A Mother's Vengeance

On Christmas Day, my best friend, Sarah, had just popped open a bottle of champagne.

Then my husbands call came in:

Olivia, hurry home! Sophias depression flared up, and she's threatening to jump!

She won't listen to anything we say. She insists she'll only come down from the balcony if her mom comes back.

Sarahs hand, reaching for the champagne, instantly dropped. She turned to grab her car keys from the table.

I pressed down on her hand, a soft smile on my lips as I replied:

"If she wants to die, let her."

Then I hung up, ignoring my phone as it buzzed relentlessly.

Sarah looked frantic. "You've loved Chloe so much since she was little! You can't play games with her life, even if you're mad at her!"

I looked at her, and softly spoke a single sentence.

The next second, Sarah's expression changed.

"It wouldn't be too much if that whole family dropped dead!"

Seeing that my call wouldn't go through, Ethan called Sarahs phone instead.

Sarah turned her phone towards me. Only after I nodded did she hit "answer."

As soon as the call connected, Ethans furious voice came through the speaker:

"Olivia Hayes, what was that supposed to mean!"

He aimed the phone's camera at Sophia on the balcony, gasping for breath as he spoke:

"Look at your daughter! Her life's hanging by a thread right now. How could you say something like that?"

Sophia, in the video, sat on the balcony railing, her eyes swollen and red from crying.

She looked as though she could fall at any moment.

Dressed in a thin shirt, her hands and face were chapped and red from the biting cold wind.

The camera shifted, and Ethan roared at the screen:

"Get back here from Sarah Miller's place immediately, or if anything happens to Sophia, I swear I'll never forgive you!"

I watched Ethan's frantic face and chuckled. "Impossible."

Ethan's eyes on the screen instantly widened.

"Im not coming back. As for whether Sophia jumps or not, it has nothing to do with me."

With that, I hung up.

I lowered my head and started preparing holiday dinner with Sarah.

Just as I finished peeling a potato, my "emergency contact" ringtone echoed from the living room.

Seeing "Mom" on the screen, my heart sank.

"Olivia, Ethan just called me. He said Sophias acting up again and demanding you come home."

Her voice was laced with worry. "Ethan was crying, saying youd rather let Sophia die than come back. Whats going on?"

Ever since Chloe was born, my mom had doted on her, treating her like the apple of her eye.

After Chloe developed depression and was constantly threatening to commit suicide, Moms heart ached even more.

Moms voice choked as she pleaded:

"Please, for your mothers sake, will you go back?"

"Mom loves Chloe the most. If something really happens, how am I supposed to live the rest of my life?"

Hearing her words, I spoke with difficulty. "Mom, I really cant go back."

Seeing that I wouldn't budge, Moms voice turned cold. "Olivia Hayes, how can you be so heartless? Shes your own flesh and blood."

"If you don't come back today, don't bother calling me your mother!"

I gripped the phone, sighed, and slowly began to explain everything to her.

When I finished, Mom gasped in disbelief. "What!"

After a long silence, she spoke again, her voice filled with unconcealed rage:

"Im blocking all contact from that Ethan guy right now! To crush his plan of using me to threaten you!"

"Don't worry, Olivia, Mom will always be your strongest backup."

Just as that call ended, Sarahs gasp rang out from beside me.

Sarah's hand trembled as she handed me her phone.

"Olivia, this is bad! Ethan went live"

"The live stream title is"

She looked up, her eyes wide with panic:

"To Save My Depressed Daughter, Crowdsourcing Help to Find Her Mother."

I clicked into the live stream. Thanks to the trending Christmas buzz, the viewer count in the top right corner soared.

"What kind of father is this? His daughters about to jump in the background, and hes got time to go live?"

"He can't find his wife himself, so he asks strangers for help? Are we his free labor?"

"If shes going to jump, call the police and firefighters! Whats the point of a live stream? Is he just trying to go viral?"

Ethan ignored the screen full of doubts and spoke, sobbing:

"My decision to go live today truly comes from a place of desperation"

"My daughter, Sophia, developed severe depression after experiencing a period of intense bullying in middle school."

He pointed the phone at Sophia, still on the balcony.

Sophia was now sitting even further out, her face smeared with tears and hair sticking to her cheeks. She wildly waved away Ethan's mom, who was trying to approach her:

"I don't want you! I only want Mom!"

"If I dont see Mom before midnight, Im jumping!"

Sophias words were clearly recorded by the live stream camera.

"My daughter ran out to the balcony around nine PM and has been repeatedly saying she won't come down unless she sees her mom. If anyone gets close, she threatens to jump."

"It's been over an hour now, and she's still sitting there"

Ethan placed his phone back on the stand, covering his face in anguish. "But, but no matter how much I pleaded with her mother, she still refuses to come back."

"I know she thinks Sophia's depression is a burden, but watching your child die, it's just too cruel."

I typed a comment, intrigued:

"You say her mom won't come back. Do you have proof?"

My comment influenced others below me, who also began to question:

"Yeah, yeah, internet trends change too fast these days. Just saying her mom won't come back isn't credible enough."

"I just can't believe a mother would be so heartless as to abandon her own daughter. Mothers love their children most of all!"

Ethan caught sight of the comments' skepticism and pulled another phone from his pocket. "I understand everyones doubts, but thankfully, I always record my calls."

My heart sank.

Sure enough, as his finger pressed play, my words from an hour ago were repeatedly broadcast in the live stream.

That line, "As for whether Sophia jumps or not, it has nothing to do with me," was played a full five times by Ethan!

Only when he saw the live chat comments completely turn to condemnation of me did he contentedly lower his phone.

With red-rimmed eyes, he looked into the camera. "I truly couldn't think of any other way, which is why I resorted to this and bothered everyone"

He clasped his hands together and knelt before the camera. "Please, everyone, help me with any clues to find her, so my daughter can have a peaceful New Year."

The comments were swayed by his emotion:

"Don't worry, buddy. Give us some clues. With so many of us, how can we not find her?"

"I've never failed to find someone online. Don't worry, man, your daughter will have a good year."

"I'm also a mother of a child with depression. How could this woman be so malicious? She doesn't deserve to be a mother!"

Ethan pulled out a photo of Sarah and me from his phone. "On the left is my wife, Olivia Hayes, and on the right is her best friend, Sarah Miller."

"They're together celebrating the holidays now, but I don't know where her best friend lives"

In the background, Sophia's cries grew louder.

Ethan pleaded earnestly, "Please, everyone, you must help me find her."

At the same time, my phone was immediately bombarded with messages.

My boss, colleagues, and old classmates I hadnt spoken to in years all sent me texts inquiring.

The content was nearly identical, mostly "Olivia, is it really true what your husband is saying?"

Or "I can't believe I know such a despicable person, Im truly terrible at picking friends!"

Ethan's live stream had completely ignited a storm on the internet. Sarah's and my information were quickly doxxed by netizens.

Twenty minutes later, a highlighted comment appeared in the live stream:

"That Sarah Miller is my neighbor! She lives at Parkview Apartments, Building 11, Apartment 302."

I looked at that comment, my body shaking uncontrollably.

Because Sarah and I were currently staying at Parkview Apartments, Building 11, Apartment 302!

Sarahs face was even whiter than mine. She pointed at the comment. "Olivia I don't have neighbors."

The warm air from the AC blew on me, but Sarahs words left my back drenched in a cold sweat.

If she didnt have neighbors, then who could this person be?

As our address was dug up, the live stream comments plunged into complete frenzy.

Everyone was eagerly anticipating how "they" would "deal with" a villain like me after the daughter was rescued from the balcony.

Just then, Sarahs phone suddenly rang with an urgent alarm.

Afraid she'd be startled, I took her phone and first saw the content on the screen.

With just that one glance, my grip on the phone tightened until my knuckles turned white.

Someone had dug up Sarahs car license plate number. Then, using the leaked apartment complex name, they went specifically to the building's parking garage.

They found Sarahs car, parked in the underground garage.

And maliciously splashed it with a bucket of animal blood and guts!

Pig lungs and liver were hung on the car windows, leaving disgusting smears.

It was her brand-new car, bought just last month.

A wave of fury consumed my mind.

I looked at Ethan on my phone, still endlessly thanking the comments.

I scrolled to the bottom of the screen and initiated a "request to join live stream."

I knew that if I didnt appear soon.

They dared to vandalize the car this step, next they'd dare to smash the apartment.

Ethan quickly accepted my live stream request. By the time my face appeared in the live stream, the viewer count had reached 100,000!

A hint of apology was on his face. "Wife, I didn't mean to use such an extreme method to force you to appear"

"Its just"

He aimed the camera at Sophia again. Sophias appearance was even more terrifying now than before.

Shed gotten a razor blade from somewhere, and her right arm was already gashed and bloody.

She was surrounded by police officers and medical personnel, but no one dared approach her.

If this standoff continued, she'd die from blood loss even if she didnt jump.

"If you don't come back, our daughter is really going to die."

My gaze only lingered on Sophia for a second before immediately returning to Ethan.

My voice was almost flat as I spoke:

"Ethan, give Sophia the phone."

Ethan looked hesitant. "I can give it to her, but wife, can you promise not to say anything to upset Sophia? Her state is really fragile right now"

"I'm giving you a choice."

I adjusted my glasses. "You can also choose not to give her the phone. But if Sophia does something because she doesn't see me, that won't be my fault."

Ethan was enraged by my indifferent attitude.

But fearing something might truly happen to Sophia, he reluctantly slid the phone across the ground to her.

Before sliding it, he threatened:

"Olivia Hayes, Im warning you. If Sophia really dies because of you."

"I won't let you get away with it!"

As soon as Sophia picked up the phone, the frantic look on her face vanished instantly.

Her complexion was pale, tears still clung to the corners of her eyes, and her lips trembled as she murmured:

"Mom, why won't you come back to see me?"

"I just wanted you to hug me will you come back?"

I looked at her pitiful appearance, but my heart felt no ripple of emotion.

Instead, I turned and asked a seemingly unrelated question:

"Sophia, do you still remember why you got depression?"

A flicker of confusion crossed Sophias face. "Mom, does that matter?"

I looked at her sternly. "It matters."

She tightly shut her eyes, her expression instantly becoming one of profound pain, as she shook her head wildly:

"Mom, I don't want to remember, I feel so awful."

Ethan, seeing Sophia like this, roared at me from a distance:

"Olivia Hayes, what are you doing? Didn't I tell you not to upset Sophia!"

"Are you deliberately trying to force our daughter to die?!"

I cut him off loudly, hardening my face as I emphasized to Sophia:

"Sophia, if you don't tell me why you have depression, I will not come back."

The comments scrolled furiously across my screen:

"My God, is she even human? Her daughters in this state, and she still wants to upset her."

"My heart aches watching this. Sophia just wants a hug from her mom, why treat her like this"

"I'm a psychology student; patients are already emotionally agitated, and forcing her to recall the cause of her illnessshes trying to force her daughter to die!"

"Can someone arrest this mother? She's disgusting, how is this any different from intentional murder!"

Sophia's eyebrows furrowed, and she painfully opened her mouth, speaking with great difficulty:

"Its because, in eighth grade, some girls in my class started ganging up on me."

"They forced me to give them ten dollars every day. If I didn't, they'd find people to corner me in an alley after school."

As she spoke, her body trembled even more violently.

"One day, they even in the alley"

At this point, Sophia was utterly overcome with pain and lost her voice.

But I wasn't satisfied and pressed on:

"What did they do to you in the alley!"

Ethan couldnt bear to listen, yelling furiously from the perimeter, his voice distorted:

"Enough, Olivia Hayes!"

"We both saw the surveillance footage from that day in the alley; we both know exactly what happened! Why do you insist on asking?"

"Didnt you yourself propose a pact that day? This incident, it would disappear from our home, and no one would ever mention it again."

He shrieked:

"Are you only satisfied if you force Sophia to die today?"

"Is this how you're a mother? I truly misjudged you!"

Sophia opened her eyes, raised the phone, and asked me pleadingly:

"Mom, Ive told you everything. Can you come back now?"

"Normally, if I just got a cut, you'd be so worried, looking everywhere for bandages. How have you changed now"

I stared at her coldly, and the words I spoke made everyones faces change.

"No."

I added:

"Even if you die here today, I will not come back."

Then, silently, I mouthed something to her.

After seeing what I mouthed, Sophia's lips trembled, and her eyes filled with shock.

In an instant, before anyone could react.

She threw the phone away, swayed backward, and with a decisive fall, plunged towards the ground below.