When Octavia heard Elena volunteer for the army, her eyes darted quickly, flickering with a predatory cunning.

  Don't be fooled by her pitiful crying earlier; in truth, before Leon was born, Octavia had been the only child—the cherished eldest daughter. Her domineering personality was a direct product of their parents' excessive pampering.

  Elena remembered. Five years ago, on the very night before the recruitment deadline, Octavia had suddenly announced she had married a man at the chapel. Terrified the army would come for their father instead, their mother had frantically urged the recruiting officer to write down Elena's name.

  Now, Elena decided to give Octavia the chance to choose her own marriage. Whether she chose a path to happiness or not was her own business; Elena intended to have nothing more to do with her.

  In her past life, Octavia had chosen an "honest" man, but his family wasn't wealthy, which was a far cry from the life of luxury Octavia had fantasized about. Now that Elena was volunteering, Octavia was ecstatic. "Hey," she thought, "I need to find myself a rich man this time."

  Feigning indifference, Octavia spoke up: "Elena, I didn't force you to join. You said it yourself. You can't back out now—otherwise, my wedding plans will be ruined."

  Elena didn't bother smiling back. "There's nothing to regret. But you'll have to pay a price. Buy me a new quilt, two sets of new clothes, and give me 2,000 pesos for my first month's expenses. In case anything happens on the road, or if the army delays our pay, at least I'll have money for food."

  Elena remembered that five years ago, when she was dragged to the units, her mother hadn't given her a single cent. They had been caught in an enemy bombardment halfway there, and the officer in charge of payroll was killed. The entire unit went a full month without pay. Though she didn't starve, she had been penniless when she needed basic necessities.

  Moreover, the battlefield was on the highlands. It was freezing at night. Elena hadn't been killed by a bullet, but she had nearly died in the highland's icy winds. This time, she was taking a quilt—and it had to be Octavia's new one.

  "I won't be the one to suffer anymore," Elena thought.

  As for the 2,000 pesos, it was a reasonable amount—the family could afford it without falling into poverty. Hearing Elena dare to ask for money, her mother's face instantly darkened. She erupted into a tirade: "You've been sick for years! How dare you ask me for money? You might as well just die!"

  In the past, Elena would never have dared to talk back. She would have slunk into the kitchen to wipe away her tears in silence. But now, Elena merely let out a cold laugh. "This is what I deserve," she said.

  Both her mother and Octavia froze. This was the first time they had seen this side of Elena. Octavia, ever the opportunist, realized that if her mother kept arguing with Elena, her own dream of marrying a rich man would evaporate. She actually stepped in to persuade their mother to agree. As for her beloved quilt? It hurt to lose it, but she could buy a better one once she secured a wealthy husband.

  With Octavia's "assistance," Elena got everything she wanted.

  Perhaps thinking that her son no longer had to go to war, the mother finally showed Elena a sliver of kindness. When she went to buy the clothes, she even bought Elena an extra pair of shoes.

  The army provided boots, and Elena hadn't asked for them, but she wouldn't refuse a gift. She spent the following days focusing entirely on physical training. Her morning runs started at ten minutes, then increased to fifteen, thirty, until ten days later, she could run for a full hour. She remembered that in the army, it was regular exercise that had finally allowed her body to stop being so frail.

  ...

  Leon had been hiding in the mountains for over ten days to dodge the draft. Hearing that his sister had signed up in his place, he finally slunk back home.

  "How could you be so stupid?" he asked. "Why not make Octavia go? She's the one who's been pampered since she was a kid. Why are you going to your death instead?"

  Elena sneered internally. Stop acting. If I hadn't signed up, would you have even come back? She remembered that five years ago, Leon hadn't shown his face at all until the army was taking her away. Only then did he wave goodbye from the safety of the distant woods.

  Seeing that Elena was preoccupied and silent, Leon turned to their mother. "Mom, that family in the mountains wants 500 pesos for my food. Give me 500."

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  Their mother actually gave him 800 pesos. "Remember to buy some meat. Look at you, you've gotten so thin." She hugged him tightly, her heart aching for her son.

  Elena looked away. She had never experienced the warmth of a family hug. She turned to pack her things, stuffing her clothes into a burlap sack, when she felt someone shove something into her pocket. She pulled it out: 800 pesos in crumpled bills—the money her mother had just given Leon.

  On the day of her departure, Elena put on the new shoes. Feeling as if she had forgotten something, she checked her luggage over and over. Octavia, just back from work, leaned in from behind.

  "Elena," she whispered conspiratorially, "did you decide to join because you knew Elias was enlisting too? I should have known... you've always had a crush on him. And here I was, moved for ten nights thinking you were sacrifice yourself for the family."

  Elias?

  Elena had almost forgotten that man. But in truth, he was someone she could never forget.

  It was only because people at school were so bored; seeing that Elena and Elias’s names were similar, they had mindlessly teased them, saying they were a perfect match. Her mother felt that as long as Elena could be married off, it was enough. She had privately betrothed Elena to Elias, hoping to rake in a massive profit from the arrangement. Elias, for his part, had taken advantage of the situation to proclaim that Elena was his first love and his fiancée. He had even gone as far as to confess his feelings to her in front of everyone in the classroom once...

  However, in reality, the person Elias eventually married was Sienna. Elena was relieved; she had escaped an entanglement with him in her past life, and she wouldn't have one in this one either.

  "It has nothing to do with that man," she told Octavia coldly.

  "I don't believe you." Octavia leaned in closer. "I'll tell you a secret. Elias's parents wanted his sister to join the army, but his sister, Daisy, suddenly got married. To that filthy Adrian! Ugh, if I had to marry a man that dirty and poor, I'd rather go to war myself."

  Hearing Octavia mention Adrian, Elena had to fight back the urge to laugh.Adrian's father was incredibly wealthy, owning a mining company in the city. Adrian was merely a wealthy heir disguised as a common worker to gain experience with the prospecting team. He wore filthy, ragged clothes all day; even when he confessed to Octavia, his "clean" clothes were just a wrinkled set of worker's overalls.

  Naturally, Octavia had rejected him. She had no idea that when Daisy and Adrian married, Adrian's father would send a private jet to pick them up for a honeymoon around the world. Elena remembered how, after that, every time someone mentioned Adrian, Octavia would act dismissive: "Pff, so what if he's rich? He's still the man I dumped."

  Elena had no intention of telling Octavia the truth about Adrian yet. Elias might be a dishonest man, but his sister Daisy was kind. Elena wouldn't ruin Daisy's chance at a happy marriage.

  The next morning, before leaving, Elena boiled six extra eggs. She remembered: there would be military skirmishes on the road. Five years ago, she had no food and starved for two days before reaching the camp. The eggs were for the journey.

  When her mother heard about the eggs, she chased Elena out the door, trying to hit her. Octavia quickly held her mother back. "Mom, you can't hit her anymore! She belongs to the army now. Besides, if you knock her out, Dad will have to go..."

  Elena knew Octavia was only terrified that she wouldn't make it to the camp.

  The military truck arrived. As Elena climbed up with her quilt, she felt a rough shove from behind. She turned—it was her father. After shoving Elena onto the truck, he stood on the ground laughing and chatting with others, seemingly indifferent to whether his daughter would ever return.

  Inside, someone immediately took her luggage. Elena didn't need to look to know it was Lucy.

  Lucy was her best friend from school. Her father had been severely injured and couldn't work, leaving the family to survive on her mother's income alone. With two young brothers to support, Lucy had volunteered for the units to send her pay home.

  Elena remembered how much Lucy had looked after her in her past life. This time, she would make sure to help Lucy change her tragic destiny.