Madelyn had a bad home life. In my previous life, I pitied her. I always lent her money and even had my parents take her in as their goddaughter.
Every time her dad beat or scolded her, she would cry to me, saying her dad was inhuman.
I always stood up for her. I even got slapped several times by her dad because of it.
But I never expected that in the end, Madelyn would repay my kindness with betrayal, leading to the destruction of my family.
I shook off her hand and exposed her dad's gambling debts. "You pay off your dad's debts yourself. My home isn't a shelter for refugees, and my mom won't keep lending you money," I said.
Over the past three years, Madelyn had secretly borrowed at least fifty thousand dollars from my mom behind my back. My mom kept it hidden from me.
Madelyn shrank into the blanket, not daring to say a word. "Claire, I was wrong," she muttered.
Every time we argued, she would always pretend to be understanding and apologize.
Then she would use my guilt to make even more demands.
I went home with my mom. She had a minor scratch on her arm. Luckily, she avoided a disaster in this life.
Mom patted my hand and patiently explained, "Madelyn didn't do it intentionally. You two are best friends. Don't hold a grudge over this. Besides, look at how badly she's hurt."
I couldn't explain to Mom that I had been reborn. I could only tell her to stay away from Madelyn as much as possible.
Mom didn't listen. She continued to go to the hospital every day to bring Madelyn supplements.
Madelyn took advantage of Mom's soft heart. She sweet-talked her and even tricked her out of several thousand dollars.
By the time I found out about this, it was already the day Madelyn was being discharged from the hospital.
I took her home, ready to settle the accounts from these past few days. "Did you borrow money from my mom again?" I asked.
Madelyn affectionately held my arm. "Claire, you know I spent a lot of money during my hospital stay. Let's not count that right now," she said.
I gave her a side-eye. "Then what about the five thousand dollars you took from my mom a few days ago?" I asked.
Before I could finish, a sudden, urgent knocking on the door broke the tension.
Rather than knocking, it sounded more like someone was pounding on the door.
Looking through the peephole, I saw it was Madelyn's alcoholic father, holding a half-empty bottle of liquor.