Chapter 1

My husband, Howard Anderson, was a professor at a university. We had been lovingly married for ten years. It was a happy and harmonious marriage.

Our only regret was that he suffered from azoospermia, which rendered him infertile. We were never able to have a child of our own.

But everything changed on the day of our tenth anniversary.

Out of the blue, our housekeeper claimed that she was pregnant with Howard's child. At first, I thought it was just a sick joke. But two days later, she shoved a paternity test in my face. The results confirmed it. The child she was carrying was indeed Howard's.

With that, she took us to court.

On the day of the trial, she stood in front of the courthouse, sobbing in front of the media and accusing Howard of violating her. She called us a twisted, perverted couple who had imprisoned her at home and used her as a breeding machine.

We tried to defend ourselves, but it was a futile attempt. We were branded as monsters by outraged netizens online.

Howard was fired from the university, and his students were ashamed to have ever studied under him.

I lost my job that very same day.

Unable to cope with the media storm and online harassment, Howard took his own life in prison.

As for me, I became a shunned existence. I would be screamed at or have things thrown at me when seen in public.

Eventually, the constant abuse shattered my sanity. In a daze, I wandered into traffic and was killed in an accident.

Even in death, I couldn't understand it. How did my infertile husband father a child?

But then, my eyes popped open again. I was given another chance at life and sent back to the day before my housekeeper claimed to be pregnant with Howard's child.

…

"Ma'am, tomorrow is your tenth wedding anniversary with Mr. Anderson. Will you be celebrating at home or going out?"

Hearing the familiar voice jolted me awake immediately. My eyes snapped wide open, and I found myself staring at a face I knew all too well.

Celeste Quinn, the housekeeper, stood before me. Her expression was warm and cheerful as always. My heart thundered in my chest like a war drum. I took a deep breath to steady myself, forcing a strained smile onto my face.

"Tomorrow… we'll eat out. There's no need for you to do anything."

Celeste seemed pleased by my answer. "Alright, ma'am. I'll go tidy up the dressing room, then."

I nodded silently, watching her figure retreat down the hallway as I got lost in my own thoughts.

There was no doubt about it now. I had been reborn.

Thinking back to what Celeste had just said, I quickly grabbed my phone and checked the date. May 17th. It was the last peaceful day of my previous life.

Without wasting a moment, I logged into my old social media account. I had a few dozen followers with hardly any comments on my page. It was just an ordinary account. But I knew what would happen next. If I let things unfold the way they had before, by this time tomorrow, this mundane account would transform into a cesspool of hateful vitriol.

"Monsters! How can someone like that be a professor? He should be executed!"

"He's a rapist, and she's no better. What a pair of disgusting freaks!"

"You're a disgrace to all women! You should just off yourself right now!"

"What a bitch! Do you have to ruin another woman just because you can't have a child? Are you even human?"

Each of those comments was like a knife that cut through my very soul. As those memories resurfaced, I deleted every post, every photo, and every comment, and then deactivated the account. But even as I did that, a bitter thought crept in.

Was there even a point to doing this?

Even if I erased everything, it wouldn't change what was about to happen. Although I had been reborn, Celeste would still go online, disclose her identity, and accuse Howard of violating her. And then there was the baby inside her. What exactly was going on?

Chapter 2

Regardless, since fate had granted me a second chance at life, I wouldn't let the same tragedy repeat itself.

Back in the bedroom, I went online and began ordering miniature surveillance cameras for the house.

In my previous life, I had suggested installing cameras when Celeste first started working as our housekeeper. However, Howard had objected—he thought it was disrespectful.

Now, I finally realized it was that misplaced kindness that let us walk straight into Celeste's trap.

However, once everything was set in motion, that one question that haunted me to the day I died crept back into my mind. How had Celeste gotten pregnant with my husband's child?

After we got married, we tried for many years to have a baby. Alas, it was to no avail. Eventually, we went to the hospital for tests. That was when we found out Howard had azoospermia—a complete absence of sperm.

The doctor bluntly told us that there was no chance of natural conception. Even IVF was out of the question.

Howard was devastated. He felt he had failed me and even suggested a divorce. But our relationship had always been strong. In all our years together, we had never even had a serious argument.

I refused the divorce. I told him that life was long, and it was your partner who stayed with you through it all, not a child.

So, when Celeste first accused him online, I didn't take her threat seriously, and neither did he. He thought she was just trying to extort us and even tried to calm me down. We both believed she was bluffing until she swore the child was his and presented a DNA test.

When the results came back, we were stunned. The report confirmed that Howard was the biological father!

The evidence was irrefutable. The police came straight to our house and arrested him on the spot, in full view of our neighbors.

Just like that, Celeste filed a lawsuit and took Howard to court. On the day of the trial, Celeste brought dozens of journalists, influencers, and bloggers with her.

The judge found Howard guilty of rape and sentenced him to seven years in prison.

Outside the courtroom, Celeste sobbed before the cameras. "I always believed justice would be served. Thank you all for your support. I'll try my best to live on."

And she didn't stop there. She spun an even darker tale for the press. She claimed Howard and I were a depraved couple who used her as a breeding machine, that we beat her constantly and kept her under house arrest.

Howard couldn't defend himself from her accusations while in prison. At the same time, I was branded the "monster's wife" and became a victim of cyberbullying. People threw waste at our front door, and death threats arrived in the mail every day.

The university stripped Howard of his title. He went from a respected professor to a symbol of depravity overnight. Even his students shunned him.

I was fired on the day of the verdict.

To make matters worse, we lost our home of ten years in the lawsuit. It was awarded to Celeste as "compensation".

In the end, I died alone out on the streets with no one to help me.

Even now, just remembering the searing pain and despair before I died sent shivers down my spine. Sometimes, I even wondered if Celeste had stolen one of Howard's used condoms and used it for IVF. But… that shouldn't be possible.

Even the doctors had said there was no hope for conception due to the absence of sperm. We had tried every possible method over the years, and none of them worked.

…

That night, during dinner, Celeste busied herself in the kitchen. I studied her closely. She was a middle-aged woman who was slightly overweight, probably around 140 pounds. Even if she were pregnant, it wouldn't be obvious at a glance.

Howard wasn't home that night. He was away at an academic conference.

Taking advantage of his absence, I searched online and hired a well-known private investigator to dig up Celeste's background.

Faced with the terrible battle ahead, I had to gather every piece of evidence I could to aid my cause.

Chapter 3

The cameras were installed overnight, covering every room except for the bathroom and my own bedroom. There wasn't a single blind spot.

The private investigator I hired was efficient too. He promised to get me a full background check on Celeste within a week.

With everything in place, I lay down in bed nervously. I was bracing myself for May 18th, the day that doomed my past life. I didn't sleep a wink that night.

By morning, I barely recognized the person staring back at me in the mirror. Dark circles hung under my eyes like bruises.

Celeste wasn't a live-in housekeeper. She usually arrived around 9:00 am.

In my past life, I had left early that day to pick up Howard from the airport. This time, I decided to follow the same path to avoid rousing suspicion. But before I left, I made a call.

"Celeste, Howard and I won't be home today. There's no need to cook lunch or dinner. You just need to tidy up the place a bit."

Her voice on the other end was polite and gentle, nothing like how she was before the media outside the courthouse.

I told Howard to go straight to the university after his flight landed and not to return home.

Meanwhile, I didn't go to the airport either. Instead, I made my way to a quiet cafe. There, I sat in a corner and pulled out my tablet. I connected it to the home surveillance system. This was my once chance to catch Celeste slipping up, and I wasn't going to miss a second of it.

Celeste arrived at 9:00 am sharp. As usual, she started by cleaning the house. Up until noon, she did everything normally. There were no suspicious activities.

Just as disappointment started to creep in, she suddenly strolled straight into my bedroom.

When she walked out of the room, she was wearing my silk nightgown, and my jewelry sparkled on her neck and wrists. She plopped herself down on the couch like she owned the place, elegantly swirling a glass of red wine. She behaved as if she were the real lady of the house.

That was when the doorbell rang.

Calm and composed, she stood up and opened the door. A young woman walked in.

When I saw her face, my hands went numb, and I almost dropped the coffee in my hand.

It was Stella Voss, Howard's prized student—someone he always described as diligent and modest. Now, here she was, affectionately wrapping her arm around Celeste.

"Mom, you really do look like a rich lady dressed like this."

Celeste handed her a bottle of tonic and pulled her onto the couch beside her.

Stella saw the wine on the table and frowned. "Mom, why are you drinking that wine? What if someone finds out and starts questioning whether you're actually pregnant?"

"What's there to worry about? I'm not keeping the baby. Once the paternity test results are out, my job's done."

Having said that, she casually took another sip and poured a second glass for Stella. "Stella, we'll be set for life after today. This house will eventually be ours."

Stella glanced around the living room, her eyes flashing with greed.

"We've been planning all this while for this very day. Mom, remember to post everything online this afternoon, just like we discussed. I've already hired paid commenters to blow things up. By tomorrow, both of them will be completely ruined!"

Celeste grinned even wider and rested her hand on her stomach. "Sweetie, you're truly a genius to come up with such an idea. It'll be impossible for Mr. Anderson to talk his way out of this," she said proudly.

Stella leaned in close and whispered in Celeste's ear, "Mom, you still have to be careful. After the paternity test, you must take care of… you know… that thing. If you don't… we'll both…"

Was this the truth behind the so-called pregnancy? I quickly turned up the volume on my earpiece.

Celeste gave Stella's shoulder a reassuring pat, her expression brimming with confidence.

"Don't worry. I've got everything under control. I won't make a single mistake. Once the results are out, I'll go take care of that thing…"

Chapter 4

Suddenly, the audio in my earpiece cut off, followed by a harsh static noise. I yanked the earpiece out and rubbed my ears.

What a shame. I still didn't catch what they were whispering about in the end.

But from the bits and pieces I heard, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was seriously off about Celeste's pregnancy.

Even if Stella, as Howard's student, had countless chances to get close to him, it was her mother who got pregnant instead. How did that even make sense?

I stayed in that cafe for hours.

When I saw Celeste and Stella casually eating lunch in my house, I suddenly realized how much time had slipped by.

In my past life, Stella had never shown up—not once.

Looking back now, I was certain it had been her spreading rumors at the university about Howard molesting female students. Back then, we had dismissed them as baseless gossip.

That night, Howard informed me via message that he had made a reservation for a romantic candlelit dinner.

I looked at the message and chuckled helplessly. He had no idea that in just three hours, both our names would be splashed across every major social media platform. We would become the top trending scandal in the country.

At exactly 4:00 pm, Celeste stood against the white wall in our living room with her back straight. To make herself look more pitiful, she grabbed fistfuls of her hair and yanked at it, messing it up.

Stella held up her phone and began recording.

Celeste raised her ID card for the camera, dabbed peppermint extract under her eyes, and forced out a stream of tears.

"My name is Celeste Quinn. I'm here to expose Mr. Howard Anderson, a professor at Clyde University, for raping me, and Wendy Larson, the marketing director of Soren Corporation, for assaulting and unlawfully detaining me."

They redid the video several times, adjusting their emotions with each take. Eventually, they picked the most convincing version and posted it online.

Not long after, I checked my phone. Just like in my previous life, the internet was going wild with outrage.

Stella was truly efficient. Within an hour, the post had gone viral, surpassing ten thousand views. Comments were flooding in by the thousands.

"My God. The world really has gone insane."

"Unbelievable! How can someone like this be a professor?"

"I'm Celeste's daughter. Wendy's entire account is just her showing off her wealth. I suspect her of embezzlement."

Stella appeared in the comment section herself, fanning the flames. Worse, she publicly revealed my social media ID.

A wave of online users followed the breadcrumb trail to find me, but they came up empty.

Meanwhile, Howard had almost zero online presence, with no public accounts at all. A portion of the crowd, hungry for scandal, suddenly began to doubt the story.

"Wait, Wendy doesn't even have a social media profile. Are you guys trying to frame them or something?"

"You're accusing someone with zero evidence? I asked a friend in the police, and they said you never even filed a report. This sounds made up."

"You can't trust anything online these days. I'm not buying it until I see solid evidence."

I watched the post gain more and more traction. And with it, terrible memories of my past life surged up again.

No! Absolutely not!

I couldn't let them succeed again! I wouldn't let history repeat itself.

Chapter 5

I downloaded and saved the surveillance footage, carefully backing it up. This would be critical evidence for my counterattack.

Meanwhile, Howard had learned about Celeste's so-called exposé. The dinner to celebrate our tenth anniversary, which he had meticulously planned, was now the last thing on his mind. He called me in a panic, doing his best to explain his innocence.

How could I not believe him? Firstly, he never had any chance to be alone with Celeste. Secondly, his infertility had been medically confirmed.

Chaos had already broken out at his university. The university's faculty and administrative team pulled him into meeting after meeting. They expressed their support and trust in him, urging him to stay calm and not let the pressure get to him.

By now, Celeste and Stella had left our home, so I told Howard to come back immediately.

He rushed home anxiously. The moment he stepped through the door, he pulled me into a trembling embrace.

I patted his back gently and said, "Whatever happens, we'll face it together."

Once he calmed down, we sat down to discuss our next step.

Howard was a firm believer in science and logic, so I had no plans to tell him about my supernatural experience of being reborn. Instead, I showed him the surveillance footage from earlier that day.

"No… No, it can't be. Stella? How can it be her? She's my student!" His fists clenched tight, knuckles pale and bloodless.

Just as we were scrolling through online news updates, Celeste posted another video. In it, she looked directly at the camera, brimming with righteous indignation. She claimed again that the baby she was carrying belonged to Howard.

And to silence the growing online doubt, she made a dramatic announcement. Two days from now, she would undergo a livestreamed paternity test.

Howard stared at the screen, his eyes bloodshot. "I just had a full medical exam this year. It's physically impossible for me to have a child! If it comes to it, I'll hand my results over to the police!"

When falsely accused, the hardest part was to prove one's innocence. The victims would be forced into a position where proving their innocence felt like a sign of guilt. Why should the innocent be the ones scrambling to defend themselves?

Still, the thought of a crisp, undeniable paternity report made my hands tremble. Just like that, our tenth wedding anniversary turned into a surreal, nightmarish evening.

That night, as I lay next to Howard listening to his steady breathing, I just couldn't fall asleep. He knew he hadn't done anything wrong, so his anger was directed at Celeste and Stella.

But I knew what was coming two days from now. And I still couldn't figure out how the baby in Celeste's belly could possibly be tied to Howard.

I didn't fall asleep until well past midnight. Even then, it was only for a short while.

At dawn, I was jolted awake by my phone vibrating on the nightstand. It was the private investigator.

"Mrs. Anderson, I've pretty much wrapped up my investigation on Celeste Quinn. I'll send you the photos and videos I've collected shortly. Turns out she's a compulsive gambler deep in debt with multiple loan sharks.

"I even found proof of her taking out loans by using nudes as collateral. I've included the contact info for those creditors too. I've seen the online posts, but I believe you and your husband are innocent. Let me know if you need anything. I'll help however I can."

His words brought some much-needed warmth to my heart.

"Thank you. I've got it from here."

After ending the call, I went to the study and opened my laptop. I began reviewing the files the investigator had sent.

Among those files was a video of Celeste—visibly pregnant and shamelessly gambling in a casino. Other photos showed her in her hometown, being hounded by violent debt collectors.

When I saw the contact info for one of the lenders she had borrowed money from by using nudes as collateral, a bold idea lit up in my mind.

By the time the sun was fully up, Howard had also woken. He was getting ready for work when his phone rang again. It was a call from the university board.

Because of the spiraling public outcry, they had decided to suspend him for now. His reinstatement would depend on the outcome of the investigation.

Neither of us dared leave the house, not even to eat. We ordered in and stayed holed up in silence.

But things only got worse. The post kept going viral, and someone eventually leaked our home address in the comments.

That entire afternoon, our front door was under siege—pounding fists, shouting insults, and the hiss of spray paint.

Howard wanted to go out and confront them, but I stopped him.

Not yet. It still wasn't the right time.

Even though I still had no idea how Celeste ended up pregnant with Howard's alleged child, I knew I had to contain the damage.

We hid in the house the entire day, with Howard keeping himself locked up in the study. Out of his sight, I didn't let myself stay idle. I was already setting things in motion.

Soon, that unbearable day came to a close.