My dad gave the basement for free to a lady with a mentally disabled son.

Feeling sorry for them, I often brought them food.

Unexpectedly, one day, the lady said to me, "Girl, you're so kind. Why don't you give yourself to my son too?"

I thought she was joking, but she really had her husband, who had just been released from prison, kill my parents.

Since then, they had taken over my home, and I had been permanently imprisoned.

On the day I was beaten to death, I found myself reborn on the day I first met them.

This lifetime, I would kill them.

——

"Honey, where's the key to the basement downstairs? It's just sitting there; let the poor mother and son live there."

Lying on my bed, I heard my dad's familiar voice. I knew I had returned to the beginning of the nightmare.

In my previous life, my dad saw them begging at the gate after work. He gave them 1,000 dollars and was then coerced into finding them a place to stay.

Both my dad and mom were kind-hearted. They agreed to let them stay in the empty basement, and that was the beginning of all our misfortunes.

I rushed out of my room, seeing my long-missed parents. I shouted in joy and urgency, "No, don't let them stay."

My mom, probably worried by my agitation, touched my head and asked, "Ruby, did you have a nightmare?"

My mom's warm hand touched my head, and I couldn't help but hug her. "Dad, Mom, I'm begging you; don't help that family, okay? They will kill us all."

Given my usual calm demeanor, my dad saw my unusual behavior and pulled me up to comfort me. "Ruby, I don't know what happened. But I will listen to you."

I was glad my parents respected me. I didn't tell them about my rebirth.

Instead, I made up a nightmare to replace the rebirth story. I told them that in the dream, helping this family led to our destruction, and I ended up imprisoned.

I was so emotional that I almost sobbed several times.

Seeing me like this, my parents couldn't bear it and comforted me, "Don't worry, we believe you. We'll tell them to leave and stay far away from them."

My dad was about to go downstairs when I stopped him, "Dad, I'll go with you."

"But Ruby, you..."

"It's okay, I can."

Actually, I didn't want to face those two demons who terrified me in my previous life.

But dad was too kind-hearted, and I feared he would be morally coerced by that vicious woman, Adeline Murphy, like last time.

So, even though I was scared, I had to stand up and protect my family.

Sure enough, as soon as we went downstairs, I saw those two faces that terrified me.

Adeline still had a pitiful look.

But who could have imagined that when she imprisoned me in a dark room, she would beat, abuse, and insult me?

And that mentally disabled son, Aaron Reed, perfectly inherited his father's criminal genes. His stupidity was filled with evil. He seemed simple and weak, but from the first time he saw me, he started planning various brutal tortures against me.

"Sorry, our basement might still be useful. Please find another place."

Dad, as always, was polite.

But with people like this, being polite was the worst thing. Adeline didn't change her expression and continued to act pitiful. "Look. We are helpless and have nowhere to go. Please help us find a place."

"Hmm..."

Dad looked at me in confusion, and of course, I didn't indulge her.

"Auntie, you can't be too greedy. My dad already gave you 1000 dollars; how can you still morally coerce him into finding you a house?"

Hearing me, she slightly changed her expression. "Little girl, you can't say that. You see my situation. My child is not as beautiful and smart as you. Shouldn't you rich people help us?"

What a good argument.

Despite my fear, I retorted, "You have good hands and feet. You can find a job to support your child instead of begging for money. No one owes you anything. Helping you is kind, not helping is normal. If you keep pestering us, give back the 1,000 dollars."

Hearing me, Adeline reluctantly said, "Rich people are always so petty."

Then she tried to pull Aaron away.

But Aaron stood still.

Until the moment I turned to go upstairs, I heard him say, "Mom, I want her. Find a way to get her for me."

As soon as I entered the elevator, my legs went weak, and I fell to my knees inside.

My dad was startled when he saw me like this. He quickly helped me up and anxiously asked what was wrong.

But I couldn't tell him.

In my previous life, that mentally disabled person had also said these words. It was after I had delivered supplies to the mother and son living in the basement. His eyes at that time were identical to now, filled with murderous intent and desire.

When I got home, I looked out the window at the entrance of the community. The mother and son were still begging there. Maybe it was just my imagination, but I felt like that mentally disabled person was staring directly at me on the sixteenth floor and gave me a sinister smile.

I had a bad feeling again.

My intuition told me that this mother and son wouldn’t give up easily,

The worst part was that they knew where I lived now,

And from what I knew about the mentally disabled person, once he developed feelings for me,

He would stop at nothing to get me,

And his murderer father, Nathan Reed would fulfill all his needs.

If Nathan got out of prison, our lives would be in danger again.

So, I had to get rid of them before that happened and make sure they couldn't retaliate.

Exhausted from the fright, I fell into a deep sleep.

I woke up from a nightmare.

It was already three in the morning.

I dreamt again of my parents being killed and myself being tortured in the previous life.

The physical pain and psychological humiliation felt so real, reminding me that it wasn't just a dream, but something that had actually happened.

"Bang, bang, bang."

Suddenly, there was an urgent knocking at the door, and my heart started pounding again.

I rushed out and stopped my dad from opening the door.

I made a shushing gesture to him and looked through the peephole.

Sure enough, I saw the bulging eyes of Aaron pressed against the peephole.

I was so frightened that I took a huge step back.

Covering my heart, I tried to calm myself down.

My mom came out after hearing the knocking.

She helped me to the sofa.

Fortunately, the knocking only continued for two or three times before Aaron seemed to leave.

But the next second, the neighbor's door started knocking.

The male owner of the neighboring house, Ian Cooper was a martial arts coach.

He loved to teach troublemakers a lesson.

If he got woken up by Aaron, there would surely be an exciting scene.

I listened to the knocking get louder and louder, praying that Ian would wake up.

And give Aaron a good beating.

But to my surprise, it was the female owner, Alice Bell who opened the door.

She had just said, “I’ll take the delivery."

And she screamed, “Honey, there’s a bad person here.”

As the door swung wide open with a bang.

I heard the sound of someone being kicked to the ground and Aaron’s pained cries.

The sounds of a scuffle ended with a series of crashes.

I couldn't help but walk to the door and look through the peephole. Aaron was lying on the ground, clutching his stomach, looking badly beaten.

Next, I heard the neighbor calling the police.

Adeline suddenly rushed in from the emergency exit, crying loudly.

“How dare you hit my son, I’ll kill you.”

Adeline collapsed to the ground with Aaron, looking like she wanted to extort someone.

“Aaron, how did you get beaten up like this?”

“Do you have any sense of law? You have to pay.”

“Pay? He was harassing people in the middle of the night, this is self-defense.”

“Harass? Aaron, did you harass them?”

Adeline shamelessly asked him.

I saw through the peephole that Aaron looked at Alice with a lewd smile and said, “Mom, she’s wearing so little, I like her.”

And Adeline actually said to Ian with a self-righteous look. “Your wife was shamelessly seducing my son, you deserve it.”

Hearing Adeline say this, Alice cried in anger, and Ian couldn't hold back. He went up and slapped her hard.

"I've had enough. Even if my self-defense is excessive today, I'll beat you until you fly."

Seeing Adeline being hit, Aaron also rushed up and bit Ian.

Although Ian had training, he was restrained on both sides and couldn't use full force.

I exchanged a look with my parents, and just as we were about to grab brooms and mops to rush out, we heard the police outside.

The neighbors and Adeline and Aaron were all taken away.

I didn't intend to sit idly by.

I called my parents and secretly followed them.

I feared that Adeline and Aaron would use their usual tactic of moral blackmail on the police.

So, I had to testify for the neighbors, proving that they acted in self-defense.

As I expected, just as my family arrived at the police station.

We saw Ian, his face flushed with anger, arguing with Adeline.

"You really know how to twist facts. It was your dumb son who knocked on my door and harassed my wife. How did it become me bullying you two?"

Adeline maintained her usual performance.

"We have nowhere to go. It's so cold outside, and we have no money. We could only take shelter in the hallway. My son just has a bit of a mental issue and accidentally knocked on your door, and you beat him like this. There's no justice!"

Adeline cried her heart out at the police station, while Aaron put on a pitiful, silly look.

"My husband passed away early. I raised my child. He had a high fever, and we had no money to treat it, so he became mentally impaired. I have suffered enough. How can people still bully us?"

Before the police, Adeline indeed portrayed herself as a selfless, helpless mother and deliberately concealed the fact that Nathan was a rapist.

Finally, I couldn't hold back and called the police station. Since I couldn't reveal my identity, I could only testify via phone. "I am their neighbor. First, I can confirm that Alice and Ian acted in self-defense. Adeline and Aaron are lying, and there's an electronic peephole at my door that recorded everything clearly."

Fearing that Adeline and Aaron might find our home again, I had bought an electronic peephole and had my dad install it. I didn't expect it to come in handy now.

"Moreover, her husband is not dead. He is in prison. You can check if you don't believe me."

Because of my testimony and the recordings, the neighbors were cleared of suspicion. Seeing Adeline and Aaron's arrogant remarks on the peephole footage, I believed anyone would want to slap them.

Unfortunately, due to Aaron's mental issues, he wasn't detained. The police only gave him a warning and released him.

"Since he didn't commit an actual crime, we'll keep a closer eye on him, but there's no way to detain him for a long time."

I understood the police's slightly apologetic words.

because from an outsider's perspective, Aaron was just a mentally impaired man.

Who would believe that he had brutally tortured me before?

But I didn't feel like I had achieved nothing. At least in this life, there were people who shared my hatred for them.

Unlike the previous life, where Adeline's acting was so good that my family became the villains while they seemed to be the honest ones enduring hardship.

"Ian, I'm worried that Aaron might come back. For the safety of other women, let's talk about this in the group."

Ian guessed that it was I who testified for him. He came to thank me as soon as he got back and not only promised to protect my family but also agreed with my idea. "Not to let innocent women continue to be harassed."

But the difficulty lay in the fact that Aaron's mental issues served as a protective shield. Even if he killed someone, he could use his mental condition as an excuse to evade punishment.

Therefore, the way to keep them away from me was to have them imprisoned, preferably for life.