Chapter 2

I slipped back into the house, pretending to be invisible, shutting the door tight. I wanted nothing to do with the Harper family's mess.

But memories from my previous life surged up. Back then, I had stumbled upon Casey's affair, but I hadn't known who the man was.

Too afraid to make it public, I whispered it to Alvin. For that, he beat me mercilessly.

When Edmund came in asking what had happened, Alvin told him. Then Edmund too joined in, thrashing me while cursing me, accusing me of bringing them bad luck.

They threatened to kill me if I dared to tell anyone.

By the time they were done, I was blind in one eye and crippled in one leg. I called the police.

But Edmund, pulling strings with Nathan and the women's committee head Zoey Crawford, had my case thrown out.

Nathan and Zoey said it was a family dispute, that Alvin had admitted his fault and promised never to repeat it.

At the station, Alvin bowed his head, apologized sincerely, and even signed a statement of guarantee.

The police officers at the station criticized and lectured Alvin, and then released him.

I was furious, so I went back to my parents' home.

Once I could walk again, I filed for divorce. However, Alvin refused, so the court's first ruling did not grant it.

While I was recovering at my parents' home, the Harpers did not pay a single cent for my medical expenses.

My father, carrying the court verdict, went to their house to demand compensation, only to be beaten by Edmund and Alvin.

To pay for my treatment, my parents worked the fields by day and ran a food stall in town by night.

But soon thugs started harassing their stall. Looking back, I knew whose doing that was.

Eventually, my father could not stand it anymore. He argued with the thugs and they beat him down. My father ended up in the hospital where the doctors said he had a brain hemorrhage and died.

After we reported it to the police, someone splashed dog blood and feces on our front door, forcing us to withdraw the lawsuit.

Terrified, my mother and I didn't dare to open the door.

Our neighbors, unable to bear the disturbance and afraid to intervene, advised my mother and me to leave for a few days.‍

My mother and I were truly scared and dared not stay at home, so we went to stay at the guesthouse next to the town police station while waiting for my father's case to be investigated.

The head inspector, Devin Webb also helped us apply for a restraining order, giving my mother and I a few days of peace.

However, this peace was short-lived. When Casey caught Syphilis from her affairs, the Harpers stormed into our town. They accused me of being unfaithful, saying I had brought the disease back to their house and passed it on to their family.

They broke into our home and stripped the place bare—furniture, appliances, anything of value.

When they learned my mother and I were hiding in town, they spread filth there too, calling me diseased trash.

The guesthouse owner demanded we leave immediately and even charged us an extra fee of 50 dollars to disinfect the room.

Overnight, my mother and I were dragged into a storm of shame. People pointed, mocked, hurled rotten vegetables and garbage at us.

Crushed by humiliation, my mother drank pesticide. She died in the hospital the next day.

She left me behind—crippled, half-blind, with only Maya.

My chest tightened, stabbing with pain. I hugged Maya tightly, and wiped away the tears on my face. I couldn't let myself think of my previous life any longer.

The sounds of chaos spilled from the main hall—Edmund's curses, Casey's sobs, and Alvin's attempts at persuasion.

Casey wailed, "You can't satisfy me, and yet you won't let me find someone else. I'm only forty. How am I supposed to live?"

Edmund snarled back, "You filthy slut. Can't you do without a man? You already had a child and you're still not content? If you mess around some more, I'll kill you."

Casey said, "Go on, kill me then. I've given you a child already so I'm of no use to you anymore. Kill me if you want."

Then Alvin's voice cut in. "Dad, wasn't it you who told Mom to sleep with my uncles? You said it was the only way to get Harper blood. And now you regret it?"

My mind spun.

Alvin knew about his mother and his uncles all along. And worse, it had been Edmund's idea all along.

I collected myself and continued listening.

Edmund shot back at Alvin. "Don't you call me 'Dad'. Who knows who your real father is?"

He went on, "I want to kill you two. You live off my dime, yet you still make a cuckold of me. It's one thing to sleep with them for a child. How could you carry on my brothers?"

Edmund was impotent and tacitly allowed Casey to sleep with his three brothers. Thus, there was no telling whose child Alvin was.

Good heavens. I never expected myself to marry into such a crazy family.

In my previous life, I never knew the reason behind Casey's promiscuity.

No wonder after Alvin found out, he was not surprised at all; instead, his first reaction was to worry that I would tell others.

No wonder Edmund had beaten me nearly to death. I had known the secret he most despised, the shame that burned deepest.

That night, I lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep.

Images of my previous life—beatings, humiliation, my family's ruin—remained seared into my mind.

I stared at Alvin's face and thought all night.

By dawn, I had made up my mind. I went to the general store in town and bought liquor.

Then I went to the village butcher, who was also Eliza's maiden family, and bought five pounds of lard and some innards.

I came home, cooked a meal, and meekly avoided getting involved in the 'cornfield affair' mess.

I poured Alvin drinks, served him dishes with innards, always bringing food to his room.

Day after day, I gave him coffee on an empty stomach in the mornings, liquor with every meal, and cooked fatty meats and innards for him.

I even comforted him with gentle words.

Alvin continued to consume these high-fat, high-acid, high-salt, and high-alcohol foods for several days.

Sure enough, within a week, Alvin fainted while working in the fields.