Chapter 1

It was the 29th of June, 1982, when the village farmers stopped work for the day to have dinner. As they ate under the trees, they gossiped about Wendy Stowell. Wendy had wanted to snatch her younger sister Xyla Stowell's fiancé so that she could go to Bellmire City in her place and live a luxurious life. To that end, Wendy had wrapped a strip of red cloth on Xyla, which enraged a bull. It had charged at Xyla, breaking her leg. Wendy had attempted suicide earlier today, insisting her family let her go to Bellmire City, or she would jump into the river. Xyla's fiancé, Sean Horton, had been at the scene then. He was there to take Xyla with him to Bellmire to treat her leg injury. By some miracle, he managed to save Wendy before she could drown. Wendy had stopped breathing by the time she was dragged out of the water, but Sean saved her by performing CPR on her. As uneducated farmers, the villagers didn't know what CPR was. They simply saw Sean kissing Wendy before their eyes. That meant that he now had to marry her, for Wendy would have no marriage prospects since her first kiss had been stolen by him. Sean explained calmly, "This is simple, basic medical knowledge that they teach in the military. You perform chest compressions on the patient while ventilating them. "A trained doctor would have performed the same treatment as well if you were to send her to the hospital. I merely did it to save Wendy, and I will not marry her." Wendy's father, Melvin Stowell, had a pained look on his face as he took a drag on his cigarette. "I know that you only did it to save her, but you did that 'mouth-to-mouth CPR' thing to Wendy in front of the entire village. "Everyone has been talking about that 'kiss' since then, including Wendy's classmates from school. You won't have anything to worry about when you return to Bellmire, but what about Wendy?" Sean clenched his jaw. "I am engaged to Xyla. Wendy is also now in high school. I am sure that her future fiancé will also be someone educated and not have such misgivings over CPR." Wendy's mother, Victoria Marsh, was a traditional, conservative farmer's wife. She had never received any formal education. She was sobbing as she said, "Xyla managed to get into a vocational school. She will be able to find a job once she graduates, so she won't be lacking in potential partners then. But Wendy? "News about this will soon spread throughout her school. Who would you pick if you were given the choice? A pure, untouched girl, or a girl who had already been sullied? You're obviously killing off Wendy's future!" Melvin's younger brother, Ernest Stowell, pointed out, "Isn't this all because of Wendy's own actions? Melvin here once saved young Sean's father a long time ago. "And as thanks, he initially offered to let either one of the girls marry Sean. Wendy herself didn't want Sean at first because he's an older man with a seven-year-old child of his own. "It wasn't until she saw Sean and came to know about his sizable salary as military personnel that she threw a tantrum and wanted him for herself. And this was after Xyla and Sean had gotten to know each other through letters and gotten engaged." "Ernest, it's not your daughter that he kissed in front of all the villagers. The rumors will doom us all. My other sons will not be able to find wives of their own if no one wants to marry Wendy because of this." Victoria grabbed Sean's arm. "We aren't trying to force you to marry Wendy. However, this little village in the middle of nowhere is not at all like the city. "A woman losing her first kiss and purity is a major deal. If you refuse and marry Xyla instead, the other villagers will jeer at us." … Wendy jolted awake from the raised voices outside her room. She realized that she had transmigrated into the story that had recently been making the rounds online, "You Don't Deserve A Happy Ending". To top it off, she had taken the place of the evil older sister in the story, who coincidentally shared the same name as Wendy. The current Wendy had hated the original Wendy's guts when she first read the story. Now, she felt like throwing up. The original Wendy had been a devastatingly beautiful girl. People often said that her beauty was wasted in the tiny little village she lived in. This led to the original Wendy becoming a spoiled, lazy, bossy girl. Despite living in a rural village in an era of scarcity, she always got to eat, so she was not at all malnourished. Xyla was a year younger than the original Wendy. Unlike her older sister, she was a hardworking girl. However, the original Wendy treated her like a servant. After the sisters met Sean, though, their fates ended up reversed. The original Wendy's life took a turn for the worse. Meanwhile, Xyla ended up living a happier life. Seeing how Sean refused to marry her, the original Wendy and Victoria threatened to tell Sean's superior that he was a player. So, in the end, Sean's father forced him to marry her instead. This was why Sean greatly disliked the original Wendy. After their wedding, he requested to be relocated to a rural post instead. Even though it had been years since they had gotten married, he never once spoke to the original Wendy. On the other hand, he was kind and considerate toward Xyla. He ended up introducing her to another man, and Xyla lived happily with her husband. The drastic change in fortunes drove the original Wendy crazy. Like a madwoman, she wouldn't let Sean go at all. She also caused Xyla to miscarry and spread rumors about them. Her actions caused whatever little goodwill the Hortons had toward the Stowell family to disappear. The Stowells kicked the original Wendy out of their home and sent her to a psychiatric ward. The original Wendy did not have an easy time there and was even raped. One of the staff members later secretly sold her to someone in yet another rural village. The Stowells finally found the original Wendy locked up inside a pig pen. She was naked and blind, her limbs broken and her body reeking due to the pig pen. She could barely pass for a human. Fortunately for the current Wendy, she had transmigrated to an earlier point in the story. She still had time to turn her fate around. If she had transmigrated to a later point, she would probably have gone insane from being treated so coldly in her marriage to Sean. With that thought, Wendy got out of bed and yanked open the door. "Mom, Sean is right. He only wanted to save me, and that is all there is to it. I don't need him to marry me." Everyone swiveled to stare at Wendy in shock. Previously, Wendy had insisted on marrying Sean and wanted him by hook or by crook. She took all of Xyla's letters to Sean for herself and even attempted suicide. So, what was going on now? Victoria rushed over to feel Wendy's forehead, worried that she was sick and simply speaking nonsense. "Your future is going to be over. How will you survive then? You've been kicking up a fuss for days already. Isn't this what you want?" Wendy looked at Sean. He was dressed in his military uniform, which was a stark contrast to the old, yellowed wall he stood by. His chiseled features stood out as well. Sean was far more handsome in person. He resembled a regal nobleman from ages long past. It was no wonder the original Wendy went head over heels for him and kept up her antics for so long. "Thank you for saving me. I know what CPR is, so I understand. However, I still have a year of school left, and I know that I can't go back to school here. My classmates will definitely bring this up constantly. "So, I'd like to ask a favor—could you ask your father if he will let me go to Bellmire to finish up my studies?" Wendy boldly suggested. Back in her actual life, Wendy had created a start-up right after graduating from university and ended up experiencing a new low shortly after that. Her business had somehow managed to survive the slowing economy, but then came a period when her customers kept refunding their orders. It infuriated her and drove her to death.