My mom, Brenda, has kleptomania. She just can’t resist stealing. But she’s terrified of getting caught, so she’s always used me as her scapegoat. When I was little, she’d stuff candies from the grocery store into my pockets. When the clerk caught us, she’d immediately turn on me: “Are you that greedy? I’ll stitch your mouth shut when we get home!” When I was older, Mom took me to a friend’s house. She quietly pocketed my friend’s iPhone. Once it was discovered, she burst into tears, screaming, “How could you steal again?! How did I end up with a daughter like you!” At my wedding, Mom stole my mother-in-law’s gold necklace. When it was found, she declared she was disowning me on the spot: “Your husband gave you a million dollars for a wedding gift, and you still stole a gold necklace?! You’ve disappointed me so much!” The video of that scene went viral, and everyone online called me a thief. In utter despair, I jumped into a river. When I opened my eyes again, I was back to the moment Mom first accused me of stealing candy. I blinked my innocent, big eyes and said in a tiny voice, “Mommy, you were the one who put the candy in my pocket. Why do you insist I put it there myself?”
At my words, Mom’s face instantly flushed crimson. Without thinking, she clapped her hand over my mouth. “You naughty child! Can’t even admit when you’ve done something wrong!” she muttered angrily. I stared at her face, twisted with guilt, and a bitter mix of hatred and fury surged within me. That face, in my past life, had utterly destroyed everything I had. I knew why she had kleptomania. She always felt Grandpa and Grandma were unfair when she was a kid, giving everything that should have been hers to her younger sister, Sarah. But I remembered clearly: from childhood, Sarah always wore Brenda’s hand-me-downs and played with her discarded toys. Even so, this baseless sense of being deprived clung to Mom like a poisonous vine her entire life. After she got married, she started shopping uncontrollably, piling up mountains of credit card debt she couldn’t repay. After my dad left, things got even worse. She could only find a twisted, pathetic thrill in stealing. I used to feel sorry for her. I naively believed that if I grew up, earned money, and gave her the best things in the world, I could cure her. But I was wrong. Every time she was caught, she never hesitated to throw me under the bus. From a simple green onion at the farmer’s market to my mother-in-law’s gold necklace at my wedding, she built her clean escape on the ruins of my reputation and life. I was universally condemned, called a gold-digger, rejected by everyone, and finally, I leaped into the icy river in despair. Not this life. I wouldn’t be her scapegoat again. I couldn’t save her, but I absolutely had to save myself. My memories flooded back, and the stares from everyone around the checkout felt like needles pricking my skin. I forcibly pried Mom’s hand away, using all my strength to shout in my little voice, “My kindergarten teacher said that in the store, little hands can’t touch things randomly! You have to wait for the cashier to ‘beep’ it, and for Mommy and Daddy to pay, only then can you touch it, or else it’s stealing!” “Mommy, you’re so grown-up, why aren’t you listening to the teacher? And why are you still stealing? Look, Lily is much more well-behaved than you!” “Mommy, the teacher said if you steal, the police officer will catch you! Please put the candy back quickly, what if the police officer comes?” I deliberately spoke quickly and with fear, letting tears well up in my eyes at just the right moment, perfectly portraying a good child terrified by an ill-behaved adult.
I gave her one last chance. If she admitted her mistake now, even a hint of remorse, maybe there’d be a tiny sliver of hope left for our relationship. But Mom reacted like a cornered cat, her voice skyrocketing. “How did you learn to lie like this, child? Everyone, judge for yourselves! I’m a grown woman, I’ve seen it all. Would I really steal a lollipop?” As she spoke, she poked my forehead with that look of intense disappointment, as if frustrated with my failure. “Have I starved you or deprived you of anything? To make you embarrass me like this in public!” I didn’t give her another chance to perform, nor did I soften. I spoke clearly, my voice not loud, but enough for everyone around, craning their necks to watch the drama, to hear every word. “Mommy, that little green onion in your pocket? You secretly added a more expensive garlic to the bag after it was weighed.” Mom’s face stiffened. I then pointed to the hair clip on her head: “And that hair clip you’re wearing? You took it from the shelf, ripped off the price tag when no one was looking, and just put it on.” A suppressed gasp rippled through the onlookers. Mom’s lips trembled, unable to utter a single word. In a fit of rage, she raised her hand and slapped me. Smack! The crisp sound echoed, and my cheek stung with a fiery pain. That entire corner of the grocery store fell silent. “Oh, my goodness! How can you, a mother, hit a child?!” An older neighbor, with permed hair, couldn’t stand it. She immediately pulled me behind her. “If a child says something wrong, you can teach them, but hitting them? What kind of behavior is that?” “Exactly! We all saw it. This child is speaking facts, with solid reasons. You’re hitting her because you’re guilty, aren’t you?” The cashier’s face darkened, and she directly pressed the call button. “Manager, security, we have someone here stealing and hitting a child. Please come handle this!” Mom completely panicked. Seeing the disdainful looks from everyone and the security guards approaching, she could only grit her teeth, pay for all the items, and was slapped with a hefty fine. After that incident, Mom’s facade of an honest, hardworking woman completely crumbled among the neighbors. She had to behave for a while, even specially buying imported baby formula through a proxy shopper for me, putting on a show of a loving mother, terrified I’d blurt out more truths. But late at night, when all was quiet, Mom would pierce me with eyes burning with venom, as if I were her mortal enemy. Her suppressed rage finally found an outlet at Aunt Sarah’s wedding. This time, she went big. At the wedding, I wore a beautiful princess dress, carrying the ring box as a flower girl. But just before we were to walk down the aisle, I opened the velvet box, and it was empty. The rings were gone. Before I could even panic, Mom’s shrill wail echoed through the entire backstage area. “Oh my God! Lily! You… how could you steal your Aunt Sarah’s rings!” She snatched the empty box from my hands, rushed to the front of everyone, tears flowing instantly, beating her chest dramatically. “You’ve completely disgraced your mother! How dare you lay hands on something so valuable?!”
Sarah instinctively pulled me behind her, frowning at Mom. “Brenda, don’t scare the child.” Sarah and Mom’s relationship was complicated. Grandpa and Grandma did play favorites, but they favored Mom. Sarah grew up wearing Mom’s hand-me-downs and playing with Mom’s old toys. Yet, Mom mistakenly believed she was the one who was deprived, which showed just how subtle Grandpa and Grandma’s favoritism was. As adults, Sarah let bygones be bygones and tried to mend their sisterly bond. But Mom not only refused to appreciate it, she constantly targeted Sarah with snide, passive-aggressive remarks. Especially after Sarah married well and Mark gave her a lavish wedding after their son Leo was born, it pricked Mom’s sensitive, fragile nerves. She was consumed with jealousy, almost driven mad. So, how could she behave herself at Sarah’s wedding? In my past life, because of that grocery store incident, Sarah developed a bad impression of me, thinking I had poor character. Ultimately, she exchanged a coveted spot at a top-tier elementary school for me, for a favor that got Mom a comfortable job as a dorm manager at the school. Mom, with that easy job, lived quite comfortably. This life, the grocery store storm had passed. I absolutely couldn’t let Sarah misunderstand me again. I lowered my head, looking aggrieved, and mumbled, “I didn’t steal the rings… I might have accidentally lost them. But… but why did Mommy’s first thought assume I stole them?” I said this specifically for Sarah to hear. Mom realized she had been too hasty and started to panic. But in front of so many relatives, especially at the wedding of the sister she most envied, if the theft of the wedding rings were exposed, how would she ever hold her head up in the family again? She had to vehemently insist I did it. It would get her off the hook and punish me for my ‘disrespect’ at the grocery store. Mom immediately put on a heartbroken and indignant expression, crying to Sarah, “Sarah, I’m not wrongly accusing her! Lily has been light-fingered since she was little. She stole erasers from classmates at school, and candy from the grocery store. When I said something, she even talked back! It’s all my fault, I didn’t raise her well!” She performed a tearful act, looking like a single mother who had toiled hard but was heartbroken by her ungrateful daughter. She instantly stole the bride’s thunder. The relatives immediately began to whisper. “Oh, it’s really hard raising a child alone, there’s not much time to teach them.” “This child is really something, daring to cause trouble at such a big event. She must be rotten to the core.” “So young and already greedy for wealth, stealing such valuable rings. What will she be like when she grows up? Who would ever marry her?” The tide of opinion turned instantly. Sarah looked at Mom’s pitiful act, and the scales in her heart began to tip. A trace of guilt appeared on her face as she softly comforted Mom, “Brenda, the child is still young. We can teach her slowly.” Seeing Sarah about to be convinced, I grew anxious. I tugged at her wedding dress and said loudly, “Aunt Sarah, you can’t misunderstand Lily, Lily is so sad!” “Last time at the grocery store, Mommy was the one who stole something, but she insisted I did! Teacher said that’s called slander!” I straightened my tiny frame. “If you don’t believe me, you can ask the neighbor ladies in our apartment complex!” My certainty made Sarah’s wavering eyes grow more pronounced; she seemed to feel a fresh wave of sympathy for me. Mom saw the situation turning bad and immediately pulled out her ultimate tantrum move. She flopped onto the ground, slapped her knees, and wailed loudly, “My life is so miserable! When I was little, I was bullied by Mom, Dad, and my sister, and now that I’m grown, I’m still bullied by my own daughter!” She pointed at Sarah, tears and snot streaming down her face. “Sarah! You deliberately invited me here today to make a fool of me, didn’t you?!” “I told you not to let Lily be the flower girl, I was afraid she’d cause trouble for you, but you wouldn’t listen! It’s always been like this since we were kids, everything had to go your way, and Mom and Dad always told me to give in to you! I’m the older sister!” “And now, my child stole something, and she’s full of lies, pinning the blame on me, and you’re even taking her side!” “You spoil her rotten every day, and now she doesn’t even respect me, her own mother! I have to swallow my anger, even if my teeth are broken! Today is your big day, and I don’t want to make things difficult for you! Fine! You say it was me? Then it was me! I stole the rings, I’ll pay you back! Won’t that suffice?!”
Sarah’s face was filled with guilt. She seemed to think Mom hadn’t really done anything unforgivable in her life, and her current wailing words were dripping with anguish. Her wavering heart instantly tilted towards Mom. I knew Sarah was soft-hearted, and Mom was a master manipulator. Coupled with the unbreakable bond of sisterhood they’d shared for so many years, Sarah being convinced was only a matter of time. But I still couldn’t help the ache in my heart; in this whole drama, I was completely alone and helpless. As I thought about it, real tears began to fall. I pursed my lips and whimpered, “Aunt Sarah, Mommy said she wanted to check the ring box, so I gave it to her. When I got it back, the rings were gone.” I thought that a six-year-old’s tears would at least elicit some pity. But I didn’t receive Sarah’s comfort. Instead, her gaze turned suddenly cold. “Lily, who taught you to say such a long speech?” Sarah’s voice was devoid of warmth. “Your mother wouldn’t harm you. You, on the other hand, for such a young child, are slick-tongued and quite skilled at twisting the truth!” “If it weren’t for my many years of sisterhood with your mom, I really would have been fooled by you today!” Mark, holding my cousin Leo who was still sucking his thumb, chimed in with a sarcastic undertone, “We really need to raise our kids well in the future. Brenda, you’re raising a child alone, it must be so hard. We haven’t been as supportive as we should.” His words, seemingly comforting Mom, were like another stab to my heart. Even Grandpa and Grandma, who were usually kind, were now shaking their heads and sighing at me. “This child, so young and already learning to steal, and full of lies. What will she be like when she grows up?” “What a disgrace to the family!” The relatives also began to point and whisper about me. Seeing this, Mom stopped crying, a triumphant smirk playing on her lips. She had successfully pushed me out to be universally condemned, and also deepened Sarah’s family’s guilt towards her. My heart sank. I decided to go all in. “No, Aunt Sarah! Why would I take your rings? It was Mommy! She’s jealous of you and Mark’s loving marriage, so she wanted to steal the rings to ruin your wedding!” Before the words fully left my mouth, Sarah’s face completely darkened. She looked at me with deep disappointment, stating each word deliberately, “That spot at the top-tier elementary school next year? Forget about it. If I introduced you, and you stole things at school, where would I put my face?” Grandpa and Grandma immediately pulled Leo’s little hand, speaking softly to him, “See, your Mommy is so good to you, and you know to be grateful, such a good boy. Your sister is six years old, how can she still be so naughty.” Mom leaned on Sarah’s shoulder, still sniffling softly, but a barely perceptible smirk curled at her lips. I looked at their cold, accusing faces, feeling my blood practically freeze. In that suffocating silence, Leo, who had been quiet in Mark’s arms, suddenly stretched out his chubby little hand, pointing to the round security camera on the ceiling in the corner of the reception hall, and stammered, “Lily didn’t steal… Look at the camera! Camera knows!”
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