Chapter 2

In my past life, after giving up the exchange program, I struggled to find an internship.

I rented a small studio apartment and was looking for other job opportunities.

But Frank went crazy during that period, showing up drunk at my place every few days.

After an accident, I got pregnant.

Frank married me hastily out of a sense of responsibility.

My parents had passed away early, and I had no other family. I wasn't sent to an orphanage but was raised by the whole community, each family giving me a meal here and there.

Before the wedding, I asked Frank if we could visit my uncles and aunts who had helped raise me. They had taken care of me for so many years, and now that I was starting a family, I wanted to let them see that I was doing well.

But Frank impatiently said, "They're not your real parents. What's the point of visiting them?"

My heart sank. I knew Frank still had feelings for his dream girl, Jessica, but I thought maybe he would fall in love with me after we got married.

We got married without a wedding ceremony and without notifying our parents.

Later, Frank got a job at a physics research institute through a senior's recommendation.

By chance, he ran into Jessica at the entrance. Jessica hadn't found a job and had resorted to becoming a mistress to a rich man's son. She even had a child, hoping to extort a huge amount of child support, but failed. The wife kicked her out, but she didn't give up.

She came to the research institute where the rich man's son had a position, hoping to try her luck. She didn't run into him but met Frank instead.

While I was at home, suffering from pregnancy sickness and unable to sleep, Frank was taking Jessica and her child out for dinner.

He even found Jessica a cushy job and accepted her daughter as his goddaughter.

As for me, I slipped and fell at home. I called Frank, but he didn't answer. It was our neighbor who took me to the hospital. On the way, I was pale with pain, and the neighbor scolded,

"What is Frank doing? His wife is so far along, and he's not taking care of her at all."

In the end, I lost the baby.

I was in too much pain to sleep, but thinking about my unborn child, I cried with hatred. I had ruined my promising future for Frank, but he ignored all of that.

He abandoned me for his dream girl he had reunited with.

Every day in the hospital, I waited for Frank to come, but day after day passed without him showing up.

It was our neighbor, Mrs. Johnson, who couldn't bear to see me like that and brought me milk. She also brought me news.

Mrs. Johnson went home that day and felt something was off. She asked her husband to inquire, and what she found out infuriated her.

During this time, Frank had been eating at the staff cafeteria with Jessica and her child every day.

Family members were allowed at the research institute, so everyone assumed Jessica was Frank's wife.

Occasionally, a curious colleague would ask, "Frank, having lunch with your wife and kid?"

He would just smile and nod, tacitly agreeing.

Mrs. Johnson's face reddened with anger as she continued. Even for the institute's employee benefits, like holiday trips, the name Frank filled in as his family member was Jessica's.

My hand trembled slightly.

Mrs. Johnson patted my arm and looked at me with pity. "Samantha, dear, you're a good girl. People need to learn to move on. You're still young, you can cut your losses now."

But by then, I was blinded by anger.

The day I miscarried, the doctor told me I might never be able to get pregnant again.

I had lost my chance at motherhood. I couldn't let it go! I couldn't forgive!

What I hated was that after marrying me, Frank didn't give me any respect. He remained silent even when his mother bullied and ordered me around.

I hated even more that he disregarded his unborn child and his married status, wining and dining with Jessica outside. He didn't bring a penny home, treating Jessica like a goddess, and even treating Jessica's child with another man as his own.

But his own child? He couldn't care less.

On one of the rare occasions when he was home, the baby kicked in my belly. I excitedly called Frank over to feel it.

He looked at my belly and turned away in disgust. "That's so unsightly. Don't expose your belly like that. Look at Jessica, she would never be so indecent."

All of these things fueled my endless hatred in my past life.

Mrs. Johnson advised me to let go.

Friends urged me to find a new path.

But why should the unfaithful go unpunished? Why should I be forced to retreat?

Do good people always have to compromise?

I refused.

I did all the chores at home, big and small. My hands were swollen from washing piles of dishes.

I didn't want to let that scumbag and his mistress off the hook. Even if it cost me my entire life, I wouldn't let Frank and Jessica walk proudly in public.

As long as I didn't divorce him, Jessica would always be the other woman.

Later, after twenty years of marriage, Frank asked me to meet and talk. He looked exhausted too.

I knew that Jessica had recently run off with her child when she saw no hope left. She had already lined up her next target.

I was a bit curious about what Frank wanted to say, so I went with him.

But we hadn't driven far when he started shouting at me with a twisted face,

"If it weren't for your constant interference, I would have been with Jessica long ago. You should just die!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he crashed into an oncoming truck.

In the intense pain and fear of death, I suddenly realized, why did I tie myself to this scumbag?

I could have chosen a better life.

Overwhelmed by regret, I thought maybe heaven took pity on me and gave me this second chance.

I was reborn at the moment I gave up my spot in the exchange program.

I still had a chance to be myself again.