Chapter 1

Last life, a wealthy benefactor sponsored me, giving me a bracelet.

His daughter, however, used that very bracelet to drain my luck and vitality.

When I uncovered the truth, his entire family pushed me down the stairs, leaving me to die on the spot.

Reborn, I returned to the day I received that bracelet…

The scent of antiseptic stung my nose.

The activity room of the orphanage had peeling paint on its white walls.

I stood in line, my nails digging into my palms.

In front of me was Mr. Donovan Sterling, impeccably dressed in a suit, with his elegantly adorned wife beside him.

Behind them, a camera pointed directly at us.

“Today is a wonderful day,” Mrs. Charlotte Sterling said, her voice sickly sweet.

“We will be sponsoring ten children, from elementary school all the way through college.”

The camera panned across the faces of us orphans.

My name is Skylar.

In my previous life, today was *that* day.

I and nine other girls, chosen for being the most presentable and well-behaved, were selected.

Mrs. Sterling gave each of us a silver bracelet. It was ice-cold, engraved with an ugly flower.

“This is a gift for you,” she said.

“When you see it, think of us.”

Back then, my eyes were filled only with gratitude.

I believed good days were finally coming.

I was so incredibly naive it hurt.

“Next.”

It was my turn.

Mrs. Sterling picked up a bracelet, ready to slip it onto my wrist.

I sharply stepped back.

Everyone froze.

The camera hesitated, then focused on me.

Mr. Sterling frowned. “Child, what’s wrong?”

I lowered my head, my voice trembling, feigning fear.

“My… my mom always told me not to take things from strangers.”

It was a lie.

I had no mom.

But the orphanage teachers had taught me: feigned weakness always drew sympathy.

Mrs. Sterling’s smile stiffened for a second, then quickly melted back into place.

“Auntie isn’t a bad person, dear. This is for your own good.”

“But…” I looked up, forcing a few tears into my eyes. “I’m afraid I’ll lose it. It looks too valuable.”

Some children around me snickered.

They probably thought I was foolish, turning down a good life.

Mr. Sterling grew impatient and waved his hand. “Forget it. Next.”

I let out a sigh of relief, my back drenched in sweat.

The bracelet hadn’t been put on.

This life, step one, was a success.

After the event, the selected girls surrounded Mrs. Sterling, chattering excitedly.

The silver bracelets on their wrists shimmered coldly under the lights.

I hid in a corner, watching them.

In my previous life, they were just like me.

Believing they had grasped a lifeline.

And what happened later?

Later, our grades plummeted.

No matter how hard we studied, the textbooks made no sense.

Our health deteriorated, constant minor illnesses plagued us, and our faces were sickly pale.

Our looks deteriorated beyond words, becoming plain, even unattractive.

The kids at the orphanage who hadn't been chosen started to mock us.

“Are they brain-damaged by money?”

“Serves them right for dreaming big.”

The cyberbullying against us was even worse.

“Typical orphans, no upbringing, just got money and fell apart.”

“Growing uglier and meaner, definitely ungrateful.”

I was the target of the most vicious online attacks because I used to be the most outstanding.

Eventually, I dropped out and became a cleaner.

It was while working as a cleaner for the Sterlings that I discovered the truth.

That bracelet wasn't a symbol of sponsorship at all.

It was a dark conduit, a tool to steal luck and good fortune.

Our intelligence, beauty, and health were all sucked away by that cursed bracelet and transferred to the Sterlings’ frail, dim-witted, and plain-looking daughter—Chloe Sterling.

Chloe grew healthier, excelled in school, and became a socialite.

And we? We became her sustenance.

I tried to expose them, but Mr. Sterling pushed me down the stairs.

Before I died, the sound of my bones shattering was clearer than his cold, mocking laughter.

“An orphan? Who would believe you?”

The injustice.

The sheer, burning injustice.

I stared intently at the girls wearing the bracelets.

Their faces showed innocent longing.

Exactly like me, in my past life.

“Skylar, are you crazy?!”