After Rebirth, I Outplayed My Manipulative Older Sister Chapter 12

After Rebirth, I Outplayed My Manipulative Older Sister Chapter 12

The last time I heard about her was three years. 

later. 

Dad told me over the phone that she had drunk pesticide inside her rental room in the old 

downtown district. 

Her body had lain undiscovered for two whole days, with the door locked from the inside. She left 

no note behind. 

Dad spoke in an uncommonly calm tone as he told. 

me everything. 

I held the phone and stayed silent for a long while. 

The city outside the window remained just as 

busy, with endless streams of traffic flowing day 

and night. 

Some people clawed their way out of the mire, 

while others sank and drowned in it. 

Those who made it out were not necessarily good 

people. 

And those who fell were not inherently wicked. 

either. 

I opened my phone album and found an old 

photograph. 

Mom held six–year–old me in her arms, her eyes 

crinkling fully with bright laughter. She looked 

utterly assured, as if nothing in the world could 

ever take her daughter away from her. 

I flipped the photo over. 

Her rough, casual handwriting covered the back, 

plain and true just like herself. 

She had suddenly insisted that Dad write a line on the photo back in those days. 

He did so, then she snatched the photo and added. 

another line beneath his words. 

The two lines sat side by side, the ink faded yet still legible. 

Dad’s words read: [You are the love of my life.] 

Beneath it was Mom’s addition: [And you are mine. 

too.] 

It ended with a firm period, never a question mark. 

She had never needed to doubt it. 

I stared at the photo for a long time before turning 

it over and putting it back in the drawer. 

The city never quieted down, always bustling with 

comings and goings. Some were blessed with 

boundless love, while others lived their whole lives 

deprived of it. 

I finally understood that Mom had never wasted 

her time fighting over anyone’s affection. 

She had simply given all her love to me firmly, 

bravely and unreservedly. 

I never had to compete with anyone for anything. 

Because from the moment I was born, I had 

already won.