Half a year after I died filled with hatred and resentment, my ex-girlfriend Sophia and her childhood friend Chris both died one after another and arrived in Hell. Chris shielded Sophia's trembling body behind him, screaming hysterically at the Gates of Hell. "How could we have fallen to a place like this?" "All these years we've helped the poor, donated to schools, contributed to disaster relief. We've done countless good deeds! After death, we should have ascended to Heaven!" "It must be that bastard Julian playing tricks! Even in death, he's dragging us down with him! Call him out here-I want to confront him face to face!" The Wardens flipped through the Book of Judgment and laughed mockingly. "Julian? He ascended to Paradise long ago. He'll never enter the cycle of reincarnation again!" "Julian is in Paradise? How is that possible? That beast didn't go to Hell?" "Your Honor, the records in this Book of Judgment must be wrong!" Sophia, nestled in Chris's arms, cried tears streaming down her face. "We were devoted to charity in life and never committed evil deeds. You must investigate this thoroughly!" The surrounding thousands of dead souls were drawn by the commotion, and discussions rose one after another. One ghost glared with wide eyes. "I know Julian! To embezzle his parents' inheritance, he personally murdered his own biological parents!" "He was jealous of his younger brother Chris's successful career, so he bribed hackers to alter company accounts and spread rumors that Chris had fled with the money, causing a thriving enterprise to nearly go bankrupt overnight!" "Sophia funded the elderly and orphans, and founded Hope Elementary Schools-she's a well-known philanthropist!" "Good people are wrongly punished while evil people roam free in Heaven-is there any justice left in this world? We must get justice today!" In hell, I was also quite the notorious villain, so these newly arrived ghosts all knew about my deeds. Seeing the crowd growing increasingly agitated, the Wardens sighed softly. "Since you all claim injustice, then let's watch Julian's testimony left behind in Hell." As light and shadow shifted, a mirror suddenly appeared before everyone. The skeletal, emaciated me sat quietly in the judgment seat, playing with the faded red cord wrapped around my wrist. What follows is my testimony. Sophia and I had known each other since childhood-everyone acknowledged us as childhood sweethearts. In middle school, when thugs cornered Sophia in an alley, I grabbed a wooden stick from the roadside and charged forward. The stick eventually broke, leaving a deep gash on my hand. On my eighteenth birthday, she personally wove me a red cord bracelet, saying she would always stay by my side. In college, when she had acute appendicitis, I set up a cot in the hospital corridor and stayed by her side day and night. When she was afraid of injections, I'd tell her jokes in every way I could think of to coax her. When her business venture failed, I secretly sold my beloved car and rushed the money to her overnight. Those days were hard, but just seeing her smile made everything worthwhile. Speaking of these memories, a hint of a smile appeared on my originally dim face. We used to be so beautiful, so happy. We were a model couple that made others envious. Everyone was certain we would be together forever, until we grew old together. Outside the mirror, Sophia seemed to also sink into those beautiful times, her eyes reddening as she watched the scene. Chris's face grew increasingly ugly. He gripped her hand tightly and forced a smile. "Sophia, if I'd known you two were this close, I shouldn't have confessed to you. I should have buried this love in my heart." "It's all in the past. Besides, I fell in love with you first. You did nothing wrong. Don't take all the blame on yourself." Sophia leaned into his embrace, comforting him with heartache. They kissed recklessly, while I continued narrating my short-lived life.
That year in late autumn, Father brought home a young man, saying he was an illegitimate son who had been separated from the family twenty years ago. His birth mother had died last month in a small town. The boy inherited the family's asthma condition and came looking for us as a last resort. Mother smashed the cup in her hand, hysterically questioning him about years of deception. But when she saw the boy's paper-white face as he curled up in the entryway coughing violently, she eventually softened. She turned and silently prepared the guest room. This young man named Chris became my brother from that day on. When he first arrived, he always wore a T-shirt washed until it was nearly white. He always kept his head down when speaking. I felt pity for him and shared half of everything I owned with him. Even when servants spoke harshly to him, I would stand up for him. Later, I brought Chris to meet Sophia for the first time. He accidentally knocked over a coffee cup. The coffee splashed onto Sophia's skirt. Chris frantically wiped it with his sleeve, his eyes welling up with mist as he kept apologizing. Seeing his pitiful appearance, Sophia didn't know what to say. Later, the three of us often went out together, and Sophia gradually grew accustomed to it. She would proactively bring Chris limited edition snacks. When we hiked mountains, she'd carry his backpack for him. She even prepared matching couple's watches for both of us on my birthday. I watched her gentle profile as she tied Chris's shoelaces, and my heart felt like it was stuffed with damp cotton. Sophia laughed helplessly. "You petty. you're jealous even of this? We're taking care of a sick person, isn't that okay?" Until Mother suddenly died from a heart attack due to overwork. On the night, I held Mother's portrait and sobbed uncontrollably. Sophia held me in her arms, softly comforting me. But when I went to get Mother's favorite silk scarf, I stumbled upon a suffocating scene in the storage room- Sophia had Chris pinned against the wall, her burning kiss falling on his pale lips. "Sophia... Julian is still outside..." Chris's hoarse voice trembled. "I can't wait anymore." Sophia gripped the back of his neck. "Tomorrow I'll tell him. What I've always wanted... is you..." The bronze lamps in Hell flickered bright and dim. The Judge's gavel fell heavily. "Breaking vows, cheating, defilement before the deceased-three crimes combined!" Sophia raised her head, her eyes defiant. "A promise from ten years ago was just childish talk! Meeting Chris made me realize what soul mate is. Should I trap three people's lives for the sake of so-called responsibility?" Chris also began defending himself. "Why should people who truly love each other suffer this punishment? Your Honor, have you ever experienced the pain of loving someone you can't have?" The spectating ghosts began whispering among themselves. "It's normal for young people to change their hearts. Life is so long-who can be certain the person in front of them is the one they'll spend their life with?" "Moreover, Sophia loved the wrong person to begin with. If she'd kept loving Julian, who knows how he would have abused her!" "Right, cheating is wrong, but compared to the unconscionable things Julian did later, this little mistake is nothing." In the dim underworld, the sounds of condemnation gradually drowned out the Judge's reprimands.
The Judge paid no attention to them, merely having the Wardens continue playing my testimony. It was a dusk of pouring rain. I had not only lost my only support-Mother-but was also personally pushed into the abyss by my most trusted girlfriend, Sophia. Despair rose like a tide, flooding over my head. I became volatile and obsessive. Facing Father who had suddenly brought home his illegitimate son Chris, I sneered and mocked him all day long. When Chris shed crocodile tears in front of me, I directly overturned the tea table and told him to get lost. Even Sophia, who once said she would protect me forever, had now become a traitor in my eyes. The chaotic scenes at home quickly became known to everyone. Neighbors pointed at my spine, saying the Sterling family had produced a arrogant devil who thought himself above everyone. Looking back now, Sophia's words really hit a nerve-I was indeed like a beast raised in an iron cage. I'd never even stepped onto a real battlefield, yet thought baring my fangs and claws made me fierce. I was nothing more than a tiger with its claws pulled out, floundering pathetically in the mud. Mother's seventh day memorial had barely passed when Father grandly held a recognition banquet for Chris at a luxury hotel. That day, Chris wore an Italian custom suit and greeted to the guests holding champagne-every bit the most proper heir of the Sterling family. I was locked in the attic, watching the brilliant lights outside the window, smashing every piece of porcelain I could get my hands on. Just then, Chris appeared leisurely. He dangled the jade signet ring Mother had left for me, sneering that I was just lucky to have been born well. "If it weren't for your mother interfering back then, my mother and I should have walked through the Sterling family's front door openly long ago." He suddenly released his grip. The crisp sound of the ring hitting the floor startled me back half a step. Then he staggered and rolled down the spiral staircase, his pale face flushing with an unnatural redness. He clutched his chest, gasping violently, calling out intermittently: "Julian... stealing the ring is one thing, but why... why did you push me! My asthma medication... is upstairs..." When Father rushed in, I had no way to defend myself. He gripped my wrist until his veins bulged, saying Chris had suffered from severe asthma since childhood-this was deliberate murder of my own brother. Sophia, her eyes red, pinned me against the wall, her nails digging deep into my arm. "Julian Sterling, if Chris die today, I'll make you pay with your life!" That night, Sophia somehow gathered a group of thugs and cornered me in a dark alley. They pressed my head against the wall, fists and feet raining down on me like hail. Sophia stood under the streetlight watching coldly, occasionally kicking me twice. "That's for bullying Chris! Do you know how much he suffers when his condition flares up? Beat him to death-I'll take responsibility if anything happens!" I curled up on the ground, feeling like my ribs were about to be kicked in. Warm blood flowed from the corner of my mouth down my throat. They only left cursing when I passed out. Lying in the hospital, I stared at the fluorescent lights on the ceiling and suddenly remembered what Mother had said: The most terrifying thing in this world isn't demons-it's the human heart. Your Honor, if there's truly justice in this world, can you see the buried truth?
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