Can we not be fooled by fate in our next life?

My Love, My Punishment

My birthday. My childhood sweetheart, Liam, kissed his first love, Serena, during a game of Truth or Dare. Humiliated and furious, I stormed out of the house.

Liam’s parents and my parents rushed to find me, worried sick. They died in a tragic car accident on the way.

From that day on, Liam hated me.

He forced me to drink until my stomach bled, made me kneel before his first love, and even abandoned me after a car crash to go comfort his first love’s sick puppy…

When I died in that cold operating room, Liam was busy picking out a wedding ring for his new bride.

It took him three days to find my body. He stared, eyes bloodshot, begging me to come back like a madman.

“Riley, you still owe me. You’re not allowed to leave me.”

But Liam, your family wasn’t the only one who died in that accident.

“Ms. Hayes, are you really sure you want to leave all your assets to Mr. Harrison?”

I clutched the stomach cancer diagnosis papers, feeling a massive weight lift from my chest.

“Yes. It’s what I owe him.”

The clerk looked at me with a hint of pity. “Perhaps if you underwent treatment, you could get better. You’re still so young.”

I lowered my head, a bitter smile playing on my lips. “This is something I’ve longed for. I should have died ages ago.”

Just then, Liam called.

His voice was cold, indifferent, laced with a familiar hatred.

“Did you take the day off to fool around?”

Before I could explain, his tone grew even colder.

“You killed my parents, Riley. You’re a sinner! You don’t deserve a single moment of peace.”

My heart squeezed tight, as if a giant hand had grabbed it, the pain unbearable.

“Liam, I’m…” dying.

He didn’t care what I was about to say, cutting me off abruptly.

“Bar 177. Serena wants cake from that fancy bakery downtown. Go buy it and bring it over.”

“And walk there.”

I agreed, plunging headfirst into the pouring rain.

The bakery across town was on a remote street, but its business was booming. I stood in line for four hours in my soaking wet clothes.

When I finally walked into the private room, the boisterous atmosphere instantly froze.

One of Liam’s friends glared at me, shoving me hard onto the cold floor.

A deliberately humiliating splash of wine poured from my hair all the way down my clothes. I shivered, bone-chilled.

“How dare you show your face in front of Liam, you murderer!”

The cake I’d brought lay splattered on the floor. I anxiously looked towards Liam, who was shrouded in the dim light.

His first love, Serena, nestled against him, glanced at me like I was a joke.

She whined softly into his ear, “Liam, my cake’s gone.”

“Go buy another one,” his icy voice cut through the air, drilling into my ears.

I stifled the throbbing pain from the blisters on my feet and forced a smile. “Alright.”

“No need, Liam, my love, for being late, why don’t we make her drink all hundred glasses of wine on the table?” Serena’s smile was sickeningly sweet.

I remembered my diagnosis from today. “Can I… can I do something else?”

A gaze like a blade landed on me. Liam’s lips curved into a faint, mocking smile.

“What right do you have to bargain?”

Even though I’d long known Liam no longer loved me, my heart still twisted with a sharp pang.

I stopped protesting, grabbed a glass, and chugged it down.

The burning sensation in my stomach made me dizzy.

Around me, I heard their jeers and cheers.

“Liam’s really protecting his lady, huh?”

“Kiss her, Liam! Kiss her!”

By the ninety-ninth glass, my face was pale, and my hands trembled uncontrollably from the pain.

In my peripheral vision, I saw Liam shielding Serena from drinks, gently coaxing her.

“Well, well, what do we have here? A wet T-shirt contest? I like it.” Brett, one of Liam’s sleazy acquaintances, walked in, his gaze greedily raking over me.

His fat hand groped my shoulder, making me gag.

“Come with me, pretty thing. I promise I’ll treat you right, hehe.”

Liam watched me being harassed, watched my humiliation, with cold indifference the entire time.

I dodged his hand as it tried to wander lower. “Brett, I belong to Liam.”

Perhaps it was just my imagination, but his gaze seemed to turn even colder.