Give you the freedom you want

I stopped my daughter from running away with a deadbeat, but she and he conspired to paralyze me and steal all my assets. Reborn into this life, I decided to give her the freedom she craved.

…

“You’re unhappy, so you have to destroy my happiness too?” I opened my eyes to see my daughter, Ashley, smashing my antique teapot against the floor. Her eyes, bloodshot and furious, stared at me with such venom you'd think I was her worst enemy.

Shards of the teapot grazed my leg, drawing a thin line of blood. I stared at it, dumbfounded. How was this happening? One minute, I was in a nursing home, my love-struck daughter pulling the plug on my life support, and the next, I was back in my own living room?

Ashley, seeing my silence, only raged harder, spewing venomous words. “Dad deserves to be alone! He deserves to be unloved!” Just like I remembered, she grabbed another cup from the coffee table and hurled it to the ground. The sound was crystal clear.

I think… I think I’ve been reborn. Did God think my death was too pathetic, too undeserved, that He granted me a second chance? This time, I wouldn't make the same mistakes.

I looked at Ashley, the daughter I carried for nine months, the daughter I raised and cherished. After her father’s affair, I fought tooth and nail for custody, even giving up everything I owned. And this is how she repays me – by conspiring with a stranger to ruin me, and ultimately, end my life. The thought chilled me to the bone.

This was the moment, just like before, when I'd confined her to the house, trying to prevent her from moving in with Ethan, her so-called boyfriend. That’s why she was throwing this tantrum. In my past life, my refusal to let her go led to her grabbing a stool and bashing me over the head, leaving me unconscious while she escaped. If my neighbor hadn't found me, I would have died right then and there.

This time, I would give her the freedom she wanted.

Pinching the bridge of my nose, I said coldly, “Enough, Ashley. I'll ask you one last time. Are you absolutely determined to be with Ethan? Even if I tell you he’s a good-for-nothing liar, a manipulative loser only after your money, will you still choose him?”

She shrieked, “He’s nothing like that! You’re just a bitter, twisted person who thinks everyone is as bad as you! I'm going to be with him, and if you try to stop me, I’ll kill myself!”

Last time, I’d been terrified. I pleaded with her, trying to make her understand. She didn't listen.

“Fine, Ashley. This is the last time I'm asking. You want to be with him, even if it means severing all ties with me?”

A spark ignited in her eyes, almost… excited. “Yes! I don't want a mother with your sick, controlling ways! Let me go! From now on, whether I live or die is none of your business!”

Perhaps my heart had already died in the last life, because hearing those words again caused barely a ripple within me.

“Okay, Ashley. You win. Go. You are no longer my daughter. You have the termination of parental...