My Mother and the Bully

The heroine of this redemption story, Tessa, had a system that projected scrolling comments into the air.
After she bullied me, she tailored them specifically for my mother.
“Checking in on the chapter where the evil sidekick frames our sweet girl for bullying. I’m so mad.”
“Just what you’d expect from the villain who’s going to drain her mother’s savings for a deadbeat boyfriend and won’t even spend a few bucks on her mom’s medicine. All her lies are just empty words!”
“Mom, wake up and look at our sweet Tess! She’s the same poor little thing you fed a piece of bread to three years ago. She didn’t bully anyone, and she still remembers you, sob.”
“Mom, please take the heroine home with you! She’ll be the most filial, most successful daughter! Not like your real daughter, who’ll just leave you to rot alone in some cheap apartment.”
My mother, who had been storming into the school ready to demand justice for me, suddenly looked at Tessa with an unnervingly soft expression.
She reached out her hand.
“I believe you,” she said gently. “Would you like to come home with me?”
They didn't know I was reborn.
And this time, I could see the comments, too.

1.
In the principal’s office, Tessa bit her lip, her gaze fixed defiantly on my mother. Her eyes held a kind of shattered loneliness, her whole body coiled like a cornered animal, ready to spring at the slightest touch.
Her voice was cold as she asked, “What do you mean… come home with you?”
My mother sighed softly and took Tessa’s wrist, revealing several faint, faded scars. “It means I’ll take care of you from now on. I’ll give you a real home. Would you like that?”
Tessa froze, her eyes wide as tears silently pooled, threatening to spill over. She looked as if she’d never dared to dream this could happen.
“…Really?”
“Really,” Mom nodded without hesitation. “But from now on, you and Abby will be sisters.” She paused, adding softly, “And you have to promise me you won’t bully her.”
Then, Mom took Tessa’s hand and led her toward me.
Yes, I’m Abby.
Her biological daughter.
And the one Tessa had locked in the bathroom yesterday, stripped, and photographed.
Mom looked at me, her tone gentle but firm. “Abby, Tessa knows she was wrong. She didn’t mean it… Can you forgive her?”
I stared at the familiar scene, the relentless stream of comments floating past my eyes. For a hazy moment, I couldn’t even remember…
In my last life, how had I answered?

2.
“Hahaha, go Mom! But here comes the drama from the evil sidekick!”
“Yeah, start your tantrum! The more you act out, the more it proves Mom made the right choice.”
“Who wouldn’t run from such a heartless, selfish, and stupidly rebellious brat?”
“Her only purpose is to make our sweet Tess look even smarter and kinder, hehe.”
“Later on, she makes her mom’s life a living hell. Runs off with her deadbeat boyfriend, steals money, and even forces her mom to sell blood to pay off debts! If Mom can see this, she needs to ditch this ungrateful brat and run as far away as possible!”
Any hesitation on my mother’s face vanished as she read the scrolling messages. Her gaze hardened as she turned to me. “Abby, what have I taught you?”
I lifted my head and met Tessa’s smug, challenging smirk.
I didn’t cry. I didn’t hide. I just looked calmly at my mother and spoke, word by word.
“She burned my shoulder with a cigarette. She had her friends take turns slapping me. She locked me in the bathroom, stripped me naked, and took pictures… She even picked up a mop handle and said she was going to ‘teach me a lesson for good.’”
“Mom, is this the person you want me to forgive?”
“—And give a home to?”
In my last life, that bathroom became a nightmare I couldn’t escape for over a decade. I couldn’t bear to think about it, couldn’t speak of it. It was like my soul had been ripped out. The final blow was my mother announcing she was adopting Tessa right after.
I couldn’t accept it. I screamed and thrashed on the office floor, pushing away anyone who tried to touch me. I was nothing but a ball of shrieking rage.
My reaction perfectly validated the comments: “crazy,” “immature,” “can’t even be as calm as Tessa.”
Tessa just stood there, watching me with cold eyes until I was exhausted. Then she let out a small, contemptuous laugh.
“Some people just don’t know how good they have it.”

3.
Seeing me so calm, so unlike the hysterical girl in the comments, both Mom and Tessa were visibly stunned.
Mom’s eyes darted around nervously, her gaze flicking up into the air. I knew she was reading the comments again.
“What a load of crap! Our Tess would at most scare her a little. She’d never actually hit someone!”
“She only said something because she saw Abby arguing with her mom and felt bad for her! Now she’s being framed for it. Poor Tess must be so heartbroken!”
“Don’t believe a word this little liar says! If she’s so sure, let her show the burn. If there’s a mark, I’ll eat my phone right here and now!”
“Our girl didn’t even touch her! I’m so pissed, I want to punch her!”
“She’s been framing people since she was a kid. No wonder she grows up to be so vicious…”
Just then, Tessa lowered her head and gave a bitter, self-deprecating laugh. “Whatever she says, I guess… No one will believe me anyway. I don’t have a family or friends to stand up for me. If she says I bullied her, then just do whatever you want with me.”
Instantly, Mom’s heart went out to her. She turned to me, her eyes filled with disappointment. “Abby, tell me the truth. Did this student really hit you? Are you lying?”
Suddenly, all eyes were on me. Even the principal looked confused, trying to mediate. “Mrs. Evans, Abby has always been a well-behaved student. She gets along well with her classmates…”
The comments exploded again.
“Heh, is this principal a snake? Praising Abby is just a backhanded way of saying our Tess is badly behaved.”
“So passive-aggressive. No wonder Tess feels like no one will ever believe her.”
“She only dresses like a punk for self-protection! Otherwise, her aunt would beat her half to death at home!”
I pulled my gaze away from the comments and looked steadily at my mother.
“So, you want me to take off my clothes and prove it to you right now?”
Just like last time.

4.
My life was destroyed twice.
The first time was that Friday after school, when Tessa dragged me into the bathroom.
The second time is right now.
The mother who had always doted on me was suddenly a stranger. Her expression shifted from gentle to suspicious, and finally to cold indifference. She simply didn’t believe Tessa was capable of such things; she was convinced I was lying. She watched me break down sobbing, then turned around and brought Tessa, a girl who ran with a rough crowd, into our home.
She said she was going to “save” this child.
I still remember the crushing disappointment in her eyes. “Abby, I’m done with you. You always wanted freedom, right? Well, here it is.”
And just like that, Tessa moved in. My room was literally split in half. Mom decorated Tessa’s side into a dream bedroom for any young girl, stroking her hair with a smile. “Don’t worry, Tessa. Anything other girls have, I’ll make sure you have it too.”
Tessa burst into tears and threw herself into my mom’s arms, her voice choked. “Can I call you Mom? Just once… I’ve always wanted a mom.”
They clung to each other, bathed in the sunlight streaming through the window as the curtains billowed in the breeze. I was huddled in the darkest corner of the room—where there was no light, and no breeze.
I didn’t understand. I truly didn’t understand how my mother had changed so completely. I begged her, pleaded with her, even secretly prayed to God: Please give me my old mom back.
After that, no matter how Tessa bullied me, I never said a word. My mother wouldn’t believe me anymore.
Because she had once forced me to strip in the principal’s office to prove I had a cigarette burn—
But it was gone.
The mark Tessa had laughed while pressing into my skin had vanished without a trace. It was as if I really was the liar the comments claimed I was—the ungrateful brat who would one day be the death of her.
From that day on, our lives were inverted.
Tessa transformed into the “reformed” good girl. Her grades soared, she grew more beautiful, and she was beloved by teachers and students alike. Mom drove her to school, sat with her during piano practice, and cherished her like a precious jewel.
I became sullen and withdrawn. I started skipping class, getting into fights, and dating the wrong kind of people.
…But it didn’t matter if I was good or bad. My mother never gave me a second glance.
I became Tessa’s opposite. The better she was, the worse I became.
In the end, she became a renowned scientist, thanking my mother for her guidance at an awards ceremony.
And I lay in a rundown apartment, swallowing a full bottle of pills.
It wasn’t until I died that I finally understood the answers to the questions that had haunted my dreams for so long.

5.
In this moment, I finally understood.
It was because of those comments, floating in the air, that my mother had decided to abandon me.
I looked up at her, a smile on my face, and asked again. “Mom, are you really telling me to take off my clothes right now… to show you if there’s a cigarette burn?”
The office fell silent.
Tessa made a soft “tsk” sound, pulling her hand from my mother’s and taking a deliberate step back, as if afraid I’d try to frame her for something else.
Just as my mother was about to speak, the comments flared up again.
“My heart aches for her… No wonder Tess ends up with no friends, just burying herself in her research.”
“That feeling of having hope dangled in front of you only to have it snatched away… it’s too cruel.”
“She wins so many awards in the future but has no one to share it with. I can’t breathe just thinking about it.”
“Blood means nothing! A true connection is what matters!”
“Ten biological daughters aren’t worth a single hair on our Tess’s head!”
As expected, my mother’s expression softened again. She looked at me, her voice quiet but insistent. “Abby… just show me. Otherwise, I really don’t know what to do.”

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