I watched the whole thing unfold, not in a panic, not screaming for help. Instead, I stood there, utterly calm, a silent observer. I watched Mr. Peterson, my father-in-law, gasp his last breath, his struggles fading into silence. In my previous life, I would have rushed forward to save him, but I was always a step too late. He’d died, and my mother-in-law, Brenda, had immediately pointed the finger at me, accusing me of murder. I’d pleaded with my husband, Mark, who’d supposedly just come home from the movies with me. He’d just pushed me away. “I was working overtime! How could I have been at the movies with you? You killed my dad and you won’t even admit it!” My son, Leo, had emerged from his bedroom, clutching a phone playing surveillance footage. “Bad mommy, why did you kill Grandpa!” Arthur, Mark’s older brother, had been in a rage. Without a word, he’d grabbed a fruit knife and stabbed my already severely burned body twenty-eight times, turning me into a bloody mess before I died. Even as I lay dying, I’d been bewildered. Why would my closest family – my husband and son – falsely accuse me of murder? Then I opened my eyes. I was back. Reborn on the very day Mr. Peterson was blown to smithereens.
“Alice, why don’t you head back and help Mom with dinner? I’ll grab some groceries and be right there.” Mark’s words, spoken with such casual ease, sent a shiver down my spine. It hit me then. I had been reborn. In my past life, Mark and I had just left the movies. He’d sent me home first, saying he’d pick up some cold dishes. But as soon as I walked in, I saw the kitchen explode. Mr. Peterson was flung across the room, lying motionless on the floor. Terrified, I’d rushed to save him, only to be caught in a second explosion, getting severely burned. Shaking with fear, I’d fumbled for my phone to call an ambulance. Brenda, my mother-in-law, had been hiding just outside the kitchen door, paralyzed with fear. When she saw me, her eyes lit up. “Alice, please, I didn’t mean to kill your father! The gas stove wouldn’t light, and the old man insisted on helping me…” Dragging my excruciatingly painful body, I’d crawled towards Mr. Peterson. He was already gone. All these years, Mr. Peterson had poured everything into Arthur’s family and ours. To die like this… it wasn’t just Brenda who couldn’t accept it. If Arthur Peterson found out, given his violent past and the fact he’d once served time for murder, he’d surely kill the culprit! Our neighbors rushed over, taking in the chaotic scene and joining the chorus of condemnation against me. I endured the searing pain and tried to explain that I had just returned from the movies with Mark, and that Brenda had caused the kitchen explosion, not me. But Mark had thrown the bag of groceries at me. “I went to buy cold dishes! When did I ever go to the movies with you, you murderer!?” Before I could retort, my own son, Leo, ran out of his bedroom, phone in hand, playing a surveillance video. “Bad mommy, why did you kill Grandpa and Grandma!” A child’s words are often seen as pure, but his accusation sealed my fate as a murderer. Arthur, who had just stormed in, heard him. He grabbed a fruit knife from the counter and, roaring, stabbed me twenty-eight times, punching through my heart. I stared at him in horror, unable to comprehend why my husband and son, my beloved family, would do this to me! The agonizing pain of being stabbed in my previous life was vividly present, and I couldn’t stop trembling. My fingers, entwined with Mark’s, unconsciously tightened. This time, I had to uncover the truth and prevent that tragedy from repeating itself! I glanced at the time. I had half an hour until the explosion. Everything was still possible. Mark released my hand. As he turned away, I saw him quickly send an “OK” emoji to Brenda. Suddenly, my hair stood on end. It felt like Death itself was looking at me. Mark, who had just celebrated our six-year anniversary yesterday, was now conspiring with Brenda to harm me. Why? I took a deep breath, pushing down the terror. “Honey, the beauty store next door just got a new line of lipsticks. Care to come with me to check them out?” He quickly hid his phone, a sweet, attentive smile instantly replacing his alert expression. “Mom’s waiting for you to help with dinner, remember? Just tell me the shades, and I’ll pick them up for you.” I shook my head, subtly avoiding his attempt to kiss me. “Oh, please. You always get the wrong shade. If you don’t want to go, I’ll just go by myself.” I really was a coward. Brenda and Leo were still at home. It would be two against one, and I knew I had no chance. Last time, Brenda and Leo had physically held me down while Arthur stabbed me to death. Chapter
Mark tried to say something else, but I just walked away, leaving him with my back. All the way, he kept trying to persuade me to go home, but I ignored him. Our six years together had already been shattered the moment he accused me of murder in my past life. Only after receiving a message from Caleb Hayes, my hacker friend from college, did I casually pay and leave. Mark hadn’t followed me, as expected. He’d stood there, making sure I’d called a cab for home, before calling Brenda. I saw it all clearly through the rearview mirror. In my previous life, he’d deliberately sent me home to coordinate with Brenda and frame me. This time, I was going to watch them play their game. When I arrived home, just like last time, the kitchen was already exploding. It was perfectly timed to my arrival. Brenda was hiding behind the door, safe from the blast. But poor Mr. Peterson, once again, lay amidst shattered glass. Seeing me, Brenda rushed forward, wailing as if I were her savior. “Alice, please! I didn’t mean to kill your father! The gas stove wouldn’t light, and the old man insisted on helping me… Please, save me…” I calmly pushed her away. “Mom, call the police and an ambulance. Don’t cling to me.” This time, I had no intention of saving Mr. Peterson. Brenda’s face was a mask of feigned panic, fearfully insisting it wasn’t intentional. In my previous life, she’d worn that same wronged expression, adamantly claiming I had deliberately caused the kitchen explosion, wailing hysterically for me to pay for her husband’s life. If I hadn’t seen her smug, triumphant smile, I might have actually believed she was grieving for Mr. Peterson. Neighbors, drawn by the commotion, arrived and started yelling at me, calling me an evil daughter-in-law. No one would ever believe a mother-in-law would kill her own husband. The bad one, in their eyes, was always me, the wicked daughter-in-law. While we waited for the ambulance, Arthur Peterson burst through the crowd, his eyes blazing with fury, as if he wanted to devour me whole. Arthur had been rebellious since he was young, serving decades in prison for murder. After his release, he never worked, living off Mr. and Mrs. Peterson. Now that Mr. Peterson was dead, it indirectly cut off his source of income. He was clearly frantic, roaring at me. “What happened to my dad? If anything happened to him, I’ll make you pay!” The terror of being stabbed to death in my previous life washed over me, making my legs weak. “He’s right there. If you block the way any longer, he might actually die.” Finally, medical personnel pushed through the crowd, quickly lifting Mr. Peterson onto a stretcher and rushing him into the ambulance. Brenda cried as if her heart had been ripped to shreds, clinging to Arthur, calling him her son. “My son, your sister-in-law is so cruel. All I asked was for her to cook, and she tried to kill both me and your dad! When I ran to save your dad, she grabbed my hair and slammed my head against the door.” Brenda lifted her bangs, revealing an instant lump on her forehead. My face was drained of color. Everyone looked at me as if I were a murderer. Chapter
Brenda’s acting, I had to admit, was flawless. As she shrieked, threatening to fight me, I quickly dodged her. I brutally kicked her in the chest, still shaken. “Mom, you blew up Dad. Why are you blaming it on me?” She immediately clutched her chest, wailing dramatically. All the neighbors angrily surrounded me. “You’re truly a wicked daughter-in-law! Playing the victim first. You must have killed him and are framing your mother-in-law!” My sudden attack caught Arthur off guard; he hadn’t reacted yet. Brenda, emboldened by the crowd, cried even louder: “You all saw it! She even accused me of blowing up the old man! Such a vicious heart!” I sneered. “Dare you say it wasn’t for the millions in my bank accounts, to pin a murder on me, and then scheme to take everything I owned?” The phrase “plotting to take everything I owned” hit everyone like a lightning bolt. Brenda’s eyes darted nervously before her gaze hardened. “Alice, you’re insane! Why would I blow up the old man for your petty cash!” “For my money, for my shares, for mountains of wealth and a life of luxury! Mark and I only went to the movies today. Isn’t framing me all about the money?” My unprecedented aggression made Brenda Peterson’s face fall. She wanted to say more, but someone grabbed her by the collar and pulled her back. “Enough!” It was Mark, who had rushed over. He shot a look at Brenda, then slapped me, hard. “Are you having another one of your episodes? When did I ever go to the movies with you?” I’d expected Mark wouldn’t side with me, but I hadn’t expected him to hit me in public. That slap shattered the last fragments of our six-year relationship. In my previous life, he’d also denied going to the movies with me in front of everyone, convinced I was the murderer. Back then, I’d been lost, unable to understand why. Today, seeing their family’s coordinated attack, I finally understood. “Mark, if you keep giving false testimony for Brenda Peterson, I won’t spare you either.” My voice was firm. “I’m telling you again, today, Mark Peterson, we went to the movies together. I am not a killer.” To my disappointment, Mark instinctively denied it. “No, I didn’t! What’s the point of lying? My son and I saw you walk into the kitchen ourselves.” He was set in his ways, determined to pin the blame on me. I wanted to speak, but the bedroom door opened. My son, Leo, ran out, his phone playing audio on speaker. “Bad mommy, you killed Grandpa! Bad people have to pay!” His young face held an overwhelming hatred. “Grandma, don’t be scared! Leo will protect you! The police will arrest bad mommy!” My own son spat at me. “Ptooey, ptooey! I don’t have a mom like you! Just go die!” My heart turned ice cold. This was the flesh and blood I had carried for ten months, almost bleeding out to bring into the world. I never imagined that the very child I bore would turn into a knife, aimed right at my heart. This home held no warmth for me. “Leo, I’m your mother. Why are you helping them?” My heart ached with bitterness as I stared at my son. But he just picked up a piece of broken glass from the floor and threw it at me. “Get lost! I don’t have a murderer for a mom!” I tilted my head, dodging the glass, but a cut appeared on my face. Leo then cranked up the volume on his phone, playing the surveillance footage louder. “Bad woman! This is the video of you deliberately detonating the kitchen! You’ve been lying all along!” Arthur heard it and instinctively rushed to snatch the phone. Leo, along with Mark and his mother, Brenda, adamantly pointed at me as the murderer. The neighbors cursed me even louder. I surveyed the scene with a desolate gaze, feeling utterly abandoned and hopeless. “Why? Why are you doing this to me?” Mark and Leo exchanged a knowing look and then rolled their eyes at me in unison. “Just hurry up and die! Don’t harm Grandma anymore! You’re an evil daughter-in-law and a bad mommy!” My heart was torn to shreds by my own son. Just then, Arthur, who had finished watching the video, picked up a scattered fruit knife and rushed over, grabbing me by the throat. The crushing despair of my dying moments from my previous life enveloped me. I knew too well the agony of being stabbed. In my blurring vision, I saw Brenda Peterson’s triumphant smile and the hidden satisfaction in Mark and Leo’s faces. Utter despair consumed me. Was I doomed to the same fate, even with a second chance? Just then, a squad of well-trained footsteps sounded, parting the crowd, and a furious voice bellowed. “Stop! Who gave you the right to kill him?!” Chapter
Suddenly, air rushed into my constricted throat, and I erupted into a fit of coughing. “Cough, cough, cough…” The police who arrived swiftly secured the scene. Caleb, my friend from college, stood by my side, assuring me not to be afraid, that he had all the evidence. Finally, I felt a sense of relief. In my previous life, I had died consumed by hatred, never receiving justice in my final moments. I had been stabbed into a bloody mess by Arthur, and no one had bothered to uncover the truth for me. My own closest relatives had banded together, united in their desire to see me dead. No mother could ever accept her own child falsely accusing her. And no wife could ever accept being betrayed by her husband. Fortunately, this time, I hadn’t been stabbed to death. Everything was still salvageable. The female officer had barely switched on her body camera when Mark eagerly pointed at me, his face a mask of grief. “Officer, I’m Alice’s husband, Mark Peterson. I’m officially reporting her for deliberate murder, for killing my dad!” Hearing this, all the police officers looked solemn. Before they could speak, Brenda, clutching Leo, chimed in. “That’s right, she’s an evil daughter-in-law! She killed the old man, and I’m definitely next! Officers, please arrest her and execute her!” I regained my composure, watching their synchronized performance with cold eyes. My closest husband and my own son were willing to falsely accuse me, desperate for me to die. Even Caleb, just a friend from college, couldn’t stand it. He spoke up for me. “You people are truly heartless animals! Alice marrying into your family was a charity case, and you’re still not grateful. I think *you’re* the murderers, trying to kill Alice and seize everything she owns!” To my surprise, my son, whom I’d loved for five years, blurted out, “Good, good if she died! I don’t want a bad mommy!” “Alright, regardless, justice will be served by the law. This is the first time I’ve seen a child disown their mother.” The police officers’ eyes showed suspicion, wondering what terrible things I must have done to be so utterly abandoned by my family. “She is, after all, the child’s mother and your wife. How did it come to this?” “Ptooey! Don’t even say she’s my grandson’s mother! She’s not worthy!” Brenda held Leo, her eyes fixed on me, filled with venomous hatred. “Officer, it’s true that you can’t judge a book by its cover. We’ve been repaying evil with good, tolerating her until now. Otherwise, letting her continue to harm innocent people would be a true menace!” Mark’s words were self-righteous; in his narrative, I was a heinous criminal. Arthur, standing beside him, was itching to tear me apart on the spot. The neighbors cursed me as an evil daughter-in-law, wholeheartedly supporting Mark, demanding that I pay with my life. “‘Repaying evil with good,’ huh? You’re so heartless, don’t blame me for being ruthless.” My heart was utterly frozen. “You ruthless? I think you should just surrender quietly; you might get a lighter sentence.” Brenda was triumphant, utterly confident that she could send me to prison. Ordinarily, Brenda had always verbally abused Mr. Peterson, treating him like useless baggage, constantly tormenting him mentally. Now that he was dead, with me taking the blame, the biggest beneficiaries were clearly her and Mark. I wouldn’t let her succeed. “You wouldn’t expect me to forgive you, would you? Absolutely not!” Mark immediately declared, afraid I’d try to drag him down with me. I scoffed. “In that case, I won’t hold back.” In front of everyone, I pulled something out of my bag, something that surprised Mark’s entire family. “Officer, I have evidence to prove who the real murderer is.” Chapter Seeing what I held in my hand, Mark instinctively lunged to snatch it. I sidestepped, mocking him, “What, suddenly scared now?” Brenda’s face also changed. Though she didn’t know what I was holding, she blindly trusted her son. “You bitch! What fake thing are you trying to trick people with?!”
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