Twenty years after our wedding, Frank and I were both given a second chance at life, transported back to before we got married. This time, he bravely pursued his true love, choosing his dream girl, Jessica. I watched coldly as he did everything for Jessica. I saw him running around to celebrate her birthday, getting into fights and facing disciplinary action for her sake, and even giving her the job our professor had recommended for him. A friend told me they were planning to get married right after graduation. I smiled and said, “I sincerely wish them a lifetime of happiness together.” The first thing I did after getting this second chance was to go to the professor’s office. I wanted to take back my decision to give up my spot in the study abroad exchange program. In the office, the professor looked at me with an amused smile. “Why the sudden change of heart? Didn’t you initially tell me you were staying local because Frank was planning to find an internship here?” “I was thinking what a shame it was that such a good student would let love cloud her judgment.” “So many people would kill for this opportunity, and you just gave it up. Now you want it back?” I laughed awkwardly. In this new timeline, I had sent the message to the professor just five minutes ago. After carefully rephrasing my request and begging for another chance, the professor called me to the office and said the words above. She didn’t know that this was my first attempt to change my life after being given this second chance. I stood there awkwardly, not knowing how to explain. After stammering for a while, the professor let me off the hook and agreed to keep the spot for me. As I was about to leave, she called out to me. “Will you still give up your future for that boyfriend of yours?” I thought about Frank. To be fair, he was quite a catch, at least in others’ eyes. When Frank first entered college, the senior girls all declared him the most handsome freshman. His entrance exam scores were also among the top in our major. I had managed to win Frank’s heart by sacrificing my chance to study abroad. After pursuing him for a long time, he finally seemed moved by my efforts but said hesitantly, “But aren’t you going abroad? How can we be together?” So, I gave up the opportunity. Back then, I chose love without hesitation. Later, when I found out he had pulled some strings to give that spot to Jessica, we had a huge fight, but it was too late. Which is more important, your future or love? In my past life, I fell hard for love and paid a heavy price. In this new life, I just want to forge a path that truly belongs to me. The professor was still waiting for my answer. I smiled, looked back at her, and said cheerfully, “Professor, even a love-struck fool like me wouldn’t sell herself short anymore.” “I’m ambitious Samantha now. I don’t care about love, only my future!” The professor laughed and shooed me out of her office. Leaving the office, I headed back to the dorm.
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.
Back at the dorm, my friend Lily looked at me with concern and tried to comfort me, “Samantha, don’t be sad. Frank betrayed you. He’ll surely come to no good end.” I looked at Lily in confusion. What was she talking about? At this point, Frank should have just agreed to date me. How could he have betrayed me? That was all in the future, wasn’t it? Lily showed me her phone’s social media feed. She had Jessica as a contact. Jessica had posted a status update with a caption: [We’re together now!] The photo showed her and Frank holding hands tightly, beaming with joy. I looked at the unread messages on my phone. Frank had sent a breakup message while I was meeting with the professor. So, it seems I wasn’t the only one given a second chance at life.
I burst out laughing. Lily felt my forehead and asked, “What’s wrong, Samantha? Do you have a fever?” I had pursued Frank for a long time, starting from the beginning of the semester. I brought him breakfast, lunch, and bubble tea every day. Lily thought I had gone mad with anger. But that wasn’t it. In this life, I don’t have time to get entangled with Frank. He chose to be with his dream girl, so let him have his wish. Let him see just how great his precious Jessica really is. There’s only one month left before the study abroad exchange program. Soon, I’ll be heading towards a bright future. But I never expected Frank to have the audacity to bring Jessica to confront me. “Why didn’t you bring me food today? Did something hold you up?” Frank looked at me coldly, as if I were his enemy. I looked at the two of them in disbelief and asked, “Didn’t we break up?” We’ve broken up, so why would I still bring you food? Do you think I’m running a charity? Perhaps because he was used to me taking care of him in every way in my past life, Frank didn’t expect me to talk back. In his mind, I was still the Samantha who clung to him. Maybe he wasn’t used to not having someone anticipate his every need. Back then, I would bring him food every day at school. After we got married, whenever he came home, I would have several dishes prepared for him. He was used to having everything handed to him, and now he couldn’t adapt. At this point, he didn’t have much money. I was poor too, but I could work part-time jobs. I even managed to bring him breakfast and lunch every day. Now that he’s lost all that, he has the nerve to blame me? “Frank, honey, I heard that Samantha used to bring you delicious food every day. You promised me I could try it too,” Jessica chimed in. Frank looked at Jessica awkwardly. I laughed out loud. So they came here to mooch off me. I grabbed the broom from the dorm supervisor and waved it in front of them, kicking up dust that covered their faces. Frank, ignoring the dirt on his face, pulled me aside. “Samantha, I’ll give you money. Just do me this favor.” Favor? What face does he have left now? Frank used to have some money saved, but seeing me bring him food every day, he became extravagant in his spending. Now at the end of the month, he’s so broke he has to come begging from me. I laughed coldly, shook off Frank’s hand, and deliberately raised my voice, “No money to play big shot! I’m not lending you anything!” Jessica’s face changed color beside us, apparently not expecting Frank to be penniless. I know Jessica’s type. She loves money above all else. In my past life, seeing that Frank had a managerial position at the research institute, she latched onto him tightly. I remember most clearly one time when she brought her child to our door with Frank. She looked at me timidly, “Sister-in-law, don’t misunderstand. My child and I just have nowhere to go. We’re just staying for a couple of days.” I knew she had slept with Frank. I found it disgusting and had long since started sleeping in separate rooms from Frank. They stayed at hotels when they met outside, and I didn’t care. I just didn’t expect them to bring it home, apparently unwilling to even pay for a hotel room anymore. I had just finished cooking when Jessica’s child, without even a greeting, went straight to the table and started gobbling down the food. While eating, the child loudly said, “It’s delicious, Mom! I want to eat this auntie’s food every day!” Frank didn’t look at me, just smiled and said, “If you like it, eat more. You can have it every day from now on!” I flipped the table directly. The food and dishes crashed all over the child. I smiled sweetly as I watched Frank and Jessica rush to comfort the child. Frank angrily questioned me, “What are you doing? What’s wrong with the child eating some food?” I replied nonchalantly, “I didn’t like the look of him, so I won’t let him eat.” My child was gone, so I wouldn’t let this bastard child have it easy either. Frank spent half the day comforting Jessica and the child. In the end, they didn’t stay. Jessica left with the child. Frank came back looking exhausted and looked at me, “If you didn’t want them to stay, they won’t. I guess it’s my fault for disturbing your peace.” It was the first time I heard him speak like a decent person, and I couldn’t help but look at him. However, not long after, Frank moved out. When I went out to take out the trash, I passed by the park and saw Jessica arguing with a man, “Wait a bit longer. Once Frank divorces and we get the money, we’ll leave.” My curiosity was piqued, so I asked Mrs. Johnson to inquire. It turned out that Jessica wasn’t just involved with one man. Frank was just one of them. If she couldn’t get money from him, Jessica would run off. But Frank didn’t know this. He just thought Jessica was disappointed because he hadn’t divorced me yet. Now, Frank had exposed his lack of money early on. I wonder how Jessica will react.
I ignored them and prepared to go to the library to borrow some books. Although I had secured the exchange spot, I knew there were always people better than me out there. Learning more would never be a mistake. Jessica secretly cornered me in the tea room. “Did you know Frank had no money? Is that why you broke up with him?” I ignored her and went back to study. Jessica tried to grab me in frustration, but this was the library and she couldn’t make too much noise. She could only watch me leave, unwillingly. Over the next week, I heard that Frank and Jessica had many arguments. They even fought while walking on campus. Once, Frank even raised his hand against her, “Jessica, how come I never realized you were so materialistic!” Actually, if given some time, Frank could have earned money too. But unfortunately, Jessica wasn’t willing to wait. I found another online part-time job writing copy for social media accounts. Although the school covered my tuition and I had a scholarship, there would inevitably be times when I needed money. The earnings weren’t much, but accumulated over time, it would be enough to ensure I could eat and drink well in a foreign country. The elders in my village were all proud of me. The aunts even wanted to pool some money for me, but I politely refused. They had fed me when I was little; how could I take their money now that I was grown? I set aside some money, planning to send it to the village elders on the day I left for abroad, as a small gesture of filial piety. Back home, I looked at the countdown on my phone screen. Fifteen days left. In fifteen days, I would reach a turning point in my life and embrace a new future.
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