After being reborn, the first thing I do is bind myself to a transfer system and agree to my mother's proposal that the whole family splits expenses equally.
It is because in my previous life, after I refuse the transfer system, my mother throws a bill at me and demands repayment. The bill lists every expense from my childhood to adulthood. There are small things like the cost of an eraser or a pencil, as well as big ones like tuition and living costs.
"The total cost of raising you is one million dollars. On top of that, the money your brother needs for his wedding, car, and house are all family matters. So, we will split them equally. Taking all those into account, you need to repay us three million dollars in total."
So right after graduating, I fall into a massive debt of three million dollars. I do not finish paying it off until I am 38.
Just when I try to break away from my family and look for my own happiness, my parents start a livestream and curse me for being a terrible daughter. They claim that I abandon them in our hometown while running off to a big city to chase my own freedom.
As a result, I face overwhelming criticism online. I fall into depression for two years, and on my 40th birthday, I accidentally fall from a building after getting drunk.
When I open my eyes again, I am back to the moment when the transfer system first appears.
This time, I say firmly, "Bind me to the system."
A slap landed on my face with a sharp crack.
I could hear my grandmother, Suzanne Tucker, screaming angrily at me.
"We've raised you for all these years—even a dog would've learned some loyalty. So, why is it so hard for you to pitch in? If you refuse, I'll kill myself! After all these years, I never thought we'd raise an ungrateful wretch like you!"
My father, Cameron Livingston, looked at me reproachfully while patting Grandma's back.
"Your mother proposed splitting everything equally to strengthen our family bond. This way, everyone can participate in family matters, big or small. But all you care about is money. Why do you have to be so selfish?"
The moment those all-too-familiar words reached my ears, I realized I'd been reborn.
A voice echoed in my mind, "Would the host like to bind the transfer system? Once bound, all of your family's assets will be transferred to you."
This time, I decisively chose to bind the transfer system.
Then, I looked at Grandma and Dad and said, "I'm on board with everyone splitting every expense equally."
Grandma immediately broke into a smile. "That's my good granddaughter."
Mom reached out her hand to me. "Where's the money? Hand it over now."
I sneered inwardly. They were indeed after my startup fund.
Before graduating from college, I teamed up with a few classmates on a project and earned several hundred thousand dollars, which was intended as our startup fund.
In my previous life, instead of giving them the startup fund, I agreed to owe them the money.
Unexpectedly, the debt snowballed until it eventually exceeded ten million dollars. That was why I kept paying it right up until I was 38 years old.
To make them drop their guard, I called up my classmates and asked them to lend me the startup fund first.
After receiving the money, I transferred it all to Mom.
Only then did Mom nod in satisfaction. "That's more like it. If there's anything you want to buy later on, just let us know. As long as more than half the family agrees, we'll cover it through the equal-split system."
"Got it, Mom," I answered docilely.
Having lived through this once before, there was no way I was going to be fooled by Mom's words this time around.
In my previous life, Mom had said the exact same thing. But one time, I worked overtime until the early morning hours and nearly dropped dead from exhaustion.
After the security guard took me to the hospital, I asked Mom if we could use the equal-split system to pay the bill.
She took one look at the medical bill and shrieked, "What kind of medicine costs this much? Just take some vitamins! You're at the age where you're supposed to be toughening up, so why are you staying in a premium hospital room?
"If you ask me, you're just being vain and pampered! Anyway, request denied. Consider this a lesson. If you dare waste money like this again, you'll be fined."
I called Dad. When he picked up, I heard Chad Livingston's voice on the other end of the line.
"Dad, I'm so bored in the hospital. I want my game console. Hurry up and bring it to me!"
I hung up and opened Chad's Instagram, where I saw a photo he had posted two days earlier of a minor knee scrape.
The caption read, "It hurts a ton, but at least I'm staying in a premium hospital room this time."
Only then did I find out that while they thought I, who nearly died from overwork, was spending too much on medical bills, they had let Chad, with just a minor scrape, stay in a premium hospital room for several days.
After returning to my room, I tried using the system to transfer some of Dad's private savings.
Instantly, tens of thousands of dollars appeared in my account.
I had the system turn off transfer notifications so that Dad wouldn't receive any text messages.
Besides, this was money Dad had been hiding from Mom. Thus, even if some of it went missing, he wouldn't dare say a word about it.
After receiving the money from me, the whole family eagerly went apartment hunting the next day.
They had their sights set on a three-bedroom apartment.
Mom pointed to each room and said, "This room is big, so it'll be the master bedroom for your father and me. This room has great light, so it'll be for Chad and his future wife. This room will be for your grandmother. It's a bit small, but the layout is nice."
I followed behind, sneering inwardly. Just like in my previous life, they never once thought of leaving a room for me in the new apartment.
When I confronted them then, Mom simply replied indifferently, "You'll eventually get married and leave this family, so keeping a room for you will be a waste."
Now, I wouldn't humiliate myself by asking again.
Once they were done looking at the apartment, they went to buy a car. This, too, was paid entirely in cash.
By the end of the day, they had spent 3.2 million dollars.
"3.2 million dollars split evenly comes out to 640 thousand dollars per person," Mom said with a pained expression. "Mabel, you still owe us 300 thousand dollars."
Perhaps because they'd settled on the house and car, Mom was in a good mood and didn't press me for the money.
On the way home, I casually suggested, "I've noticed that when people buy a new home, they throw a party to show off to relatives and friends. Since splitting it won't cost much for our family, why don't we host one too?"
My dad, who loved bragging, immediately agreed. "Great idea!"
Chad, thinking of the chance to show off in front of his classmates, also agreed.
Mom seized the opportunity to say, "We need to look good for the party, right? Let's all go in together on those earrings and necklace I've had my eye on. If I look good, it'll make all of you look good too."
Mom had wanted those pieces of jewelry for a long time, but Dad always thought they were too expensive and wouldn't let her buy them. However, since each person's share would only be ten thousand dollars, he agreed.
Grandma's eyes darted around, and she agreed too.
After Mom's jewelry was added to the equal-split list, Grandma also asked for gold bangles and a gold ring, both of which received the whole family's approval.
The craziest part was when Chad said he wanted a new phone and a new laptop so he wouldn't look like a joke in front of his friends when college started, and the three of them actually agreed.
When it was my turn, I said, "I want to buy some clothes to wear for wo—"
But before I could finish, Chad objected loudly, "You're so old, so what's the point of dressing nicely? You might as well buy some nice clothes for my girlfriend, Gale Kramer, with that money!"
Dad also disapproved. "Don't waste money on useless things. Plus, the family's finances are already tight. Can't you be more sensible?"
Grandma snorted coldly. "A woman shouldn't be so vain."
"The request is denied," Mom delivered the final verdict. "Next time you dare to make such a request again, you'll be fined."
Even though I'd long since given up on them, seeing how blatantly two-faced they were still made me scoff.
There were actually the family members I'd trusted in my previous life.
Back then, when the transfer system first appeared, it said it could transfer everything from the family to me.
I firmly refused and asked with a frown of confusion, "Why would I do that? They're my family."
The transfer system simply disappeared without ever replying.
It was only after I died that I realized that my family had always treated me as an outsider.
While my family was preparing for the banquet, I received a call from my classmate, Denise Trevino.
She sounded really urgent, saying there was a family urgency. Thus, she needed a few tens of thousands of dollars to cover it and asked me to return the portion of the startup fund she'd contributed.
The startup fund was money we'd all contributed, so I immediately transferred it to her using the private savings I'd taken from Dad a few days earlier.
To my surprise, Denise called me again two days later.
There was a commotion in the background, and I could faintly hear several familiar voices.
The next moment, Denise said, "Mabel, your parents are here at my company."
As soon as she finished speaking, Mom's screeching voice came through the phone.
"You cow, who are you calling? How dare you borrow money from Mabel? Give it back right now! Since you borrowed it for two days, you need to pay interest! Otherwise, don't blame me for making your life difficult!"
I hung up the phone.
When I got to Denise's company, my parents and Grandma were pulling at her clothes, demanding an explanation.
Looking at me as if I were a savior, Denise said in a voice choked with tears, "Mabel, hurry up and talk some sense into your parents! I told them it's true that I borrowed money from you, but that money was originally mine."
"How dare you still lie?" Grandma said, moving forward again to grab Denise's hair.
I stopped Grandma and turned to my parents.
"How did you find out I transferred money to her?" I asked in confusion.
Chad, standing nearby, replied smugly, "It was all thanks to me. How else would I know if I hadn't installed a hidden camera in your room?"
When I heard that, my mind went blank, and my whole body began to tremble. I swept my gaze over my parents, and they lowered their heads guiltily.
Even in my previous life, I never imagined Chad would install a hidden camera in my room, and that the whole family knew about it!
Only Grandma scolded me matter-of-factly, "You little brat! You still owe us money, yet you dare hide your own savings to lend to your friends? Don't tell me you think they're more important than us?"
After she said that, Mom and Dad puffed up with confidence as well.
"That's right. You still owe us 300 thousand dollars! Either your friend pays back the money, or you give the 300 thousand dollars today. Otherwise, we'll continue to harass you.
"I haven't even bought the jewelry I need for the party, and you're telling me you have no money? Yet, you still lend money to outsiders? Oh, how did I end up with such a disloyal daughter?"
Even though I explained that the money was originally Denise's and that her family was in trouble, they refused to believe me.
Mom glanced at Denise contemptuously. "Someone in your family died, yet you still came to work? Why aren't you at their funeral service? The way I see it, you're just a liar. Next thing you'll do is trick Mabel out of her money, delete your contacts, and run far away."
Denise was so furious at Mom's words that she shook all over. "Mrs. Livingston, if you speak like that again, I'll call the police."
"Even if you call them, we're still in the right," Mom retorted confidently.
They were locked in a fierce dispute.
Nearby, some nosy bystander had already taken out their phone to record everything.
To keep Denise from being further inconvenienced at work, I had no choice but to say to my parents, "Alright, alright, I'll give you the 300 thousand dollars! Just stop this!"
Hearing this, my parents stopped what they were doing and eyed me suspiciously.
I used the transfer system to move Dad's private savings and then transferred the money to them.
"See this? Here's 80 thousand dollars. I'll give you the remaining 220 thousand dollars when we get home. Are you satisfied now?"
My parents nodded in satisfaction. "That's more like it."
