The day my son gained the lifetime achievement award in research, I died alone on the street.

On stage, he thanked his father, a professor, and his biological mother, who had just returned from abroad. He even thanked the nanny at home.

But he left me out, his foster mother who had raised him.

My husband, Charles Zimmer, learned about my death.

He immediately disassociated himself from me.

“We’ve long separated. I’ve got nothing to do with her.”

I had worked hard to give them a decent life, but they regarded me as a stain that they could never remove.

When I opened my eyes again, I returned to the time of my life when my destiny changed.

Holding the college admission letter, Charles smiled at me and said, “Yes, I’m divorced. But we can live in the city together if you marry me. I’ll let you discipline the kid if he makes any mistakes. I won’t complain about you.”

During my previous life, he had me fooled by false promises. I naively thought that it would be easy to be a stepmother.

I helped him care for his son and worked hard to support the family.

In the end, they conspired with each other to drive me out and leave me penniless.

It was because Charles’ ex-wife, who had abandoned them when he was poor, wanted to come home and remarry him.

Since I had gained a second chance, I planned to dump such an ungrateful husband and son.

I tilted my head up and gazed into Charles Zimmer’s eyes as he plotted schemes against me.

In the other timeline, Charles and Jacob Zimmer had abandoned me and humiliated me. I had felt so much resentment for that.

I did not nod shyly as I did the last time. Instead, I sneered.

“I don’t intend to cling to someone beyond my station. I can’t be a townsperson either, let alone be someone’s stepmom. I’m not worthy of it.”

As if someone had rained on his parade, Charles instantly stopped smiling. I had always obeyed him, and he probably never anticipated such words from me.

He patiently cleared his throat and acted like a superior college student again.

“Have you thought it through, Sophia? You’ll be a townsperson if you move to North City with me. I’m going to college, so I’ll have a prosperous future. Of course, you won’t end up suffering with me.”

I could not stop sneering inwardly.

“Stop making yourself sound so great. You just want a free servant to serve you and your kid. That way, you can go to college at ease. Isn’t that right?”

The last time, I moved to North City with him and worked two jobs.

In the morning, I washed dishes at a restaurant. At night, I worked odd jobs at a textile factory.

I spent all the money I earned on them, buying meat and cooking soup for them.

On the other hand, I only survived on some very bland oatmeal daily. Consequently, I grew scrawny.

Charles told me he felt bad for me and promised that things would get better after he graduated.

Although the college paid him ten dollars every month as a subsidy, he never spared me a penny.

Instead, he sent ten dollars to Ruby Little, his ex-wife, every month.

As for the remaining two dollars, he kept them for himself and his son for additional luxuries.

I only learned about these incidents much later. On top of that, Jacob had spilled the beans in the form of a passing joke.

Charles did not appreciate being called out. His face turned scarlet.

“Stop flattering yourself, Sophia Clark! I can find someone else if you don’t want to! Don’t regret this!”

I could not bother to look at him. He could give that chance to anybody except me.

“Save that for your ex-wife.”

After that, I turned and left resolutely. Since I had a second chance, I would never sacrifice myself for them again. I wanted to live for myself.

When I got home, my aunt gripped me anxiously. “Sophia, where did you go? Did you go to Charles? Silly girl, you can’t be a stepmom even if Charles is great. His son is already eight years old. You won’t win him over.”

I was overwhelmed to see my aunt, who was still alive. I threw myself into her arms and burst into tears.

I had been an orphan from a young age. My uncle and aunt raised me. On top of that, my aunt regarded me as her biological daughter.

However, in the other timeline, I had been fooled.

I thought that my aunt had wanted to ruin my romance. Hence, I did not hesitate to cut myself off from her family just to marry Charles.

Later, the Zimmer Family drove me out. I was homeless.

My aunt got very ill. I heard from someone that she wanted to bid me goodbye. But I was too ashamed to meet her and did not even attend her funeral.

“Aunt, I won’t marry him. I won’t be a stepmom… I’ll never think of marrying Charles again. I won’t marry anyone that you disapprove of!”

I cried piteously. While hugging me, my aunt felt sorry for me and kept patting my back.

“What’s the matter with you? Did Charles bully you?”

Ben Garcia and Fiona Garcia, my nephew and niece, were doing homework in the house. When they heard the noise, they ran out. Indignation gripped them when they saw how hard I was crying.

“Stop crying, Aunt Sophia! We’ll demand an explanation from him now!”

They tried to seek justice for me, which warmed and saddened me.

“I’m fine. I simply got emotional. It’s okay now.”

But Fiona was still worried. “You have to tell us if anything happens, Aunt Sophia. Don’t suffer in silence. We always suffer because of Jacob. He’s good at making everyone think that we’re bullying him.”

Jacob. Chills gripped me when I thought of how pretentious and ungrateful he was, just like his father.

I raised my head and saw Jacob hiding behind the door. He called for me timidly.

“Miss Clark, don’t you want to be my mom?” Jacob looked tearful. He wore shabby, patched-up clothes. He was so scrawny that he did not look like an eight-year-old child.

This miserable appearance had invoked my sympathy and love back then.

After marrying Charles, I regarded Jacob as my biological son. I adorned and spoiled him.

On the surface, he obeyed me and relied on me. He sweetly addressed me as his mother.

Yet the moment I finally got pregnant, he slipped medicine into my meals behind my back.

Not only did he force me into a miscarriage, but he also robbed me of the chance to ever be a mother.

I raised him well, and he grew up to be an outstanding man. But when he drove me out, he calmly mentioned that incident with venomous disdain.

“I purposely waited for more than ten minutes before I got help. You’re just a servant at my home. You can’t have my dad’s kid. You had such wishful thinking!”

Then, I learned that the seemingly exceptional man had long turned evil.

Disgust gripped me when I met his innocent eyes at that time. I turned away and said coldly, “I’ll never want to be your mom. You’ve got a mom who’s in town. You can go to her.”

At the sight of my aloof attitude, Jacob sat on the floor and raised his voice.

“Ah! You lied to me! You came to my house every day and said you liked me the most. You told me you wanted to be my mom! You stayed in the room with Dad for a long time with the door closed! But you don’t want me now!”

Claire Garcia, my aunt, got so angry that she trembled. She scolded Jacob angrily.

The number of onlookers grew. They started criticizing me and gossiping about me.

“Stop making a scene, Jacob.”

There was a commotion at the door. Hearing the news, Charles came hurriedly. He walked over and symbolically pulled Jacob up.

He scolded Jacob. “Be mindful of how you speak to Sophia. Apologize to her now!”

He changed his tone and looked at me. He even sounded a little helpless. “Sophia, I know that you’re mad. We can still discuss the wedding gift. You don’t have to get mad at the kid.”

He sighed and spoke loud enough for the surrounding neighbors to hear him.

“I’m just a divorcee. I know that it must have been hard on you. But you can’t make such a scene. Women need to protect their reputation. I’m afraid your future husband might be bothered by such gossip.”

In a few words, Charles had easily portrayed me as a greedy woman. It sounded like I had performed some shameless acts with him, and I was refusing to take responsibility after.

People started gossiping about me in a louder tone.

“Sophia, Charles is the most promising young man around here. He’s going to move up in the world. Why are you this picky?”

“Just stop making a scene. It’s already a stroke of luck to marry someone so capable.”

“If you keep making such a scene, no one would want to marry you.”

Charles appeared to be smug.

In front of everyone, he gave me a promise again.

“Trust me, Sophia. If you marry me, I’ll make sure you’ll enjoy a good life.”

He was confident of making me yield. After all, a woman’s reputation was everything.

I looked at him and suddenly burst out laughing.

“Fine. Since you two insist on slandering me, I don’t mind going to the police station with you now. Let’s see how they handle a case of defamation and harassment. I’m nobody. At most, I’ll face a few years of trouble myself. But you’re a college student…”

I purposely let my words hang in the air for a while. “Your future will be ruined.”

Instantly, Charles’ face turned pale. He started sweating. He anxiously changed his statement and tone.

“Don’t get the wrong idea, Sophia! The kid is simply talking nonsense. You can’t take him seriously!”

Jacob was unaware of the severity of the situation. He anxiously yelled, “No, I’m not talking nonsense. Dad, you…”

There was a clap. Charles slapped Jacob and cut him off.

Jacob was dumbfounded. He held his cheek and cried.

Charles grabbed his crying son and turned to the surrounding neighbors. He kept bowing and apologizing to them.

“I’m sorry, ladies and gentlemen. My son was ignorant and made that up! Nothing happened between Sophia and me. My mom was at home. She can vouch for that!”

But the neighbors still looked at me suspiciously and ambiguously.

I sneered. “Is this the norm now? If any woman refuses to marry someone, you threaten to ruin her reputation. What an amazing idea!”

I used a sharp tone and looked at the older women, who were warming up to the drama.

“I simply helped them because they looked pitiful. But I always brought along my nephew and niece whenever I went to their house. The kids can vouch for me. It looks like other young women should be careful too. When you kindly help someone, someday, don’t let them fraudulently take advantage of you.”

My words rapidly changed the atmosphere in the yard.

When they put themselves in my shoes, they could not picture the thought of their own daughters getting into such a mess.

Hence, Charles immediately became the target of scorn.

“Oh, Charles. Why are you this wicked? You’ve studied so much.”

“Yeah, you didn’t raise your kid well. He’s full of nonsense!”

Nothing mattered to Charles more than his reputation and future. His face turned scarlet under the barrage of criticisms.

He grabbed Jacob and ran away.

Claire put her hands on her waist and scolded the onlookers, who still refused to leave.

“Are you done having fun? If you keep gossiping about others like this, I’ll rip all of you new ones. Then, I’ll report this to the authorities that you’re ruining the reputation of a fallen hero’s family!”

The onlookers left in dismay.

Claire turned and poked my forehead for disappointing her. “Hey, you! You got yourself into this mess! Now, Charles refuses to let you go!”

I held her arm and tried to please her. Then, I grinned, “Don’t worry. I know how to deal with him.”

But she did not believe me. A sigh escaped her. “When your uncle’s home, I’ll make him find you a good family to avoid trouble.”

I remained silent. In the other timeline, Charles chose me because of my ongoing pension as the child of a fallen hero. He tried every means to plot against me.

Before our marriage, he asked for money from me, using the excuse of his paralyzed mother needing medical attention.

After marriage, his mother grew worse. She always sowed discord between my uncle’s family and me.