Chapter 2

In my previous life, I spent eight years as a housewife.

It took me ages to get used to working again.

This time, though my resume was still empty, I managed to snag a job in social media management pretty quickly, all thanks to my expertise.

Since it was still summer break, I sent Andrew to daycare and picked him up every evening.

I sent him there early in the morning and picked him up in the evening.

After a long day, I once asked Andrew if he regretted sticking with me through the tough times.

Andrew hugged me and said in his sweet voice, "As long as I'm with you, nothing feels hard."

Looking at Andrew, so gentle and mature for his age, my heart was filled with both warmth and guilt.

I was touched by his unconditional love but also felt guilty for all the hardships he'd endured in the previous life.

I couldn't help but think of Emily from my previous life, who I'd also sent to daycare.

She every single day, always complaining that I wouldn't let her see her dad, wouldn't let her go back to the big house, and wouldn't buy her snacks or toys.

During that time, she left me completely emotionally drained. I was on the verge of a breakdown.

I barely survived that period.

They say some kids were born to collect debts from their parents, while some are here to repay kindness.

Emily was definitely the debt collector in my life.

I thought Emily would just forget about me, but a few days later, she suddenly remembered I existed.

She hit me up with a video call.

Honestly, I really didn't want to get involved with her drama this time.

But just being her mom made it impossible to cut ties completely.

Given the way Emily was, if I ignored her, she'd definitely accuse me of loving Andrew more than her.

She might even badmouth me online for being biased toward my son, like she did in my previous life.

So after thinking it over, I ended up answering her call.

"Mom, I miss you. When are you coming to see me?" Emily said.

I kept my cool. "Emily, your dad and I aren't together anymore. I can't come see you at his place. It's not my home."

Emily sounded disappointed. "Can I come over to your place to see you then?"

"If your dad's cool with it, sure. You can come over this weekend, and I can help you catch up on your homework," I offered.

The moment she heard the word "homework," Emily refused instantly.

"Uh, maybe not, Mom," she replied.

"Alright, just let me know when you want to come over," I said.

"Okay. Bye, Mom," Emily chirped.

She no longer missed me and hung up fast.

It was like she thought I'd ambush her with assignments if she didn't escape right away.

An hour later, Richard called me. His tone was full of accusation.

"Didn't we agree after the divorce that we wouldn't contact each other's kids?" he asked.

I stayed calm. "Emily called me. I'm her mom. How could I not pick up when my own daughter calls?"

Richard went quiet for a moment and then said, "I'm wiping your number from her phone. Don't reach out to her."

I bit back my frustration, and my voice was sharp with anger. "Is this really necessary? She just misses her mom. Who are you to tell her she can't call her own mom?"

Richard was totally unapologetic. "She picked me. Plus, we agreed that we're not supposed to mess with each other's kids," he shot back.

I put on a tearful tone, sounding choked up.

"Alright. I won't contact Emily, but if she calls me first, that's not me breaking the agreement, is it?" I said.

Richard was confident. "Trust me. Emily's gonna forget all about you soon," he said.

"I don't care if Emily forgets about me. All I ask is that, no matter what happens, you'll treat my daughter right. If you decide you don't want to raise her, let me take her back," I said.

Back then, I said something similar to Richard for Andrew, and I really meant every word.

This time, I just didn't want to give anyone ammo to talk trash about me.

"You have nothing to worry about. Emily's my precious girl. I'd rather go through hardship myself than let her suffer," Richard said.

With that, he hung up.

I stared at my phone and gave a cold chuckle.

Richard said the same thing in the previous life, and we all saw how that ended.

I could only hope Emily would have it easier than Andrew did.