After I was rescued from my own "kidnapping," Julian immediately started sleeping in a separate room. No matter how much I explained, he refused to believe I hadn't been violated. Even when I tried to initiate intimacy, he threw me out of the bedroom, naked. Friends and family looked at me with increasing pity. Everyone advised me: "Julian is a good man. Stop torturing him." Even my son shouted in anger: "You're so dirty! Why do you keep pushing Dad?" So, I was labeled a "rape victim" and a "lunatic." I spent the rest of my life in misery and despair, ending it all by drowning myself in a lake in my old age. But it wasn't until after my death that I learned the truth: that kidnapping was staged by Julian himself. He used my guilt to make me care for our son and his mother. Meanwhile, he justified "keeping himself pure" for the love of his life, living it up with her. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day I was rescued. 1 I collapsed on the street, disheveled. Julian covered me with his jacket, his eyes full of pain and tenderness. He comforted me: "Don't say anything. Let's go home first." The sharp gazes of the neighbors pierced me like knives. I trembled all over, finally believing I had really been reborn. On this day in my past life, I was inexplicably kidnapped. Twenty-four hours later, I was dumped at my doorstep. Clothes torn, spirit broken. Julian played the role of the perfect husband, terrified of triggering my trauma. He forbade anyone from asking me what happened. Even when I asked about it myself, Julian rejected me without hesitation. "You're very fragile right now. Just rest. Leave everything else to me." I was dazed back then, thinking he was doing it for my own good. But within three days, rumors that I had been defiled spread everywhere. By the time I wanted to clarify, it was too late. It wasn't until I committed suicide in my old age that Julian burned paper money for me. His hypocritical eyes moistened for two seconds as he thanked me for my years of sacrifice. But he never regretted it. Because I had taken the place of the love of his life, cutting off his delusions. If he had to do it again, he would still make the same choice. Seeing me stare straight at him, a flicker of panic crossed Julian's face. But soon, he tried to usher me home. He even addressed the concerned friends and relatives who tried to approach: "Sarah isn't doing well. For the sake of her mental health, please give her some space. No visitors for now." His words sounded so sincere that even my parents hesitated. They looked at me with red, swollen eyes, afraid that, as Julian said, they might agitate me. Anger rushed straight to my brain. I shook off Julian's hand, which was gripping me like a vice, and walked quickly towards my parents. Tears streamed down their faces as they reached out to hug me. "Sarah, my poor child." Once they calmed down a bit, I signaled to them calmly. "Mom, Dad, I'm fine. Let's talk at home." Julian panicked and immediately followed. His voice raised unconsciously: "Sarah Lin, isn't this mess big enough already?! Stop running around at a time like this." My son was also confused. Looking at the inquisitive expressions around us, he said irritably: "Mom, why aren't we going home? Why are we going to Grandma's?" My heart twitched slightly. Father and son, singing the same tune. There was no worry for me in their eyes, only the fear of exposure and the annoyance of embarrassment. My parents sensed it too. Their faces darkened. After exchanging a glance, they pulled me into their car. Julian was dumbfounded. He and my son hurriedly followed. seeing me take out my phone to call the police, he snatched it away without thinking and turned it off. In an instant, everyone in the car looked at him. Julian's face froze, his eyes shifting unnaturally. "I already called them for you. No need to do it again." But I knew he was lying. 2 In my past life, whenever I asked him: "How is the police investigation going?" At first, his reply was always: "Soon, soon." Later, losing patience, he impatiently said the case was closed. But the rumors around me grew uglier, saying I was unclean, bad luck, dishonest. The ubiquitous colored gazes drove me to the brink. I often had to take handfuls of sleeping pills to fall asleep. Later, when I discovered Julian's affair and we argued, everyone collectively attacked me. With looks that said "I knew it," they commented: "Seems she hasn't moved on from the trauma." "She's crazy! She's starting to hallucinate!" "Her husband is saint enough not to despise her. Is she trying to drive everyone crazy to be happy?!" Julian forcibly committed me to a mental hospital. Bone-deep electric shocks ran through my body, making me wail nightly, even losing control of my bladder. But everyone turned around and pitied Julian, urging him to divorce me. Julian, with a face of endurance, stood in front of me and declared self-righteously: "She is my wife. As long as I live, I will never give up on her!" This speech moved everyone. But later I understood. He kept me not because he loved me, but to make me take care of his young son and half-paralyzed mother. Only after squeezing the last drop of value from me did he let me die. My thoughts returned. I lifted my bloodshot eyes, about to speak. Julian's phone suddenly rang. It was his "white moonlight"—the love of his life, Luna—calling. Julian froze, glancing up at me. He turned off the speakerphone before answering. But the next second, his face changed completely. "Sick? Stop the car! I need to get out!" My son also followed anxiously, running two steps before turning back guiltily to explain: "Mom, Auntie Luna treats me well. It's only right I go visit her." My mom's face was grim. My dad's anger flared up instantly. "Your mom just escaped death, and you guys—" Before Dad could finish, I pressed his hand down, turning calmly to the father and son: "Go ahead." In an instant, everyone looked at me. An unease rose in Julian's heart. He seemed to sense I was different from before. But before he could think too much, I stepped on the gas and sped away. Luna was Julian's "white moonlight," but she never lacked male suitors. After catching her cheating for the ninth time, Julian finally lost heart and settled for a blind date with me. But shortly after we got married, Luna changed her mind. From then on, Julian resented me, feeling I had ruined his happy life. In my past life, after Julian staged the kidnapping, my mental state began to deteriorate. At first, Julian would avoid me. Later, he became bolder, flirting with Luna right in front of me. He even brought her home to sleep with. I collapsed and rushed over to confront them. But Julian slapped me to the ground. Grabbing my hair, he threatened: "If you dare touch a finger on her, I'll send you back to the mental hospital! No one believes you!" I broke down and begged my son for help, but he just sighed. "Mom, my tuition depends on Dad. Just turn a blind eye." In that moment, my heart shattered. This was the child I risked my life to give birth to. The metallic taste of blood surged in my throat. I took a deep breath to suppress it. After arriving home, my parents accompanied me to call the police. Hearing it was a kidnapping case, the police took it very seriously. They immediately launched an investigation. When we returned, Julian and my son were waiting for me at my parents' house. They wore satisfied smiles. They had spent the whole afternoon with Luna at the makeup counter without a hint of impatience. One didn't look like a husband whose wife had just suffered a disaster. The other didn't look like a son whose mother had been traumatized. And they came only to make me go back and continue taking care of the household. Seeing us return, Julian looked confused: "Where did you go?" 3 My parents and I exchanged glances, but none of us said anything. Unsure, Julian urged me to go home again. "It's late. Let's not disturb Mom and Dad. Let's go home." Saying that, he reached out to pull me, as if afraid I'd stay a second longer. I raised my hand and took two steps back. "I'm not going back for the next few days." As soon as the words fell, Julian's face changed. He looked at me in panic. Seeing that I didn't seem to have discovered anything, he immediately became aggressive: "What do you mean? What's wrong with the house that you won't go back? My son and I haven't even eaten yet!" "With all the gossip outside, the boy is grown up now. Don't you think about him?! How can he face his classmates in the future!" My son also looked at me with a grim face. "Yeah, Mom, what's wrong with you? It's not like Dad and I caused you to be kidnapped. Do you have to stay away from home? Have you considered my reputation?" My chest felt tight and bloated. I bit my lip hard to stop the tears. Reputation. Always reputation. In my past life, for the sake of his damn reputation. I swallowed my pride and didn't divorce him. But when my daughter-in-law entered the family, they locked me in the house. Sitting in the high seat of the mother in the main hall was the unrelated Luna. My son called her "Mom" with a beaming face. I cried my heart out in the basement, almost dying from hyperventilation. And the first second I opened my eyes after being saved from the hospital, I faced his overwhelming accusations. "Today is my big day. Did you think about me when you pulled this stunt? Are you even my real mom?" "You're unpresentable anyway. What's wrong with Auntie Luna helping out!" With that, he unilaterally cut ties with me. Until a year later when my daughter-in-law gave birth, he brazenly came back to morally kidnap me. "Mom, I was young and ignorant then. Don't hold it against me. Now that your grandson is here, how can you as a grandma not help out?" The father and son sang the same tune and coaxed me back. Julian became a hands-off boss, traveling the country with Luna. Thinking of this, my heart went cold. When I lifted my eyelids to look at my son, my face was full of mockery. "Tim, is your reputation more important than my life?" "You and your dad played with Luna all day, and you still want me to go home and cook for you? Are you disabled?" My merciless words hit Tim like a slap in the face. He turned red instantly. He stood there in disbelief, as if unable to understand how I, who loved him most, could say such things. "Enough!" Julian suddenly shouted, as if the temper he'd held back all day finally exploded. "Didn't you agree to let us go? Why bring up old scores now! My son and I were just concerned about you. Why be so mean and harsh!" "Besides, aren't you fine now! Even if not for us, Mom is starving at home. Aren't you being too unfilial as a daughter-in-law!" Tim, backed by his dad, straightened his spine again. "Yeah, Mom, look how angry you made Dad. Stop making a scene." A scene? In his eyes, his father is always right. I really want to know if he can still stand so brazenly by his father's side when he learns his father did such a beastly thing. But before I could speak, my dad couldn't take it anymore. He rushed over and pointed at the door: "Get out! Both of you get out!" Tim got anxious and quickly said: "Grandpa, how can you—Ah!" Before he could finish, Dad slapped him. "Little beast! Just like your father!" Julian got angry and rushed up to shove Dad. His tone was sinister: "I call you Dad to give you face, doesn't mean you can hit my son!" "Your whole family doesn't know right from wrong. I'd like to see what relatives and friends think when they find out!" With that, he led Tim and slammed the door as they left. There were onlookers at the door. Dad trembled with anger. He had been a respectable man all his life and almost had a heart attack. Mom's eyes were red, wanting to rush out to argue. I hugged her trembling body, holding back tears as I promised: "Mom, trust me. I will make them pay." 4 So early the next morning, I went back to pack my things. Julian's relatives were sitting in a circle. It seemed they were preparing to gang up on me again. I still vividly remember how ugly their words were in my past life. "You're damaged goods, why divorce!" "If you didn't attract bees and butterflies, how could you be kidnapped and ruined?" "If you still have any humanity, just be a good wife and mother and stop making trouble!" With a loud bang, I pushed the door open. Julian's anxious face instantly cleared up. But he suppressed his rising smile and still put on airs arrogantly in front of me. "You still have the face to come back! Because you didn't come back yesterday, no one changed Mom's diaper, and her thighs are all red." "Go kneel and apologize to her, and I'll let bygones be bygones and reluctantly forgive you." I scanned the room coldly. Only away for a day, and the room was filled with the foul smell of urine. The table was piled with greasy dishes. His relatives spoke sarcastically: "Sarah, you graduated from a prestigious university, how come you have no womanly virtue? Leaving a pile of work at home to go enjoy yourself at your parents'." "Not to mention your body is dirty, you're not considerate of your husband, throwing tantrums here!" "Careful Tim won't be close to you in the future and won't take care of you when you're old!" Their words stabbed at my weak spots one after another. In the past, the cowardly me would always be humiliated to tears by them. But now, I raised my hand and pushed away the Third Aunt who was almost sticking to me. Spitting out a "Scram." Her face turned green instantly. Just as she was about to roll up her sleeves to curse me. My mother-in-law's wailing sounded, her voice shrill and piercing: "Sarah Lin! You little hoof, hurry up and clean me!" "My family committed a sin marrying such an unfilial daughter-in-law!" "Isn't what you did shameful enough! Now everyone knows you were ruined. If I were you, I would have found a hole to crawl into long ago!" To this day, I still don't understand why she was so vicious to me. In my past life, she was paralyzed for decades. I was the one who cleaned her feces and urine. I gave her care and dignity. Her son wouldn't even pour her a glass of water. Her grandson avoided her room like the plague. Yet she never dared to criticize them, only directing her vicious words at me. Seeing my silence, Julian thought I was afraid and became even more smug. "From now on, just stay home obediently and take care of the elderly and children. Pretend that incident never happened, and I won't despise you." His shameless face made my stomach churn. My son and those relatives also took the opportunity to close in on me. "Mom, Dad is generous enough. Just take the out he's giving you! Stop trying to be tough." "Tim's mom, just live your life well. Don't provoke Julian into really dumping you; you'll have nowhere to cry then." They chimed in one after another, seemingly giving me an out. In reality, they were afraid I would divorce because they knew Julian would never find anyone as stupid as me again. Willing to sacrifice myself and work like a horse for this family. I didn't take the bait. I directly took out the prepared divorce agreement and slammed it in front of them. "Let's divorce." In an instant, the room fell silent. Julian's face was so dark it could drip water. He gritted his teeth, tearing up the contract like a madman. Pointing at me, he said: "She's crazy. Send her to a mental hospital for treatment for a while and she'll be fine." Saying that, he approached me with a twisted face to grab me. My heart jumped to my throat. He wanted to repeat his old trick. So I immediately struggled with all my might: "Let go of me! I'm not sick at all!" My son looked at me helplessly, standing there conflicted. My mother-in-law clapped her hands with gloating joy. "Lock her up for a few days! Cure her bitchy habits properly!" Julian ignored my struggles and dragged me all the way to the car. Seeing the onlookers, he said in a helpless tone: "She went crazy because of that accident. We're taking her to see a doctor." Saying that, he strangled my neck and tried to stuff me into the car. My heart beat like a drum, my face turning purple. Just as everything was about to repeat itself, loud and urgent sirens suddenly sounded. With a screeching brake sound, the police intercepted Julian's car.
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