My Mom Killed Me Twice

Chapter 3

"How did I end up with a freak like you? You're four years old and you still can't even talk!"

Martha grabbed my ear and yanked it hard.

She pulled it up so high that the skin started to tear, and blood began to ooze out.

Back then, as a four-year-old, all I could do was wave my hands around with tears welling up, completely unable to make a sound.

Seeing that I still couldn't speak, Martha looked even more disgusted.

She shoved me aside hard. "Just looking at you brings me bad luck!"

I crashed onto the floor, knocking over the coffee table. Shattered pieces of a teacup cut into my hand, and blood started pouring down my arm.

I slowly crawled over to my mom's feet, gently tugging at the bottom of her pants with my tiny hand.

"M—Mom."

She kicked me away in disgust. "Can't you say anything else besides 'Mom'?!

"I've spent so much time teaching you, and you haven't made any progress at all!

"Your dad is so fed up with you that he won't even come home!

"Why don't you just go die!

"Go to hell!"

I was young and clueless, so I didn't understand what was happening.

I just blindly wanted to hug my mom, but she just kept kicking me away, time after time.

Ever since I was born, I had always been locked away in my own little world.

I just focused on whatever was in my head, totally shut off from the outside world.

Even when my mom took me out for a picnic and left me all alone in the middle of nowhere, I still didn't realize how much she hated me.

Luckily, a little boy who was camping with his dad found me, and they took me to an orphanage.

The orphanage director raised me and took great care of me, teaching me how to read and talk to people.

And Jordan, the boy who saved me, came to visit pretty often, bringing along the books I wanted to read.

He'd hang out and study with me.

Over time, I started showing what I could do. Jordan's dad noticed my talent and quietly introduced me to the scientific research community so I could start doing studies.

I quickly started making a name for myself in the field.

Since my parents were university research professors, they noticed me right away.

That year, when I was sixteen, my mom suddenly showed up in front of me again.

She held me tight and sobbed, crying about how she had finally found her long-lost child.

And I actually thought, 'Hey, I can talk now. Mom should like me now, right?'

Cautiously, I tried to hold her hand so we could go home.

But the second the media wasn't looking, she slapped my hand away and told me to just get in the car.

When they brought me home, I met my younger sister, who just stared at me.

She was wearing a soft, flowing nightgown, and her skin looked flawless and delicate.

It was obvious right away that she had been completely pampered and spoiled her whole life.

Meanwhile, during my own childhood, I had been fighting off wild wolves just to get something to eat.

My mom put me in a tiny storage room right next to my sister's bedroom.

"You just got here, so living close to Sophie will help you two bond as sisters.

"It's not that I don't want you in the guest room, it's just that your sister really likes you, so you should stay close and keep her company.

"Once you get to know each other better, you can move into the guest room."

But that wait ended up lasting for two whole years.

I never even set foot in the guest room, staying trapped in that cramped storage space the entire time.

I lived right next door to Sophie, but absolutely nobody cared about me.

Even though Sophie and I went to school, lived, and did research together, being completely inseparable, my mom never even looked my way.

When I ranked first in my major, Mom only praised Sophie, talking about how amazing she was and showering her with rewards.

Just because Sophie wanted a specific dropper, Mom didn't hesitate to risk her job to give her the key to the school's chemical supply room, letting her go into the lab whenever she wanted to take whatever she pleased.

And what about me?

Whenever I asked her for help, she'd just treat me coldly and pretend she didn't hear me.

But the second I handed over research data for my sister, she'd instantly become warm and affectionate, calling me Olivia.

"Olivia, is this new research project coming along? Do you need Mom to help you with anything?"

Looking up at my mom, who had just walked in without knocking, I gave a quiet nod.

I huddled over my tiny desk—which wasn't even a meter wide—messing with the papers on the table.

In a shocking twist, she set a glass of warm milk down in front of me, then picked up my thesis and data to look over them line by line.

"No matter how busy you get, you need to remember to rest."

This was the first time I had ever felt any kind of care from her.

A warm feeling washed over my heart, settling deep into my chest just like the warm milk I was drinking.

My eyes stung with tears as I looked at my mom.

But her eyes were completely glued to my data. She didn't look at me once.

My dad, Isaac Almeras, walked in too.

He kept praising me, saying, "Olivia, you're even better than your dad now, coming up with an angle like this."

Seeing the spark in his eyes, I actually thought he was genuinely happy for me.

My dad had spent his whole life in research and cared about reputation more than anything, all just to leave his mark on the scientific world.

But before that warmth could even settle in, it was like a bucket of ice water was dumped right over me.

Instantly freezing my heart.

"Olivia, Sophie is actually working on the exact same thing. Why don't you..."

A cold chill ran right up from my feet, and I looked at my mom, panicking.

"Mom..."

I knew exactly what she was getting at.

She wanted me to just hand this breakthrough over to Sophie.

And let her take all the credit as the author.

Over the last two years since they brought me back, everything I created ended up under Sophie's name anyway.

I hadn't fought her on the minor projects or the short papers. I just let it slide.

But this project was something I'd been planning for ages, staying up late for over six months to finish. It was a virus-free plant seedling that the world had never seen before.

If it succeeded, winning a Nobel Prize was actually on the table.

Seeing that I didn't just cave in like usual, Martha's expression immediately soured.

Still, she managed to keep her temper in check. "Look at you, why are you being so selfish?

"If you give this to Sophie, can't you just work on another project later?" She said it so effortlessly, making it sound like the easiest thing in the world.

"Mom, I want to publish this one under my own name," I murmured, too scared to look her in the eye.

I was terrified she'd get mad, terrified she wouldn't love me.

Afraid she would abandon me and throw me away all over again.

I nervously gripped the edge of my shirt, keeping my head down.

Martha seemed taken aback, completely caught off guard by my direct refusal.

After a brief silence, she suddenly flashed me a gentle smile.

This was the first time she had ever smiled at me in eighteen years.

"Oh, I see. Well, in that case, why don't you tell Mom what you're thinking? Mom can help you out."

She held my hand and talked with me so gently all through the night.

We went over everything in detail—the whole research proposal, the process, potential issues, and the expected outcomes.

I had never been happier. I never even dared to dream that my mom would stay up all night just talking to me.

She backed me up and actually wanted to listen to what I had to say.

She loved me.

"Research is just so exhausting. How about Mom takes you on a trip to unwind and relax for a few days?"

Swept up in what I thought was real motherly love, I agreed without a second thought.

Right away, she bought plane tickets to take my dad and me abroad to see the ocean.

Standing on the edge of a cliff, I quietly watched the waves, opening up to my mom about my time at the orphanage.

I turned around with a smile. "Mom, you're so good to me. I love—"

Before I could even finish my sentence, my mom, her face completely blank, shoved me right off the cliff.

It was the exact same cold, dead indifference from the day she left me out in the wilderness when I was a kid.

I crashed hard into the water below and started to sink.