Chapter 2

In my previous life, Lucas, my childhood sweetheart, suddenly announced he wanted to become a singer and pursue his dreams in New York.

But before that, he had always said being with me and attending the same college was his dream.

I had even wasted my high score of over 600 points to apply to the same average college as him.

But two days before the acceptance letters arrived, he suddenly said he was going to New York to chase his dreams.

His sick parents, Mr. and Mrs. Wilson, came knocking on our door in the middle of the night, begging me to help find their son.

In my previous life, I went. My parents, worried about me, followed and ended up in a car accident.

Lucas was later found by me. When he heard his parents say that my parents' deaths were his fault, they insisted he had to make it up to me.

So they forced Lucas to get engaged to me, planning for us to marry right after college graduation.

But I got pregnant in my sophomore year and had to take a break from school.

We hastily got married, I went through pregnancy and childbirth, and took care of the baby. Two years flew by, and just as I was excitedly planning to return to school, his parents fell seriously ill and came to stay with us for treatment.

Lucas told me to be understanding, saying his parents had already worked so hard for his education, and now they were sick and needed care.

As for him, of course, he had to go to work to support the family.

At the time, to save Lucas's face, I didn't mention that his monthly salary of $3,500 wasn't even enough to cover the children's formula and normal household expenses.

Later, I had to sell our old house to pay for his parents' medical bills and raise our two children.

But while I gave up my education and struggled to manage the whole family, he was out making a bunch of fair-weather friends with his meager $3,500 salary.

What little money he had left, he spent on making music, claiming he was fulfilling his dream.

Crushed by the pressure of family life and after several failed attempts at communication, we started having huge fights.

He began calling me bitter and narrow-minded, saying if it wasn't for me forcing him to come back, he would have already become a big star in New York.

He even accused me of using my parents' death to emotionally blackmail him into marrying me.

I didn't hold back either, calling him delusional, saying his terrible voice made his dream of becoming a singer nothing but a pipe dream!

When he brought up my parents' death, I went crazy, lunging at him to shut him up, only to be violently pushed away.

After that, Lucas deliberately started staying away from home. His parents, unable to see their son, blamed everything on me, complaining that I was immature and petty, only knowing how to anger their son.

They completely forgot how they had begged me to find their son in the first place.

In this miserable life, I gritted my teeth and tightened my belt to do odd jobs and earn money to support the family.

But the children I had worked so hard to raise were never close to me, instead being affectionate towards the irresponsible Lucas.

I thought the children would understand when they grew up, but I waited for over twenty years, until they were married with families of their own.

But they competed to have Lucas live with them, while remaining cold and distant towards me.

"Mom, you controlled us too much in the past. We don't want to hear your lectures anymore."

"Dad's youthful dreams were stifled by you. Now that he's older, we want to take him to New York to chase his dreams again."

"Grandpa and Grandma were right. You just want everyone to live according to your plans. You're so selfish!"

I never expected my children to say such things. Devastated, I returned home to find Lucas smugly packing his bags, gloating that he was about to leave me for a better life.

After dedicating over twenty years to this family, all I was left with was a reputation for being selfish and controlling.

Why did Lucas get to be so carefree? Never taking care of the family or responsibilities, yet ending up as the open-minded father in our children's eyes?

I rushed forward and pushed Lucas. He was stunned for a moment, then immediately grabbed a vase and smashed it towards me.

"Damn you, you dare to lay hands on me? I'll beat you to death..."

So our deaths were actually the consequence of our mutual assault.

As we both fell to the ground, I was still praying in my heart: if there's a next life, please don't let me meet Lucas again.