son Martin? You’re just a poor girl with no luck in life. Mark my words, you’ll regret this decision later!” Martin deliberately locked the sports car in front of me, then shot me a few mocking laughs. “Helena, I used to think I acted impulsively back then. Now I wish I’d divorced you sooner! Let me tell you, girls are throwing themselves at me in droves!” I stared blankly at the car behind him. That car looked so much like the one I reported stolen to the police station a few days ago. “What are you staring at? Regretting divorcing me? Let me tell you that...” “Cut the crap, Martin. Hurry up and get it done!” I cut him off and walked toward the lobby. If my feelings were right, something bad was about to happen. I had to get this divorce over with before it did. Thank God, the usually packed divorce window was nearly empty today. Just as the clerk was about to stamp the documents, Martin’s phone rang urgently. He glanced at the caller ID and smiled at his mother. “Mom, it’s Giselle. Probably celebrating my divorce today!” I frantically signalled the clerk to hurry up. In the blink of an eye, Martin had answered the call. But before he could speak, a deafening wail erupted from the other end. “Martin, hurry and send my sister-in-law to save me! Something’s wrong!” “That bastard is a fraud! Quickly! Get my sister-in-law to bring her people right now.” Amidst the wailing, Martin and I rushed toward the window. “Stamp it now!” “Don’t stamp it! I refuse to divorce my wife!” Martin and I shouted in unison. My anxious gaze darted toward the staff member, landing on the steel seal, uncertain whether it had been stamped or not.