Chapter 1

On Thanksgiving weekend, the child of Theodore's childhood sweetheart fell down the stairs and broke both legs.

His sweetheart swore up and down that my daughter had pushed her son down.

She kept shrieking that she wanted my daughter to lose a leg for a leg.

When it happened, my daughter was with me in the little garden, picking flowers.

There was no way she could have pushed his son down the stairs.

But no matter how I explained, no one believed me.

My sister-in-law insisted she had seen my daughter at the top of the stairs.

"Sister-in-law, just stop lying! I saw Tammy push Leo down the stairs with my own eyes!"

My mother-in-law's tone was strangely certain too.

"Exactly! You say Tammy was in the little garden, but I only saw you out there, no one else!"

Faced with their bald-faced accusations,

I pinned all my hopes on Theodore.

"Theodore, you know your daughter. She's been sweet since she was little. She's not a child who causes trouble..."

"Enough!"

Theodore gritted his teeth and cut me off.

"If she can push Leo down the stairs today, tomorrow she'll dare to kill someone! Today I'm going to teach her a real lesson!"

Theodore grabbed Tammy by the collar, paying no mind at all to her cries of "Daddy" as she begged him.

Without hesitation, he shoved Tammy down the stairs.

Tammy's head struck the person-height vase at the bottom of the stairs, and she died on the spot.

Afterward, my sister-in-law and mother-in-law swore that Tammy's death was an accident.

The whole thing shook me badly, and three days after Tammy died, I threw myself off the rooftop.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back on Thanksgiving weekend.

This time, I took my daughter ahead of time to the police station near my mother-in-law's house.

An hour later,

Theodore's childhood sweetheart pointed at Leo, who had fallen at the bottom of the stairs, and broke into tears.

"Theodore, Tammy pushed Leo down the stairs..."

Section 1

Leo cowered in the corner at the bottom of the stairs.

The pale, bluish leg bone had actually punched right through the flesh.

Blood ran down the bend of his knee like a stream, quickly spreading into a large pool beneath him.

"Theodore, I told you today was your family dinner. I shouldn't have come, or I'd only make Myrtle angry! And if Myrtle gets angry, my boy and I are the ones who suffer!"

"Look! Tammy pushed Leo down the stairs right in front of me!"

More and more blood was pooling under Leo's body.

In the span of just those few sentences,

the crimson blood had already run into a little stream at the bottom of the stairs.

In my last life, it was a scene exactly like this that terrified me.

I'm a mother too, and I can't stand to see a child suffer.

So faced with everyone's accusations, I lost my composure at once,

and that was what led to my daughter's horrific death.

Ten years of marriage, and Theodore never worked a single day.

The day after I died,

Theodore used the money I'd earned to marry Dora in grand, lavish style.

They lived in the villa I bought.

Dora enjoyed her life on the money I'd worked so hard for.

Leo got the best education money could buy—my money.

And my daughter didn't even get a funeral or a burial plot.

The wretched memories of my last life left my face rather grim,

and that subtle flicker was quickly caught by Dora.

She lunged forward two steps, pointed at my nose, and screamed shrilly,

"Myrtle! Your face has gone pale with guilt! Tammy is the fine daughter you raised, and no matter what, today you're going to give me an explanation!"

As if worried Theodore might really take my side,

Dora spun around at once, wrapping her arms around Theodore's waist and pressing herself against him.

"Theodore, look how badly Leo is hurt. You wouldn't let my boy and me be wronged like this, would you...?"

The faint hesitation that had been in Theodore's eyes turned instantly ice-cold.

"Myrtle Winfield..."

"You're telling me you saw Tammy push Leo down the stairs with your own eyes?!"

I cut Theodore off in a cold voice,

turned to Dora, and demanded through gritted teeth.

In my last life, I was so worried about Leo's injuries that I panicked completely.

One wrong step, and every step after it went wrong.

To keep today from playing out the way it had,

the moment I brought Tammy to my in-laws' area, I'd taken her to the police station nearby,

and told the officers to make sure she didn't wander off.

So this time, my heart was absolutely steady.

"I'm asking you a question!"

I closed in on Dora again,

and just like she had pointed at me a moment ago, I pointed at her nose, my voice utterly resolute as I demanded loudly,

"When did you see Tammy push Leo down the stairs?! Answer me!"

"Just now!"

There was none of the panic I'd expected.

Dora's eyes were dead certain too.

She looked at Leo slumped in the pool of blood, and tears instantly welled up in her eyes.

"Just five minutes ago, right where you're standing, Tammy said she wanted to play hide-and-seek with Leo, but the second Leo covered his eyes, Tammy shoved him down the stairs..."

"You're lying!"

I shot back through gritted teeth.

"Myrtle, what are you getting at? Are you saying I'm framing Tammy on purpose?"

"Leo is hurt this badly. What kind of mother would I be to have the heart for something like that...?"

Seeing Theodore's expression turn grimmer and grimmer,

his bloodshot eyes already fixed on me as he charged over,

I abruptly took a step back and spoke in a cold voice,

"I took Tammy to a classmate's house to play an hour ago! How could she have pushed Leo down the stairs five minutes ago?!"