My Husband’s Secret Baby Was Never Mine , So I Took Everything BackChapter 1
My husband was in the ICU after a car accident. I was ready to sell the house to cover his medical bills, but the clerk at the property office stopped me cold:
"This property has already been transferred to a Miss Maya Henson."
When I got home, my mother-in-law shoved me and my suitcase out the front door:
"Get out. There's no place for you here!"
My seven-year-old son stood holding Maya's hand, looking at me like I was garbage:
"Your real baby died a long time ago. I'm actually Auntie Maya's son!"
I dragged my suitcase to my parents' house. My mother slammed the door in my face:
"Your brother's getting married. There's no room for you here!"
Homeless and desperate, I pawned the gold jewelry my husband had given me every birthday for the past decade.
"Sorry, ma'am. These are all fake."
That was when it finally hit me. Ten years of marriage, and my husband had never once been sincere.
I wandered the streets in a daze until a vagrant dragged me into a back alley. To save myself from something worse, I slammed my head against the wall and died.
When I opened my eyes again, I was back in the first year of my marriage.
……
"Leila Simmons, I found this cute little two-bedroom over in Riverside. Could I maybe borrow some money from you?"
It was after dinner. I was sitting on the couch, flipping through channels with the remote.
Maya Henson, with an encouraging glance from my mother-in-law, settled onto the cushion beside me and tested the waters.
My head snapped toward her. I locked my gaze on that perfectly made-up face.
This was exactly how it had started in my last life.
Joel Henson and I had barely been married a month before Maya came asking for money.
Back then, her excuse had been a $60,000 car she wanted for her commute.
"I can probably scrape together $45,000 at most!"
That was what I'd told her in my previous life.
She never paid back a cent. Not in ten years.
Something in my stare must have been too sharp, because Maya flinched. She twisted her fingers together and inched back on the couch.
"I know it's a lot to ask, but when you married my brother, it pretty much wiped out the family's savings.
I just graduated, and I want a place closer to work. I don't know anyone else I could turn to, so you're kind of my only option."
My mother-in-law swooped in with a warm smile to back her up: