My husband, David Wright, brought me and my three-month-old son, Leo Wright, to his parents' for the holidays.

But while Leo was asleep, my niece, Lana Wright, and her classmates carried him upstairs and threw him down.

My baby died right in front of me.

I lost my mind. I scooped him up and tried to rush him to the hospital, but it was already too late.

He was gone before we ever made it there.

Because Lana was still a minor, she barely faced any consequences.

The court ordered her family to pay eight hundred thousand dollars in compensation, but my sister-in-law, Ariel Whittaker, wailed and screamed, accusing me of trying to drive them to their deaths.

I cried until I felt like my heart had been torn apart.

All I wanted was justice.

But David and my mother-in-law, Nancy Wright, only scolded me.

“Lana is just a child too! Are you really going to destroy her life just because your son died?”

I never got my revenge.

In the end, grief and hatred hollowed me out. That winter, I died of a heart attack.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day of the holiday gathering.

This time, I immediately called my parents and asked them to take my son away.

But even then, my niece still threw a baby from upstairs.

I had just sent my son off and stepped into my mother-in-law, Nancy Wright’s courtyard when a loud crash rang out beside me.

Bang!

A baby, wrapped tightly in a blanket, slammed onto the stone tiles.

Blood slowly stained the blanket red.

I stood frozen, then slowly looked up.

On the second floor stood Lana Wright, my husband David’s niece. She shot me a defiant look before turning and running off.

David and Nancy rushed out after hearing the noise.

The moment Nancy saw what had happened, she screamed. Her legs nearly gave out beneath her.

David walked over shakily and glanced at the baby.

“Nina,” he said, his voice trembling. “The baby... the baby isn’t breathing.”

I didn’t even dare to look.

I turned and charged straight up to the second floor.

Lana had locked herself inside her room.

I kicked the door hard.

“Lana Wright, open the door! Who did you throw down there?”

There was no answer from inside the room.

But I could hear Lana laughing with her classmates.

“Lana, what if they call the police? My mom won’t hit me, right?”

“She won’t. It’s not like we did it on purpose. Besides, the police don’t arrest minors.”

Their fearless words stabbed into my ears like needles.

I started shaking uncontrollably.

I threw all my strength into kicking that wooden door.

“Get out here! Do you even understand what you just did? This is murder!”

David, who had come up a step too late, quickly grabbed me.

His eyes were red as he said, “Nina, calm down. Don’t scare them.”

I stared at him with hatred in my eyes.

He had been exactly like this in my last life too.

Our son had died, and he was still worried I might scare his niece.

Nancy wiped her tears and said, “Lana went a little too far this time, but Nina, don’t push it too much.”

“Leo was only three months old. He’s gone, and that’s that. You two can try again and have another baby.”

I went completely still.

It took me a few seconds to realize what she meant.

They thought the dead baby was my son.

But I had just handed my son over to my parents.

So who was the tiny body lying downstairs?

David came upstairs and wrapped his arms around me.

“Nina, I swear I’ll get justice for Leo,” he said. “But Lana is still young. She doesn’t know any better...”

Before he could finish, I shoved him away.

“What do you mean she doesn’t know any better? If she’s that clueless, why doesn’t she jump herself?”

Then I grabbed a chair and smashed it hard against the door.

The wooden door rattled violently, shaking so hard it felt as if the whole house was trembling with it.

“Lana Wright, get out here! If you don’t, I’ll break this door down!”

Why should she get to kill someone and act like nothing happened?

Even if the baby who died today wasn’t mine, I was still going to get justice for them.

When she saw how hard I was smashing the door, Lana shouted from inside, “Stop! If you keep hitting it, I’ll jump!”

I was panting from the effort. I turned, rushed into the kitchen, grabbed a chef’s knife, and hacked it into the door.

The blade sank deep into the wood and wouldn’t come loose.

“Then jump. If you don’t, I’ll get in there and beat you myself!”

Lana finally couldn’t take the pressure anymore and opened the door.

She looked irritated and bored, as if none of this had anything to do with her.

“Who did you throw down there?”

She lifted her chin and rocked lazily on her feet, looking completely unconcerned.

“Your son. Who else?”

I slapped her across the face.

The sharp crack snapped her head to the side.

Tears instantly filled her eyes. Lana clutched her face and stared at me in disbelief.

“What right do you have to hit me? Even my mom never hit me, you bitch!”

I slapped her again.

“That’s exactly why you turned into such a spoiled little monster. Your mother never taught you right from wrong!”

Then I grabbed her by the collar and shouted through gritted teeth, “I’ll ask you one more time. Who did you throw downstairs?”

This time, Lana finally quieted down.

Covering her face, she said, “It was Leo. But I didn’t mean to do it. I just wanted to see what would happen if he fell.

“I didn’t think he would die.”

I looked into the room.

The window was wide open, and the cold wind came rushing in.

Lana’s classmates huddled by the bed, too scared to say a word.

They were already in elementary school.

How could they not know this was dangerous?

David tried to reason with me.

“Lana already admitted her mistake. Honey, you’ve vented enough. Let’s just bury the baby.”

I found it absurd.

A life was gone, and all she had to do was say she was sorry?

Nancy rushed up and wrapped her arms around Lana. Stroking her face with heartache, she muttered, “You hit her so hard. Look, her face is swollen up.”

Her face was only swollen from a slap.

But that baby had lost their entire life.

I shoved Nancy away, grabbed Lana by the hair, and dragged her toward the window.

“Didn’t you say you didn’t know what would happen if someone fell? Why don’t you try it yourself?”

Lana burst into tears, struggling as she cried, “No! I don’t want to! I’ll die if I fall! You’ll go to jail if you kill me! You’ll go to jail!”

So she did know people could go to jail.

And she did it anyway.

In both lifetimes, I could never understand how a child’s heart could be this cruel.

Pain shot through my arm.

David yanked me away, and the force sent my head slamming into the wall.

Warm blood trickled down the wall.

David stood protectively in front of Lana, his face full of disgust.

“Are you done yet? Our son is already dead. Why are you taking it out on a child? Maybe you should have watched him better.”

He and Nancy both stood in front of Lana, guarding her from me.

In my last life, I had already figured it out.

They were the real family, bound by blood.

My three-month-old son and I meant nothing.

I pressed a hand to my forehead, trembling as I took out my phone to call the police.

But my husband kicked it out of my hand.

“This is a family matter. Why are you calling the police?

“Lana isn’t even eighteen yet. Calling the police won’t do anything.”

I braced myself against the wall and stood up, looking at him in utter disappointment.

“The one who died is your son. And you still won’t do anything?”

When he saw the blood on my forehead, a flicker of guilt crossed his eyes.

“Nina, we can have another child.

“But I only have one niece.”