Chapter 1

My five-year-old daughter loved telling lies.

I had taken her out to a simple school supplies run, but she yelled on the street that I was a human trafficker.

Consequently, I nearly got arrested and taken to the police station. When we went home, she cried and threw herself in my husband’s arms to complain about me before I could say anything.

“Dad, Mom wouldn’t buy me stationeries. She even hit me on the street!”

I offered my husband an explanation. He heard me out, but I did not expect him to angrily slap me when I was finished.

“Our daughter is only five. She can’t lie. Can’t you just put up with it?!”

When I drove my daughter to school, she got down on her knees in front of me while the other parents were around.

“Mom, please let me go to school. I don’t want to take naked photos for those guys.”

When the teacher checked my phone, it was full of my daughter’s explicit photos.

A mob of angry parents pushed me into the traffic, killing me.

I could not figure out why my biological daughter would behave that way, even as I lay dying.

When I opened my eyes again, I had returned to the day when I was about to buy stationery for my daughter.

Chapter 1

“Cece, we’re taking you out to buy some stationeries. We’ll make you the happiest princess.”

Cecelia Riley, our daughter, turned down Eric Riley, my husband’s offer, without any hesitation. She approached me and held my sleeves.

“Dad, I want to go shopping with Mom, just like the other kids do. Can you go shopping with me?”

Cecelia was raised in the countryside and had finally returned home.

Of course, Eric would not turn her down.

“Dear, I’ll give you more money later. Just buy whatever she wants. She’s still young. We owe it to her.”

Those familiar words unsettled me. My breath caught in my throat.

I realized that I had returned to the past.

In my previous life, I had obeyed my husband and happily went to the shopping mall with our daughter to buy some school supplies.

Unexpectedly, Cecelia insisted on buying a sharp utility knife when we reached the mall.

I had told her that it was too sharp.

She agreed with me and explained that children should not use knives.

I was pleased to hear that. But I got worried that she would distance herself from me, as I had not raised her. Hence, I played some games with her.

I did not anticipate her sitting on the floor at the mall entrance.

She cried with anguish, “Don’t take me away! Save me. She’s a human trafficker!”

The mall was full of people who hurriedly came over when they heard her cries for help.

I tried my best to explain myself to them. With much difficulty, I was about to finally convince them when Cecelia pointed at me and said, “She’s a human trafficker. She wants to kidnap me.”

The furious onlookers quickly called the cops. They took me to the police station for a statement before I was allowed to go home.

I could not understand why my usually obedient daughter would make up such a lie at the mall.

Fury gripped me, and I planned to teach her a lesson.

Unexpectedly, when we reached home, she threw herself into Eric’s arms to complain about me.

Chapter 2

“Save me, Dad! I wanted The Powerpuff Girls’ stationery, but Mom wouldn’t let me, and she even hit me. It hurts so bad.”

Eric lifted her sleeves and spotted a few bruises on her body.

I was shocked. I was about to ask what had happened when Eric angrily put Cecelia down and slapped me.

“Aren’t you her mother?! How could you beat her up?!”

I tried my best to explain myself. “She’s lying. I didn’t hurt her.”

I wanted to tell him how Cecelia lied at the mall and claimed that I was a human trafficker. I was even taken to the police station.

Unexpectedly, he did not trust me. He interrupted me fiercely.

“She’s only five. How could she lie?! Why can’t you just put up with our daughter?!”

Consequently, he stopped paying me my allowance.

Disheartened, I stopped explaining myself and got vigilant.

Initially, I thought that it was just an accident. When I drove her to the kindergarten, I did not expect Cecelia to get down on her knees in front of me at the entrance.

“Mom, please let me go to school. I don’t want to take naked photos for those guys.”

Her actions stunned me. Before I could react, a teacher at the kindergarten rushed over and fished out several photos from my sling bag. The names of the sellers were written on the photos.

At the sight of that, the teacher felt sorry for Cecelia. She hugged Cecelia and rebuked me.

“How could you do this to your daughter? You’re an evil woman!”

Before I could explain, a mob of angry parents pushed me to the road and had me killed in a car accident.

The last thing I saw before I died was Cecelia’s wicked gaze.

It was not the kind of gaze belonging to a five-year-old girl.

I felt so pathetic for not knowing why my biological daughter hated me so much, even in death.

I had always hugged her when I slept, and she would hold my arm and kiss my cheek. “Mom, I love you the most.”

Since I had been given a second chance, I had to get to the bottom of this matter.

At the thought of that, I glanced at Eric, who had planned to stay home working.

“Darling, Cece has just only gotten back home. Just give us a ride.”

Since Eric felt that Cecelia was too perfect to lie, I had to make him witness it all himself.

Eric agreed without any hesitation.

When we reached the mall, Cecelia leaped out of the car while Eric sat in the car to wait for us.

“I just got a notice to handle some work. Just go shopping without me. Take good care of Cece and come back after you’ve done.”

I nodded and held Cecelia’s hand to enter a stationery shop while she walked and skipped happily.

She rushed toward the utility knife the moment she saw it, just like what she did in the previous life.

“Mom, I want this. There’s a picture on it. Just buy this for me.”

Chapter 3

Shaking my head, I squatted and negotiated with Cecelia.

“This utility knife is too sharp. I’ll ask if there’s anything similar.”

Cecelia looked at me with a pure gaze, which melted my heart instantly.

With the staff’s help, I bought a similar toy utility knife.

Cecelia happily held her new toy and smiled sweetly at me.

“Thank you, Mom. You love me the most.”

In my previous life, she had probably behaved that way because she did not get what she wanted.

Since I had granted her wish, she would certainly grow closer to me.

When I saw her acting normally, I heaved a sigh of relief.

But I did not expect her to break free of my hand and yell when we reached a crowded place.

“Help! She’s a human trafficker. She’s going to take me away!”

My heart sank.

I had been left wondering endlessly if Cecelia had been overwhelmed with anger when she labeled me as a human trafficker in my previous life.

Besides, she had remained in the countryside with my mother-in-law since young. My mother-in-law may have used such a method to frighten her into compliance. Cecelia could simply be imitating what she knew worked.

But getting her what she wanted still did not seem to work.

Everyone looked at us when they heard her cries about a human trafficker.

Soon, someone vigilantly came over and asked about the issue.

“She’s a human trafficker. She wants to take me away. Save me!” Before I could answer, Cecelia sat on the floor and cried out loudly.

Since she was so young, many people believed her.

“She can’t be lying, given her age. What are you doing?”

“Stay here. We’ve called the cops. You’ll get arrested when they’re here.”

A few men rushed over to subdue me. At that moment, a particular face showed in the crowd. My eyes brightened as I screamed, “Darling, hurry up and explain it to everybody!”

Everyone quickly turned to Eric.

When Cecelia was picking up her stationeries, I had texted Eric, asking him to get us a cup of tea.

Everyone assumed that Eric was my accomplice and gradually surrounded him.

At the sight of that, Cecelia suddenly stopped crying loudly and appeared helpless.

Eric appeared more anxious than I. It took him some time to explain to everyone that we were a family.

In the end, the cops asked us to go to the police station to take our statements.

Chapter 4

Eric’s expression remained sullen from the moment we exited the police station. When we reached home, he raised his hand to hit Cecelia.

“Are you dumb? How could you tell others that we were human traffickers?”

Eric wore a hideous expression and slapped Cecelia’s hips, making her cry in pain.

That scene filled me with joy. I wondered why he would do that, since he had disapproved of how I scolded Cecelia.

But that fact escaped him when he was in my shoes.

I hurriedly pulled Cecelia into my arms and touched her head as a form of consolation.

“Darling, she’s just mischievous. Don’t be mad at her. What if you hurt her?”

Eric’s hands shook as he pointed a finger at Cecelia and said, “Do you know why I’m so mad? When she was spouting her lies, one of my important clients happened to be there. He wanted to cut ties with me when he saw that scene. How would I explain that to my boss?! But you defended her. Maybe she’ll do something bad again!”

No wonder he was so mad when he came home. It turned out that his work had been affected.

I interrupted him calmly, “It’s just a client. We finally got Cecelia home to us. Be nice to her. And watch your tongue. She’s just an ignorant kid. Stop making a fuss.”

While talking, I hugged Cecelia and looked at Eric with disdain.

“Are you trying to blame her when you failed to do your job well?”

Eric never once believed a five-year-old child could lie. Before I could explain it to him during my previous life, he had pushed the blame on me. I remembered everything he had said to me and echoed the same words back to him. I wondered how he felt to be wrongly accused.

Anger swept over Eric. Eventually, he left in a huff. “Yeah, go ahead and spoil her!”

I touched Cecelia’s head and tried to comfort her. “There, there. I’ll drive you to the kindergarten tomorrow.”

Cecelia looked at me with horror. She seemed to be afraid of me.

Confusion gripped me. I had done nothing out of the ordinary and could not understand why she was afraid of me.

Eric did not come home that night. He was probably infuriated.

After putting Cecelia to bed, I started searching around the house.

When I drove Cecelia to the kindergarten in my previous life, the teacher found those photos in my bag.

Naturally, someone must have taken those photos and kept them in the house.

I searched all the rooms and finally found a locked iron box under Cecelia’s bed.

I tried unlocking it using her birthday, but it was wrong.

Then, I tried using Eric’s birthday. It was unlocked. I was struck dumb when I opened the box. At that moment, I finally solved the puzzling mystery. I finally understood why my daughter had tried all means to get me killed.