The Pain-Transfer System

I had just stepped out of the pig farm when Maia called. She was sniffling into the phone, crying that she missed me and begging me to come back to her.

"Mom, I feel awful. Can you come and see me? I'm sorry. I know you're already exhausted, and I shouldn't cling to you like this, but I really miss you. I don't wanna be away from you.

"I'm in so much pain. Am I going to die? I haven't even had the chance to look after you yet. I don't wanna die. I just wanna stay with you forever and make you happy."

Hearing her sound so considerate and grown-up, I drew in a deep breath, but my chest felt as if it were full of needles.

I had raised Maia for more than ten years. She had been a collodion baby, born with skin so thin and fragile that every movement risked tearing it open, making it rot and ooze.

I had looked after her as if she were made of glass. When she was a baby and couldn't drink from a bottle, I fed her with a straw, drop by drop. When she grew older and cried all night in pain, I stayed up to fan her and reapply medicine again and again.

Watching me struggle, Maia would touch my face with her tiny hands. She would tell me she felt sorry for me and promise she'd take care of me one day so I'd never have to work so hard again.

I had poured everything I had into loving her. So how did I end up raising someone who betrayed me?

But at least now, starting today, I wouldn't have to put up with her tantrums or keep sacrificing myself for her.

When I reached the hospital, another woman was already at Maia's bedside. I recognized her instantly. She was Bruno's mistress and Maia's real mother, Claire Hines.

The moment I stepped in, Maia, who had been laughing and chatting with Claire, pushed her aside and let a few tears roll down her cheeks.

"Mom, you're finally here. Dad says you don't care about me anymore, that you're not looking after me. He even brought Claire to take care of me. He said if you don't try harder to cure me, he'll divorce you and let her be my mom instead!

"I don't want anyone else as my mom. And I know you'll find a way to cure me, because you're the person who loves me most in the world!"

Before, I would've been moved by Maia's words and thankful for Claire's so-called help; I would've let all three of them make a fool out of me.

But this time, I just smiled coldly.

"The system's all set up now, so you don't need me anymore. She can be your mom, if that's what you want."

Maia's eyes went wide at what I said.

"Really? You actually bound yourself to the system? All those disgusting sores and green pus will pass to you?"

Then, realizing how eager she sounded, she coughed lightly and tried to look weak.

"You haven't worked a day in years. You've been living off Dad, and he's been the one making sure you have everything. If you'd been out earning money, maybe he wouldn't have pushed himself so hard that he had a stroke.

"Mom, I don't mean anything bad. I'm truly grateful you've taken care of me all these years. I just feel bad for Dad. He's had it rough."

She felt bad for Bruno?

I almost laughed out loud in rage.

When I married Bruno, I was already successful. I had paid for our house and car in full before the wedding. For more than ten years, I lived off my own savings and never asked him for a cent.

And Bruno? He took my healthy newborn and dumped her, then forced me to quit my job to raise the sickly child he'd had with his mistress. After all that, he sat back as if he'd done enough. He hadn't looked after Maia a single day in all those years.

I had been far too generous, letting them live off me, and they still had the nerve to call me a freeloader.

I looked at Maia coldly. "I have just bound myself to the system, and you're already feeling sorry for your dad, who's never lifted a finger? Aren't you afraid you'll come begging me for help when your sickness doesn't go away?"

Maia and Claire exchanged a glance and both burst out laughing.

Maia, usually so gentle and obedient, now looked like a completely different person. Her face twisted with mockery as she said, "Beg you? What a joke. Since you're bound to the system, my illness will slowly move to you. I won't be begging you—it'll be you crawling to me!

"Dad doesn't even love you. Being with you all these years was more than you deserved. Why don't you just let Dad be with Claire?"

Claire, who had kept quiet this whole time, finally sneered, "If you don't divorce Bruno, he stays your legal guardian. When you've absorbed all of Maia's illness and you're bedridden, he won't lift a finger. He'll just watch you die in pain.

"If you don't wanna die, sign the divorce papers and walk away with nothing. All the money goes to Maia. Think of it as paying her back."