"What's wrong with you? You can't even slice a pear properly!" Slap after slap landed on my face and I didn't fight back at all.
I didn't know when these days would ever come to an end.
Until that night, when I returned with some water and saw Anita in my brother's hospital room. This was the only place where I could find peace.
She said, "So this is where you disappear to at night. Turns out there's a cripple waiting for you here?"
"Ugh, how disgusting. He wet himself." Anita pointed at the soaked bedsheet with a look of disgust, "If I were him, I'd rather be dead."
My brother's eyes were wide open, his face turning red and he whimpered as he cried. I dropped the basin in my hands and shoved Anita, tried to force her out.
But she suddenly turned and leaned toward my brother's bed, giggled, "Your sister doesn't dare to divorce because of you and your brother-in-law brings women home to have fun every day. You're just a huge burden!"
I rushed forward and slapped her hard. Anita lost her balance and fell right onto the wet bedsheet.
She screamed and stomped around, then went crazy and shoved my brother off the bed.
All the machines crashed to the ground and I saw the oxygen tube get yanked out. A moment later, the monitor let out a few beeps before flattening into a long tone.
Anita looked frightened. Just then, Bobby walked in and she ran into his arms, "Mr. Brooke, she hit me again …"
My head buzzed as I looked at the chaos around me. I'd thought about ending it all many times, but never imagined it would come like this.
Looking at my brother's lifeless body, the black mole on the back of his right hand stung my eyes.
Just now, I had seen it. It was that same hand, the one with the mole, that pulled out the oxygen tube. My brother had done it himself.
Even Bobby hadn't expected things to turn out like this. He coughed a few times, "Alright, how about this. Anita won't press charges for you hitting her. And you don't investigate this incident either."
"Your brother's been paralyzed for years. A man living like that with no dignity, it's better to die with some grace." With a few careless words, Bobby dismissed my brother's life.
"Your dad's in debt again, isn't he? Three million, right? I'll get it for you later. Kirsten, stop making trouble." He spoke like he was giving alms to a beggar, said a few more things, then left.
Kirsten … He hadn't called me that in five years.
I laughed and laughed, then cried, then laughed again.
It was finally over. All of it should end now.
My father's body hadn't been cremated, but I had my brother's cremated. There weren't many relatives, so I didn't hold a funeral.
As I walked out of the crematorium, I called Andrew, "Andrew, come pick me up." I brought my brother's urn home.
Those female students rushed in again, wanting to take stuff. As always, I didn't stop them. I even brought out quite a bit from storage.
Their eyes lit up with joy and they happily left with whatever they picked. Only the box filled with memories of me and Bobby, no one wanted it. They didn't want it and neither did I.
That night, once again, I handed the divorce papers to Bobby.
"Kirsten, haven't you caused enough trouble?" As expected, Bobby got angry again. He not only smashed my brother's urn, but also locked me in a room.
When Andrew climbed over the wall to get me out, it was the first time I truly felt my miserable past had come to an end.
Bobby had spent the whole night drinking and when he woke up, he instinctively reached for hangover pills.
He asked the housekeeper, "Wendy, where's the hangover medicine?"
"Madam kept it. I'll go ask her." Wendy wiped her hands and went upstairs to look for her. When she opened the door, the room was completely empty.
Bobby seemed to sense something and rushed upstairs in big strides, "Wendy, has Madam's father been here recently?"
Wendy let out a sound of surprise and spoke in shock, "Sir, Madam's father was hacked to death and dumped in the suburbs a few days ago. The killer still hasn't been found. It's been all over the news. Haven't you seen it?"
The room was empty. Bobby stood there, stunned for several minutes, as if his blood ran backward.
A deep sense of loneliness swept over him. For the first time, Bobby felt the pain of someone truly leaving him.
