Chapter 15
After my dad checked out from the hospital, he became dejected and disheartened.
And with Joshua’s lame business skills, he couldn’t manage the factory alone.
When the family was at a loss, Vivian came home with Ethan.
She suggested that she and her husband, along with Joshua, manage the factory together.
My mom stared at her face.
On her beautiful delicate face, there were a few faint bruises.
It seemed like she was still recovering from an injury.
“What’s going on?”
My mom pulled Vivian into the room and asked twice, and then she started crying.
“After Willow died, Ethan has been treating me poorly. And on top of that, he had a big argument with me about Dad wanting to give the factory to Joshua. He said it doesn’t matter how much dad loves me, the family business will still go to the son in the end.”
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“I had an argument with him. He said that Willow was not that bad and that if we hadn’t spread rumors in front of him, he wouldn’t have broken up with Willow even if I sneaked into his room and seduced him at midnight.”
“He even hit me, saying that I intentionally didn’t answer the phone and caused Willow’s death.”
“Mom, how could he treat me like this…”
Vivian grew up being pampered and spoiled.
They wouldn’t even let her do any heavy work.
She had never experienced such pain before.
She looked at my mom with a delicate and tearful expression, hoping she could stand out for her.
But my mom just looked at her expressionlessly and asked, “Is there anything wrong with the things he said?”
Vivian froze, looking at her in disbelief.
“You really hate Willow, don’t you? Willow never contacts you.
If she calls you, it must be urgent, even dangerous.”
“You know exactly what you were thinking when you hung up the phone.”
She walked past Vivian indifferently and went out.
Chapter 15
I leaned against the wall, trying to give myself some support.
I didn’t realize that my mom could be so smart.
She could also be very perceptive and see through Vivian’s
schemes.
She could ruthlessly expose her tricks.
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She could even see through Vivian’s malicious intentions toward
- me.
But why didn’t she ever do this when I was alive?
You had to wait until after death to witness this.
During dinner, they started arguing again.
It’s all about the ownership of that factory.
I never even thought about it.
But Joshua and Vivian, both naturally assumed it was theirs.
They started arguing and exposing each other’s faults.
But no matter what they talked about, the topic would always come back to me.
Joshua said, “You tore Mom’s silk scarf and blamed it on Willow. How dare you accuse me?”
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Vivian said, “Why was Willow bullied in high school? Wasn’t it because you untied her bra strap on the way to school and ran away, just in time for those bullies in her grade to see?”
“As soon as Willow went to college, you immediately convinced Mom, who was still angry with Willow, to turn her bedroom into your piano room. What talent do you have? Learn to play that damn piano. Do you think others don’t know what you’re thinking?”
“The nerve you have to say that to me! It was you who
encouraged Mom to pressure Willow into applying for the local community college so she could help with household chores. You lazy fuck won’t even wash your own underwear!”
They were arguing loudly.
It was really an ugly scene.
My mom’s face was getting paler and paler.
Suddenly, she stood up and said, “Enough!”
“Willa is already dead, why won’t you let her go!”
This was a messy and ugly family, full of decay.
It was like a slowly unfolding horror story.
My mother leaned on the table, her chest heaving: “Willa died so tragically, even the neighbors and her landlord cried when they heard about it, but you haven’t shed a single tear for her.”
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“And now you want to bring up all these bad things and drag her name through the mud again.”
“Enough of you.” Dad interrupted her abruptly. “I understand your pain of losing a daughter, but you’ve gone too far, Eleanor Jones. I was in so much pain at the hospital that I couldn’t sleep all night, and you didn’t come to comfort me. All you did was talk about Willow. You didn’t even help me buy breakfast this morning, and you went back to clean her memorial photo.”
“If you ask me, she’s cursed. She died on her sister’s lucky day, which brought bad luck to our house. Our family had been so unlucky lately, maybe it’s all because of her.”
He collected himself and said coldly, “I’ve consulted with the exorcist. He said that as long as we move Willow’s ashes out of the grave, dig a well, and suppress her in the very deep of hell, her fate won’t affect our family anymore.”
“From now on, we’ll be all right.”
“Damn this girl. She won’t give us peace even after she’s dead.”
My mother froze.
She was like a withered flower, losing all remaining vitality in an instant.
After a long, long time, she finally lifted her eyes.
Her gaze was sharp as a knife, piercing to the bone.
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She scanned the few people in front of her, inch by inch.
The unfeeling and immoral father, the Vivian with two–faced, and the Joshua who was selfish and impulsive.
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This family, which seemed to be harmonious on the surface, had long been like a rollen piece of wood, riddled with holes.
When I was still alive, they only maintained happy appearances by relying on their disgust and hatred toward me as a bond.
But now, I was dead.
My tragic death became the catalyst.
My mother’s beloved husband and children finally revealed their terrifying true selves to her.
She looked at the three people in front of her, each with a different expression on their faces.
Oh wait, there were four people.
There was Ethan, who seems indifferent to the situation.
She suddenly calmed down.
Her tone was unexpectedly gentle, “You’re right.”
“Willow is the only one that was cursed in this family. We shouldn’t argue over her.”
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“Sit down. Let’s eat.”
