The Vale family lived on Military Road in Ravencrest City.
Before the city’s modern expansion, this district had been home to some of Ravencrest’s wealthiest families.
The road was lined mostly with elegant European-style garden villas, their walls and iron gates hidden behind rows of towering plane trees.
The decades-old trees had grown incredibly tall.
During summer, their thick branches formed a natural canopy over the road, shielding pedestrians from the scorching sun.
By autumn, the entire street would transform into a sea of brilliant gold.
Whenever the autumn breeze swept through, fallen leaves would cover the ground, and every step would produce a soft, rustling crunch.
In another ten years or so, Military Road would become one of the city’s favorite locations for photographers.
Newlyweds would flock there to take their wedding photographs beneath the golden canopy.
It wasn’t merely because the name of the road carried an auspicious meaning.
The autumn scenery of Military Road was genuinely beautiful.
It looked like a painting brought to life.
And in another dozen years or so, the garden villas along Military Road would become incredibly valuable.
Their prices would soar to astronomical figures, and owning one would become something most people could only dream about.
The large house registered under Evelyn Vale’s name, for example, would probably be worth tens of millions.
No wonder Damien and Claire Vale had been willing to resort to unscrupulous methods for the sake of the property.
No wonder Richard Vale had been willing to disregard family affection and abandon both her and Ethan Vale.
Evelyn sneered.
In her previous life, even if she and Ethan had both died, Richard would never have gotten his hands on this property.
Perhaps it really was a case of a fool having a fool’s luck.
In her previous life, Evelyn had loved Damien far too deeply.
That was why she had secretly prepared a will.
If she and Ethan ever died in an accident, half of all the property registered under her name would go to Damien.
The other half would go to Alexander Blackwood.
And if Damien also died in an accident, the property would then belong entirely to Alexander.
At the time, Evelyn had believed she had failed Alexander.
She had wanted to compensate him financially.
Unfortunately, Damien had schemed and calculated everything so carefully.
In the end, he had still died by Evelyn’s own hands.
Evelyn’s lips curled into a cold sneer.
In this lifetime, Damien will never receive a single benefit from me again.
Not only would she take back everything that belonged to her, but she would also destroy Damien’s reputation.
She would make him a rat crossing the street—someone everyone would despise and want to drive away.
With those thoughts in mind, Evelyn stepped off the bus.
A wave of scorching heat immediately rolled over her.
She quickly ran beneath the shade of the trees.
Fortunately, the plane trees along Military Road were thick and lush enough that the temperature beneath their branches felt completely different from the blazing street outside.
Evelyn raised her wrist and checked the time.
It was nearly five o’clock.
Richard and Margaret would be coming home soon.
Richard was the Head of the Security Section at Sunset Machinery Factory in Ravencrest City.
Victoria Vale had also worked at the same machinery factory before her death.
Margaret had originally been an ordinary worker at a neighborhood collective factory.
After marrying Richard, however, he had used his connections to transfer her to a logistics position in the cafeteria of Sunset Machinery Factory.
Because Margaret worked in the cafeteria, the Vale family’s meals were considerably better than those of most surrounding families.
They could have fish and meat almost every day.
Other families were often lucky if they could afford meat once every few days.
Evelyn continued walking.
Just as she passed the entrance to an alleyway, she suddenly heard the shouting voices of several children.
“Fool!
Pick up that ball!”
“William!
The fool in your family isn’t listening!”
William’s voice rang out. You are reading on g.com, the official source.
“Watch me.
That fool just needs a beating!”
“Don’t hit me…
Sister…”
Ethan’s weak voice followed.
Then came the arrogant laughter of the other children.
William’s laughter was the loudest.
“Crawl through my legs, and I won’t hit you!”
William spread his legs and pointed between them.
His face was filled with malicious amusement as he looked down at the bewildered Ethan.
Damn it!
Evelyn had kicked him earlier that day and even scolded him.
He absolutely had to vent his anger somewhere.
And Ethan was the easiest target.
“Crawl!”
“Look at that stupid dog crawling between his legs!”
The other children clapped and laughed.
Ethan’s weak attempts to resist were completely drowned out by their cruel laughter.
Evelyn’s blood instantly boiled.
Her footsteps stopped.
Then she turned and ran toward the source of the voices.
The alleyway behind the Vale family residence was relatively open, and children often gathered there to play.
But when Evelyn reached the scene, the anger inside her exploded.
A group of half-grown children had surrounded Ethan Vale.
William was forcefully pressing Ethan’s head downward, trying to make him crawl between his legs.
Ethan struggled helplessly beneath his hands.
Evelyn’s eyes turned red.
The sight dragged memories of her previous life straight to the surface.
Her little brother had been bullied like this before.
And she had known nothing about it.
She had been too consumed by Damien to notice.
Too blind to see what was happening right in front of her.
Now she was seeing it.
And this time, she would not stand by and watch.
Her fists clenched tightly.
Then Evelyn shouted at the top of her voice—
“Let go!”
Taking ActionEvelyn Vale let out a furious roar and charged forward, knocking aside the surrounding children.
She kicked William hard in the chest before helping Ethan up.
He had been pinned to the ground and forced to crawl like a dog.
“Ethan, don’t be afraid.
Sister is here.
Let’s see who dares to bully you!”
Seeing the fear and helplessness on Ethan’s face, Evelyn’s heart clenched.
“Sister…”
Ethan’s eyes immediately brightened.
His chubby face was covered with tears, red finger marks, and dust.
His clothes were filthy, marked with several footprints.
He looked like a messy little kitten.
The anger inside Evelyn erupted like volcanic magma.
She wanted nothing more than to make every child who had hurt her brother pay.
What “human nature is inherently good”?
At that moment, Evelyn felt human nature could be frighteningly cruel.
And nobody better tell her that children simply didn’t know any better.
Whether they had done it for fun or because William had ordered them to, they had bullied her brother.
To Evelyn, that was enough.
She wasn’t going to let a single one of them off.
The children in the alley were terrified by the cold aura radiating from her.
They had never imagined that the usually lively Evelyn could suddenly become as frightening as an assassin from a television drama.
Several children secretly tried to slip away.
Evelyn gave them a cold look.
“Whoever dares to move, I’ll break their legs!”
The boy attempting to escape immediately froze, his legs trembling beneath him.
Evelyn took a handkerchief from her bag and gently wiped the dirt from Ethan’s face.
She brushed the dust from his clothes before carefully lifting his shirt to check for injuries.
His elbows were scraped, and several red marks covered his body where someone had pinched him.
“Ethan, tell Sister.
Who pinched you?”
Ethan gave her a simple, innocent smile before pointing toward the boy who had tried to sneak away.
“He pinched me!”
The boy shuddered violently.
“William told me to pinch him!
He said he’d give me candy for every pinch!”
“It was William who told us to hit him!”
“Sister Evelyn, we know we were wrong!”
The other children immediately confessed one after another.
They were already regretting their actions.
They had bullied Ethan because William had promised them candy, but now Evelyn looked terrifying enough to make them wish they had never touched him.
Evelyn stared coldly at the children.
She knew every one of them.
They lived in the alley behind her family’s home.
Although only a narrow lane separated their neighborhoods, the difference between them was enormous.
Evelyn’s neighborhood was filled with beautiful European-style garden villas.
Behind it, however, stood rows of cramped, old-fashioned courtyard homes where several families were squeezed together.
A dozen families might share the same courtyard, including communal bathrooms, kitchens, and washing areas.
Some families had three generations packed into a room barely large enough for a bed and a few pieces of furniture.
Once everything was inside, there was hardly enough space to turn around.
Some residents even made use of the space outside their windows, hanging hammocks from steel cables.
They would fold them away at dawn and stretch them out again at dusk, sleeping suspended above the ground at night.
It was enough to make anyone nervous.
Most of these children came from struggling families and rarely had snacks or sweets.
William, however, had been spoiled at home.
He never lacked pocket money and frequently used candy and small treats to buy the children’s loyalty.
Bullying Ethan had become a common occurrence.
Evelyn’s expression darkened.
She grabbed the boy standing directly in front of her.
His name was Zuba.
In her previous life, he had grown into a thoroughly rotten young man, becoming involved in petty theft, drinking, gambling, and other vices.
He was just like William—a troublemaker who eventually became involved in all kinds of wrongdoing.
Evelyn tightened her grip and stared directly into his frightened eyes.
“I’ll give you two choices.”
She raised her fist.
“Either I break your legs…”
Her gaze shifted toward William.
“…or you give William a good beating.”
Zuba stared at her.
He hesitated for exactly three seconds.
Then he made his choice.