Watching those two human traffickers meet such a miserable end was the most satisfying thing ever.

Not only did Jethro and Melinda get me—a child groom—without spending a single cent, but they also found wives for Tavian and Faron. They wouldn’t stop praising me, calling me smart and saying I was their family’s lucky charm.

Aside from keeping me from leaving the house, they treated me fairly well. I spent my days following Gracie, the town idiot, around, calling her “sister” and playing with her. Ever since she found out I was supposed to be her future husband, she started giving me the chicken drumsticks her parents stewed to make her stronger.

But Mabel and Fabienne weren’t as lucky.

They were tied up almost every day, used and abused by Tavian and Faron. Within six months, Mabel was pregnant.

That only made me feel better. Those two had spent their lives selling people like livestock—now, they got to experience what it was like to be trapped, powerless, and violated.

Gracie might’ve been an idiot, but she was nice to me.

She listened when I talked, and she even convinced Jethro and Melinda to let me go to school with her. She protected me too, refusing to let them order me around like a servant. At first, they resisted, but when she threw a tantrum—crying, screaming, and even refusing to eat—they gave in.

So, they sent me to the town school with her, though they changed my name to Jorren and told everyone I was just some orphan they had taken in.

The whole town believed it.

They saw how well-behaved and smart I was and never suspected a thing. They even praised Jethro and Melinda for being such good people, saying that kindness brings good fortune—after all, their daughter had found herself such a wonderful companion.

I treated Gracie like a real sister, looking after her in every way I could.

Once, she twisted her ankle in the hills behind the town, and I carried her all the way home, walking until my feet were covered in blisters.

That was the moment Jethro and Melinda completely let their guard down. They believed I genuinely cared about their daughter.

And in a way, I did. Not in the way they thought, but because she was kind.

Out of everyone in that house, in both of my lives, she was the only one who had ever treated me with real kindness.

In my last life, she had been the only reason I hadn’t been completely broken by the abuse. Her mind was simple, her world pure—she had no cruelty in her.

Ten years passed in the blink of an eye.

I turned into an adult now, and Gracie was 20.

I knew my real parents and the cope would find me soon.

And my little brother—he’d be switching back into his own body any day now.

So, on the day of my coming-of-age ceremony, I told Jethro and Melinda, “Please arrange a wedding for me and Gracie.”

It was time for their whole family to pay for what they had done to me in my last life!

Rural weddings were always a big event.

They set up a huge tent at the town entrance, and every household pitched in to help.

I put on a sharp and tailored suit while Gracie wore the white wedding gown her parents had picked out for her.

She was glowing with excitement, holding my hand as she beamed up at me.

“Jorren, you look so handsome!”

But when she noticed how distant I was, her smile faded, and she asked anxiously, “You’re not happy?”

I forced a smile and took out a handkerchief, gently wiping the drool from her chin. “Of course, I’m happy.”

Over the years, she had done nothing but treat me well.

But her family deserved to die.

At the party, every household had its own table, which made my plan even easier.

As I went around making toasts with Gracie, I discreetly slipped a slow-acting poison—hidden under my fingernails—into the wine glasses of Jethro, Tavian, and Faron.

I had learned about this particular poison in chemistry class. It was easy to get in farming communities like ours, where every household kept pesticides and fertilizers.

A small dose wouldn’t kill instantly. First, they’d get sick—diarrhea and vomiting.

Two days later, their organs would start shutting down.

And then, they’d die.

They drank with big, dumb smiles, completely unaware.

Within minutes, they started clutching their stomachs in pain.

The party erupted into chaos.

Everyone thought the food had gone bad and scrambled to call an ambulance.

But the mountain road was too damn remote—an ambulance from the county would take at least two or three hours to get here.

A few of us got dragged back inside, but before long, everyone else rushed out to the backyard, freaking out.

By the time Jethro ran back there for the fifth time, something finally clicked in his head.

“Why is it just a few of us feeling like this? How come no one else is sick?”

His eyes darkened as he stared at me for a long moment. Then he turned to Gracie.

“Watch him. Don’t let him run!”

Gracie didn’t get what was going on, but she just nodded.

The next second, I pulled out the knife hidden in my suit and pressed it against her throat.

“If you don’t want her dead, let me go!”

I snapped, my voice sharp with fury. Jethro and Melinda went pale.

The townsfolk, caught off guard by the sudden turn of events, started asking what the hell was happening.

I raised my voice, yelling that I’d been kidnapped and brought here 10 years ago. The crowd fell into stunned silence.

Jethro and Melinda scrambled to cover their asses.

“He’s lying!” Melinda sobbed. “If he was really trafficked, why didn’t he say anything all these years?”

“Don’t let him fool you! He’s just throwing a tantrum because he doesn’t want to marry Gracie! We had no idea he’d be so mad like this!”

She just shed some tears, and the townfolks bought it.

They turned on me, pissed that I was making a scene. “If you didn’t want to get married, why didn’t you say so earlier?”

“And now you’re throwing accusations at Jethro’s family? What an ungrateful bastard!”

I hadn’t said anything before because I couldn’t risk my brother getting suspicious.

Everything had to play out the same way it did in my last life.

Only then would my brother stay clueless. Only then could we switch bodies back.

And sure enough, a police siren blared from the town entrance.

‘I knew it! Mom and Dad had brought the cops to find me!’

At that moment, I turned the knife toward Tavian and Faron, who were stumbling back from the backyard, clutching their stomachs.

“They’ve got trafficked women locked up in their houses! Go check if you don’t believe me!”

The townfolks erupted in chaos.

Someone muttered that nine years ago, Tavian had suddenly shown up with a baby, claiming he found it while herding sheep.

Someone else said they’d heard Faron beating a woman in the middle of the night. When asked, he’d just laughed it off as the TV.

The more they thought about it, the more my words started making sense.

One after another, they rushed toward their houses.

Realizing they were about to be exposed, Tavian and Faron lost it. They didn’t give a damn about Gracie anymore—they came straight for me, fists flying.

I never actually planned to hurt her, so I let them knock the knife from my hands.

They kicked me to the ground. Tavian grabbed a shovel nearby and brought it down on me with full force.

“No!”

Gracie screamed, but Jethro and Melinda held her back.

I felt something warm trickle down my forehead, and my ears rang.

‘These bastards are really gonna kill me!’

I curled up, shielding my head as Tavian and Faron stomped and punched me.

Then, a sharp, commanding voice rang out from the doorway.

“Police! Drop your weapons!”

I finally exhaled in relief, but then everything faded to black.

When I opened my eyes again, two days had passed.

Just like in my last life, I was lying in a hospital bed.

My head was wrapped in thick bandages, an IV drip in my hand.

Mom and Dad sat beside me, their eyes red and teary. Behind them, my brother stood, smirking.

As soon as I woke up, Mom threw herself onto me, sobbing.

“My baby, you’ve suffered so much! We searched for you for years, and we finally found you!”

Dad’s voice was thick with emotion. “We’re gonna make this right. We swear.”

My brother, standing behind them, curled his lips into a slow, twisted smile.

Then, his voice echoed in my mind.

‘System, use the last chance. Switch me and Deacon back!’

Everything went black, and I passed out again.

The pain vanished, and in a blink, my surroundings shifted.

I was back in my own body.

On the hospital bed, my little brother was clinging to Mom, sobbing.

“Mom! Dad! It was my brother’s fault I got kidnapped!”

His voice suddenly sharpened, and he pointed at me, his eyes full of hatred.

“What?!”

My parents spun around, their voices filled with rage. “Deacon! What the hell is going on?!”

Panic shot through me. I shook my head frantically, my face pale with fear, tears already spilling over.

“How could I ever hurt him? Mom! Dad! You have to believe me!”

In the middle of the chaos, the hospital door swung open.

A uniformed officer walked in, his face serious as he addressed my parents.

“Ma’am, Sir, we’ve uncovered the truth about Jorren’s kidnapping all those years ago.

“He’s being investigated for human trafficking and attempted poisoning. We need him to come and cooperate with us.”

The smug look on Jorren’s face disappeared in an instant. His eyes went wide, and he let out a sharp scream.

“No way! What the hell are you talking about?!