Chapter 2

"Break up?!"

Ernest smiled, but his eyes held down his fury.

"Geraldine Swanson, do you really want to break up with me?"

"Then I'll grant your wish!"

With a low growl, Ernest pulled Irene into the car and drove off.

I stood where I was, stunned for a few seconds.

The ring I once treasured fell into the muddy water.

I didn't pick it up again.

I took out my phone and called the hospital.

"Hello, may I come pick up a body today?"

"Whose body?"

"Gloria Fox."

My lips trembled as I forced out my mother's name.

My throat felt like it had been sealed shut with strong glue, and I couldn't get out another word.

"Gloria Fox?"

"Wasn't her body already claimed?"

The staff member's voice came through the phone.

I froze, then anxiously asked who had claimed it.

"The person who claimed her was named Irene Delgado."

Irene?

My body shaking, I hurriedly dialed Irene's number.

But every call was hung up on me.

Just as my finger was about to press Ernest's number.

Irene suddenly posted something on her social media.

A vlog of a day experiencing medical life with my sister!

When the video started playing, I saw a body lying face down.

"Today, my sister is going to give me an important lesson for medical students: cadaver dissection!"

"Ugh! Her back is so gross!"

"There's actually such a huge area of scarring!"

"I feel so sorry for those medical students, having to face such stomach-turning things every day!"

I watched quietly, and suddenly my mind seemed to explode.

Only blankness remained.

This body was my mother.

When I was little, my grandmother favored sons over daughters.

To force my mother to have another son, she boiled a pot of scalding water.

Meaning to scald me to death.

My mother sensed something was wrong and rushed back, using her back to block the boiling water my grandmother threw.

Her back spasmed with pain, but she divorced without a moment's hesitation and took me with her.

Every time I brought up the scars on her back, she gently comforted me.

"It was our Gerry who gave Mom the courage to leave the abyss."

"These aren't scars. They're the medal my Gerry awarded her mom."

And now, my mother.

Taken away by Irene for dissection without permission, her body mocked by countless people.

The comment section was filled with disgusting remarks.

Like so many sharp knives, stabbing me into a bloody pulp.

Stabbing me until the pain was unbearable.

My body twitched slightly beyond my control, and a sharp pain shot through my abdomen.

"Metropolis City Medical College..."

"Mom, I'm coming to take you home..."

Muttering to myself, my face covered in tears, I took a taxi to the medical college's address.

The moment I got out, Ernest called.

"Geraldine Swanson, my parents have agreed to give you another chance."

"Bring your mother to the old house for dinner tonight."

"Ernest, I won't—"

Before I could finish, Irene's giggling came from the other end of the line.

"Ernest, I want spicy barbecue ribs tonight!"

"The spicier the better!"

The call was cut off in a hurry.

I reached up and wiped away the tears covering my face, then blocked and deleted Ernest for good.

I asked my way to the dissection room, my fingers trembling as I pushed the door open.

I saw my mother, completely dissected.

The body had long lost any resemblance to what it had been.

Only skin, muscle, and bone were left on display.

Looking at the scars I knew so well on her back, the string in my mind snapped.

Like a madwoman, I grabbed something hard and smashed the glass open.

"Mom, I'm taking you home."