Bride Hits Back

The coach looked me up and down, his gaze lingering on my thin arms and legs for three seconds before he snorted.

"Punch someone's head open? With that little frame? One slap and someone could send you flying."

I did not say a word. I took a stack of cash from my bag and slapped it on the table.

Fifty thousand dollars. Two years of private savings.

The coach pushed the money back with contempt.

"I don't need pocket change."

But when I rolled up my sleeves and showed him the bruises Derek had left on me after getting drunk, the coach calmly picked up the liability waiver on the table and pushed it toward me.

"Sign this. If anything happens during training, the base takes no responsibility."

"Including but not limited to fractures, concussions, and internal bleeding."

I grabbed the pen and signed my name without hesitation.

The coach put away the waiver, and the joking expression on his face disappeared instantly.

"Fine. Starting today, I will train you at the intensity of a professional kickboxer before retirement."

"I don't know whether you will be able to punch someone's head open in a month, but I guarantee I will train you until you want to smash your own."

On the first day, the sparring partner threw me forty-seven times.

Every time my back slammed into the mat, images from my previous life flashed before my eyes.

Chloe's spinning kick knocking me unconscious.

When I woke again, I was paralyzed in a hospital bed, tubes running through my body.

Derek stood at the foot of the bed holding Chloe's hand, wearing a troubled expression.

"Vivian, our relatives and friends gave us so much wedding money. The wedding can't go on without a bride. Chloe is willing to take care of me for you. You're so kind. You won't mind, right?"

Would I not mind?

On the third day after I became paralyzed, he married Chloe.

He used my money and lived in my house.

Everyone praised Derek for being loyal and responsible. Everyone praised Chloe for being kind and virtuous.

Not a single person asked whether the bride who had been kicked into a severe concussion and left paralyzed from the waist down could still bear to live.

Thinking of all that, I climbed up from the mat and beckoned to the sparring partner.

"Again."

The sparring partner looked at the coach.

The coach nodded.

"Go."

That night, I lay on the hard plank bed in the training base dormitory. There was not a single part of my body that did not hurt.

My phone screen lit up.

Derek had sent a message.

"Honey, I just finished working overtime and finally got dinner. I'm watching everything with the wedding company, so just relax and wait to be the most beautiful bride."

I stared at the words "working overtime" and opened my social feed.

Three minutes earlier, Chloe had posted something.

It was a selfie of her in a wedding dress. In the background, on the arm of a sofa, was a dark blue Hermes tie. It was the birthday gift I had given Derek last month.

Her caption had only one line: "Only the favored get the privilege of trying on the dress."

I tightened my grip on the phone, opened Derek's chat, and replied with a voice message.

"Honey, thank you for working so hard. I'll leave everything with the wedding company to you. I trust you completely."

Then I typed another message.

"By the way, honey, I saw a limited-edition couture wedding dress. Only three in the world. The deposit is two hundred thousand. What do you think?"

"Isn't that a little too expensive? An ordinary dress would look good too."

"But I will only get married once in this life. And didn't you say you would give me the grandest wedding in the city?"

He was silent for almost two minutes.

Finally, he sent one word.

"Fine."

The corner of my mouth twitched. I turned off the phone and rolled over to face the wall.

Derek Hale.

In my last life, you wanted my money, my house, and my life.

In this life, I will drain you first.