Chapter 2

My husband, Markus, always had a crazy admirer, Jessica.

She would steal the napkins Markus used to wipe his mouth, soak them in water, and drink the water.

She would also sneak up to the balcony of Markus's second-floor home to steal his freshly washed underwear.

The most bizarre part was, after doing all this, she would take pictures and send them to Markus in various ways.

My husband and I, unable to bear the harassment, tried warning her and calling the police.

But Jessica continued her behavior unabated.

Later, Markus and I decided to get married, hoping to end Jessica's obsession.

So, we got married.

After the marriage, Jessica did quiet down for a while.

However, her reappearance was at our family gathering.

My nearly 60-year-old father-in-law, smiling, held Jessica's hand and announced to us that he was getting remarried.

Markus and I suppressed our unease and congratulated them.

On the day they registered the marriage, she sent a crazed message to my husband.

“I finally become your family.”

This action frightened my husband so much that he moved out that very day.

Surprisingly, from then on, Jessica no longer harassed Markus and me.

Not long after, I got pregnant.

During the pregnancy, Jessica even changed her usual behavior and often sent me money to buy nutritional supplements.

My husband and I thought she had turned over a new leaf.

Until the day I gave birth, everyone was at the hospital except Jessica.

The childbirth was exceptionally difficult.

Even the doctors said my cervix had opened early, but the baby was unwilling to come out.

After enduring a painful day and night, I finally gave birth to a daughter.

However, I suffered severe tearing and significant damage to my uterus.

The doctors said I would never be able to have another child in my life.

Even more heartbreakingly, my daughter died in the womb due to the prolonged labor.

To soothe my near-collapse emotions, the hospital brought an abandoned baby girl to me.

To ease our pain of losing a child, Markus and I adopted her.

Three days later, we were discharged from the hospital.

As we opened the door to our new home, we were suddenly hit by a foul smell.

My husband, gathering his courage, located the source of the smell. It was from our bedroom.

When we opened the door, everyone collapsed in shock.

Jessica had committed suicide there!

Jessica, drained of blood, was wearing a red dress and had a sinister smile on her lips.

Now I know.

Her soul was reborn in that abandoned baby girl!

No wonder my adopted daughter was so difficult to manage from a young age.

In her infancy, she would bite me painfully whenever she breastfed and cried heart-wrenchingly all night long.

In her childhood, she would deliberately climb high and low, exhausting me to no end, and pushed me harshly when I was near the stairs.

In her adolescence, as she began to develop, she would deliberately dress provocatively and act coquettishly around Markus.

Now, everything made sense.

Lila was Jessica.