Chapter 2

“Oh, Dean, what are Lily and I going to do without you?”

I dragged Lily, and we scattered all the ashes into the river. I turned to see Melody, teeth clenched, panting with barely controlled fury. She’d been waiting at the hospital for ages, expecting me to take the ashes to a proper burial site. She never thought I’d just come straight to the river, not even letting her see Dean one last time.

“Big Brother Dean died because of you! How could you just throw his ashes into the river like that?!”

Those were her *ex-husband’s* ashes! Melody had dug them up just to trick me, wanting me to re-bury them. But I’d just tossed them away, and she was livid. Still, she managed to rein in her anger and dragged out her son, Kyle.

“Big Brother Dean always said you were such a good wife, but you’d do something like this, throwing his ashes away? How can I possibly trust you with my child?!”

Dean hadn't been able to entrust Kyle to me, so she had to step up herself. She pulled out a will from her pocket and tried to shove it into my hand.

I immediately slapped it away.

“I can’t read. And Dean never mentioned having any kids while he was alive. Don’t try to play your dirty tricks on me.”

I turned to leave, but Melody panicked. She lunged, grabbing a fistful of my hair. “I’m Big Brother Dean’s sister-in-law! And Kyle is the only male heir to the family name! How dare you refuse to care for him? Get out of Big Brother Dean’s house, now!”

“Who are you telling to get out? Say that again, I dare you!”

Without another word, I rolled up my sleeves, ready to settle all the scores from my past life. But Leo, the man who’d brought Melody to find me, stepped in front of me.

“No one jokes about a dead man, Jade,” he said. “Melody really is Dean’s distant sister-in-law. Everyone at the hospital and the factory knows it. Dean didn’t tell you because he didn’t want you to be burdened.”

Leo had saved my life once. In my last life, I listened to his every suggestion, raising Kyle by hand until he was an adult. But I never knew he and Dean had been deceiving me for twenty-eight years!

“Distant sister-in-law or not, I’m not raising anyone!” I yelled. “I’m a widow just trying to keep my daughter fed, waiting for a job assignment from the county. I don’t have time to babysit some dead man’s dead weight!”

Melody’s face went scarlet. “Who are you calling dead weight? I’m a city girl from a sophisticated background! How dare you call me dead weight?!”

Just as we were about to start fighting again, Leo pointed a finger at me, scolding, “Jade! You and Dean were married! No matter how tough things are, you can’t let his sister-in-law suffer!”

He dragged me to the river, making me look at the ashes I’d just scattered.

“Factory Manager Dean always cherished you above all else,” he said, his voice softening. “He’d worked so hard to get those special holiday dessert tickets, but he didn’t keep a single one for himself, making sure you and Lily had all the treats. And every month, he handed over every penny of his hundred-dollar salary the moment he got it. Now that Dean is gone, it’s only right that you look after his sister-in-law.”

Leo gently patted my shoulder, speaking earnestly. “I know you adore Lily, but no matter how well you treat her, she’s still a girl. She’ll marry into another family one day. Melody has brought a boy, a son, into your life. If you take good care of him, you’ll honor Dean’s memory and ensure you have someone to rely on in your old age.”

Suddenly, a dull thud came from behind me.

I spun around to see Kyle squeezing Lily’s throat, his hands wrapped tightly around her neck.

“You worthless dead weight! You money pit!”

“While you and your mom were hauling sewage on a barge, my mommy, daddy, and I were eating mooncakes on a pleasure cruise! Do you even know what a mooncake is, you pathetic bumpkin who’s never even seen a movie!”

I’d worked on boats for years, always slow to hear news from the county. If Leo hadn’t let it slip, I would have spent my whole life never knowing the truth. Dean had told me the factory was struggling, but for years, he’d actually been the factory manager, earning ten of the largest bills every single month.

Ten of the largest bills. That money could have kept Lily from going to bed hungry. It could have saved me from wearing rags on the boat, freezing to death in the damp wind. All these years, through two lifetimes, he never told me the truth.

Thinking of those days of meticulously budgeting every five dollars, I delivered a stinging slap across Melody’s face.