Chapter 2
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The Austin family received word from the matchmaker, and although reluctant, they grudgingly agreed.
That evening, gifts arrived at my home. Alayna paraded around the village wearing her expensive watch, head held high with pride.
Gavin and Natalia counted the $1,200 over and over again.
Yet their gift to me was merely a piece of old fabric.
I stayed up all night using the sewing machine the Webber family sent to quickly make a shirt and a dress.
Alayna mocked me from the side: “Is this for you? You’re about to get married and won’t be part of our family anymore. If you break this sewing machine, what will my mom use to make new
clothes for me?”
I cut the last thread and silently returned to my room. Seeing her blank test papers spread out, a cold smile appeared on my lips.
I thought, “Alayna, you have no idea how much effort it takes to study in the city.”
In my previous life, because of the village’s poor education, there were no teachers who understood the SAT.
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Chapter 2
Gavin and Natalia wanted me to come home and farm, but I refused to accept that fate. I persistently sought help from visiting teachers in the village.
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After the teachers returned to the city, no one could teach me anymore. I relied on a pair of worn–out shoes to walk four miles to town to borrow study materials.
During my free time, I sat under trees, buried in books.
I either worked or studied, which is how I got accepted into the city’s top university.
Gavin and Natalia loved to brag, never mentioning my hard work, only claiming I got into university after barely glancing at the textbooks.
Alayna actually believed them, thinking she was a genius who could easily get into college with minimal effort.
She clutched my workbooks thinking they were some kind of cheat code, not realizing that without determination to endure hardship, no one could escape this dream–devouring family.
Soon, the day of my wedding to Austin arrived.
Austin’s parents booked a restaurant in the city. My parents had never been to the city before, and Alayna looked at their timid demeanor with disgust.
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11 min…
She said, “This is just a small restaurant. I’ve seen much more luxurious places.”
Indeed, compared to the lavish lifestyle she had lived in her previous life through bribery, this was nothing.
Though modest, the wedding was properly arranged.
Ella held my hand apologetically and said, “Sienna, we originally wanted to make it more elaborate, but we gathered the wedding gifts in a hurry and couldn’t afford more. Please understand.”
I smiled and said it was fine, but Alayna looked dissatisfied. “People would throw money at you with just a casual request. Who are you trying to fool by pretending to be poor?”
As Ella was about to retort, a commotion erupted outside the private room.
Someone shouted, “Austin, don’t be stubborn! The bride’s family is all here. You can’t just call off the wedding. Where will your father put his face?”
Austin wanted to back out of the marriage?
Ella’s expression changed dramatically as she went to check the situation.
I didn’t remember much about Austin, but he was a man of
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integrity.
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In my previous life, even when he was transferred to Adak with its harsh environment, and Alayna refused to go with him, he never complained.
Later, when Alayna got into trouble for embezzling money using Dylan’s name, Austin, out of gratitude and consideration for their marriage, gave her a settlement during their divorce.
He had always valued relationships and loyalty; he would never call off a wedding like this.
I stared at the door of the private room as it kept opening and closing, with Austin’s friends rushing out one by one to persuade him.
Through the gap in the door, I vaguely saw his face, more rugged and determined than when he was young.
Austin said, “No matter what, I cannot marry this harbinger of disaster! I can repay the debt of gratitude, but this bride–I absolutely cannot marry her today!”
He actually called me a “harbinger of disaster“?
My heart ached sharply as a cold feeling spread through me.
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