His hot breath sprayed at her ear, so hot that it seemed to set her entire body on fire.
She wanted to pull back, but the man held her tightly within his arms, keeping her from moving away.
In the darkness, she couldn't see his features clearly, but his presence was strikingly overwhelming.
With every breath he took, her body seemed to grow hotter, as if it were about to ignite.
"Chloe Chloe... My wife..."
The man's voice was hoarse yet gentle, as he lightly captured her lips with his own, rolling and twisting as if he were trying to trace the shape of her lips...
Here it comes again, another crystal clear dream of spring passion!
As Chloe was wondering about the extent of this dream, her shoulders were vigorously shaken.
"Chloe Chloe, wake up, don't scare your mother."
A frantic voice of a woman echoed in her ear.
But Chloe knew, this was definitely not her mother's voice.
She vigorously tried to open her eyes, but found herself unable to do so.
Beyond the crying of the woman who claimed to be her mother, other noises started to sound in her ears - all of them were disorderly.
"That Chloe is truly heartless! She fully knew that her sister-in-law, Phoebe, is a fragile creature, and she still dared to send her off to the countryside. Isn't she clearly seeking Phoebe's demise?"
"What is she up to? Chloe has been married into the Woods family for four years, and we haven't treated her unfairly at all. To think, she had her younger sister-in-law sent to the countryside out of fear that she might take her job."
"How heartless could one be? With Phoebe's frail body, would she even be able to make it back alive after going to the countryside?"
"Damon is truly pitiable. Being away from home all the time, he has no idea he's married to such a wicked woman."
'What is she up to?'
Gossip bombarded Chloe's ears. She paused for a moment. Then quickly, a flood of memories that were not her own surged into her mind.
She had time traveled.
She had jumped into a novel named "Rebirth in the Seventies: Big Shots Competing to Be My Spare Tires".
And her identity was the biggest villain in the story - Damon's deceased ex-wife, Chloe.
The writer didn't spend much ink on describing the novel's version of Chloe, but simply brushed over her character while introducing the Woods Family.
From the brief descriptions, it could be gleaned that Chloe was a spoiled and delicate child, pampered by her parents. She had no inclination to move to the countryside after finishing her high-school and, by scheming with Damon, ended up bearing his child when he returned home for a visit.
The following year, she gave birth to a pair of twins.
From then on, she started living like a queen in the Woods' household.
In her fourth year of marriage, Chloe schemed once again and sent her frail sister-in-law to the countryside. Less than a month later, word arrived from the country of Phoebe's death.
Her younger brother-in-law, Christopher, set out to retrieve Phoebe's remains only to discover she was violated and killed by local thugs. Driven by rage, he murdered them and got caught and shot on the spot.
Upon hearing all this, the elderly Woods' parents fell seriously ill and passed away soon after.
Leaving behind a pair of three-year-old twin grandchildren.
Due to a lack of adult supervision, they were abducted by human traffickers. By the time Damon, who was in the army, heard the news and rushed back, there was no one alive in the Woods family.
Damon found Chloe, who had eloped with her lover. He conspired to have seven or eight people take turns abusing her, and when she was on her last breath, he personally strangled her, cremating her body to ashes...
The life of Chloe, the flat paper character, was forever frozen on the day she turned twenty-two.
The tragic fate of the Woods family was merely a plot device set by the author as a condition for comforting Damon...
Chloe recalls the contents of the book and accepts the original owner's memories.
It was now the third day of the original owner signing up Phoebe for rural service, the day of the "Plastic Sisters" creating a ruckus at the door.
Father and son Barth and Damien left the house, leaving behind only three women and two three-year-old children.
According to the plan, Phoebe would go to the countryside tomorrow.
Lilith, the good friend of the original owner, came over today to make a commotion, letting all the neighbors around the Woods household know of the original owner's actions.
The original owner's mother-in-law and Phoebe were both in poor health, were so upset they took the children and retreated to their room.
The temperamental Chloe was incensed when she was betrayed by Lilith, and ended up in a scuffle that resulted in her falling down and hitting her head.
She died on the spot.
That's when Chloe from the 21st century came into the picture.
After getting things straight in her head, Chloe finally opened her eyes.
"Chloe Chloe, Chloe Chloe!"
Upon seeing Chloe's eyes open, Mother Lisa hugged her excitedly.
"Thank goodness, you're awake. You're finally awake."
The mother of this body genuinely loved the original owner.
This love was something transmigrated Chloe was unsure of how to face at this moment.
She simply allowed herself to be embraced, her gaze meeting Lilith's triumphant look as she raised her head.
Lilith was a classmate of the female protagonist in this period novel. The novel didn't offer much description about Lilith, so as to whether she would cause a scene, Chloe didn't know.
After all, outside of the female protagonist and those high-ranking reserves around her, little was said about other characters in the novel.
Chloe didn't know how she ended up here, but since she was here, she would not let things follow the pre-determined trajectory set by the book.
"You can let go of me now."
Chloe addressed Mother Lisa who was hugging her.
Taken aback, Mother Lisa released her hand.
Without paying attention to Mother Lisa, Chloe, her head feeling dizzy, slowly stood up to meet the gaze of the triumphant Lilith across from her.
For some reason, upon meeting Chloe's gaze, Lilith felt a brief flicker of fear.
However, upon further thought, why should she be afraid of Chloe? She was merely exposing the true face of Chloe, that wicked woman. There was no reason to fear Chloe.
On the contrary, she may be considered as the Woods family's benefactor.
"Chloe, what are you looking at? Unhappy? Want to hit me?"
Lilith feigned calmness as she looked at Chloe, who seemed different the moment she opened her eyes. She managed not to back down, showing that she was not afraid of Chloe.
Chloe snorted, and with a cold smile, kicked Lilith in the stomach. The impact sent Lilith stumbling backward until she fell on her butt.
"Chloe…"
Lilith's face bore a color similar to that of a pig's liver. She flopped on the ground for a while, before she finally managed to glower at Chloe.
There was evident rage in her eyes, almost as if she wanted to swallow Chloe alive.
Chloe tutted.
She wiped the blood trickling down her forehead, stepped forward, and placed her foot on Lilith's hand, grinding it forcefully.
As the host was forthright, she didn’t have to fake a sense of understanding. All she needed to do was to follow her own heart.
Lilith let out a pig-like scream.
"Ah...Chloe...my hand... my hand is broken... my hand is broken..."
Chloe pulled back her foot.
She looked around, took off the cloth shoes on her feet, and started slapping Lilith's face with them.
"You deceived me into signing Phoebe up for the rural areas, and you schemed against me."