Chapter 2
When I returned, Amelia Reed was teaching Theo French.
She said with a gentle smile, “You need to study hard, okay? Kids your age in Cloud City can already speak French fluently.”
Theo was listening intently, completely focused.
Amelia patted his head with affection. “You’re so articulate, Theo. Not like…”
Theo wrapped his arms around Amelia’s waist and beamed. “It’s all thanks to Aunt Amelia! If I only learned from my mom, who only knows our country dialect, I’d totally embarrass myself in the city.”
Edward, who had been reading, merely looked up at the comment.
Then, unbelievably, he smiled. Warmly.
What a sweet and wholesome scene.
A scene I had seen once before in another life.
Amelia Reed was also from our village.
Her father was abusive, her mother died young. Later, some distant relatives from the city found her and took her in. She got an
education, became refined.
Then, for reasons unknown, she came back to the village.
At first, I was grateful to her once, when Theo got into trouble playing near the water and nearly drowned, it was Amelia who saw
him and saved him.
But after that… things started to change.
She began visiting our home more and more. And that’s when she saw Edward.
He sat upright, posture flawless, one hand tucked behind his back, the other suspended elegantly as he wrote
fingers gliding across the page.
She leaned in slightly, smiling. “Mr. Kensington, you’re so well–educated. Your wife is truly lucky.”
I didn’t understand the astronomy, geography, or poetry Edward loved quoting.
Between us, the conversations were always about mosquitoes in the summer or the cold in the winter.
But the meaning behind Amelia’s words that day
the ridicule aimed at me I understood perfectly.
I stood awkwardly to the side, unsure what to do with my hands.
–
his slender, clean
Later, Amelia started showing up every other day, persuading Edward to take a part–time teaching job at the village school.
From then on, it was always “Mr. Kensington” this, “Mr. Kensington” that.
Every time I brought lunch over, I’d find Amelia sitting beside him.
He would carefully ladle the chicken soup I had simmered overnight Into Amelia’s bowl.
Theo, always cheerful, would giggle and say, “Mom, Aunt Amelia loves your cooking the most!”
Yes, of course.
I was the one who raised this father and son. I got up before dawn to dig mushrooms, traded with neighbors for old hens.
I tended the rough, dry land behind the house. Picked the freshest vegetable tips.
And I never dared take a bite for myself,
Chapter 2
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I knew you were trouble when you walked in
And now, everything I gave
–
was being used to please another woman.
In my last life, I said these things aloud. In public.
Edward furrowed his brows, lips thin and tight. He turned slightly and bowed toward Amelia.
“My apologies, Miss Reed. My wife was out of line.”
As if I had humiliated him in front of the whole world.
Theo, on the other hand, said bluntly, “If Aunt Amelia can’t share it, I’m not eating either!”
Amelia, like the mistress of the house, gently pulled Theo toward her.
“Theo, how many times have I told you
–
that’s not how you speak to your mother.”
Theo pouted. “Sorry, Aunt Amelia.”
Amelia wrapped a protective arm around him. When she looked at me, there wasn’t a hint of guilt in her eyes.
In that moment, my husband and my son had reduced me to nothing more than the discarded wife.
My heart felt cold and hollow.
Amelia was soft–spoken and fair–skinned, delicate in every way.
While I spent my days climbing hills, digging in fields, sun–tanned and wild.
After giving birth to Theo, I had lost whatever youthful slenderness I once had.
The three of them together… looked more like a real family than we ever had.
Just like in the last life – when Amelia followed them back to Cloud City, no one ever questioned whether she was Theo’s real mother. At first, Theo called her “Sister Amelia.”
She laughed and said gently, “Why not just call me Auntie instead?”
It wasn’t until much later that I realized
–
that was part of her plan, all along.
Chapter 2
