Reborn to Punish the Ungrateful Brother

My younger brother was Franklin Harmon. His girlfriend, Vita Campbell, was a tattoo artist. She worked at a shop with a bit of a shady reputation.

Her father was a gambler, and her mother was chronically ill. Her younger brother was still a student, and her ex-boyfriend was serving time for robbery.

After I learned the situation about my future sister-in-law, I did everything I could to stop Franklin and Vita from getting married.

Franklin was furious and swore that he'd never get married. My mother blamed me every day for ruining his marriage so that she didn't have the chance to have her grandson.

Franklin held a grudge against me and pushed my husband and my daughter off the rooftop later. "I want you to feel the pain of losing your family, too!" he said to me.

The moment I saw the dead bodies of my husband and my daughter, I fainted.

When I woke up, I was back on the day Franklin brought Vita home for the first time.

I didn't stand in their way this time. "As long as Franklin's happy, that's good."

01.

"Hey, Claire, this is Vita, the woman I told you about before," Frank said.

I looked at Franklin's face and realized instantly that I'd been reborn.

I seemed to wake from a dream and glanced around the place to search for my husband.

When I saw him holding our daughter and playing with the dog, I finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Franklin noticed I kept looking around. He was a little annoyed and nudged me and quietly reminded me that Vita was still standing right in front of me.

Looking at Franklin's face, I couldn't help but remember how he'd pushed my husband and my daughter off the rooftop with his own hands in my previous life.

He said, "Claire, you ruined my marriage with Vita. This is your punishment! Now you know what it feels like to lose the people you love!"

Thinking of everything Franklin had done to me in my previous life, I hated him so much. I was so furious that I wished I could have torn him apart.

"I see her. I'm not blind!" I snapped back at Franklin, and at the same time, I reached out and pinched him hard on his thigh.

Franklin winced in pain. But with Vita and all the relatives present, he couldn't say a word.

I looked at Vita, who had a tongue pin, tattoos, and impossibly short shorts, and my eyebrows twitched.

I gave a meaningful smile and said nothing before going to sit on a bench nearby.

Franklin started to panic as he saw I didn't show my attitude.

He scratched his head and bounced around the room, telling each of the elders in the room about how good Vita was. "Vita is a tattoo artist, but she's pure at heart. She's a great woman and treats me well. Her family is not well-off, but I believe love is the most important. I believe that we'll always have a good future if we get married."

I was so embarrassed that I wanted the ground to swallow me up as I watched Franklin perform like a monkey in front of our family members and relatives.

He was really a hopeless romantic. It looked like Vita had used magic on him to make him love her deeply.

When Franklin saw that our parents and relatives all looked uneasy, he shot me a pleading look.

I patted my daughter's head, turned to meet Franklin's gaze, and said with a smile. "If you love Vita, that's all that matters. We'll do whatever you want."

As I watched Franklin give a smile, I remembered the tragic ending I'd suffered in my previous life.

Since everyone blamed me for ruining his marriage before, I'd like to see what trouble his beloved wife would bring him after she got married to Franklin.

02.

With my approval, Franklin immediately started buttering up our parents and tried to win them over.

"Franklin, you're still young. There's no rush to get married." My mother was the first to object to Franklin's marriage. Then my aunt chimed in, "That's right. Franklin, you'd better think it over. You must take your marriage seriously."

Franklin immediately pulled a long face after he heard those words. He wouldn't allow anyone to talk down about Vita.

He said, "Vita does have a younger brother who is a student. But with my salary, I can support her and her younger brother. Vita is lively, cheerful, and beautiful. Why are you all still hesitating to accept her? She will be a good wife if she marries me."

Listening to Franklin's baffling arguments, I knew that he wasn't telling the whole truth about Vita.

In my previous life, Vita fooled my parents and me in the same way. I was shocked by what I had found after I secretly dug into her background.

Vita's father was a gambling addict who'd lost everything and left her family with nothing.

Her mother was chronically ill and needed constant medication and hospital stays. Her younger brother was still in high school.

Given Vita's family background, most families would stop thinking of marrying her. But Franklin was completely smitten.

I gathered all the evidence I could and tried my best to persuade my parents not to let Vita marry Franklin. So Franklin and Vita broke up later.

Just when I thought Franklin had moved on and things would get better, he started to resent me.

That led to the tragedy that happened to my husband and my daughter.

Now that I was reborn, I was determined to protect my husband and my daughter.

I would never let them lose their lives like that again.

03.

"What are you doing? How could you just agree to Franklin's marriage so easily? We barely know anything about that woman. Just look at her, and do you think she's a good woman? You just agreed easily. Franklin is your brother! How could you harm him like that?" My mom secretly pulled me into the kitchen and anxiously urged me to find out more about Vita's past.

I seemed to see what would happen again. In my previous life, Franklin didn't get married. Time slipped by, and he was in his thirties. My mother scolded me for meddling and ruining Franklin and Vita's marriage. She blamed me for ruining her chance to have her grandson when she was seventy.

Anger flared up inside me instantly. I took my hand away unhappily from my mother's grip. "She's a good woman, isn't she? I don't see any problem with her. As long as Franklin's happy, it is enough," I said, rolling my eyes secretly.

My parents obviously didn't want Vita to be their daughter-in-law, but they insisted on making me stand up. All the dirty work fell to me, and in the end, I was left stuck between both sides, pleasing no one.

My mother realized that she couldn't get the answer she wanted from me, so she stormed off to egg on others.

Franklin quietly slipped over to ask my opinion. "Claire, what do you think of Vita?"

I smiled and nodded. "She's a lovely woman. I'm quite pleased with her, but you'd better act fast. Otherwise, another guy might marry her before you can."

My words hit Franklin right where it mattered. He nodded eagerly and went off to plead with our parents again. "I want to marry Vita. If you don't agree, I'll bump my head against the wall and die."

Franklin was determined, and my parents were heartbroken as they watched him behave like that.

He'd done the same thing in my previous life, too. If I hadn't insisted on opposing Vita's marrying him, Franklin would have gotten his way.

After all, my parents couldn't stand by and watch Franklin threaten to die.

With no other choice, my parents reluctantly agreed to their marriage.

Franklin was busying himself with wedding preparations happily.

But none of us expected Vita to make such a bold demand. She asked for a bride price of 368, 000 dollars.

She said to my mother, "Mrs. Harmon, I'm not trying to make things difficult for you. It's just tradition where I'm from that the bride price is always 368, 000 dollars."

My parents were frantic. They pulled every string and begged everyone they could think of to talk Franklin out of marrying Vita.

But Franklin was as stubborn as ever. He was willing to pawn everything he had to marry her.

He said to me, "Claire, please help me. I truly love Vita. I swear that I will clean up my act and stop fooling around if I marry Vita and that I will soon get a proper job." "What does he mean? What does his future have to do with me?"

I snorted inwardly. But I just shrugged and pretended that I was powerless to help.

"Franklin, I want to help you. But I just can't." As I spoke, I pulled up my banking app to show him my balance. Franklin squinted and peered at the screen carefully.

I saw his expression change. "Claire, where's your money?"

I was ready for his question. I knew that he and our parents had their eyes on my savings. They probably had planned to use my money for Franklin's bride price.

I explained the situation to Franklin, saying, "Some days ago, my husband said there was a great investment opportunity, so we put almost all our money into the investment fund."

No sooner had I finished speaking than Franklin said nervously, "Then what am I supposed to do? How can I marry Vita without any money?"

I said, "Maybe you could take out a loan? Interest rates aren't that high these days. You can pay it back in the future..."

Before I could finish, my mother burst in from behind the door and cursed me harshly. "Claire, what are you saying? How could you encourage Franklin to take out a loan?"

I met her furious gaze and said in a slightly annoyed tone, "If he doesn't get a loan, he'll have to borrow from someone else anyway. He's still borrowing money. What's the difference?"

My mother comforted Franklin while muttering, "What do you know? If he borrows from the bank, he has to pay it back. If he borrows from you, he doesn't have to give it back to you..."

She cut herself off before finishing her sentence. She realized that she'd said too much and turned to give me an awkward smile.

I forced a smile in return. I knew well what was on her mind even though she hadn't finished her sentence.

If Frank borrowed money from the bank, he had to pay it back. If he borrowed from others, the same thing. But if he borrowed from me, he would never have to return it to me.

04.

My mother tried every trick to ask me for money, but she got nothing. Meanwhile, Vita was pressing for the bride price, and Franklin was throwing tantrums at home.

My parents had no other options and finally emptied their savings, even dipping into their funeral money.

Of course, it still wasn't nearly enough to cover the 368, 000 dollars. In the end, they had to take out a loan from the bank.

The wedding was a lively affair, and Franklin couldn't hide his joy.

I stood there with my arms crossed and watched Vita in her black wedding dress. It was a shocking choice in our family, where red or white were the norm. She said her way was "breaking tradition."

I glanced at my parents, who wore forced smiles for the sake of Franklin, though they didn't want Vita to be their daughter-in-law.

After Vita became a member of the family, the real show was about to start.

Honestly, I was looking forward to the show that was about to unfold.

05.

After Franklin's wedding, I took some time off to go on a trip with my husband and my daughter.

In my previous life, my husband had always planned to have a trip and relax, but I'd been too busy trying to talk Franklin out of his marriage and neglected my husband for a long time. I never did fulfill my promise to travel with him before he passed away.

This time, I had no intention of getting caught up in Franklin's endless troubles, and I only cared about the health and happiness of my husband and my daughter.

When I estimated the right time, I called Franklin with tears. "Franklin... I..."

Franklin said anxiously on the other end, "Claire? What's wrong?"

I said, "I... the investment fund crashed. Your brother-in-law and I lost everything!"