My dad was insecure, always testing Mom’s love. He’d hypnotize her ninety-nine times, and each time, Mom would fall for him again in a crowd. It didn’t matter if he was a rebellious bad boy, a powerful CEO, or a penniless nobody. But when Mom coughed up blood, Dad just sneered: “Why are you faking weakness? You owe all this to Tiffany. You deserve every bit of this punishment.” He was with the imposter, Tiffany, in our marital bed, having their way with each other. Then, he threw Mom’s earnings as a funeral makeup artist to beggars. But that was her cancer treatment money. Mom learned not to argue or fuss. Dad smiled and kissed Mom. “Congratulations on learning your lesson. You’ve passed my test.” “I’ll give you the most romantic wedding in the world.” Tiffany heard him and went insane with jealousy. She stole the wedding dress to impersonate Mom as the bride, then threw Mom into the red-light district. When Dad found Mom again, I suddenly heard a mechanical voice in Mom’s mind: “System, affection value reset to zero. Villain redemption mission failed. Requesting fake death. Countdown: two days.” Dad didn’t know his hundredth hypnosis had failed, and Mom was truly leaving for good.
When Mom was found in the red-light district, her body was covered in bruises and cuts. Her limbs were broken from violent resistance. She looked like a broken rag doll that couldn’t be mended. She lay in the hospital bed, eyes shut tight, her breath barely there. Tiffany sat beside her, sobbing. “I just wanted to play a trick on Evelyn. I didn’t realize she loved men so much. She wouldn’t leave the red-light district even after she got there.” “More than five hundred men became her repeat customers.” My dad, Liam, seeing Mom’s horrific state, was initially filled with rage. But the moment his eyes met Tiffany’s, all that was left was tenderness and sweetness. “It’s not your fault.” He wrapped an arm around Tiffany, gently stroking her hair. “If anyone’s to blame, it’s Evelyn. She’s a slut, shameless, clinging to men and refusing to let go.” Dad’s eyes were bloodshot. He deliberately used the cruelest words to provoke Mom. But Mom remained unusually silent and still. She didn’t even whine and complain about her wounds hurting like she used to. My eight-year-old brother, Jake, ran in, pinching his nose. He disgustedly punched Mom. “She stinks! Dad, let’s ignore this bad woman. She’s always picking on my Mom Tiffany.” Mom’s body twitched violently in pain, and blood seeped through her bandages. She opened her eyes, looking at the child she had risked her life to bring into the world. Her eyes were hollow and lifeless. Tiffany stroked Jake’s head and smiled, giving him a lollipop. Dad stared at Mom for a long time, as if he finally couldn’t take it anymore. “Who are you putting on a show for, faking death here? Do you think I’ll feel sorry for you?” “I haven’t even called you dirty yet, and you’re already trying to play games with me.” He leaned closer to Mom’s hospital bed, forcing her to look only at him. “I’m telling you, without you, I have plenty of other women.” “Who wouldn’t want to get into my bed, Liam? I only indulged you, which is why I let you hurt Tiffany again and again.” Mom’s eyes suddenly turned terrifying when she heard Tiffany’s name. “If you like her so much, then spend your life with her.” “After all, you already had a wedding.” Dad suddenly smiled. He leaned down and kissed Mom’s lips. “Are you jealous?” “Don’t worry, my wife will always be you.” “The wedding was just an accident.” Tiffany’s eyes turned red with jealousy. She clutched her stomach, looking panicked, and grabbed Dad’s arm. “Liam, my stomach hurts so much. Quick, check if something’s wrong with our baby!” Dad stiffened. He immediately swept Tiffany into his arms and rushed out towards the emergency room. Jake violently kicked Mom’s bed frame several times. “It’s all your fault! Why don’t you just die?” Mom curled up in pain. Jake’s small chest heaved with anger. After yelling at Mom, he ran off to follow Dad, anxiously calling out “Mom Tiffany.” The door slammed shut, and shadows instantly enveloped the hospital room. I crawled out from under the cabinet and rushed to the bedside. “Mom…” I bit my lower lip, trembling as I cried. Mom weakly tried to raise her hand to touch me, but it fell back onto the blanket halfway up. She managed a forced smile. “Chloe, don’t cry. Mom’s fine.” But her body was crisscrossed with swollen, oozing wounds. Blood soaked the white bedsheet beneath her, dripping onto the tiled floor. I frantically covered the bleeding areas, but the trickling blood stained my hands red. “Doctor! Doctor, please come save my mom!” I screamed and cried, stumbling out. As I exited the room, I bumped right into Dad, who was carefully helping Tiffany onto a wheelchair, holding some medicine. I threw myself at Dad’s feet, crying and kneeling. “Dad, please, save Mom. She’s dying.”
A slap sent me crashing into the wall. My head hit hard, and blood streamed from my hair. “You brat! How dare you curse your mother just to get attention here!” Dad’s gaze swept over my small, dirty body, his voice filled with disgust. “Tiffany’s carrying your little brother. As the older sister, you need to be sensible and not upset him.” “You’re nine years old already, running around like a maniac. What kind of behavior is that?” I lay on the ground, my heart pounding with anxiety. The pain in my head made my vision blur. I spoke in desperation: “Mom bled all over the bed. The doctor said she has cancer, and only a few days left to live.” The words had barely left my mouth when a huge force kicked me in the chest, sending me flying through the air. My body hit the ground and rolled several times. The wheelchair rolled over my foot. My ankle instantly swelled up, and it hurt like hell with every movement. Dad’s face was ashen. He looked down at me. “You’re so young, yet you’re already lying, even daring to use a doctor to trick me.” “I think you need a lesson!” Tiffany covered her mouth, chuckling. “Chloe, you’re not even good at lying. Your mom just had a check-up yesterday, and she’s perfectly healthy.” I used all my strength to stagger to my feet. I suddenly spat a mouthful of bloody saliva onto Tiffany. “Pfft! Bitch! You seduced my dad and hurt my mom.” “If you dare to give birth to that little bastard, I swear I’ll kill him.” At that, Dad and Tiffany’s faces changed instantly. Just then, Richard and Carol, my maternal grandparents, arrived. They grabbed my collar and gave me several sharp slaps. “You little beast! Just like your mother, you don’t know what’s good for you.” “Did she teach you to swear like that?” I clenched my teeth, my eyes filled with hatred, and didn’t answer. Carol shook her head, her face full of disgust. “Three years ago, we should have locked you and her up for re-education too.” Tiffany giggled. “Evelyn had a good time in jail; she forgot you, her mother, as soon as she got out.” “It’s a shame I only got a two-year sentence back then. I wish I could’ve kept her in jail longer.” She pouted, feigning regret. Thinking of Evelyn’s miserable state when she was released from prison a year ago, Tiffany wished she could send her back, to take the fall until she died. Only then would her anger be appeased. My heart skipped a beat. So, Mom’s disappearance three years ago was because they had sent her to jail. When she came home, she was raving, crying constantly, not even recognizing me, her own daughter. Dad said Mom had gone for treatment, and I actually believed him. Thinking about this, my eyes turned red, not from crying, but from hatred. Carol put her arm around Tiffany, smiling with doting affection. “Oh, you! Isn’t having someone take the fall for you enough?” Richard stood behind, hands clasped behind his back, and slowly spoke. “Like mother, like daughter. Chloe has been corrupted by Evelyn. We should send her to Tiffany to raise and straighten out her character.” “I think Jake has been raised very well by Tiffany.” Richard approvingly stroked Jake’s head, praising him for being smart and sensible. My blood almost ran cold. I quickly ran into Mom’s room in a panic, hugging her and crying. “Mom, save me! I don’t want to be given to Tiffany as a daughter.” Mom coughed and looked up. Seeing Richard and Carol enter, and Tiffany protected behind them, the light in her eyes instantly died. She spoke coldly, “Chloe is my child. I won’t let anyone take her from me.” Carol swore. “Chloe will learn bad things from you, right from the root.” “We’re doing this for your own good!” Mom clung to me, refusing to let go. “No! I can give her everything else, but not my Chloe!” “I only have two days left. I want to spend them with her…”
Carol struggled to pull us apart, but she couldn’t. She ripped the protective amulet from Mom’s neck, growing exasperated. “You’re so undutiful. I wasted my life giving birth to you!” “Even if you cling to the child, what good will it do? In outsiders’ eyes, Tiffany is Liam’s legitimate wife.” “If you don’t want Chloe to be called a bastard, let go!” Mom looked at the amulet, which her grandmother had obtained for her when she was recognized by her family at age ten. Now, it lay tattered and mud-stained, trampled underfoot. She finally couldn’t hold back, and tears poured like a flood. Dad frowned, walked over, and one by one, pried my hands off Mom’s. “Tiffany is educated and gentle. She’ll take good care of Chloe for you.” There was a flicker of reluctance in his eyes, which instantly turned cold. Rather than being laughed at for having a crazy, absurd, and unpresentable partner, he’d rather give all the children to the elegant and sophisticated Tiffany, acknowledging her as his wife. “Evelyn will understand me.” Dad secretly convinced himself. Mom collapsed onto the bed, suddenly coughing up a large mouthful of blood. Her face was as white as paper. I heard the system voice again: “Fake death accelerating. Eighteen hours remaining.” Dad, Richard, and Carol were startled by Mom’s blood. They gathered around her in shock, urgently calling for a doctor. Only Tiffany wrinkled her nose in disgust. “Evelyn’s getting better at acting. If she doesn’t want the child, she should just say so. Does she really need to use a blood pack?” Dad suddenly understood. He remembered the medical report from a few days ago. It said Evelyn was perfectly healthy. He almost fell for my mom’s trick again. He angrily stood up and roughly shoved Mom onto the bed, ignoring her wrenching coughs. He only thought her acting was too good, and she was always putting on an act. Dad’s face was grim as he warned me and Mom. “This is me telling you, not asking. Unless you haven’t learned your lesson yet!” I was forcibly separated from Mom. I fell to the ground, my skinny wrist twisted unnaturally. But I bit my lip and didn’t let out a whimper of pain. Mom cried out, “If you want to hurt someone, hurt me! Don’t torment my Chloe!” Dad froze for a moment. He reached out, wanting to touch Mom’s face. To wipe away her tears, but Mom avoided his hand. Tiffany clutched her slightly swollen belly and cried out: “It’s all my fault for making Evelyn angry. I’ll leave right now!” She covered her face, sobbing uncontrollably, and rushed out. “Tiffany!” Richard and Carol, leaning on their canes, shuffled after her. Dad’s expression changed dramatically. He picked me up, ignoring my frantic kicks, and dragged me away. The hospital room was instantly empty except for Mom. Just like hundreds of times before. That night, Dad’s migraine flared up again. He’d had this condition since childhood. When it struck, he felt like he wanted to tear open his skull and destroy the world. But ever since he met Mom, she would massage him and give him pain-relieving pills from her ‘system’. Dad had long forgotten the agony of a migraine attack. The long-absent symptoms made his head throb violently, causing him to smash everything in the mansion. Finally, he brought Mom from the hospital and issued a command. “Massage me. If you do it well, I’ll let you see your daughter.” He looked arrogant, as if asking for help was a concession. Mom gave a miserable smile. Her hands and feet were broken; she had no strength to massage him. “I have no more affection points. I can’t exchange them for your pills.”
Dad’s heart pounded for some reason, but he only thought Mom was lying to him. Instead, he roared in a rage, “You can’t use both hands? The medicine’s gone too?” “Excuses! You’re just trying to get back at me.” “Alfred, break her hands. I’ll make her lies come true!” Mom groaned as her hands were broken again. Those were the hands the doctors had spent twelve hours operating on just days before to reattach. Dad was still not appeased. He angrily grabbed Mom’s neck. “I thought you’d learned your lesson, passed my test, and that’s why I saved you. I never expected you to still be so stubborn!” I rushed out from the corner, crashing into Dad like a cannonball. “Don’t you dare bully my mom!” He loosened his grip, staring at me with a dark, slowly spreading smile. But I wasn’t afraid at all, blocking him in front of Mom. Mom coughed constantly from the side. Gasping for breath, she pulled a divorce agreement from her clothes. “I already signed it. You sign it too.” Dad’s eyes were bloodshot. He asked in disbelief, “You want to divorce me?” Mom closed her eyes sadly. “Yes. Your hypnosis isn’t foolproof.” “I never imagined I’d fall for you again and again, only to be played for a fool every single time.” Dad panicked. “Those were just tests. You have to understand that I love you.” But Mom’s head tilted, and she fainted. She was already very weak, and Dad’s outburst had drained all her remaining strength. Dad broke into a cold sweat. He carefully settled Mom. He sat on the couch, eyes wide open, until morning, not knowing how to make amends. In the morning, Mom was awakened by a commotion. She opened her eyes and saw a banner hanging in the center of the mansion that read, “The Shame Feast.” Tiffany led a group of angry people towards them. “Evelyn, you worked as a funeral makeup artist because you liked to molest corpses, didn’t you?” “You must confess your sins to these bereaved families today.” Mom’s eyes widened in shock. She cried out in indignation, “I didn’t!” But Tiffany ordered her bodyguards to force Mom, who couldn’t resist, into a kneeling posture of confession. Countless rotten eggs and garbage were thrown at Mom. Along with unspeakable insults. Mom’s lips trembled. She recognized the people who were shouting the loudest insults. They were the very ones who couldn’t afford funeral beauty fees, whom she had waived the charges for, and who had cried, thanking her for her kindness. Her colleagues always said Mom was foolish, but Mom would sigh: “They’ve lost loved ones and are poor. I can help a little, just by eating a few less meals myself.” She never expected that her momentary act of kindness would lead to this blatant humiliation. “Hit her! Kill this bitch who violated my dead brother!” “I wondered why she was so kind back then. Turns out she’s a necrophiliac pervert.” Mom stumbled forward, spitting out a mouthful of black blood. My eyes were bloodshot. I rushed over and desperately punched them. “Get away! My mom isn’t like that!” Seeing me, they became even more agitated, cursing under their breath. “This is the daughter of a pervert, born to a homewrecker! She deserves to die too!” Countless fists, like steel needles, violently pounded my body. I felt like my internal organs were being crushed, and blood slowly seeped from the corners of my mouth. Tiffany’s smile was deceptively gentle, but her words were laced with venom: “Hit her hard! Keep hitting until Evelyn confesses!” One punch, two punches, three punches… my consciousness began to blur. Mom, like a madwoman, dragged her body towards me. “Don’t hit her! Don’t hit my Chloe!” Her voice was so shrill it changed pitch: “I confess! It was me! Chloe isn’t a homewrecker’s child, it has nothing to do with her!” Tiffany threw a marriage certificate, bearing a steel seal, in front of Mom. Tiffany and Dad’s names were clearly printed on it. Her smile was twisted and wide. “You’re the homewrecker! Chloe having a mother like you is her shame!” “She deserves to be beaten!” Mom’s eyes went from bewildered to utter despair. She could no longer hold back her tears. I vaguely heard Mom’s cries and struggled to crawl towards her. “Mom, don’t cry! Chloe will get revenge for you!” But the next second, a powerful pair of hands lifted me high. “Read this confession, or I’ll throw her down from here!” I was suspended in mid-air outside the third-floor railing. Mom’s pupils constricted. She collapsed, hitting her head against the ground repeatedly. “I’ll read it! Please don’t throw her…” Blood trickled down her forehead. Dad coldly turned on a video recorder and pointed it at Mom. Mom, surrounded by the angry crowd, dragged her powerless hands and feet to read the confession. “I am guilty… I will forever remain in the Vance family to atone for my sins… Confessed by: Evelyn Vance.” Dad finally smiled, his smile distorted. He stepped forward and embraced Mom. “This way, you can never leave me.” Before he could finish, black blood suddenly gushed from Mom’s eyes, nose, and mouth. Even Dad became a horrifying figure, covered in blood. I heard the cold system voice again: “Countdown ended. Fake death successful.” “Mom!” I scrambled and crawled towards her. She was still warm to the touch, but she had no breath left. Dad felt dizzy. He fell heavily into the pool of blood.
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