My Daughter’s Tears Chapter 2

In my last life, Chloe cried for an entire night.

She couldn’t bear for me to leave; she begged and pleaded for me to stay. Her tears wore me down, and I finally relented, deciding to remain in the country to be with her. But even that wasn't enough. She constantly complained that her life was stifling, that her family wasn't happy, that she wasn't fulfilled.

After she married Kevin, I felt sorry for her, juggling a household while paying off a mortgage and car loans. I gave her every spare cent I had. She complained that Nathan was falling behind in school and that Kevin didn't earn enough. She lamented that being a housewife made people look down on her.

My heart ached for her struggles, so I stepped in. I took over her household chores, cooked her meals, and did her laundry, tirelessly caring for her entire family.

Finally, the day I retired arrived. I had already made plans with old friends to travel, to finally see the world. But that was the day my daughter came to me, weeping, and told me about her failed startup and the million-dollar debt.

How could I bear to see her and my grandson hunted by loan sharks?

So, I went back to the hospital, cap in hand, and took on any work they’d give me. I worked every waking hour. Hospital by day, Uber and DoorDash by night, saving every penny for her.

Until the cancer diagnosis.

My daughter fell into my arms, sobbing. “I looked it up online, Mom. Chemo just speeds things up. You won't last three months. I found a famous naturopath who can cure you. His herbal formulas have saved countless cancer patients. Each treatment costs a fortune, thousands of dollars!”

I was a doctor. I knew my own body. I knew there was still a chance, that surgery to remove the tumor could save me.

But she had already purchased ten vials of the murky, brown liquid. Friends and relatives all praised her, telling me what a wonderful, devoted daughter I had. I assumed a treatment that cost thousands must be made of rare, miraculous ingredients. I couldn't bear to throw it away, so I forced it down, sip by bitter sip.

But the "medicine" only made me worse. My early-stage cancer raged into its final, terminal phase.

For a full month, I was tortured by agonizing pain. The bitter concoction couldn't sustain me. My belly swelled with ascites until it was taut as a drum. In the end, there was nothing left but to let the tumors devour my organs, leaving me hollowed out and filled with poison.

Even as I died, Chloe never shed a single tear.

It was on the seventh day after my death, the day my soul was said to return, that I learned everything.

Chloe and her family had been using my compassion all along, turning me into their unpaid maid, their personal ATM. They drained my salary and my pension, secretly using it to fund her business venture. They bled me dry, down to the very last drop.

She had been lying to me the entire time. Her startup had been profitable for years. In just five years, she’d built a company and become its CEO. In ten, she was a multimillionaire. She spent ten thousand dollars a day without a second thought, a VIP at Hermès. She would spend a hundred thousand on jewelry for her mother-in-law without batting an eye but refused to spend a single penny on me.

And the thousand-dollar "miracle cure"? It was a lie. She’d found some charlatan to prescribe the cheapest, most common herbs.

The daughter I trusted, the daughter I adored, had deceived me my entire life. She was a viper I had warmed at my own breast.

Even on the night of my funeral, she remained dry-eyed. Her voice was light, almost casual, as she spoke to a relative.

“She should have died a long time ago. Even if I were a billionaire, I wouldn't have spent a cent on her. It’s what she deserved. It’s her fault she only saved Kevin’s life but not his leg. She condemned me to a life of being mocked for marrying a cripple. I hated her for it. I'm glad she's gone. Otherwise, I'd always be worried she'd find out about my money and expect me to support her.”

The rage was so powerful it felt like it would tear my spirit apart. How could I not feel betrayed? How could I not be filled with hate?

Tears of blood fell from my spectral eyes, my heart a void of despair. My entire life had been for Chloe, and my reward was to die in agony, utterly alone.

Reborn, I would live for myself. This time, I would put myself first.