I received the news that my ex-husband had been in a car accident. My son knelt before me, begging me to take care of his father. For my son’s sake, I reluctantly agreed. My ex-husband recovered and was discharged, but I suffered a debilitating illness that left me paralyzed. Afterwards, my ex-husband ignored me completely, and my son left me to fend for myself. I died alone, hungry and in pain. When I opened my eyes again, I had returned to the day my son knelt before me. This time, I said: “Hell no!” Lying in the cramped storage room, I groaned in agony, my heart filled with regret and resentment. I regretted showing kindness to the ex-husband I had divorced twenty years ago. I resented my son for abandoning me. From outside, I heard my daughter-in-law’s voice, “Jason, I think it’s quiet now. Is she gone?” “It took longer than I expected,” my son Jason replied coldly. “Good riddance. The smell was unbearable – I couldn’t stand it anymore.” “If this went on any longer, the neighbors might have noticed,” Emily added. My five-year-old granddaughter Lily piped up innocently, “I want to play with grandma.” Emily brushed her off, “Oh honey, grandma is very dirty and sick right now. She can’t play with you.” She then instructed Jason, “Go check on her. I’ll take Lily to my mom’s place first.” The door clicked shut and silence fell. My fading consciousness was jolted back by another wave of pain. I couldn’t die yet. I needed to ask my son – had I not been a good mother to him? Why would he treat the woman who raised him this way? How could he be so cold and heartless? In the dark little room, the cold seeped into my bones as demons gnawed at my soul. What was that creaking sound? I forced my bloodshot eyes open, staring intently at the door. Whether from guilt or fear, my son hesitated for a long time before moving. Since becoming paralyzed, every day felt like an eternity. The only thing keeping me alive was my desperate need to confront my son. Suddenly, my body felt light as my consciousness plunged into endless darkness. I was not ready to go! When I opened my eyes again, I had returned to three years ago. My son was kneeling before me, pleading: “Mom, dad was in a car accident. His mistress not only abandoned him but also ran off with all his money.” “The doctors say he might not have much time left.” “Please have pity on him and go to the hospital to take care of him for a while.” I stood there stunned, then suddenly slapped him across the face. Jason held his stinging cheek in confusion. “Mom, why did you hit me?” I felt the slight numbness in my palm and flexed my limbs, delighted to find I could move everything freely! I scrutinized my son’s honest face, which seemed to have shed two or three years of age, no longer so smug and self-satisfied. A chill ran down my spine as I violently shook off his hands clinging to my legs and stumbled backwards. Jason looked at me in bewilderment. “Mom?” I snapped out of it and checked my phone. Unbelievably, it was now two years in the past. Looking again at my son kneeling on the ground, I realized this was exactly that moment. Jason kept trying to persuade me to take care of his father Robert. When I refused, he knelt and begged, playing on my sympathy while making grand promises. Robert and I had been divorced for 27 years. We split up because of his affair and emotional abuse – I simply couldn’t take it anymore. During the divorce, I worried he couldn’t properly care for our six-year-old son, so I fought hard for custody. For Jason’s sake, I didn’t tell him the real reason for the divorce. I just said his father and I weren’t getting along. After the divorce, I didn’t cut off Jason’s relationship with his father either. I have to say, while Robert wasn’t a good husband, he was a decent father. He paid child support on time and occasionally took Jason out, so they maintained a good relationship. In my past life, although very reluctant, I agreed to care for Robert when Jason knelt and begged me, given their close bond. Jason seemed unsettled by my strange gaze, but for his father’s sake in the hospital, he gathered his courage and pressed on: “Mom, dad only has us left now. We can’t abandon him!” I let out a cold laugh and slapped him hard again. “No way in hell!” Jason cupped his swollen face in shock. “Mom? Why are you hitting me again?” I grinned from ear to ear. “Because I’m happy!” Jason was even more bewildered. Without any explanation, I returned to my own room. This room became Jason’s study after I was paralyzed. How absurdly ironic! The house I bought for over $300,000 – when I became completely incapacitated, I was relegated to a storage room smaller than the kitchen. Looking back on my life, everything revolved around my son. When he was still in the womb, I quit my job to be a full-time mom. When he took his first steps, I was there to catch him. When he started school, I had to work hard to earn money while also helping with his studies. Finally, when he graduated college, I had a few years of respite before I started saving frantically for his wedding. After Jason got married, I thought I got along well with my daughter-in-law. Remembering how difficult my own pregnancy was, I took care of everything when Emily was expecting. I respected her wishes to keep working and personally delivered nutritious lunches to her office every day, attending to her every need. After Lily was born, Jason and Emily found her crying annoying. Emily didn’t want to breastfeed after her maternity leave. When my attempts to persuade them failed, knowing they both had to work every day, I simply took Lily into my room to care for her myself. Lily grew up healthy and beautiful. At three years old, she was an adorable little thing – everyone in the neighborhood would praise her when they saw her. I thought I had done more than enough as a mother, mother-in-law and grandmother. I had no regrets and owed them nothing. I let out a long sigh. In my past life, I was like a candle burning myself to light the way for my son’s family. Unexpectedly, I met such a tragic end. Now that I’ve been given a second chance at life, I believe it’s an opportunity from heaven. I’m no longer just a mother, mother-in-law, or grandmother. Although I’m 57 years old, I should still have my own life and be true to myself. As I pondered my next move in my room, Emily shuffled in. She smiled at me and sat down beside me. “Mom, Jason is being unreasonable. You and his dad have been divorced for almost 30 years. How can he expect you to take care of him now?” I kept a stern face and said nothing. Emily’s eyes darted around as she continued, “But dad is in really bad shape now. He’s 60 years old, bedridden and can’t move at all. His wounds look awful.” I didn’t respond, waiting to see how she would play this out. In my past life, Emily always had a sweet face but a bitter heart. She would coax people into doing things, taking credit while others did all the work. Seeing my silence, Emily played the sympathy card: “Dad only has Jason as his son. Now that he’s seriously injured and can’t move, Jason feels he must be by his bedside to fulfill his filial duty. Otherwise, people will talk and it won’t look good for us.” “But Jason has to work to support our whole family. He really can’t spare the time. Otherwise, I’d tell him to quit his job and take care of his dad himself.” Emily kept talking, hinting that I should volunteer to care for Robert. I rolled my eyes. “If Jason doesn’t have time, why don’t you go? You’re young and have more energy than this old lady. Besides, your salary is less than my retirement savings anyway, so it won’t make much difference if you’re not working.” Emily’s face tightened for a moment before relaxing again. “Mom, I’d love to take care of dad, but if I quit my job now, I’ll never find another one with weekends off and a $2000 monthly salary. Plus, Lily can’t be without me.” “I’ve always been the one taking care of Lily,” I said bluntly. “Enough said. I’m not going!” Emily’s lips curled up, but her eyes held no trace of a smile. “Mom, are you trying to make Jason lose his job?” I had painstakingly raised my son, helping him smoothly complete his PhD and pass the civil service exam. Now he was a mid-level manager, and according to him, he had a chance for a promotion to senior management this year. So he absolutely couldn’t have a black mark of being unfilial on his record. In my past life, I had considered his career prospects. Now I only cared about myself. Robert was his father, his responsibility. Why should I have to shoulder it? Oh right, my son’s filial piety was supposed to be demonstrated by me waiting on Robert hand and foot. But I still needed to play along for now. I couldn’t directly confront them yet. My retirement savings for this month had already gone towards household expenses. Thinking of this, I wanted to slap myself. How foolish I had been! Always assuming my son and daughter-in-law would take care of me in my old age, I had no real expenses myself, so I handed over my retirement savings as soon as it came in each month. Their salaries weren’t high – Jason made about $70,000 a year, while Emily made $2000 a month. Yet they insisted on buying a car beyond their means. Between the car payments and other expenses, the two of them were just breaking even before Lily was born. After Lily arrived, they started struggling financially. I couldn’t bear to see it, so I started contributing all of my retirement savings to help out. What a mess – not only had I used up all the money from selling my old house for Jason’s wedding expenses, I had also depleted all my savings. Now my monthly retirement income was gone too, leaving me completely broke. After a moment of silence, I suggested, “Why don’t you just hire a caregiver to look after Jason’s dad? Problem solved.” Emily didn’t even blink before replying, “That won’t work. A caregiver costs $80-100 per day. You have the most free time at home, so you can just go take care of him temporarily.” In my past life, I agreed too quickly. Look at how they’re treating me like free labor now. Emily must have realized her words sounded harsh, so she added, “Lily is about to start preschool, and we need money for everything. Dad’s savings were all taken by that shameless woman. The surgery and medical bills are a huge expense. We need to save wherever we can.” Emily tried to flatter me, “Every little bit helps, you know.” I pondered for a moment before relenting, “You have a point. I’ll go take a look.” Emily was overjoyed. She stood up and patted my shoulder, “You’re so kind and understanding, mom. You always see the big picture.” I silently scoffed to myself. She was good at sweet talk, but I hadn’t agreed to wait on my annoying ex-husband – I was just going to check on the situation. I held out my hand to Emily, who pretended not to understand my meaning and completely ignored me. I was truly fed up. “Emily dear, I’ll need some money to go to the hospital, won’t I?” Emily smiled brightly, “Mom, I’ll SnapChat you $100 later.” That’s right, my daughter-in-law controlled the finances for our family of four, being extremely generous only to herself. She bought new skincare products, makeup, clothes, shoes and bags every month. For the rest of us, especially me, she was incredibly stingy. In my past life, I was somewhat prepared for her refusal to pay for my medical treatment. What I never expected was that my son would also listen to her and not give me a single cent. I glared at her coldly, “$300. Send it now!” Emily tried to say some nice words to gloss it over. I stared her down, enunciating each word: “Send. It. Now.” Emily reluctantly took out her phone and sent me $300. After the transfer, she looked at me hopefully, “Mom, I’ll pack your things now.” I retorted, “Pack what? I’m going to ask the doctor what’s needed and how to provide care first.” Emily plastered on a smile, “Right, you’re always so thoughtful, mom.” I left the house with my phone and headed to the neighborhood activity center. A group of ladies I often babysat with surrounded me, eagerly fishing for gossip. “Lily’s grandma, we heard your ex-husband was in a car accident!” “Is it serious?” “What does your son plan to do?” “You should still go visit him, it’s the right thing to do.” These bored, retired ladies loved to spread rumors and had big mouths. In my past life, to build up my son’s image, I told them Jason wanted to quit his job to care for Robert, but I stopped him and volunteered to go myself. Thanks to their efficient gossip network, the news spread quickly, and my son was soon promoted to a senior management position. He even received an award from his department. Later, I worked with the doctors to help Robert recover enough to get up and speak. So I discussed with Jason about hiring a professional caregiver to look after Robert. First, I was exhausted from the constant night shifts. Second, a caregiver would be stronger and more skilled than me. Jason looked troubled and said his department promoted him specifically because I was personally caring for Robert. If I suddenly stopped, his superiors might think we were putting on an act and could revoke his position. He asked me to hang on a bit longer, until his position was secure, then he would immediately hire a caregiver. I was repeatedly manipulated by my son and daughter-in-law, along with the constant praise from these ladies. I was pushed onto a pedestal I couldn’t get down from. I gritted my teeth and cared for my ex-husband for two whole years until he recovered. Thinking of this, I casually dropped some information: “It’s pretty serious. He hasn’t woken up yet.” “My son and daughter-in-law want me to go take care of him.” “I’m almost 60 years old. Where would I get that kind of energy?” “I’m going to check on him now and plan to hire a caregiver. My son and daughter-in-law have never dealt with anything major before – they don’t think things through.” “A caregiver is both professional and strong. Is this really a place to try to save money?” One old lady chimed in, “I heard your daughter-in-law say you paid for all the surgery and medical expenses. There’s not much money left now. Where would you get the money for a caregiver?” I laid it all out, “Yes, my ex-husband’s mistress wasn’t legally married to him. When she saw how serious the accident was, she disappeared with all his savings.” The group was shocked by my sudden revelation, their eyes lighting up with excitement. I continued, “I paid for everything. I’ve spent all my retirement savings from the past few years on this.”
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