Chapter 1
It was my son’s eighteenth birthday.
He made a wish for his grandparents to live long and healthy lives.
He wished for his father’s success at work.
When it was my turn, I looked at him with anticipation. He knew that more than anything, I just wanted to be healthy.
Instead, he shot me a glare.
“I wish for you to get a divorce and stay away from us.”
I was stunned into silence.
My husband, Patrick, just laughed at me. “Well, that’s what you get for being so strict with him all the time. Serves you right!”
Later, my son emigrated, taking the entire family with him–everyone except me.
When I begged him, he shook my hand away.
“I’ve already found a new, gentler partner for Dad. Don’t you dare show up and ruin things!”
And so, I died alone of a preventable illness in a cramped, tiny room.
When I woke up, I was back on the day of my son’s eighteenth birthday.
1
When the building management found me, maggots had already started to fester on my legs.
I was barely breathing, hanging on by a single thread.
For the first time, my small apartment was full of people. Management staff, social workers. A young caregiver gently fed me, urging me to keep fighting.
Someone questioned, “This illness wasn’t hard to treat in the beginning. How did it get this bad? Where’s her family?”
i couldn’t speak.
They recognized my son from the photos covering the walls.
“Wow, her son is that famous? The renowned entrepreneur, on the list of the wealthiest people.”
F S FU
“That’s strange. Why didn’t he take her with him when he emigrated? In his last interview, he said his whole family was by his side.”
Soon, they managed to contact him.
I struggled to lift my head, trying to get a clear look at the man on the screen. It had been nearly twenty years since I’d last seen him. He was a fifty–year–old man now, but in my eyes, he was still the boy I remembered.
With every ounce of strength I had left, I managed to whisper his name. “Danny…”
He frowned. “Why aren’t you dead yet?”
Then, he hung up.
A volunteer called him back.
“How could you say that? Your mother is holding on by a thread just to see you one last time. The doctor says she doesn’t have much time Shouldn’t you come back and handle her final affairs?”
An impatient “Tsk” came from the other end.
13.37
An impatient “Tsk” came from the other end.
“Let me be honest with you. She’s just some old woman to me, a stranger. Whether she lives or dies has nothing to do with me.
Bury her, scatter her ashes in the sea, I don’t care. Just stop bothering me.”
Tears welled in my eyes.
Flashes of memory flickered before me. My son’s life, from infancy to adulthood, replayed in my mind.
Suddenly, one scene froze.
I blinked, disoriented.
I found myself standing in front of the bathroom mirror, my face young again.
