Chapter 1: A New Beginning

In my past life, I met Jason Reed through a classmate's introduction, but just a year after our marriage and the birth of our daughter, I discovered he had hereditary mental illness.

I was very angry and wanted to divorce him.

But he threatened me, saying if I divorced him, he would kill my whole family.

I endured shame and burdens until I was forty-five, when Jason died, and only then did I catch my breath, but who knew even greater disaster was to come; my daughter was also diagnosed with mental illness.

In an instant, my world collapsed, and I could no longer hold on, falling ill.

I woke again and returned to the past. This time, I decided to stay far away from Jason Reed and toxic friends.

Live the great life that was meant to be mine.

01

I woke again and returned to the past.

Before I could take in my surroundings, I heard a familiar voice.

"Ethan, wait until this weekend and come home with me; I've already told my parents about you. They know you're a top student at Dorring University and are very happy."

"After meeting my parents, let's schedule a time to visit your family. I'll bring some gifts to impress them; I'm sure your parents will be satisfied with me."

"Let's get engaged first, then get married after you graduate next year."

"After getting the marriage certificate, we should have a child, while my parents are still relatively young and can help us out."

Jason Reed finished speaking, looking at me with a gentle smile.

But I was scared out of my wits.

Because this was exactly how Jason was in my previous life, pretending to be considerate in every way and making me feel like I had met my true love, quickly making a decision to be with him.

After two years of dating, we met each other's parents, got engaged, and married methodically.

In the second year of marriage, we had a lovely daughter.

I was very happy, feeling like I had reached the pinnacle of life.

But I never expected disaster to strike so suddenly.

Jason's mental state suddenly became very abnormal; he often talked to himself and later frequently ran outside at night without sleeping.

Later, I took him to the hospital for a check-up and found out he had a family history of mental illness and had previously been hospitalized several times.

During our relationship, he was on medication to control it.

After marriage, fearing I would find out, he secretly stopped taking his meds, leading to his illness.

Moreover, his aunt in the previous generation also had the illness.

These things were known among his hometown folks.

Later, Jason's parents fled, bringing him to this city, simply because no one here knew their background.

When I found this out, the only thought in my mind was that it was over.

I had been terribly deceived by Jason's family.

Even though they were well aware of this mental illness history, they still wanted to marry me.

This was outright marriage fraud.

Especially since I had just given birth to a daughter.

Every time I thought of my daughter possibly becoming mentally ill as well, I felt like killing them all.

Jason's family saw that they could no longer keep their secret and resorted to playing victim; the three of them kneeled in front of me, confessing their sins, with Jason tearfully explaining he hadn't told me because he loved me too much and feared I would reject him.

Jason feared I would leave, even threatening suicide, leaving me with no choice but to endure.

But unexpectedly, as Jason's illness worsened, his temperament became increasingly bad, and he even started hitting me, leaving my body frequently bruised.

I couldn't take it anymore and proposed a divorce to Jason.

But to my shock, he threatened me, saying if I divorced him, he would kill my whole family, and being mentally ill meant he wouldn't face sentencing anyway.

I was afraid.

I continued to endure until I was forty-five.

Finally, Jason died, and I was freed.

But just as I had relaxed for a few days, even worse news came; my smart and well-behaved daughter was diagnosed with mental illness.

At that moment, the defense line in my heart collapsed.

I couldn't hold on and fell down.

As I lay dying, I revisited my life in a flash; it was truly bitter!

From the moment I married Jason, I was ruined.

I swore, if I could have another chance, I would never live such a life again.

Perhaps Heaven took pity, for when I opened my eyes, I really returned to the past.

I swore to stay away from Jason.

02

Seeing Jason's deliberately gentle tone, my mind began racing on how to refuse him.

I knew Jason had long considered me his prize; I had good education, a mild temper, decent looks, and was an only child.

It made me a great marriage prospect.

Jason saw I hadn't spoken and frowned a bit.

"Ethan, what's wrong, do you have any concerns?"

"Oh, I get it. Are you worried my parents won't like you?"

He chuckled and touched the top of my head.

"Don't worry, you're so beautiful and outstanding; my parents will surely like you."

Indeed, Jason's whole family liked me because my personal and family conditions were admirable.

But what if I had a serious flaw?

Or if our family was economically poor and needed constant support from them?

Would they change their minds?

Thinking about this, I intentionally feigned insecurity and cautiously spoke.

"Sorry, Jason, I lied to you."

"What?"

Under Jason Reed's eager gaze, I slowly started to speak.

"What I told you about being an only child is true, but I lied about my family's financial situation. Actually, my dad isn't a company executive, he's a security guard. My mom isn't a teacher either; she works as a nanny at a teacher's home. We don't have money, we're still living in a rented house."

"So I hope if we get married in the future, we can bring my parents to live with us."

I stared straight at Jason Reed, watching the smile on his face gradually disappear.

Finally, I sent out the decisive blow.

"When I was little, I had an illness and my uterus has some issues. The doctors say there's a high chance I won't be able to have children, so after we get married, we won't be having kids. I want you to also explain this to your parents."

Jason Reed's face turned ugly.

"Is what you said true?"

I was on the verge of tears.

"I'm sorry, I just love you too much. I was scared that you'd despise me after knowing my situation, so I didn't tell you."

"But, I think maybe you don't value these external conditions either."

"True love can overcome all difficulties."

I know well that apart from being someone with mental health issues, Jason Reed is also a normal man, so he wouldn't just care about my personal conditions but also about my family background.

Although his family condition is decent, what kind of family can support two patients?

Besides, they're hoping that when Jason has an episode, I would take care of him.

Not to mention I've posed an even more fatal problem, not having the ability to bear children.

Jason Reed has a strong sense of masculinity; in the past life, after I gave birth to a daughter, he wanted me to have a second child, but how could I when I knew he was sick?

So he forced me to have marital relations, if not for me secretly taking birth control pills, maybe he would have succeeded.

"Oh, by the way. When we go to meet your parents, is there anything we need to bring? Recently my parents haven't been doing well at work and didn't give me any allowance, so I might be short on funds. How about, Jason, you lend me some money? After all, I'm also trying to leave a good impression on your parents, you wouldn't refuse, right?"

I seized the opportunity and nodded frequently.

As expected, after hearing these words, Jason Reed completely lost control of his basic facial expressions.

He gritted his teeth and said,

"I think the matter of meeting the parents needs to be postponed."

"Why? Are you despising me now?"

I cried, tears mixing with mucus, all wiped on Jason Reed's sleeve.

Jason Reed, looking grim, peeled my hand off his sleeve.

This time he really broke down.

"I think we both need to calm down for a while first."

"I have some work to deal with, so I'll leave now."

Jason Reed rushed out after speaking.

I secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Actually, I was just using his methods against him.

Wasn't this the way he deceived me in the past life?

03

After scaring Jason Reed away, I was in high spirits and went straight back to the dorm.

Not long after returning, I received a message from Jason Reed.

He said that after thorough consideration, he feels we are not suitable, so let's break up and not contact each other again.

Haha, that's great.

I hurriedly blocked and deleted all of Jason Reed's contact information.

After doing all this, I felt a lot lighter.

I'm in my third year now, and there are no more classes at school, as students are all looking for internships.

In the past life, I was deeply immersed in the sweet romance with Jason Reed and had no mind for work, so I just casually found an internship.

But now, I'm not planning on wasting any more time.

After opening my computer, I just sent my resume to several companies back home and was about to call my parents.

Suddenly, the door was kicked open fiercely.

"Ethan Grant, come out?"

The person who came in was Emily Foster, a good friend of mine from my past life, and the one who introduced me to Jason Reed.

She and Jason Reed are from the same village originally, but later Jason's family moved away entirely; it was said that she reconnected with Jason after getting into college.

She thought Jason Reed and I were a great match, so she introduced him to me.

Jason Reed looked handsome and was gentle and considerate, at first I was very grateful to her, thinking she always had my best interests in mind.

Later, after Jason had an episode, I realized something was wrong.

By then, Emily Foster had already married a wealthy man like she wanted.

She dressed elegantly and simply spoke to me.

Actually, she knew Jason had issues all along and introduced him to me on purpose, because she'd always envied me.

She thought I had everything, growing up in comfort, with respectable parents who doted on me. I could get whatever I wanted, confident and open-minded, and even the university she toiled to get into was a walk in the park for me.

I was just a princess.

She hated that I could effortlessly obtain things she couldn't even reach by standing on tiptoe.

And she was born into a family that favored boys over girls, her parents only liked her brother, and were either hitting or scolding her, never loving her properly, even when she got into such a good university, her parents weren't happy, but rather complained she'd spend a lot of money.

The stark contrast led to her dark side emerging.

After connecting with Jason Reed, she deliberately introduced him to me.

She knew Jason was biased, once I married him, I'd never be able to escape that home.

"Why are you always so high above? I just want you to fall into the mud and never rise again."

"Ethan Grant, you can never compare to me now, I'm already part of high society while you'll be stuck with a mental patient for life."

The current Emily Foster isn't as arrogant as she was in the past life.

Initially, she was aggressive, but after seeing my cold gaze, she fell silent.

She quietly closed the door she had kicked open.

"Ethan, I heard you broke up with Jason Reed?"