Mom said she wanted me to experience all the suffering Charlene had gone through. That was why I couldn't even bring myself to recall how I died in my past life.

I really wanted to tell her that I hadn't done any of those things and that I had really been abducted. But she said she didn't want to hear my excuses, as every word I spoke was filthy.

Thus, she sewed my mouth shut.

Stitch by stitch, blood splattered across her face and hands. Before my lips were fully sewn shut, I used all my strength to scream "Mom", but she remained unmoved.

In fact, that only made her angrier.

"Don't call me 'Mom'! I have an accomplished life, but having a daughter like you is my biggest failure. You're so vile that I can't even—"

Her eyes reddened. As she dragged my barely conscious body, she kept muttering things like "go die".

She dragged me to the cemetery where Charlene was buried. Then, she forced me down and made me bow in front of her memorial over and over again until I lost count.

I could only remember my forehead being cracked open, and I found myself unable to open my eyes from all the blood covering them.

Mom mechanically repeated the same actions while constantly speaking about how much she missed Charlene.

"Charlene, I'll make Matilda pay with her life and let her rot forever in hellhole, okay?"

Then, she beat me until my flesh was torn and my bones were broken. She did all that while cursing me out.

After I painfully died, she burned me to ash and scattered my remains in the dump.

The pain I suffered was seared into my bones, and even just thinking about it would make my chest ache horribly.

…

I was shaking uncontrollably. My clothes were quickly torn apart.

The men grabbed my hand and pried one of my fingernails off. Blood quickly oozed from my fingertip. The pain was so excruciating that I screamed and sobbed.

The abductors seemed delighted by my screams. They recorded several videos and sent them all to Mom.

By then, all ten of my fingernails had been ripped out. My hands were drenched in blood, my clothes barely clinging to me.

They eagerly expected Mom to break down when she saw my suffering.

And I, too, clung to a fragile sliver of hope. She was my mother, after all.

I vehemently wished that, after seeing those videos, she'd realize that this wasn't an act orchestrated by me and that I wasn't trying to steal her attention from Charlene.

But it seemed like the universe loved to slowly shatter whatever hope remained, leaving me to die alone in despair.

The last video wasn't even sent, as it suddenly showed that my number had been blocked.

The abductor threw my phone in frustration. He continued cursing for a while before kicking me repeatedly.

It hurt—so much.

The desperate abductors didn't get what they wanted, so it was only natural they wouldn't show any mercy to me, their hostage.

"Since her mom refuses to pay the ransom, we'll just have our way with her first, then kill her. Once she's dead, we'll chop her up and dump her in the sea for the fish!"

I was once again haunted by the terrifying images of the humiliating assault I had endured in my past life. I was so scared of dying again in such a degrading way.

I didn't want to! I really didn't want to!

The abductors didn't consider me a threat since I looked very skinny and weak. They didn't even bother tying my hands and feet.

Wanting to live and having no one to rely on, I had no choice but to save myself. When pushed to desperation, one could unleash limitless potential.

I spotted a gun carelessly discarded on the floor behind them. I'd seen Mom use one before, and because I idolized her, I'd memorized many of her moves and techniques.

I lunged and grabbed the gun from the ground. Amid the haze of memory, I managed to load it.

Then, I shot twice without hesitation. The recoil numbed my shoulder to the point where I couldn't feel it anymore.

After killing all four of them, I collapsed to the ground, utterly drained of all strength.

Thinking that they must have phones on them, I crawled over with some effort and rummaged through one of their pockets. Once I found a phone, I called the police.

I said over the phone, "Hello, I've been abducted, and I've killed someone."

After ending the call, I saw a familiar string of numbers in the contact list. But I couldn't make it out clearly since I had lost too much blood. A second later, I passed out.

While I was unconscious, I kept having nightmares. They were all memories I had deliberately avoided in the past.

I dreamed of Mom and Charlene bonding like a real mother and daughter, praised for their closeness, while I hid in the shadows, watching.

I dreamed of how I had given Charlene everything she wanted that was mine since I was young. Yet, I never earned so much as a glance from Mom.

I dreamed of the time when I was choosing my major, and there was only one spot left for the one I wanted. But Charlene, who scored one point lower than me, also coveted it. I didn't want to give up my spot to her, so Mom angrily scolded me for being heartless.

I even dreamed that while the abductors were prying off my nails, Mom was across the city. She stayed by Charlene, crying tears of joy for the second chance with her and vowing to protect her at all costs.

I used to lie to myself that Mom would eventually find time to love me. But in the painfully clear dreams, I came to realize one truth.

Even though Charlene lost her parents, she had more love than someone with parents, as Mom gave her all her love. Meanwhile, I had a mother, but it felt no different than having none at all.

I yearned for Mom's love. Yet through the experiences of two lifetimes, I came to realize that she had never loved me.

As the dream faded, a voice reached me from the outside world.

"Don't worry, Judith. As long as we can prove that Matilda acted in self-defense during the kidnapping—"

The voice cut off abruptly because I was yanked upright from the hospital bed and slapped hard across the face. The blow was vicious. My ears started to ring while blood trickled from my split lip.

She roared, "Matilda, you've gone insane! I thought you were just mean-spirited, but I never imagined that you'd actually kill someone. You're morally corrupt and a scourge to society! How could I have given birth to such trash?"

She must have been so enraged that she screamed several times.

I struggled to open my eyes. Someone rushed over and hugged Mom. It was Charlene.

"Mom, please don't be angry. I'm sure Matilda didn't mean to kill them. It's all my fault. She must have done it hoping you'd notice her more."

Mom stood protectively in front of Charlene, her breaths heavy. She told the latter to leave and not come near a piece of trash like me.

"Charlene, don't waste your breath defending scum like her. She deserves to die! I should've smothered her at birth."

The police officer in uniform quickly snapped out of her shock and grabbed Mom, who was about to slap me again.

"Judith, calm down! Are you sure you've got all the facts? Matilda was forcibly taken. Even if she killed the abductors, it was in self-defense. As long as evidence proves she was genuinely in danger at the time and acted in self-defense, her actions are justified."

Mom suddenly let out a laugh. "Peggy, you're too naïve. You always assume the best in people. My daughter is wicked. She's not as good as you think she is. What abduction? It was all just an act she staged to trick me into coming here because she couldn't stand how well I treated Charlene.

"And when she realized that the act wasn't working on me, she resorted to this vile scheme. Matilda, are you satisfied now? You took the lives of four living, breathing human beings!"

She didn't know that I'd shot them, but the policewoman, Ms. Madden, did. If this were a staged abduction, I would have never gotten access to a gun.

Ms. Madden still wanted to defend me, but Mom refused to listen.

"You don't know her like I do. Take her phone and check it now. I guarantee you'll find something." Then, she turned to me. Her gaze was filled with disdain, disappointment, and disgust.

"You sure know how to put on an act. Do you really think that a few scratches will make you look like you're acting in self-defense? Even if you're my daughter, I won't let scum like you walk free. What, do you want to stay free so you can keep hurting Charlene?

"Get up right now and come with me to turn yourself in. Police resources shouldn't be wasted on someone like you."

She impatiently reached out to drag me when she saw my hollow stare and lack of movement. Too weak to resist, I was yanked from the bed again.

After pulling up my hand, she suddenly noticed the bandages wrapped around it.

"How did you trick the doctors into playing along with this charade? What a waste of medical resources!" She tore off the gauze—only to find my bare, mangled fingers underneath.

The abductors had ripped my nails out so violently that some of the flesh was turned inside out. I couldn't bear to look at them.

Mom froze for a second.

Suddenly, the white bandages became stained with blood. It was my blood. A mouthful of it had spurted out as I laughed. My stomach churned violently.

I'd heard before that when grief became unbearable, the brain's defense mechanism would make the stomach bleed. As a result, the person would cough up blood.

But why wouldn't it stop? I kept choking up more blood, laughing between each heave. Some of it had even splattered across Mom's face. However, her first instinct was to check if the blood was fake.

She was clearly caught off guard by my condition, but her skepticism still remained.

The doctor rushed in and pulled her away from me, shouting furiously, "Are you out of your mind? The patient has a ruptured spleen and is under close observation! She can't undergo immediate surgery because of three broken ribs and a fractured leg.

"She's lost enough blood from her fingernails being torn out to go into shock. We had barely managed to stabilize her. The fact that she's even awake now is a miracle! Are you sure you're her mother? Because from the way you're trying to kill her, you seem more like her enemy!

"Please, leave this room right now!"