Chapter 3

The comments on screen started flooding in again.

"Sure, Hannah was a little mischievous as a kid, but that's no reason to beat her half to death. If Hannah were a boy, would Sandra have the heart to hit her like that?"

"Exactly! Just look at Hannah—she must have suffered so much!"

The first round of voting was mostly in Hannah's favor. They still believed that I favored sons over daughters.

Then, the second memory played.

It was when Hannah was in middle school—the moment I found out I was pregnant.

"Honey, I'm pregnant."

Toby looked worried. In fact, there wasn't a trace of the joy an expectant father should have.

"Given how sensitive Hannah is, I'm afraid she might take it the wrong way. Do you think we should keep this baby?"

At the time, I just looked lost when I heard that.

"Honey, I can't decide, so I'll leave it up to you."

As a mother, I naturally didn't want to abort my own child. However, I was also Hannah's mom, and I knew her well enough. I was afraid she would think we didn't love her anymore.

At this point, the comments started flooding in wildly.

"Oh, spare us the act. You went ahead and had the kid anyway. If you wanted a boy that badly, you could've just said so. There was no need to dress it up so magnanimously."

"You can't decide? Please. You just wanted a boy to carry on the family name, didn't you?"

They were all furious that we had given birth to Rodney.

The memory kept playing.

"Mrs. Wright, if you terminate this pregnancy, you may need to have your uterus removed. There is already an abnormality in your uterus, and it simply cannot withstand another miscarriage."

The doctor shook his head. "Having your uterus removed would be very hard on your body, so I do not recommend an abortion."

Thus, after weighing the matter, we decided to keep the baby. However, neither of us could figure out how to tell Hannah. It wasn't until my belly grew too big to hide that Hannah found out on her own.

"Mom, you're pregnant!"

Hannah stared at my stomach in disbelief, and her first reaction was to rush forward and hit me.

"I don't want a younger brother or sister! I don't want one!"

Toby quickly rushed over to shield my belly.

"Hannah, you can't do this to your mother! We didn't have a choice. If we didn't have this baby, your mother would have to have her uterus removed. You wouldn't want her health to suffer, would you?"

But Hannah didn't care about any of that. She shoved me straight to the ground.

In an instant, I saw blood. Clutching my belly, I cried out, "It hurts. It hurts so much!"

Hannah just stood to the side, her smile cruel, looking utterly pleased with herself.

"I'd be happy if the baby were gone!"

Toby, seeing what had happened, rushed to take me to the hospital. But he slipped and slammed the back of his head hard against the coffee table.

Hannah's shove sent me into premature labor. I barely made it out alive, while Toby lost too much blood to be saved."

Before he passed, he held my hand and said tearfully, "Honey, don't blame Hannah. She's still just a child and doesn't know any better."

How could I not blame her?

But Toby was right. Hannah was just a child who needed reassurance.

After this memory segment finished playing, the comment section fell silent. After all, Hannah was only a child back then. She couldn't possibly have understood the terrible consequences her actions would bring.

Nevertheless, the viewers still believed that after Toby's death, I must have done other awful things. So, this round went to Hannah.

She had already won two out of five rounds. If I didn't win the remaining three, I would be imprisoned for life.