April, 1956.
Huacheng Wharf.
"If you want revenge, don’t pin it on the wrong people. Your cousin and your uncle are the real ones behind this. Even if you turn into a ghost, make sure you go after the right folks."
"Boss, are we really gonna chuck her into the sea for the fish? Ain’t that a bit too vicious? Maybe we ought to forget it..."
Isolde Ashworth’s mind was full of question marks.
"What???"
What in the world was going on?
Hadn’t she gone to sleep perfectly fine in her own bed? Where had these strange voices come from, buzzing right by her ear?
And this cousin, this uncle—what did any of that have to do with her?
And throwing her into the sea? What kind of nonsense was that?
She was the head of an ancient martial family, a top-tier expert skilled in martial arts, mental discipline, mystic arts, medicine, and poison. She had always been the one dealing with other people. Since when did anyone get to deal with her?
What a joke.
Never mind anything else—just her martial skill alone, plus that frightening knack for using poison that made people tremble at the mere mention of it—
And that wasn’t even counting the spirit-spring space she had for saving her life.
While Isolde Ashworth was still trying to make sense of it, another rough, hoarse voice sounded beside her.
"No way! Miss Cao said she has to go into the sea, or it doesn’t count. If we don’t do it, forget about getting the rest of the money."
"There’s still half left unpaid. What, we’re supposed to give up five thousand bucks just because you went soft for a minute?"
Isolde Ashworth frowned. Inwardly, she thought, so her life was only worth ten thousand?
Just as she was about to see which blind fool had the nerve to lay hands on her—
A flood of memories that did not belong to her suddenly slammed into her mind.
Damn!!
What kind of rotten luck was this?
She had somehow, for no reason at all, crossed over.
And of all things, she had landed inside that period novel she had just finished reading—inside the body of the rich capitalist heiress who got killed the moment she appeared, before she even had a chance to properly show her face.
The original girl even had the same name as her.
Isolde Ashworth.
But that girl’s fate had been pure cannon fodder from start to finish.
She existed for one reason only—to hand over a mountain of wealth to the novel’s male and female leads.
In the book, the very first chapter had barely begun before the original Isolde was murdered, dumped into the sea, and fed to the fish. It was a brutal death.
Six years ago, the girl’s parents had gone abroad on business. On the way back inland by ship from Xiangjiang, something happened.
Not long after that, her own maternal uncle used her young age as an excuse, saying she needed proper care, and openly moved his whole family into the Ashworth residence.
From then on, that family spent the original girl’s money, ate the Ashworth family’s food, and all the while secretly kept their eyes fixed on the Ashworth estate.
And that dear cousin of hers—the reborn heroine in the book—had set her sights on Isolde’s fiancé and wanted to snatch her place for herself.
But that fiancé was no decent man either. On one hand, he sweet-talked the original girl, coaxed her till she was dizzy and trusting, and turned her into his personal purse.
On the other hand, he was secretly tangled up with that “good” cousin, just waiting for the cousin to get rid of Isolde so the two of them could swallow up the Ashworth fortune whole.
After that, the pair could go hand in hand to Xiangjiang and live like some blissful fairy-tale couple, carefree and pleased with themselves.
As for the uncle and aunt’s side of the family, they too lived comfortably off the Ashworth money, passing their days in ease.
To put it plainly, whether it was that trash of a fiancé or her blood-related uncle’s family, all of them used the Ashworth family fortune to live in wealth and comfort, while Isolde Ashworth—the true young lady of the house—lost her life early.
The original girl had already lost both parents at thirteen.
And the only uncle she had was a cold-blooded beast.
Worse still, she had been simple-minded enough to believe her uncle, aunt, and cousin truly cared about her. So even though they had thrown their weight around in her house all these years, she never seriously argued with them.
Who could have guessed—
They had long been waiting for the chance to kill her, seize her property, and enjoy the good life themselves.