During the May Day holiday, my younger brother took advantage of the crowds of people and sneaked into someone else's car.
I pretended not to see anything and turned to walk away.
In my past life, I stopped him.
Because of that, he held a grudge against me for decades.
On my fortieth birthday, he laced my cake with a lethal dose of poison.
He laughed viciously as he watched me spurt blood from my mouth.
"If it weren't for you, I'd be living like a king by now! Why did you ruin my life?"
"Why didn't you let me get in that van?"
——
I opened my eyes and saw my younger brother sneaking into that vehicle.
It was a brown van.
The person inside seemed afraid of being discovered, so he dragged my brother into it.
The engine roared and the van sped off.
I swallowed the hatred burning in my chest and turned away.
In my previous life, I had seen this scene as soon as I came out.
I thought they were human traffickers trying to kidnap someone.
I hurriedly shouted for help and dragged my brother towards the crowd.
The scenic area was crowded and people quickly noticed the commotion.
The two people in the van had initially intended to come over and snatch him. Still, upon seeing the situation, they glared at us fiercely.
Then, they got in the van and fled.
My parents rushed over and held us, crying in anguish.
The police praised me for being vigilant, saying the people in the van were likely human traffickers.
They said I had saved my brother's life.
I was even given a certificate of commendation.
My parents were terrified and immediately ended the trip, taking us home.
My younger brother, Alaric Blackwood, stayed in his room, crying for several days.
Everyone thought he was traumatized.
Little did I know it was because I had ruined his "big opportunity to rise."
Life went on uneventfully after that.
He had a smooth journey through school, exams and graduation.
He fell in love, got married and had a lovely daughter.
His career progressed smoothly and he became a company manager within a few years.
He was the "model child" that other relatives talked about.
Everyone said that he was a blessing in disguise.
In contrast, I had decades of bad luck.
Nothing I did went smoothly, as if someone was constantly sabotaging me.
I was framed and had a cheating note slipped into my pocket during the college entrance examination.
After a three-year ban from taking the exam, I couldn't even get into a university.
Questions I used to be able to answer with my eyes closed became obscure and incomprehensible.
I had no choice but to work in a factory.
I had a few relationships with men I liked, on and off.
Alas, they all ended up breaking up suddenly for no apparent reason.
Alaric said, intentionally or unintentionally, that I had done too many evil things.
Still, when I think about it, I have never done anything evil.
Later, I casually married someone.
I got pregnant several times, but had several miscarriages.
Alaric still said it was because I had done too many bad things and that was why I couldn't even carry a child.
When I was 38, I finally gave birth to a daughter.
A deformed, dead fetus.
My husband thought I was bad luck and ran off with his mistress that very night.
I completely broke down.
When I was forty, Alaric, whom I hadn't heard from in a long time, said he wanted to celebrate my birthday.
He sent a big birthday cake.
I was delighted because the last time I celebrated my birthday was when I was 18 years old.
It turned out that the people who loved you the most were your relatives.
But less than ten minutes after eating the cake.
I was in excruciating pain and instead of being able to speak, I coughed up blood.
I reached out to Alaric for help.
But he stepped on my hand and ground it into the floor.
"Thalia, how does it taste? This is a gift I prepared especially for you!"
"If it weren't for you, I would have been a multi-millionaire! My successful life was all ruined by you, you bitch!"
"Why didn't you let me get on that van back then?"
It was only then that I realized.
That van was the ladder Alaric used to climb to the top.
He had long been sick of his ordinary family, parents and life.
So, he thought of a way to quickly change his social status.
