After my husband Lucas Gray was reborn, the first thing he did was bring his illegitimate son home and force me to send our daughter away to the countryside. He held that drooling bastard child in his arms, his eyes burning with fanaticism: “He’s our family’s only hope! This boy is going to win a Nobel Prize someday—he’s a genius! As for that useless daughter of yours, we need to get rid of her. Now.” I glanced at the boy. Then I refused Lucas’s demand and filed for divorce immediately. My ex-husband didn’t know that I had been reborn too. In my previous life, this illegitimate son only became a genius because I quit my job, slept only four hours a night, and spent every penny I had treating his intellectual disabilities. Meanwhile, my own daughter—ignored and neglected—ran away from home. She became a financial titan who controlled the global economy. This life, you can take care of that mentally disabled child yourself. I’m going to make it up to my daughter and become the mother of the world’s richest woman.
I signed the divorce papers without hesitation. Lucas didn’t even look at me. He scooped up his illegitimate son, Kyler Gray, the boy with drool running down his chin, and held him close. In his mind, he was already picturing Kyler accepting the Nobel Prize in Physics. This time, he would never let me steal that glory! “Tomorrow morning, 9 a.m., City Hall. We finalize the divorce!” I turned and walked toward my daughter Zoe’s room. Behind me, Lucas let out a cold laugh. “Good luck surviving without me. I’ll be waiting for you to come crawling back, begging.” I didn’t look back. The moment I closed the door, my mother-in-law Rita Quinn burst into the living room, her voice shrill and piercing. “Lucas! Have you lost your mind? You’re just letting her leave like that? What about Zoe? She’s my granddaughter!” She started toward Zoe’s room. Lucas blocked her path, his tone sharp with irritation. “Mom! Keep it down! Can’t you see Kyler’s sleeping?” Rita stopped in her tracks, but her voice didn’t lower. “Zoe’s going to suffer with her! Make her leave the child here!” I opened the door, leading Zoe out by the hand. She was already wearing her jacket. Zoe’s little face was calm—too calm for a five-year-old. She just gripped my hand tightly. I looked at Rita. “I gave birth to her. Custody goes to me. It’s clearly stated in the agreement.” Rita’s eyes bulged. She pointed a trembling finger at my face. “Vanessa! Don’t you dare get cocky! The Gray family has supported you all these years, and now you think you’re too good for us? Taking our bloodline away? Don’t even think about it!” She reached out to grab Zoe. I stepped in front of her, shielding my daughter behind me. “Rita, try that again. I dare you.” The ice in my eyes made her flinch. She took half a step back. Lucas impatiently pulled out a card from his wallet and tossed it onto the counter. “Enough! Stop fighting! Vanessa, here—fifty thousand dollars. That should be enough for you and the girl to get by for a while. Don’t come bothering me again.” Fifty thousand. Like I was some beggar. I didn’t even bother to pick up the card. I took Zoe’s hand, opened the door, and left without looking back. Behind me, Kyler’s wails suddenly pierced the air, followed by Lucas fumbling awkwardly to soothe him. “My genius boy, don’t cry…” The elevator doors slid shut, sealing off everything. Zoe looked up at me and asked softly. “Mom, where are we going?” I crouched down and straightened her collar. “We’re going to our new home.” Zoe nodded and said nothing more. She just held my hand tighter.
I took Zoe back to the apartment to pack our things. The home that had once been filled with laughter between mother and daughter now felt unbearably silent. In the living room, Lucas was clumsily trying to feed Kyler formula. Powder spilled everywhere. When he saw me, his brow furrowed into a knot. “Why are you back? Hurry up, grab your stuff, and get out. Don’t disturb me while I’m with Kyler.” I ignored him and walked straight into the bedroom. I pulled out two large suitcases. Rita followed me in, hovering behind me like a prison guard. “Vanessa, let me tell you something—this house belongs to my son. You’re not taking a single thing that doesn’t belong to you.” Her eyes scanned every item I packed. I folded Zoe’s and my clothes one by one and placed them neatly into the suitcases. “These are all part of my dowry from before the marriage. And this jewelry set—my mother left it to me.” I pointed to a box on the dresser. Rita immediately lunged forward and slammed her hand down on it. “Your mother left it to you? Once you married into the Gray family, it became Gray family property! You want to take it? Over my dead body!” Her fingers locked around the box like a vice. I stopped what I was doing, stood up, and stared at her in silence. She shifted uncomfortably under my gaze but refused to let go. “What are you looking at? Am I wrong? You’re about to walk out that door, and you think you can take something this valuable?” I didn’t argue. I just pulled out my phone and turned on the voice recorder. “Say that again. Whose property is this?” Rita froze for a second, then threw a fit. “It’s the Gray family’s! What are you going to do about it?” I put my phone away, stopped looking at her, and continued packing. A picture frame fell to the floor. The glass shattered. Inside was a photo of Zoe and me at the beach. Zoe walked over and carefully tried to pick it up. “Don’t touch it. You’ll cut yourself.” I pulled her back. From the living room, Lucas shouted impatiently. “Vanessa! Can you hurry up? You’re taking forever! If you break anything, can you even afford to replace it?” I pulled the photo out of the broken frame—careful to avoid the shards—and slipped it into my pocket. Then I swept the empty frame and broken glass into the trash. Rita, seeing I wasn’t paying her any attention, started yelling again. “Did you hear that? My son told you to get out! Stop being an eyesore!” I zipped up the suitcases with a heavy finality. I pulled one suitcase with each hand and held Zoe’s hand with the other as I headed for the door. As I passed through the living room, I saw Kyler throw his bottle on the floor. He was reaching for Lucas’s car keys on the coffee table, about to shove them into his mouth. Lucas was completely oblivious, head down, absorbed in some guidebook on early genius cultivation. I walked past without a glance. The door slammed shut behind me. I didn’t care if that child choked on the keys. I didn’t care if Lucas could actually raise a genius. I rented a small one-bedroom apartment in the old part of the city. Compared to the Gray family’s spacious riverside penthouse, this place was a shoebox. But Zoe remained calm. She set down her little backpack and studied our new “home” carefully. “Mom, where’s my bed?” I pointed to the small bed by the window, covered with cartoon sheets I’d just bought. “That’s yours from now on.” She nodded, climbed onto it, lay down to test it, and then smiled at me. “It’s soft.” My heart softened too. By the time we settled in, it was late at night. After I read Zoe a bedtime story, she fell asleep quickly. I sat on the creaky sofa in the living room. My phone buzzed. It was a message from my friend Claire Winters. [How are you? Did you find a place? Do you have enough money?] I replied that everything was fine and left it at that. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to talk—I just didn’t know where to begin. I opened my mobile banking app and stared at the pitiful balance. Then I thought about the card Lucas had thrown on the counter. A wave of helplessness washed over me. I needed to find work. Fast. Just then, my phone rang. It was Lucas. I answered but didn’t speak. His voice came through, barely suppressing his anger. “Vanessa, did you take the washing machine manual with you?” I paused. “No.” “Then how the hell do I use this new front-loading washer? My mom can’t figure it out, and now there’s water everywhere!” “There’s a QR code on the door. Scan it for the digital manual.” “I don’t have time for that! Come back here right now and show my mom how to use it!” He barked the order as if it were the most natural thing in the world. I said nothing. In my previous life, this was how it always went. No matter where I was, he always found a way to drag me back to deal with whatever mess he and his mother couldn’t handle. And every single time, I softened and went back. “Lucas, we’re divorced.” I hung up. The phone immediately started ringing again. I hung up over and over until I finally just turned it off. I walked into the bedroom and looked at Zoe’s peaceful sleeping face. The last traces of helplessness in my heart vanished. This life, I would live only for her.
The next morning, I turned on my phone. Dozens of abusive text messages flooded in—all from Lucas. [Vanessa, you selfish bitch! You think you can just wash your hands of everything and walk away?] [You even sabotaged the washing machine on your way out. How can you be so vicious?] [Let me tell you something—Kyler and I are going to be just fine without you!] I blocked his number without expression and deleted every message. Life was harder than I expected. Every résumé I sent out disappeared into the void. After five years as a stay-at-home mom, my work history was worthless in today’s job market. The money in my account drained rapidly between rent and daily expenses. Zoe was incredibly understanding. She never asked for new toys or pretty clothes. When I bought her milk, she would whisper: “Mom, water is fine too.” Every time she said that, my heart ached. No. This couldn’t continue. Then I suddenly remembered something. In my previous life, right around this time, an obscure tech company made a breakthrough with a patented technology. Its stock skyrocketed fifty times over in just one month. I still remembered the ticker symbol. The only problem? I didn’t have any capital. I opened the jewelry box I’d brought from the Gray house. Inside were my mother’s belongings—a pair of jade bracelets, a pearl necklace, and several pieces of gold jewelry. In my previous life, Rita had taken these under the guise of “keeping them safe for me.” I never saw them again. I took a deep breath and closed the box. Mom, I’m sorry. I found the most reputable pawn shop and pawned everything except the jade bracelets. With gold prices high, I didn’t lose much. I walked out with about seventy thousand dollars. Combined with my savings, I had just under a hundred thousand. I left the pawn shop clutching the thin pawn ticket, my palms slick with sweat. I invested every penny into that stock. The moment the transaction went through, I felt dizzy—like I’d just bet everything on a single hand. My phone rang. Unknown number. I answered. Rita’s shrill, hysterical voice exploded through the speaker. “Vanessa! Get back here! Kyler has a high fever! He’s having seizures! Lucas won’t do anything!” “Take him to the hospital.” My tone was cold. “What hospital? You used to handle this yourself! Come back and give him a cold compress! He’s the Gray family’s hope—he can’t have anything happen to him!” She was babbling incoherently. I could almost see my past self. It had been a night just like this. Kyler had a febrile seizure. I’d rushed him to the hospital while Lucas complained over the phone that I was overreacting and ruining his night out with friends. The doctor said if I’d arrived ten minutes later, the boy’s brain would have been permanently damaged. And now, they wanted me—the ex-wife—to come fix their problem again. “Rita,” I said, my voice calm and flat. “He’s your grandson. Not mine. I have nothing to do with your family anymore. Stop harassing me.” “You witch! You’ll get what’s coming to you!” she screamed. I hung up. I stood on the bustling street corner, the evening wind lifting my hair. I looked at the stock ticker I’d just bought on my phone. It was climbing. The red line kept rising…
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