Chapter 2
In my previous life, when I had painfully walked into the law firm, hoping to claim a share of the property as Ava’s husband, they told me we had divorced a few days before the car accident. Later, when I wanted children, Ava kept refusing. I guess she was afraid I would discover this fact. Clearly struck by my words, Ava’s face paled for a moment. But she was certain I couldn’t produce any evidence now, so she continued to deny it: “What nonsense are you talking about? Lucas, is it because you see my legs are injured that you want to abandon me?” “How can you be so heartless? Have you forgotten all I’ve done for you? We’ve been married for six years. All these years, I’ve been bringing you lunch every day because I was worried about your stomach. Three years ago, when your health was poor, I went to the temple to pray for you for three months, chanting sutras and eating vegetarian food every day…” Ava choked up, her voice full of tears. We had met through an arranged date and married because our views aligned. It wasn’t a passionate love, but after so much time together, feelings had naturally developed. Over the years, I had taken on the family responsibilities, and she had indeed taken good care of me. But later I learned about Ryan’s existence. When she brought me lunch, she would first deliver a portion to Ryan. The things she bought for me, she would inflate the price, then use my money to buy something better for Ryan. As for going to the temple to pray for three months… I sneered inwardly, guessing that was probably when she had given birth to Ryan’s child. Unfortunately, in those years, I had been so busy trying to earn money to give her the luxurious life she wanted - the mansion, the expensive car - that I had left this opening for them to exploit. Ryan also tried to smooth things over for Ava: “Lucas, don’t let this come between us. I know you might be thinking about all the money you’ll have to spend in the future, so you’re feeling a bit stingy. It’s okay, I didn’t save Ava for money. Actually, I don’t need money…” He pretended to be generous. I knew he was trying to provoke me, but I didn’t fall for it. Instead, I turned to Ava and said, “See? He says he doesn’t need the money. Why are you insisting on giving it? Does it burn your hands?” Ava’s face turned blue with anger. Ryan also glared at me resentfully. Just then, a doctor came in, urging us to pay the continued hospitalization fees. Ava had actually met the standards for discharge, but she had been reluctant to leave. In my previous life, she had made me pay for two more months of hospitalization. It was a top-tier hospital with a private room. The room alone cost $1,000 a week. She had said she wanted a better treatment environment, and I had supported her, straining myself to earn money to give her the best. But later I realized she had stayed in the hospital just to make it easier to meet Ryan. Hearing about the hospital fees, they exchanged a glance. Ava coldly said to me, “Lucas, I don’t know why you’ve become so stingy, but we can’t delay the treatment. Aren’t you usually busy? Just transfer the hospital fees to my card, and I’ll pay it myself.” Asking for money so righteously? I laughed bitterly and asked the doctor, “I remember she’s met the discharge standards. Let’s cancel this room and discharge her today.” Ava’s eyes widened: “Lucas, are you trying to kill me? What if my legs get worse at home?” Before I could speak, the doctor said, “That won’t happen. The dangerous period has passed. Being at home now is the same as staying in the hospital.” Ava’s face turned ashen. Ryan was about to say something, but I spoke to Ava first: “I don’t have money for you to stay in the hospital anymore. If you insist on staying, either pay for it yourself or borrow from him.” I pointed at Ryan: “Didn’t he just say he has money?” Their faces looked as if they had eaten something bitter, but I didn’t pay them any more attention and turned to leave. I didn’t have time to argue with them. Right now, I urgently needed to get evidence that Ava’s car accident had nothing to do with me, as well as proof that they had been together for a long time. This would help me protect all my assets if we ever ended up in court. After working myself to death for so many years, the past was already gone. Now, even if Ava took a single cent, I would feel disgusted. After leaving the hospital, I immediately called a lawyer and asked him to investigate the accident car from when Ava was injured. In my previous life, I had noticed some suspicious details, but because I was busy taking care of Ava, it was a long time before I had someone investigate. By then, the car’s interior had been tampered with, and the dash cam was missing. After a car accident, this kind of situation was normal. Later, because I was busy earning money to cover Ava’s medical expenses, working three jobs a day, I simply didn’t have the energy to think about these things anymore. This time, Ryan hadn’t been discharged yet, so he shouldn’t have had time to destroy the evidence. Sure enough, it wasn’t long before the lawyer called back. The accident scene hadn’t been disturbed. He had collected fingerprints and some hair and blood samples. Finally, he sent me the dash cam video. At the time of the accident, Ava was sitting in the passenger seat, anxiously asking Ryan, “I’ve already divorced Lucas. When are you planning to marry me?” Ryan was stunned for a moment, then carelessly said, “No rush. Let’s talk about this after you’ve transferred all the assets to your name. Otherwise, what if your husband finds out?” Ava looked at him anxiously: “But you always say that. I’ve given you a car, and I’ve given you all the savings Lucas entrusted to me for you to invest, which you lost completely. Every time you say you’ll marry me to thank me. You’re not… lying to me, are you? You do want to marry me, right?” “How could that be?” Ryan said, and as if to prove it, he leaned over to kiss Ava. With that one action, Ava’s doubts were dispelled. She giggled, “Watch the road.” “It’s fine, just for a second.” Hearing this, Ava relaxed and leaned in to meet him. Just then, a huge crash sounded, and the image flipped. At this moment, I also understood why Ava had divorced me so early but had delayed marrying Ryan. Ryan was clearly deceiving her, but she didn’t know. Or maybe she did know, but was willing to accept it. The lawyer added, “The DNA test will take some time, probably about three days before we get the results.” I nodded, about to hang up when I remembered something else: “Also, help me find a child.” By my calculations, their child should have been born by now, about 3 or 4 years old. For the past two years, every weekend, Ava would find various excuses to go out alone in her wheelchair, probably to see the child. I gave him the locations Ava frequently visited, then went to the hospital for a physical examination and froze all the assets under my name. In this life, everything was just beginning. My body hadn’t suffered from heart failure caused by working three jobs non-stop, and not too many assets had been transferred away. That night, for the first time, I “irresponsibly” went home alone. Perhaps sensing something was wrong, Ava called me, but I hung up when I saw the incoming call. Soon after, I saw a post she made on social media. It was a series of messages cursing me, ending with how she had sacrificed so much for me, but now that she was injured, I was abandoning her. To gain sympathy, she even posted the doctor’s diagnosis and a pitiful photo of herself in a wheelchair, looking haggard. But she hadn’t noticed that Ryan’s reflection was visible in the smooth metal armrest of the wheelchair. Perhaps to provoke me, in one of the photos, if you looked closely, you could see that Ryan was kissing her in the reflection. On one hand, she was asking me for money and cursing me, while on the other hand, she was giving her love and money to another man. Ava was playing everyone like a fiddle. The comments section was full of spectators, not one person noticing the cat’s paw in the picture. Everyone was comforting her, using the vilest words to curse me as a scumbag. I pretended not to see it and blocked Ava. The next two days passed as usual, but Ava seemed to have gone mad, cursing me every day. She even posted screenshots of me deleting her, accusing me of having a guilty conscience. Friends who didn’t know the whole story all spoke up for her, urging me to go back. I didn’t explain, just waited until the third day when the test results came out. To my pleasant surprise, the lawyer had also found their child. 0