My husband, Tyler West, and I had been childless for five years.

Under my best friend, Julia Morse's encouragement, we decided to adopt the child with a so-called tragic background—according to her, anyway.

We treated Howard Whitley like our own son and proceeded to raise him for more than a dozen years afterward. Only when Howard came of age did we find out that he was actually the illegitimate son of Julia and a rich man named Alex Saggese.

In order to flee from Alex's wife, Catalina Tassi's vengeful acts of assassination, Julia and Howard purposefully lured me and Tyler into riding a car that was tampered in advance. Because of that, we were caught up in a tragic car accident, making us the sacrifice needed for Julia and Howard to shake Catalina off their backs once and for all.

To make things worse, Julia and Howard flew overseas and lived lavish lives by spending our money!

When I open my eyes again, I've returned to the day Julia keeps convincing Tyler and I to adopt Howard. That's when I feel Tyler gripping my hand tightly, a dark look on his face.

Immediately, I realize that he's gotten reborn as well.

In this life, we will never step down that path of idiocy ever again!

"Tyler, talk some sense into Mimi."

When I didn't say a word, Julia Morse immediately turned to my husband, Tyler West.

"That child had a rough life. His parents are gone, and he even got bullied by the older kids in the orphanage. I saw his photo. He seems like he'd fit in well with the two of you. As long as you agree, I'll start the adoption process right away."

"Julia, drop it. Don't bring this up again."

Tyler put down his glass and cut her off.

Julia was visibly surprised. Clearly, she hadn't expected Tyler to refuse on my behalf.

Tyler grabbed my hand, the warmth of his palm seeping into mine. He looked straight at Julia and said, "Michelle and I have decided that we're not having kids. Even if it's a relative's child, we won't raise them."

Julia's smile stiffened, but she quickly pressed on awkwardly, "T-There's no need to be so set on it, right? What if you regret it later?"

I balled my fist but said nothing.

The biggest regret of my life was becoming her friend.

Julia was an orphan, so Tyler and I had always been very tolerant of her.

Even though Tyler had warned me subtly that Julia was manipulative and calculating, I always made excuses for her.

I told him that, given her rough upbringing, it was understandable she might come across as a bit extreme.

In the end, my kindness became the very thing that hurt both Tyler and me.

In my previous life, Julia had claimed to feel sorry for the orphan but resented her own inability to raise the child, so she kept trying to persuade us.

In the end, I was moved and discussed the matter with Tyler. We agreed to adopt the child, but that decision brought us nothing but trouble.

Looking back now, she hadn't pitied the child because he was an orphan, but because he was hers.

"That's none of your business."

I tightened my grip on Tyler's hand and continued, "We just want a peaceful, uncomplicated life. Besides, that's someone else's child. We're not taking him in."

As neither of us would budge, irritation flashed across Julia's eyes. "Fine. If you're that set on it, forget I said anything."

She grabbed her bag and stood. Her tone held a hint of displeasure. "If you don't care, I'll stop meddling. I'm leaving."

Tyler remained seated on the couch and only heaved a sigh of relief when he heard the elevator going down.

He turned to look at me, his eyes reddening. "Michelle, we can't take that boy in, ever."

"I know."

I got up and locked the door while quietly weighing our current situation.

Julia was desperate to find someone to raise her illegitimate child. As long as we refused, she couldn't force us to take him in.

"We should put the house up for sale as soon as possible." I stared out the window, feeling nothing but weariness. "I want to stay far away from them. I can't even stand looking at them."

"Got it." Tyler nodded. "Let's do that."

I had naively assumed that Julia would back off since we were pretty adamant with our decision.

To my shock, she showed up at our doorstep with the boy early the next morning.

When I saw Howard Whitley, now only six years old, I felt nothing but instant disgust.

It seemed Julia had completely forgotten about our conversation yesterday and carried on as though nothing had happened.

"Michelle, Tyler, I thought it over after I got home yesterday. You must've refused because you haven't met him yet. You have no idea how adorable he is. I brought him over today so you can see for yourselves."

She then nudged Howard forward. "Howie, go on, say hello."

Howard was neatly dressed, tilting his head up with an overly eager, almost ingratiating smile.

"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. West. You have a big and beautiful house. The tables at the orphanage are nice too, because I always help Mrs. Marwood clean them. I can recite poems and do math…"

I couldn't help but find it ironic, seeing how hard he was trying to come across as well-behaved and clever.

In my previous life, I had treated him like my own son, caring for him with genuine affection. I even felt lucky to have adopted such a bright and well-behaved child.

As Howard's godmother, Julia would bring all sorts of toys and clothes whenever she came to visit, going even further than I did as his adoptive mother.

Back then, Howard had been especially close to her, too. He would even share his little secrets with her when no one else was around.

At the time, I naively thought it was because Julia had grown up as an orphan herself, so she felt a deeper sense of compassion for Howard as they shared a similar background. I assumed their closeness came from that shared sense of kinship.

It wasn't until we heard it over the car radio that we learned the truth. Julia was the mistress of real estate tycoon Alex Saggese, and Howard was their illegitimate son.

By then, Tyler and I were already in a car that had been tampered with, and we ended up driving off a cliff and losing our lives.

For more than a decade, the two of them had put on an act right under our noses, treating us like fools the entire time.

In the end, they even planned to take our lives before disappearing with the money.

I rolled my eyes inwardly.

At such a young age, his acting was already so convincing. He was Julia's son, no doubt.

Tyler leaned against the doorframe, his brow tightly furrowed. "Julia, haven't we made ourselves clear yesterday? We don't like kids."

Julia's smile nearly faltered. "Tyler, Howie's already here. What's the harm of letting him into your house? Look how well-behaved he is…"

She patted Howard's shoulders. "Howie, come on. Recite a poem."

Howard quickly stood up straight and parted his lips, ready to do as told.

"Stop," Tyler cut him short. "Whether or not he can recite poems doesn't interest us. I'll be honest with you. I hate kids, especially since they can be noisy. Please leave."

He refused to back down.

Julia immediately scowled and pointed at him accusingly. "We've been friends for years. How could you do this to me?"

"What did we do?" Tyler snorted coldly. "You knew we hated kids but insisted on pushing one on us. What kind of friend is that?"

Without hesitation, he slammed the door shut. "Goodbye."

I looked through the peephole and saw Julia stomping her feet in anger outside.

And Howard, who looked so well-behaved just moments ago, had dropped the smile from his face.

As he was leaving, he turned back and fixed his gaze on our front door. There was something dark in that look that sent a chill down my spine.

I had raised him for over a decade in my past life and still couldn't reach him. Some people were just wired that way.

After we rejected Julia that day, she backed off for a few days.

Tyler and I contacted a real estate agent about selling the house as we wanted to move out as soon as possible.

Three days later, we had just returned from a meeting with the agent when we bumped into Julia and Howard at the entrance of our apartment complex.

We immediately put our guard up, thinking she was back to push the boy on us again.

Julia pulled Howard over with a relieved smile on her face. "Michelle, Tyler, I've figured it out."

She patted Howard's head, looking every bit the picture of doting affection. "Since you don't like kids, I won't force you anymore. I've completed the adoption paperwork, so Howie's now my son. I'll raise him myself."

Hearing that, Tyler and I exchanged glances.

At this point in our previous life, Alex's wife, Catalina Tassi, was already tracking down his mistress. It was odd that she would choose this time to adopt Howard. Something just didn't add up.

"Oh? You're going to raise him yourself?" I asked. "Have you thought it through? This won't be easy."

"Well, I can't help it. We just click." Julia sighed. Then her tone shifted. "Michelle, we're best friends, so you have to help me when I get too busy."

Without waiting for a response, she rattled on, "Howie's allergic to peanuts. He can't have any. He's scared of the dark, so he needs a night-light. He won't eat carrots, but he loves peppers. Just don't make it too sweet…"

Howard stood quietly beside her, head lowered as he fidgeted with his fingers.

As I listened to Julia go on and on, the unease in my chest kept growing. If she had decided to raise him herself, why spell out his daily habits to me in such detail?

It didn't sound like she was just sharing. It felt more like instructions.

It felt as if she had already planned for me to raise the child.

After seeing them off, Tyler and I rushed home to discuss our next move.

"Something's not right," I said.

Tyler walked over to the window and frowned as he watched them leave. "Tell me about it," he replied.

I collapsed onto the couch. The more I thought about it, the more something about the whole situation felt off.

"She's officially adopted the kid now. What if she keeps finding reasons to leave him with us? As close friends, it won't be easy for us to turn her down."

"We can't let her get her way," Tyler said, falling into deep thought. "That kid's a ticking time bomb. Whoever ends up raising him will be the one to pay for it. We need to stay on our guard."

We spent the entire night devising a plan.

Yet, a few days later, an accident threw our plans into disarray.