After Rebirth, I Refused to Pick up My Neighbor's Son Again

My neighbor, Helen Wilde, saw that I was about to pick up my daughter, Elisa Anderson, from school and asked me to pick up her son, Kaelan Wilde, as well.

After I brought Kaelan home, he sneaked off to the reservoir to play and accidentally drowned.

She then turned around and sued me, claiming that I didn't bring her son home.

The court found me not guilty, and she was furious that she couldn't get any compensation. While I wasn't paying attention, she pushed Elisha in front of a speeding truck.

After Elisha's death, I cried every day.

My husband's mother, Amanda Anderson, scolded me for being incompetent and unable to even watch over a child.

My husband, Troy Anderson, also gave me the cold shoulder every day because I didn't protect our daughter.

Netizens also scolded me for meddling in other people's business and said I deserved it.

I died of depression.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back to the day I opened the door to pick up my daughter.

Helen was about to throw out the trash, gave me a cheeky grin.

"Mind picking up my son on your way back, too?" she asked.

I pointed at the trash can.

"You're useless than that thing."

"Fine! No need to insult me!" she huffed.

Helen flared her nostrils and slammed the lid of the trash can that sat between our houses.

The bag of garbage in her hand was leaking a pungent, sour liquid.

Seeing me staring coldly at the mess on the ground, she reluctantly used her slipper to wipe it up haphazardly.

As I waited for the elevator, she didn't go inside her house.

Instead, she sneered, "Wow, someone's in a bad mood today. Did you and your husband have a fight?"

I could understand why she would say that.

In my past life, when her family ran out of food, she came to borrow some from me, and I gave her half a large plastic bag.

When her heater wasn't working, and she complained in the homeowners' group, my husband and I would go over and help bleed the radiators.

She left smelly shoe racks and garbage in front of our door.

I tolerated all of it.

It was natural for her to be surprised by my sudden change in attitude.

It all stemmed from the time I kindly helped her pick up Kaelan.

Who would have thought that after bringing him home, he would sneak off to the reservoir and drown?

She blamed me for not taking him to my house, claiming it led to Kaelan's death.

She turned around and sued me.

In the end, she didn't get the compensation she wanted and even caused the death of my beloved daughter.

I couldn't understand it.

Elisa was such a sweet child. How could she do that?

Every Christmas, Elisa would burn her little hands, giving a fresh-baked turkey to Helen's family.

She felt sorry for Kaelan because he didn't have a father, and she always invited him over to our house to play.

Even with her last breath, she held my hand and asked if she had done something wrong to upset Helen.

I regretted it.

If I hadn't helped someone like her in the first place, maybe none of this would have happened.

But fate smiled upon me.

I was reborn at this very moment.

As the elevator arrived, I sneered, "Instead of gossiping, you could have gone to pick up your son. He's already home."

Amanda, who was just about to leave, overheard this.

She held the elevator button and bent down slowly to put on her shoes. Her face was full of disdain.

"Just help them out. It's not a big deal."

I pretended to be troubled.

"You're right, Amanda... maybe you should go pick them up? I have some errands to run."

Of course, Amanda didn't agree.

She quickly put on her shoes and rushed into the elevator.

"No way, I still have to go to walk."

"Forget it, I don't need your help, I'll go myself." Helen snorted and went inside.

As the elevator door closed, Amanda started her nagging.

"What errands could you possibly have? They're a single mother and child. Just help them out.

"Don't be so selfish, doing good deeds will bring blessings to your daughter, don't you know?"

Blessings?

In my past life, I helped everyone and put up with everything, but what did I get in the end?

She chattered, and her lips moved up and down.

When Helen came to borrow food, she told me to give her more.

When Helen left her trash in front of the elevator, with leftover soup almost flowing into our apartment, she didn't clean it up.

I complained after cleaning it up, and she told me to be more generous and not to be so picky about my neighbors.

The day Elisha was hit, I cried my heart out.

She coldly told me that I couldn't even take care of a child.

But I hadn't planned on taking Elisha to the courthouse that day.

It was she who insisted on buying new clothes, and she didn't have time to pick Elisha up.

I could just drop it.

After Elisha died, Amanda burned all of her belongings without consulting me.

Even the photos of Elisha and me were burned to ashes.

I cried my heart out, not understanding why she was doing this to me.

She lightly told me. "Those who die unexpectedly bring bad luck."

I was so immersed in grief that I didn't have the energy to argue with her.

The reason I didn't get a divorce was because Troy's dimples looked so much like Elisha's.

I could still see a trace of Elisha in him.

I still remember when Amanda urged me to have a second child, but I refused, and she encouraged Troy to give me the cold shoulder.

Troy actually listened to her.

He wouldn't even smile at me anymore.

This short minute in the elevator was excruciating.

I really admired myself for putting up with it for half my life.

As the elevator reached the first floor, I put on a smile and said, "Amanda, didn't Troy mention wanting to buy another apartment the other day? He said we could get a better deal if we got a fake divorce."

"I agreed."

Amanda looked like she had misheard. Her eyes lit up. "What? You agreed?"

I nodded.

"We're going out to take care of it. We can pick up Elisha and still make it to the courthouse before it closes. The sooner we register, the better."

Amanda couldn't hide the joy in her eyes. She even showed rare concern for me.

"Alright, alright. Be careful on the road."

I smiled.

Away from you people, I would be safe wherever I go.

As for the fact that they were buying the wrong investment property, that was none of my business anymore.