A Biased Mother

Mom raced all the way to the hospital and took Andrew to the emergency room. It wasn't until the doctor told her Andrew had only sprained his wrist and was otherwise fine that she finally breathed a sigh of relief.My father, Gerard Midler, rushed in at that moment, panting and anxious. "How's Andy? Is his wrist alright? Any broken bones?"Mom looked relieved. "The doctor said it's just a sprain. Thankfully, nothing's broken. This is all Frank's fault. He couldn't even protect his brother. It's such a waste raising him."Her tone turned sharp the moment she mentioned me, as if she wished to tear me apart.Protect your brother—that was a line I'd heard countless times growing up. But I was only one year older than him. I was just as much a child as he was!Besides, Andrew had always taken advantage of our parents' favoritism to push me around. Since when did he ever need my protection?Dad frowned and cursed angrily, "That useless brat! Even a dog knows to protect its owner! We fe

The smile froze on Mom's face.She glanced at the caller ID on the screen again, and her tone turned sharp after confirming that it was, indeed, Seth. "Seth, did that wretched boy Frank run to you and ask you to say such things to trick me?"Tell him that it's Andy's birthday today. How dare he use such morbid words to get our attention? Just wait until he gets home! We'll teach him a lesson then!"Seth clearly hadn't expected Mom to be so stubborn. His voice rose sharply."Edith! Do you really think I would lie about something like this? Frank is your child, too! How can a mother treat her child like this? I told you to let us bring him up that day, but you refused. And now that he's dead, you still won't believe it? Is Frank even your son? "Anyway, his body is at the general hospital right now. You can come and see for yourself!"Mom said nothing after that and simply ended the call. As Seth's voice had been loud, the relatives standing nearby overheard everything. The surro

A flicker of irritation flashed in Andrew's eyes, but still, he maintained a pitiful and wronged expression. "I don't know how this happened either, Mom. All I said was that Frank told me he didn't want to stay in a house with me. I never said he ran away. Perhaps he really did plan to run away after pushing me, but he never expected it would end up killing him."A wave of fury rose within me. Even though I was dead, Andrew was still slandering me.With that, Andrew suddenly fell to his knees with a thud, tears streaming down his face. "I'm sorry, Frank. If I hadn't dodged when you tried to push me that day, the one at the bottom of the cliff would have been me. Then you wouldn't have died."Every word from Andrew implied that he should have been the one to die. But how could my parents, who treasured him more than life itself, bear to see him like this?So, as if waking from a dream, Mom wiped her tears and pulled Andrew to his feet, embracing him tightly. "It's not your fault,

Mom trembled as she crouched down and picked up the photos one by one. They clearly recorded the entire process of Andrew pushing me off the cliff. His hands, frozen in the act, were glaringly obvious.It turned out Seth had never believed I was the kind of person Andrew made me out to be. Seth searched everywhere, trying to find a witness among the nearby residents. That was when he discovered that a geological survey team had left their equipment under a tree near the cliff that day. The instruments had clearly captured the entire act of Andrew's crime.Looking at Seth, whose face was now shadowed with stubble, I felt a deep gratitude from the bottom of my heart. He had worked tirelessly to uncover the truth behind my death. I vowed that if there was a next life, I would repay him in full.Mom turned and slapped Andrew hard across the face, her voice shaking. "Why? He was your own brother! How could you do it?"Andrew's head snapped to the side from the force, his cheek rapidly