I Bet My Soul on My Mother’s Love Chapter 06

I Bet My Soul on My Mother’s Love Chapter 06

For the first time in my life, my body felt entirely weightless and free of pain.

I drifted over to Mom’s side.

Deep lines of exhaustion and age had carved themselves into her face.

Ever since Lily was born, the look Mom gave me was always sharp and full of resentment. But whenever she looked at Lily, her eyes melted with tenderness.

Right now, she was rocking Lily gently in her arms, humming softly. “Lily will always be Mommy’s favorite little angel.”

“Don’t let your wicked sister upset you, sweetie. Mommy loves Lily the most.”

Look at that. The exact phrase that had consumed my thoughts day and night.

The words that would have granted me the right to keep breathing.

The words that would have saved my soul from shattering into dust.

Mom refused to say them to me, yet she whispered them to Lily without a second thought.

The love I could never hope to reach was something Lily received effortlessly.

Lily snuggled deeper into Mom’s embrace, her voice dripping with artificial innocence.

“Mom, do you think Chloe is mad at me again? Mad because I got sick, so you and Dad had to stay with me instead of throwing her a birthday party?”

“Mom… does Chloe hate me?”

“She always tries to compete with me, and she keeps asking who you love more. She must think I stole your affection.”

Predictably, the moment my name left Lily’s lips, a flash of pure disgust washed over Mom’s features.

“Ignore her, Lily. I utterly spoiled your sister when she was little.”

“Now her entire mind is consumed with trying to take things from you and fight you for attention.”

I wanted to explain, but Mom would never hear my voice again.

Mom, I never wanted to fight Lily for anything.

I just wanted to live.

I just wanted to win my wager with Death.

Why did it have to be so hard?

Dad walked into the room a moment later.

He patted Lily’s head before signaling Mom to step out into the hallway with him.

“The doctor said if we don’t find a matching heart donor soon, Lily might not survive the winter.”

Mom instantly broke down, sobbing uncontrollably into her hands.

Dad forced back his own tears, his expression hardening with a sudden, calculating hesitation.

“Actually… I secretly took some of Chloe’s blood work a while back to run a compatibility test against Lily’s

chart.”

“It’s a perfect match. In this entire country, her heart is likely the only one Lily’s body won’t reject…”

My soul sank deeper into the cold air.

So that was it.

The only reason I was allowed to graduate from that horrific reform academy was because my blood matched my sister’s.

Why didn’t Mom just say so?

Now that I was already dead, how was I supposed to give Lily my heart?

Not that I would have refused. My soul was going to shatter anyway, so I would have gladly given it to her. I would have given my heart to my sister so she could live a long, beautiful life in my place.

I couldn’t live anyway.

But to my absolute shock, Mom snapped.

She actively rejected the proposal.

Furious, she swung her hand and slapped Dad hard across the face. “You absolute monster! Who gave you permission to run that test?!”

“I will never, under any circumstances, sacrifice the life of one of my daughters to save the other!”

“You are Chloe’s biological father! How can you stand there and say something so utterly vile?!”

I was stunned, and Dad looked just as shocked.

In my memory, Dad had always been the one who tried to keep things fair. If he bought a piece of candy for

Lily, he would always make sure I got one too.

But right now, his eyes were freezing cold, filled with a terrifying, absolute detachment.

“You locked her away in a strict boarding school for six years! She is completely estranged from us; she will

never be close to this family again.”

“Lily, at least, is the child we raised and poured our love into. She belongs with us.”

“If one of them has to die anyway, why shouldn’t it be Chloe?”

This was the first time I had ever seen my parents scream at each other like this.

Mom stared at Dad as if looking at a stranger.

“Chloe Vance is still our flesh and blood! She is perfectly healthy, and yes, I am incredibly strict with her!”

“But what right do we have to strip away her absolute right to live?!”

Mom snatched the transplant compatibility documents from his hands and violently ripped them to shreds.