My Mom Lives on Lies, I Live on Revenge

Early the next morning, Mom woke me up like nothing had happened last night at all.

"Come on down, Viv. I made your favorite scrambled eggs for breakfast."

She smiled so lovingly and tenderly at me that I got a sudden chill down my back. Something felt fishy to me.

Dad was sitting at the head of the table with his nose buried in the morning newspaper. He didn't even bother glancing at me as I sat down.

"Help yourself to some more breakfast, Richard," Mom said, refilling his coffee mug while speaking in a sickly sweet voice.

This unnatural and awkward harmonious picture was a lot more alarming than her loud sobbing and crying last night.

What on earth was going on? Had Mom somehow found out about something?

After breakfast, Mom affectionately took my arm.

"Viv, come with Mom to the bank for a bit. I think there's something wrong with my card. You're familiar with these kinds of technology, so I'm going to borrow you for a bit."

I felt my heart sink into my stomach at her words.

None of this had happened in my past life.

Why did Mom suddenly ask me to accompany her to the bank?

Yet, as I didn't want her to get suspicious of me, I simply smiled and nodded at her.

"Okay."

…

When we were at the bank, Mom kept stalling at the counter.

"Wait, I think I forgot the password for this…"

The bank staff was obviously losing her patience with Mom when Mom suddenly grabbed my arm and said, "Viv, did you bring your ID with you? I need to use it for now. I'll make sure to transfer the money back to you later on."

However, the eager look in her eyes didn't make her seem like someone who had forgotten her account password at the bank. Rather, she looked like someone waiting for her victim to fall into her trap.

I suddenly recalled how she had taken away my ID and made a photocopy of it under the guise that she was helping me manage my finances.

Yet, a month later, an unknown loan had been taken out in my name.

"I didn't bring it, Mom," I said apologetically. "Do you want me to go back and ask Dad for his ID instead?"

Mom's expression darkened at once. She then forced a smile that looked very chilling.

"You're such a forgetful little brat. How could you lose your ID?"

She was quiet the rest of the way out of the bank. When we were almost home, however, she suddenly stopped short at the apartment building entrance and said, "Look, Viv! Isn't that old Mrs. Walters?"

I looked in the direction she was pointing and saw nobody. The entrance was completely empty.

"Where's Mrs. Walters?"

When I looked back, I suddenly felt my heart thumping loudly when I realized that Mom was very quickly withdrawing her hand from my coat pocket.

She had put something in it.

"Maybe I was mistaken," she said, walking away like nothing just happened.

I pretended not to notice anything and reached into my coat pocket. I immediately touched something hard and sharp that was rectangular-shaped.

It wasn't money.

While untying my shoelaces, I hurriedly brought the item out to glance at it and realized that it was a SIM card that I'd never seen before.

My heart suddenly froze.

What was she trying to do with my ID card and this SIM card, which had to be registered under someone's real name? Did my death in my past life have something to do with this?

When I thought about it, I remembered that the balcony railing had happened to break right at that moment, which was how I fell off of it in the first place.

Something was obviously very wrong with it.

That night, I flushed the SIM card into the toilet.

When I walked out of the toilet, Mom was standing at the door with a glass of warm milk in her hands and a gentle smile on her face.

"Here, have some warm milk before you go to sleep tonight, Viv. It'll help with calming down your nerves."

I stared at the white liquid in the glass.

In my past life, she would often show her "concern" toward me like this too.

"Thanks, Mom," I said, taking the glass from her. However, after going into my room, I poured the milk into my potted plant.

I was woken up that night by a slight stirring sound.

I saw that the light coming from the living room under my bedroom door was slightly blocked off by something in front of it.

Or someone who was standing at my door.

I held my breath and heard Mom's low voice. She was speaking into the phone with a smile in her voice. I didn't know who was on the other end of the call.

"It's all been arranged… I promise that nothing will go wrong this time.

"After all, she failed the test last time, didn't she?"