Chapter 2

In my previous life, I asked her "How is the police investigation going?" many times.

At first, she always said, "Soon. Soon."

Later, once she lost patience, she said flatly that the case had already been closed.

But the rumors around me only grew uglier. People said I was unfaithful, that I brought bad luck to my wife.

The constant judgmental looks from every direction drove me to the point where I had to swallow handfuls of sleeping pills just to fall asleep.

Later, when I found out Vanessa was cheating and argued with her, everyone ganged up on me.

They all wore the same look, as if they had known it all along.

"Looks like he still hasn't gotten over the trauma."

"He's gone crazy! He's imagining things now!"

"His wife is already kind enough not to despise him. Does he have to drive everyone mad before he's happy?"

Vanessa had me forced into a psychiatric hospital.

Electric shocks tore through my bones. I screamed every night and even lost control of my bladder.

But in the end, everyone felt sorry for Vanessa instead and urged her to divorce me.

Vanessa stood in front of me with a face full of forbearance and declared righteously, "He's my husband. As long as I'm alive, I'll never abandon him."

That speech moved everyone.

Only later did I understand. She kept me not because she loved me, but because she needed me to take care of our young son and her half-paralyzed father.

Only after she had squeezed the last drop of value out of me did she let me die.

My thoughts returned to the present. I lifted my bloodshot eyes and was just about to speak.

Vanessa's phone suddenly rang.

It was Caleb Brooks, the man she'd never gotten over. Vanessa froze and glanced at me.

Before answering, she turned off speakerphone.

But in the next second, her face changed completely.

"You're sick? Stop the car! I need to get out!"

Our son hurried after her too. After two steps, he looked back guiltily and explained, "Mom, Uncle Caleb has always been nice to me. It's only right for me to visit him."

My mother's face darkened, and her anger flared instantly.

"Your father just escaped death, and you two--"

Before Mom could finish, I raised a hand to stop her, then turned to the mother and son calmly.

"Go ahead."

In that instant, everyone looked at me.

A sudden unease rose in Vanessa's heart, as if she sensed I was no longer the same as before.

But before she could think any deeper, I stepped on the gas and drove away.

Caleb Brooks was Vanessa's first love, yet he had never lacked women chasing him.

After catching him in a hotel with other women for the ninth time, Vanessa finally gave up and settled for marrying me through a matchmaking arrangement.

But not long after our wedding, Caleb changed his mind and came back.

From then on, Vanessa hated me. She believed I had ruined the happy life she should have had.

In my previous life, after Vanessa staged the kidnapping, my mind began to deteriorate.

At first, Vanessa still avoided me.

Later, she became more and more brazen. She flirted with Caleb in front of me.

She even brought him home and slept with him. When I broke down and confronted them, Vanessa and Caleb beat me to the floor together.

She grabbed my hair and threatened me. "If you dare touch him, I'll send you back to the psychiatric hospital! No one will believe you!"

I broke down and begged my son for help, but he only sighed.

"Dad, Grandma is going to give me an apartment. Just turn a blind eye, okay?"

At that moment, my heart shattered.

This was the child I had raised with my own hands.

The taste of blood kept rising in my throat. I took a deep breath and forced it back down.

After we reached home, my parents accompanied me to file a police report.

When the police heard it was a kidnapping case, they took it very seriously.

They immediately opened an investigation.

When we got back, Vanessa and my son were waiting at my parents' home.

Their faces still carried satisfied smiles. They had spent the entire afternoon playing video games with Caleb and had not been impatient at all.

One did not look like a wife whose husband had just suffered a disaster.

The other did not look like a son whose biological father had just been badly frightened.

They had come for one reason only: to make me go back and keep taking care of the family.

When she saw us return, Vanessa looked puzzled. "Where did you all go?"