chapter 10
Ashley fell to her knees, crying, “Felix, why would you do this?”
Why? I had a good guess.
A few months ago, Felix had borrowed money from loan sharks to feed his gambling habit. He couldn’t repay them and came begging me for help, but I had no money to give him.
When I advised him to turn himself in to the police, he fell to his knees and pleaded, “Please, Sean. You can’t report this. If the police get involved, my life is over. They’ll break my arms. Please help me, Sean.”
I didn’t want to watch him continue down that path, and I couldn’t bear to let our parents’ years of effort go to waste. So, I bit my tongue and refused.
Seeing that I wouldn’t budge, he pretended to accept my advice. “Fine. I’ll turn myself in. But can you give me two days to prepare myself?”
He looked so pitiful that I relented again, unknowing to the fact that he was plotting my death to silence me.
Finally, the police pulled out my car’s dashboard camera footage and played it for Mom. “Take a look. This is your son who died due to your medical malpractice.”
In the video, I could be seen shielding Felix under my body during the crash.
Knowing the truth, my parents and Ashley all looked at Felix in disbelief. Everyone fell into silence.
Once Mom finally came to her senses, she lunged forward and grabbed Felix’s clothes tightly. “Felix Goodman, you murderer! How could you be so vicious as to kill your own brother?”
The more she spoke, the more agitated she became. She raised her hand, wanting to hit him, but was promptly stopped by the police.
This was the first time in all these years that I saw Mom lay a hand on him.
Realizing things had reached a point of no return, Felix let out a maniacal laugh before turning to look at her, his eyes devoid of any warmth.
“I’m vicious? I must’ve gotten it from you. I’m a murderer? Weren’t you the one who called all the doctors into my ward that day, stopping him from getting the emergency surgery he needed? If not for you, how could I have killed him so easily?”
Felix’s words stabbed into Mom’s heart like a steel blade. Her body froze as if all her past mistakes were wrapping around her soul, engulfing her in guilt. That long-buried remorse quietly crept into her heart and consumed her.
She grabbed her hair forcefully. Eyes wide, she shook her head desperately. “I’m sorry, Sean. It’s all my fault. I’ve wronged you all these years. It’s me who deserves to die…”
Mom stumbled and crawled to my tombstone, choking with sobs as she held it tightly, caressing the small photo of me on it.
“Please wake up, Sean. I’m so sorry. I’ll kneel down and apologize to you… You wanted to study abroad, right? I’ll pay for it. I’ll send you there. No, better yet, I’ll go with you…” she rambled.
She then began to slam her head against the tombstone. The police rushed over to pull her away, but bright red blood had already stained my picture.
If only Mom’s apology had come sooner, perhaps I could’ve experienced the warmth of a mother’s love in this world.
But now, it was far too late. I was already dead, and so was my heart. No matter what they said, I could never forgive them.