I figured he must be overjoyed.

At night, he could do horrible things to that locust tree.

No, he could do it during the day too.

He was that messed up. He might even spend the whole day with the tree to satisfy himself.

He acted casual and said, “I was just thinking of moving. You really solved my problem. Thanks.”

I pretended to be polite and said, “No need to thank me. I hope everything goes well for both of us. I hope you find someone you love, and I find mine too.”

He acted disappointed and said, “I respect your decision. If we can’t be lovers, let’s just be friends.”

I smiled softly and took out the rental contract from my bag.

Since the contract needed it, I asked him for a copy of his ID.

In my past life, I never looked at his ID, even when we got married.

So, this time, I kept an eye on it.

After signing the contract, Xylo quickly moved into my family’s old house.

I quietly watched the footage on my phone from the hidden cameras I had secretly set up around the house.

As expected, once Xylo locked the door, he stripped, hugged the tree, and started calling it his wife.

I frowned as I watched him kiss the tree’s cracked bark. He did not mind the rough surface or care about the dirt.

While doing disgusting things, he said, “Honey, baby, darling, Locust, I miss you. Let’s always be together, okay?”

He stripped off completely and hugged the tree. I felt sick.

Under the bright sun, he was acting so strangely. I even started to wonder if something was wrong with his mind.

Later, he ate under the tree while talking to it.

Sunlight filtered through the branches and cast a light on his face. He smiled at the tree, and his smile was as warm as a spring breeze.

It was just him and the tree, with a table, two bowls, two sets of utensils, two meals, and a soup. It seemed like they were a couple.

Most of the time, Xylo either worked or came home to be with the tree. He kissed it countless times a day and had intimate physical relations with it every other day.

My parents were still trying to set me up with Xylo.

I showed them the disturbing video of Xylo.

They were so shocked that they could not speak.

Later, they called Xylo awful names and said he was even worse than an animal.

My dad even wanted to take the house back.

I stopped him and said, “Dad, I have a plan. Don’t tell anyone about this. If someone like him gets angry, he might do something dangerous.”

My parents listened to me and did not try to take the house back.

One day, I saw on the video that he was preparing an axe, a machete, disposable gloves, leather gloves, a mask, a black raincoat, and a meat grinder.

I felt terrified. In my past life, Xylo had used those things when he killed my parents and me.

I was worried. Who was he planning to kill?

Had my cameras been discovered?

But then I realized that it did not make sense. If he had found the cameras, he would have removed or avoided them.

All the cameras were still working.

I was so anxious I could not sleep. I just kept staring at the live surveillance footage.

After a while, I saw him hugging the tree again and crying. He said affectionately, “Locust, I would do anything for you. As long as you’re always with me.”

Then, he armed himself with an axe and machete and left the house. His figure disappeared from the cameras.

The moment that would determine whether he or I lived had begun.

This time, I had to win!