My Mom Killed Me Twice

Chapter 2

I opened the door.

Before I could even hear anything, Martha's hand flew across my face.

Slap!

I was so thin and fragile that the blow sent me crashing straight to the floor.

Five bright red finger marks swelled up on my cheek right away.

"You little freak! How are you still alive?!"

Same old insults. I'd heard them so many times I was completely numb to them.

I wiped my face, pushed myself up from the ground, and slowly stood back up.

Seeing how furious she was, I just smiled. "Must be your great genes, Mom. I guess I'm just hard to kill."

Martha obviously caught the sarcasm.

If I'm a bastard, what does that make the woman who gave birth to me?

Seeing her completely speechless made me smirk even more.

She looked ready to explode, but she held back, probably thinking about Sophie.

"What do you want? Money? Fame? I can give you whatever you want, just stay out of the research world and stay away from my family."

I walked over to the couch, sat down, and poured myself some water. "Mom, we're family too. And what I want is simple—my own research."

"I could make you proud too, Mom. Why can't it ever be me?"

I stared at her, looking for even a tiny hint of happiness that I was alive.

But there was nothing.

Her eyes were just full of pure hatred and disgust.

"No way!" she snapped instantly. "This belongs to Sophie. The project is already live, and she just needs to clear this first presentation. Once she does, she's going to be a legend in the scientific community."

"You know damn well who it belongs to, Mom." Her words cut deep, and my heart went completely cold again.

Martha flinched, but then she just laughed it off.

"Olivia, this project is already officially registered under Sophie's name. How are you going to prove it's yours? Show your face again, and I'll kill you."

"Really?" I stood up, walked right over to her, put my hands on her shoulders, and leaned in close to her ear.

"Mom, are you really going to try and kill me a second time?"

Martha visibly flinched and shoved my hands away.

She snatched a bank card out of her purse and threw it at me. "There's 120 grand in there. That's enough to set you up for life. Keep talking nonsense, and things will get ugly."

"I tried to kill you once, and I can easily do it again. How many times do you think you can get lucky?" She lifted her chin, looking down her nose at me.

Her eyes were full of sheer arrogance. "Don't think I haven't done my homework on you. You're just a nobody college student right now. What can you actually do? If you know what's good for you, stay out of your sister's way.

"Your sister is a top-tier research student at an elite university. You don't even compare."

I picked up the card, snapped it right in front of her face, and threw it in the trash.

It was true, though.

My sister had been pampered since day one—everything handed to her on a silver platter.

Mom even paved her entire research career, going as far as trying to get rid of me just to steal my work and hand it to her.

How could I ever compete with that?

Feeling completely numb inside, I couldn't help but scoff.

"Why would I want to ruin her career? You should know that I'm the only person who can fix the glitch I pointed out at the presentation today."

Martha scoffed as if I'd just told a joke. "You? A nobody with a garbage education? What could you possibly know? Sophie is personally mentored by Professor Vina. She's a hundred times smarter than you'll ever be!

"You're the worst thing that ever happened to me. I will never love you, not even for a second!"

The door slammed shut with a loud thud.

Fine! Just wait and watch.

Watch how the daughter you dumped in the woods to be eaten by wolves takes back what's hers.

Watch how the daughter you shoved into the ocean to drown completely destroys your precious favorite child's reputation.

Watch how the "freak" you always hated strips away absolutely everything you own.

I clutched the tiny camera hidden in my chest and closed my eyes.

Reliving the nightmare all over again.