Revenge is Best Served… After Reborn

"If I didn't get shipped off to the countryside, staying at home could still be a risky move for me."

For my own safety, Mom didn't have much of a choice but to go along with it.

When they sent me to the countryside, this unexplainable sense of fear settled over me. I had this nagging feeling that I might never return to the Reeves family again. Seeing Mom this time felt like it might be the last.

Living in the countryside was a far cry from the comforts of city life. Up until I was seven, I'd been used to living a pretty cushy life, never even set foot in a single- story house. Out here, it was all simple cottages, and the daily grind was all about farming and fishing. Folks here hit the hay as soon as it got dark and were up before the crack of dawn to start working.

At first, the locals were polite, probably because I was this city girl in their midst. But as time dragged on, they started grumbling about when my family would come to take me back.

Every year, Dad sent less and less money out here. Sometimes, he even forgot altogether. So, I had to roll up my sleeves and work every day just to scrape by.

In those past life memories that Joseph's hypnosis stirred up, I'd spend my days hoping the Reeves family would come to take me home. But banking on others and doing nothing led to me finally being brought back, only to be toyed with by my aunt. It ended in tragedy for both Mom and me.

When I came to, I was still in that countryside. It dawned on me that waiting around was a dead end.

The countryside was right next to a fishing village. The villagers there lived off the sea, while we relied on the land. We'd often trade grain for seafood with them.

Using the business smarts from my past life, I decided to buy the fishing village and start a seaside resort called Harbor City.

Joseph offered me a helping hand out of the blue. We were both using each other, really. He helped me get back to the Reeves family and snag their business. In return, I promised to back the Burke family once everything was set.noveldrama

During this time, I pulled Griffin out of the sea. He'd been washed ashore by the waves. When I first laid eyes on him, he was a mess: covered in mud, clothes in tatters, beard wild, hair long as if he'd been out at sea forever. Bits of broken wood surrounded him, and I figured he'd somehow made a raft and drifted his way here.

The image of "Robinson Crusoe" popped into my head. Not that Griffin was Robinson Crusoe he was a bit more dashing. The illustration from the book flashed through my mind instead.

Saving Griffin wasn't just me being all noble. If he'd died out there, it could've thrown a wrench in my whole seaside resort plan. I wasn't about to let a death mess things up before I even got started. So, I took Griffin with me that same day.

Griffin was a man of few words.

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Maybe it was all that drifting at sea,

but he hardly spoke. At that point,

Mary

hadn't earned a dime yet. Aunt wasn't thrilled about me bringing guy back to the village. She even suspected we were an items was adamant about kicking Griffin out.

In our household, one more person meant one more mouth to feed. And who was going to foot the bill for that extra share, especially since was broke? But as long as Griffin was alive, my resort plan stayed on track. That night, I hadn't even planned on letting him crash. I just wanted to nudge him into leaving.