Not only had Willie and his wife unknowingly lost the money they spent on buying me as a child bride, but their eldest brother and Uncle had also gained wives—whether they wanted to or not. They showered me with praise, calling me the Conrad Family's lucky star, marveling at my cleverness.
Aside from forbidding me from leaving, they treated me fairly well. I spent my days following Simon, calling him "Brother" and playing with him. The fool adored me. Ever since he learned I was his future wife, he would give me all the chicken legs from the meals his parents prepared to nourish his body.
Later, I discovered that Rosemary and Sally weren’t as fortunate.
Tied up day after day, they became Erick and Daryl’s playthings, their anger and frustration taken out on them. Within half a year, Rosemary was pregnant. The poetic justice of it all only deepened my satisfaction—those vile traffickers were finally experiencing the very suffering they had inflicted on others.
Meanwhile, Simon was truly kind to me. He obeyed my every word and even persuaded Willie and his wife to send me to school with him. He protected me, shielding me from their demands for labor. At first, Willie and his wife resisted, but when Devin cried, threw tantrums, and even went on a hunger strike, they had no choice but to relent.
I was allowed to attend the village school, but only under the alias "Zhang Amber." They told everyone I was an orphan they had taken in out of kindness. The villagers, seeing my obedient and intelligent nature, believed them without question. They even praised the Zhangs for their generosity, saying that good deeds had rewarded them with such a wonderful daughter-in-law.
Over the years, I cared for Simon like a younger brother. Once, when he sprained his ankle in the mountains, I carried him home despite the blisters forming on my own feet. Willie and his wife were convinced that I truly cared for their son.
And in a way, I did.
Simon, despite his foolishness, had a heart purer than anyone I had ever known. Across both of my lives, no one had ever treated me with as much genuine kindness as he did. In my past life, under his protection, I had avoided the complete mental collapse that the abuse could have driven me to.
A decade passed in the blink of an eye.