Part 1My Family Killed Me and My Wife Avenged Me

My brother tried to kill me.

The moment my mom stepped forward to help him, I gave up fighting.

Later, he had plastic surgery to look exactly like me, and sat in my bedroom, waiting for my wife to return.

My parents hoped he and my wife would live happily ever after, enjoying all the wealth and glory.

I just laughed, because they had no idea how terrifying the woman before them truly was.

Today was Seraphina's day to return home.

She'd been overseas for over two months, and I'd been dead for a week.

My brother, Julian Smith, stood up nervously as Seraphina walked through the door.

"Seraphina, have you had dinner yet? I asked the kitchen to prepare your favorite creamy pumpkin soup."

This was supposed to be their first meeting.

But Seraphina didn't notice that her husband had been swapped.

Julian had really outdone himself, getting surgery to look exactly like me, from head to toe.

Seraphina handed her suitcase to the butler, Carlsen, and rubbed her temples. "Alright, a little bit would be nice."

Julian forced a natural smile, meticulously mimicking my every expression and gesture from the stolen videos.

He followed Seraphina into the dining room. "Martha, serve the soup to Seraphina."

Seraphina paused at his words, glancing back at Julian.

We had a butler and maids, but I usually preferred to do many things myself.

After all, I was just lounging around at home.

Even after living in this city for nearly two years, I still wasn't used to casually bossing people around.

Before marrying Seraphina, I'd always lived in our small hometown.

The one who was originally supposed to marry Seraphina was Julian.

Our two families used to be old acquaintances, and Seraphina's family was once a prominent name in the local business circles.

Both grandfathers, seeing a grandson and granddaughter of suitable age, had arranged a marriage.

Twenty years ago, after both elders passed away, Seraphina's family fell victim to corporate machinations.

Seraphina's father brought up the engagement again, hoping the Smith family would offer a helping hand.

But my father, Richard, had already been swayed by several other business groups. He decided to seize the opportunity to acquire Seraphina's family's assets, completely disregarding their past friendship.

Seraphina's family went bankrupt, Seraphina's father died from depression, and Seraphina's mother, with her daughter and the old butler, moved far overseas.

Two years ago, Seraphina returned with the Ascendant Group, an unstoppable force from abroad, striking a heavy blow to several major local business empires.

Not a single person who had kicked Seraphina's family while they were down or participated in their downfall managed to escape.

They were either buried under crippling debt with no hope of recovery, or facing irrefutable evidence that sent them straight to prison. Financial ruin was the norm.

People in the business world whispered privately that it was a good thing she'd returned to a society governed by law; they had long heard whispers of Seraphina's methods in regions with looser regulations overseas.

When the Smith Corporation was on the verge of bankruptcy, my father, Richard, remembered the old engagement.

Julian, terrified of Seraphina's revenge, threw a huge tantrum at home, forcing me to return from our hometown to take his place in the marriage.

Businesspeople often have a touch of superstition, and my dad was especially prone to it.

On the day Julian was born, my dad smoothly sealed a major contract that elevated the Smith Corporation to new heights.

On the day I was born, a newly acquired project of his was exposed for severe issues, shrinking the Smith Corporation's assets by nearly half.

He firmly believed Julian brought him good fortune, while I cursed him.

If my grandfather hadn't fought with his last breath to protect me, I probably wouldn't have survived back then.

So, he publicly announced that I was frail and sent me abroad for treatment.

But in reality, I was dumped in the countryside, where they found a lonely old man, Grandpa Charles, to raise me.

Grandpa Charles, who raised me, felt sorry for me and took good care of me, but I still died in the prime of my youth.