After fourteen years of marriage, Liam betrayed me. I was pushed down the stairs by his mistress and died. Then, I was reborn eighteen years in the past. In a small alley, Liam was being trampled in dirty water by some thugs. Seeing me pass by, he begged for my help. Liam had an affair. When I found out, I was holding a pregnancy test with two lines. I had accompanied him step by step from the bottom to the top. In our toughest times, we only had ten dollars in our pockets. On the day he proposed, he swore to the heavens that if he ever betrayed me, he would find a cliff and jump off. On our wedding day, Liam cried like a child, saying how fortunate he was to have me as his companion. Fourteen years of marriage, two seven-year itches. In the photo, the child was smiling brightly. Liam was holding him, his eyes gentle. Everything was as I had imagined. Except the main character wasn’t me. When I was young, I traveled frequently for work, which damaged my health. For this child, I took countless medicines and injections. When the pain was unbearable, Liam would hold me, his eyes full of concern, telling me over and over: “We don’t need a child, I only need you.” But at that time, I always thought love could overcome all difficulties. I never imagined this day would come. Out of a woman’s intuition, I checked his suit. On the collar of the suit, there was a barely visible lipstick mark. I held the suit, stunned for a long time. Actually, there had been signs all along, but I never thought Liam would betray me, so I subconsciously ignored them. In a daze, I heard a voice behind me. “Nora, I have a dinner tonight. You should go to bed early.” Liam quickly kissed my forehead, took the suit from my hands, and hurriedly left. I opened my mouth, wanting to say something, but the door had already closed. I only heard the sound of the car engine. It seemed that this had become the norm between us for some time now. Once, we had endless topics to talk about. Now, when we face each other, there’s only silence. The next day, I went to the company alone. The company was called Promise, named after me, Nora. The receptionist had changed, and they didn’t recognize me anymore. They asked for my appointment number in a businesslike manner. After some awkwardness, an old employee of the company saw me and took me upstairs. The office door wasn’t closed. The new secretary was helping Liam tie his tie. The young girl wasn’t very old and seemed clumsy while tying the knot. Liam didn’t mind, just lowered his head and looked at her with a smile. I was lost in thought, remembering when the company was just starting and urgently needed funding. We spent all our savings to buy Liam’s first suit. Back then, I was just as clumsy tying his tie, and Liam would look at me with the same gentle smile. I got annoyed and pulled the tie too tight, making him yelp. It all seemed so close, yet it had been over a decade. When did things change? I pushed the door open with a creak. Liam looked up and saw me, seeming a bit flustered: “Nora, why did you come to the company today?” “No reason, I just missed you,” I said softly, stepping forward to carefully tie his tie. He wanted to say more, but his team was calling him for a meeting. Before leaving, Liam specially turned up the air conditioning and prepared a blanket and snacks for me. He was so thoughtful, he loved me, but this didn’t prevent him from having an affair. The young girl was more impatient than I had imagined. Liam had barely left when she started probing me intentionally. I just leaned back on the sofa, looking at her carefully. When we first got together, I joked with Liam: If he ever had an affair in the future, he must bring the person to me so I could check them out. I never thought this joke would come true. He broke his vow, and now I wanted to see. The young girl’s features were somewhat similar to my younger self – the same big eyes, a bun hairstyle, with an air of innocence. I touched the fine lines around my eyes, feeling a bit sentimental. The young girl was young and impetuous, her tone becoming aggressive. She was young and didn’t know that in the circle of wealthy wives, there were many ways to torment people without making a sound. But I didn’t bother to do that. At this moment, I only felt utterly exhausted. I regretted coming here today. It all felt so pointless.
As I turned to leave, she grabbed my arm. I had no intention of tangling with her, but as we struggled, we had already reached the stairway. She flashed an extremely innocent smile. Before I could react, we both fell. As we fell together, I saw Liam grab the other person’s hand. I tumbled down the stairs heavily. I tried to protect my abdomen, but it was all in vain. Something was flowing out of my body, blood everywhere. Liam stumbled down the stairs after me, holding me in panic like a child, no longer showing any of his usual calm composure: “Nora, ambulance, Nora, please don’t sleep, ambulance” I gradually lost consciousness. When I woke up again, I was back to when I was 18 years old. In a small alley, on a rainy day, a young man was being pushed into a puddle of dirty water. I looked over belatedly and met Liam’s eyes. His eyes were full of hatred and unwillingness, like a wolf cub. This was my first meeting with Liam. Later, when we talked about this first encounter, Liam would always look at me with tender eyes: “You were clearly terrified, but you still trembled as you stood in front of me.” “I thought then, how could there be such a foolish person in this world!” I would get annoyed and try to hit him, and he would just look at me with a smile as I fussed. But at this moment, I stared steadily at the young man lying injured on the ground. “If you don’t want to die, get lost,” the thug with dyed hair said menacingly, a cigarette dangling from his mouth. I took the lollipop out of my mouth and asked calmly: “Can I watch? I’ve never seen someone being beaten up before.” The man seemed a bit surprised, looked at me, and laughed: “Interested?” I nodded, and he had his men throw Liam back into the mud puddle, tormenting him over and over. Liam lay on the ground like a lifeless object. I just watched expressionlessly. I had originally thought I might get some satisfaction from this. But there was nothing – no excitement, no sadness, no anger, like an ancient well that had been still for ten thousand years. I shrugged, “Boring,” and turned to leave. Behind me, Liam’s suppressed cries of pain continued. But all of this had nothing to do with me anymore. If the story had developed as before, Liam would have originally chosen me as his deskmate. And thus began our ill-fated relationship. But now… I looked up at Liam who was entering the classroom door. The young man was thin, wearing a slightly yellowed school uniform. Backlit by the sun, his expression was unclear. At this moment, he was leaning against the podium with his hands in his pockets, looking at me with a half-smile. I lowered my head and continued to focus on the problems on the paper. The questions weren’t difficult, but it still took some time to pick it up again after so long. A loud thud sounded beside me as Liam dropped his desk next to mine. He spoke in a mocking tone, arms crossed: “Hello, new deskmate.” I glanced at him indifferently, not wanting to engage. But he persisted, seeming determined to get to the bottom of that day’s incident. Annoyed by his questions, I finally replied: “There’s no reason. I just don’t like you.” “Why don’t you like me?” I slammed my pen on the desk and glared at him fiercely: “Phoenix eyes, passionate; thin lips, fickle; thick eyebrows, promiscuous.” “I’ve studied physiognomy. You’re naturally a heartless, unfaithful person. I can’t stand it, okay?” Liam was clearly stunned for a moment. When he tried to speak again, I had already put on my earphones. But my heart was in turmoil. I wasn’t as indifferent as I thought I was. After being together for over a decade, Liam’s betrayal had left a hole in my heart, filled with nothing but pitch-black hatred. But the 18-year-old Liam knew nothing of this. The young Liam had a vindictive personality. He resented me for laughing at him that day, so he started opposing me in everything. Young people have their own ways of tormenting others, yet leaving no evidence. He knew I was terrified of insects, so he would catch them and hide them in corners. When the insects crawled out during class, I would be on edge the whole time. At those times, Liam’s phoenix eyes would be full of mirth, taking pleasure in my panic and distress.
He still hung out with those thugs from outside school, his brow bone still bruised. I heard that he had beaten those guys who bullied him very badly, breaking several of their ribs and costing a lot in compensation. Liam’s parents had divorced when he was young. He was given to his mother, who had remarried and had a new child, so no one really cared about him. He was never one to follow rules, and not wanting to go home, he often wandered outside. Moreover, his stepfather liked to get violent when drunk, which was why Liam’s face was often bruised. Liam was very resistant to this part of his past. Even after being together for over a decade, I still knew very little about it. The young Liam was actually a very difficult person to get along with, solitary and obsessive. The teachers treated him like an invisible person, assuming he would just fend for himself. Back then, as class monitor, I was too responsible and always thought I could save everyone. I talked to Liam over and over, trying to open up his tightly locked heart. And after learning about his family situation, I tried to help him every day. I told him the world outside was vast, and this small county town shouldn’t trap us for life. I shared my dreams with him, gazed at the starry sky together, telling him that even in darkness, we should look up at the stars. Every day I was like a broken record in his ear, talking and talking until he got annoyed and coldly asked if I knew no shame. After hitting so many walls, I privately swore several times that I wouldn’t bother with him anymore, but I still kept trying. Finally one day he opened a book. Liam was very smart, and after finding something he liked in books, his grades started to improve rapidly. Later Liam said it was me who saved him from the mire. Starting over this time, I just wanted to watch how he would rot and stink in the mud. When the midterm exam results came out, Liam was still undisputedly in last place. Liam and I both used the college entrance exam as a springboard to reach places we had never imagined before. But now, how fate would develop, I no longer knew. Liam had disappeared after the midterm exam results came out. As class monitor, the teacher asked me to go to his home to inquire about the situation. I had originally planned to go after school, but I was delayed by a problem, so it was already getting dark when I went. His house wasn’t far from mine, on the edge of the village, with its own small courtyard. I really didn’t want to make this trip, just going through the motions. After a long time, I reached the door and was about to knock when I heard the sound of things crashing inside, and also… Listening carefully, I heard Liam’s whimpers. I quickly found a corner to hide myself and peeked through the cracks in the door. A middle-aged man, reeking of alcohol, red-faced, was beating Liam with a stick, not holding back. He was muttering something, getting angrier and angrier, hitting harder and harder. In the end, he even tried to strangle Liam. Liam struggled desperately. At 18, the young man already had some strength, and for a moment the man couldn’t subdue him. The man became enraged and shouted something. A middle-aged woman ran out from the inner room. Though older, you could tell she had been a beauty when young. Liam’s eyes were very much like hers. “Hold him down.” The man had completely lost his reason, his eyes full of bloodshot. The woman hesitated, her body trembling constantly, but she still went forward. The moment she approached, I noticed Liam stopped all struggle. He just lay quietly on the ground, looking up at the starry sky, a strange smile on his lips, as if he was going to some sweet rendezvous. A sudden pain gripped my heart. Liam had always told me that life was too bitter, and I always thought it was just young people’s affectation. I never imagined that for him, life really was this bitter. The moment his mother stepped forward, he had already lost all will to live. The gears of fate had started turning again when I came to the past. I still hated him, the hole in my heart now cold and empty. It had brought me here to see how I would choose?
The moment I pushed the door open, all movement stopped. The man looked at me with murderous intent, as if he wanted to silence me too. But standing here now was the 36-year-old Nora, who had been through all sorts of situations in life. “Stop now, and I’ll pretend I saw nothing,” I said coldly. The man still wanted to move, but I stared straight at him: “Liam is your son. If he dies, no one will investigate. But if I’m harmed, my father will level this village.” The bloodlust in the man’s eyes completely dissipated. He asked hoarsely what I wanted to do. “He’s under my care now,” I said, pointing at Liam lying lifelessly on the ground. The young man seemed to have become a skeleton, as if he had already died just now. I used a lot of strength to drag him out of the small courtyard. Throughout, Liam had no reaction at all. In the moonlight, I looked down at him for a long time, then cleanly and decisively slapped him: “There’s nothing easier in this world than dying. If you really don’t want to live, there’s a river right there.” I grabbed his collar and continued fiercely: “Liam, you owe me too much. This life is no longer your own.” Liam suddenly looked up at me. Our eyes met, and finally, there was emotion in his. Perhaps it would take a long time to fully understand, but at least for now, he wouldn’t take his own life. I turned and left decisively, feeling completely lost. By chance, I had saved the person I should have hated the most. The web of fate had woven us two together, getting tighter and tighter, more and more entangled. After that day, Liam seemed to suddenly change his ways, studying day and night. Almost every monthly exam, his ranking would jump up several dozen places. He became even more silent, hiding in corners, as if he didn’t exist. One day I was doing problems late and took a shortcut home, but unexpectedly encountered the group that had surrounded Liam that day. The leader was very interested in me and insisted on having me drink with him. We reached a stalemate. It was getting dark, and it started to rain. Summer clothes were thin and transparent, clinging to the body when wet, inevitably revealing curves. The group laughed lewdly. During the standoff, unexpectedly, Liam kicked the leader to the ground. He had several people behind him, and it quickly developed into a brawl between two groups. I stood in the corner watching Liam. He fought viciously, aiming for vital points with every strike, like an untamed beast. I called the police. When they arrived, Liam was already covered in injuries, but his expression remained defiant. He licked the blood from the corner of his mouth, got on the police car nonchalantly, and even whistled at me before leaving. Liam was detained for several days before being released. I heard his stepfather had slapped him hard in public. When he returned, there was still a visible handprint on his cheek. Many classmates were whispering about it, but Liam just silently continued to do problems. From then on, every day when I went home, Liam would quietly follow behind me, leaving only after seeing me safely home. He didn’t say anything, and I pretended not to notice. After the college entrance exam, Liam followed me and got into the same university. I wanted to get rid of him, but unexpectedly, he never left. He was like a shadow behind me, stubbornly following, impossible to shake off or escape. ———-This is the breakpoint———- The whole university knew that Liam was Nora’s number one admirer.
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