Revenge in the Time of Terminal Illness

That night, I was tormented by illness.

I couldn't fall asleep even after a long time.

I didn't know if it was the psychological effect of being diagnosed. Usually, it only caused me a slight pain. However, today I felt so uncomfortable that I tossed and turned in bed.

I remembered there was a box of painkillers in the living room, so I decided to take some.

I reluctantly got up and put on slippers, planning to go to the living room to get them.

But when I walked to the door, I found a beam of light shining straight from the living room.

It's so late. Why aren't they asleep yet?

I suspiciously put my ear close to the door crack, wanting to hear what they were talking about.

"What should we do? Should we really give her money?"

"She's dying. What's the use of giving her money?"

"What a troublemaker. Why is she dying so soon? She hasn't earned enough money for us yet. The money she gave us was so little. We could do nothing with it!"

"Jack just paid the down payment for the house. If she's dead, who will pay the mortgage?"

"Mom, don't worry. After she's dead, we can go to her company for compensation. We'll say that the company exploited and exhausted her to death."

I listened to their conversation and felt cold all over.

They spent my money and paid the down payment for Jack.

What about me?

I desperately restrained my instinct to question them.

Tears ran down my face. I had shed a lot of tears today.

But this time, my state of mind was different.

I finally gave up completely and knew that I was not the one loved.

The next day, I had a rare lie-in.

Today was a workday. I was usually a workaholic and rarely took leave.

After telling the boss I was gonna take some time off, I threw my phone aside without waiting for the reply.

After getting up, I came to the dining table and saw the whole family sitting there.

"Ramona, why didn't you make breakfast today?"

Gale asked.

I'm dying, and you still want me to make breakfast?

"Gale, you know my condition, right?

"The diagnosis is right here. If you can't take care of yourselves, I'll drag you down together with me when I'm about to die. How about that?"

I raised one eyebrow and looked at her with a fierce expression.

Gale immediately changed her attitude when she realized she had said something wrong.

"Sorry, Ramona. That's inconsiderate. I'll go buy some."

After breakfast, I urged my parents to go to the bank to withdraw money.

They asked me to wait and claimed the sun was too strong now.

"Hurry up. I don't have much time."

Finally, I urged them to leave, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

Then, I started to carefully search for valuable things in the house.

My mom didn't like to keep money in the bank. She was afraid the people in the bank would steal it. She wouldn't change her mind no matter how I persuaded her.

It made it easier for me to take it back.

I opened her bedside table and took every wallet, searching carefully.

I also took the money my dad secretly kept behind the TV.

Gale usually took the most money from me, and my parents always used my money to subsidize her and Jack.

We were family, but Gale locked the door as if she was guarding against thieves.

I kicked open her door and searched her room.

She was still the same as before. She hid valuable items in the doll's belly.

I got so scared when I saw her take out bags of snacks from the doll's body when I was a child.

Oh, right. I shouldn't forget about Maia.

I paid for her clothes and accessories, and I gave her the money in her piggy bank.

When Gale came back with Maia, my parents grabbed my ear and made me write a guarantee, saying that I would be good to Maia for the rest of my life.

I thought at the time that they said this in front of Gale deliberately. They felt sorry for her after her divorce, given that no one was helping her, and they were afraid that she would be too upset.

I laughed at myself, packed my luggage quickly, and left with the money.

Wait.

I came back, opened the computer, and logged into their WhatsApp.

After transferring all their account balances to me, I deleted them from my contacts.

The money I had now was a far cry from my savings.

But this should be all they had.

Unfortunately, Jack was working out of town. Or I would have asked him to give my money back, too. He was one of them.

My parents, who wandered outside for a whole day, didn't come back until the evening.

They figured they'd tell me they couldn't withdraw the money no matter how they tried.

But I was nowhere to be seen after they came back.

Of course, I had already left with the money.

With this money, I went to the hospital. The doctor looked at it then at me, shook his head, and said it was not enough.

If I still had my savings, I could barely manage.

The doctor told me not to worry. If I want to be treated, they could do it through crowdfunding.

But I didn't want to.

Actually, there was nothing in this world worth living for.

I used to be naive, thinking that I was unique in the eyes of others.

So, I kept enduring and taking care of other people's feelings.

"Thank you, but I have decided not to receive treatment."

I wanted to travel around the world in my last days.

I hadn't traveled, nor had I tasted many local specialties.

So, in my last days, I decided to fulfill all my regrets.