: Scapegoat

My mother was with another man.

The man's side came to our door, cursing and swearing.

And my mother actually tried to push me out to take the fall.

1

The terror from the tragedy of my past life made me roll swiftly to the side.

I dodged my mother's cleaver.

Her cleaver struck the floor, instantly sending small shards of tile flying.

Seeing my reaction, Mina Rhodes immediately exclaimed, "Mom, Sis is actually dodging! She just can't stand to see you happy."

"Sis, Mom's raised you for so many years. Don't you have even a shred of gratitude?" Mina Rhodes turned to me, trying to guilt-trip me again.

"If you're so grateful, you go. Based on body type, you're the one who looks most like Mom," I retorted, a cold sweat running down my back. But I didn't let Mina Rhodes off the hook verbally.

In my past life, it was Mina Rhodes, speaking from her moral high ground, who gave my mother this very idea.

Hearing what I said, Mina Rhodes's expression changed instantly. She hurriedly said, "Sis, you're the one who looks the most like Mom. I'm still so young; they'd recognize me the second I step outside."

At that moment, my mother picked up the cleaver again. She was completely panicked, and outside, someone was still pounding on the door. BANG BANG BANG.

"Don't think we can't do anything just because you won't open the door. Pry it open!"

The people outside were cursing and swearing.

Then came the sound of the lock being pried open.

Inside, the faces of the three of us women all turned pale.

And that wasn't all. Outside, a shrew of a woman was still hammering on the door. BANG BANG BANG.

"You've got the guts to do something like this, but not the guts to open the door? Everyone, come and see! Come see what kind of trash these people are!"

"My husband and I were childhood sweethearts! We went through hard times together. We were happy and in love for so many years. If it wasn't for the woman in there, why would we have ever separated...?"

The voices outside were loud and chaotic. Even though our door was securely locked, we could clearly tell that a large crowd had gathered.

"Mina, sweetie, Mama has raised you for so many years. Just be a good girl and do this for Mama this one time." My mother's hair was a mess, her face contorted with madness.

In my past life, my mother showed no remorse, not even at the moment of my death. I knew that nothing I said now could bring her back to her senses.

Cleaver in hand, she came at me again, while Mina Rhodes stood to the side, blocking my escape.

I stared at the two of them.

They were determined to send me to my death.

'But that's impossible! I deserve to live my own life!'

An intense will to survive drove me to shove Mina Rhodes aside.

I sprinted toward my bedroom, but Mina Rhodes still managed to grab the corner of my shirt.

"Mom, I've got her! Hurry!" Mina Rhodes shouted excitedly.

The cleaver, glinting with a cold light, swung toward me once more.

"If you strike me today, I will cut all ties with you completely!" I screamed, my voice raw and desperate.

But my mother's cleaver still fell.

: 2

2

RIP!

Thank God I had lunged forward with everything I had. My mother only managed to slash the corner of my shirt.

I made it into my room.

The first thing I did was lock the door, a cold sweat breaking out all over my body.

Thank goodness I was fast enough. Otherwise, my mother would have hacked off my legs all over again.

I could have survived in my past life. I just wasn't willing to be paraded through the streets by those people in my mother's place, so she chopped off my legs to force me to comply.

I was sent out, covered in my own blood.

My mother said having a daughter like me was a disgrace.

So, she punished me herself first.

I thought that they, seeing me covered in blood and clearly unable to walk, would spare me the public parade.

But I never expected them to be just as ruthless.

When they saw I couldn't walk, they just found a small delivery cart, put me on it, and paraded me through the streets that way.

They beat gongs and drums, shouting out all the things my mother had done.

The real joke was, after I had been tormented by that mob and paraded around for an entire day, my own family refused to let me come home.

They said our family had no room for someone so disgraceful, that I wasn't worthy of the name Rhodes.

Even though I hadn't done any of it, the moment I was thrown out, even my mother—the person who was actually responsible—acted as if I had. She was ashamed to have ever given birth to me.

The neighbors all pointed and stared. A flood of vicious words rained down on me from all sides.

In the end, I bled out. Exhausted and starving, I died right next to a trash can.

BANG! BANG! BANG! My mother was frantically hacking at my bedroom door with a kitchen cleaver.

I was slow to get up, and a bloody gash was torn across my back.

Still, it was a lot better than having both my legs hacked off like in my past life.

"Rowan Rhodes, you ungrateful little beast! Open this door for me, now!"

My mother kept swearing as she hacked at the door.

It was as if I were the unpardonable sinner, the one dragging her to hell.

"Sister, please open the door! Mom gave birth to you, she raised you... is this really how you're going to repay her?" Outside, Mina's voice chimed in right after my mother's.

Goaded on by Mina, my mother started hacking at the door even harder.

"Mom, give it up. I didn't do it, and there's absolutely no way I'm going out there to confess. Instead of wasting your energy on this door, why don't you look at your other daughter? She's so 'understanding.' I'm sure she'd be willing to help." I said, leaning against the wall, before getting up and moving toward the window.

Halfway there, I shoved my vanity against the door. I didn't trust the lock. 'My mother has gone completely insane.'

We live on the seventh floor.

Jumping from here was obviously not an option.

But if I stayed here, it was only a matter of time before my mother chopped her way through that wooden door.

I heard Mina shriek from outside the door. Then she started pleading with our mother even more desperately, saying that I was the one who looked like her—that if they threw me out, no one would ever know the truth.

The sound of my mother hacking at the door paused for a moment, but then it started right back up.

She still wanted to send me to my death. After all, she couldn't bear to sacrifice the precious darling she'd doted on her entire life.

I glanced down. It was a long way. Just looking at the drop was enough to make my legs tremble.

There was no other choice. My mother had already managed to break a hole in the bedroom door.

If I didn't get out of here, I'd be unable to avoid the tragic fate of my past life.

Steeling myself, I gritted my teeth and climbed out onto the balcony.

To the side was our apartment's external air conditioning unit.

If the anchor bolts were sturdy enough, they should be able to hold the weight of a full-grown adult.

3

BANG!

The door was smashed open.

My mother came in but didn't see me.

"You damn brat, where the hell did you go?" my mother screamed.

I clung desperately to the wall, not daring to move a muscle.

I even subconsciously held my breath.

'I can't let my mother know I'm here. I can't repeat the mistakes of my past life.'

That was the one thought consuming my mind.

Just as my mother's footsteps drew closer and closer, I saw someone.

The guy next door.

He'd gone to the same high school as me, but he always had a bad reputation. My mother said he was a punk and told me to stay away from him.

Before, I had always followed my mother's words without question.

But now, I had no choice.

I reached out to him, and he pulled me over his balcony and into his apartment.

"What happened? I heard banging from your place first thing this morning," Silas Kane said, looking at me with curiosity in his eyes.

I quickly put a finger to my lips, shushing him.

My clothes were soaked through with cold sweat, and the stray hairs on my forehead were plastered to my skin. I must have looked an absolute mess.

Silas Kane got the message and fell silent, listening with me to the commotion next door.

My mother couldn't find me anywhere.

So she started begging Mina Rhodes. "Sweetie, you've always been Mommy's favorite, haven't you? Just take Mommy's place this once, okay? Mommy will buy you candy."

Next door, Mina Rhodes's screams could be heard throughout the entire building.

I closed my eyes. I felt no relief, only terror.

A family like that... it sends a chill down your spine.

"It was her! It's all her fault!" a voice rang out from next door again.

It was my mother's voice, pointing the finger. The mob must have broken in.

"How could it be me? I'm just a student! My mother did all of this! Every debt has its debtor. If you want someone, go after my mother!" my sister's voice was so shrill with terror it was about to break.

Just moments ago, she had been so self-righteous when trying to convince me to take our mother's place. But now that it was her turn, it was a different story.

"Look at me, I'm already an old woman! What man would possibly be interested in me?"

My mother was so desperate to pin the blame on my sister that she'd say anything.

Next door, the people who had violently broken down the door were starting to get confused.

"Sis! Which one of these two is it?" a gruff voice called out.

Even through the wall, I knew who that was.

The woman's younger brother.

He was stout and brawny, and he was the one who had called in their whole crew.

And because he had some special connections, he was able to arrange things so no one could call for help.

"It's her!"

"It's her!"

Two voices shouted simultaneously from next door.

It was my mother and Mina Rhodes.

They must have been restrained, and now they were frantically blaming each other.

"Two of them?" a woman's voice asked.

A chill ran through me instantly.

In my past life, when I was paraded through the streets in shame, this was the voice that gave the order.

She was one of the main culprits.

"No, it was just one person! This whole thing was my worthless daughter's doing," my mother interjected again, trying to get her word in first.

But then, to everyone's surprise, the woman said, "If that's the case, then they can both be paraded through the streets. Anyone who could raise a daughter like that can't be a good person, either!"