“How could Grandma possibly be dead?” Brad’s face turned ashen, his body collapsing into the rain- soaked ground like a puppet whose strings had been cut.
I lunged at him, fists raining down. “It’s all your fault! You spent Grandma’s surgery money on a bag for Kathy!”
My bloodshot eyes turned toward Kathy. “She’ll haunt you. Grandma will never let you rest.”
Something in my gaze must have unnerved her–or maybe it was my words. Her shoulders quivered, and without another word, she grabbed Brad and left.
I sat there in the downpour for what felt like an eternity. In one day, I had lost the person I held dearest and the person I once loved. Everything I had was gone.
By the time I staggered out of the hospital, burning with fever and clutching Grandma’s ashes, I was a hollow shell. At the hospital entrance, I crossed paths with Kathy and our mother.
The woman who abandoned me at three, my own mother, didn’t even recognize me.
She pinched her nose as if I carried the stench of decay. Turning to Kathy, she sneered, “Look at that. Filthy people stink even from a distance. You’d better get rid of that bastard child and secure Brad. He’s your golden ticket to a wealthy life.”
Something cold and jagged twisted in my chest. I clung tighter to the urn, seeking warmth from the only thing I had left–Grandma’s ashes.
I clutched my grandmother’s urn tightly, seeking a trace of warmth.
After my mother abandoned my father and me to climb the social ladder, my father grew to despise me. In his eyes, I was nothing more than a burden to be rid of.
He tried to abandon me multiple times, but if it hadn’t been for my grandmother finding me and raising me, I might have already been dead.
After my mom walked away to register for Kathy, Kathy approached me. “Did you hear what our mom said?” she asked, her voice dripping with mockery.
I stared at her, expressionless. “Don’t worry. I won’t tell Brad.”
I hated him, but his humiliation wasn’t my concern. Let him bask in his ignorance.
Her smirk twisted into something colder. In one swift motion, she grabbed the urn from my hands. “I don’t believe you. Hand this over, and I’ll trust you.”
Rage and panic flared in me. My chest burned as if set on fire. I wasn’t the same person she used to bully. Back then, Grandma was my shield. Now, with no one left, I had nothing to lose.
“Give Grandma back!” I snarled, my voice unrecognizable even to myself. I lunged at her like a wild animal. “Why are you doing this to me, Kathy?”
She recoiled, her eyes alight with malice. “You disgust me. Someone like you, with the same blood as
