My Toxic Family Called It \"A Mistake,\" So I Ruined Them All

My grandma is famous for getting confused.

I told her not to touch my work laptop. She immediately took it to a pawn shop, sold it for pocket change, and got me fired and blacklisted from my industry.

When I confronted her in tears, she just scoffed. Im just an old lady who made a mistake! Is it really that big of a deal?

Later, she found the expensive gold bracelet I bought for my boyfriend, pawned it, and stuffed my secret infertility test report into the empty gift box instead. It broke my boyfriend's heart, and he broke up with me.

When I screamed at her, she actually smiled. "I did you a favor, sweetie! Now you can go find a richer man who actually lives long!"

I accused her of ruining my life. But my toxic family forced me to my knees, demanding I apologize to her.

Heartbroken and completely broken, I ended my life by jumping off the city bridge.

But now, Ive opened my eyes again. Im back. And this time, I will destroy every single one of them.

The sharp, suffocating smell of smoke filled the air.

My grandma was in the living room, screaming at the top of her lungs.

I glanced at my work laptop, sitting perfectly untouched on my desk. My mind snapped into focus.

I had traveled back in time. I was reborn.

In my past life, this was the exact moment Grandma Beatrice threw highly flammable firestarter blocks into the wood fireplace, nearly setting the entire house on fire.

She cried afterwards, claiming she was just "getting old and confused."

Back then, I had rushed to help her. I left my laptop on the desk, told her not to touch it, and ran to clean up her mess.

But while I was busy dealing with the smoke, she took my expensive work laptop and pawned it for a measly hundred dollars.

I had begged her to tell me which pawn shop she went to so I could buy it back and save my job.

But she clutched the hundred dollars in her pocket, her face twisted in anger.

"No way! What I find is mine to sell! This money is for my precious grandson, Austin!"

My boss didn't care about my excuses. He fired me on the spot and blacklisted me from the entire industry.

I was one step away from a major promotion. Because of her, my career was dead.

I had asked her in despair, "Why? Why did you ruin my life?!"

But she just sat there, casually eating chips. "Oh, come on! One door closes, another opens. I made a tiny mistake. Is it really that big of a deal?"

My dad, Arthur, had glared at me. "Elena, watch your mouth! Thats your grandmother! Youre just useless, don't blame her. If you don't like this house, get married and get the hell out!"

My mom, Martha, and my brother, Austin, just watched like they were enjoying a reality TV show.

I swallowed my tears back then.

To protect the birthday gift I bought for my boyfriend, Ethana beautiful gold braceletI hid it deep in my closet.

But a few days later, Grandma Beatrice suddenly had enough cash to hand Austin three hundred dollars.

A terrible feeling had crept into my chest.

And then, I got the breakup call from Ethan. That was when I realized what she had done.

She had pawned the gold bracelet. In its place, she put my confidential medical reportthe one showing I was infertileinside the gift box.

Ethan thought I had lied to him. He thought I didn't trust him. He told me, crying, that he had planned to propose to me that very day.

But his voice was suddenly cut short by a horrific crash over the phone.

A semi-truck had plowed into Ethans car. He died instantly.

I screamed at my grandma, "Youre a thief! You stole everything from me! You killed my happiness!"

But my dad grabbed me by the hair, forcing me to beg for her forgiveness.

Austin kicked the back of my knees, forcing me to drop to the floor.

My mom sighed. "Elena, your dad is the head of this house. You have to listen to him. Your grandma didn't mean to do it. Old people make mistakes. Besides, if it wasn't for her, we wouldn't have known Ethan was destined to die young anyway."

Grandma Beatrice smirked. "Exactly! What's the big deal? If I hadn't intervened, youd be a young widow right now. Now you can find a rich, healthy man. I did you a favor!"

Looking at their cold, mocking faces, something inside me died.

I ran out of the house and jumped off the bridge, ending my miserable, unloved life.

Back in the present, Grandma Beatrice's shrieks from the living room grew louder.

I stayed in my room, completely ignoring her.

First, I quickly backed up all my work data to the cloud. Then, I packed all my expensive jewelry, documents, and valuables into a bag. I was going to drop them off at Ethans apartment.

In this life, I would protect my career and the man I loved.

And I would make sure my toxic family drowned in Grandma's "confused mistakes."

After securing my things, I walked out of my room.

The living room wall was completely blackened by smoke. It looked terrible.

My mom crossed her arms, glaring at me. "Why didn't you help your grandmother?"

Grandma Beatrice immediately pointed a shaking finger at me. "She did it on purpose! You know Im old and get confused! I was screaming for help, and you just sat in your room. Are you trying to kill me, you ungrateful brat?!"

A cold smile touched my lips. *Oh, I want you dead, Grandma. But death is too easy for you.*

Instead, I poured her a warm glass of water and handed it to her gently.

"Grandma, look at you, getting confused again. When you were screaming, I literally yelled at you to stop throwing those firestarter blocks. When the flames shot up, I immediately ran outside to look for help."

"I was so worried about you that I forgot to call 911. My bad."

Grandma Beatrice's face turned red. "You little liar! You think you're smart? God will punish you for disrespecting your elders!"

She glanced greedily toward my bedroom door, then turned to Austin with a sweet smile. "Austin, don't be like your sister. Come to Grandma's room later. I have a little surprise for you."

My eyes narrowed. My laptop was already gone. What was she planning to steal this time?

I walked back into my room and waited.

A moment later, Grandma Beatrice dragged my mom into my room. "Look at this mess! Elena does nothing but stare at her computer. Her room looks like a pigsty! I almost choked on smoke, and yet I still came in here to clean up for her. She has no heart!"

She pretended to wipe away a tear.

My mom nudged me. "Apologize to your grandma right now! Who else would care enough to clean your room?"

I screamed laughing inside. A grandmother this toxic? No one else would want her.

I stepped up to her and smiled warmly. "Thank you so much, Grandma. You're so sweet. Its a good thing you 'cleaned' my room. I thought a thief broke in and stole my laptop, my books, and the boxes under my bed. I was literally about to call the cops!"

Grandma Beatrice stiffened, her voice turning sharp. "What are you talking about?! I didn't see any laptop!"

Aha. She wasn't confused at all. She knew exactly what she was doing.

In my past life, she had targeted my laptop on purpose.

Thank God I acted fast, or history would have repeated itself.

I turned to my mom, my voice cold. "Hear that, Mom? She claims she was 'cleaning,' but she's actually looking for things to steal and pawn."

Grandma's face flushed with guilt.

My mom snapped, "Elena! Stop it! Shes your grandmother!"

Suddenly, Austin stormed into the room. He threw a crumpled hundred-dollar bill right at Grandma's face.

"Did you pawn my limited-edition anime figures?! Is this your 'surprise'?! I don't want your stupid cash! Get my figures back!"

I shook my head, pretending to comfort him. "Austin, how can you talk to Grandma like that? She didn't mean to do it! She's just an old lady who got a little confused!"

Grandma Beatrice stared at me, realization hitting her like a truck.

She ran back to her room in a panic. "Oh no! They're gone!"

Austin fell to the floor, clutching his head. "My figures... my limited-edition figures..."

My mom panicked, not knowing what to do.

I immediately pulled out my phone and dialed 91

Grandma Beatrice rushed back and lunged at me like a feral animal. "Did you touch my heirloom diamond necklace?!"

I grabbed her by her collar and dragged her straight into her bedroom. "Aren't you the one who loves 'making mistakes'? Don't you love pawning my stuff? Today, Im going to learn from the best!"

I grabbed her favorite vintage radio from under her pillow and smashed it onto the floor. "This looks like junk! Time to throw it out!"

Grandma picked up the broken pieces, her body trembling with rage. "You monster! You absolute monster!"

I smirked, then picked up a large glass jar filled with her expensive, five-year-old aged herbal tonic.

"No, no! Don't! That's expensive!" she shrieked.

*Crash.*

I smiled innocently. "Oops. My hand slipped."

Looking at the shattered glass and the dark liquid ruining her carpet, she lost her mind. "My five-year-old tonic! Elena, you did this on purpose! Just wait until your father gets home! Hes going to beat you to death!"

I walked over to her altar and picked up her highly prized, creepy vintage porcelain angel statue. My eyes went dead cold. "Let him try. Let's see who dies first!"

*Smash.*

The porcelain shattered into a million pieces.

Grandma Beatrice fell to the floor, wailing and slapping the ground. "This is a sin! You smashed the holy angel! You've cursed this entire family!"

I shrugged. "You're my grandma. If I'm cursed, it's because I learned it from you. Im just 'confused' today."

I walked over to her closet, pulled out a valuable landscape painting my dad had gifted her, and ripped it in half. "Nice paper. Makes great scrap!"

Grandma Beatrice was so angry she couldn't breathe. She stumbled, fell over the broken glass, and scraped her arms and legs, bleeding onto the floor.

In the hallway, my mom was holding a hyperventilating Austin.

She screamed at me, "Elena! Are you trying to destroy this family?! You hurt your grandma and your brother! Are you going to kill your father and me next?!"

Suddenly, a heavy leather briefcase slammed into the back of my head.

My dad, Arthur, had just walked in. His face was distorted with fury. "Elena! I will end you today!"

He grabbed a wooden golf club from the umbrella stand and chased me through the house.

As I ran outside, I tripped over a stone in the yard and fell hard, unable to get up.

Just as the golf club was about to crash down on my back...

The ambulance sirens wailed, and the paramedics pulled into the driveway.

I burst into tears, crawling toward the medics. "Please, save me! Hes going to kill me! My grandma stole my brother's things, which made him faint. When I argued with her, she fell over her own mess, and now my parents are trying to kill me!"

"Is it because I'm a girl? Is that my crime? Why does Grandma get a pass for stealing, and my brother gets pampered, but I get beaten?! My life matters too!"

The paramedics looked at my dad with absolute disgust.

One of them stepped between us, blocking my dad. "Sir, put the club down. I don't care if she's your daughter, this is domestic abuse. We will report this to the police!"

The other paramedic added, "Favoring your son is one thing, but this is sick. You can't blame this girl for your family's mess."

My dad's face burned with shame. He slowly lowered the club.

Grandma Beatrice, covered in scratches and tonic, hobbled out, screaming at the medics.

"Don't listen to that little witch! Shes lying! She attacked us! You should call the cops on her! She's a useless girl, she deserves to be flayed alive!"

To prove her point, she reached out and violently pinched my arm.

The ambulance driver had enough. "Are we going to the hospital or not?!"

Austin suddenly started throwing up in my moms arms.

My dad and grandma panicked. "Yes! Yes, let's go!"

I helped the medics lift the stretcher to load Austin into the back.

Grandma Beatrice pushed me away forcefully. "Get away from my grandson, you curse! Austin is the only boy in this family! If anything happens to him, I'll kill you!"

In her haste, she pulled the stretcher too hard, causing Austins shirt to slide up, exposing his torso.

The female paramedic gasped. "Oh..."

My dad, embarrassed and angry, yelled at me, "Can't you do anything right?! You almost dropped him!"

The medic quickly pushed them inside. "Thats enough. We need to go."

The ambulance sped away. The neighbors who had gathered to watch slowly dispersed.

I wiped my tears and let out a cold, satisfied smile.

I wondered if the paramedic was shocked by the cute pink lace bra Austin was wearing under his shirt.

The show was just getting started.