My widowed mother-in-law has an affair with a married man.

Whenever she goes out to meet him, she uses me as an excuse and says I need her to run errands. Slowly but surely, my husband, William Sanders, thinks of me as a cruel daughter-in-law who orders her mother-in-law around.

One day, my mother-in-law gets pregnant. She secretly uses my name when getting a checkup at the gynecology department and even wants to play the child off as mine and William's.

Her lover's wife mistakes me for his mistress and strips me in public before beating me to death.

When I open my eyes again, I'm back to the day when my mother-in-law's lover's wife finds out about her going to the gynecology department under my name.

This time, I'm calm as I tell the woman what to do. "Let's get to the bottom of this. Let's ask the doctor who the actual patient was!"

I was out meeting clients when my husband, William Sanders, called me. His voice, laced with barely concealed anger, came through as soon as I accepted the call.

He said, "Haven't I told you to stop getting Mom to buy things for you? Why do you keep making her do things for you when she's already so old?

"It's the same this time. Go buy it yourself if you really want bread. Are you that hungry? Will you die if you don't have it now?"

He continued, "My mom worked hard to raise me, not so you could treat her like the household staff! We should just get a divorce if things aren't working between us, Lucia! You better pick Mom up right now!"

William was practically yelling by the end of his call, already at his breaking point with me.

When we first got married, he treated me well. Not only would he give me his entire salary for safekeeping, he would also take care of everything and even surprise me with little gestures to make me happy.

However, everything changed after my mother-in-law, Karen Thompson, moved in with us. She claimed she was lonely living in the countryside, but in reality, she only wanted to be closer to her lover, Wilbur York.

Karen was indignant when she saw how William handed all of his salary to me.

"How could you give all your salary to your wife when I'm still alive and well? You've really forgotten about your mom after you got married. I've wasted all these years raising you!"

And so, she took over the control of the entire household's finances just like that.

When Karen saw the little gestures William surprised me with, she became increasingly envious and started making passive-aggressive remarks.

"Why are you still doing all these silly things when you're already married? If you're that free, you should work on giving me a grandchild to dote on!"

William was embarrassed by her words and no longer dared to express his affection for me through those little gestures.

However, Karen was overjoyed with just receiving some wildflowers casually given by her lover. She raved about it endlessly on social media, so how could she criticize us for being "silly"?

Clearly, she was just jealous that William actually cared for me.

On top of that, Karen would often badmouth about me to him. What was supposed to be our private, quality time was eventually ruined by her.

William and I gradually grew apart with Karen constantly stirring the pot. We started arguing more frequently.

Meanwhile, it was easier for her to cheat with Wilbur after moving in. Their relationship only grew stronger as they continued to meet up more and more.

I slowly started to piece together the timeline upon recalling what William said over the phone earlier.

In my past life, Karen always used me as an excuse every time she met up with Wilbur, saying that I needed her to do something.

Sometimes she would claim that I wanted to eat eclairs from Nord Bakery and that she needed to go get them for me. Other times she would claim that I refused to eat the food she made, so she had to go out to buy food for me.

Karen would be gone for hours every time she went out. She would be out of breath, sweaty, and disheveled whenever she came back. On top of that, the things she said she would buy for me were never bought.

Her excuse would always be the same, telling me that the things I allegedly wanted were sold out in the store. She would claim she was late because she ran to several stores knowing that I was craving them, but they were all sold out.

On this very day in my past life, Karen went out under the pretense of buying bread for me. In reality, she went to the hospital for a prenatal check-up for her illegitimate child.

However, she was worried that the scandal might tarnish her lover's reputation as he was a married man.

As such, she secretly used my name and information to register at the obstetrics and gynecology department. She was planning to put the child under mine and William's names, making it appear as if it were our child.

Karen truly had some nerve—my alleged child was actually my sister-in-law or brother-in-law. If word of this ever got out, it would definitely go viral on social media.

However, no matter how much she schemed, she couldn't escape Wilbur's wife's keen eyes.

Wilbur's wife, Annie Ziegler, showed up at the hospital with a group of people after receiving a tip-off that Wilbur's mistress had registered at the obstetrics and gynecology department.

Upon realizing that things were going south, Karen quickly came up with some excuse to trick me into going to the hospital. She then framed me as the mistress by using the fact that the registered name was mine.

I ended up getting stripped of my clothes and beaten to death by a furious Annie.

I couldn't help but feel a surge of anger upon recalling the awful things Karen did to me in my past life. I was determined to make her pay in this lifetime and call her out about her illegitimate child.

In my past life, I was confused after William hung up on me, but I refused to let the same thing happen again.

Instead, I softened my tone and spoke up before he could end the call. "What are you talking about, darling? I've never asked Karen to buy things for me. But I happened to receive a text from a friend working in the hospital earlier, telling me that she saw Karen in the hospital.

"Do you think she might be sick? She probably doesn't want us to worry about her, so she might have been using that excuse to go to the hospital instead.

"What should we do, darling? You don't think something's wrong with her, do you?"

William panicked as soon as he heard my words. "I'll go to the hospital now!"

I had a cold expression on my face as I ended the call. I, too, rushed over to the hospital after contacting Kiesha Gunner—my livestreamer friend.

I refused to be passive like I was in my past life. This time, I would take the initiative.

Karen was just done with her prenatal check-up by the time I arrived at the hospital. She was stroking her slightly protruded belly lovingly, a prenatal check-up form in her hand.

I chuckled coldly before swiftly walking over. I then stood in front of her, quietly staring at her.

Karen was shocked when she looked up and saw me. Her expression faltered slightly before she looked down, unable to meet my gaze. "What are you doing here, Lucy?"

I forced a smile and said, "Weren't you supposed to buy me bread, Karen? Why are you in the hospital now? William even scolded me because of you earlier."

Karen fell silent for a bit. Upon having her lies exposed, she flew into rage out of embarrassment. "Where I go is none of your business! As my daughter-in-law, you shouldn't be sticking your nose into my business!"

I couldn't be bothered to start a fight with her. Instead, I stared at her coldly.

Karen grew more uncomfortable under my intense stare. Given her bad temper, it was no surprise when she raised her arm to hit me. I narrowed my eyes and quickly grabbed her arm before she could lay a hand on me.

William happened to arrive at that moment.

"Stop!" he said, out of breath. He looked beyond anxious. "What are you guys doing? Why are you in the hospital, Mom? Are you feeling unwell?"

Karen thought of a plan upon seeing William. She then flashed a malicious smile at me.

The next moment, she collapsed onto the floor with a scream. "Oh my god! Look what just happened, Will! I was only scolding Lucy for a bit, but she wanted to hit me and even pushed me! It hurts so bad!"

"Mom!" At that moment, William couldn't be bothered to question Karen's visit to the hospital.

He anxiously helped her up. However, she refused to get up and continued to slump against him, faking a painful groan, claiming her body was aching.

William got even more anxious when he heard that.

My heart skipped a beat as I rushed forward to help Karen up. I was about to explain myself when William pushed me away.

He glared at me with bloodshot eyes. "I never thought you'd be this vicious, Lucia! I misjudged you, and I really regret marrying you. I thought you were a decent woman, but it seems like I was wrong. What exactly did my mom do wrong that you're treating her like this?"

I looked at William with a frown. "It's not what you think, William. I—"

Before I could finish speaking, a commotion broke out by the hospital's entrance.

I turned around and saw a large group of people, each looking grim as they readily made their way over. A woman with striking features and a bold demeanor was at the lead.

My heart sank upon realizing that it was Annie.

I wasn't sure if it was a butterfly effect of my reincarnation, but Annie arrived at the hospital much earlier this time than she did in my past life. I wasn't even ready with my plan yet.

Just as I was about to leave to make preparations, Annie noticed us. She raised her brows before storming over.

Karen stopped yelling by then. She fell completely silent, looking pale as she sweated profusely.

Clearly, she also recognized Annie. William was the only one who was out of the loop.

Annie walked over to us with a hostile expression and chuckled coldly. "I'll give you one chance to tell me which one of you seduced my husband."

The person who tipped her off only told her that the mistress was having a prenatal check-up in the hospital. However, they didn't say much about the mistress' identity or appearance. As such, Annie wasn't sure which of us was the mistress.

Karen visibly shook when she heard those words. She glanced around nervously before her gaze landed on me.

I immediately knew she was about to frame me now.