My nephew was playing on the balcony, imitating Spider-Man's wall-climbing skills, when he accidentally tripped and fell from the second floor.

I was passing by and quickly reached out to catch him.

However, due to the force of the collision and my nephew's obesity, I still broke his foot when I caught him.

I carried him to the hospital and called my uncle and others to come.

When they arrived, my uncle and aunt started arguing, each trying to shirk responsibility. I had no choice but to go home.

But soon after I got home, my aunt, Linda Baker, burst in and slapped me in the face.

"Ethan Carter! If anything happens to my son, I will never forgive you."

"You were the one who initiated him to jump like Spider-Man. My son was too timid to jump, so you rushed over and pushed him."

"Luckily, there's grass below; otherwise, my son would have fallen to his death. You have to pay for our medical expenses."

As soon as I said this, everyone passing by accused me of being cruel and vicious, worse than an animal.

I was speechless and my aunt slapped me several times and threw me against the wall, injuring my head.

——

"Robert Carter! Mary Carter! The good son you've raised."

"He's quite old, but is full of evil."

My aunt's face was gloomy, her hands on her hips, as she launched a barrage of insults at my parents.

Having barely recovered from the sudden accusations and beatings, I was attacked again.

My mother couldn't stand it any longer, so she broke free from my father's hand and rushed before me.

"Linda, stop it."

"You said my son pushed your son down the stairs. That's simply a false accusation against my son."

"Bullshit! Why would I accuse him? We're relatives, after all. I didn't want to cause a rift between our two families."

"But if I don't speak up, there will be a second and third."

"Do you think I'm going to watch my son fall to his death?"

The neighbors always loved to listen to gossip and now, hearing that something exciting was happening, they all rushed to my door to watch.

But no one came to stop the fight; some even added fuel to the fire. "Huh! Ethan seems like a decent guy, with excellent grades, but I never thought he could be so vicious."

"Isn't it? I have to warn my children not to play with him anymore."

After all, my reputation was at stake.

"Linda, you said Ethan pushed your son down the stairs, but did you see it with your own eyes?"

My aunt raised her head with certainty.

"Yes, I saw it with my own eyes."

Seeing her shamelessness, I stood up and shouted in anger.

"She's lying. First, I didn't push my nephew down the stairs. Second, she and I were all away at the time. The door was locked from the outside when I caught my nephew."

"You said you saw me push him down the stairs with your eyes. That's a lie."

A flash of panic crossed my aunt's face and her hands dropped awkwardly, no longer supporting her waist.

I saw her guilty look and continued. "If you insist you were there, I can check your whereabouts during that time. Once I do, I'm convinced no one will know who you met and talked to."

My aunt's face paled further and further and finally, in a fit of rage and shame, she pushed me down again with excessive force.

"You little rascal, you did something so bad, don't try to find excuses to shirk responsibility. Do you think anyone will believe you just because you're talking nonsense?"

She pushed me over and I hit my head on the corner of the table, breaking it. A warm stream of blood flowed out. I struggled to hold onto the table and tried to stand up to explain myself.

"I'm not lying. I'm telling the truth."

"I didn't push him down the stairs. You haven't even investigated and you're accusing me."

My mother's eyes turned red with heartache when she saw me injured.

My aunt continued to accuse me. "If you didn't push him, did he jump? My son is afraid of heights. If someone hadn't instigated him, he wouldn't have the guts to climb to the balcony."

"You usually come to my house and take him to see Spider-Man movies. Did I wrongly accuse you?"

Speaking of Spider-Man movies, it's not that I like them; my nephew insisted.

I didn't expect his mother to use this to spread rumors and stir up trouble.

If her son's grades hadn't been so poor and my uncle hadn't begged me to go over and help him, I wouldn't have gone to his house.

"What? You're speechless. Did I get it right?"

My mother helped me up and protected me behind her. "Just because he saw a Spider-Man movie, he's accusing my son of pushing him down the stairs. What motive did he have for pushing him down the stairs? Tell me."

My aunt was choked by this and for a moment, she couldn't retaliate.

"That's right! Why would Ethan push his nephew down the stairs?"

"There's no such thing as a shove."

My aunt panicked when she heard others speaking up for me.

Seeing her guilty look, I guessed she was framing me.

She knew I wasn't the one pushing him down the stairs, but she insisted on pinning the blame on me.

I couldn't understand why she was targeting me.

Just then, my uncle, David Baker, called.

My aunt pressed the speakerphone button and my uncle's voice came through.

"Are you with my sister? Let her answer the phone."

"Go ahead, honey. I've pressed the speakerphone button. Everyone's on."

I had a bad feeling overhearing the husband and wife's conversation.

"Since everyone's here, I won't hide it anymore."

"Sis! Your son, pushed my son down the stairs."

"He broke a leg and the rest of his body needs to be hospitalized for observation. But we can't afford the surgery and medical expenses!"

"Since your son was at fault, you and your brother-in-law must compensate us for the damage."

"Two hundred thousand, call me now."

My parents' faces changed when they heard this figure.

My mother leaned over to the phone. "Let's not talk about the medical bills. What is your right to accuse my son of pushing someone?"

My uncle on the other end of the line said viciously. "What is your defense? Then listen carefully to what my son has to say."

My uncle handed the phone to his nephew, who had just woken up.

"Son, tell me who pushed you down the stairs."

Jason Baker, without hesitation, said it was me.

"It was Ethan. I didn't want to jump, but he pushed me."

"I fell before I could stand."

When these words were spoken, everyone at the scene erupted in laughter. "It really was Ethan who pushed me down the stairs! I never thought I would."

"There's a saying, 'You can't judge a person by his appearance."

"What the hell? That was a lie!" My ears rang and I couldn't believe what I heard.

He clearly fell down himself, so why did he join his parents in blaming me?

After hearing this, my parents stood there, enduring the accusations and insults from everyone.

My aunt rushed over, grabbed my hair and dragged me to the stairs.

"You little rascal, are you still trying to defend yourself?"

"Initially, for the sake of our relationship, I wanted to let you off the hook and pay you some money, but you refused to admit it, so I'll let you experience the feeling of a broken leg."

She grabbed my hair with all her strength, sending a sharp pain through my body. I trembled with pain.

I struggled, but she dragged me even harder, dragging me all the way to the stairs.

I saw the stairs and my face paled with fear.

"I really didn't push him down. It wasn't me. If I hadn't caught him, he would have fallen to his death."

My aunt slapped me on the head and my mind went blank.

"You said you didn't push him, so you're no longer the one? My son said it himself. Don't try to argue."

I held onto the stairs tightly, the pain in my face and head unable to mask the hatred in my eyes.

I had saved their son with such good intentions, only to be falsely accused.

Damn it! I should have let him die.

There are many cases where people who save others with good intentions are avenged against.

I just thought it would be okay because we were relatives.

But I underestimated human nature and misjudged their spectacle. Unable to bear the consequences, my mother rushed over to save me, but was met with a storm from my aunt.

"What? Are you here to hit me?"

"Someone! Help! Her son pushed my son down the stairs and now his mother is trying to hit him."

"Is there any law?"

My mother's face flushed with anger upon seeing this.

"What nonsense are you talking about? I didn't do anything."

"Then why are you here? Either you're hitting me to vent your anger, or you're trying to save your son and escape."

"Am I right?"

My mother's blood pressure rose with anger and my aunt's pride grew even greater.

When the crowd gathered to watch the spectacle, they rushed over to help her hold my mother down and accuse her. "Not only did you give birth to a son like this, but you still don't repent and only want to save him and escape."

"Shame on you! Your son is your treasure, but other people's children aren't?"

"Ma’am, if they don't want to compensate you, just push their son down the stairs and let him have his arms and legs broken. Then you won't say such sarcastic things."

Seeing everyone supporting her, my aunt became even more arrogant.

My father was also stopped from going and my mother was so angry that she was shaking.

Oh no! Her asthma has triggered.

I raised my fist like crazy. "Let me go! My mother is having an asthma attack and she's almost suffocating. Stop irritating her! Call an ambulance and take her to the hospital!"

But no one believed me. Seeing me struggling, my aunt slammed my head hard against the stairs. "Haha, who would believe you, mother and son?"

"You haven't been wheezing for a long time, but you're the one who's supposed to pay the price. Who would believe that?"

"Do you think we're idiots?"

I saw my mother's face growing paler and paler and I was terribly anxious.

My father saw it too and just as he was about to rush over, my uncle suddenly appeared and kicked him down.

"You've done something wrong and you're just running away, never thinking of taking responsibility."

My father fell to the ground, begging desperately.

"I can compensate you, but two hundred thousand is too much..."

"Don't bargain with me. Didn't your family sell a piece of land last week? I heard it was worth hundreds of thousands. Why don't you want to pay now that you have the money?"

I suddenly discovered a huge secret. Could it be that my uncle and his family had rigged all this?

That was the only way to explain why my nephew had wronged me.

To save my mother, my father was forced to agree to their demands.

But my aunt refused to give up.