Quit Fighting Back

Nicole and Michael were having dinner when I got home.

She glanced at me. Her tone was flat as she spoke, "So you've finally decided to grace us with your presence?"

"What gives you the right to make the manager fire me?" I questioned expressionlessly, completely changing the subject.

"Five years have passed. Haven't you humiliated me enough?"

She merely arched a brow at me and answered indifferently, "I'm doing this for your own good. You won't know that home is the best place for you if I don't let you suffer a little.

"Jack, do you know what the word is on the streets about you? I've been the one to keep those nasty comments from reaching your ears. Yet, you've never once thanked me for my efforts!"

Just then, Michael put down his fork and knife and added sarcastically, "Nicole, Jack doesn't appreciate how good you are to him at all. Look at him. He's clearly blaming you!"

"Shut up!"

I couldn't take it anymore. So, I rushed over and raised my hand to punch him.

However, Nicole grabbed my wrist the next second.

"You've even learned to get physical now, huh? As I see it, you still haven't learned your lesson!" she remarked, her voice as cold as ice. "Believe it or not, I'll make it impossible for you to live in Seaton."

My heart clenched as if someone had squeezed it tightly.

She was saying that she would make it impossible for me to live in Seaton. Yet, she completely disregarded the fact that she'd been doing that for the past five fucking years.

She ruined my career and crushed my hope time and time again.

I was worse off than a rat in a sewer. My life was in tatters. As a matter of fact, I couldn't even afford a cremation urn for my ashes.

That was it! I had had enough of her threats!

Finally, I broke down in tears and yelled, "I'm innocent! Nicole, since you've been trying so hard to make my life miserable, then fine. I'll do what you want and die! You'll have no control over me once I'm in hell!"

Nicole turned red in the face, seemingly angered by my words.

"You'll always owe me even when you're dead!"

She pushed me as she spoke.

Even though she didn't use much force, I still fell to the ground.

My lower back slammed into the dining table. The pain made my face turn pale instantly, and I broke out in a cold sweat.

A hint of regret flashed across Nicole's eyes, but she turned her back to me anyway, refusing to look at me.

"You're in no position to even die until you've retrieved Mom's belongings."

With that, she strode away.

I was in so much pain I couldn't get up. Michael stood before me in a condescending demeanor and jeered, "Jack, look at the way you are now. Tsk. How about you get down on your knees and beg me earnestly?

"Then, I'll tell you to whom I sold that crappy bracelet. Deal?"

I glared at him with my eyes bulging with rage. Oh, how I wished I could tear him to pieces right there and then.

Regardless, I knew I was too weak to hit him.

I had lived in humiliation for five years. Yet, never once did I imagine that I wouldn't be able to leave with dignity even in the face of death.

Nicole's words still seemed to echo in my ears.

'You're in no position to even die until you've retrieved Mom's belongings. You'll always owe me even when you're dead!'

Very well. I could finally die in peace once I retrieved my mother's belongings.

I wiped my face, got down on my knees in front of Michael, and begged him earnestly. "Please tell me where my mother's belongings are."

In the past, I would fight back with all my might whenever he schemed against me.

However, not a single rebuttal left my lips over our last few encounters.

As a result, Michael seemed to have suddenly lost interest. He simply tossed me a slip of paper and said, "This is the address. You'll still need to actually get it, though!"

Michael's Final Trick

I numbly picked up the slip of paper, selected and unlocked a bike via the Citi Bike App, and rode it to the address on the paper.

The pawnshop was located in a very remote suburb. When the shop owner learned why I came, he immediately took out the bracelet without saying anything.

It seemed that Michael had already told him.

I felt nothing. All I wanted was to return the bracelet to Nicole as soon as possible so that we would be even.

To my surprise, the shop owner suddenly lost hold of the bangle when I went to get it.

The bracelet fell to the ground and shattered into pieces with a crack.

I froze on the spot, my face turning ghastly.

The shop owner exclaimed, "Young man, why weren't you more careful? It's not my fault!"

"Jack Thompson!" Nicole's angry voice suddenly came from behind.

I turned around abruptly and met Michael's provocative gaze.

"Nicole, what did I tell you? Jack did it on purpose!" he said. "He smashed Mom's bracelet just to spite you. And to think you were still trying to forgive him all this time!"

Nicole seemed not to hear him. Her eyes fixed on the pile of broken jade on the ground as she walked over with heavy steps.

She squatted down stiffly. After a long pause, she picked up the broken pieces one by one and clenched them in her palm.

When I saw the dejected look on her face, I felt an unprecedented sense of panic and couldn't help but explain, "It wasn't me. He was the one who let it slip from his hands. I didn't sell Mom's belongings back then either…"

However, my explanation seemed to be the last straw, for Nicole suddenly stood up and slapped me across the face upon hearing me speak.

I lost balance and took a nasty fall.

My stomach was already cramping with pain, so tears instantly streamed down my face as my body protested against the abuse.

Nicole's chest heaved, and she looked as black as thunder. "How can you still have the nerve to say that? I've been giving you chances for the past five years. I told myself I would forgive you as long as you come home and tell me where Mom's belongings are.

"Yet, what have you done? Jack, you really aren't worthy of being a member of the Thompson family!

"You certainly do not deserve to be my brother!" she shouted at me with red-rimmed eyes, losing her composure in a rare display of disbelief as a result of being extremely disappointed in me.

My heart plummeted into the fiery depths.

I suddenly felt a metallic taste in my throat, but I managed to swallow the blood that was tickling at the back of my throat.

When I spoke, my voice came out in a rasp. "What if I really am going to die?"

"What are you trying to play the victim for?" Nicole glared at me with disgust, her hand gripping the broken jade so tightly that blood dripped from it.

"I won't feel sorry for you even if you die!"

"Okay." I clenched my fists and slowly got up.

At this moment, a sudden realization struck me.

I was dying soon. All these past entanglements really were not that big of a deal and were no longer all that important.

Since she believed I was responsible for everything, so be it.

Once I died, I would return to dust, and nothing would matter anymore anyway.

So, I smiled at her wryly before turning around and leaving the store.

Nicole yelled from behind, "Where the hell are you going?! Are you trying to be the death of me?"

I didn't turn around, but my voice drifted over just the same. "You don't need to die. I'll die instead."

…

Nicole didn't contact me for the next two days.

She sent the bracelet for repair, but found that the bracelet could never be restored to its original state, no matter how well it was repaired.

She almost went bananas looking at the weird-looking jade bracelet.

On the first day after I left the shop, she publicly announced for the first time that she was severing ties with me.

"From now on, I will no longer concern myself with Jack's affairs. He can look for whatever jobs. He can even sleep with someone, for all I care. I won't interfere anymore," she stated expressionlessly in front of the media.

"I just hope that no one will mention his name in front of me, because it makes me want to throw up."

The media was in an uproar. Meanwhile, Nicole swiftly and decisively removed me directly from the family tree.

The next day, she took Michael to pay respects to our ancestors. She even changed his last name and acknowledged that he was the son of the Thompson family.

A relative couldn't comprehend her action and questioned, "Is it really necessary? Jack is your own brother. How can you just ignore him like this? What if something happens to him?"

"What could possibly happen to him? He was still doing just fine when I suppressed him for the past five years, wasn't he?" Nicole replied sarcastically. "He won't die because he can't bear to leave, and he's too ashamed to face my mother!"

Unfortunately, she was wrong again, for I was right beside her in spirit form at this moment.

I died in the river near the house two days ago.

I was in so much pain and sorrow that death was rather a relief for me.

To my surprise, Nicole received a call from the owner of the shop where I had ordered my cremation urn on the third day.

"You're Jack Thompson's sister, right? He listed you as his emergency contact, so don't try to deny it!" The shop owner was so frustrated that he was about to swear on the other end of the phone.

"Your brother had ordered a cremation urn for his ashes from us, but he keeps delaying in paying the balance. Do you still want it?"