The nurse’s words left Mom wide–eyed and stunned in place.
Refusing to recall the scene at the car crash, she frowned and confidently retorted, “That’s impossible. He was in the same car as Finn. If Finn was discharged, how could he have been that badly injured?
“Does he think I can’t see through his little act? He just wants to compete with his brother for
“I’m warning you both. Stop this ridiculous charade right now, or you’ll regret it!”
my
attention!
Seeing that Mom refused to trust her no matter what, the nurse sighed helplessly and said, “I’m not lying to you, Dr. Whitman. If you don’t trust me, go to the morgue and see for yourself.”
Mom grew visibly agitated and started pacing the room with heavy, frantic steps. “You bitches! How dare you gang up to lie to me! Do you even know who you’re dealing with?”
Before the nurse could respond, Mom angrily jabbed at the screen and hung up.
Hearing the commotion, Dad opened the door and said, “Dawn’s still here. What were you shouting about?”
Clutching her phone to her chest, Mom looked at Dad helplessly and said, “The nurse just said Asher’s dead. It can’t be true, right?”
ཚ ཅ བཇ བ ང
Dad scoffed and shot her a look of disdain. “You’re too gullible. If the crash was that bad, someone as twisted as him would have dragged Finn down with him. How could Finn still be here unharmed?”
Dawn hurried over to comfort Mom, saying, “Don’t worry, Mrs. Auburn. Asher has nine lives, and he won’t die that easily. He’s more likely to curse others to death.”
As Hazel munched on a fruit, she dismissively chimed in, “Wouldn’t it be better if that nuisance died? Why bother worrying?”
I’d always known they favored Finn, but I never realized how despicable they thought I was. After all these years, even if they didn’t like me, they should have known me well enough to know that I would never stoop to such underhanded tactics, let alone joke about my life to compete for their affection.
Amid their reassurances, Mom straightened up and regained her usual domineering demeanor. “First thing tomorrow, I’m going to the hospital to expose their lies! If Asher isn’t in the morgue, I’ll break his legs and fire that nurse!”
Perhaps even God pitied me because a light rain began to patter against the window. Their dismissive words struck like sharp slaps across my face, and the pain was so intense that I couldn’t make a sound.
For the first time, I understood how eagerly they’d all been waiting for me to die.
The next morning, Mom rushed to the hospital without having breakfast, and Dad followed her out of worry.
On the way, Mom complained to Dad that this was just another wasted trip because of me. But the moment she saw my body in the morgue, staggered back in horror before collapsing against the wall and hugging herself tightly.
“H–How could this be? He didn’t look too badly hurt that day. He seemed fine!”
It was true that my injuries seemed mild. Aside from a few scrapes on my hands from shielding Finn, there were no visible wounds. But because I’d thrown myself over Finn during the crash and protected him beneath me, the impact of the collision had shattered The reason I’d seemed alert was because my organs were failing, and my adrenaline had spiked to its limit.
my heart.
she
As the director of the hospital, Mom could have easily noticed if she’d spared a closer look. But she’d been too busy fussing over Finn to care. Dad reached out to touch my face, but my horrifying death pallor made him freeze midair.
When Finn and Hazel arrived after hearing the news, the former took one look at our parents‘ devastated expressions and immediately panicked.
He threw himself at my bedside and knelt onto the floor, wailing, “Asher, why are you so stupid! Just because I took your chance to study abroad, are you going to hold a grudge like that? You got yourself killed just to take revenge!”
After his dramatic outburst, he feigned guilt and slumped to the floor. “I’m sorry, Asher. It’s all my fault. If not for me, you wouldn’t have…”
Then, he began slapping himself violently.
Seeing this, our parents and Hazel immediately forgot their grief and rushed to stop him.
Mom pulled him into a tight embrace and said, “Stop, Finn. This isn’t your fault. He was too greedy and brought it on himself! He deserved it!”
