Reborn to Ruin the Friend Who Framed Me

I spent three million dollars renovating that restaurant, and on opening day I signed it away for five hundred thousand.

All because of what happened in my last life, when my pregnant best friend heard my restaurant was opening and came to show her support.

I made a point of having my husband, a state-banquet head chef, cook her a few of his signature dishes himself.

And after a few bites, my best friend suddenly clutched her stomach and screamed.

"There's something wrong with this food. My stomach hurts so much!"

Before the ambulance could even arrive, she was hemorrhaging, and the baby was dead in her womb.

Everyone cursed me as a heartless businesswoman who killed for profit.

My husband was torn apart by the online mob until his reputation was in ruins, and in his despair he jumped to his death.

My mother-in-law took the shock so hard that a sudden heart attack killed her.

The restaurant went under, my husband and mother-in-law died one after another, and I sank into a depression I couldn't climb out of.

My best friend, meanwhile, won everyone's sympathy over the miscarriage and made a fortune off her livestreams.

The next time I saw her, she looked at me, ruined and broke and with nothing left, and gave a soft little laugh.

"My dear best friend, thank you for inviting me to eat at your place. Otherwise the dead baby in my belly would've gone to waste."

Now I'm living it all over again.

My best friend, belly swollen with pregnancy, arrived at the door of my newly opened restaurant, her face bright with excitement.

"Girl, I heard your restaurant was opening, so I came all the way out to support you!"

I glanced at the buyer's name on the restaurant transfer contract and gave a faint smile.

"Sure. I've been waiting for you."

Seeing that I'd welcomed her, Gwyneth Fox let the corners of her mouth lift, a flicker of smugness in her eyes.

The next second, she pouted and complained at me, all mock reproach.

"Hope Henson, you're really something. Opening a whole restaurant is a huge deal, and you didn't even tell me ahead of time."

"If I hadn't seen someone reshare your opening ad online, I wouldn't even know your new place opened today."

"We've been best friends since we were kids. Here I am, seven months pregnant, coming all this way just to support your restaurant, so you'd better have that state-banquet chef husband of yours make me a few of his best dishes to make it up to me."

I looked at her, gave a faint smile, and said nothing.

In my last life she did exactly this, leaning on our years of friendship to put me on the spot, first blaming me for not messaging her privately about the new opening.

Then, riding that momentum, asking to have Dale James cook for her personally as a way of making it up to her.

I hadn't meant to trouble her. She was so far along, after all, and getting around wasn't easy, which was the only reason I hadn't mentioned the opening.

But since she'd come all this way, I hadn't had the heart to refuse, so I gave in to what she wanted and let Dale cook her a few of his signature nutritional dishes himself.

And it was that one decision that ruined Dale, a state-banquet head chef, and drove him to his death.

Remembering my husband from that last life, who always loved me and protected me, and my mother-in-law, who treated me like her own daughter, both driven to their deaths by Gwyneth's online mob, I couldn't stop my hands from curling into fists.

This time, I will not repeat that mistake.

Without a flicker of expression, I tucked the contract away and pointed at the two people trailing behind her.

"Gwyneth, are these two friends of yours?"

Two people had come in behind her.

One held up a camera, running a livestream, while the other talked animatedly into the lens.

"Hey, everyone, today I'm taking you to check out a hidden-gem restaurant that just opened, where the head chef works at a state-banquet level. The owner's best friend is seven months pregnant and still came all the way to support them and taste the food. Let's see in a bit just how good the cooking here really is"

Gwyneth gave an awkward little smile and explained to me.

"Right, they're friends of mine. They run a food channel and have quite a following online."

"I brought them along on purpose. I wanted them to do a live promo of your restaurant on the spot, so your place gets more exposure and business picks up down the line."

Every word out of Gwyneth's mouth sounded like she had my interests at heart, as if she'd worn herself out worrying about me.

But I was the only one who knew that the two people she'd brought weren't here to help promote anything. They were here to frame me.

In my last life, they came into the restaurant behind Gwyneth exactly like this, livestreaming the whole way.

After her miscarriage, they were the first to spin the story on the livestream, laying it on thick.

"We were invited here to promote this restaurant, and instead we happened to film the whole thing, the owners using cheap ingredients to poison their customers for dirty money, making a pregnant woman miscarry right in front of us."

"So much for a state-banquet chef and a devoted best friend. They're just a heartless couple who kill for money. Anyone who walks into a place like this is asking for trouble!"

With everything twisted upside down like that, the livestream shot straight to the top of the trending topics, the clips went viral overnight, and the restaurant was forced to close.

Dale James, whose cooking people had praised his whole life, had his reputation destroyed in a single night, and in his despair he jumped.

When my mother-in-law heard, a heart attack took her that same night.

And Gwyneth, over the miscarriage, became the victim the whole internet pitied.

She started livestreaming and pulled in millions in tips and donations within a few hours.

It wasn't until I saw Gwyneth again that I learned the baby in her belly had already died a month earlier, killed inside her by her own sleeping around.

Terrified her husband would find out, she'd paid off those two influencers to put on this whole show.

It buried the fact that she'd been sleeping around.

And it let her frame us at the same time, turning her own child's death into an enormous payoff for herself.

In my last life, they climbed to the top of the world over the bodies of my family.

This time, I'm going to make them dig their own graves.

I glanced at the two influencers already livestreaming, tipped up the corner of my mouth, and smiled at Gwyneth.

"Gwyneth, you're so good to me. Pregnant, and still thinking of me like this."

When she saw I hadn't caught on, she looked at me like I was a complete fool, and her words turned even more false.

"Of course. We're best friends, aren't we? I just want everything to keep getting better for you."

With that, she led the two influencers inside, walking ahead as if the place were her own.

The moment she stepped through the door, she couldn't help stopping short, gasping.

"Oh my God, this place is gorgeous. How much did all this cost?"

I answered honestly.

"Three million."

A flicker of envy crossed her eyes, quickly smoothed away, and she beamed at me.

"Marrying a state-banquet chef really is something else. You want a restaurant, you get a restaurant. Three million, just like that."

Not waiting for me to respond, she quickly picked the most conspicuous seat, the one with the most foot traffic, and sat down.

She could hardly wait to speak.

"Hope, I'm starving. Go tell Dale James to cook me a few dishes, would you?"

"I came on an empty stomach on purpose, just to eat something made by a real state-banquet chef."

Her eyes glittered with anticipation. She clearly couldn't wait to ruin the good life I'd built.

I looked at her and nodded, smiling.

"Sit tight. I'll go arrange it right now."

With that, I turned and headed for the kitchen.

Inside, Dale was hard at work at the stove.

Today was the restaurant's grand opening, and the place was packed with customers.

As head chef, Dale barely had a moment to breathe.

In my last life, so as not to disappoint Gwyneth, I'd made a point of pulling Dale away from all that to cook her a few nutritional meals suited to a pregnant woman.

And it was that very meal that destroyed Dale's name, and cost him his life.

Now, watching his busy back at the stove, something in me trembled.

This time, no matter what, I would never let anything happen to him again.

As if he'd felt the heat of my stare, Dale turned his head, looked at me in confusion, and smiled gently.

"Hope, why are you looking at me like that?"

I shook my head, stepped forward, and wrapped my arms tightly around him.

"I'm just glad you're still here beside me."

Dale ruffled my hair, his voice soft with affection.

"Silly. We're husband and wife. If I'm not here with you, then who?"

"Oh, right, I think I saw Gwyneth come by to show her support just now. Want me to make her a few dishes separately?"

At that, I let go, rose onto my toes, leaned close to his ear, and said something in a low voice.

Dale's eyes went wide, fixed on me, and he asked in disbelief.

"You're sure?"

I nodded firmly.

"I'm sure."

Dale studied me, his expression grave. Seeing how serious I was, he fell silent for a few seconds, then said each word slowly and deliberately.

"All right. I'll do whatever you say."

Twenty minutes later, I carried four plates out from the back kitchen and set them down on Gwyneth's table.

All four were nutritional meals suited to an expectant mother.

The dishes were exquisite, carefully plated, perfect in color, aroma, and taste.

Gwyneth looked at the food in front of her, her eyes lighting up.

"Wow, Dale's cooking really is something else. You can tell from the plating alone, this is state-banquet level."

She couldn't wait to pick up a piece of braised pork belly, put it in her mouth, and as she chewed she narrowed her eyes in satisfaction.

"So good! A state-banquet chef, no doubt about it. Hope, you really married the right man."

She was praising him with her mouth, but her gaze drifted instinctively toward the two influencers.

As if terrified the cameras over there might miss her, she made sure to gush straight into the lens.

"Everyone, look, this is what my best friend's husband cooked for me with his own hands. State-banquet quality, seriously not your ordinary good."

"From now on, this is the place to eat. Kids and pregnant women can eat here with total peace of mind!"

While she pitched hard to the livestream camera, she quickly sampled a few bites of the other dishes.

After she'd tasted a bit from all four, she suddenly, right there on camera, dropped her chopsticks, clutched her belly with a look of agony, and screamed in a shaking voice.

"Something's wrong! My stomach hurts so much, there's something wrong with this food"

Gwyneth's voice went shrill, and in one second every customer in the restaurant turned to look.

The two influencers caught on instantly, locking their cameras onto Gwyneth's belly.

Under the eyes of every customer in the room and every viewer online, the fabric of Gwyneth's pants slowly darkened with red.

She stared at that patch of red and burst into sobs, her voice thick with despair.

"I'm bleeding!"

"My baby, my baby isn't moving!"

"There's something wrong with the food here. I only ate a few bites, and now my baby's stopped moving!"

At the sight of it, every customer in the place went pale.

"Oh my God, can food actually make a pregnant woman miscarry?"

"What on earth did they put in this dish?"

"That's terrifying. Didn't they say this place was opened by a state-banquet head chef? What kind of ingredients are they using?"

Customers gasped and set down their forks. A few of them started gagging right where they sat.

In an instant, food that had filled the room with its aroma became poison in everyone's eyes.

Gwyneth lay half-slumped in her chair, clutching her belly and wailing without pause, looking pitiful and in agony.

The two influencers played their parts with practiced ease.

One pushed the camera in close, snapping tight shots of the blood spreading across Gwyneth's pants.

The other shouted at the tens of thousands watching the livestream, his voice hot with outrage.

"Everyone, look at this. Gwyneth is seven months pregnant. She came out of pure kindness to support her best friend's restaurant, and after just a few bites she's bleeding. She could lose the baby!"

"We've been filming and streaming this whole time. All Gwyneth ate today was the food from this restaurant, and then she suddenly started hemorrhaging. There is definitely something wrong with the food."

"State-banquet head chef? Devoted best friend? These are just a heartless husband and wife who'd kill for money. A restaurant this rotten, anyone who walks in is asking for trouble!"

With them fanning the flames, the viewers online turned furious in a heartbeat. The screen filled wall to wall with abuse.

"My God, this place hides behind a state-banquet head chef's name, and this is the garbage they serve? They can make a pregnant woman miscarry after two bites?"

"You can tell at a glance they're a pair of rotten, evil animals. Call the cops and arrest them now!"

"Yes, call the police. This place needs to be investigated!"

"Exactly. A murderous, money-grubbing restaurant like this has to be shut down hard, or who knows how many innocent people will get hurt!"

The stream's numbers exploded. Everyone was cursing me as a monster without a shred of conscience, wishing me a quick and sudden death.

Some of the more worked-up customers even threw fish bones at me, saying I didn't deserve to live.

Facing the flood of curses and humiliation, I said nothing. I only looked coldly at Gwyneth.

Right now she lay half-slumped in her chair, face twisted with pain, crying as she pointed at me, her voice raw with grief.

"Hope, we grew up together. We've been best friends since we were little."

"Your restaurant opened and I came, big belly and all, to support you and promote it. Why would you do this to me? Why would you feed me poisoned food?"

"My husband and I tried for three years to have this baby. We finally got pregnant. Do you hate to see me happy that much"

Gwyneth cried until she couldn't get the words out, as if I'd wounded her body and soul.

In my last life, seeing her like this, I panicked and didn't know what to do.

I kept explaining that every dish had passed strict quality inspection, that there was absolutely nothing wrong, while I rushed the ambulance to hurry.

But before the ambulance even arrived, the baby in her belly was already dead in the womb.

Because of it, I fell into deep self-doubt for a long time. If she hadn't told me everything herself in the end, I might have gone to my grave without ever understanding what had really happened.

Living it all again, watching her put on that picture of unbearable grief, I felt perfectly calm inside.

Since she was cruel enough to use the dead fetus in her own belly to destroy me, she had no right to expect any mercy from me.

I quietly took out my phone and made two calls, one right after the other.

The first was to emergency services.

"Hi, there's a pregnant woman at the Grandview Restaurant with stomach pain and bleeding. Please send paramedics as fast as you can."

The second was to the police.

"Hi, someone at the Grandview Restaurant is suspected of deliberate poisoning, of trying to kill someone. Please come investigate as soon as possible."

Both calls done, I looked at everyone in the room and spoke without any hurry.

"Since everyone's decided the problem is with the restaurant's food, then I'll have to ask you all not to touch anything at the scene before the police and the doctors get here. Especially these dishes on Gwyneth's table."

"Once the results come back, the whole truth will come out."

The moment I said it, the room went silent.

As if no one expected me to handle this so calmly.

Gwyneth's crying hitched for a second, but there wasn't a trace of panic in her eyes.

The next instant, she cried out at me, all innocence and disappointment.

"Hope, what are you trying to say? What do you mean, the truth will come out?"

"Don't tell me you think I'm using my baby's life to frame you?"

The two influencers jumped in at once.

"Right, putting on this whole show, calling the cops. Anyone who didn't know better would think you'd been wronged somehow."

"We saw it with our own eyes. Gwyneth ate the food from your restaurant and got stomach pain immediately, started bleeding immediately. You think reporting it yourself is going to clear you?"

Gwyneth and the others had clearly come prepared.

Even when I did the exact right thing, in their mouths it twisted into some scheme, into me talking my way out and shoving the blame elsewhere.

I looked at the three of them quietly and said nothing.

I was waiting.

Waiting for them to arrive.

Waiting for the truth to surface on its own.

Soon the ambulance and the police car pulled up outside the restaurant at the same time.

Captain Lee Gray charged in with a team of officers.

"Who called it in?"

I stepped forward. "I did."

"What happened?"

I pointed at Gwyneth and told him plainly. "She claims she started miscarrying after eating here, and she's accusing my restaurant's food of being the cause. I'm asking the police to investigate."

Captain Gray gave a nod and immediately had his officers seal off the scene, collecting the dishes Gwyneth had eaten and the utensils she'd used for testing.

The paramedics moved to check on Gwyneth.

When they finished, one of them said gravely, "There's no fetal movement at all. The baby's already dead."

At that, Gwyneth put on a show of weakness, going limp as if struck by lightning.

Before she could speak, the officer handling the food testing reported to Captain Gray in a hard voice.

"Captain, our preliminary tests show all four dishes on the victim's table contain a high concentration of a toxic substance, one with a strong miscarriage-inducing effect on pregnant women!"

The whole room erupted.

"God, so there really was something in the food!"

"That's terrifying. This isn't a restaurant, it's a slaughterhouse. Poison in every single dish?"

"Disgusting. Watching Hope call the police so self-righteously, I actually thought she was innocent. Turns out it was all an act!"

Gwyneth stared at me, eyes bloodshot, and screamed, her face twisted.

"Hope, we grew up together. I thought of you as my own sister."

"Your restaurant opens and I come to support you at seven months pregnant, and this is how you repay me?!"

"Four dishes, all four poisoned. You were dead set on killing my baby!"

"What did I ever do to you, for you and your husband to hurt me like this?"

Gwyneth wept as if her heart were being torn out, and everyone watching was moved, wiping their eyes.

But I only asked back, calm, "Who says my husband and I killed your baby?"

Gwyneth blinked, then answered as if it were obvious, "You own this restaurant. Your husband cooked the food."

"If it wasn't the two of you who killed my baby, then who?!"

The two influencers rushed to agree.

"Exactly. We both saw it with our own eyes, Gwyneth ate the food from your restaurant and got stomach pain and bled right after. You're still trying to argue your way out?"

"The tests found poison in the food, and you still won't admit it. You're hopeless."

Even the customers in the room couldn't hold back.

"Solid, ironclad proof and she still won't budge. How can there be someone this vicious and this repulsive?"

"Right, someone's baby is dead and she stands there like nothing happened. One look and you can tell she's rotten!"

"What bad luck. Why couldn't it have been her who died?"

The accusations came one after another, each one sharper than the last.

The comments in the livestream scrolled past just as fast.

"Everybody look, this is the owner of the Grandview Restaurant. Her best friend eats the food her husband made and miscarries, and she doesn't feel one bit of guilt, still standing there arguing."

"Who would ever dare eat at a black-hearted place like this?"

"Right, next time it could be one of us getting poisoned."

"Somebody arrest this black-hearted owner and let her rot in prison!"

Seeing the crowd's mood climbing higher, Captain Gray raised a hand for quiet, then walked up to me and spoke, his face grim.

"Toxic substances were detected in the Grandview Restaurant's food, which puts someone's life at risk."

"You're the owner of this restaurant. That responsibility is yours, and you can't push it off."

"Now, I'll have to ask you to come with us and cooperate with the investigation."

With Captain Gray having spoken, a flicker of triumph crossed Gwyneth's eyes.

She thought she'd won.

She had no idea her nightmare was only just beginning.

I let my gaze sweep the room and said lightly, "Who says I own this restaurant?"

Everyone froze.

They all looked at me, baffled.

With every eye on me, I took out the restaurant's transfer contract, opened it, and held it up for all of them to see.

When they saw the name of the new owner on that contract, every single one of them was stunned