"My dear, I don't want to deal with Hank anymore. This brat makes me furious."
Ximena, my wife, sat on the couch with a five-month pregnant belly, her face was pale with rage.
Our son, Hank Owen, stood beside her, sniffling, clutching a failed test paper.
I sat there, somewhat confused, until Ximena gave me a shove, jolting me to my senses.
"What are you doing, honey?" Ximena exclaimed, startled. "Are you and Hank working together to piss me off?"
Seeing Ximena's displeased expression, I finally realized that I had indeed been reborn. I was back to the time when my wife first decided I should help Hank with his studies.
In my previous life, it was around this time that Hank had stressed my then-pregnant wife to the point of endangering her pregnancy. I realized I had neglected my duties as a father in terms of caring for and educating our son, so I volunteered to tutor him.
I never imagined that choice would lead to my demise.
Thinking of how relieved my son and wife looked after my death sent a chill through me.
I quickly collected myself and apologized, "Honey, don't be mad. I didn't mean to scare you."
After apologizing, I glanced at our still-crying son and suggested, "How about we hire a tutor for him?"
Ximena's hand paused on her belly, and she shot me a glare. "Mathew, is he your son? Do you think just spending money makes you a good dad?"
"Then how about I tutor him myself?" I asked tentatively, and saw Ximena's tense body relax.
It dawned on me again that Ximena had started planning her affair by having me tutor our son.
She asked me to tutor Hank so that she could have free time to date that man.
But who was that man?
I believed I had never wronged her. Even the second baby was what she wanted. I had even expressed concern for her health and suggested she reconsider, but she assured me she wanted to have my child. If not for her health, she said she would have wanted a third.
I always thought she loved me deeply, but I didn't expect that she had another man in her heart so early.
So why did she choose to have another child with me?
Deep in contemplation, I led Hank to the study.
Hank rubbed his tear-streaked eyes, tugged at my hand, and whispered, "Dad, I'm tired. I don't want to do homework."
I casually flipped through his homework book and found that he had done all his homework wrong.
I remembered that even if he was weak in some subjects before, it was never this bad.
With this realization, I frowned and scolded, "With so many mistakes, aren't you afraid your teacher will scold you in front of your classmates tomorrow?"
"Miss Sutton would never scold me."
His response caught me off guard. Miss Sutton?
Could it be because of a change in teachers that his grades dropped?
I gently ruffled his hair. "I didn't know changing teachers would affect your performance. If she's so irresponsible, I'll have a word with her at school tomorrow."
"That's not true." Hank retorted, frowning and pushing me away. "My mom said Miss Sutton is the most responsible teacher. No wonder my mom said that if you knew about Miss Sutton, you'd bully Miss Sutton. Dad, you're a bad dad."
Hearing his words, I had a bad feeling. Could this Miss Sutton be the man Ximena mentioned in my past life?