Wiser: Second Chance at Life

Opening my eyes, I saw my girlfriend, Emma, pathetically clutching my hand. "My dad will really kill me!" she cried. I snapped back to reality, the blood-soaked memories of my past life flooding my mind. In my previous life, because I didn't agree to acknowledge the child in her womb, she made up lies about me forcing myself on her. Later, her father even castrated me with a knife. I was tortured to death. As my soul drifted above, I realized that even after Oliver learned the truth, their family didn't show a shred of remorse. Instead, they lied, claiming she was carrying my posthumous child, and used this to bully my mother relentlessly. My mother, heartbroken by the loss of her only son, aged overnight, yet still had to wake up early and toil away, taking care of their family's needs. Her drunkard father not only laid hands on my mother but even tried to take advantage of her in the dead of night. God had mercy and granted me a second chance at life. This time, I swore to myself, I would never let them off the hook! Unlike last time, when I pushed her away, this time, I grabbed my girlfriend Emma's hand, my voice trembling. ***** "Pregnant? Who is the father?" Before I could finish my sentence, Emma immediately knelt on the ground, tears streaming down her face, avoiding my question. "Evan, I know I was wrong, but you won't have to acknowledge this child for nothing. Don't you like being a dad?" I held back the disgust in my heart, helped her up, and said with a cold smile, "Emma, I wasn't finished. What I wanted to say was, you’ve surprised me!" Emma looked up at me in astonishment. I didn't avoid her gaze. "We've been dating for so long, I've never touched you, haven't you ever wondered why?" Without waiting for her to speak, I continued, "Because I like you this way." I leaned close to Emma's ear and whispered, watching as her face filled with disbelief. "You have no idea how excited I am to think that you're carrying another man's child." Before she could finish, I interrupted her. "I've always wanted to persuade you to join this circle, but I was afraid... I didn't expect you to join us on your own. I'm so happy!" As I spoke, I helped her up, lowered my head, and gave her belly a big kiss, then put on a regretful look. "It's a pity I didn't see you with him with my own eyes." Emma was clearly stunned by my words. Tears still stained her face, but her eyes held a probing look. "Evan, are you serious?" I held her in my arms. "The day after tomorrow is your birthday, I have a present for you, you'll know then." Emma finally nodded, still half believing, half doubting. ***** I pretended to see Emma off and rushed home impatiently. It was dinner time. I opened the door, and my mother looked at me in surprise. "Evan, didn't you say you were busy at the company? Why are you back now? Oh, let me cook you a few more dishes!" She said as she walked towards the kitchen. I gazed deeply at my mother, whose face still showed no trace of time. I almost couldn't see her again. Thinking of this, I took a few steps forward and hugged my mother gently. "Mom, I missed you." "Oh, what's wrong with you, Evan?" She wiped my tears away with heartache. Seeing my mother, I was more determined than ever to get rid of those two scourges. Lying on the soft bed at home, I carefully planned the whole thing. The hidden adulterer, Emma, and her father! I wouldn't let any of these three people go. The next day, I carefully selected a "good" man for Emma at the bar. The man, with his pinky finger raised, flicked a pink handkerchief spraying pungent perfume at me and winked at me. He said in a soft and charming voice, "Evan, what do you want me to do for you?" I got goosebumps all over my body. Then I took out a stack of green bills and threw them at him, telling him about Emma's special quirks and instructing him to make sure he "took care" of her. At Emma's birthday party, I deliberately led her to a room and introduced her to this half-naked man. At first, she was a little uncomfortable and yelled at me angrily, "Evan, how can you treat me like such a casual woman?" I apologized to her repeatedly and said to her in a low voice, "Emma, I just thought you and I were the same kind of people. It seems I was mistaken." With that, ignoring Emma's darkened face, I took the man and left. As I walked to the door, I ordered the coquettish man, "Go and slap her hard! The harder you hit, the more she'll enjoy it." He was worthy of being the bar's top performer. He walked up to the fierce-looking Emma and slapped her hard. Emma was slapped to the ground, but she turned her head and smiled at me. "Thank you, I didn't expect you to understand me so well." ***** Sure enough, I understood correctly. Emma was so good to that man who had put her in the hospital despite her pregnancy. Even if it meant slandering me, she would never expose him. She treated me, her always obedient boyfriend, so badly just because I rejected her and let her father kill me. It was clear that she was not normal, she was a masochist. The harder you hit her, the more she loved you. After that slap, Emma became extremely submissive. She would even enthusiastically ask me to join them during those "activities," which of course I wouldn't do. I just squatted by the bed and, while they were making love, set up a camera under the pretense of adding to the fun. She obviously wasn't new to this, and she even called out my name at the peak. I pretended to smile at her. Even though I was disgusted to the point of trembling, the camera in my hand was incredibly steady. I knew I was recording all the evidence that would ruin her. After several days of this charade, I finally gained her complete trust. She offered to introduce me to the "person" who gave her a better experience. She was lying on the bed, her body covered in a disgusting smell, looking at me, her voice sticky as she spoke, "I told him at first that you liked to play this too, but he didn't believe me. After these past few days, he finally wants to join us." When she got to this point, a look of longing appeared on her face, and then she looked at me. "Honey, you're so good to me." I had a hunch that this person was the one who had put her in the hospital and the one who really deserved to be castrated. I held back my excitement and fiddled with her collar ambiguously. "Good! I've been wanting to meet him. But what does he look like? Have I met him before?" Emma seemed to think of something funny when she heard me say this. She looked back at me and smiled coquettishly. "It's a secret for now, but you're going to be so surprised." Emma and her lover did give me a big surprise. Her lover was the one who introduced her to me in the first place. My best friend, my classmate, whom I had always considered a brother—Ryder.