Chapter 9
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The police took out a pair of handcuffs and locked them around Mom’s wrist. She didn’t
resist and simply followed them into the police car, looking defeated.
She confessed to everything at the station, laying out all the evidence of her crimes without attempting to hide anything.
While awaiting her trial, she refused every meal the police brought her, knocking over every tray. She sat in the corner of her cell all day without sleep, murmuring to herself over
and over that it was all her fault.
3
“Zachary, I’m sorry… If there’s a next life, I promise I’ll make it up to you.”
Without thinking, I immediately responded, “That won’t be necessary, Mom. I don’t want to be your son in the next life.”
As if she could suddenly see me, Mom turned toward me and exclaimed, “Zachary, you came to visit me! I knew you couldn’t bear to leave me.
I was startled, but I tried speaking to her again.
“Mom, can you really see me?”
“Silly, of course I could,” she exclaimed, rushing toward me with a bright smile.
I quickly dodged her and said, “But I’m already dead…”
She tutted and responded, “Don’t jinx yourself! Look at you–don’t you look just fine?”
As she spoke, her eyes turned red. Realization dawned on me–of course she remembered I was dead. She just refused to accept it.
I floated closer to her. “Mom, stop lying to yourself.”
Clutching her chest, she burst into tears. “Zachary, it’s all my fault. I’m so sorry. Will you please forgive me?”
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Chapter 9
I shook my head, realizing that for the first time in my life, I rejected my mother.
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She hung her head in disappointment. “You’re right not to forgive me. I deserve it, after all. I was the one who killed you. I’ll make it right. A life for a life, okay?”
By the time a guard noticed something was off and rushed over to open the cell door, Mom suddenly shouted that she loved me before throwing herself headfirst against the wall.
I had no idea how much strength it took for a woman who hadn’t eaten in days to manage slamming herself against the wall with such force.
Mom was already gone when the doctors finally arrived.
2
Three days later, the trial for both Mom and Sean began. Sean was sentenced to death with
immediate execution.
When the judge asked him why he had killed me, he replied coldly, “Because Zachary was too brilliant. I was worried that he’d take the director’s position once my mom retired.”
I sighed. From the moment I began studying medicine, all I ever wanted was to fulfill
Mom’s dream–to save lives.
I never cared about the director’s title. And besides, with how much she pampered Sean, there was no way she’d choose me over him.
Watching the ones who hurt me fall, one by one, I finally felt free. I knew it was time for me to return to where I truly belonged.
The sun was especially bright today, and I felt just as warm. This life had been full of hardship–now, I could only hope the next one would be gentler.
