"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."

At that moment, Mom, who hadn't said a word until then, stepped forward and played the peacemaker.

"That's right. How could you say things like that? You both accepted his gifts. You know what? Let's just drop it."

I pushed her aside. "I don't understand what you're all talking about. What's wrong with dating someone and receiving gifts? You're all insane."

"That boyfriend of yours is not a good man. He has a wife and a kid, and you still shamelessly cling to him. What's the matter with you?"

"What nonsense are you talking about? How could my boyfriend have a wife and a kid? We've known each other for five years now!" I argued.

Thankfully, I had prepared for this long ago. I pulled out Charlie's certified civil record. Under marital status, it showed he was unmarried.

"I really don't know where you heard those rumors about him having a wife and a kid. At the very least, you should have some evidence."

Dad took the document and looked at it with David. There, they both saw that Charlie wasn't married.

"Forget it. I didn't expect this young lady to be so crafty. The document is obviously fake. I've seen plenty of fake ones selling online.

What bad luck for the family. We're the ones who'll get humiliated in the end. At this point, I might as well sever ties with her."

Dad had been half convinced, but after he heard Mom's inner thoughts, doubt crept back in.

"Are you messing with me? It's fake, isn't it? Does your boyfriend not have parents? Where’s his parents’ information?"

As he spoke, Dad tore the certified civil record into shreds.

I laughed out of sheer anger. "Are you insane? Why did you tear up someone else's certified civil record?

"You won't believe me, right? Fine. I'll call the police. Surely you'll believe them."

I was about to pull out my phone when David snatched it away and slammed it to the ground, smashing it to pieces.

"You troublemaker! Get on your knees!" Dad grabbed a stick nearby and brought it down hard on my knee, and the pain sent me crashing to the floor. "I'm going to break your legs!" he shouted.

As I was pinned to the ground in utter humiliation, Mom stood a short distance away, grinning in satisfaction. Just then, a voice came from the doorway. "Selena, are you okay?"

Charlie rushed in, shoved Dad aside, and pulled me into his arms.

Fortunately, I had prepared in advance and asked him to wait downstairs. If I didn't go down within half an hour, he was to come up and look for me.

He made it just in time, so my legs were spared.

"Perfect timing! The adulterer finally shows up. How dare you trick Selena? I'll end you!" David rolled up his sleeves and charged forward, only to freeze when he saw Charlie's face.

"M-Mr. Dawn? How could it be you?"