All Chapters of Second Life: I Choose Guilt-Free Freedom: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1

No one cared about what I had to say.Declan Smith, my husband, grabbed the car keys off the coffee table and said, "Let's go, Rebecca. Your daughter's health comes first."Edward Smith—my eight-year-old son—stood in front of Rebecca Nolan, the widow of Declan's late friend, eyeing me cautiously. "Stay out of it, Mom."I didn't spare any of them a glance. I called my lawyer, Helen Lawson, and said, "I'm getting a divorce, so please draft the paperwork right now, Ms. Lawson. I'll send you the complete list of our assets within 20 minutes."I then called my mother. "I'm getting a divorce, Mom, so I need you to come pick me up."I ended the call and looked up. "I won't stop you if you want to stand surety for her, but we're getting a divorce first."In that instant, everyone in the room fell silent.Declan's expression hardened. "Are you threatening me with divorce, Willa?"I took out my camera and began looking for a suitable angle to film from.Rebecca burst into tears. "I-I do

Chapter 2

Declan frowned deeply. "How can you be so calculating when a life is at stake, Willa?"He reached out to knock the camera away, but I stopped him. "You know full well that Edward's congenital heart condition requires expensive surgery, yet you're still choosing to give all our savings to Rebecca—even if it means Edward can't afford treatment later!"Declan went still for a moment, while Edward snapped. "Stop using me as an excuse! I'm perfectly fine right now! You're so selfish, Mom! Rebecca is barely surviving, and all you care about is money!"I received a message from Ms. Lawson. I opened the attachment, and the guarantee risk disclosure took up the entire screen. I held it out to Declan to show him.Declan knocked it out of my hand. "You don't need to intimidate me with that. I'm a grown man—I know what's at stake."I looked at him and asked, "What's your monthly take-home pay, Declan?"He furrowed his brow and replied, "Four thousand dollars.""How much do we have in saving

Chapter 3

I said coldly, "You must be out of your mind if you think you can use our marital assets to cover Rebecca's debts, Declan. You can do whatever you want with your share once you sign the divorce agreement and split the assets."Declan fell silent for a moment before saying coldly, "You only ever talk about getting a divorce. Is that the only way you know how to threaten me? There's a limit to how far you can throw a tantrum, Willa. If you really push me too far, you won't be able to bear the consequences."I said nothing and hung up.I returned home that afternoon to pick up some documents, but the moment I pushed the door open, I heard someone whimpering softly. Rebecca was leaning against Declan, her face pressed to his chest and her shoulders trembling from crying. Declan looked down at her and gently tried to comfort her, his face filled with a tenderness I had never seen before.They caught sight of me and immediately pulled away from each other."Why didn't you knock before

Chapter 4

Rebecca dropped to her knees right in front of me, slamming her forehead against the floor. "I'm begging you, Willa—please save my daughter! I'll pay you back every cent once my late husband's death benefits come through!"She held tightly onto my pant leg, so I stepped back. She, however, screamed as if I had kicked her, falling to the ground and scraping her elbow.Declan's eyes turned bloodshot as he slapped me hard across the face. "You have everything going for you, while she has absolutely nothing, Willa! That child is the only thing Rebecca has left in the world! Why do you have to be so cruel to her?"I felt the searing sensation on my cheek and tasted the metallic taste of blood in my mouth.Edward rammed his head into my stomach. "I won't recognize you as my mother if you don't hand over the money!"I stumbled backward a few steps from the impact. I then took out the divorce agreement from my handbag and said, "I'll transfer you the money as soon as you sign this."Decl

Chapter 5

Declan looked as though he were about to collapse on the spot. He kept reading the document over and over, his hands trembling so much that he could barely grip the paper. "R-Rebecca told me she only borrowed 100 thousand dollars…"The loan shark didn't waste any time talking to him. He grabbed the phone right out of Declan's hand, took hold of his thumb, and unlocked it.Declan was stunned into silence when the transaction records were pulled up. There were multiple scanned copies of the same agreement he'd signed stored on his own phone—each one of them confirming that he had guaranteed for a 5-million-dollar loan. His legs buckled right then and there, his knees scraping the edge of the concrete steps as he slid straight to the ground.In that instant, two men grabbed him by the arms, one on either side, and threw him into the van. I remained on the top of the steps without taking a single step.Declan leaned half his body out of the van window, looking deathly pale. "Save m

Chapter 6

Declan scoured the city for Rebecca like a madman. He checked the school, her rental place, the local market, and even the salon she'd brought up before. He eventually tracked down her record at the police station and found out that she was a repeat offender racked with gambling debt. Her husband, Jeremy Hall, wasn't even dead. They had faked their divorce and spent years running scams together. He called me from outside the police station, his voice so raw that he could barely manage a complete sentence. "You knew about this all along, didn't you, Willa? You deliberately let me walk into this. You wanted to see me ruined."I retorted. "Do you remember what you told me when I tried to stop you by asking for a divorce, Declan?"Declan fell completely silent, only his heavy breathing audible. He finally spoke up after a long while. "Edward is still missing."I hung up and set out to find Edward myself. The surveillance cameras at the apartment were out of order, and the only lead

Chapter 7

Edward was hospitalized for a week. Declan stayed by his bedside through the day, then slept on a bench out in the hallway at night.I didn't stay with him at the hospital. I came in regularly, discussed his condition with the doctors, paid the bills, and then left.Edward always turned toward the window whenever he saw me. He gasped in pain during that one time the nurse changed his dressing and accidentally hurt him, so I reached out to help him. He, however, hurriedly shoved my hand away and glared at me. "I don't need your fake concern."I withdrew my hand, grabbed my handbag, and walked out of the hospital ward. I could hear Edward's sobs behind me, but I carried on as if I didn't hear it.Declan's loan sharks came after his parents on the seventh night. His parents' house had its windows smashed, with a threatening message spray-painted on their front door—"Pay your debt!" His two elderly parents were frightened enough to end up in the hospital that night. His father's bloo

Chapter 8

In the meantime, the outcome of Rebecca and Jeremy's interrogation spread quickly. It turned out that the money they'd swindled over the years through fraudulent scams had already been laundered overseas in multiple rounds, with most of it funneled through underground banks to contacts in Southeast Aetheris.In the end, less than 12 thousand dollars remained in the accounts frozen by police. Having heard the news, Declan spent the entire night sitting outside the county jail. He was told to leave twice, but he refused to budge. He just sat there on the curb, looking utterly defeated.His parents rushed over the following morning after hearing the news. His mother had barely gotten out of the car when she spotted him crouched on the curb, his face covered in stubble. She immediately suffered a spike in blood pressure and was sent to the ER.I went to visit Edward at the hospital, only to run into Declan, who was there as well. He was covered in stubble with sunken eyes, looking c

Chapter 9

Declan's parents sold their house back in their hometown and borrowed from every relative they could. They scraped together less than 300 thousand dollars, which barely made a dent in the debt.Though the loan sharks were arrested, the promissory note was legally binding. The court still ordered Declan to repay the debt. The creditors brought in a new lawyer and used the court to seize and auction his car and house, taking most of the funds his parents had raised by selling their home.Declan moved into a cheap, rundown neighborhood with Edward. He worked odd jobs during the day and worked as an Uber driver at night.Edward withdrew from private school and moved to a regular public elementary school next to the rundown neighborhood. He stood outside the gate for a long time on his first day of school, refusing to step inside.Declan sent a single message in the parents' group chat—"He's just throwing a tantrum"—and left it at that.Edward secretly used Declan's phone to message me

Chapter 10

It was a year later, and I had made a life for myself in a new city. I had a new job, a new phone number, and a new place—a one-bedroom apartment with a balcony in the southern part of town. I had moved out of my old rental, and the apartment was close enough to the river that I could hear boat horns at night.Edward messaged me occasionally. He told me Declan had given up drinking and gotten a new job, moving freight at a distribution center. He woke up at 4:30 am every day and wouldn't be home until 10:00 pm. Declan had grown noticeably thinner, but he no longer hit him.Edward kept up with his schoolwork. He even sent me a photo of a certificate once that showed he ranked first in his entire grade.I merely replied, "Keep up the good work."He called me right away, his voice trembling as though he was worried I would end the call. "T-There's a parent-teacher conference at my school next Wednesday… C-Can you attend it, Mom?"I looked through my schedule and said, "I'm free next

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