My stepmother hated me to the bone. All because when I was a child, I went to a classmate's house to play and forgot to close the front gate. Her son ran out into the street and was hit by a car. He died instantly. My father, who adored my little brother above all else, was heartbroken. When he learned the "truth," he looked at me with grief and rage. "Did you do it on purpose? Were you jealous of your brother, so you left the gate open?" I desperately explained that I had closed it. But my father didn't believe me. He locked me in the basement and raised me like a dog for the rest of my miserable life. Until one day, my father went on a business trip. My stepmother hadn't fed me for three days. Starving, I crawled upstairs to the kitchen to find scraps. But there was my stepmother, sitting on a strange man's lap in the kitchen, giggling. "If that little brat hadn't left the gate open back then, I wouldn't have to live in fear of my husband finding out we killed his precious son." I froze. It turned out that years ago, my stepmother's lover had come over for a tryst. He was the one who forgot to close the gate, letting my brother wander out. Just as I tried to sneak back to the basement, my stepmother spotted me. "What did you hear? No! I can't let your father find out I killed my own son!" In a panic, she grabbed me and threw me down the stairs. I died on impact. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day my brother was hit by a car. I blinked my innocent, doe-like eyes and pointed a chubby finger upstairs, my voice sweet and childish. "Daddy, I closed the gate! It was the uncle in Mommy's bedroom who didn't close it!" Chapter 1 "Lily, did you see an uncle leave the gate open with your own eyes?!" My father stood outside the courtyard gate, his eyes bloodshot, staring at me intently. I sneered internally. Look at how much he loves his son. In my last life, I explained over and over that I closed the gate. But he only listened to my stepmother's pillow talk, convinced I murdered his only son out of jealousy. My mother died giving birth to me. Before her funeral was even over, he brought my pregnant stepmother home. This woman secured her position as the lady of the house with a premature baby boy. Because of the difficult birth, she couldn't have any more children. So, my brother became my father's lifeline. After my brother died, he treated me like a dog to appease his impotent rage and guilt towards his wife. I ate dog food, slept in a cage, and learned to bark. This time, I won't be so stupid. I will use his suspicion as a man, and his love as a father, to trample that adulterous couple into the mud. So, the first thing I did after being reborn was to rush home to catch my stepmother in the act. But I didn't expect to see my brother standing in the middle of the road as soon as I turned the corner. My father was watching from a distance, eyes wide with horror. To make a good impression, I pulled my brother back. Instead of dying on the spot like in my past life, his legs were crushed. He was crippled, but alive. "Honey!" My stepmother's shrill scream cut through my thoughts. Snot and tears running down her face, she threw herself at my father, clutching his arm. "Don't listen to this little wretch! Her mom died early, and she's hated us ever since! She opened the gate on purpose! She wanted to kill Benny!" Before my father could react, I ran over on my short legs and hugged his thigh. I looked up with a dirty face and the most innocent, pure eyes I could muster. "Daddy, I didn't!" I wailed, my voice full of childish grievance. "I want Mommy to love me too, but she doesn't. I thought if I was good to Benny, you guys would like me..." As I spoke, I squeezed out a few big tears and pointed a small finger at my brother, who was wailing in pain on the ground nearby. "I give Benny my milk every day, and I let him play with my favorite teddy bear... Just now, if I hadn't pulled him back, he would have flown into the sky and never played with me again. Teacher says we should protect the little ones. I did it, Daddy. I'm a good girl. Please believe me." Because I had been pretending to be good to my brother to please my father, I lied without blinking. I hugged my father's leg tightly, using all the strength of a child to depend on him, and then dropped my bait. "If you don't believe me, Daddy, go upstairs and find that uncle! He must still be there!" Chapter 2 Hearing my words, my father's face turned darker than a thundercloud. He reached down and pinched my cheek. "Daddy believes you." With that, he turned and charged upstairs. He looked less like he was going to catch a cheater and more like he was going to commit murder. My stepmother's face went pale. She tried to grab him but missed, stomping her foot and screaming, "Honey! The most important thing right now is getting our son to the hospital!" But for a man like my father, nothing mattered more than his pride. A green hat was heavier than his son's legs. He stormed upstairs without looking back. Of course, the room was empty. The man had already slipped away. But the lingering scent of unfamiliar men's cologne was thick in the air, impossible to miss. My stepmother was a pro. Tears flowed instantly as she pulled a beautifully wrapped bottle of men's cologne from her bag. "Honey, I bought this as a surprise for you..." A ghost wouldn't believe that excuse. But my father had no proof. The ambulance wailed as it arrived and took my brother away. Before getting in, my father stared at my stepmother, his voice squeezing through gritted teeth. "If I find out my son lost his legs because of some wild man, I'll kill his entire family!" I was anxious but helpless. I knew my stepmother was cunning and prepared. I couldn't defeat her immediately. I had to wait for another chance. In the hospital, my brother cried from the pain. I immediately threw myself by the bed, holding his small hand, sobbing. "Don't cry, Benny. Sissy is here." My brother was probably in shock, or maybe my fake kindness had worked. He instinctively shrank into my arms. "Sissy saved me." My father stood by, praising me for being "sensible." But seeing my brother's casted legs, he sighed again. "At least he's alive." Since there was no evidence of who opened the gate, my father could only stare suspiciously at my stepmother. She played the role of the obedient wife to perfection, insisting the gate was old and the latch was loose. The matter passed, unresolved. Back home, my stepmother treated me incredibly well. She cooked my favorite sweet and sour ribs, bought me new dresses, and tucked me in at night. Her gentleness made it seem like I was her biological daughter. My father saw this, and his suspicion faded. He probably thought that even if there was something, a woman would settle down for the sake of her child and family. But I knew the truth. The nicer she acted, the guiltier she was. She was desperate to wash herself clean and dump the dirty water back on my head. I was waiting, too. Waiting for her to show her fox tail. I guarded against everything, calculated everything, but I still underestimated her viciousness. One weekend, she sent me to my room early to do homework, while she took my sleeping brother in his wheelchair to the second-floor balcony for some sun. I lifted my head from my workbook, a bad feeling growing in my gut. Sure enough. The moment my father opened the front door, a loud crash and my stepmother's piercing scream echoed from the stairs. "Ah—Lily! How could you push your brother?!" My father froze in the doorway, looking up to see me standing on the second-floor landing, while my brother and his wheelchair lay overturned at the bottom of the stairs. Chapter 3 I clenched my hands. Calm down. I must stay calm. "Daddy, I didn't push Benny. I was writing homework in my room. Mommy was watching him on the balcony." My voice trembled just right, sounding like a terrified child. My father held my unconscious brother, his bloodshot eyes fixed on me like a beast about to lose control. My stepmother immediately interjected. "I clearly told Lily to watch Benny upstairs while I went to borrow some green onions from Mrs. Jones next door! Mrs. Jones can testify!" I sneered internally. The golden cicada sheds its shell. She timed it perfectly with my father's return and went to establish an alibi. Sure enough, Mrs. Jones, who was always close with my stepmother, squeezed out of the gathering crowd. With a righteous face, she chimed in, "It's true, Dave! Sarah just came to get onions from me. She said she was making your favorite braised fish! I saw her walk in the gate myself!" She pointed a finger at me, shaking her head. "But your daughter... when we came over, we saw her standing on the second floor, looking down coldly. Not a reaction at all! Hey, Lily, how can a child be so cruel? Did you open the gate on purpose last time too?" A stone tossed into a pond creates a thousand ripples. The neighbors started whispering. "Yeah, that kid never looked right." "So young and so jealous. What will she be like when she grows up?" Seeing this, my stepmother covered her face and sobbed, leaning weakly against my father. "Honey, don't blame Lily. Maybe the gate was an accident last time, maybe this wasn't on purpose either..." Her retreat was an advance, cementing my guilt. My father's eyes went completely cold. He saw it. He saw his wife rush in anxiously from outside, while I stood like a cold spectator on the second floor. Seeing is believing. "Last time, I saw you pull him back, so I believed you." My father's voice was terrifyingly raspy. "Now, I see you push him down! What else do you have to say?!" The trust in his eyes collapsed, replaced by a thick loathing. "You don't even look scared. Lily, was saving him last time just an act?" Tears streamed down my face. I screamed, "It wasn't me! It was the uncle Mommy brought home! The same uncle from last time! That's why Mommy had time to go to Mrs. Jones's house!" "Daddy, don't you believe me?" I cried and yelled with all my strength, "Call the police! We have to call the police! The officer on TV said if there's trouble, find the police! Check the wheelchair for fingerprints! It will prove I'm innocent!" Seeing my father's grip on my stepmother loosen slightly, I knew my words hit home. I choked back sobs, staring straight at my unconscious brother in his arms. "Daddy, if there really is a bad man hiding in our house who wants to hurt Benny, what will happen to Benny next time?" That sentence was a needle, piercing my father's softest spot. My stepmother's face turned deathly pale. She bit her lip hard, then, as if making a huge decision, looked up at my father with teary eyes. "That sentence should be mine! Our family of three was happy. If it wasn't for you, this disaster, we would have peace!" She wept, every word seemingly squeezed from her gut. "Husband, I gave up everything to follow you, I gave you a son. How could I harm my own flesh and blood? I cook for you every day, I keep this house perfect. Have you forgotten all of that?" "I don't care if you misunderstand me, but I'm afraid for you! I'm afraid you're being blinded by this ungrateful wolf you raised, and you'll regret it!" Chapter 4 My stepmother's speech was full of emotion, the grievance of a wrongly accused wife. My father wavered. He remembered how she had been submissive all these years, managing the house and obeying him. A woman who gave up everything for him and bore his only son—how could she harm her own child? Seeing him soften, my stepmother struck while the iron was hot. She put on a look of utter heartbreak. "Husband, investigate if you want! But if you find nothing like last time, you break my heart and destroy our trust! If that happens, I'm taking my son and leaving. We're getting a divorce!" The word "divorce" slammed into my father's heart like two mountains. He believed her. He felt she was truly hurt by my viciousness. Mrs. Jones chimed in again. "Sarah, don't say such things! We all see how much you do for this family. I say this girl is just jealous of her brother. Rotten to the core!" "Exactly! Comfort your wife, Dave. Good women are hard to find. If she leaves, you'll regret it!" The neighbors' chatter was the final straw that broke my father's reason. He turned around, eyes spitting fire, glaring at me. "You won't be satisfied until you destroy this house, will you? All that schooling went to the dogs!" Before he finished speaking, he marched to the toolbox in the corner and pulled out a heavy black whip. It was used to train the German Shepherd we used to have. It was covered in tiny barbs, old dried blood giving it a rusty, metallic smell. "Since school can't teach you, I'll teach you how to be a human being right here!" Snap! The whip lashed across my back. The neighbors offered fake advice like "don't go too far," but I could hear the satisfaction in their voices. "Good! Disobedient kids need a beating!" My stepmother held my brother, a smug smile on her lips, looking at me like a lamb to the slaughter. "Daddy, really, it wasn't me! Check the fingerprints..." I gritted my teeth as the metallic taste of blood filled my mouth. But my father was deaf to it. With a flick of his wrist, the barbs dug into my flesh and ripped out. Tearing pain. I hated them! I shook with hatred! Why? Reborn, planning every step, why can't I escape this fate! Just as I closed my eyes in despair, thinking I was doomed to repeat the past, my father raised the whip for a second strike, aiming for my face! I was finished. In that split second, my unconscious brother in my stepmother's arms moved and let out a weak moan. "Don't... don't hit Sissy..." Everyone froze. My brother struggled to open his eyes. With all his strength, he spoke in a milky voice: "It was an uncle... an uncle who smelled like perfume pushed me!"
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