To my despair, Mom refused to even glance at them. She tossed them on the floor and snapped at me, "I’m too busy to deal with your nonsense!"

My condition worsened over time until I eventually went blind because of a nerve condition. I had become bedridden by that point and was tortured by grueling pain every day.

Dr. Videu could no longer bear it and went to Mom. "Mrs. Barlowe, Willow is not going to make it at this rate, so please help her."

Without even bothering to look up at him, Mom accused him, "What did she offer you for you to play along with this farce? All she’s trying to do is trick me into giving her attention. A brain tumor? I sure hope she gets one so she can leave me alone!

"If you keep playing along with her, I'll fire you, too. Now get out!"

Dr. Videu tried to get a word in, but upon noticing that Mom would not have it, he shook his head and retreated helplessly.

Although we couldn’t employ Dr. Batiste’s help, we could not afford to let my condition worsen anymore. Left without a choice, Dr. Videu arranged for the best neurosurgeon in the hospital to attend to me.

Before the surgery, I asked Dr. Videu to let me have one last video call with Mom. Even though I was blind at that point, I longed to hear her voice and give it one last shot to convince her to believe me.

All I got in return was her jests. "Another gimmick? Are you pretending to be blind this time? Do you really think I'll buy that? That’s enough. Your condition is nothing a minor surgery cannot address. Enough of these gimmicks!"

Before I could get a word out, she went to attend to other patients.

To my surprise, she showed up the same evening with a serving of nutritious dinner she cooked herself. This was the first time she had bothered to visit me since I was diagnosed with a brain tumor.

I barely managed to express my joy when she stamped it out by announcing, "By the way, I appointed Mia to operate on you instead."

I was completely blindsided. As if not helping me get in touch with Dr. Batiste wasn’t bad enough, she even appointed Mia, an intern, to operate on me. That was as good as a death sentence.

I begged her to reverse her decision, "Mom, please! Please don't let Mia operate on me. This is my last chance at survival! Do you truly need me to get on my knees and beg?"

She slapped me across the face instead and yelled at me, "How did I ever give birth to a selfish girl like you? Mia just started her internship. Can’t you give her the chance to practice?"

I cried and pleaded, "No... Mom... please... I don’t want to die. I'll do anything if you let me live…"

She was unfazed by my pleas and put away the food she had brought me. "If you don’t want the carrot, then the stick it is! I don’t get why you’re being so dramatic over a minor condition. This is my final decision, and there will be no negotiating!"

With that, she packed up everything and left my ward without sparing a glance at me, leaving me all alone to despair in the darkness.

On the day of my surgery, she hovered anxiously outside the operating theatre. She was not waiting for me but for Mia, who was conducting her very first surgery that day.

Mia had always been a timid girl. Her hands were already trembling when she first stuck the scalpel into my skull.

Dr. Videu advised her to stop, but she insisted on proceeding because she wanted to prove herself.

Shortly after the operation began, she made a mistake that caused my heart rate to plunge.

Dr. Videu immediately seized the scalpel from her and took over.

Meanwhile, frightened, she ran out of the operating theatre to look for Mom.

Mom did not bother to check on me despite my state of emergency. Instead, she was focused on consoling Mia. She even took time off from work to stay at home and be with Mia.

After my death, the doctors and police called her persistently, but she hung up on them every time.

A few days later, Mia told her she was too stressed out and traumatized to ever hold a scalpel again. She expressed that she wanted to go on a vacation.

Mom immediately bought them tickets to Markeif.

While I was alive, there had been a handful of times when I asked her to go on a family vacation together. All I wanted was to spend a few days with her.

Each time, I was met with a ruthless rejection. "Don’t you realize how busy I am every day? I don’t have time to go on a vacation with you."

Later, I realized she only refused because she was worried about Mia, who was in the middle of her internship. She preferred to be accessible to Mia. For years, she devoted all her time and energy to Mia, to the point where she refused to spare me time even when I managed to win academic awards.

As far as she was concerned, I was a thorn in her side who occupied her time and attention.

While she always claimed to be busy with work, she could take a month off to go on vacation with Mia.

As soon as the plane landed, Mia stretched and expressed, "I feel so much better now that I'm in a new place, but… do you think Willow will be upset if she finds out about this? She's been saying she wants to go on vacation too, hasn’t she?"

Mom seemed irritated at the mere mention of my name. "Why would you bring her up at a time like this? She doesn’t have the right to get upset anyway! If it weren't for her, you wouldn't be traumatized from operating. I’m going to chop her hands off if you never perform surgery again after this!"

Mia lowered her head and seemed wrecked with guilt. She said morosely, "I’m sorry, Mom. It’s all because I’m stupid and nowhere near as talented as Willow. She's been a reputable surgeon ever since she was young."

Mom gently patted Mia on the head and looked heartbroken. "Oh, my silly child, she's nowhere near as gifted as you. She only managed to get a head start on you, and the only reason people admire her is because they know she is my daughter."

I pouted. Before Mom became Medical Director at the hospital, she was one of the best cardiac surgeons in the country. I had always looked up to her as my role model and dreamt of becoming as accomplished as she was.

When I took up medicine, Mom never tried to help me. To make things worse, she belittled me by telling me I was not suited for the field. Whenever I won any academic awards, she would openly question my merit to humiliate me.

On the other hand, Mia had always been very lazy. She only took up medicine so she could succeed Mom in her position at the hospital. She made a point of taking up a different field than I did and chose neurosurgery. That way, she did not have to worry about being looked down on for not being as competent as I was.

Throughout Mia's studies, Mom hired countless experts from across the country to coach her.

However, Mom spoiled her rotten since she was a child, and she could not handle any kind of hardship. At the same time, she was desperate to prove herself.

That was how I became their perfect victim.

Mom had her reasons for being so biased toward Mia. When she was a child, Mom had spanked her as punishment for stealing a jar of candy.

When she took us out to the park to play the next day, Mia, who still held a grudge, shoved her past the traffic light.

A child may not have the strength to send her falling, but Mom was caught off-guard and stumbled for balance before tripping on the roadside. As a result, her hand was crushed by a speeding car.

Mom turned around to look at us just in time to see me with my hand outstretched, but I was only trying to save her from falling.

From then on, she refused to believe that I was anything other than an evil child. She decided I was the one who ruined her future as a surgeon.

Meanwhile, Mia, the one who pushed her, had bawled her eyes out. Mom felt sorry for her because she believed Mia was crying out of worry for her safety.

Little did she know, her favorite daughter, Mia, was the one who ruined her future.

As luck would have it, the accident was not fatal.

After surgery, Mom managed to escape without becoming disabled. However, it also meant she was no longer fit to wield a scalpel and had to give up on her career as a surgeon.

Fortunately, the Medical Director of the hospital was just about to retire at the time and decided to let Mom, who had the right qualifications, take over the position.

However, her dream was to become a world-class surgeon. She could not possibly be content with settling down as Medical Director at such an early point in her career.

Since then, she became prone to depression and would have violent fits from time to time. During these fits, she would smash everything in sight in the house, including the cookware, the refrigerator, and the television. Nothing was safe from her wrath.

When Dad tried to reason with her, she refused to listen and would even attack him at times.

Dad was covered in scratches from his attempts at consoling Mom. At first, he believed that he could help Mom get through this with enough patience.

That was until a certain episode when Mom went rabid and stabbed him in the wrist with a knife, nearly killing him.

At last, he decided he had had enough and filed for divorce, yielding full custody of me and Mia to Mom.

Since then, Mom struggled with juggling between taking care of her daughters and her work.

After Dad left, her resentment for me grew. She blamed me for ruining what was once a perfect life. She often remarked that I looked like Dad, though it was not said with affection but with growing resentment.

Gradually, Mia became the only thing keeping her going. She would often state, "I don’t know how long I would have kept self-sabotaging if it wasn’t for Mia. I’m so glad I have an angel like her by my side."

Little did she know, I was the one who cooked at home every day after school since Dad left us. Since I knew Mom resented me, I had Mia tell her to join us for dinner instead.

I was also the one who cleaned the house and did the laundry every day by perching myself on a stool. I was the one who bought her Mother's Day presents, the occasional surprise gift, as well as the endless stalks of flowers in the vase with the pocket money I saved since I was a child.

The reason she ended up crediting all of these to Mia was that I had never been good at being vocal about these gestures.

Whenever I tried to tell her the truth behind the accident, she would crossly cut me off, "Drop the innocent act and quit blaming Mia!"

After several attempts, she accused me of being painfully stubborn and began to beat me to teach me a lesson.

Since then, I grew wary of trying to explain.

Mia eventually recognized how much Mom favored her. She learned to play the role of the golden child in front of Mom and would badmouth me. I received many beatings because of her.

Suddenly, the driver slammed on the brakes and jerked me back into the present. She turned to Mom sheepishly and apologized, "Sorry, I almost missed the turn."

Mom, who was usually unreasonably grumpy, was too preoccupied with Mia to tell the driver off. She grabbed the luggage and stepped out of the car.

Upon a closer glance, I realized this was the luxury seaside manor I once mentioned to her.

I had spent several years saving up money and was only waiting for her to take time off work so I could bring her and Mia here for a vacation.

Alas, I was here with them, but in the form of a spirit.

Even Mia, in all her self-centredness, was captivated by the view. She reached for her phone and began taking countless selfies so she could post them on social media.

After arriving in Markeif, they seemed to have completely forgotten about me, their family member who had just undergone surgery.

They spent their days either sunbathing on the beach or indulging in food and drinks, never bothering to call to check on me, let alone bring up my name at all.

I was endlessly frustrated but had nowhere to vent. At this point, Dr. Videu somehow appeared on the island.

Mom was perplexed to meet Dr. Videu in a foreign country. "What brings you here?"

Dr. Videu's eyes were red as he spoke, "Mrs. Barlowe, you haven't been to the hospital in a few days. Willow is…"

Mom seemed to have anticipated what he was about to say and cut him off before he could begin, "You’re going to tell me that she’s dead, right? I’ve heard that enough times already. Why don’t you come up with something new for a change?"

Dr. Videu did not know how he could possibly convince Mom he was telling the truth. He anxiously tried to explain over and over again, "Mrs. Barlowe, will you please believe me? Her body has already been waiting for collection in the morgue for a week."

Mom laughed sardonically. "Oh, forget about that! If she is dead, I would much rather throw a grand party to celebrate it!"

Just as Dr. Videu tried to reason with her again, she grew solemn and cut him off, "That's enough! I can deal with her constant lying, but why are you playing along with her?

"What did she do to convince you to come all this way to lie to me? You’re not in love with her, are you? Ha! I can’t believe anyone would ever be blind enough to fall for her!"

Mia, who was listening nearby, approached them, "Isn’t this Dr. Videu? Did Willow lace you with some kind of drug to make you fall for her? I know you've always had feelings for her, but frightening Mom for her sake is going too far."

Dr. Videu was so vexed by Mia and Mom’s scornful remarks that he turned red. At this point, his tone switched from mild to confrontational. "I’m telling you that Willow’s body is in the morgue right now! If you don’t believe me, go on and have a look yourself! Just don’t regret it later!"