Chapter 8
Edward Quan ·
The principal hurried over and immediately announced that the school would not make an innocent child take time off.
I walked my son to class, then went straight to the police station.
Mom and my brother had spread false videos that affected my family and my work.
This time, I wasn't going to appeal to family ties.
I handed the evidence to my lawyer and the police. Every loss would be pursued through the proper channels.
My brother finally panicked when he received a summons.
That night, he brought Mom to the building where I lived.
She sat in her wheelchair with a file folder in her lap.
When she saw me come downstairs, she didn't greet me.
“Drop the case.”
My brother drew a deep breath, struggling to suppress his anger.
He forced a smile, trying to persuade me with sentiment.
“Sis, we're family, after all.”
“I've already lost my job. Things have blown up enough. Don't you think you should let it go?”
I didn't look at him. I asked Mom, “Did you record that video yourself?”
Mom avoided my eyes.
At first, she seemed ready to dismiss it.
When she saw I was still waiting, she lost patience.
“I just wanted to leave myself a way out!”
“I gave the assets to Kang Wei because he's responsible for the family. But he's a man—he doesn't know how to care for someone. Of course his daughter would have to look after me when I get old.”
She didn't think anything she'd said was wrong.
But at last, I understood completely.
It wasn't that she didn't know my brother couldn't be trusted.
Because she knew it, she wanted to give him every benefit, then use filial duty and reputation to bind her daughter to the responsibility.
She wasn't confused.
She was certain I'd give in.
Seeing that I wouldn't budge, my brother stopped pretending, too.
“Mom's old. Even if she exaggerates a little, people are going to believe her.”
Chen Zheng stepped out of the lobby and stood beside me.
My brother unconsciously took half a step back.
When she saw Chen Zheng, Mom immediately raised her voice.
“This is a family matter. An outsider has no right to interfere!”
Chen Zheng had been trying to keep his anger in check.
But at the word “outsider,” he became calmer.
“She is my wife.”
“You spent our family's money, hurt our child, and now you want her to care for your mother in place of your son.”
“You're the ones who have no right to interfere in her life.”
Mom trembled with anger.
She threw the folder in her lap at me.
The papers scattered over the ground.
On top was a document severing our mother-daughter relationship, with language almost identical to the will from my previous life.
She wanted to cut ties with me and demand I return the pension she claimed I'd stolen.
Seeing me bend down to look at the papers, Mom thought I'd been frightened.
She took out a pen and gripped it tightly.
“If you don't drop the case, I'll sign it right now!”
I picked up the declaration, then placed the ink pad on the armrest of her wheelchair.
“Sign it.”
Mom stared at me.
She must have imagined me arguing, crying, or even kneeling to beg her.
She hadn't expected me to agree.
I put the pen back in her hand.
“Didn't you want to cut ties?”
“Sign, then press your fingerprint.”
She held the pen, her hand suspended in the air.
A long time passed, but she still wouldn't set it down.
She'd been willing to ruin my reputation, but she couldn't truly let go of the daughter who could care for her in old age.
At that moment, Mom's phone rang.
After she answered, the strain on her face gradually turned to delight.
The second house Dad had left behind was in a demolition zone.
The compensation was 3.8 million yuan, plus the option to purchase a replacement home.
The house had been transferred to my brother two years earlier.
My brother forgot all about severing ties and immediately called the demolition office to confirm.
After receiving a definite answer, he crouched down in front of Mom.
All the impatience he'd shown earlier had disappeared.
“Mom, once the compensation arrives, I'll buy a big house right away.”
“You can have the biggest room, and I'll hire two helpers. We won't need to ask anyone for anything anymore.”
Mom regained her confidence.
She put the declaration of estrangement back in the folder and looked at me almost triumphantly.
“I knew Kang Wei was blessed.”
“Even if you kneel and beg me later, I won't step foot in your house.”
A month later, the compensation arrived.
My brother drove to the nursing home to pick Mom up.
She even sent me a video.
On screen, she was wearing new clothes my brother had just bought. She kept praising her son for being filial.
My brother was in the driver's seat, talking on the phone.
His voice came through in fragments.
“The house is in Xiao Ya's name.”
“Move the money to her, too, so the court can't seize it.”
Xiao Ya was my sister-in-law.
Mom didn't hear him clearly. She was still smiling at me.
Two days later, they took her back to the nursing home.
My sister-in-law complained that Mom smelled and didn't want her children living with a paralyzed elder.
My brother had kept Mom in the new house for one night.
This time, he stopped paying even the nursing-home fees.