Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Duan Kai’s smile was so gentle that he didn’t look like a bad person at all.

A sharp pain stabbed through my head, and the motion-activated light in the hallway suddenly became blinding.

My memories were a chaotic, agonizing mess.

Images from right before my death flashed before my eyes: Duan Kai’s hands around my throat as I slowly lost the ability to breathe.

I struggled with everything I had, only to be repaid with brutal punches and kicks.

Through the dizziness, I saw Duan Kai open the door. A petite young woman came in from outside, barely in her twenties, quiet and pretty.

They wrapped their arms around each other and kissed passionately, happily fantasizing about the wealthy life they’d have once they cashed in the lottery ticket.

Then the girl opened a medical kit and took out a syringe, a scalpel, and several terrifying instruments.

She had Duan Kai strip off the clothes on my upper body, then injected something into me. Her movements were practiced, her voice playful and frivolous. “Be a good little girl, okay? Auntie is going to cut open your tummy now, open up your chest, and take out all those nice, warm organs.”

I didn’t know if I’d been anesthetized.

My upper body had gone completely numb. I could only watch as that sharp scalpel sliced down from my collarbone…

My consciousness grew more and more blurred. I heard the girl say, “We have to get the organs delivered quickly. The buyers are all waiting.”

Duan Kai said, “Send the kidneys first. Those are the most urgent.”

The girl laughed happily. “Tell me, should we bury her or dump her in the lake?”

Duan Kai’s voice was excited. “Cut her up. Doesn’t she have a thing about cleanliness? Throw that rotten flesh of hers into a rural pit latrine and let it fertilize the maggots and flies.”

…

Memory and reality overlapped. I could almost smell that stench. My stomach churned, and acid surged up into my throat.

I couldn’t hold it in. I bent over and vomited violently.

Just then, Duan Kai, who had just opened the door, saw me and hurried over.

“What’s wrong, Nana?” He wrapped his arms around me from behind and gently patted my back.

“Don’t touch me!”

I screamed and shoved him away, stumbling back several steps.

When I lifted my eyes, I got a clear look at Duan Kai standing across from me.

He was outstanding in appearance, tall and handsome. His face was full of concern, but a nearly imperceptible flash of disgust and malice passed through his eyes.

I was certain of it. This wasn’t a nightmare.

He really had murdered me, dismembered me, and then… I had been reborn!

“Nana, your face is so pale.”

Duan Kai took a tissue from his pocket and approached me again. “Are you not feeling well? Let’s go home first. You can wash your face and rinse your mouth.”

My scalp prickled instantly. Five minutes after I stepped into our home, I would drink the drugged red wine. Ten minutes after that, his mistress would come in, inject me with anesthetic, and take every organ from my body while I was still alive.

This wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment murder for money. It had been planned long ago.

I absolutely could not go inside!

By then, Duan Kai had already grabbed my wrist. “Come home. I’ll boil some hot water for you to drink.”

My whole body trembled as I looked around.

The neighbors next door were away year-round. The door to my apartment was already open. The elevator was stopped on the first floor… In other words, whether I tried to run or screamed like a madwoman, almost no one would come save me. Duan Kai would definitely drag me inside by force.

“What are you spacing out for?”

Duan Kai pulled me toward our apartment with considerable strength and smiled. “Today counts as double happiness. We’ll open a bottle of red wine in a bit!”

My heart lurched. Those words were exactly the same as in my last life.

“Honey, wait!” I deliberately shoved my hand into my pocket and looked at him in panic. “The lottery ticket is gone.”

Duan Kai’s expression changed instantly. He quickly searched the pockets of my jacket and jeans. “Don’t scare me like that. That’s fifty million!”

In truth, because I was afraid of losing it, I had secretly hidden the ticket in my bra.

I was so anxious I started crying. “Could it have been left at the hotpot restaurant?”

The lottery results had actually been announced last night. These past two days, we’d been busy preparing to get our marriage certificate, and with all the running around, I only remembered it tonight while eating hotpot with Duan Kai.

I checked it on a whim and, unbelievably, had won fifty million!

Duan Kai broke out in a forehead full of cold sweat. “Probably not. I made a point of looking around before we left, and I even reminded you to hold on to your bag.”

I hurriedly said, “Then could it have fallen in our car? Oh no, hurry, let’s go look!”

Duan Kai hesitated for two seconds, then bolted toward the elevator. He was so anxious that he jabbed the down button over and over, but in the end, he didn’t have the patience to wait for the elevator to come up floor by floor. He ducked his head and rushed toward the stairwell, not forgetting to turn back and tell me, “Wait at home. Don’t run around.”

The moment he left, the elevator opened with a ding.

I immediately rushed in and pressed the button for the first floor.