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Chapter 9

Author: Rotten Tomato
"Nonsense!"

Mother slammed her fork onto the table. "Charles traded his life for that money, and you won't study?"

"I can't!" Jamie shouted. "Every time I open a book, I see his face! Spending this money—it burns my hands!"

"Even if it burns, you'll spend it!"

Mother shot to her feet, grabbed him by the collar, and hauled him up from his chair.

"Is this money dirty? It's your brother's blood! If you don't use it, then he died for nothing!"

Her eyes were bloodshot, like a lioness driven int
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  • Guilt of Burden   Chapter 9

    "Nonsense!"Mother slammed her fork onto the table. "Charles traded his life for that money, and you won't study?""I can't!" Jamie shouted. "Every time I open a book, I see his face! Spending this money—it burns my hands!""Even if it burns, you'll spend it!"Mother shot to her feet, grabbed him by the collar, and hauled him up from his chair."Is this money dirty? It's your brother's blood! If you don't use it, then he died for nothing!"Her eyes were bloodshot, like a lioness driven into a corner."From today on, if either of you dares to say you won't study, dares to say you'll go work instead, I'll die right in front of you! Then we'll cheat another insurance payout while we're at it!"Jamie broke down. A boy nearly six feet tall, crying like an infant.Stephanie silently picked up a slice of pot roast and placed it on his plate, then another for Mother.Finally, she picked up a slice and set it on the plate before the empty seat. My seat."Mom, Jamie will study," Steph

  • Guilt of Burden   Chapter 8

    Jonathan frowned, trying to pull his leg free."Mrs. Woodburn, please compose yourself. The chain of evidence is quite complete.""What evidence?!"Stephanie rushed in, clutching a thick notebook.It was my physics problem book, crammed with dense formulas."Look at this!" She flipped to the last page and pointed to a single line written in red ink.[Goal: Tonnereine University, Department of Physics. Starting next Monday, quit gaming and go all-in!]The handwriting was mine.But I had never written those words.I leaned closer. Stephanie had imitated my script. It was a little shaky, but in the heat of the moment, no one would notice."Charles was preparing for university!" Stephanie cried. "When he said he was going somewhere far, he meant Tonnereine! He sold his account to cut off distractions! How could he have wanted to die? He just won a gold medal!"She slammed the notebook against Jonathan's chest."Look at these problems! Someone who solved over a thousand question

  • Guilt of Burden   Chapter 7

    Mother glanced at Jamie. He stood in the doorway like a guard."There's a password," he said."Unlock it," Jonathan replied. "As part of the claims review, we need to rule out suicidal intent. Browser history, journals, chat logs—those are all evidence."Jamie didn't move."You don't have to unlock it," Jonathan said evenly. "In that case, the claim will be suspended indefinitely until the family cooperates."Mother shoved him. "Open it for him!"Jaw clenched, Jamie stepped forward and entered the password.The screen lit up.The desktop was cluttered—PDFs of physics problems everywhere.Jonathan sat down and opened the browser with practiced ease. The history was completely blank."Wiped clean." He glanced back at Jamie. "When did you delete it?""Yesterday," Jamie said without changing expression. "My brother died. It upset Mom, so she had me clear everything.""Including the system logs?" Jonathan let out a faint, humorless laugh and began typing rapidly.He was restori

  • Guilt of Burden   Chapter 6

    I drifted into the furnace. The flames passed through my spirit—no heat, only a tearing sensation that felt almost like release.All the illness, the suffocation, and the despair were gone in an instant.Half an hour later, Jamie came out holding a cheap white plastic box. It was still warm."Charles is so light," he muttered.Mother said nothing. She was staring at her phone.A new message had just come in: [XX Insurance] Your claim has been received. An investigator will visit within three business days for verification.The real judgment was only just beginning.The next morning, at 9:00 a.m., a knock came, right on time. Not a frantic pounding, but three measured taps.Mother took a deep breath and smoothed the stray hairs at her temples. She had changed into the only white shirt in the house without holes.She opened the door.A man in his thirties stood outside. He wore a black suit and held a briefcase. He had eyes like a hawk."Jonathan Beller, insurance investigator

  • Guilt of Burden   Chapter 5

    "Charles said he felt awful… said he wanted to die. I—I was scared he'd do something stupid, so I looked things up online—how to talk him out of it, how serious it was." Jamie didn't even dare blink as he lied. "That insurance… I clicked into it from a news push."The officer narrowed his eyes, studying the high schooler."Then where are the pill bottles?" he asked. "In a depression patient's room, how is there no medication?"It was a fatal gap.Mother's breathing nearly stopped."Here."Stephanie pulled three bottles from her schoolbag.They were the extra prescriptions I'd asked her to pick up from another pharmacy yesterday, to make up a lethal dose. Still unopened."Yesterday, my brother asked me to buy these for him. I… I forgot to give them to him." Stephanie held up the full bottles, tears spilling down her face. "If I'd given them to him sooner… would he not have…?"The logic didn't hold. The emotion did.The officer fell silent for a moment.There were no signs of

  • Guilt of Burden   Chapter 4

    Mother's hand cracked across Jamie's face.It was a brutal blow. Blood welled at the corner of his mouth almost instantly."What do you know?" she shouted, her tears finally breaking loose. "Do you think I wanted him to die? This money… he traded his life for it—for you!""Don't touch him." She drew a sharp breath, wiped her tears, and when she looked up again, her eyes were terrifyingly steady. "Stephanie, go shut the front door. Jamie, get a towel and wipe your brother's mouth clean.""Mom?" Stephanie stared at her, horrified."There's a clause in the insurance policy." Mother's voice trembled, but every word was painfully clear. "Suicide… if it happens within two years, there's no payout. This policy's only been in place for a year and a half."I hovered in the air, stunned. I had forgotten that clause.Mother fixed her gaze on my body, as if she could see through it, through me."It can't be suicide," she said. "He took the wrong medication. Or it was a heart attack. Do you

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