Chapter 2

2

That brutal kick landed with all her strength, forcing a mouthful of blood from my lips.

I collapsed completely onto the icy concrete, slipping into darkness.

My mother remained convinced that I was faking it. She frowned and spat vile curses at my limp form.

"Fine! Keep acting! Stay right here and think about what you have done!"

"Do not even think about coming home until you get on your knees and beg Bridget for forgiveness!"

With that, she turned her back on me without a shred of hesitation.

She led everyone away, leaving the alley behind.

And I, abandoned by my own mother, was left behind in the freezing cold.

Filled with agonizing despair and resentment, I closed my eyes forever.

Bridget only had a few surface scrapes that did not even require hospitalization.

Yet my mother insisted on keeping her in a private room, terrified of nonexistent complications.

I remembered the time I got hit by a car on a rainy night, all because I rushed out to bring my mother an umbrella while she worked overtime.

With three fractured ribs, I lay in bed gasping for air, desperately needing her care.

All she gave me was cold annoyance.

"Why are you being so dramatic? You are not dead, are you?"

"I do not have time to baby you. I need to make breakfast for Bridget!"

The six months that followed were a living nightmare.

She trapped me in my bedroom to fend for myself, tossing me barely enough food and water to survive.

Meanwhile, she took Bridget on fancy vacations across the country, posting their happy smiles everywhere.

Lying in the dim light of my room back then, I wondered more than once why my mother was so heartless.

Now, as a ghost, I finally understood.

She was not incapable of love. She just refused to love me.

On the day Bridget was discharged, my mother threw a huge family barbecue to celebrate her recovery.

As the drinks flowed, all the relatives tactfully avoided mentioning my name, treating me like bad luck.

After several beers, Aunt Diane wrapped an arm around Bridget and laughed loudly.

"Our little Bridget survived a disaster, so great blessings are bound to follow! That crazy sister of yours hasn't come back to harass you, has she?"

Before Bridget could respond, my mother let out a sharp sneer.

"Does she even have the nerve to come back? Hurting Bridget like that, she is nothing but an ungrateful animal!"

"Notice how she has vanished for days? She is just terrified of facing me!"

In our twisted family dynamic, my mother had always held absolute control.

Whenever I showed the slightest hint of defiance, she would use filial guilt to crush me.

Maternal love had merely been her favorite weapon to keep me in line.

Aunt Diane, always eager to stir the pot, cracked a handful of roasted nuts and chimed in.

"Still, she can't just stay away forever! She is already giving you attitude at this age."

"If you don't put her in her place now, she will walk all over you later!"

My mother's pride was bruised in front of the guests.

She glared fiercely toward my empty bedroom down the hall, determined to display her dominance.

Pulling out her phone, she dialed my number.

"She wouldn't dare defy me. Watch, the second I call, she will come crawling back on her knees!"

"That coward is terrified of me!"

Yet, I was about to disappoint her once again.

The call rang endlessly without being answered.

If I remembered correctly, my phone was sitting in an evidence bag beside my cold corpse.

In the past, no matter how hurt I was, I always answered her calls on the first ring.

Seeing her calls go completely ignored, a flash of surprise crossed my mother's face.

After the fourth failed attempt, she slammed the phone violently onto the couch.

"What the hell is that brat trying to pull! I am not dead yet, and she dares to ignore my calls!"

"If I don't discipline her now, she will completely forget who gave her life!"

Oh, Mother, it was never that I refused to answer you.

It was simply that I was no longer in this world...

Before Bridget was born, my mother had briefly loved me.

Back then, whether it was new toys or pretty dresses, she would buy them as long as I asked.

In my childhood innocence, I truly believed I was the happiest kid alive.

So when my mother asked if I wanted a baby sister, I beamed with pure joy, excitedly waiting for her arrival.