Chapter 4
Watching that disgusting display, I found an excuse to go on a business trip and left the house.
I urgently needed a quiet environment to clear my head.
In my last life, I quit my job to treat my son, giving up a promotion that was practically in my hands. This time, I’m getting back everything that belongs to me.
And in my last life, because I was so consumed with my son’s issues, I overlooked my wife’s affair and her attempts to transfer assets.
As a result, after the divorce, I didn’t get a single dime and still had to pay child support.
Now I’m back. The tables had turned. Let’s see if I don’t mess you all up this time.
“Hello, Mr. Hayes, I have something I’d like to consult you about…”
“Hi, I’d like to install some home security cameras. Yes, I’ll set the date. I need them with audio recording. Price isn’t an issue.”
I hung up the phone, relieved that I hadn’t missed anything. Then my phone started buzzing with notifications for card deductions.
I looked closely: an amusement park, a fancy restaurant, a clothing store, and even a watch store – forty thousand dollars in total.
This card was one I always kept at home as Leo’s education fund.
Every year, no matter how hard or poor things got, I’d consistently deposit two thousand dollars into it.
And now, the one hundred and forty thousand dollars in it had dropped by over forty thousand in just one day.
I instinctively clicked into my wife’s Ins. She’d posted a picture of her holding our son at the amusement park.
Though not fully in the frame, a tall, handsome figure was clearly visible beside her.
He even reached out to help my wife adjust her hair. That mechanical watch on his wrist must have been the one they just bought, right?
We got married eight years ago. As an orphan, I desperately longed for a family.
Even though my wife’s family was poor and couldn’t offer much in the way of a dowry, I still gritted my teeth and saved up for a significant sum for her family.
I didn’t just buy all the traditional wedding jewelry, I gave her eighteen thousand eight hundred dollars, and threw her a grand wedding.
For that, I worked my ass off for two full years, even taking the riskiest assignments the company sent me to.
My wife just took my efforts for granted. She never reciprocated anything. And now, she was generously spending money on another man.
“Oh, Veronica, is that your husband next to you? It’s rare for your family to go out, so happy!”
“That’s not him at all! He’d just spoil the fun. Won’t let us eat this, won’t let us play that. That’s just a friend.”
In my wife’s Ins, our mutual friends were commenting. Everyone thought the man adjusting her hair was me. And seeing that “spoiling the fun,” I couldn’t help but sneer.
For years, my wife had stomach ulcers and diabetes from drinking and socializing.
If she didn’t control it, she’d get stomachaches and cramps, even risking kidney failure. My son, fed by my mother-in-law, had a weak spleen and stomach; he’d get indigestion if he ate anything wrong, leading to fever, vomiting, and needing IV drips.
Every time, I was the one rushing him to the hospital. For their sake, I had to give up my own dietary preferences and join them in eating bland, healthy food.
And now she called me “spoiling the fun.”
In my previous life, I might have endured it to protect my son’s feelings, but now, I didn’t care.
“Why are there transactions on Leo’s card? What did you spend over forty thousand dollars on?”
I FaceTimed her directly.
I could even see Jason feeding my wife a bubble tea beside her. He was about to smile and say something, then suddenly noticed me.
He quickly explained that my wife’s hands were full, so he was just helping her with the bubble tea, telling me not to overthink it.
The sleazy vibe was practically seeping through the screen.
That careful look in his eyes even held a hint of provocation towards me, but neither she nor my son seemed to notice.
“It’s just spending, what’s the big deal? Leo accidentally broke Jason’s heirloom watch, so we had to pay for a new one, right?”
I remembered this dialogue from my previous life. When I saw the card activity back then, I specifically asked, and she gave the same excuse.
But it wasn’t until later that I found out Jason’s original watch cost him only fifty bucks. They had just made up the lie to appease me and to suck up to him.
Then my wife went on about how pitiful Jason and his daughter were.
After his divorce, he was left with nothing, and they were struggling. His little girl had never been to an amusement park, never eaten good food, and dressed in ordinary clothes.
“So… you were just overflowing with sympathy? You spent the money I painstakingly saved for Leo on another man?”
My questioning made my wife choke. As a pharmaceutical rep, she earned over ten thousand a month, which sounded decent, but she had so many social engagements.
After all the networking, she not only didn’t bring money home, but I often had to cover her expenses.
For years, she drove a twenty or thirty thousand dollar car, living a carefree life.
She was out early and back late every day, socializing and charming clients. She never fulfilled any motherly duties, but she sure was quick to spend money.
“Dad, why are you so selfish? Mr. Jason is so pitiful, of course we should help him when we have money.
And that money was yours to save for me, so I have the right to decide how to spend it. If you keep being unreasonable, I won’t recognize you as my dad anymore.”
This line had been used to manipulate me countless times in my previous life.
Every time he wanted something I wouldn’t give him, he’d say that, and I’d soften and compromise. Because he was the only blood relative I had in the world; I cherished that connection.
But thinking about his hatred for me in the previous life, it seemed he had never shown any warmth to me, his father, since he was a child.
So this time, why couldn’t I cut my losses? My father-son bond with him, it was time to break it completely.
“Okay, then I don’t want you either. From now on, you can live well with your mom and grandma. If you need anything, find them. I’m going away for a month on business.”
With that, I hung up the phone. I immediately went to the bank, transferred all the money out of that card, and closed the account.
Looking at the remaining cash, I thought, why shouldn’t I spend it on myself? Not a cent of my money would go to those scumbags.
I switched off my personal phone, making sure they couldn’t reach me.
First, I dropped two thousand dollars at a detective agency to thoroughly investigate Jason. Know your enemy, win a hundred battles.
Then, with the rest of the money, I went to a phone store and bought the latest model. Next, I went to a clothing store and bought all the suits I’d admired for so long but never dared to buy.
I even went to a foot massage parlor for the first time – turns out foot massages are incredibly relaxing. I got a two-thousand-dollar hairstyle design.
Finally, I went to an all-you-can-eat seafood buffet I’d dreamed of my whole life, priced at $299. In a single day, I bought everything I’d ever wanted but never bought in my previous life.
Lying on a five-star hotel bed, looking at the day’s spoils, I checked the cash I had left. Even with such extravagant spending, it was only about ninety thousand dollars.
In my previous life, to pay for Leo’s growth hormone and meet his daily needs, I scrimped and saved, not spending a single cent on myself. Thinking about it now, it was laughable.
It was time I started loving myself.
The next day, I arrived at the company looking refreshed, and went straight to the General Manager’s office.
The risk control department I worked in was personally built up by the GM.
I was one of the first employees, and I’d always been hardworking and reliable, with excellent judgment—almost none of my chosen investments had ever lost money.
He trusted me completely. I pulled out the agreement I’d printed.
For the upcoming projects I’d take on, if successful, I’d get 5% of the profit. If not, I’d lose everything and even go to jail to compensate.
The GM thought I was crazy, but the newfound confidence and wild determination in my eyes convinced him.
“GM, let’s go crazy and make a huge fortune!”
“Dean, Leo’s in the hospital with indigestion. You need to come back and take care of him. Mom isn’t feeling well and can’t handle the strain.”