Chapter 3

In this life, Dominic couldn’t play the invisible man anymore. From the photos and short videos he sent, our once tidy home was now a complete disaster.

Trash covered the floor. The coffee table was piled high with clutter. I didn’t even have to imagine it; the place had to stink. In this heat, leaving garbage inside the house would turn it rancid fast.

"Now I get why you ran off. I just got into a fight with those two brats and gave them a good beating. They’re cleaning the house now like they should’ve been doing all along."

The last message was a video. Two half-grown boys stood there with dark bruises striping their backs, while a girl cried somewhere off-camera.

That had to be the nieces, Brielle and Mila Mercer.

I wasn't pleased. This was exactly how it had started before.

In my previous life, I had tried discipline too. When talking didn’t work, I’d snatched away the tablet, accidentally leaving red marks on my nephew’s hand.

For that alone, Vanessa had berated me until I couldn’t lift my head. Dominic had smoothed things over, telling me not to touch the kids because I was the adult.

Now, he was the one laying hands on them.

Sure enough, that afternoon Vanessa started video-calling me nonstop. I ignored every one of the video calls. Then she switched to regular calls.

"Mom, maybe you should answer. It keeps interrupting you," Kaia said softly, tugging at my sleeve.

Only then did I pick up.

"Talia, did you send my kids over there to be abused?! I’ve never laid a hand on them, and look at how they’ve been beaten!" Her shrill voice grated against my ears.

"Well, come take them back. Dominic has to work and deal with your four out-of-control kids—he’s about to collapse," I replied casually.

"Aren’t you at home?! Why is Dominic the one handling it? You’re his wife. How can you be this irresponsible? You don’t even work. Staying home to care for the kids is your job—"

"They’re not my kids. Why should I care? You had them, so you raise them. You’ve been running this scheme for years, and because I never refused, you thought I was easy to bully?"

My voice rose. Kaia and Nova stared at me wide-eyed, and the rage inside me slowly cooled. It was okay. In this life, my girls were with me. They were safe. They weren’t hurt.

"Just you wait! I don’t believe I can’t deal with you!"

She hung up in a fury.

Several days passed. This time, even Dominic stopped bombarding me with calls, videos, or complaints.

I checked the home security feed on my phone. Today, Vanessa was there too.

In the earlier footage, everything looked normal. Maybe after Dominic’s outburst, the little monsters had behaved for a while. They ate whatever they were given and even cleaned the house.

"Honey, are you coming back today? Tomorrow’s your birthday. I was thinking we could go out to eat. Vanessa is taking the kids home today." His voice sounded almost cheerful.

I hadn’t even realized my birthday was coming up. We’d been having too much fun in Verdant Coast.

Kaia and Nova had asked several times when we’d go home because they wanted to protect their own rooms from their cousins.

"Yeah, we’ll be back tonight. Probably late," I said, finally giving a definite answer as I started packing. As long as Vanessa took those kids away, our home would be peaceful again.

The train was fast. By the time I texted, Dominic was already rushing downstairs to meet us.

"You bought a lot, huh? Looks like you had a good trip." He reached for the suitcases.

"Dad, we missed you so much! Mom took tons of photos, the food was amazing, and we even brought you presents!" Kaia said happily, linking her arm through his.

"As long as my girls had fun. Let’s head upstairs. We’ll make it just in time for dinner." He urged us toward the apartment.

The moment the door opened, I froze. Vanessa stood there smiling at us, and a sharp pang of dread shot through my chest.

Seeing me stop, she laughed. "Your birthday’s tomorrow, so I thought we should all have dinner together as a family. I’ll take the kids home afterward."

While Dominic busied himself with the luggage, I noticed the four children standing by the sofa. Two of the boys stared at me with pure hatred.

Alarm shot through me. I instinctively turned to leave, but Dominic blocked the doorway.

"Where are you going? You just got back. Vanessa even made chili. Put your stuff down and come eat." He grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the living room.

She disappeared into the kitchen, then returned carrying a pot of violently bubbling red broth.

My heart pounded like a drum. I remembered how, in my last life, that scalding chili had been dumped over me, burning my skin open, and the pain had been unbearable. Was I really unable to escape it again?

"Coming! Dinner’s ready!" she called brightly.

Then, without warning, her body tilted, and the entire pot of boiling chili flew straight toward me.