99 Crimes, Countless Blessings — and None of Them Were Mine Chapter 06
The blood road swept up every member of the Sinclair family.
When they landed, the Court of the Dead surrounded them.
Dad found his footing and immediately began defending himself.
“We only followed the spiritual adviser’s instructions.”
“If Nora hadn’t taken those disasters for us, how could the Sinclair Foundation have saved so many people?”
Mom nodded through red eyes.
“One child suffered so thousands could benefit. How was that wrong?”
I stood in a corner of the court, my fingertips cold.
Even here, they still believed I deserved it.
The Judge opened the Ledger of Souls.
“If you insist this was all done to help others, then let’s see exactly what she suffered for you.”
A memory descended around us.
At seven, I lay curled up in the windowless storage room with a fever of 104 degrees.
My blanket was soaked through. My teeth would not stop chattering.
I crawled to the door and used the last of my strength to knock.
“Mom…”
Footsteps stopped outside.
Mom placed her hand on the doorknob.
My eyes lit up. I pushed myself upright against the wall.
Then the occultist’s voice came from behind her.
“Mr. Sinclair is destined to be in a serious car accident tonight.”
“If the girl endures this fever without treatment, the disaster will transfer to her instead.”
Mom’s hand stayed on the knob for a long time.
Through the crack, I could see the hem of her dress.
I thought she was coming in. I hurriedly wiped my tears.
Then she released the handle.
“Don’t give her any medicine.”
Their footsteps faded.
I leaned against the door and whispered to myself, “Mom came to check on me.”
“She just had somewhere else to be.”
Mom’s face turned gray.
The Judge looked at her.
“You chose your husband’s safety.”
Dad clenched his jaw.
“Husbands and wives are supposed to protect each other!”
The gavel fell.
The memory changed.
Dad never had a car accident that night.
He only blew a tire on the way to sign a contract.
My fever damaged my left ear. I lived with hearing loss from that day forward.
The next morning, the Sinclair family donated hearing aids through the foundation.
Mom held Ruby in front of the cameras and said gently, “Every child who can’t hear the world deserves to be heard.”
The applause became golden light and poured into her blessing plaque.
I touched my left ear. The ringing from that night returned.
The Judge pulled a golden thread from Mom’s plaque.
The other end was buried in my soul.
He yanked.
The thread snapped.
Mom screamed as blood ran from her left ear.
She covered it with both hands.
“I can’t hear!”
The Judge watched her without pity.
“This is what she suffered in your place.”
“Now it belongs to you again.”
Mom stumbled toward me.
“Nora, I was scared back then.”
“I donated all those hearing aids afterward. I was earning blessings for you too.”
I stepped back.
Her hand passed through my body.
“All I wanted was something to bring down my fever.”
My voice was soft.
The words pinned her in place.
Her lips trembled, but no words came out.
Chains rattled beyond the court doors.
Underworld guards dragged in an old man.
He was the spiritual adviser who had read my fate when I was born.
Dad rushed toward him.
“Tell the Judge we were only following destiny!”
The old man dropped to his knees and struck his forehead against the floor.
“There was never any sacrificial fate.”
“That child was born with a once-in-a-century soul-one that naturally gathered blessings.”
“The Sinclairs grew greedy. They traded away every ounce of love and belonging she should have received in exchange for wealth and protection for the entire bloodline.”
The court went dead silent.
I looked at my family.
Their faces were filled with terror.
At last, the truth had been dragged into the
open.
