The day I gave birth, so did Lily Jasper—the underprivileged student I had been sponsoring. But her baby didn’t survive. Afterward, my husband, Carter Scott, insisted on making Lily my son’s godmother. From that moment on, she was everywhere—always butting into my parenting. Whether I was disciplining my son or buying him clothes, Lily never missed a chance to chime in with her opinions. Years later, when my son took his college entrance exams, I helped him choose a major that matched his scores. But Lily pushed hard for him to apply to Merika State or Haven State University instead. In the end, he listened to me and got into a suitable college. Then his acceptance letter came. And everything fell apart. That day, he caused a car accident. My accident. He stepped out of the car, walked over, and kicked me a few times as I lay helpless on the ground. His face was full of disgust as he spat, “You actually thought you were my mom?” His voice was cold. “You’ve made my real mom cry over and over because of you. “You were never family. My real parents and I—we’re family. You? You were just in the way. “But it's over now. Finally...” He smiled cruelly. “We can be together—the real family.” And in that moment, I finally understood. Lily didn’t lose her baby that day. She killed my newborn son and swapped him with hers. Everything went dark. But when I opened my eyes again, I was back. Back to the day I gave birth.
View MoreI glanced down at my watch and smirked. “Before you even get the chance to come after me, I’ve already called the police. I reported you for tax evasion and embezzlement. Get ready for prison.” The moment I finished speaking, the police arrived at the door. With a sharp click, a pair of steel handcuffs locked around his wrists. Carter roared in fury, his eyes burning with hatred. “Ria York! I’ll never forgive you! When I get out, I swear I’ll kill you!”How naive. Did he really think I would let him come out alive? When I arranged some ‘special companions’ for Lily in prison, I did the same for him—brutal, hulking men who would make every single day behind bars a living hell.*Chris and Lily received their punishments for stealing company secrets, which caused millions in losses. Chris was sentenced to five years in prison. Lily received four years. As for Carter, his crimes of large-scale tax evasion and embezzlement earned him a seven-year prison sent
The photos might have been faked, but no one could deny how real that video looked. The crowd's expressions shifted as they watched Carter. Shock, confusion, mockery, and disgust all flashed across their faces. He looked like a clown, flailing around in desperation as he tried to explain. Then, he rushed up to me and swore, “Ria, I swear! The man in that video isn’t me! Someone is trying to frame me. You have to believe me!” Without a word, I raised my hand and slapped him hard across the face, leaving a burning red imprint of my palm. But once wasn’t enough. I struck him two more times. Once for my past self, who was blind to his betrayal. Once for my parents, whom he wronged. And once for the child he murdered. My voice trembled with fury. “Carter, I gave you everything! And this is how you repay me? Are you even human? “Divorce! I never want to see you again!” Carter opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, the doors burst open. Several p
Of course, Lily did not disappoint him and successfully stole the document. As promised, I transferred the money to Chris’s account using an offshore account. However, Chris was not a man of his word. He split half the money with Lily but never left as he had promised. The only change was that he stopped harassing Carter for money. Although Lily was angry, she begrudgingly accepted the outcome. *During this time, Carter spent a large amount of money from the company. He had embezzled nearly all the company funds he could access.In the end, to cover the growing financial hole, he was forced to sell off some company shares at a low price. I bought every share without hesitation. Combined with the shares I had collected from small shareholders, I secured a total of fifty-one percent ownership. That was enough to remove him from his position at the upcoming shareholder meeting in two weeks. But that would be far too easy of an ending for him. I wanted more than
My parents also sold off their assets to give me more cash flow for buying back company shares. There was only one kind of unconditional love in this world—a parent's love. In my past life, I was unfilial. I let them, at an age when they should have enjoyed their retirement, struggle just to survive. But in this life, I would never let that happen again. Lily, trying to prove she wasn’t a mistress and that her child wasn’t illegitimate, began flaunting her "happy life" on social media.She only showed Carter’s back and even made sure his clothes looked different from his usual style. She was careful and meticulous.I took screenshots of her posts, including her displays of wealth. Then, I had my trusted aide print them out and spread the gossip in Lily’s hometown. The story was simple: she was a mistress, had an illegitimate child, and made a fortune from it.In a small village, gossip spreads fast.A scandal like this spread even faster.The next morning, Lily’s paren
Lily arrived wearing a pale pink dress with light makeup, carrying the latest Hermès bag. She looked much more refined and elegant than before. Behind her, a nanny followed, holding her baby. Her baby now was chubby and clearly well taken care of. So, it turned out Carter did know how to take care of a mother during her postpartum period. He just didn’t want to take care of me. Lily, in her usual show-off tone, said: “Yoon-ah, everyone says taking care of a newborn during recovery is exhausting, but honestly, I don’t think it’s that bad. With two nannies helping and a housekeeper cooking, all I really do is play with the baby and sleep whenever I’m tired. It’s pretty comfortable, actually.” She was trying to save face now as she was clearly still bitter about staying in a standard hospital room while I had a private suite. I chuckled lightly. “It seems your husband treats you very well. But why didn’t you bring him today? “No matter how good the nannies are, a
But once Carter realized there were too many people around and swapping the baby was impossible, he lost interest completely. My mom let out a cold huff. “This is the first time I’ve ever seen a father act like this.” Carter’s expression stiffened. He quickly handed Lily’s baby back to her, no longer daring to hold him. The private hospital rooms were scarce and required advance reservations. I got lucky that morning, and Nina pulled some strings to help me secure one. But Lily wasn’t so lucky. Even with a nurse’s aide helping her, her room was nothing special. The other patients were surrounded by their families—parents, grandparents, and loved ones all there to support them. But Lily? She was completely alone. As miserable as one could possibly be. In my past life, I actually felt sorry for her. I even shared the nourishing soup my mom made for me. This time? She can starve. *After a week in the hospital, I was discharged and went straight to
Lily clutched Carter’s arm tightly, panic flooding her voice. “Carter, I’m going into labor! What should I do?” Carter immediately shouted, “Doctor! Doctor! Her water broke! She’s having the baby!” Then, softening his tone, he reassured her, “Don’t be afraid. The doctor will be here any second. This hospital has the best specialists in the city. You and the baby will be just fine.” A nurse rushed in with a gurney and looked at Carter. “One person can accompany her during delivery. Since you’re the father, you can come along.” Carter froze, clearly uncomfortable. “Uh… I’m not her husband. And the baby isn’t mine either. We’re just… good friends.” The nurse frowned, muttering to herself, “Weird… You seemed so concerned. I thought you were the father.” Carter shot me a quick, guilty glance before explaining, “I just felt bad seeing her go through this alone. You and Lily are so close, so I thought I’d help her out. Don’t get the wrong idea.” My parents didn’t say a wo
I didn’t answer his call. Instead, I turned to Nina and gave her a firm instruction. “Wait right outside the delivery room. The moment the nurse brings the baby out, you hold him and don’t let anyone take him from you!“Especially Carter and Lily. Got it? No matter what they say, don’t hand him over!” The moment I finished, a sharp, searing pain gripped my belly. The nurse immediately called the doctor, and they rushed me into the delivery room. The agony tore through me, raw and relentless. I clung to the doctors’ voices—Breathe. Push. Harder. Push again.I didn’t close my eyes. I didn’t let my mind wander.Every ounce of my strength, every beat of my heart—was for the child I was about to bring into this world.In my past life, I failed him. This time, I would protect him with everything I had. *The sharp cry of a newborn pierced the air. The doctors announced, “It’s a boy. Eight pounds. Healthy and strong.” He had been crying fiercely—loud and relentless.
Kind people get used. Easy targets get trampled.Not this time. They won’t get anything from me.Not even a single sip of my herbal tonic!I shot Lily a calm look and said, “The doctor prescribed this glucose water specifically for my body type. Your constitution is different from mine. It might cause side effects if you drink it.” Hearing the words side effects, Lily finally gave up, but her eyes stayed glued to me, watching my every move. When she noticed me using my phone, she pried, “Ria, who are you texting? Isn’t Carter already on his way? And your parents are out of country, so they won’t be back anytime soon.” She was monitoring me. It was so obvious and yet in my past life, I actually thought she was just worried about me. I even felt touched. Now? Her fake concern made my skin crawl. This was premeditated, through and through. I played it off casually. “Oh, my best friend just happens to be nearby. She heard I’m in labor and wanted to drop by to check on
“Ria, what a coincidence! Just as your contractions started, I felt something too. Looks like my time is coming as well.“It’s perfect that we’re sharing the same hospital room. We can look after each other when the time comes.“And once our babies are born, they can grow up together like brothers. It’s truly fate, don’t you think?” Lily clung to my arm warmly, her smile so genuine and tender. She even reached over, adjusting my pillow and tucking in my blanket with such care. Anyone watching us would have thought: What a beautiful bond between them. “Yeah, it really is fate.” I squeezed my nails deep into my palm, my voice tight, speaking through clenched teeth. In my past life, I had trusted this sweet, gentle mask she wore. That trust cost me everything—my son’s life, my parents’ entire fortune. She tricked them out of everything, forcing them, in their old age, to work menial jobs just to survive. I hated her. But more than anything, I hated myself. How could...
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