Chapter 12

My brother turned to me.

Only then did real fear finally appear on his face.

“Sis, we're the closest family in the world.”

“You can't force me to my death.”

I took out the documents I'd prepared.

“I waive my inheritance.”

Mom's estate would first be used to pay the outstanding medical and care expenses from her lifetime.

I decided to donate whatever remained to a public-interest organization that helps women with family-property disputes and elder-care obligations.

My brother lunged to snatch the papers.

Chen Zheng stepped forward and blocked him.

My brother screamed at me over his shoulder.

“Over a million yuan—you're giving it to strangers instead of me?”

“Mom gave you plenty already.”

His eyes were bloodshot.

“I'm her son!”

“The family's money is supposed to belong to me!”

The relatives around us slowly moved away.

This time, no one spoke up for him.

Court enforcement officers arrived soon afterward.

His loans, employee wages, and overdue nursing-home fees would all continue to be collected.

Before he was taken away, he kept cursing Mom for favoring her daughter at the very end.

But he forgot that her lifelong favoritism had made him think the whole world should move aside for him.

After the funeral, I stood alone at Mom's grave.

In the photo on the headstone, she was still very young.

The woman in the picture had once been a daughter, too.

My maternal grandmother used to say that Mom hadn't been valued when she was a child.

All the family's money went to her brother's education, and Mom had to leave school early to work.

She had suffered from the same preference for sons, yet she'd never thought to end that prejudice with her own generation.

She'd fought tooth and nail to have a son, hoping that would put her among the favored.

In the end, she passed all the suffering she'd endured onto her daughter.

I placed a bouquet of flowers in front of her grave.

“Mom, I don't forgive you.”

“But I don't want to keep hating you anymore.”

“From now on, I'll live my own life.”

At the foot of the hill, Chen Zheng and our son were waiting for me.

Our son took the bag from my hand.

Chen Zheng opened the car door for me. He didn't ask if I'd cried or urge me to let go.

They simply stayed by my side and went home with me.

A year later, the project I was responsible for officially launched.

My company promoted me to department head.

Our son got into the school he'd been hoping to attend.

On the day his acceptance letter arrived, the three of us went out to dinner.

During the meal, our son glanced at me several times.

When I caught him, he looked a little embarrassed.

After hesitating for a long time, he finally asked, “Mom, are you happy now?”

I turned to look beside me.

Chen Zheng was serving me soup.

Our son's acceptance letter lay at the corner of the table.

No one was forcing me to sell our home.

No one was waiting for me to pay off their debts.

No one thought my life could be sacrificed at any moment simply because I was a daughter.

I nodded.

“I am.”

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

Only at the very end did I understand that I never needed to prove my worth to Mom.

Whether she loved me or not couldn't determine who I was.

Whether my brother succeeded or failed wasn't my responsibility.

Mom believed sons mattered more. I supported her in leaving everything to her son.

When she grew old, I also respected the decisions her most-valued son made for her.

As for my love, I would save it for the people who truly loved me.

From now on, my life didn't need Mom's permission.

It didn't need anyone else's approval, either.

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