My sister-in-law, Sabrina Linskey, never hides her hatred for me. Yet, on my daughter Elena Satchwell's birthday, she does something I can never imagine.

She gives Elena a dress, claiming she had sewn it by hand. She calls it a blessing for Elena's health and safety.

I let her ease the dress onto Elena, relief washing over me as I convince myself that Sabrina finally understands the importance of upholding peace in the family. But Elena's skin begins to fester, until even the lightest touch makes her flinch in pain.

That's when I realize Elena's fate has been swapped with Sabrina's son's. Mom and Dad, along with my brother, know all about it.

Elena, beyond saying, eventually dies. I, too, am killed the moment I uncover the truth.

But when I open my eyes again, I return to the day Sabrina arrives with that dress for Elena's birthday.
Chapter 1
"Elena, look what I brought you!"
The instant my sister-in-law, Sabrina Linskey, pulled out that clumsily stitched little dress, I knew that I had been reborn.
In my past life, Sabrina never hid her contempt for me. Yet she had appeared on my doorstep, wanting to celebrate my daughter Elena Satchwell's birthday. And not only that; she had brought a dress she had sewn with her own hands, eager to slip it onto Elena herself.
Sabrina's sudden warmth had caught me off guard.
Ever since her marriage, she had made no secret of her disdain for me. To her, every sister-in-law alive was nothing but a schemer, clawing for the family inheritance. She didn't think my child was even worth a mention.
At the time, Elena wrinkled her nose at the dress and called it ugly. But I couldn't bring myself to embarrass Sabrina. More than that, I didn't want to waste the chance to ease the strain in the family. So, I let her put it on Elena.
Little did I know that the dress was never meant to be a token of peace. It was the shroud of Elena's doom.
Sabrina's son, Alex Reid, had fallen ill with a strange disease. But she refused to believe the doctors and called them liars who wanted to swindle her money. As Alex's strength ebbed day by day, her desperation curdled into something dark. She resolved to trade his dying breath for Elena's life.
In my past life, after Elena slipped into that dress, it wasn't long before her skin began to fester. Blisters swelled at the faintest touch. Her flesh came away in broad strips, raw and bleeding.
I rushed her to the hospital, but even the doctors were powerless. All I could do was hold her, watching as she drew her last, shuddering breath in my arms.
At Elena's funeral, I heard Mom whisper how much her heart ached for Elena.
But Sabrina, chin tilted with smug triumph, said, "Elena was just your granddaughter. You still have Alex, who's healthy and strong. He'll be the one to look after you when you're old.
"Elena's gone, but so what? Even if she were alive, she'd just end up in someone else's family after she grew up. She was unlucky, that's all. What else could she expect, being born a girl? Her life was too fragile to carry her through. She was meant to be sacrificed for Alex. And Alex is her cousin, so dying for him hardly counts as a loss, does it?
"Your second child's a daughter, and your third's a useless son. In the end, isn't it Jerome and Alex you'll have to rely on?"
In that instant, everything snapped. I lunged at Sabrina, clawing and kicking until my older brother, Jerome Reid, brought something down on my head. I died on the spot.
Afterward, they staged the scene to look like I had taken my own life. They told my husband, Herman Satchwell, that I had been so consumed by grief over Elena's passing that I couldn't bear to go on.
Herman couldn't bear the blow. Grief drove him mad, and before long, he died in a car crash. His parents were overseas at the time. Stricken with sorrow, they turned away from everything he left behind.
In the end, the Reids inherited all that was previously mine. Their lives, greased by that money, glided on without a hitch.
A single dress had ruined my family.
Now, standing beside Sabrina, I saw the hatred in her eyes. It was sharp and unmistakable.

Chapter 2
Sabrina lunged forward and seized Elena. "I stitched this dress with my own hands! Put it on, now. Don't push me."
Elena frowned and burst into loud sobs.
I stepped between them, taking the dress from Sabrina's grasp. "Don't frighten her, Sabrina. She's not used to colors like these. Don't blame her for that. She's just a child."
Sabrina's expression tightened into a scowl. "Picky, huh? Alex never makes a fuss over clothes. How dare she Still, she has to wear this. The old priest blessed it. It'll keep her safe."
She bent down once more, her tone soft and coaxing. "This is a princess dress, Elena. Once you wear it, you'll be a little princess. Don't you want that?"
But Elena only clung to the hem of my clothes, pressing herself behind me. "No I don't want to. I don't like the colors."
A wave of revulsion rose in my chest, but I forced it down and twisted my lips into a grateful smile. "Sabrina, it means a lot that you care for Elena this way. Why don't you leave the dress here? Once she has calmed down, I'll make sure she puts it on. I promise your kindness won't be wasted."
Sabrina was about to argue further when her phone rang.
"Get back here, quick! Alex's skin is torn again!"
I pretended not to hear Jerome's frantic voice and crouched beside Elena, gently wiping away her tears.
The instant Sabrina learned that Alex was in trouble, her eyes flicked from the dress in my hands to the earnestness on my facea sincerity she couldn't doubt. Then, she rushed back home.
Once she was gone, I pulled out my phone and called my younger brother, Owen Reid. I invited him over to celebrate Elena's birthday.
The people Sabrina despised most were Owen and me. In her mind, all the Reids' wealth should go to Jerome alone. She never tired of asking why Mom and Dad hadn't been content with Jerome and why they had to burden themselves with a useless daughter and another son.
And yet, it was I who ended up the successful one. I married a man far better than her husband.
Meanwhile, Owen became nothing but a spoiled wastrel, squandering his life on alcohol, gambling, and women. In my past life, he knew everything Sabrina had done to me, yet he felt not a flicker of sympathy. Instead, he had just stood by her side, helping her claw at the Satchwells' inheritance.