That morning, I made a deliberate trip to Karen’s house.
“Karen,” I said with a smile, leaning casually against the doorway. “I just bumped into Carl on the way here. He asked me to give you a message.”
Karen perked up immediately, her cheeks flushing pink. “What did he say?”
“He said to meet him by the river this afternoon. He wants to talk about your wedding plans.”
The excitement on Karen’s face was unmistakable. She propped her chin on her hands, her eyes sparkling as she daydreamed.
“Carl told me he’ll give me $1,000 a month while I’m in college, can you believe it?” she gushed. “And he promised to help me get a great job after I graduate. He even said we’ll only have one child because having too many is bad for your health.”
She went on and on, painting a picture of the perfect future, just like I had in my last life. Back then, I’d shared every detail of my dreams and plans with her, trusting her completely.
But she’d been the one to betray me. The one who told my mother where to find me when I tried to escape.
While I lay dying from blood loss after giving birth to Carl’s fifth child, she was living her best life, married to a rich man in the city.
As I looked at the sweet, innocent smile on Karen’s face now, I couldn’t help the smirk that curled at the corners of my lips.
Let’s see if you’re still smiling after your wedding, Karen.
I stood up to leave, brushing the dirt off my skirt.
“Oh, by the way, Carl asked me to let you know he’ll be waiting for you,” I said, heading toward Carl’s house.
“Carl,” I said sweetly when I found him, “Karen wanted me to tell you she’ll meet you by the river this afternoon. She said it’s important.”
10
I spent the entire afternoon crouched in the tall grass by the riverbank, waiting.
“Don’t… don’t do this here,” Karen’s voice whispered, breathless and trembling.
“Relax,” Carl replied with a chuckle. “No one’s gonna see us. Isn’t this exciting?”
I felt my stomach turn as I watched the two of them tangled together, their bodies pressed so close it made my skin crawl. I had to fight the urge to vomit.
When they were completely lost in the moment, I stepped out from the grass, pretending to have just stumbled upon them.
“Karen! Carl! What are you two doing out here?” I shouted at the top of
my lungs.
Heads turned. People who had been walking along the riverbank stopped to look.
The grass wasn’t nearly tall enough to hide them, and after my loud call, all eyes were on them.
“Tsk, tsk,” someone muttered. “Isn’t that Karen? She’s barely an adult, and she’s already fooling around in broad daylight.”
“Shameless,” another person said. “If she were my daughter, I’d have whipped her for this.”
Karen’s face went pale. She scrambled to cover herself, her hands shaking as she grabbed at Carl’s j jacket.
“Get out of here! Leave us alone!” she screamed, her voice breaking.
I made a show of being the concerned friend, taking off my jacket and draping it over her shoulders.
“Here, Karen,” I said soothingly, my tone dripping with fake sympathy.
<
Karen clutched the jacket to her chest, her eyes burning with hatred as she glared at me.
Oh, you’re angry? Good.
This was nothing compared to what you did to me in my last life.
By the next morning, the entire village was buzzing with gossip.
“Did you hear about Karen? And she’s supposed to be a college student! What a disgrace.”
“She’s not even married yet and already carrying on like that? Imagine what she’ll do after the wedding.”
“If that were my daughter, I’d marry her off immediately. No need for a wedding.”
Karen’s mother, humiliated by the rumors, couldn’t even show her face in public. At home, she unleashed her anger on Karen, screaming and hitting her until Karen was in tears.
By the following day, Karen was sent to Carl’s house. There was no wedding, no celebration–just a hurried arrangement to get her out of the house.
I made sure to be there when Karen was sent off. I watched as she climbed into Carl’s truck, her face pale and tear–streaked.
“Karen,” I said with a smile, my voice soft and sweet. “I’m sure you’ll be very happy.”
In my last life, when I was dragged to Carl’s house with my legs broken, Karen had said the exact same thing to me.
Now, I was simply returning the favor.
Karen didn’t respond. She just stared at me, her hatred burning brightly in her eyes. Then, as if to deliver on
