Ficorpio
Chapter 1
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First Edition
In my previous life, I was killed by my own father.
Then, I was reborn.
In this life, I will have my revenge.
I will destroy this man named Victor!
Step by step, I will bring him down.
I will turn this misogynistic jerk into a worthless piece of trash that no one cares about!
1
At the age of twenty-nine, I was strangled to death by my own father.
My father’s name was Victor. Because I was a girl, he never liked me from the start.
When my grandfather learned of my birth, he stormed out in anger and never came to our home again.
They all believed that only boys could carry on the family line, and that having a girl was a terrible misfortune.
My mother was unable to have a second child because of her heart condition, so Victor would often curse her for being useless.
Fortunately, my mother had a fiery temper as well. She couldn’t stand such baseless accusations and would often argue with Victor over them.
When I was five, Victor lost his job and could only set up a street stall to make a meager living.
Day after day, exposed to the elements, he blamed my misfortune.
“Ever since your mother gave birth to a useless girl like you, my luck has been awful! You’re a curse!”
Hearing this, my mother would argue with Victor again.
I was young then and thought my parents’ arguments were because of me.
I naively wondered: if I did well in school, would my parents stop fighting?
So I studied hard. At every parent-teacher conference, I received praise from my teachers.
But it was always my mother who attended those meetings.
When she returned and told Victor about my outstanding grades, he would simply curl his lip and say he had good genes, but it was a shame they weren’t passed on to a son.
Then the two of them would get into another big fight.
Chapter 2
Life passed by in a blur of arguments. A few years later, Victor, who had always dreamed of making it big, developed a gambling addiction.
My mother tried to warn him, but he acted completely justified: “I’m the Gambling King. I even won big a couple of days ago.”
Perhaps by sheer luck, Victor did win quite a bit of money during that time.
But he didn’t give any of it to my mother. He kept it all for himself, though no one knew what he was up to.
Because of money, my mother and he would have a major argument every three days and a minor squabble every two.
My father remained unmoved. To support me, my mother had no choice but to work tirelessly, enduring all the hardships.
This way of life continued until I graduated from elementary school. Then, disaster struck suddenly—my mother passed away from a heart attack that summer.
2
After my mother passed away, I fell into a living hell.
Victor remarried. He married my stepmother, Lily, who brought her son with her.
This boy was Victor’s own flesh and blood. He had been cheating even before my mother passed away!
The money Victor won from gambling was all spent on his mistress and their illegitimate son.
My grandfather adored this child and even named him Leo.
Victor would often carry Leo around, proudly showing him off to everyone he met, beaming with joy.
“My son, Victor’s boy, is sure to make something of himself someday!”
Seeing Victor hold Leo so tenderly filled me with both envy and jealousy.
Back then, I felt my only support was Victor, so I absolutely could not let him dislike me.
Every day at home, I felt like I was walking on eggshells, terrified of being abandoned.
Fortunately, my stepmother didn’t make things difficult for me. After they married, she too fell into a difficult life, becoming the target of Victor’s venting and exploitation.
In this family, only Leo was treated well by Victor.
The year I turned eighteen, Victor came home smelling of alcohol and suddenly called me over.
Slumped on the couch, he let out a drunken belch and muttered:
“Mia from the neighboring village started working at a factory to support her family right after middle school. I’ve raised you all these years and spent so much money on you. Isn’t it time you paid me back? Go work at a factory. That’ll free up your room for Leo to move in.”
Mia was my junior high school classmate. She started working in a factory after she didn’t get into high school.
But I was different. I was in my senior year of high school. In several practice exams, I ranked near the top of my class.
Chapter 3
My mother always said she hoped I would study hard, get into a good college, and change my future.
That was her wish, and it was also my motivation to study.
Knowing Victor was after money, I cautiously said to him:
“My homeroom teacher said my grades are good enough for college. If I work hard, I might even get a scholarship. Once I start college, I’ll work part-time in my free time and give all the money to you. After I graduate, I’ll be able to earn even more…”
Victor thought it over and had me write a pledge, promising to give him money every month going forward.
Clutching the pledge, he fell asleep on the sofa, content.
3
That night, I thought long and hard—to escape this tyrant of a father, I had only one way out: to test my way out.
So, I studied hard, got into a teachers’ college in another city as I had hoped, and received a scholarship.
To ensure I could graduate without any issues and prevent Victor from causing trouble at my school, I took on tutoring jobs and sent money to Victor every month.
After graduating from college, I landed a good teaching job.
I thought I could finally break free from Victor. I rented my own place, stopped sending him money every month, and started living my own life.
But I never expected that after I stopped sending money, Victor showed up with the pledge in hand.
He snarled at me:
“I have gambling debts to pay off. I need money to try and win it back. If you don’t give it to me, I’ll send debt collectors after you! I have your pledge!”
After enduring his psychological manipulation for so long, even though I wanted to resist, I couldn’t help but give in.
This situation continued until I was twenty-seven.
That year, I returned to my hometown to visit my mother’s grave and happened to run into an old friend of hers.
When the auntie learned how difficult my life had been, she sighed and told me that my mother’s death was caused by Victor’s rage.
“That day, your mother and I were out shopping when we ran into your father. He had his arm around a pregnant woman. Your mother went over to confront him. He acted like a brute, and the shock and anger caused her to have a heart attack right then and there.”
Was my mother driven to her grave by my father?
He never mentioned this; he only said my mother passed away from exhaustion while caring for me.
Upon learning the truth, I not only felt my mother’s life had been wasted, but I was also filled with rage.
I’ve made up my mind: I’m cutting all ties with this monster of a father!
4