Stella King is dead.
She died at the age of 68.
She felt ill, a condition that was not initially fatal until her beloved nephew cut off her oxygen supply.
She was the eldest in the family and had spent her life helping her maternal family, supporting her brothers.
Her own mother cajoled her to buy houses and cars for her brothers, nephews, and nieces. She was manipulated into writing her last will, leaving all her properties to her brothers and nephews, with the assurance that when she got old, they would take care of her.
Yet, when she fell ill, not only did she not receive any meal from her brothers and nephews, but her so-called good nephew took her life by removing her oxygen supply.
At that time, her condition was treatable, but it required money.
Her impatient nephew could not wait. He sneaked into her single ward at night and pulled out her oxygen tube.
Experiencing discomfort, she woke up and tried to call the doctor, but her nephew covered her mouth.
His face was contorted with a sinister smile. "Auntie, you are almost 70. Everyone has to die. Why waste more money? Don't you realize that every day you stay in the hospital, you're wasting my money? All mine!"
A tear slipped from her eyes...
Did she regret anything in her life?
She did...
Her biggest regret was not treating him—her husband Barren Grayson, who had passed away early. In the many years that followed, she never met anyone as good as him again...
As she choked on her last breath, her nephew's savage face blurred in front of her, fading into a vision of a hard, dark face.
"Barren Grayson..." His name flashed through her mind before she completely lost consciousness.
At that moment, her heart was filled with regret.
Barren Grayson, if I could do everything all over again, I would never treat you the way I did...
However, Stella King never expected that she indeed had a chance to start over.
She lay in the bed of Barren Grayson's old house, staring at the window decorated with floweres under the light of candles, her mind full of restlessness.
She had returned to 48 years ago, when she was 20 years old.
That year, her mother accepted a bride-price of 100 dollars from the Grayson family and forced her to marry into their family.
She had no affection for her husband, the second son of the Grayson family, Barren Grayson, and disliked everything about him.
She despised his dark skin, the fact that he was seven or eight years older than her, his crude and unsophisticated behaviors because he had been a soldier, the kid he brought along, and his distant nature that left everything to her, including the kid...
From the moment she moved into the Grayson family, she turned their lives upside down and even took their possessions back to her parents' house.
Several years later, Barren Grayson sacrificed his life.
Despite her behavior, Barren Grayson left a will that granted his pension entirely to her, along with an apology for wasting her youth...
It was with the pension he traded his life for that she started her restaurant business, starting from a small county town to the city, and then to the metropolis...
Lying in the bed, Stella King's thoughts were in chaos. It was already dark outside, but Barren Grayson hadn't come into the room yet.
Half a year ago, she married Barren Grayson reluctantly. To avoid having to spend her wedding night with him, she deliberately made herself ill by exposing herself to the cold winter. The next day, Barren Grayson was called back to his military duty due to an emergency. As a result, nothing had happened between them.
Barren Grayson was a very smart man. He could easily perceive her thoughts. In their past life, he knew she was uncomfortable, so during a return trip to visit their families, he found a reason to sleep in separate rooms.
Will he still do the same in this life?
She calculated carefully in her heart, only four years left till his death.
If the outcome of this life was still the same, she would rather accompany him as much as possible in the coming few years no matter what happens.
After much consideration, she made a decision and rushed out of her room.
Barren Grayson was taking a shower.
She knew it!
Beside the pigsty, in the bathing room, she could hear the squelching sound of water.
She took a deep breath, plucked up her courage, then dashed forward, pushing open that wobbly door that had no preventative effect.
And then, she was astonished by the view in the bathroom.
Being married to him for a lifetime, she didn't realize that he had such a great physique!
Although his skin was a bit dark, he was a soldier after all!
That healthy masculine energy, the perfect lines of muscle could definitely rival a sculpture! She must have been blind in her past life to despise him!
Her gaze was firmly fixed onto his body now, trailing down along the water droplets rolling on his skin.
At this moment, she was as focused as those water drops themselves.
However, Barren Grayson quickly wrapped himself in a towel.
"Get out!" He commanded her with a cold rebuke.
"I…I came to pick up your dirty clothes!" She blushed embarrassed, casually picked up his clothes, and ran away in disarray. As she fled through the door, her arm banged into the door frame, causing her immense pain.
Once back in her room, her heart was still pounding erratically. His wet droplets on his bronzed skin kept rolling in her mind.
With a small whimper, she slid under the covers. Her arm throbbed once more.
Regrettably, she thought to herself, "Indeed, beauty can lead one astray!"
She had completely forgotten her injured arm that she hurt this morning!
This morning, she bumped into a local troublemaker in the mountains who tried to assault her. In her scramble to escape, she tripped and gashed her arm quite badly.
The wound had stopped bleeding, but after the two impacts, it started to bleed again.
She hissed in pain, but then she heard the door.
He was back.
She hurriedly lied straight on the bed.
The door opened, indeed it was him. He hasn't dressed but has covered himself with a piece of old cloth.
Stella King stared at that piece of cloth, feeling inexplicably disappointed.
He, on the contrary, had a stern expression on his face and noticed his clothes on the table.
"You took my clean clothes!" He said coldly.
Stella King cannot felt more embarrassed and shamed.
Stella flustered at that moment, and how could she differentiate between clean and dirty! It was all just an excuse!
But, she cannot let him have the upper hand!
"Who... who allowed you to be cold to me? If you become so cold, I will... I will..." She is choking back with shimmering tears in her eyes, portraying a deeply wronged appearance.
Barren Grayson stopped talking.
Barren Grayson was momentarily speechless, picked up his clothes and left.
When he returned, he had put on trousers and a tank top- a military green tank top, revealing his arms and shoulders. Leftover water droplets tracing down the contours of his muscles...
Stella King was awestruck, it was only when he stood by her bed that she snapped back.
He leaned in and looked at her, slightly squinting his eyes, appearing to be thinking.
Her breath hitched.
This didn't happen in her previous life!
The air was suddenly full of humid water vapor, suffocating.
"You...ah - " Before she could say anything, she felt her hand being pulled.
She exclaimed out in shock.
"Does it hurt?" He suddenly asked.
His abrupt low voice stuck interrupted her mess of thoughts and she could clearly feel his breathing in her ears...
