Reborn To Ruin My Toxic Cousin's Wedding

The renovation on my brand-new condo had just finished when my cousin showed up at my door, sobbing hysterically. "The wedding venue broke the contract last minute! Please, you have to let me host my wedding at your place, or my whole life is ruined!" I softened and agreed. Who could have known that on the wedding day, a sex tape of the groom cheating would be broadcast right on the big screen, sending the guests into absolute chaos? Her whole family turned around and bit the hand that fed them. "Your apartment has terrible energy! It ruined my marriage!" They even accused me of seducing the groom and smeared my name all over the internet. Neighbors whispered and pointed fingers, and a wave of vicious online harassment buried me alive. My parents couldn't hold their heads up in public, and in the end, an angry passerby shoved me into oncoming traffic, ending my life. Now, reborn right before my cousin's wedding, I didn't hesitate. I sold the condo immediately, taking a massive loss just to get rid of it. When my cousin came knocking again to beg for the place and got rejected, she yelled, "Are you seriously going to stand by and watch me die?!" I shrugged innocently. "I already sold it. If you really want to use it, why don't you go ask the new owner?" My cousin, Chloe, knelt on the living room floor, weeping like a tragic heroine. Tears streamed down her face as she reached out to grab the hem of my jeans. "Please, Emma, I'm begging you!" "The venue called and said a main pipe burst. They had to shut down for emergency repairs, so we can't hold the ceremony there!" "If I don't pull off this wedding, how am I ever going to face Jason's family? My entire life will be ruined!" I stared down at her, my heart hammering against my ribs as my fingers clenched into tight fists. In my past life, she had used these exact words, striking this exact pathetic, begging pose. Back then, I had just bought that brand-new condo. I cherished it so much I barely let anyone walk inside with shoes on. Yet Chloe cried and begged, claiming the venue had canceled and that her lifelong happiness was on the line. I caved. I handed her the keys. On the day of the wedding, the giant projector suddenly started playing an explicit video of her fiancé, Jason, in bed with another woman. The banquet hall exploded into an uproar. Guests pointed, jeered, and some even whistled. Chloe broke down in tears, while Jason stood on the stage acting like nothing had happened. Worse still, Chloe’s family didn't blame Jason at all. Instead, they turned all their rage on me. "It must be the bad energy in this place! It's so dark and toxic it made Jason lose his mind!" The woman's face in the video wasn't clearly visible, so they insisted it was me. "It’s you! When Jason came over to decorate the apartment, you seduced him, didn't you?!" "The woman in that video has to be you!" They dumped every bucket of filth right onto my head. Chloe took everything out of context, spinning a story that painted me as a jealous, bitter cousin who intentionally ruined her marriage. She posted the video online, instantly sparking massive public outrage. My photos, my workplace, and my home address were all doxxed. Countless strangers threw paint and dead rats at my front door. They called me a home-wrecking whore and told me I deserved to burn in hell. Our relatives cut all ties with our family, and people hurled eggs at my parents when they went out for groceries. My mom cried every single day, terrified to step outside. My dad’s blood pressure spiked so badly from the stress that he was hospitalized. And then, on an afternoon when I was cornered on the sidewalk, an enraged "moral crusader" violently shoved me straight into rushing traffic. I was hit and crushed under the wheels, dying a gruesome, agonizing death. Thank God the heavens gave me another chance. I was reborn right before Chloe's wedding! Looking down at her tear-streaked, pitiful face, a wave of pure nausea washed over me. I calmly took a step back, dodging her grasping hands. "Oh, really? That does sound pretty awful." Chloe froze, clearly not expecting that reaction. She looked up at me, her swollen, red eyes filled with disbelief. "Emma... w-what did you just say?" "I said, that sounds pretty awful," I replied, taking a calm sip of water. "But what does that have to do with me?" Sitting on the couch, Aunt Brenda finally couldn't hold back anymore and shot me a sideways glare. "Oh, come on, Chloe, don't make things too hard for Emma. After all, that's her brand-new apartment. I heard she spent over three hundred grand on it, plus another eighty grand on renovations. That's real, hard-earned money. Anyone would be reluctant to let outsiders mess it up. If something gets damaged, she'd be heartbroken, wouldn't she?" It sounded like she was defending Chloe, but she was really taking a passive-aggressive jab at me, subtly implying that I was cheap, petty, and heartless toward family. A few other relatives chimed in right on cue. Uncle Mark said, "Emma, don't be so calculating. We're all family. What's the harm in lending a hand?" Uncle Dave added, "Exactly. The place is just sitting empty anyway. Letting Chloe use it for a day isn't going to kill you."I set my mug down. The ceramic clicked sharply against the glass tabletop. The sound wasn't loud, but it instantly silenced the noisy living room. I looked up, scanning their faces—each wearing an expression of faux concern while secretly waiting for drama—before letting my gaze settle on Chloe’s tearful face. I held out my hands, looking utterly innocent. "I already sold the apartment." "What?!" Chloe looked as if she’d been struck by lightning. She leaped up from the floor, screaming, "You sold it?! How could you sell it! When did you sell it? Why didn't you tell me beforehand?!" Watching her fly into a panic, I feigned confusion. "It's my property. I can sell it whenever I want, to whoever I want. Chloe, are you confused? Do I need your permission or an advance notice to sell my own place?" "You... you..." Chloe was trembling with rage, pointing a shaking finger at me, unable to form a coherent sentence. "You did this on purpose! You knew I needed a venue! You did this deliberately!" "Deliberately?" I countered with a light scoff. "Am I psychic? How was I supposed to know you'd come begging to use my place for your wedding?" Chloe choked on her words. "A buyer happened to need a move-in-ready place urgently," I continued smoothly, "so I just let it go." The truth was, the very first thing I did after waking up in this life was contact a real estate agent. I listed the place thirty thousand dollars below market value, demanding an all-cash offer and a three-day closing. In this market, a deal like that was basically free money. The agent's phone rang off the hook. I signed the contract that very night, and the deed was officially transferred just this morning. As of right now, legally speaking, that property had absolutely nothing to do with me. "I don't believe you! You just didn't want to help me!" Chloe resorted to throwing a full-blown tantrum, dropping heavily onto the floor. "Emma, you can't be this cruel! Are you seriously going to stand by and watch me die?!" "Watch you die?" I laughed, as if hearing the world's most ridiculous joke. "Chloe, the venue broke the contract. Go demand compensation from them, or go find another backup location! What are you doing throwing a fit in my living room? Do I owe you something?" Aunt Brenda snapped at me, "Emma! What kind of attitude is that? Chloe is on her knees begging you! Where is your conscience?" "We're all family! How can you be so cold-blooded? Do you only feel happy seeing your own cousin fail to get married?" "Seriously, Emma, you're being completely unreasonable," the other relatives chimed in, their voices buzzing in my ears like a swarm of annoying flies. In my last life, I had been drowned by their moral grandstanding. They loved standing on the moral high ground, being generous with other people's resources, forcing me to sacrifice my own interests just to save face for Chloe. I sneered, shifting my sharp gaze directly to Aunt Brenda. "Aunt Brenda, since you care about Chloe so much and value family ties so deeply, didn't you just buy a massive house in the suburbs? Three floors, huge backyard, gorgeous curb appeal. Why don't you let Chloe have her wedding there? Your place is huge, so a few guests won't hurt, right?" Aunt Brenda’s face instantly twisted. "W-What are you talking about? My place... it's too far from downtown! It's inconvenient!" "Oh, inconvenient, is it?" I raised an eyebrow. "What about Uncle Mark? Don't you own a vacant commercial space downtown? Clear it out and it'd make a decent hall. And Uncle Dave, don't you have a townhouse sitting empty?" "Funny how all of you have real estate, yet you're all fixated on my tiny condo that's already been sold. You call me cold-hearted, but none of you are offering up your own houses for her wedding. Doesn't that make your hearts even colder and harder than mine?"My barrage of questions left the entire room utterly speechless. They exchanged awkward glances, none of them willing to be the sucker. Lending a house for a wedding was a massive headache. What if things broke? What if it brought bad luck? Who would take responsibility? A moment ago, they were just jumping on the bandwagon because Chloe was crying, looking for a chance to put me down and feel morally superior. Seeing that nobody was backing her up, Chloe completely lost it. She sat on the floor, pounding her chest in pure frustration. "It's over... it's all over... Emma, you ruined me! You ruined my wedding! You ruined my life!" I looked down at her coldly. "If you have the time to sit here and cry, you might want to figure out an actual solution. And where's your fiancé in all this? Is he just leaving everything to you?" Chloe glared at me venomously. "Just you wait! I'm calling him right now!" She pulled out her phone and dialed. It rang for a long time before the call finally connected. Chloe immediately hit speakerphone, whining through her tears. "Babe... "sob"... Emma sold her condo. She refuses to let us use it..." She waited for Jason to join in and curse me out for being heartless. Instead, the only sound coming through the speaker was Jason’s ragged, heavy breathing. "Uh... what? What condo..." Chloe paused, confused. "What are you doing? Why are you panting so hard?" "I'm... "pant"... I'm out for a run," Jason gasped. "You said you liked muscles, didn't you... "pant"... God, I'm exhausted." His voice was strained and choppy, sounding like he was barely catching his breath. A smirk tugged at the corner of my lips. What kind of running sounded like that? "Oh..." Chloe bought it completely, a soft blush even appearing on her face. "Make sure you don't push yourself too hard, okay?" "Ah!" Suddenly, a woman's faint moan leaked through the receiver. Chloe instantly tensed. "Why is there a woman's voice next to you?" There was a split second of panic on the other end before Jason raised his voice slightly. "I'm at the gym, babe! Of course there are other people around. It's evening, it's packed. Look, I gotta go, I need to... "pant"... focus on my final sprint." "Okay, go for it. I'll wait for you," Chloe murmured obediently, hanging up with a blissfully happy expression. Watching her look so completely in love made me roll my eyes. This was the man she treasured like gold—the man she was willing to get on her knees to beg for. A piece of trash who was shamelessly cheating on her just three days before their wedding. In my past life, Chloe believed until the day she died that Jason cheated only because the condo had bad energy. She hated me, and she hated the apartment, but she never once blamed the man who played her for a fool. It was truly pathetic. Chloe put her phone away, turned back to me, and the vicious glare returned to her eyes. Having Jason's supposed support seemed to have restored her arrogance. "Emma, I don't care what you say. You have to fix this!" "Call that buyer right now and buy the apartment back, even if you have to pay extra!" "Otherwise, we're cutting all ties! You won't be part of this family anymore!"Chloe stood with her hands on her hips, screeching like an entitled brat, looking as though one word from her would make me drop to my knees and beg for mercy. I looked at her like she was a clown. "Cutting ties?" I repeated, nodding firmly. "Sounds great to me." Chloe blinked, caught off guard. "What did you say?" "I said, let's cut ties. We don't need to be family anymore." I turned toward the front door and pulled it open. The cool breeze drifted in, instantly clearing the stifling air. "Remember this, Chloe. You chose this. Don't come crying to me later, because I won't give a damn." Without looking back, I walked out, leaving Aunt Brenda's furious shrieks and the sound of Chloe smashing something behind me. That evening, the family group chat blew up. Chloe sent a long voice message: "Emma had an empty, fully-renovated condo, but just so she wouldn't have to lend it to me, she sold it overnight at a loss. She'd rather lose thirty grand than help her own cousin! Everyone, please tell me—does family mean nothing to her?!" Right after, Aunt Brenda led the charge: "Unbelievable! How did Emma turn out so heartless? She doesn't have an ounce of decency in her!" Uncle Mark agreed: "We should stop talking to people like that. Cold-blooded." Uncle Dave sighed: "Don't cry, Chloe. Someone like her isn't worth your tears." Meanwhile, I was sitting at a barbecue joint with a college friend. I didn't reply to a single message in the group. "So, who exactly do you want me to track?" Sitting across from me was Luke. He was an investigative journalist for a well-known entertainment tabloid, an expert at digging up dirty laundry. "Chloe’s fiancé, Jason." I pulled up a photo on my phone and sent it to him. "Keep a close eye on him, especially over the next couple of days. I want every shred of evidence of him cheating—photos, videos, audio recordings. The more, the better." Luke raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that your cousin's fiancé? That's ruthless." "Soon-to-be ex-fiancé," I corrected him. "Once this is done, I'll buy you that high-end DSLR camera you've been drooling over." Luke grinned. "Deal. Consider it done!" On the drive home after dinner, my parents bombarded my phone with texts and calls, frantically asking what was going on. I just comforted them: "Don't worry, I'll explain everything when I get back." Once home, I laid out the entire situation—leaving out the part about being reborn, of course. Finally, I said, "Mom, Dad, look at them. That's your family. In their eyes, I'm just an ATM that's supposed to give unconditionally. If I back down this time, next time they'll demand my life!" Dad stared at the toxic messages in the family chat, his face turning dark. He was a gentle man, but he wasn't an idiot. Mom's hands were shaking with anger. "How... how could Brenda say such horrible things? When your father was sick and we needed to borrow money, she was the first one to dodge our calls!" I added, "Besides, Jason isn't a good man. Chloe's wedding is bound to be a disaster. I don't want to be dragged down with them." My parents were quiet for a long time. In the end, Dad tossed his phone onto the coffee table with a cold grunt. "Good riddance to relatives like that! Saves us the headache down the road! Emma, you did the right thing. We don't need them!" Mom grasped my hand, her voice steady. "He's right. We don't need them. If anyone tries to bully my daughter, they'll have to go through me first!" Looking at the fierce support in my parents' eyes, warmth filled my chest. In my past life, they suffered endlessly because of me. In this life, I was going to protect them no matter what. Three days later. Chloe’s wedding went ahead as scheduled. Since they couldn't use my condo, her family had gritted their teeth and booked a cheaper hotel downtown. My parents and I still received invitations. Mom looked at the card, hesitating. "Emma... do we really have to go? Things are so tense between us." "We're going," I said, smoothing down my dress. Thinking about everything I had prepared, a cold, mocking smile touched my lips. "Of course we're going. It's going to be such a magnificent show. It'd be a tragedy to miss it."