Mark ran a clothing business and often traveled south to source goods, so he was rarely home on weekdays.

He got married mainly to find someone to take care of his mother and younger sister. He didn’t really care who he married.

So when he lifted the veil and saw it was me, he didn’t react much.

That night, he came into the room reeking of alcohol. I clenched my hands, about to speak, when I saw him pull ‌a large bag from the cabinet.

“I’m leaving tonight for the South,” Mark said as he packed. Then he took out five one-hundred-dollar bills and handed them to me. “This is for the next month. Take care of my mom and sister.”

I stared at the money, eyes wide.

Back home, the living expenses for my whole family of six didn’t even reach twenty dollars a month.

Seeing my reaction, Mark let out a short laugh and started walking out.

I snapped out of it and called, “Mark.”

He turned back, frowning. “Not enough?”

Maybe it was because of his past running with rough crowds. Though he was good-looking, there was a sharp, intimidating edge to him, like he had a bad temper.

I stood up, searched through my bag, and took out a tube of ointment. “It’s rainy season in the South. You might get eczema. Take this and use it if you need to.”

He paused, a little surprised. After taking the ointment, he looked at me for a long moment, his expression unreadable. “Anything else?”

I nodded, then shook my head, gathering my courage. “Can I use some of the money to buy books?”

Having lived another life, I knew I couldn’t rely on any man.

Back in school, my grades had been excellent. If my mother hadn’t forced me to drop out for my brother’s sake, I would’ve taken the college entrance exams.

Maybe that was why, in my previous life, I had been so drawn to Jackson. He was a college graduate.

However, it turned out he was a fraud. His grades were terrible, and he had taken someone else’s place to get into college.

Just thinking about what I went through after marrying him in my last life made my skin crawl.

Mark, on the other hand, seemed to misunderstand my reaction. His tone softened slightly. “Of course.”

With his permission, the next day I cleaned the house, made breakfast, and then went to the county town.

At the bookstore, I bought a full set of high school textbooks.

The owner, in a good mood, gave me a copy of “Don Quixote”, saying it had just arrived in the country and was hard to find.

I forced a smile, thinking to myself that it probably wasn’t rare at all. Most likely, he had only ordered one copy and couldn’t sell it.

When I got home, I saw my mother-in-law, Donna, drinking water in the living room.

“Mom,” I called out.

She immediately blushed, looking awkward, like she didn’t know what to do with her hands.

She nodded at me and was about to go back to her room with her cup. However, as she passed by me, she suddenly stopped.

Her eyes fixed on the book in my arms, filled with interest.

I followed her gaze, then took out “Don Quixote” and handed it to her. “Do you like this book? You can have it.”

I just wanted to get closer to Mark’s family. But the moment I said that, Donna’s eyes turned red.

The next second, she covered her mouth and started crying.

I panicked a little, not knowing what to say, when a sharp voice came from behind me.

“What did you do to my mom?”

I turned around.

A girl with greasy hair and ill-fitting clothes stood at the doorway.

This must be Mark’s sister, Madeline.

Madeline strode over, pulling Donna behind her protectively, glaring at me. “You b*tch, did you bully my mom? If you lay a finger on her, I’ll have my brother throw you into the woods to feed the wolves!”

Before I could explain, Donna suddenly spoke.

“It has nothing to do with her. I’m just emotional.”

Both Madeline and I froze, eyes wide.

“Mom, you can talk?”

Half an hour later, I finally learned the truth.

Mark’s mother could speak all along.

She had been pretending to be mute because she didn’t want to deal with people.

According to her, she didn’t like social interactions, only reading.

However, after Mark’s father went to prison, her children couldn’t understand her.

The villagers mocked her family, so she became more and more unwilling to go out and eventually stopped speaking altogether.

And because she stayed home, she hadn’t read any new books in a long time.

Hearing this, I was shocked.

In my previous life, my sister had complained to me many times that Donna was mentally disabled.

Whenever she talked about it, she would sound smug. “Since she can’t talk, I make her serve me tea and do chores. As long as I throw her a bone, I basically have a free maid.”

Only now did I realize how cruel my sister had been.

Donna had always known she was being mistreated. She just chose not to argue.

After hearing everything, both Madeline and I felt a pang of sympathy for the woman in front of us.

We immediately asked Donna to write a list of books she wanted. The next day, I took Madeline to the county again and bought a large stack.

On the way back, I noticed something off about Madeline.

She kept glancing at a boy in the bookstore.

Having lived through it before, I knew exactly what that look meant.

I teased, “What? You like him?”

Madeline’s face instantly turned red. “None of your business.”

“If you like him, go after him.”

That only made her angrier. “He doesn’t like me. He thinks I’m ugly.”

In my previous life, my sister had mentioned this.

Madeline had fallen for a top student, the kind who scored first on the SATs.

After being rejected, she cried at home every day. Annoyed, my sister introduced her to some street punk.

That guy was trash. Not only did he sleep with Madeline when she was underage, but he also robbed the Hollanders clean.

It was because of that incident that Mark found out how my sister had been treating his family. In a fit of rage, he divorced her.

By the time I snapped out of my thoughts, Madeline had already stormed out of the bookstore.

I hurried after her and said, “I can help you win him over.”

Madeline’s eyes widened. “Really?”

I nodded.

First, I took her to the bathhouse for a proper wash.

Then we bought her two new outfits to replace the dirty ones she’d been wearing. After that, we went to a hair salon and got her a neat bob haircut.

Madeline stared at her reflection. It was as if she had become a completely different person.

“Will he like me now?”

I shook my head. “This is just the first step.”

“What’s the second step?”

“Go back to school. I asked around. He’s ranked first in his grade. If you want him to like you, you’ll have to rank first, too.”

Madeline immediately deflated. “I can’t do that.”

I smiled slightly. “I’ll help you.”

From that day on, a new kind of harmony formed between me, Donna, and Madeline.

On weekdays, I bought books for Donna, and she helped with housework and cooking.

After meals, the three of us would sit in the living room. I tutored Madeline, going over problems with her, while Donna read quietly beside us.

When Mark came home, this was the scene he saw.

He cleared his throat. Madeline rushed over and hugged him. “You’re back!”

Mark looked at her in disbelief. “What happened to you?”

Madeline grinned. “All thanks to Emma.”

As Mark glanced at me, I felt my face heat up and quickly turned to go back to my room.

Not long after, Mark followed me in and thanked me.

“I heard about everything these past few days. Thank you for taking care of my mom and Madeline.”

I waved it off. “We’re married now. Your mom and Madeline are my family, too. There’s no need to thank me.”

He paused for a few seconds, then suddenly smiled. “Alright.”

From that day on, his attitude toward me changed.

At first, he had been distant and indifferent. Now, he was noticeably friendlier.

As long as he didn’t have to travel for work, he came home every day. And whenever he returned, he would bring me small gifts.

Over time, we really started living like a married couple.

It was then that I realized Mark wasn’t as scary as people said. Sometimes, he was even a little endearing.

Before long, it was time for the customary visit back to my parents’ home.

Dressed in a new outfit, carrying bags of gifts, I arrived just as I ran into Lily, who was also bringing two pounds of pastries.

Lily was dressed plainly.

Because of what happened on the wedding day, she and Jackson never held a proper ceremony.

She glanced at Mark beside me, then lifted her chin and walked in arrogantly.

However, my mom didn’t even look at her. She came straight to us, took the things from our hands, and started fussing over Mark.

Lily couldn’t take it anymore. “Mom, why don’t you ask how Jackson’s been?”

My mom gave a perfunctory response. “Oh, how has Jackson been?”

Lily straightened proudly. “Jackson just received notice. He’s reporting to the county office tomorrow. I have a feeling that within five years, he’ll rise to the top. By then, I’ll be a government official’s wife.”

No one in the room paid attention to her. Instead, they turned to ask Mark about the South and what it was like there.

Lily grew annoyed. “Emma.”

I looked up at her.

She seemed to have something to say. “Let’s go cook.”

In our family, men never entered the kitchen.

Lily and I went in together.

I was just about to start the fire when she leaned in and said, “Taking care of the Hollanders must be exhausting, right? His mom and sister aren’t exactly normal.”

I knew she was trying to stir things up between me and Mark’s family.

“It’s okay. Donna and Madeline are both very considerate. They help with laundry and cooking. Especially Madeline, she always saves the best food for me. I can sleep in as long as I want. It’s much better than having to wake up at five every morning to take care of a whole household.”

Lily’s expression changed.

Only someone who had lived with the Youngs would understand what it meant to be a daughter-in-law there.

Jackson’s parents and his two younger brothers all relied on Lily. All the dirty and exhausting work fell to her.

In just a few days, calluses had already formed on her hands.

She bit her lip, then let out a low laugh. “I heard Mark left to do business on your wedding night. Do you know why he likes going to the South? There’s a woman in his circle named Olivia Carter. Mark likes her.”

At the mention of that name, my hands paused.

Olivia—Mark’s second wife.

I had heard that when Mark rose from a small-town businessman to the richest man in the country, this woman had been by his side the whole time.

Seeing my reaction, Lily continued, “The way Mark treats Olivia, that’s real love. He keeps her by his side all the time and gives her all his money. You know what they say. Where the money goes, that’s where the love is.”

My heart tightened, and I bit down hard on my lip.

Just then, the kitchen door was pushed open.

Mark walked in, his expression dark.