Toxic Love: Reborn to Shine

After getting drunk, Ella was lured into the room by her secret crush, the neighbor boy.

Forrest whispered seductively, "Good girl."

Drunk and ambivalent, Ella both resisted and yielded as they gave in to their passion.

The person she adored felt the same way about her, yet it seemed they were fated to be beyond each other's reach.

That night, the man kissed Ella's lips tenderly. His tongue traced her lower lip.

His hands slowly unbuttoned her shirt, caressing her breasts.

Drawing low moans from her.

"Good girl. Let me have you."

She arched her back to meet him, gasping, "I want..."

He suddenly thrust hard, ripping her skirt open.

His fingers plunged deep into her.

Ella screamed and arched her back, her legs splayed wide as she chased his hand. "Ah... harder!"

He growled, pulling his hand out and thrusting his hips deep inside her.

His hands pinched her breasts and waist.

The bed creaked loudly.

She clamped down on him tightly, weakly clawing at his shoulder blades with her fingers and gasping uncontrollably. “Harder! Deeper!"

The frenzy continued until dawn, until the man sobered up.

He cursed her shamelessness and accused her of doing whatever it took to marry him.

He hated her and blamed her for defiling the purity he had guarded for his true love for over thirty years. He refused to treat her kindly.

After marrying her, he began to relentlessly humiliate and torment her.

Ella had believed that, over time, she could warm his heart.

For him, she abandoned her musical dreams and willingly became his homemaker.

She stayed by his side for fifty years.

Yet, in the end, she wasn't allowed to attend his funeral.

"Ella, this was your husband's final wish. Upon his death, all his assets are to be gifted to Ms. Vivian without compensation. He also requested that you not be present at his funeral."

After speaking, the lawyer played a three-second recording for her.

"The mistake I made that year, I've repaid with these fifty years."

Hearing this, Ella shed tears.

All her lifelong devotion and love had been for naught.

When she opened her eyes again, she was back on her wedding day with Forrest.

This time, she would never let that man waste her life away.

At the wedding banquet, many people took turns toasting Ella; their faces betrayed contempt.

She clearly remembered how, years ago at that banquet, she had been bombarded with 50,000 hateful comments from fans because she didn't understand high-society etiquette.

The paparazzi gloated in their reports, declaring Forrest's wife a country bumpkin.

Ella became the target of public scorn and was pointed at wherever she went, while Forrest couldn't wait to distance himself from her.

Ella sighed. The wealthy truly loved putting on airs.

Still, to avoid trouble, she used her past-life experience to politely entertain the guests.

After hours of toasting and drinking, Ella finally helped Forrest back to their room late into the night. He had drunk excessively, as if punishing himself.

Ella understood exactly why. After tidying him up, she slept in the guest room that night.

Morning sunlight streamed into the room. Forrest felt a little guilty for Ella.

"I'll drive you to school."

Ella washed her face and applied makeup. "No need. Go ahead with your work. The production team must be going stir-crazy waiting for your schedule.”

A flicker of doubt crossed Forrest's eyes, but he dismissed it as Ella throwing a tantrum. He offered a casual explanation: "My friends and I are usually swamped. When our schedules finally align, we seize the chance to celebrate—sometimes a little too enthusiastically."

"Besides, we're newlyweds. If you wander around alone, you risk the paparazzi snapping photos and spreading rumors. Worse yet, criminals might take notice.”

Forrest had a point. Ella considered her safety and accepted his offer.

The moment she arrived at the academy, however, she encountered the last person she wanted to see: Forrest's ex-girlfriend, Vivian.

After the funeral, she'd stumbled home in a daze.

She found Forrest's suicide note.

"I deeply regret the mistake I made that day. It was my fault that Vivian and I missed our chance. I traded everything I had for a chance at redemption. Yet for the past fifty years, in every moment I've spent with Ella, I've thought of Vivian. Before I died, I gave her everything. After my death, she needn't attend my funeral. I have no children, so my entire estate passes to Vivian. Thankfully, though, I repaid that one night's mistake over these past fifty years.”

"Forrest, Ella."

The cheerful exclamation snapped Ella out of her memories. She turned her head and watched the girl running toward them.

That was Vivian—the one that had illuminated Forrest's life.

Ella and Vivian weren't actually close. Ella studied classical voice, while Vivian pursued pop music.

They never exchanged greetings when they crossed paths. After learning that Vivian was Forrest’s dream girl, Ella instinctively kept her distance.

She merely gave a brief nod, muttered, "My instructor is waiting," and hurried toward the classroom.

A flicker of awkwardness crossed Vivian’s eyes. Just as she turned to chase after Ella, she nearly collided with a shared bicycle.

Forrest grabbed her arm and shielded her behind him. Feeling the warmth of his palm, their faces both flushed for a moment.

Unaware of the little drama unfolding behind her, Ella arrived at the classroom just as her instructor needed to speak with her.

“I hear you got married.”

Hearing this, Ella tugged at the corners of her mouth. The instructor continued teasingly, "You just got married. What about that promise you made me before? Are you still going to Berkeley for further studies?”

"It's a three-year commitment. You're newlyweds. Your husband probably wouldn't want you to go."

In her past life, she had been tied down by Forrest. Thinking she needed to strengthen their bond, she had turned down the scholarship.

Later, she followed him everywhere he went—to his film sets—enduring disapproving glances just to be the best wife she could be.

But this life was different. She would live for herself.

Without hesitation, she signed her name on the application form under her advisor's astonished gaze. She signed her name on the application form.