Chapter 1

In my previous life, my mother favored my younger brother her entire life. Then, after she became paralyzed, the very son she had loved so dearly threw her out of his house.

Despite my husband and son's objections, I brought her home and cared for her devotedly for five whole years.

Yet after she died, she left a will accusing me of abusing her and stealing her pension. She even credited every bit of the care I'd given her over those five years to my younger brother.

At her wake, my husband handed me divorce papers.

My son, his eyes red, asked me, “Mom, for someone who never loved you, are you really going to give up Dad and me, too?”

When I opened my eyes again, I had returned to the day our family divided up the estate after my father's death.

My mother transferred both houses, eight hundred thousand yuan in savings, and a shop to my younger brother. But she expected me to pay her future medical bills and take care of all her needs, from meals to personal hygiene, whenever she fell ill.

In my previous life, I'd cried and argued, trying to prove that daughters were no less worthy than sons.

This time, I smiled and signed the waiver relinquishing my inheritance.

My mother said sons mattered more. I supported her.

She wanted to leave everything to my younger brother. I supported that, too.

Whatever he wanted—houses, savings, or the shop—I supported him without reservation.

I would simply support my brother's decisions when our mother grew old and frail.

After I signed, my mother stared at me for a long time.

In my previous life, at this very same table, I had fallen out with her.

I asked why, though we were both Dad's children, my brother got two houses, eight hundred thousand yuan in savings, and a shop, while all I got was the responsibility of caring for our aging mother.

She slapped me in front of all our relatives.

She scolded me for being married and still coveting my birth family's property, then forced me to kneel before Dad's portrait and swear that I would care for her to the end, whether she became ill or bedridden.

This time, I pushed the signed documents across the table to my brother.

“Give Kang Wei everything Dad left behind.”

The lines between my mother's brows immediately smoothed.

“Finally, you've come to your senses. Kang Wei is a son. He'll have to carry on the family someday, so he can't be left with nothing.”

My younger brother had been wary that I might change my mind, but the moment he heard that, he picked up both property deeds.

He flipped through them, the corners of his mouth lifting despite himself.

“Don't worry, Sis. When I'm successful, I won't forget you.”

He'd said the same thing in my previous life.

Later, when Mom became paralyzed, he delivered her—and two bags of clothes—to my doorstep, then didn't contribute a single cent for five years.

I took another set of documents from my bag.

“Now that we've divided the property, let's settle how we'll care for Mom in the future, too.”

My brother's hand froze as he turned the deed pages.

Mom took the papers from me. After reading only a few lines, she slammed them down on the table.

According to the agreement, in exchange for receiving the two houses, eight hundred thousand yuan in savings, and the shop, my brother also promised to take primary responsibility for Mom's living expenses, medical costs, and arrangements for elder care.

I would meet my obligations under the law, but I wouldn't provide full-time care or pay expenses my brother had agreed to cover.

Mom stared at the last page, her earlier smile gone.

“You're setting up your own brother!”

My brother set the property deeds down, too.

He looked up at me, wary. “Sis, Mom raised you for all those years. Do you really have to put caring for her in writing?”

Our relatives began exchanging glances.

In my previous life, they had surrounded me just like this.

When the assets went to my brother, they said sons carried on the family line, so of course he deserved more.

When Mom became paralyzed, they said daughters were more considerate and naturally better suited to caring for the elderly.

I placed the inheritance waiver and the care agreement side by side.

“I didn't take a single cent. How exactly am I setting Kang Wei up?”

Mom opened her mouth to say something.

I didn't give her a chance to change the subject.

“Didn't you always say your son was your support for the rest of your life? Why is he only responsible for holding the property deeds when it's time to care for you?”

My aunt, sitting beside her, cleared her throat.

“Song Yu, you can't put it like that. Men have to earn money outside the home. Caring for an elderly parent is more convenient for a daughter.”

She wanted to speak up for Mom, but she didn't dare meet my eyes.

I turned to her. “So if your husband left everything to your son, and you ended up bedridden, would you tell your daughter to quit her job and take care of you?”

My aunt lifted her teacup and said nothing more.

The living room fell silent.

Mom cared more about appearances than anything.

A moment earlier, she'd announced in front of all our relatives that her son would be her support for the rest of her life.

If she now refused to have my brother sign, it would be like admitting that her precious boy only wanted the money, not the responsibility of caring for her.

She sat with the agreement for a long time. At last, she pushed the pen toward my brother.

“Sign it.”

He didn't pick up the pen right away.

He read the terms again, then glanced at the property deeds on the table.

Mom was still in good health; she rarely even needed medicine.

As far as he was concerned, she wouldn't need elder care for at least another decade.

In exchange for a promise, he was getting property worth several million yuan. He wasn't about to pass that up.

“Mom, what are you saying? Of course I'll take care of you.”

He picked up the pen and signed quickly.

I turned on my phone camera.

“Say those words again. All our relatives are here. They can be witnesses later.”

My brother's smile faded a little.

But with so many people watching, all he could do was face the camera and promise that he'd handle Mom's living arrangements, medical care, and elder care.

I slid the ink pad toward her.

“Mom, you should confirm it, too.”

She glared at me.

The camera was still recording, so she had no choice but to press her thumb to the agreement.

“Even if I get sick or end up bedridden, I'll listen to my son.”

Then she deliberately looked at me.

“I won't bother my married daughter.”

I saved the video, sent it to the family chat, and handed the original agreement to a lawyer for safekeeping.

Mom thought I'd finally learned my place.

My brother thought he'd received only two houses, eight hundred thousand yuan, and a shop.

Only I knew that along with those things, he'd also received the five years Mom would spend bedridden.

When I reached the street downstairs, Chen Zheng's car was parked by the curb.

Seeing the papers in my hand, he didn't press me for the result as he had in my previous life. He simply opened the car door for me.

Our son was asleep in the back seat, hugging his schoolbag.

On this same day in my previous life, I had been so busy fighting Mom over a little fairness that I missed our son's parent-teacher meeting.

After that, I missed his birthday, his competitions, and even the times he was hospitalized.

I sat beside him and silenced my phone.

He stirred in his sleep, his head slowly leaning against my shoulder.

I reached out to steady him.

The first time Mom would have a stroke was still two years away.

For those two years, I wouldn't carry another one of my brother's burdens.

For the first few months, Mom called me almost every day.

The plumbing in her house broke, so she told me to come fix it.

My niece wanted to enroll in an extracurricular class, so she ordered me to pay.

A relative was celebrating a birthday and needed a gift envelope; she came to me for that, too.

Every time, I asked one question: “What does Kang Wei say?”

She either scolded me for having no conscience or hung up.

Eventually, she realized I wouldn't give her a single extra yuan beyond the monthly living expenses I was responsible for. She stopped calling.

I gave my salary card to Chen Zheng and repaid every yuan I had taken from our son's education fund over the years.

Chen Zheng took the bank card, but he didn't look happy.

He stared at it, then looked up at me.

“Does your family need money again?”

For a moment, I didn't know how to answer.

In my previous life, whenever I brought up our savings, it was because my birth family had run into another financial problem.

The worst time was when my brother got into gambling debt and Mom knelt at my front door.

I forced Chen Zheng to sell the home near our son's school—the one he'd prepared for him—to pay my brother's debt.

Our son lost the chance to attend the school he could have gone to.

“It's not for Mom.”

I handed him the household budget I'd put together.

“From now on, we need to put our own family first.”

Chen Zheng flipped through a few pages.

His hand remained on the bank card, as if he didn't dare trust me too easily.

Only after a long silence did he put the budget away.

“Next week is our son's sports day.”

His voice was quiet, but the words pierced me like a needle.

“You promised you'd go.”

I nodded.

On the day of the sports meet, I sat in the front row of the stands.

After crossing the finish line, our son didn't check his result or look for his teacher.

He stood in the crowd, searching all around.

Only when he found me did he smile.

That smile brought back my previous life.

Before every competition, he used to ask if I'd come.

I always promised, and I always broke that promise because of Mom.

Eventually, he stopped asking.

I thought our quiet days would go on like that.

Half a year later, my brother set his sights on a home in a good school district. He was short 1.2 million yuan for the down payment.

Mom brought my brother and sister-in-law to my home.

As soon as she sat down, she didn't even ask how we were. She tossed a stack of property documents onto the coffee table.

It was the home Chen Zheng had bought before we married, intending to leave it to our son one day.

“Your son is already in school. He doesn't need this house right now.”

Mom pushed the documents toward me.

“Sell it so Kang Wei can make up the down payment for the house near the school.”

Chen Zheng had just come out of the kitchen. He stopped when he heard her.

He was holding a glass of water; his knuckles tightened around it.

I immediately put my hand over his.

Mom thought I was stopping my husband from butting in, and her attitude softened.

“We're all family. Once your niece gets into a good school, she'll have a bright future and remember her aunt.”

“Mom's right.”

I stood up and went back to the bedroom, then returned with the property appraisal I'd prepared in advance.

“We can't let a child's future suffer.”

My sister-in-law glanced at my brother.

He sat up straighter, thinking I'd prepared to sell the house.

I placed the appraisal in front of Mom.

“The old house in your name happens to be worth 1.2 million yuan.”

Mom stared at the appraisal, and her smile vanished.

“That's the house I planned to retire in. How can I sell it?”

“Didn't you say your son's future mattered more than anything?”

I turned to the page with the property details.