Mom continued screaming, "You're going to stop caring about me too! I'm your mother! You're just the same as that damn father of yours! You just want to abandon me!"

She then collapsed onto the floor, pounding her fist against it, crying and screaming her heart out.

This scene had happened countless times in my past life.

Every time I resisted her, even a little, she would throw a huge tantrum and lament how hard her life had been and how ungrateful and disrespectful I was to her.

I used to believe that I was really in the wrong and that I had let her down, right up until I finally threw myself off the building in my previous life.

"Mom," I said, interrupting her tirade. "I never said that I was going to stop caring about you."

She looked up at me, teary-eyed, grasping onto the last sliver of hope.

"Then withdraw your applications and reapply to a local college! You still have three days to cancel them!

"Just apply to a local teacher's college here and become a teacher after your graduation. Don't you see how stable that job is? And I'll always be able to see you often—"

"I'm not changing anything," I said, my voice calm but firm. "Don't even think about interfering with my college applications."

She froze, clearly not expecting me to refuse her so directly.

I picked up my laptop, walked around her slumped body on the floor, and went into my bedroom, locking the door behind me.

She continued to cry and wail outside.

Soon after, I heard her on the phone. She called up every single relative of hers and sobbed uncontrollably to them, telling them how much trouble I was causing her and how hard her life had been because of me.

I couldn't be bothered to listen to her. I just went into the laptop settings and changed my simple birthday password into a complex string of uppercase and lowercase letters and symbols instead.

Then, I leaned back against the headboard, touching the cold laptop case as I silently vowed that I was never going to compromise for anyone in this life anymore.

…

I slept very soundly. However, I was plagued by nightmares. It must have been because of the trauma and PTSD from jumping off the building in my previous life.

My nightmares were filled with fragments of my previous life.

I recalled how my fingers were cracking from the cold while filling up a car at the gas station in winter, how my drunk husband slapped me in the face again and again at home, and how Mom continued yelling at me at my in-laws' house, saying that it wasn't a big deal that my husband slapped me and that I should just get over it.

I woke up with a start, my forehead covered in cold sweat.

The bedroom light was off, and only the faint glow of the laptop screen illuminated the room.

I thought I heard the soft tapping of keys. Someone was sitting at my desk, trying to unlock my laptop.

When they heard that I was awake, the bedroom light was suddenly turned on, blinding me. Before I could react, however, Mom grabbed the laptop and flung it angrily onto my bed.

She was furious at being defied, pointing at me and screaming, "You changed the password, didn't you? What is that supposed to mean? You're treating me like some thief in the night now?"

A surge of anger welled up inside me, but I felt utterly powerless when I met her gaze.

I had expected this.

For the past 17 years, she could always come into my room and go as she wished. She could log into my phone and check it whenever she wanted. I was also obligated to tell her the passwords to all my devices, all the time.

I sat up in bed and pulled the laptop toward me, saying calmly, "I said that I'll make my own decision about my college applications. This is my laptop. You have no right to look through it."

"I am your mother! What right do you have to hide things from me!"

Her face was as red as a tomato, and her voice was sharp and shrill.

"Would I ever try to harm you? I just want to see which college you applied to! I'm doing this all for your own good!

"What's the point of a young woman going to study at a college so far away from home? Just enroll in a local college! I'll get you a stable and cushy job once you've graduated, and find you a good husband after that so you can settle down. Isn't that better than you drifting around in the wild?"

I had heard those words my entire life. Those were also the exact words that had dragged me right into hell in my previous life.

"Enough!"

My voice wasn't loud, but it stopped her abruptly.

I then walked to the desk and picked up the penknife that was on it. I didn't point it at her. I just held it in my hand.

The cold handle pressed against the center of my palm.

"You said that I was pushing you to your death if I didn't apply to a local college. But did you ever think about me?"

Mom opened her mouth, but no words came out.

"I scored a 1550 on my SATs, and I'm in the top 1% of scorers in the state. I could go to the best university in Brayton and study the major that I wanted to study the most.

"And yet, you insisted that I stay here to go to a low-tier local college that I don't even want. That's not for my own good, Mom. You're just ruining my future. I think you are the one who's trying to push me to my death instead."

The moment those words left my mouth, Mom's expression went blank. It was as if she truly saw me for the very first time.

She realized for once that her daughter, who used to be extremely obedient toward her, harbored such deep resentment against her.

Then, she exploded.

"Me? Pushing you to your death? Do you even have a conscience, Suzanne Gibson? I am the one who fed you, clothed you, and sacrificed everything for you!

"And now, you're telling me that I'm the one pushing you instead? Fine! Then I'll just kill myself right now! You'll be happier when I'm dead anyway, won't you?"

She wailed and screamed loudly as she rushed toward the balcony in an exaggerated frenzy.

But I knew that she wouldn't actually jump. This was just her most effective tactic to force me to give in.

When she saw that I didn't move a muscle, she screamed and cried even louder than before.

Soon, there was a loud knock on the door from our next-door neighbor, and another neighbor opposite our unit also opened their windows and yelled angrily at us.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, yelling and screaming in the middle of the night? Are you going to let us sleep in peace or not? I'm going to call the police on you!"

Mom's cries then died in her throat. She froze on the balcony, not knowing whether to go out or return. Her face turned red, then pale, then red again.

Finally, she glared fiercely at me and rushed back into her own room, slamming the door heavily behind her.

The apartment was finally peaceful again. But I knew that the fight was far from over.

The next morning, Mom was already gone by the time I woke up. I didn't care and washed up before leaving the apartment to find myself a part-time job.

I would need money to go to college. Although I got a scholarship to cover my tuition fees, I still didn't want to have to rely on Mom for my living expenses.

Most importantly, I needed to have a backup plan.

By the time I got back home, it was already 5:30 pm. I went to my bedroom and pushed the door open.

My laptop was missing.

"Where's my laptop?"

"Oh, that?" Mom casually continued prepping the ingredients for dinner as she said, "I accidentally spilled some water on it today, so I brought it to the repair shop. The technician said that the laptop had to be checked out, and it would take a couple of days."

I felt my heart drop to the bottom of my stomach. I had a bad feeling about this.

I didn't bother arguing with her and immediately went back into my bedroom, taking out my phone and trying to log into the college application system.

I keyed in my password, and a line of bright red text appeared on the screen.

"Password incorrect. Try again."

I keyed the password in three times in a row, but they were all incorrect.

My hands were trembling.

I tried my best to remain calm and went back out of the bedroom.

I walked up to her with my phone, held the screen in front of her eyes, and suppressed my anger as I asked, "What's going on? What have you been doing with my laptop?"

Mom turned off the tap and flicked the water off her hands. Then, she turned around, wiped her hands on her apron, and looked at me with an air of self-righteousness.

"Since choosing a college is such a huge deal, of course I had to help you with it.

"You're still young and don't know anything about colleges. What's the point of enrolling in a college just for its reputation? You have to look at the majors that they're offering and the job prospects instead!

"Well, I used one of my connections today and spent 10,000 dollars to hire an experienced teacher to help you look at colleges and choose your major for you. And they're all local teacher training colleges too, with all graduates guaranteed to be teachers afterward. Isn't that just great?

"I've already withdrawn all of your other applications for you, so you don't even need to worry about it anymore."

10,000 dollars? She really was willing to go that far to stop me from leaving her.

My voice was trembling with anger. "Who gave you the right to withdraw my applications? Did I even ask you for any help with it? Cancel those applications and change them back! Tell me the password now!"

Upon hearing this, she immediately put on that dramatic, exaggerated act again, like she was about to kill herself, and screamed at me.

Mom screamed, "Why should I tell you the password? If I told you, you're definitely going to change the applications back to those faraway colleges again, aren't you?

"Over my dead body! There's no way I'm ever going to tell you! If you dare to change your application again, don't you ever acknowledge me as your mother! I don't have a stubborn daughter like you!"

She had said this to me many times in the past. Last time, I would always cry and beg her to take that back, ultimately giving up on my choice.

But this time, I just stared at her for a few seconds before turning around, rushing toward the door, and running out.

"Suzanne Gibson! Where are you going! Come back at once!"

Her shouting was muffled as the door slammed shut behind me.

As soon as I ran out of the neighborhood, my phone started blowing up with calls and texts. The first one was a call from an aunt. I rejected the call. The second call was from an uncle. Then, one after another, all of my relatives began calling me up, and my text messages were flooded as well.

"Suzy! How could you do such a thing to your mom! Don't you know how hard it is for her to raise you on her own!"

"I heard that you're planning to enroll in a college far away? It's not good for a woman to leave her home. Listen to your mom and stay home with her."

Every single text message told me to listen to Mom.

I read the messages one by one and found them simply ridiculous.

My aunt, Hilary Mercer, used to have a daughter, Daisy Walters, and she had actually enrolled in the very same teaching college Mom was forcing me to go to. Aunt Hilary absolutely refused to let Daisy attend that college and even made a huge fuss about killing herself if Daisy went there.

She then forced Daisy to marry and settle down the following year, and Daisy was then tortured by her own in-laws for not being able to give birth to a son for years. Ultimately, she overdosed on drugs and died a while ago.

And yet, now, Aunt Hilary was telling me to compromise and go down the same path.

However, I knew that I couldn't afford to fight fire with fire this time.

I still had three days grace period before the application was closed. Even if I were to find a way to change my application back, Mom would definitely cause a scene once again.

I sat on the playground swing, scrolling through Instagram reels and feeling absolutely restless and frustrated.

Suddenly, I saw a photo of one of my seniors, Katie Boyle, at a hacking championship with a trophy in her hands. My spirits lifted at once. An idea had just popped into my head.

I'd only just finished texting Katie when my phone rang again. This time, it was from another aunt, Heidi Mercer.

I answered the call.

"Suzy! Where are you?"

She sounded urgent.

"Hurry up and come to the hospital now! Your mom just fainted!"

Mom was already awake by the time I got to the hospital. She leaned back in bed, her face pale, an IV drip in the back of her hand.

She scoffed when she was me walk in and turned her head to the side. "What are you still doing here? I don't have a disobedient daughter like you."

"What are you saying, Holly!" Aunt Heidi exclaimed, trying to calm her down. She then pulled me to sit. "Don't you know that Suzy immediately rushed over as soon as she knew that you'd fainted?

"Also, Suzy, you can't blame me for lecturing you, but your mom never ate or drank the entire day today because she was worried sick about your college application. That's why she fainted. She was simply too stressed out. Can't you just be a little more considerate?"

I'd heard these words too many times. I would always compromise under my relatives' pressure. And I knew that I had no choice but to continue compromising this time. I had to, for the sake of my future and to get Mom's guard down.

I lowered my head and dug my nails into my palms, speaking in a hoarse voice, "Okay."

It was deathly quiet in the ward for a few seconds.

Mom turned to look at me suspiciously.

"I know that I shouldn't have made you angry," I continued, sounding tired, helpless, and exhausted. "As for the college applications… I'll just do whatever you want."

Mom's eyes lit up immediately. "Really? You're willing to stay and enroll in a local college?"

I smiled bitterly. "What else can I do? You're already hospitalized from the stress, and you've changed the password on my account. What can I even do about it now?"

"See? That's the spirit!" Aunt Heidi said at once, clapping her hands in joy. "You're doing the right thing, Suzy. Your mom would never harm you on purpose. She's doing all this for your own good!"

Mom was beaming. She reached out to me and patted me on the back of my hand, speaking in an oddly gentle voice, "That's my good and obedient daughter. You're still young and think you want to explore the world on your own, but you'll understand why I'm doing this when you're older."