After rebirth, I tore apart the man who cheated, deceived and played with women’s feelings.
Chapter One
My husband, Gary, became a manager in the
—
big city, bought a house — leaving me and
our daughter, Lily, back in our small town –
and then he took his brother’s wife, Susan,
and her daughter, Chloe, to live with him.
He said his brother, before he passed,
entrusted his wife and daughter to Gary’s
care. He couldn’t just leave them. He made
over ten thousand dollars a month, but gave
all of it to Susan. We got three hundred bucks
a month.
When Lily got sick, I sold a kidney to pay for
her treatment. Meanwhile, Susan and Chloe
were all over social media, flaunting designer
clothes, fancy dinners, five–star hotels.
After Lily died Gary came back home No.
<
sadness, no grief. Just this: “Molly, let’s get a
divorce. Susan and Chloe are having a hard
time in the city. I want to put the house in
their names, help them get settled. They
won’t be looked down on anymore.”
I jumped into the river. When I opened my
eyes again, I was back to the year Lily fell ill.
This time, I was going to make him pay.
1
I opened my eyes, and Lily’s weak voice cut
through the haze. “Mommy, am I going to
die?”
“Why doesn’t Daddy take care of us?”
“Why doesn’t Daddy take us to the city with
him, and Chloe and Susan?”
“Why does Daddy buy Chloe new clothes and
ice cream, but not me…?”
Her innocent questions, her frail voice – it
felt like a knife twisting in my gut. I couldn’t
breathe. Tears streamed down my face. I
<
hugged her tight. “Lily, baby, you’re not going
to die. Mommy won’t let you.”
“You’ll get better, and then we’ll go out for a
big meal. Chicken legs? Ice cream? Mommy
will buy you anything you want.”
“Promise me you’ll get better…”
After calming Lily, I went home and sold
everything of Gary’s I could. His mother’s
locket, he called it his most precious
possession, something he’d never let go of. I
sold the old family farmhouse, the land, my
wedding dress, my ring…even the antique
he’d said was crucial for his promotion.
Everything he valued, his entire safety net
gone.
—
The money I raised got Lily the surgery she
needed, and she recovered. Then, I took her
to the city to find Gary. This time, I’d cut off
his escape routes, and block his path forward.
—
His apartment complex was fancy high-
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rise, manicured lawns. I heard the apartments
went for tens of thousands per square foot. It
felt like another world, so beautiful, so far
removed from my life, that I felt ashamed to
even be standing there. I couldn’t even
imagine living in a place like this.
Gary, Susan, and Chloe had been enjoying
this life for four years, only coming home
once. Meanwhile, Lily and I were stuck back
home, toiling in the fields, surrounded by dirt
and the smell of pig manure.
The security guard wouldn’t let me in. He
didn’t believe I was Gary’s wife. He muttered
something about the residents being
“nouveau riche or high–powered execs.” He
didn’t think a woman dressed like me could
possibly belong here. He figured, even if I
was, we were probably divorced. But, he
added, if what I said was true, my husband
was a real bastard for letting his wife and
child suffer while he lived in luxury.
I didn’t get angry. The wound in my heart just
ached deeper. He was right. If a man did that,
he was worse than a beast. Everyone else
could see it, but I, in my last life, just waited
for Gary’s promises to come true. How
foolish I was.
