The Mother I Left Behind

When I came to, I was in the hospital.

I caught a faint hint of the familiar scent of my mother’s perfume.

She was lying on the bed next to me. The gauze wrapped around her chest had turned a faint red from the blood seeping through her wound.

Her complexion was pale, and her lips were chapped.

When she noticed I was awake, she tried to get up.

“Isabel, you're awake! How are you feeling?

“The doctor says you’re just lightly concussed, don’t worry…”

I sat up and looked at her expressionlessly.

Then, I yanked the IV needle out of the back of my hand.

I pressed the tip of the needle against my neck.

“Get me out of here.”

Everyone inside the ward was stunned.

My uncle was incensed. “Isabel! Have you lost it?!

“Put that down!”

My grandmother cried out exasperatedly, “Isabel, you’re going to be the death of us all!”

Then, several reporters barged into the room. I was nearly blinded by a barrage of camera flashes.

“My god! She’s threatening her mother with her life!”

“What an ungrateful child!”

“Poor Mrs. Williams! She took a knife to the chest for her daughter, only to be threatened like this!”

“She’s much better off without a daughter like this!”

Despite all the chaos all around, my mother ignored the wound on her chest and shoved away everyone crowded around the bed.

“No pictures!

“Cole, get these reporters out of here!”

She clutched her hand to her chest while blood trickled from her lips.

Cassandra cried out agonizingly, “Stop badmouthing my daughter! She’s just going through a rebellious phase!”

She sounded drained. “All of you, let her leave!”

Then, she turned to me with a tender look in her eyes while tears streamed down her cheeks.

“Isabel, I beg you. Please stop hurting yourself.

“You can go wherever you want. I’ll give you whatever you want.”

With that, I kept the needle pressed against my neck while limping out of the hospital.

When I walked past an abandoned building, a pair of hands emerged from the darkness and pulled me inside.

Soon, I felt the cold touch of a knife against my neck.

It was Paige Bracker. The woman my father had beaten into miscarriage.

Her eyes were bloodshot, and her hair was disheveled.

After she took me to the rooftop, she ordered sharply, “Call Cassandra and tell her to bring me ten million dollars, or else I’ll throw you off the edge!”

I reached for my phone and smashed it on the ground.

“I’d rather die than call her!”

Paige was taken aback. Then, she laughed hysterically.

“Why? She was so good to you. What makes you hate her so much?”

That was when police sirens began blaring in every direction.

Countless police cars and reporters had rushed to the scene. They had the building surrounded in no time.

Even I was somewhat taken aback when I saw the commotion.

Paige started to panic. She demanded to know if I was behind this.

It did not seem like she had orchestrated this either. If there were no other witnesses, who could have contacted the police?

Now that she was cornered, she tightened her grip around the knife and held me hostage, “Don't come any closer! Bring that bastard Robb here right now! I want a hostage exchange!”

I cried out, “No! I refuse!”

Paige was baffled by my response.

“Aren't you afraid of dying?”

An officer used a loudspeaker to persuade me, “Isabel, please calm down!”

I ignored the officer’s pleas and cried out in a trembling voice, “I’d rather die than return to my mother’s side. Kill me right here if you want!”

Meanwhile, my mother had just arrived at the scene.

The gauze on her chest was completely soaked in blood by this point. Her bloodied footsteps tracked behind her with every step she took.

When Cassandra heard my protest, she nearly fainted on the spot.

She turned to me and cried out in a voice filled with anguish.

“Isabel, please tell me… Why do you hate me so much? Did I do something wrong? Please just talk to me, I promise I’ll change!”

Cole could not stay silent anymore. He roared angrily, “Isabel! Did you hear your mother? She risked her life for you! How could you be so heartless and do this to her?!”

The reporters and passersby erupted into frantic cries as well.

“What an evil daughter!”

“Poor Mrs. Williams! Hurry up and say something to your mother, you ungrateful child!”

“She must be the devil! Does she even have a heart?”

I looked at the crowd for a moment, then suddenly flashed a wicked smile.

I glanced at my watch. The timing was perfect.

“I’m sure you’re all wondering why I’m doing this.”

I jerked my head up and barely flinched from the knife grazing against my neck and drawing blood.

“Do you want to know why I chose to be with my father and leave my mother?

“I’ll tell you right now!”

I was about to reveal the dark secret I had kept for not just one, but two lifetimes.