Now that my mission was complete, I wanted to use my final moments to help the women here as much as I could.
I just never imagined it would be at the hospital where my second brother worked.
"Suicide? River, have you changed your tactic to gain sympathy by attempting death? Who taught you that?" Spencer sneered.
Then he continued, "Did you learn it from your friend who jumped to her death? Let me tell you, she was a lunatic! Just like you, a worthless piece of trash!"
At the same time, Skyler approached from a distance, waving a news article about my friend's death as he shouted his ridicule. "Fish-seller's daughter kills herself out of shame because she can't compare to her rich husband's first love?"
"River, look at these headlines. Isn't every word true? You're just as lowly as Kienna Zimmer, a worthless piece of trash!"
"You were switched at birth, raised in our family for eighteen years and yet you still can't compare to even a single strand of Agnes's hair!"
After saying this, Skyler came over with a gloomy face and grabbed my hair. "River, if you come with me and apologize to Agnes, I will forgive you this time. Otherwise … I'll expose your true-life story and not a single university in this country will accept you!"
"Okay," I replied calmly.
"What did you say?" Skyler paused. His face was filled with shock as his grip on my hair tightened unconsciously.
"I told you that you wouldn't be able to go to college. Do you know what that means?" he asked one more.
What does it mean?
I understood better than anyone.
Just three months before my college entrance exams, my mother was diagnosed with cancer. To keep it from me, my father and brothers lied, saying she had gone on a trip.
Still, how could I not know? My mother loved me and this family. She was our emotional anchor, supporting each one of us.
She often said, "This family would fall apart without me!"
Each time, I would smile and agree, "Mom, you must live a long life. Otherwise, this family will fall apart."
I remember that day when I secretly followed my father and brothers to the hospital. I saw my mother, who was as thin as a skeleton after chemotherapy.
Her face was ashen, yet she clutched Dad's hand, asking over and over.
"Did River find out?"
"Is she doing okay at school?"
"I can't let River miss her college entrance exams. My baby is going to be a scientist someday!"