Thirty years I gave the Miller family. Thirty years of my life, my talent, my devotion. And it ended with gasoline soaking into my clothes. "Our son was conceived using Alex' s sperm through IVF! Aren' t you mad? You spent your whole life raising my beloved man' s child!" That was Olivia, my wife, her face twisted with hatred I never understood until then. Our son, the boy I raised, stood with her, holding the empty gas can. A lit match fell from her fingers. The fire consumed me, the pain absolute. My last thought: Why? Then, I opened my eyes. The scent of roses and champagne, not smoke, filled the air. I was in a tuxedo. My hands were young. The date on my phone: ten years ago. It was my wedding night. Olivia burst in, screaming, "Alex is going to jump!" Her father stopped her, threatening to disown her. The moment he left, Olivia slapped me. "This is all your fault! You and your pathetic ambition! I' d be with him right now!" Her words echoed my death in the future. In my past life, I comforted her, promised to earn her love, built their empire, raised her lover' s son. They burned me for it. All affection turned to ash. I had been brutally betrayed, manipulated, and murdered by the very people I sacrificed everything for. Why had I been so blind, so stupid? Why had I devoted my entire existence to those who saw me as nothing more than a convenient tool to be discarded? This time, I would choose myself. I looked at Olivia, not as the girl I loved, but the woman who would murder me. "You want to go find him? Go."
Thirty years I gave the Miller family. Thirty years of my life, my talent, my devotion. And it ended with gasoline soaking into my clothes.
"Our son was conceived using Alex' s sperm through IVF! Aren' t you mad? You spent your whole life raising my beloved man' s child!"
That was Olivia, my wife, her face twisted with hatred I never understood until then. Our son, the boy I raised, stood with her, holding the empty gas can. A lit match fell from her fingers. The fire consumed me, the pain absolute. My last thought: Why?
Then, I opened my eyes. The scent of roses and champagne, not smoke, filled the air. I was in a tuxedo. My hands were young. The date on my phone: ten years ago. It was my wedding night. Olivia burst in, screaming, "Alex is going to jump!" Her father stopped her, threatening to disown her.
The moment he left, Olivia slapped me. "This is all your fault! You and your pathetic ambition! I' d be with him right now!" Her words echoed my death in the future. In my past life, I comforted her, promised to earn her love, built their empire, raised her lover' s son. They burned me for it. All affection turned to ash.
I had been brutally betrayed, manipulated, and murdered by the very people I sacrificed everything for. Why had I been so blind, so stupid? Why had I devoted my entire existence to those who saw me as nothing more than a convenient tool to be discarded?
This time, I would choose myself. I looked at Olivia, not as the girl I loved, but the woman who would murder me. "You want to go find him? Go."
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