In my previous life, everyone in my family could hear my mother's inner thoughts.

I managed to land a new job. The pay was high, and the benefits were great. Instead of being happy for me, she was deeply anxious.

She thought, "With her education and her abilities, how could she possibly get a job like that? She must've slept her way to it."

After my father heard that, he refused to let me go to work. He stormed into my workplace, made a huge scene, and got me fired.

I was furious and decided to move out for a while and stay at my boyfriend's place. On the surface, my mother supported my decision. Deep down, however, she was desperately trying to stop me.

She thought, "What should I do? That boyfriend of hers has been married for years. He even has a child. She's someone's mistress.

"If she really moves in, that man's wife will surely have a go at her. She'll embarrass the rest of us!"

To keep me from leaving, my younger brother broke both my legs with a stick. Then, they locked me inside the house and leave me to suffer on my own.

My wounds festered and became infected.

I begged them to take me to the hospital, but my mother sighed inwardly, thinking, "She's so rebellious. No matter what anyone says, she insists on leaving this family.

"In truth, there's nothing wrong with her legs at all. Once she gets to the hospital, she'll definitely escape."

After that, everyone ignored my pleas and left me to die in agony. Even at the very end, I never knew who was to blame for my death.

When I open my eyes again now, I realize that I, too, can hear my mother's inner thoughts.

"Congratulations! You can come in tomorrow to complete your onboarding."

The HR representative was still chattering away on the other end of the phone when I, Selena White, checked the time in disbelief. It was only then that it sank in. I had actually been reborn.

"That's amazing! This foreign company is notoriously hard to get into. You owe me dinner tonight. We have to celebrate!" my best friend, Karen Lane, said happily, looping her arm through mine.

She was right. The company was well-known internationally and offered excellent benefits. I had gone through five rounds of interviews and prepared endlessly before finally getting the offer. Yet, I couldn't feel happy at all.

In my previous life, the moment I told my family the news, their expressions changed before I could even tell them how happy I was. They accused me of being greedy and said I had no shame, refusing to let me take the job.

Faced with an opportunity I had fought so hard for, I decided to slip out anyway. I never expected my younger brother, David White, to go to the office, cause a scene, and drag me back home. I ended up getting fired because of that.

Now that the chance had returned to me, there was no way I was letting it slip through my fingers again. With that in mind, I spoke up at once.

"I've got something to take care of today, so I need to head back first. About my new job, don't let it slip to anyone, especially my family. I want to surprise them."

Seeing how serious I was, Karen understood immediately and agreed without hesitation.

After we parted, I went straight home.

The moment I stepped inside, David walked over and asked, "So? Did you find a new job? How long have you been unemployed now? You can't just live off Mom and Dad forever."

I let out a cold laugh. "I've only been unemployed for two weeks, and you're already calling me a freeloader?

"You spent two whole years after graduating from college sitting at home playing games and living off Mom and Dad's retirement pensions. So tell me, who's the freeloader?"

After graduating, David couldn't find a job. He spent two years at home playing video games and only started working at a game company last year.

He was left speechless by my words. Just then, Mom walked over.

"Mom! Did you hear what she said to me? Why does she have to talk like that?" David complained.

Mom had always prided herself on being fair, never favoring one child over the other. Just as I assumed this time would be no different, I heard a voice I knew all too well.

"She got fired and still can't land another job. At this point, she might as well get married and be done with it."

I looked toward the source of the voice. Mom's lips were tightly pressed together. She hadn't said a word.

"I only get eight thousand dollars a month from my pension, and that's not enough for David. Selena must have savings. I need to make her hand it over."

My heart skipped a beat. I was certain now. That voice belonged to Mom, and it was her inner thoughts.

Questions flooded my mind. Why could I hear her thoughts? And since when was her retirement pension eight thousand dollars a month? Wasn't it supposed to be four thousand?

She had always cried to me about being broke, saying all her pension money was spent on David and that she couldn't even afford groceries. Feeling sorry for her, I had transferred several thousand dollars to her every month.

Now, it was clear. She had been lying to me all along.

"What's the matter? Selena is just taking a short break. Apologize to her now," Mom said to David.

David seemed to have heard Mom's thoughts as well. He lowered his head and said, "Sorry, Selena. I was just worried about you. What if you really can't find a job?"

Mom then turned to comfort me. "Don't listen to David. Even if you can't find work, we'll take care of you. I'm heading to the supermarket now.

"The vegetables are discounted at this hour. I have to snatch with a bunch of old people, but at least things are cheaper."

Suppose I heard that in my previous life, I would've immediately transferred some money to her and told her not to go. But now, I wanted to push a little and see what would happen.

With that in mind, I simply nodded and said, "Then, hurry up, Mom. Otherwise, the good stuff will all be gone."

"What's wrong with her today? It's so hot outside. Why would she ask me to go out?"

Mom's thoughts rang out again, but I pretended not to hear anything and went back to my room.

At that point, I was sure. In my previous life, Mom had used her inner thoughts to lie about me, causing me to lose my job and eventually my life.

But this time, I could hear her thoughts, too.

At dinner that night, she asked again whether I had any new job leads. I nodded. "I just got an email. I can start work tomorrow."

"That fast? You said this afternoon you hadn't found a job yet."

"I was going to announce it, but I got interrupted by David."

Dad nodded, clearly pleased. "That's good. Work hard at the new company. Get along well with your colleagues and superiors. Don't get fired again."

At my previous job, a business partner had tried to take advantage of me during a work event. I cursed him out on the spot. The company demanded I apologize. I refused, and I was fired because of it.

When I told my parents, they were only worried about what I would do after losing my job. They didn't say much else.

"What's going on? Selena doesn't have much education or ability. There's no way she could find a job this quickly.

"She must've done something shameful to land her new job. After all, she was fired from her last company for messing around with men."

Mom's inner voice sounded again. Sure enough, both Dad's and David's expressions changed instantly.

"What kind of company is it?" David asked. "Jobs are really hard to find these days. You got one so fast. Are you sure you're not being scammed?"

I clicked my tongue in annoyance. "When I didn't have a job, you said I was freeloading. Now that I've found one, you're saying I got scammed. Do you have nothing better to say?"

"Well, I also find it fishy. You should think it over and find another one," Dad said.

I understood him perfectly. When he told me to think it over, he really meant he didn't want me to go.

Luckily, I was prepared. I pulled out the documents I had readied in advance. "This is the information about the new company. Take a look at it yourselves.

"They work with several national-level projects. Opportunities like this don't come around twice."

"Dad, don't you always brag about Mr. Green's kid working at a state-owned company? Mine sounds even better than that," I added.

Dad studied the documents carefully, his frown slowly disappearing. What he cared about most was his pride. With me working for a good company, he would have something to show off to his friends.

"Not bad. Do your best, then," he said. He then shot Mom a sharp look. She lowered her head and said nothing.

I pretended not to notice and forced a laugh. "Of course. I definitely won't get fired this time."

No matter what I did, money came first. Now that my job was secured, everything else became manageable.

The next morning, afraid something might go wrong, I got up at dawn. After getting dressed, I left the house immediately and waited outside the office. It was only after completing all the onboarding procedures that I finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Over the next few days, I claimed work was keeping me busy and stayed away from home, all while finding a new place to move into. This time, I didn't tell anyone at home, moving my things bit by bit each day.

During this period, my boyfriend, Charlie Dawn, helped me out. In my previous life, after my legs were broken and I was locked at home, he couldn't reach me no matter how hard he tried. He asked around and even went to the police to try to find me.

Unfortunately, I died before anyone could find me. I didn't tell him about my previous life. I only said I had fallen out with my family and needed his help.

After I had moved most of my things, I finally informed my parents. This time, I made sure not to bring up Charlie. I only said that the house was too far from my office and commuting was inconvenient, so I rented a place nearby.

Mom thought, "Ha! She left it out, but I already know she's moving out to live with her boyfriend. What a promiscuous woman! That boyfriend of hers has a wife and a child.

"I can't believe she's sunk so low as to become someone's mistress. What a disgrace she is to the family. If the wife comes knocking, we'll all be criticized and ridiculed."

Dad and David stared at me intensely.

"Having a daughter who's a mistress, I might as well kill myself. How am I ever supposed to hold my head up again?"

Mom kept spreading lies with her thoughts, crying and lamenting to herself. It made me want to scream at her and tell her to shut up.

I truly couldn't understand why she was so obsessed with slandering me. I even began to wonder whether I was really her biological daughter.

Upon hearing Mom's thoughts, Dad saw red and slapped me across the face. "Shameless! Are you moving out to fool around with some random man?"

I clutched my cheek, staring at him in disbelief. "What random man? Dad, what are you talking about?

"Don't you know what kind of person I am? I barely even have any male contacts. Who could I possibly be fooling around with?"

With that, I shoved my phone in front of him. "Check it yourself."

"She must've deleted all the chat history already. Her phone is clean, but the answer is hanging right around her neck.

"That diamond is huge! I've only ever seen something like that on TV. She couldn't have bought it herself. It must be a gift from some man." Mom kept using her thoughts to fan the flames.

Dad yanked the necklace off my neck and demanded, "Did you buy this yourself? Do you have no shame at all? Is this what I raised you to be?"

"My boyfriend gave it to me! Since when does accepting a gift make me shameless?" I retorted.

"Boyfriend? Well, you admitted it yourself. Don't blame us for calling you out!" David said eagerly, quick to pin the charge on me.

I put on an innocent look. "What are you talking about? You've always known I'm dating someone.

"Dad, he even asked me to give you a fishing rod. And you, David, he was the one who gave you the game console you wanted. Surely you haven't forgotten."