The day I was diagnosed with terminal cancer, I discovered my in-laws had never paid into my health insurance as they’d promised. Staring at the zero balance in my account and my own meager savings, I sat in the hospital corridor for an entire day. Later, I asked my oncologist how long I had left if I chose not to pursue treatment. After he told me, I went to my in-laws’ house under the cover of darkness, turned on the gas stove, and chose to take them with me. The next thing I knew, I was back in the year I first got married. To avoid making the same mistake, I decided to handle my own insurance this time. This one small change led me to an unexpected discovery. The person who had denied me my insurance… wasn't who I thought it was at all. 1 “Kelly, sweetheart, now that you’re married into our family, we’re all one. I know your job doesn’t offer benefits, so from now on, let us handle your health insurance.” My mother-in-law’s kind voice echoed in my ear. Before I could even process it, my body had already given its reflexive answer. “Okay…” My eyelid twitched. I quickly changed my tune. “Okay… I mean, it’s okay, but really, I can handle it myself, Eleanor. My salary isn’t high, but with Mark’s income, we have more than enough. I wouldn’t want to trouble you.” I kept my face calm, but my palms were slick with sweat. I had no idea if this deviation from my past life would trigger some unforeseen negative consequence. But right now, I had to distance myself from my two-faced in-laws as quickly as possible. In my previous life, it was because I believed they genuinely had my best interests at heart that I entrusted them with something so important. Looking back, I had been an absolute fool. I had treated them like family, and they had treated me like an idiot. “Well, if you say so, Kelly.” To my surprise, my in-laws didn’t insist. They readily agreed to my proposal. “But you two are just starting out, and there are a lot of expenses when you’re newlyweds,” Eleanor said. “Let us transfer four thousand dollars to you every month. You can use it however you see fit. Don’t you dare refuse this, Kelly.” Right then and there, she pulled out her phone and transferred forty-eight thousand dollars to my account. She explained it was a year’s worth of support paid in advance, to save us the psychological pressure of monthly payments. She smiled and told us to spend it freely, to ask if we ever needed more, as they had little use for money themselves. Mark was their only son; everything they had would one day be ours. My father-in-law chimed in, echoing her sentiments. After the transfer, they didn’t linger. They left our new home without any fuss. Watching the elderly couple’s retreating figures, the confusion in my heart deepened. 2 That evening, after Mark got home, I served the dinner I’d prepared. As we ate, I casually brought up his parents’ offer to pay for my insurance. There was no surprise on Mark’s face, as if his parents had already filled him in. Just as I suspected. “Yeah, Mom and Dad told me when they left this morning,” he said, his tone perfectly calm. “It’s normal for you to not want to bother them. They gave you the money anyway, so you can just arrange it yourself.” After dinner, he cleared the table and went to the kitchen to do the dishes, his behavior completely normal. I sat back down, a growing sense of unease creeping over me. If my in-laws had been the ones to deliberately screw me over in my past life, then after I rejected their offer this time, they shouldn’t have been so agreeable. Even if they transferred the money to keep up appearances, they should have complained to their son behind my back, griping about what an ungrateful daughter-in-law I was and trying to get the money back. But they had done none of that. It made my defensive actions seem pointless, like I was the one making a scene over nothing. I even began to doubt my own memories, wondering if my past life had just been a vivid nightmare. I shook my head, forcing myself to stay calm. It was better to be cautious. I would take it one step at a time. As I was about to get up, my phone vibrated. It was a text from my mom. Mom: Kelly honey, you’ve been married almost a month and I haven’t even visited you yet. Are you working tomorrow? I was thinking of stopping by. I thought for a moment and replied that I had the day off, that she could come whenever she liked. In her reply, I noticed something strange. My mom, who was terrible with technology and only used her phone for calls and basic texts, had sent me a popular, trending meme. 3 The next morning, Mark had been gone for less than two minutes when the doorbell rang. Despite the tension I’d been under since my rebirth, the sight of my own mother helped me relax a little. I got her a pair of slippers and went to the kitchen to pour her a glass of water. Before I could even sit down, my mom asked a very sudden question. “Kelly, I heard your in-laws gave you some money?” I had no intention of hiding it. “Yes,” I replied. “They offered to pay for my health insurance, but I thought it would be too much trouble, so I declined. They transferred me the money to do it myself instead.” “Hmm, you did the right thing, Kelly,” my mom said, nodding and taking a sip of water. “Something that important shouldn’t be left to outsiders. What if they said they’d pay, but never actually did anything? Then if you got really sick and needed it, you’d be in a real mess, wouldn’t you?” I murmured in agreement and reached for the remote to watch some TV. But my mom stopped me, pressing on. “So, how much did they give you?” I turned to look at her. Her face held a look of casual curiosity, as if she were asking what I’d had for breakfast. But a gut feeling, a sixth sense, made me lie. I told her I’d received two thousand dollars. I didn’t know how she’d heard about the money, but I prayed that whoever told her hadn’t mentioned the exact amount. Perhaps fate was on my side. She clearly didn’t know the real number. A flash of disappointment crossed her face when I said two thousand. “Kelly, honey, I don’t mean to criticize, but your in-laws seem quite well-off. Two thousand is all they could spare? We didn’t even ask them for a dowry, we just wanted you two to be happy. But looking at it now, maybe we asked for too little. Maybe they think we’re easy to push around, and they don’t value you because of it.” I said nothing, just watched my mom talk to herself. “If I had known, I would have demanded a fortune! Then you wouldn’t be living so frugally now!” she continued. Then she asked, “So, is it two thousand a month, or two thousand for the whole year?” “I don’t know. I didn’t ask.” My feelings were a confusing mix. A terrible suspicion began to form in my mind. She had never been this interested in my finances before. Her behavior was deeply abnormal. She didn’t notice my silence, her words tumbling out. “Well, why don’t you give that two thousand to me? I’ll pitch in a little extra and get your insurance sorted for you!” 4 My heart sank. The terrible suspicion now consumed me. I couldn’t stop myself from connecting my mother to my lack of health insurance. Although there was little concrete evidence yet, considering everything that had happened since my rebirth, it wasn’t impossible for my mother to have been the one pulling the strings. To test my theory, I transferred four thousand dollars to her. “Mom, I know I can trust you with this. Please, you handle the insurance for me. You don’t need to add any of your own money, we have enough. Consider the rest a little something from me to you and Dad. Since I’m not at home, I can’t take care of you as much, so use the money to buy yourselves something nice.” “Of course! I’ll get it done for you, don’t you worry!” My mom cheerfully accepted the money and left shortly after. The next few days passed quietly. My in-laws acted as they always did. They’d send good morning texts in the family group chat and share photos of their meals. They never once mentioned the forty-eight thousand dollars, as if it had never happened. No one asked if I’d paid my insurance. They seemed to trust me completely. The money was mine to do with as I pleased. My husband, Mark, was also completely normal. Our life continued just as it had before we were married. If I cooked, he did the dishes, and vice versa. He was upholding all the promises he’d made to me, without a hint of impatience. My suspicion of my mother grew stronger. I decided I had to verify it myself. A week after I gave her the money, I went to a pharmacy to buy some antacids with my insurance card. The pharmacist told me there were no funds in the account. At first, I didn’t believe her. Seeing my shock, she thought her machine might be broken, but after checking several times, the result was the same. It felt as if my bones had been removed. I collapsed onto a nearby chair, all strength gone from my body. The pharmacist helped me to a small sofa. After thanking her, I stubbornly texted my mom, asking why there was no money on my insurance card. Mom: No money? How is that possible? I definitely paid it! Her reply was one of utter surprise, her self-righteous tone making me wonder if I’d brought the wrong card. After a moment's thought, I called her. The phone rang for a long time before she answered. I immediately noticed an unusual sound in the background, something I’d never heard at my parents’ home before. It sounded like a child, maybe around ten years old. Before I could ask, my mom abruptly hung up. She sent a text moments later, claiming she was busy and couldn't talk, telling me to just text her if I needed something. The more I thought about it, the more something felt wrong. I let Mark know I was heading out and drove to my parents’ house. On the way, I tried calling my mom repeatedly, but she either hung up or rejected the call. Her texts became more and more irritated. She asked if I had nothing better to do, telling me to just stay home and relax on my day off instead of constantly calling her. I didn’t reply to her last texts. I had already arrived at their apartment complex. I parked the car, hurried into the building, and took the elevator to the tenth floor. The elevator dinged open, and I walked to the door on the left side of the hallway. I entered the passcode. After a moment’s pause, the door didn't open as expected. Instead, a cold, electronic voice announced: Incorrect Password. I looked around, confirming several times that this was indeed the home I had lived in for years before my marriage. A knot of anxiety tightened in my stomach. I tried the code again, several times. The result was the same. Left with no other choice, I started pounding on the door. If anyone was inside, they would surely hear me. After several minutes of banging, my parents’ door remained shut. Instead, the door next to theirs opened. The neighbor, seeing it was me, scratched her head in confusion. “Kelly? What are you doing here? Didn’t your parents sell this place?”
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