"Brother Felix said it himself—he’ll marry nobody but me. Grandpa, Grandma, you can’t just break us up, can you? I’m not marrying that rough soldier."

"It’s only a switch in marriage, that’s all. Jade Holloway isn’t losing out. Ethan Mercer is a proper army officer. Plenty of girls would fight tooth and nail for a match like that. Letting her marry him is doing her a favor."

A dull throb hammered at the back of Jade Holloway’s head, sharp as needles boring into her nerves. The dry, bitter smell of yellow dirt rushed into her throat and made her choke. She snapped her eyes open.

The first thing she saw was a mud-brick wall, smoked so long it had turned black. By her ear, a shrill, smug female voice kept rattling on without pause, buzzing around her like a fly that wouldn’t leave.

Jade braced one hand on the cold earthen floor and pushed herself upright. Her palm came away gritty with dust. Blood from her temple slid down along her brow bone and dripped onto her faded coarse-cloth jacket, spreading into a small dark brown stain.

Then, all at once, a flood of jumbled memories crashed into her mind—she had transmigrated into a book, into a story set in the 1970s, and become the cannon-fodder supporting girl who happened to share her name: Jade Holloway.

Today was the very day the Holloway family was forcing her to swap engagements with her cousin, Lana Holloway. The original Jade had refused to back down. In the middle of the struggle, Lana had shoved her hard into the corner of the table. She’d split her head open, failed to hold on, and that was when Jade took her place.

She sorted through the whole mess fast enough: this Lana Holloway was probably reborn.

In her last life, the original Jade had made a bad match and married the wrong man, Felix Quinn. Only after the wedding did she learn the truth—the man was not only violent, he was also impotent. Later, when reform and opening-up began, she went into business herself and, by sheer grit, built a real name for herself.

As for Felix Quinn, he had it easy. He did nothing at all and still ended up enjoying the title of richest man.

Lana Holloway, on the other hand, had married the officer Ethan Mercer, and her life had gone completely downhill. The two of them couldn’t get along, their marriage existed in name only, and in the end she came to a miserable finish.

Now that she had a second chance, Lana had made up her mind to snatch Felix Quinn away and shove Ethan Mercer—the so-called "fire pit"—straight onto the original Jade.

This time around, the woman standing beside the future richest man had to be her. As for Ethan Mercer, well, let Jade Holloway marry him instead.

Watching Lana act this shameless just to marry Felix Quinn, Jade found it downright laughable.

And the people in this room—every one of them had simply stood there and watched while the original Jade got bullied. The more Jade thought about it, the angrier she got.

Mr. Holloway and Mrs. Holloway had always favored the second branch of the family. Since their precious granddaughter had already spoken, to them this was nothing more than changing one marriage arrangement.

"Jade, then you’ll marry Ethan Mercer."

Just one sentence, and her whole life was decided. If it had been the original Jade, she probably would have swallowed it and obeyed.

But she was not the original Jade, and she was not that easy to push around. She first lifted a hand and lightly touched her injured head. Then she spoke slowly, "I can agree to the marriage swap. But I have three conditions."

The moment she heard Jade relent, Lana’s heart leapt with joy. In her head, she was already picturing her future life as the wife of a rich man. The excitement inside her was almost too much to hold down.

Mr. Holloway and Mrs. Holloway were both caught off guard for a second, though Mr. Holloway still managed to keep a straight face.

Mrs. Holloway was a different story. She was used to ordering the original Jade Holloway around and barking at her whenever she pleased, so the moment she opened her mouth, the scolding came flying out.

"You wretched girl, all we asked was for you to swap the marriage, and now you’ve even learned to make demands? We’ve clearly spoiled you rotten. This marriage will be swapped whether you agree or not."

"Fine. Then I won’t swap."

"Grandma."

Lana Holloway was so anxious she nearly stamped a hole in the floor. For her granddaughter’s sake, Mrs. Holloway finally swallowed back the harsher words sitting on the tip of her tongue.

"Go on, then. What do you want?"