I Gave Up Treatment Not Them Chapter 08
Dad buried his face in his hands, too overcome with guilt to speak.
Jacob couldn’t bring himself to yell at him, so he turned all his rage onto Victoria instead.
“What else have you been hiding from us? Spit it out!”
Victoria flinched at the roar, shaking her head frantically. “Nothing else…”
But no one believed a word she said anymore.
Julian grabbed her by the throat, his voice dripping with threat. “If you don’t tell the truth right now, I’m shipping you overseas. And if you end up dismembered or harvested for organs, it won’t be my problem.”
Seeing the deadly seriousness in his eyes, Victoria finally began to panic. “I’ll talk! I’ll tell you everything, just don’t do that to me…”
Her voice trembled with terror. “I was just jealous of Sarah. I couldn’t stand seeing her happy. That’s why, after she got cancer, I deliberately slandered her. She never actually hurt me — I made it all up.
“And when I said I was scared? That was a lie too. I never intended to donate anything. I just wanted to stall until she died so I could take her place in your hearts.”
She begged ceaselessly, “I really know I was wrong. I was just out of my mind for a moment. Please, can you forgive me? I’ll take care of you in her place from now on.”
But they weren’t buying it anymore.
Jacob, his eyes bloodshot, tightened his grip on her throat.
“It’s all because of you that we hurt Sarah so deeply. You’re the reason she gave up on us and died in despair. I’m going to make you pay.”
Julian stepped in with a suggestion. “Put her in a psychiatric ward. Make sure she never gets out.”
Victoria collapsed to the floor, her eyes filled with hatred as she looked up at them.
“How dare you blame this all on me? You’re the ones who believed whatever I said. You’re the ones who hurt Sarah! I won’t go to a psych ward…”
She tried to run, but Julian’s men dragged her away immediately.
Watching Victoria’s pathetic struggle, I felt absolutely no sympathy.
She brought all of this on herself.
After the situation with Victoria was settled, Mom and Dad set up a headstone for me.
Even though they didn’t have my ashes, they placed my memorial portrait there.
Mom and Dad leaned against each other, weeping heart-wrenchingly.
“Sarah, it’s all our fault. We failed to protect you. If only you were still here with us…”
Jacob choked back a sob filled with regret. “Sarah, you were the only sister I ever had. I truly know I was wrong…”
Julian silently lit votive candles for me. “Sarah, I’ve made Victoria pay the price. I was only ever grateful to her; I never had feelings for her. The one I’ve always loved is you.”
Hearing their repentance, I found it laughable.
When I was alive, they didn’t believe me. For the sake of an outsider, they hurt me time and time again.
And now they claim to love me?
How ironic.
I floated over to the headstone and looked at the photo they had chosen for me.
It was taken at my Sweet Sixteen Party. I was truly happy back then.
I naively thought that happiness would last forever, but in the end, it was never meant to be.
Just then, a gentle breeze swept past.
Jacob suddenly snapped his head up, looking right at me. “Sarah?
“Is that you?”
Mom and Dad saw me too. They reached out to touch me, only to find their hands passing right through.
“Sarah, do you still hate us? We’ll do anything if you just forgive us.”
I didn’t know why they could see me, but I just shook my head calmly. “There’s no need. I don’t hate you anymore.”
Julian looked at me nervously, stammering, “Sarah, those photos with Victoria — she staged them on purpose. I never did anything intimate with her.”
I shook my head. “It doesn’t matter anymore. It has nothing to do with me.”
Seeing my calm demeanor, they finally realized it was all too late.
Looking at them peacefully, I said, word for word, “I don’t hate you, but I won’t forgive you either.
“If there is another life, I don’t want to be your family again.”
Later, they took down the tombstone.
They didn’t live happy lives, but that had nothing to do with me.
I was free.