After getting into college, I believe I can finally escape my mother's careful but stifling control. However, my hopes are dashed when a companion study application brings me back under her influence. Each night, I have to squeeze into that cramped single bed with her, and each morning, her wake-up calls drives my roommates crazy. "You got a problem? My companion is approved! This isn't your place. If you don't like it, move out!" was her answer to their complaints. I feel desperate to break free, but I realize that she controls my life far more deeply than I ever imagine.

On the day I received my cancer diagnosis, I found myself alone in the hospital, my head pounding. Meanwhile, Dylan was caught up in his affair. With the chilling news that I had only three months to live, I made up my mind to use my death to haunt him for the rest of his days.

Our family's cake shop is thriving. One day, a woman bursts into our shop with a police officer. She points at my dad and asks her three-year-old daughter, "Jessie, tell the police officer, is this the man who took off your pants?" I can't help but smirk. It is outrageous slander. My dad wasn't even in the shop yesterday. He was at my grandparents' house.

The day before my online interview, I kept reminding my parents not to enter my room during the interview because it would be considered cheating. On the day of the interview, they keep coming in and out of my room, bringing me fruit and milk without taking my words seriously for a single second. Before I know it, I am disqualified for cheating in the first round. My mom pretends not to understand. "I was just bringing you some fruit!" she says innocently. My dad acts completely clueless. "Is bringing you some milk considered cheating too?" he questions me. In the end, they scold me for being ungrateful, saying, "Weren't we just trying to help you? We were worried you'd get nervous!" I can't help but smirk as I remember that just a few days earlier, they went so far as to file a false police report, claiming I was involved in prostitution...

I used to be a professional boxer, traveling the globe for my fights. I've won several championship belts along the way. My body is covered in scars—each one a mark of my hard-won victories. They tell the story of my entire boxing career. But the year I retire, everything changes unexpectedly. My son has just begun attending a new middle school. I have just come back from abroad, only to discover my son is gone. All my achievements feel useless at that moment. The officer asks, "You were once a legendary boxer. Why would you do this? I answer, "Because I'm his father!" The officer presses on, "Is this really what you wanted?" I reply, "He is my son!" The officer continued, "Do you understand what this means for you?" I respond, "It's a life for a life!"

My brother transfers the property he bought for himself into my name. He looks at me seriously and says, "Ruby, you mustn't tell my wife Nora about this. I'm doing this so that she can leave with nothing after we divorce. You have to help me!" I nod with a cold smile. I then let his wife move into my "new home". What my brother doesn't realize is that Nora and I have been best friends for five years.

When my daughter stumbled through the front door, I could hardly believe my eyes. The once lively girl was now a mess, looking beaten down by the bullying at school. The very kids who hurt her even had the nerve to threaten to come to our place! Now, my anger boiled over. I made a point of putting a hundred thousand dollars in cash right out in the open, waiting for them. Theft and trespassing—this time, I'd make those bullies' parents pay dearly for raising such monsters!