Reborn and Ruthless: My Stepsister’s Sweet Act Ends Here

The day I marry Navy Captain Dean Aldridge, I hear his stepsister Shirley Pierce's inner voice.

"Diane is so beautiful and graceful. I wish I could be like her, but I'm nothing more than an unwanted burden in this family…

"I really adore her, though. I saved up my allowance to buy her a bracelet as a wedding gift, but I'm afraid she'll think it's unlucky and refuse it."

In my last life, those words had filled my heart with pity. I'd accepted the bracelet and even taken Shirley under my wing, teaching her to read and write.

But not long after my wedding, my health began to deteriorate for no reason. It wasn't until I lay dying that I discovered the truth—the bracelet Shirley had given me was cursed, and she'd deliberately made me hear her inner voice.

She'd long been in love with Dean and was determined to make the Aldridge family hers one day.

Now, when I open my eyes again, I find myself back on my wedding day.

I heard Shirley Pierce's timid thoughts as she shrank by the doorway. Despite the resentment surging through me, I raised my hand and beckoned her over with a look of tender affection.

Noticing the way I gestured for her, her face flushed red as she clutched a small box in one hand and the other fidgeted nervously with her dress.

She opened her mouth yet failed to say a single word, looking utterly nervous and uneasy.

Beside her, one of the relatives chuckled and teased. "What's wrong, Shirley? Is your new sister-in-law so frightening that you can't even speak?"

Shirley quickly shook her head and carefully held out the box to me, her eyes filled with expectation.

I smiled as I accepted it, though I knew this very gift had led to my death. I opened it, a look of delight on my face. "This is beautiful, Shirley. I love it."

With that, I clasped the bracelet around my wrist in front of everyone.

A flicker of triumph flashed across Shirley's eyes before she looked up at me with delight and joy.

As the bracelet gleamed against my pale skin, the crowd was full of praise for Shirley. They noted that even though she was just a stepsister, she was a good child.

In the two years since she'd joined the Aldridge family, she'd always been well-behaved and modest, unlike her scheming mother, Helen Winthrop.

But they would never know that Helen was nothing but a fool who put on airs, while the real cruelty and cunning lay in Shirley, who was blushing from the compliments.

The next morning, the Aldridges gathered together for once, with Shirley and Helen bustling about for breakfast.

I casually said, "Shirley's already 17, so she shouldn't be spending her days at home. She needs to study."

"Shirley finished elementary school, Diane. She can read."

At that, I turned to Helen and feigned surprise. "Just elementary school? That's not enough. She should continue