I'm forced by my mother, Karen Brown, to raise Matt Brown, my uncle Jared Brown's illegitimate son. She justifies the coercion by saying that family should always help each other.

I sacrifice everything to raise Matt for over a decade, only to discover that he despises me. It stems entirely from Mom and Uncle Jared telling him that I'm raising him with ulterior motives, that I'll be able to get back double the amount of money I spend on him in the future.

I'm lecturing Matt once more about studying hard when he suddenly lashes out in frustration and murders me.

Mom and Uncle Jared not only cover up for Matt, but they also take all my assets for themselves.

I'm definitely not raising anyone's child now that I have been reborn, as the parents should raise their own child.

It has nothing to do with me!

I opened my eyes and noticed a baby, still bundled in a blanket, placed right outside my doorstep. A handwritten note from my mother, Karen Brown, was pinned to the blanket.

"Damian, this is Uncle Jared's son, Matt. He's yours to look after for a few days."

I took in my surroundings, and a sudden, staggering realization washed over me—I had been reborn.

I was back at Ground Zero, the original starting point, where the perpetrator, the eventual killer, was still just a baby. It seemed like Heaven must have taken pity on me and given me another chance.

I swore that this time, those who hurt me would face the consequences. I resolved to cut off that family of leeches' chance to attach themselves to me before they even started.

I immediately executed a bold move—calling the police. "Is this the police? I'd like to report a case of child abandonment!"

Did they truly believe I would become their fool and shoulder the burden of raising that baby? That was utterly out of the question!

I tore and tossed away the handwritten note before I shouted to draw the attention of my neighbors. I intended to blow the matter up and make sure everyone knew about it.

They would serve as witnesses, confirming that I had no connection to the baby, that I was simply a law-abiding citizen doing what was right. I didn't see any note, as far as I was concerned.

It was a clear case of intentional infant abandonment, and the perpetrators simply chose my doorway as the drop-off point.

"How could anyone just abandon such a small baby?"

"How terrible! Why have a baby if you're just going to abandon him?"

"You truly have such a kind soul, Damian."

"That baby should be fine once the police get here, right?"

My neighbors' chatter instantly escalated into a flurry of mutual discussion. It wasn't long before a huge throng had amassed at my front door. After all, people were naturally drawn to drama.

They were key witnesses to this case of child abandonment. There would be official records once we got to the police station, and in the decades to come, the narrative would remain clear—the parents were the one who abandoned the baby.

I, on the other hand, had merely played the part of a good neighbor.

I looked at the baby bundled in the blanket and thought to myself, "Didn't you accuse me of raising you for my own selfish gain? Didn't you say that I was the one responsible for separating you from your parents? You'll learn the truth soon enough!

"You'll find out who was the one who really cast you aside and who was the true villain with the sinister intention!"

It wasn't long before the police officers arrived. I followed them to the station, along with the legion of neighbors. I hardly had to open my mouth; they were already clamoring, eagerly explaining the full story of what had happened from start to finish.

It wasn't a tough case to crack. All the officer had to do was check the surveillance camera at the entrance of the residential complex for instant proof. Plus, the blanket the baby was wrapped in constituted irrefutable physical evidence.

It wasn't long before the police officers brought Mom to the station.

Mom stormed over the moment she arrived, yelling at me, "Have you lost your mind? I made it clear I was only dropping him off for a couple of days! How could you involve the police, Damian?"

I didn't even have a moment to respond when the kindhearted neighbors stepped forward, hands planted firmly on their hips, and verbally lashed out at her.

"How dare you act like the victim when you're the one who abandoned a baby!"

"I know, right? How could you just abandon a newborn baby on a random doorstep? What if something terrible happened to the poor thing?"

"You don't think she's doing this on purpose, right, officer?"

In that instant, the station had dissolved into complete chaos. Mom realized the predicament she was in and frantically tried to get a word in with me.

I, however, sat leisurely on a chair outside, watching Mom being taken away by the police officer for questioning.

Mom, unaccustomed to police scrutiny, immediately folded and confessed the truth. Her official statement claimed that the baby was my cousin and was only entrusted to me for temporary care because his parents were unavailable for a couple of days.

"If it was merely a temporary guardianship arrangement, why abandon him so secretly at the entrance before leaving?"

"I left a note with the baby!"

"Where is the note?"

Mom was momentarily stunned into silence. "I wrote that note myself, and I left it right on the baby! I'm sure Damian must have seen it!"

Hearing her claims, the police officer came out to question me, all the while the distrust of her claims continued inside.

"Why didn't you just walk in and entrust the baby to him, then? You're his mother, aren't you?"

"I…" Mom trailed off.

I was certain she wouldn't dare tell the truth. After all, she and my uncle, Jared Brown, had meticulously planned the entire scenario. They were aiming for me to, out of sympathy, assume responsibility for the baby.

Mom clearly meant to abandon the baby right outside my place. She could only stutter and mumble when cornered, utterly failing to produce a believable reason for her actions.

I was sitting outside, and the second I heard the mention of a note, I furrowed my brow in confusion. "What kind of note is she talking about? I've seen nothing of the sort!"

"Your mother said that she left a note with the baby, providing you with instructions."

"I genuinely never saw any note!"

In that instant, my neighbors stepped forward once more, nodding to affirm that I was indeed telling the truth.

"That's right! Damian raised the alarm the moment he saw the baby, and none of us saw any note!"

"Yeah! What difference does it make even if there was one? How can we trust that she isn't trying to deceive everyone?"

"If a person is capable of abandoning a baby so heartlessly, lying will surely come easily to them."

I agreed wholeheartedly on the inside, adamantly maintaining that I never saw the note.

I also had no intention of recognizing her as my mother, so I explained to the police officer, "My grandfather took care of me since I was young and have had absolutely no contact with her, even though she's my biological mother.

"I truly don't know why she would place the baby at my doorstep. Is it possible that she didn't want this baby and was trying the same trick to force me to raise him?"

It was only after hearing that that the police officer hesitated momentarily, clearly only just realizing the complex nature of the relationship I shared with my mother.

In the meantime, the crowd of neighbors maintained a steady stream of supportive testimony.

"Exactly! It was Mr. Lister Senior who found Damian on the doorstep as a baby back then!"

"Oh, the shame! That woman deserves whatever fate is coming to her!"

"If it hadn't been for the pure goodness of Mr. Lister Senior, who took Damian in and raised him, Damian would have likely perished from the cold right there on the street!"

"How dare she show up and claim to be Damian's mother now that Damian is all grown up!"

"It's clear that she isn't interested in being Damian's mother! I bet she's just trying to saddle her own son with raising someone else's baby!"

"If Mr. Lister Senior were still alive, he would have kicked that woman out without a second thought!"

"How wicked! That woman is clearly exploiting Damian's kindness!"

"Damian is kind all thanks to Mr. Lister Senior's upbringings! That woman has nothing to do with it!"

"She gave birth to him, refused to raise him, and then, after others have done the hard work, she suddenly feels regretful and wants to reunite with him, huh?"

"How on earth did she think she could get away with something like that?"

I adopted a helpless look, feigning the appearance of someone being victimized.

In that instant, the police officer grasped Mom's intention. It was completely different from what she had said in the interrogation room, where she had spun a tale of a deep and loving mother-son bond, as if the abandonment were only a misunderstanding caused by a lack of communication between us.

I scoffed inwardly, thinking that she could no longer use me to shirk the consequences.

In the presence of numerous witnesses, that nonexistent note was no longer important. It was clear that she had intentionally abandoned the baby right at my doorstep.

If the baby wasn't hers, it was baffling how she felt entitled to simply take the baby and then abandon him so conspicuously.

The neighbors were all debating whether Uncle Jared was an unknowing party or a co-conspirator.

It wasn't long before the police officers brought Uncle Jared over to the police station.

I stayed in the corner, watching his worried expression and the way he seemed completely uneasy as he showed up late.

I knew exactly where this was going. It seemed like Uncle Jared was preparing to pin all the blame squarely on poor old Mom. It turned out that their sibling bond was completely superficial—a fact that didn't surprise me in the least, given their family's consistent, inherent selfishness.

Uncle Jared claimed that Mom had taken the child without his permission, saying he was completely unaware she had dropped the baby at my doorstep.

"I'm sure Karen just felt sorry for my situation, thinking that an adult like me had no idea how to take care of a baby. You see, the baby's mother abandoned him immediately after birth, and with my job, it was impossible for me to handle everything. I'm sure Karen acted only out of concern for my well-being."

Why did Mom think I could look after the baby if Uncle Jared, an adult himself, couldn't?

Uncle Jared's explanation sounded good, but deep down, we all knew the excuse was completely pathetic.

There was no other evidence to prove that they were colluding, though, so the matter could only be raised and then quietly dropped. Uncle Jared, the baby's father, didn't want to press charges, so the police officer didn't detain Mom.

It was only after being subjected to a rather forceful talking-to that they both offered a clearly insincere apology. They gave a show of good faith, took the baby, and walked out of the police station.

I never once glanced at their direction. I was aware that involving the authorities at this point would have little effect, but it was of no consequence.

I still had time to deal with them. I fully anticipated that they wouldn't relinquish their opportunity to take advantage of me, after all.

I slowly made my way home, holding the acknowledgment receipt from the police station, with that same group of concerned neighbors walking behind me.

Just as I had foreseen, Mom lay in wait for me right outside the residential complex. She opted to ambush me at my place since she didn't dare to openly cause trouble for me at the police station. She was still holding on to the baby, while Uncle Jared was already long gone.

She was overly attached to Uncle Jared, her beloved younger brother. She had just returned from the police station, yet she still intended to force the responsibility for the baby onto me.

"You ungrateful brat!" she shouted. "How could you call the cops and get your own mother and uncle taken in, Damian!"

It was then that one of the neighbors jumped in to shield me. "And just what kind of mother are you talking about? What is this nonsense about an uncle? Damian is part of the Lister family! You have absolutely no claim over him!"

"That's right!"

"What's wrong with calling the police to have someone arrested?"

"If you have a clear conscience, then there's nothing to be afraid of!"

"Hmph! You only dared to show up and prey on Damian after Mr. Lister Senior passed away!"

"You have nothing to be afraid of, Damian! You see, we're neighbors who have watched you grow up since you were a baby. We won't let anything happen to you!"

Mom, already exhausted from waiting for so long under the sun with the baby, finally snapped under the barrage of accusations.

She flew into a hysterical rage, threatening to throw the baby on the ground if anyone spoke again. "If anyone lays a hand on me and the baby sustains any injury, I'll hold every one of you financially liable!"

She was straight up pulling an extortion act in broad daylight. She completely showed that a truly shameless person feared nothing. "Go ahead and talk trash about me again! Go on!"

She hoisted the baby above her head, instantly causing the crowd to recoil and maintain a wide distance.

I alone stood my ground, watching her pathetic spectacle as if she were some kind of caged animal. I inwardly dared her to drop the baby, wishing for that wretched baby to die right then and there. It would save others from his harmful existence in the future.

Mom, with an air of smug triumph, gathered the baby back into her arms, paying no attention to his strained cries.

"You have to take Matt home and raise him!" she ordered. "You're cousins with him, so it's your duty to help one another. You both share a similar background, so you of all people should sympathize with him, right?"