When I was reborn, Horace was pressing me down on the bed.

His phone rang with a piercing ringtone, interrupting him from undressing me. After seeing the caller ID, the desire in his eyes instantly disappeared.

Throwing a random bath towel on my body, he said, "Leave. My new girlfriend doesn't like it when I smell like someone else."

Without another word, I got dressed and left without any complaint.

In my past life, I wasn't willing to leave, and clung onto him, throwing away all my dignity, and I even became crippled after saving him during a car accident.

As I wished, I became his wife, only because he said, "Let's have a baby. Then, even if I was no longer around, our child would be able to take care of you."

I endured several life-threatening medical crises during my pregnancy, but then I overheard him talking to Vivian, "Vivi, you'll be saved once the kid is born."

"But that's you and Rose's child, isn't it? Wouldn't she get mad if she knew?"

Horace's voice was ice-cold. "I only let her live because she could still give birth. Did she think that I'd fall for a cripple?"

In my anger, I pulled out my oxygen tube, and both I and my baby died.

Now that I was reborn, I would never walk the same path once more.

Seeing me turn to leave without the slightest hint of reluctance, Horace paused in the middle of getting dressed.

Probably thinking that I was playing hard to get, he stared at me mockingly. "Are you throwing a tantrum now?"

Under the dim lights, I replied grimly, "Weren't you the one who asked me to leave?"

Shouldn't he be happy that I was listening to him and not being clingy for once?

Horace stared at me for a few seconds, not saying a word, his eyes squinting slightly with an emotion that I couldn't quite read. "Well, I hope you've got it through your head this time. I better not see you clinging to me again tomorrow.

"No matter who my future wife will be, it will never be you."

"Yea."

As I spoke, a burden was lifted from my heart. It took an entire lifetime and two lives to understand his words, but this time, I still had a chance.

When we were younger, Horace, who was eight years older than me, lived next door to me. As a kid, I had loved chasing after him and playing with him.

After that, my family went bankrupt, and my father ran away with what little money we had left and abandoned the five-year-old me in the streets to die.

Horace was the one who carried me back to his home, and insisted on letting me stay no matter how much his parents were against it.

I remembered the warmth of his arms for a lifetime.

Back then, because I was suddenly abandoned, I developed a fear of being abandoned. Thus, I always never ate enough during meals, and developed a habit of curling up in a closet with my blanket at night, scared of being thrown out in the dark of night.

After he found out about this, he kept me company every night.

One time, when I rolled over, my bosom bumped into his arm. The two of us, who never really saw each other as the opposite gender before, blushed.

He started to take some distance from me, while I fell utterly and completely.

I clung onto him, checking if there were any girls around him, and even played pranks to drive away any girls who had a crush on him.

He knew about this happening, but he never stopped it.

So honestly, I had no idea since when he started to hate me so much, to the point of wanting me to die.

The sound of Horace heading to the restroom brought me back to the present.

I tidied up my things and returned to my room. When I sat at my desk, my computer screen lit up automatically, showing the pending submission for my application to study abroad.

Without hesitation, I clicked 'send'.

In my past life, Horace found out that I was going to go overseas to study and tore my acceptance letter in a fit of rage, even forcing me to stay in the country.

This time, he wouldn't have the chance to stop me anymore.

After seeing the notification to register in a week's time, the weight in my heart suddenly lifted.

But before I could close the email, my door was pushed open from behind me without warning.

With a frown, Horace walked in. "Who are you sending an email to?"

My heart clenched, but I forced myself to stay calm. "I was just on social media, and I saw that you…"

As I expected, his frown grew deeper. "Shut up."

I lowered my head, trying to stop the tears that were threatening to well up in my eyes.

Vivian walked out from behind him, her hand still gripping tightly onto Horace's sleeve. When our eyes met, her pupils flickered away in fear, as if she was afraid that I'd bully her.

"Rose, I want to apply for an art academy in Paris. Horace said that you had some exam materials, so could you lend them to me?"

Seeing her eyes sparkle at the very mention of studying art in Paris, I was reminded of my past self.

In my past life, when I was preparing to apply myself, my eyes were filled with the same hopes and aspirations.

She really was similar to me.

"Are you mute?" Horace stared at me in dissatisfaction. "I gave you those materials, so do you think hiding them is going to be…"

Without any hesitation, I turned around and took all the materials I had from my drawer, handing them over.

Probably since he expected me to resist and for there to be a confrontation, Horace froze for a moment when he saw me give away the materials without any word of complaint.

After all, I had treated everything he gave me like priceless treasures in the past, not allowing anyone to touch them.

In my past life, I ended up quarreling bitterly with Horace to protect those materials, and he snatched them straight from me and tried to give them to Vivian.

In my rage, I burned the materials to a crisp right then and there, and my act of defiance made Horace explode in rage. On top of that, when he saw that Vivian got burned by a stray ember, he completely lost his cool.

Because of what happened, he locked me in a room all by myself, cutting off all the electricity.

Ever since I was abandoned, I had been terrified of the dark.

In the past, I had him to keep me company.

Even after he grew distant, I still had a dim, yellow night light as my only solace through the endless nights.

But in that enclosed, windowless room, I spent an entire night in absolute darkness. Finally, I fainted.

The next day, when I was allowed to leave the room, I crawled out pathetically.

I wasn't foolish enough to let history repeat itself again.

Horace yanked away the study materials from my hand roughly before leaving with VIvian's hand in his.

They ended up going to the backyard garden, which was right in view from my window, so I had a perfect view of them reading books together.

That evening, Agnes, the nanny, told me to go downstairs to eat after she finished cooking.

I sat across the table from Horace and Vivian as they fed each other throughout the meal, and I didn't so much as raise my head, focusing on eating the meal in front of me.

I was scared that I'd get caught in some sort of trouble if I met either of their eyes.

Vivian tried to strike up a conversation with me multiple times, but I didn't notice it because I was too focused on the meal in front of me. Seemingly agitated by this, her eyes became red, and she set down her cutlery, her voice taking on a sad tinge, almost sounding like she was sobbing, "Horace, I think I'll go back to school."

Horace slammed down his cutlery. "You're not the one who should be leaving.

"I think someone's made herself too comfortable in our house, and feels like she has the right to enjoy the privilege that she's been given!"

I paused in the middle of eating, not quite able to pinpoint the exact emotions I was feeling at that moment.

It's true that I was the only one who wasn't welcome in this house.

Well, to be fair, I was nothing more than a visitor that Horace had invited to this house on a whim from the very start.

Now that I wasn't welcome anymore, it was only natural that I left.

Seeing the virulent gaze he sent my way, I suddenly found it hard to remember how well he treated me in the past. All the memories that I had kept in a box, taking them out to treasure over and over, now felt distant, as if looking through a fogged up window, lost in the river of time.

In the past, when I'd just arrived at this house, Horace made sure that the kitchen cooked according to my preferences so that I wouldn't feel out of place, and even begged his mother to cook meals that I liked.

When I was bullied in school, he barged into my classroom and beat the bullies up, causing him to be punished by the school, and beaten by his father.

When I applied medicine on his bloodied back, tears blurring my vision, he told me that it didn't hurt at all, and that no one could ever bully me.

All of those memories seemed like they were from a dream.

Blinking away the tears in my eyes, I stood up and left.

As the light outside dimmed, my door was opened once more without any warning. "Vivian wants to stay the night, and this room is close to mine, so let her stay here. You can go to the floor below."

I wasn't surprised in the slightest—in fact, I'd already packed my luggage.

In my past life, Horace had ordered me to do the exact same thing, and I felt like everything precious to me was being taken from me one by one. I threw a giant tantrum, even calling Horace's parents, and finally managed to send Vivian to that small room.

That night, she fainted because of claustrophobia, and Horace hit me for the first time in my life.

After that, the two of us were like fire and water, not able to coexist with one another.

When I nodded, I noticed peculiarly that Horace's hands gripped into fists.

"Are you just going to agree with that?"

I looked up at him in confusion—wasn't this what he wanted?

Seeing how unfazed I was—like I wouldn’t care even if I got kicked out right then—only made Horace more frustrated. "Since you’re already packed, then leave! If Vivian doesn't get any rest tonight, you won’t either!"

On the surface, Vivian made a big show of showing me her gratitude, but there was an unmistakable glint of glee in her eyes.

When I walked past Horace, I was astonished to notice that he wasn't happy, but I only allowed myself to think of that for an instant before I suppressed it.

Perhaps it was because I'd changed rooms, but even with my trusty night light on, I couldn't fall asleep.

Just like when I just arrived here, I curled up in the corner of the room, trying to scrounge together the slightest sense of security.

That night, the sound of an ambulance pierced through the silence.

A feeling of dread fell over me, and as I opened the door to see what happened, Horace was right there and he kicked me hard.

My head hit the door frame, and I could feel warm liquid flowing down my hair onto my neck.

"How dare you try and commit murder! If anything happens to Vivian, I'll make sure you end up in jail!"

Then, I saw Vivian being sent out on a stretcher, struggling to breathe.

Horace dragged me to her, and that's when I saw the rashes on her body, red splotches painting her skin.

"I didn't…"

I tried to defend myself, but Horace threw me onto the ground.

"I shouldn't have brought a venomous witch like you home in the first place!"

And so, I was left there on the cold marble floor, no one caring about the blood seeping from the back of my head.

As the ambulance sped away, its siren blaring, the house fell into dead silence once more.

I was brought back to the cold, dark night when I was abandoned all by myself, with only the darkness for company.

Clutching my head, I crawled up slowly from the floor.

No matter how much I relented and how much I gave way, Vivian wasn't willing to let me go.

If that was the case, then I was willing to play this game with her.

In my past life, I had gone to the hospital with them.

On the way there, a fatigued truck driver rammed straight into the ambulance, and I shielded Horace with my body, taking most of the impact and ending up becoming disabled as a result.

Horace's parents were so moved by my sacrifice that they forced him to marry me, and from that moment on, Horace loathed me to the core, even though I saved his life.

After we got married, he practically tortured me in bed, but forced me to take birth control each time afterwards.

It was only until Vivian came crying to him, saying that she had acute leukemia and needed a newborn's umbilical cord blood to survive that he allowed me to stop taking birth control.

That night, for the first time, he was gentle when he touched me.

"Let's have a baby. Then, even if I was no longer around, our child would be able to take care of you."

I was moved beyond words, and after I got pregnant, I refused to have an abortion, even at the threat of my life.

When my child was about to be born, they made love on the sofa in my bedroom, thinking that I was asleep. That was when I knew that my child and I were only useful tools for him to save Vivian.

I sacrificed my future, only to get a marriage filled with deceit and violence in return.

Shaking away the memories in my head, I went back to my bedroom. It was clear that Vivian had an allergic reaction, so I sent the sheets for testing.

Because I used my connections to have the process expedited, I got the test results immediately the next day.

From the report, acrylic polymers were found in the bedsheets. Clearly, Vivian had done it on purpose.

After saving the evidence, I started packing the things, much to the distress of Agnes, who had taken care of me all this while.

"You didn't do anything wrong, Miss! I'll tell Master and Madam about this!"

I forced myself not to cry.

Even a nanny trusted me, yet Horace was convinced of my crimes without even asking.

None of that mattered, though. I should have left ages ago.

As I wiped my tears dry and bid a final farewell, Agnes held a cup in my direction.

"This is the cup the Master Horace gave you. Don't you want it anymore?"

Yes, that was a cup that Horace had made himself.

Back in the day, he studied how to do pottery to make me happy, getting burnt by the furnace in the process.

I treated the cup as a sign of his love for me, taking it out and looking at it fondly each and every day.

But now, as I looked at the cup that I used to think was the prettiest in the world, I found that there was nothing about it that I found good anymore.

After a single glance, I said, "I don't."

Halfway down the road, Horace called me.

Without even picking up, I knew that he wanted me to go to the hospital, but why should I apologize for something I didn't do?

After deliberately ignoring many of his calls, Horace started blasting me with messages out of frustration. I didn't want to check them, but the incessant vibrations were making me lose my mind.

I took out my phone, preparing to block him, only to see the threats he sent.

"If I don't see you at the hospital within half an hour, everyone will know that your father was a scammer!"

At that moment, my heart clenched uncontrollably.

Now that I was one step away from leaving, I didn't want anything to drag me down.

Without any other choice, I went to the hospital with the evidence I had collected.

Horace was waiting outside the hospital ward, his face as cold as winter frost.

"Agnes said you moved out. Why?"

I was stunned. Why was that the first question he asked?

"Weren't you the one who asked me to leave?"

"I didn't tell you to leave!" He gritted his teeth. "I just wanted you to recognize your standing—"

Cutting him off, I continued, "My standing, and that I'm not worthy of being your wife! I got it, so I chose to leave. Is there any problem with that?"

"Why, you!"

Not wanting to hear another word, I gave him the report.

"I tested Vivian's bed sheets, and—"

The next moment, Horace snatched the report away and lit it up with a lighter.

"Don't you dare incriminate her with this fake evidence! She even defended you, saying that you didn't do it on purpose! No wonder your dad abandoned you back then!"

A sharp pain pierced my heart.

Of course. Only those closest to you know exactly how to wound you the deepest.

I bent down and picked up the half-burnt report, letting the fire lick my hand.

"Are you crazy?!"

Horace hurriedly took my hand, checking for any wounds.

I quickly shook him off, shouting, "Don't touch me!"

Looking down at his empty hand, Horace was silent for a moment, before he asked, "Where did you move to?"

"That's got nothing to do with you."

I turned to leave, but I had barely opened the door to the stairwell before I was suddenly pinned against it.

Leaning in close, Horace said, "Did I say you could leave?"