A Tale of Two Sisters: Reborn

A Tale of Two Sisters: Reborn My sister and I were given a second chance at life on the day our parents divorced. Once again, my sister rushed into the arms of our future millionaire father. “Mom’s love is the most precious, I’ll let my sister have it!” she said sweetly. But as I looked at my seemingly gentle mother, who would jump from a high-rise building with me ten years later, I suddenly broke out in a cold sweat. Opening my eyes again, I found myself back on the day of my parents’ divorce. Stella suddenly pushed me aside and threw herself into Dad’s arms. She looked back at me coldly, but her words were sweet and soft: “Mom’s love is the most precious, I’ll let my sister have it.” I instinctively turned around and shuddered at the sight of Mom sitting in the shadow of the sofa. She was wearing a plain white dress, her face unclear, like a merciful Buddha statue. Hearing Stella’s words, she seemed unsurprised and beckoned to me. “Alright, Lily, come here.” Stella and I are sisters. In my previous life, after our parents divorced, I went with Mom, a highly educated violinist, while Stella went with our good-for-nothing father. But unexpectedly, fortunes c ed. The good-for-nothing became the richest man in A City, and Stella transformed into an elegant little princess adored by all. Meanwhile, Mom injured her hand and could no longer play the violin. Our family fell into poverty, and she gradually became mentally unstable. In her delirium, she eventually lost control and jumped from a high-rise building with me— The intense pain of falling from the building was still coursing through my body. Now, Mom’s cold, merciful face alternated in my mind with her disheveled, blood-stained face from ten years later— I couldn’t help but let out a sharp cry of rejection: “No! I want to go with Dad, together with my sister!” Mom’s hand hovered over my shoulder. She froze, asking uncertainly, “Lily, what did you say?” At this time, Mom was still the lead violinist of the A City Orchestra, pursued by countless admirers, while Dad was just a middle school dropout without a job. She couldn’t understand why I would give up going with her to choose that good-for-nothing father. Dad rubbed his hands together, calling out to me excitedly, “Lily? My good girl, come with me, that’s right…” He started walking towards me— “No way!” Stella clung tightly to Dad, shaking his arm and pleading, though her eyes were cold as she looked at me, “I’m Daddy’s little princess, Daddy said he likes me the most!” Dad tried to reason with Stella, “It’s not that I don’t want you, how about both Stella and Lily come with Dad?” “No.” Stella pouted and started crying crocodile tears, “I want Dad’s exclusive love, Dad can only have me…” Stella had always been more like Dad, with the same phoenix eyes and quick wit, while I was more like Mom – quiet but better at studying. Dad had always preferred Stella. Hearing his daughter’s coquettish words, his eyes lit up with pleasure, and he stopped moving towards me. I panicked: “Dad…” But my weak voice was drowned out by Stella’s cries. Dad was busy comforting Stella, holding her in his arms and wiping away her tears. I stood in the corner, enviously watching them, as if seeing through this scene to their flower-strewn life in the next ten years. Stella’s eyes inadvertently met mine, and those eyes showed no childish naivety or innocence, only malicious satisfaction and mockery— “Sister, you still can’t beat me.” This wasn’t right… In the previous life, although Stella had also chosen Dad, she hadn’t been so resistant to me. Her eyes looking at Mom and me had once been full of envy. I watched Stella’s small hand tightly gripping Dad’s clothes, And came to an absurd conclusion— Stella… had also been reborn! Standing at the desolate doorway with a heavy backpack, Mom was frowning as she tried to hail a taxi. I secretly looked back; through the window, I could see the warm light inside. The despised good-for-nothing dad was combing Stella’s hair. His eyes were gentle, his movements careful, afraid of hurting Stella. Even after becoming the richest man in A City, I heard that when it came to matters concerning Stella, Dad always handled them personally. So, as soon as Stella shed a tear, Dad unhesitatingly gave up on me— Still couldn’t manage to go with Dad… I struggled to adjust the shoulder strap of my backpack, my nose tingling. “Lily, get in the car.” Mom’s cold voice interrupted my thoughts. I got into the car. From the corner of my eye, I could see Mom sitting straight. She was always like this; even when we later fell into poverty, her neck was always proudly raised like a swan’s. But a swan’s feathers can’t be eaten. I unconsciously rubbed my palm, feeling a smooth texture, only to remember that I was still a child, not yet having to wash dishes at small restaurants to supplement our income like in my previous life. The cold water in the small restaurant’s kitchen was biting, painfully cold. In my previous life, I had developed thick chilblains. Mom and I moved into her pre-marriage small apartment. The apartment was in disrepair, with a thick layer of dust on the dust covers. Mom pushed a box of instant noodles in front of me, rubbing her temples, looking very tired. “Lily, eat.” I lowered my head and stirred with the disposable spoon. The noodles had been soaking too long, looking pale and unappetizing, with oil floating on the surface making me nauseous. I couldn’t help but think of visiting Dad’s house in my previous life. Dad, wearing an apron, cooking for Stella – braised prawns, cola chicken wings, fish soup, and carefully ar ed fresh fruits. Tears dripped into the instant noodle cup. Why, why couldn’t Dad take both of us? Why did Stella have to drive me away? She had already been a pampered little princess for years, why couldn’t she give me even a little sweetness? The feeling of grievance gradually consumed me. “Lily, I’m starting a tour tomorrow. You’ll stay at your uncle’s house, and I’ll come back to pick you up when it’s over.” Tour? I wiped my tears with the back of my hand and boldly asked, “Mom, can I not go to Uncle’s house? I want to go with you.” Mom glanced at me and sneered. “Didn’t you want to go with your dad? Why do you want to come with me now?” I didn’t know how to answer. “Alright, I’ll only be gone for half a month. I’ll come back to pick you up in half a month.” Before I could respond, Mom got up and went into the bedroom, closing the door with a ” “. In my previous life, for this tour, Mom also said half a month, but in reality, she was gone for a year. When she came back to pick me up a year later, her hand was injured, and she had lost her job. The once favored violinist of the orchestra had become a fallen dog overnight. After that, Mom, who was already lonely and sensitive, became even more unpredictable in her moods. She never allowed anyone to mention that accidental injury and didn’t give me a good face either. If… if that accident hadn’t happened, even if I couldn’t become a little princess like Stella, at least our lives wouldn’t have been so miserable. The violin was Mom’s soul, I didn’t dare to suggest she give up the tour. I paced in the living room, finally wrote a note saying “Be careful”, and slipped it into Mom’s bag. I thought that when I woke up early the next morning, I must plead with Mom face to face again, to take me along. Having an extra pair of eyes watching at the scene would always be an extra hope. 3 I fell asleep in anxiety. In my dream, Mom’s eyes were streaming with bloody tears, staring at me intently, both resentful and relieved. She was crying and laughing, her white long dress covered in filth. But I didn’t expect Mom to leave without saying goodbye in the middle of the night. The next day when I opened my eyes, I heard Uncle calling my name from outside the room, “Lily, your mom has gone on tour, come home with me—” While eating after school, I overheard Uncle and Aunt chatting. Uncle was a police officer and knew a lot of information in his daily life. “I heard that Robert got a big business deal, working for the Walker family’s eldest son.” “He’s probably bluffing. How could someone with such a useless face do big business? If we had known earlier, we wouldn’t have agreed to let Natalie marry him…” Natalie is my mom, Natalie . My mom’s whole family looked down on Robert, that is, my dad. But only I knew that Robert wasn’t bluffing. He really did get a business deal from the big boss of A City. He did this deal very well and became the right-hand man of Mr. Walker overnight. The Robert they despised would cradle Stella in his arms, comb her hair, cook for her, buy her beautiful clothes, and would soon soar to great heights. While Natalie, who was considered “too good for Robert”, left without saying goodbye, abandoning her daughter who had just experienced her parents’ divorce at her uncle’s house. Uncle and Aunt were originally well-off, but they had no children. Over the years, they had been running around trying for IVF, almost emptying their savings, but still couldn’t fulfill their wish. Aunt’s face was long every day, and I was like a little chick living under someone else’s roof, cautious in everything. I lowered my head and angrily poked at the rice in my bowl. This family looks down on some and flatters others, not knowing Dad’s good qualities. I remembered that in my previous life, after Dad’s career took off, Uncle once took me to visit. By then, Mom’s wish to recover as a violinist had become an obsession, but we couldn’t afford the expensive surgery fees. We had no choice but to go to the Lin family for help. When we were invited in by the housekeeper, we only learned that Dad was on a business trip, and only Stella was at home. We wanted the Lin family to lend us some money, considering that they had kept the house when they divorced. I will never forget the arrogant and contemptuous look in Stella’s eyes when she said, “You looked down on my dad, and now you come begging for food. How shameless!” Uncle, who was over fifty, flushed red, and we left in embarrassment. But Dad was still kind. When he came home and heard about this, he sent us a million dollars through someone. He said we didn’t need to pay it back, just to use it. I was so grateful I didn’t know what to say. I excitedly took the money to find Mom, wanting to tell her that we finally had enough money for her treatment— But I was grabbed by Mom, whose eyes were desperate, and she jumped directly from the high-rise building… … After dinner, Uncle patted my head and sighed deeply. “Your mom will be back next week. She… has it tough, you should understand her more.” I remained silent. Uncle sighed again, “Lily, your mom still loves you very much, you’ll understand in the future.” How far in the future? In my previous life, ten years passed, and Mom still didn’t have a good face for me. Occasionally when she was in a good mood, she would speak to me gently for a few sentences, but soon after, she would have an emotional breakdown again. Those days of living with Mom in the apartment were like an endless nightmare, gray, absurd, and long-drawn. At night, the phone in the room suddenly shrilly. I answered groggily, and surprisingly, it was Stella’s voice on the other end— “Lily, find a way to stop Mom from participating in tomorrow’s performance—” 4 Psycho. I instinctively wanted to up the phone. “Lily, Mom can’t participate in tomorrow’s performance!” she repeated. Why? I frowned, trying to remember. The last performance of this tour was in C City, the climax of the entire tour. If I remember correctly, this performance also made a young starlet famous… Autumn . Also Stella’s future stepmother. I found my guess unbelievable, “Stella, are you crazy? You’d rather ruin your own mother’s performance to please your future stepmother?” Indeed, Stella was not only reborn, but she also knew that we both had a second chance at life. She wasn’t surprised at all by what I said, just impatiently repeated once more, “Don’t worry about that, just don’t let Mom participate in tomorrow’s performance. I’ll give you money, is a hundred thousand enough?” I laughed bitterly. How dare Stella, after stealing my life, come to me high and mighty asking for help, wanting me to intervene and stop Mom’s performance to please her stepmother. How shameless. “I won’t do it. If you want to do it, go find Mom yourself. I’m ing up—” “Don’t up!” Stella’s tone carried a hint of barely noticeable anxiety, “Mom won’t answer my calls, I can’t reach her…” “Lily, please help… This has nothing to do with Autumn .” Nothing to do with Autumn ? Then why is she so insistent on not letting Mom participate in tomorrow’s tour? What exactly is going to happen during tomorrow’s tour? In my previous life, Mom had always been secretive about that year of touring, never willing to tell me what happened. Even though I was reborn, I was still in the dark. I paused, “You can’t reach her, and I can’t either. Mom doesn’t like to be disturbed during her performances, you know that.” Disturbing Natalie during her performances and training would result in scolding. She might not even answer our calls at all. Both Stella and I knew this very well. There was silence on the other end for a few seconds, and when she spoke again, there was a hint of pleading in her voice. “You can do it… Pretend to be sick, pretend to be injured, whatever method you use, Mom will answer your call.” “Lily, please.” “You don’t want Mom’s hand to be injured again, do you?” —?!! I took a deep breath and asked with a trembling voice: “Is Mom’s accident tomorrow?” “Yes, so Lily, you must stop Mom.” After ing up the phone, my mind was in chaos. In my previous life, from the day our parents divorced, Stella and Mom never saw each other again. How did she know about Mom’s accident in another city? Can I trust her? But… what if what Stella said is true? Can I save Mom? From a young age, Mom had been traveling between various performances, rarely coming home to accompany us. We saw her more in performance videos than at home. She loved the violin more than her own life. When I was very young, I once had a high fever that wouldn’t break. Mom was called back from Beijing, and in my delirium in the hospital room, I heard my parents arguing. It was a very important apprenticeship opportunity for Mom, and because of me, she had missed it. Mom accused Dad of not taking good care of me at home. Their voices buzzed in my head, too unclear to hear properly, but I did hear Mom slam the door in anger as she left. Dad held my hand, muttering, “Are we, your family, really less important than your violin?” I felt so guilty that my heart ached. My thoughts returned to the present. Thinking about how angry Mom would be if she discovered I was faking illness, I felt uneasy. It’s okay, Lily. I comforted myself. After all… Mom might not even answer your call, and even if she did, she might not come back. “Beep, beep—” In the quiet of the night, I could hear my own clear heartbeat. At two in the morning, Mom answered. 5 “Lily, what’s wrong?” “Mom…” I’m not very good at lying, but thankfully, over the phone, she couldn’t see my panicked expression. I pressed my lips together. “Mom, I don’t feel well, I think I have a fever…” There was a sound of something breaking on the other end of the phone, “When did the fever start? How high is it? Where’s your uncle?” Her tone was quick, accompanied by the sound of high heels hitting the floor, as if she was pacing back and forth. “Probably in the evening… I’m not sure, I woke up feeling very hot on my face.” “Uncle… isn’t here.” I’m sorry, Uncle, I was afraid Mom would entrust me to you and not come back herself. After giving the reason, I immediately regretted it. Were the symptoms too mild? A fever and cold could be cured with some medicine. I felt frustrated, thinking I should have said I accidentally cut my hand, or accidentally broke my leg. “Don’t sleep, I’m calling for an ambulance now. There’s a digital thermometer in the first aid kit in the living room. Can you walk? Go and take your temperature.” I mechanically followed Mom’s instructions, went to the living room to get the thermometer, and only realized after putting it under my armpit— I didn’t have a fever, I was lying to Mom. The phone hadn’t been hung up, probably Mom was using someone else’s phone to call an ambulance. I suddenly felt a surge of absurdity from the bottom of my heart, very scared. Aunt suddenly burst in from outside, “Lily, your mom said you have a fever?” I opened my mouth, but my throat was so dry I couldn’t make a sound. “The ambulance will be here soon, don’t be afraid…” My breathing became a bit rapid, I felt very nervous, my heart pounding. Did I… make a mistake? The digital thermometer beeped. I took it out and looked. 38.1 degrees Celsius (100.6°F). Half an hour later, I was lying in a hospital bed. Five hours later, Mom appeared in front of me, with heavy dark circles under her eyes. She had borrowed a car and driven on the highway all night. Mom looked pale and exhausted, more like a patient than I did. She glanced at me, said nothing, and quickly turned to walk to the doctor’s office. My temperature had gone down by the time I reached the emergency room. I stared blankly at the stark white ceiling. I recognized the emergency room doctor from earlier. It was the same Dr. Wilson from when I had a fever as a child. The moment I saw him, fragments of memory collided violently in my mind, and I remembered some things— Dr. Wilson was Mom’s classmate. In my previous life, after Mom’s hand was disabled, he had come to visit us at home. I had eavesdropped on their conversation through the door crack. “Natalie, there’s a new treatment method from abroad that might be able to cure your hand. You finally have a chance to return to the stage.” “Thank you, but the surgery fee is too expensive, I can’t afford it. Besides, I have more important things…” “One million dollars should be enough for the treatment and follow-up care. I can help you apply for the project.” Back then, my focus was all on the surgery fee. I didn’t pay attention to the more important things Mom mentioned. What were those more important things? The memory seemed to be covered by a layer of frosted glass. My head was throbbing with pain. The thing that had made me so anxious didn’t happen. Mom gave up the second half of the tour and stayed home to accompany me. She didn’t question why I had lied. Until the orchestra called, the voice on the other end was chaotic, “Natalie, there’s been an accident during the performance! The center of the stage collapsed…” My heart was pounding wildly. “How’s your daughter? It’s a pity to give up this opportunity.” “…But it’s also good, you dodged a bullet!” Mom’s voice was faint, exc ing a few casual greetings before ing up the phone. She looked at me, her calm eyes showing no emotion. I was very uneasy, afraid that Mom would be angry because I had disrupted her performance, yet relieved that I had actually saved her. “What are you rolling your eyes about?” she suddenly asked. I blurted out instinctively: “Are you angry with me?” 6 Mom’s expression seemed to blank for a moment. She looked very confused, “Why would I be angry?” “Because I… you interrupted the tour…” Ms. Natalie rolled her eyes slightly, looking like she couldn’t be bothered to deal with me, and got up to the laundry. I sat on the sofa, lost in thought. “Lily, come help me hold the bedsheet.” Pulling at the corner of the half-dry bedsheet, my mind was wandering aimlessly when I suddenly felt this scene was fami . The sunlight slanted in through the window, casting a soft halo on Mom’s profile, softening her usual sharpness. I seem to have… helped Mom laundry many times. But I don’t remember. And Dr. Wilson, why did I only remember him at the hospital? We had met many times before. “Lily.” “…Huh?” Ms. Natalie looked a bit exasperated and impatient. “I’m not angry, and I won’t be angry.” She tugged at the corner of her mouth, shaking the bedsheet forcefully. “Lily, in the future, even if you’re not feeling well, you should call me immediately. Don’t think too much about other things, understand?” I dryly responded, “Oh, I understand.” “Your performance…” Mom interrupted me, “Missing one performance won’t affect my status, don’t worry unnecessarily.” But how did Stella know that Mom would have an accident during this performance? The performance accident from that year hadn’t leaked out at all. Even I, who was by her side, was kept in the dark until Mom came home a year later. I had tried to investigate on my own, but the accident seemed to have been deliberately hidden, and I found nothing. Perhaps only Stella knew what had happened. I called her many times. But st ely, after Mom came home, I could never get through to Stella’s phone again. Dad’s career had taken off, and they quickly moved to a villa in the city center. The person who answered the phone was a middle-aged woman who introduced herself as Stella’s nanny. She said Stella had gone to a closed boarding school. The nanny tactfully told me that Stella was doing very well now, Robert also had a new girlfriend, and asked me not to disturb them anymore. That’s fine then. We ended up living completely different lives, just like in my previous life. Fortunately, Mom was healthy and hadn’t become depressed due to her hand injury. In fact, because she came home early, we had more time to spend together. Thinking of this, my fear of the future temporarily subsided. As for Stella, perhaps there were really some memories I had forgotten that she still remembered. Out of familial affection, she came to warn us. If there’s a chance in the future, I will repay her too. I won’t interfere with the little princess’s life. But four months later, on a deep night, I received another call from Stella. Unlike last time, her voice was very low, sneaky, and it sounded like she was in a very noisy place. “Lily, tell Mom not to go out recently, be careful of cars on the road, and don’t contact me!” “…Stella, what’s going on? Aren’t you at boarding school?” “Just do as I say, I… beep, beep, beep—” The phone suddenly cut off. Stella said not to contact her, so I didn’t dare call back. I had a vague feeling that doing so would cause trouble for her. If the first warning could be explained by retained memories from being reborn, then with the interruption of Mom’s performance, recent events could no longer be predicted through memory. Why would Stella still issue a warning to me? Was the accident really an accident? In the living room, Mom was packing her things to go to work. I jumped down and rushed out. “Mom—” 7

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