This Summer

This summer, the temperature soared suddenly. Rosalie suggested that the whole family go to Prastin to escape the heat and go diving. I suddenly realized that the climate in Prastin this year was different from previous years and suggested that we stay for just a few days before returning home.

Rosalie exploded, "Prastin is a summer resort! If you don't know anything, just shut up, you ignorant fool. In another month, the weather will get cooler and cooler. I'm not going home until we've stayed for a month."

My mom eagerly agreed with her.

After landing, they were scammed at the seafood market by a scam restaurant. When some thugs held knives to their throats and demanded an exorbitant payment, they forced me to pay. Later, the Earth's magnetic field became chaotic, and the once cool sea breeze turned into a deadly heatwave. The summer resort turned into a living hell.

The airport suspended flights due to the high temperatures, and our family was trapped in a guesthouse. Ignoring the government's high-temperature warnings, Rosalie insisted on going diving to cool off. As a result, during an extreme heatwave, a sudden tide trapped her. At the critical moment, my brother pushed me into the water. Rosalie grabbed my hair and used my head as a support to get rescued. I was swept into the scalding sea and drowned.

A rescue worker who tried to retrieve my body also tragically lost his life. Facing the accusations of those around us, my mom said, "It's all my daughter's fault for not listening and insisting on diving. She deserved what happened to her."

After this incident, they finally realized the dangers of the high temperatures. The three of them stayed in the guesthouse, banding together to endure the heat until the government rescue arrived.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day Rosalie suggested we go to Prastin to escape the heat.

"It's so hot, unbearably hot. This summer has just begun, and it's already this hot!"

"Why don't we all go to Prastin to escape the heat? We can think of it as a family vacation."

Rosalie's voice echoed in my ears.

I suddenly opened my eyes. The salty, hot seawater had not yet filled my nostrils. Two seconds later, I confirmed that I had been given a second chance, reborn on the day Rosalie suggested the family go to Prastin to escape the heat.

This summer, the weather was hotter than usual. It had just begun, and the temperature had already exceeded 36°C for several days in a row. Prastin had always been the first choice for most people to escape the heat. But I knew that in a few days, Prastin would become a living hell.

Due to abnormal weather, Prastin, located near the equator, would see temperatures soar to 70°C under the sun's rays. It was a temperature that could kill.

My mom looked at Rosalie's expectant eyes and my brother Mathew's hesitant expression and asked me earnestly, "Elissa, I remember you have a friend who runs a guesthouse in Prastin. We can take care of her business while we're there."

Hearing my mom say this, Rosalie and Mathew both turned their eyes to me. They were used to taking advantage of me, always had been.

In my previous life, when my mom asked this question, it meant that all the travel arrangements for this trip were handed over to me. Out of family affection, I took on the burden without complaint. But later, after landing, I noticed the weather was unusual and suggested we stay for just a few days before returning. Rosalie felt I was ruining her fun and berated me at the airport. My mom turned a blind eye to Rosalie's abuse and even nodded in agreement.

They feasted at the seafood market, forgetting that I was allergic to seafood, and then made me pay the exorbitant bill. Ignoring the government's high-temperature warnings, Rosalie insisted on diving. The magnetic field became chaotic, the tide rose, and she got trapped. My brother decisively pushed me into the sea when Rosalie was drowning, letting her step on my body to get ashore and be rescued. I missed the best rescue time and was swept away by the scalding sea. After I drowned, my mom lied to cover up the truth, saying it was all my fault and that I deserved it.

Memories flashed through my mind repeatedly. In this life, family affection had nothing to do with me.

Under my mom's eager gaze, I replied, "I don't know. If you want to go, you should contact her yourselves."

"What do you mean by 'you'? Aren't you part of this family?"

As soon as I finished speaking, my sister-in-law immediately started complaining:

"I just married into your family, and this is the honeymoon trip you arranged for me? Do you have any shame?"

My brother, Mathew, suddenly put on the commanding presence of the head of the family, asserting:

"Elissa, if you still consider yourself my sister, you'll cover all the expenses for this honeymoon trip. Otherwise, don't blame me for kicking you out."

After he finished speaking, he and my sister-in-law stared at me with a condescending look.

It was then that I remembered that the house we were living in now belonged to my brother.

This house used to be mine, but as my brother's wedding approached, he still hadn't bought a new house. To ensure the wedding went smoothly, my mother, with tearful eyes, begged me to transfer the house to my brother temporarily. She promised that once my sister-in-law saw the house deed, they would return it to me.

I was initially unwilling, but I couldn't resist my mother's tears and emotional manipulation, so I eventually agreed. However, when I brought up the house again later, they said, "We're all family. Is a house really that important?"

"What if your sister-in-law finds out? Do you really want to make things difficult for me?"

"You're such a good sister. It's really amusing that family ties mean less to you than a house."

Under their moral coercion, I never mentioned it again.

The love they gave me never made me feel warm, but it also couldn't be severed. It was like wearing a wet, sticky shirt on a rainy day.

It wasn't until after I died that I realized my mother occasionally showed me warmth just to use family ties to manipulate me into helping my brother.

Thinking about this, I suddenly changed my mind. Why should I avoid them? This time, I wanted to watch them meet their downfall.

My thoughts returned to the present, and I immediately softened my attitude: "Alright then, I'll handle the arrangements for the trip to Prastin. Consider it my support for my brother's honeymoon."

Upon hearing this, my sister-in-law immediately smiled and happily went back to her room to prepare for the trip.

My brother, as if suddenly remembering something, put on that insincere concern again and patted my shoulder:

"You should come with us. It's so hot, what if you get heatstroke staying at home alone? Mom and I would be worried. Our family should stick together for this trip."

Ha, more of that insincere concern.

That night, I contacted a friend who ran a guesthouse in Prastin and asked her to reserve a standard family suite for us, but to double the online rental price.

Early the next morning, we all headed to the airport. As soon as we landed, a blistering heatwave hit us, making my cheeks sting.

The heat this time was even more abnormal than the last time, but I didn't say a word.

Instead, my mother was the first to speak: "Why does it feel hotter here than at home? Maybe we should just stay for a few days and then go back."

My sister-in-law immediately retorted with the same words she had used in the previous life, "What do you mean stay for a few days and then go back? Prastin has always been a summer resort. If you don't know, don't talk nonsense. I'm not going home until we've stayed for a full month."

Perhaps out of respect for my mother as an elder, my sister-in-law's words weren't as harsh, but her tone still carried undisguised contempt and urgency.

After all, we were in a public place, and various travelers around us heard her words. My mother remained silent, her eyes filled with tears.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her eyes fill with tears.

She didn't dare to look to my brother for help, so she turned her gaze to me.

Unfortunately, this time I wasn't going to stick my neck out. I pretended not to hear.

Soon, we took a taxi to the guesthouse. However, upon seeing the room, my sister-in-law loudly demanded a refund.

Yesterday Evening

Last night, at my suggestion, my friend Stacey arranged a mid-range suite for us. The room wasn't too shabby, but it certainly wasn't the luxurious presidential suite they had envisioned.

In a previous life, Stacey had reserved a high-end suite for me at a discounted rate, charging me only half the price. Despite this, my sister-in-law remained dissatisfied, loudly complaining:

"A honeymoon is a once-in-a-lifetime event, and your sister is so stingy. How could she let her sister-in-law stay in such a cheap room?"

"How good can a cheap room be? I think she just doesn't want to spend money."

Even after my repeated explanations, she insisted that I had arranged a cheap room for them. At my mother's urging, I ended up spending several months' salary to upgrade their suite.

This time, due to my coordination with my friend, there were no extra rooms available for an upgrade, and the prices had even been raised significantly. If you're about to die, it doesn't matter where you stay; a piece of rotten meat can be placed anywhere.

Stacey remained unfazed by my sister-in-law's unreasonable demands and calmly stated, "Currently, rooms are in high demand. The rooms we reserved are fully booked. I'm only giving you an 80% discount because of Elissa."

My brother, Mathew, looked skeptical and pulled out his phone to check the prices online. When he saw that it was eight thousand a month, his face turned pale. His monthly salary was only five thousand. The cheaper inns were more than ten kilometers away in Antason. With no extra rooms available for an upgrade, they had no choice but to grit their teeth and stay.

Not long after settling in, my sister-in-law started clamoring for food.

"How can we come to Prastin and not try the seafood? It's all freshly caught."

My brother eagerly licked his lips. I quickly said, "I won't be eating seafood. I'm allergic. You guys go ahead."

My sister-in-law sneered, "Can't even eat seafood? What a miserable life. You'd better not come."

I chuckled to myself. The more they enjoyed eating, the more miserable they'd be when it came time to pay the bill. The local seafood markets in Prastin were notorious for overcharging tourists, with a saying that you might drive there but end up needing a taxi back due to the high prices.

In my previous life, they had only mentioned going out to eat, not specifically for seafood. When we arrived, they ordered a table full of seafood dishes, and because of my allergy, I only asked for a bowl of fried rice. Little did I know, the seafood restaurant was a scam, and the meal cost nine thousand. With tensions running high and even some thugs standing at the door with knives, I had no choice but to pay for my own safety.

This time, without me to foot the bill, I wanted to see how my brother would handle those thugs.

After they left, I immediately went to find my friend. Stacey and I had been friends since school, from high school through college, sharing the same class and dorm room. Over the years, our bond had remained strong.

I told her everything that had happened in my previous life, including how I had been killed and how the temperature in Prastin would soon rise to seventy degrees Celsius. I thought Stacey would focus on the extreme heat, but instead, she hugged me and cried, cursing my mother and brother.

"Damn it, they're both beasts."

"Was it painful when you died?"

Hearing this, I couldn't hold back any longer. Since my rebirth, I had thought my heart had become a fortress, but I realized I could still let down my guard and accept care. Family isn't just about blood; it's about who cares for you.

We chatted in the room, planning how to deal with the extreme heat. Once everything was settled, my phone rang. It was my mother.

"Jia Jia, come quickly. Your brother has been stabbed..."

"Alright, I'm on my way."