Reborn to Ruin Her: A Toxic Bloodline

My mother was the ultimate bleeding heart. The charter bus for the crucial state exams was idling, ready to leave.

Yet there she was, physically blocking the doors and digging her fingers into my arm.

She refused to let the driver leave without the neighbor's daughter, who had run off to grab breakfast. This was the only bus heading to the testing center.

If I missed it, I’d be forced to scramble for a cab, guaranteeing I'd be late. Right as the doors threatened to close, I shoved my mother’s hand off my arm.

I looked at the driver and told him to hit the gas. I arrived perfectly on time. I nailed the exams and scored a fullride scholarship to an Ivy League.

The neighbor's daughter, on the other hand, missed the cutoff. She was barred from entering the testing center.

As a result, her family forced her to marry a newmoney creep thirty years her senior, just so they could use his cash to cover her brother's massive gambling debts.

Broken by relentless domestic abuse, she took her own life. Right before she died, they even forced her to sign a waiver surrendering every last penny of her assets.

My mother didn't say a single word about the tragedy. Instead, she took me on a fun vacation for the entire summer.

But the very day my Ivy League acceptance letter arrived in the mail, her mask slipped.

She snatched the heavy envelope from my hands, ripped the letter to shreds, and shoved me down the stairs into our basement, deadbolting the heavy door behind me.

Tears streamed down her face as she glared at me through the small grate. "You selfish brat! You completely ruined that poor girl's life!" "She died such a tragic death!

What gives you the right to go to some fancy college? You can rot down in this basement for the next four years!" I blinked. The suffocating dampness of the basement vanished.

I was back. I stood right in front of the idling charter bus, the crisp morning air hitting my face. I glanced at my mother.

She was craning her neck, her eyes practically watering with sympathy as she desperately searched the street for the neighbor's kid. I didn't say a word.

I just turned on my heel, gripped the handrail, and stepped onto the bus. If she wanted to play the martyr so badly, she could do it without me.

Chapter 1 The charter bus pulled away. My mother chased after it, her face twisted in disappointment and rage. I dug my fingernails into the thick canvas of my backpack straps.

Only when her reflection shrank and finally stopped in the rearview mirror did I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding.

Two other students from our neighborhood were on the bus. They kept their eyes glued to the floor, pretending they hadn't seen a thing.

In my past life, when I was the one who told the driver to step on it, these exact same kids had torn into me. "How can you ignore your mom when she's crying like that?

You're so coldblooded." Look at them now. This time, I hadn't said a word.

My mother had thrown an unhinged tantrum all on her own, and suddenly, they were just terrified her psycho behavior would make them late for the exam.

The driver cleared his throat, breaking the heavy silence. "Kid, was your mom seriously trying to make us wait for that girl who ran off to grab breakfast?" He shook his head, gripping the steering wheel. "This is the crucial state exam for the fullride scholarship.

Does she think this is a free shuttle to a damn amusement park? If you aren't prepared, that's on you.

Nobody else can take the fall for your own exams." I didn't say a word in response. Just stared out the window.

In my last life, after listening to my mother's sobbing guilt trip, this exact same driver had looked at me like I was a coldblooded murderer. This time around?

My mother chasing down a moving bus just made her look totally unhinged. I hadn't lifted a finger, and ironically, I was the one who looked like the innocent victim.

My phone vibrated against my thigh. A relentless barrage of texts from her. [Get back here right now!] [How can you be so selfish?!] [Elise is so pitiful!

Could you really not wait one extra minute for her?!] [You're going to ruin her entire life!] Staring at the glowing screen, a violent tremor racked my body.

The phantom stench of mildew and rotting food clawed at my throat. Four years. Four years locked in that pitchblack basement. No windows. No sunlight.

Just my mother unlocking the heavy deadbolt every three days to shove down bowls of rancid, sour scraps, accompanied by her endless beatings and screaming. "Elise died such a horrific death, and it's all your fault!

What gives you the right to have a better life than her?!

You deserve to taste exactly what she suffered!" In my past life, during that fun summer trip she took me on right after the exams, I was stupid enough to think she had moved on.

I actually thought she realized Elise's bad luck had absolutely nothing to do with me. Then the Ivy League acceptance letter arrived. She ripped it to shreds.

She cried hysterically as she tore the heavy paper, wailing about how if Elise had just made that bus, she'd be getting her own acceptance letter too. "It's all your fault!" Back then, I was pathetic enough to try and explain myself. "Mom, you were the one who wanted to wait for her.

I just needed to get to the exam on time—" "Shut your mouth!" she screamed, right before a backhand cracked across my face. "If you weren't so incredibly selfish, Elise never would have been late!

You ruined everything!" Every single day of those four years, she forced me to listen to Elise's tragic story. How brutally Elise was beaten by that newmoney creep.

How disgusted her husband was by her. How his family relentlessly pressured her to breed an heir. And how, finally, she jumped from that building.

At the end of her daily rants, my mother would always point a trembling finger at me, tears streaming down her face. "It's your fault!

It's all your fault, you selfish bitch!" In the beginning, I tried to defend myself. Then, my voice gave out, and I stopped talking altogether.

Eventually, my mind snapped, and I actually started questioning if I was the monster she claimed I was. The air brakes hissed. My eyes snapped open.

The high school testing center loomed outside the window. I sat at the desk, staring down at the thick exam packet. My pen glided across the paper.

The questions were identical to my past life. Even the essay prompts hadn't changed a single punctuation mark.

I remembered every single answer I had written down back then—where I had stupidly lost points, and where I should have scored perfectly.

This time, I wasn't dropping a single point. And I sure as hell wasn't letting anyone guilttrip me into sabotaging my own future ever again. The final bell rang.

As I walked out the heavy double doors, a crowd of anxious parents swarmed the entrance. Off to the side, Elise's mother was clutching her daughter, sobbing hysterically.

Elise had her face buried in her mother's chest, her shoulders heaving with every sob. She looked like the ultimate tragic victim.

A few sympathetic parents gathered around them, offering soft condolences. "Don't cry, sweetheart. You can always retake the test next year…" "Exactly!

A gap year might even help you get a better score…" Elise's mother's head snapped up, her eyes bloodshot. "A gap year?!" she shrieked. "Where the hell are we supposed to get the money to fund a gap year?!

Her father already laid down the law!" "If she doesn't get into college, she's being shipped back to our hometown to get married!" The surrounding parents flinched, falling into a dead, awkward silence.

Chapter 2 I had zero interest in their little drama. I turned to slip away, but my mother spotted me. She lunged forward, her fingers digging into my shoulder. "Hazel!

Could you seriously not tell the driver to wait for Elise?!" she screamed, not caring who was watching. "It would have taken two minutes!

How can you be so utterly heartless?!" It was a perfect replay of my past life.

Tracking me down at the testing center gates just to humiliate me, sobbing about how she failed as a mother, how I had turned into a selfish monster.

I kept my voice deadpan. "The charter bus had a schedule. I got on it." I met her hysterical gaze. "Elise missed it.

That's a 'her' problem." Her entire body shook. "You…!" She pointed a trembling finger at my face. "How can you be so coldblooded?! You two grew up together!

You just stood there and watched her ruin her life!" I stepped into her space, locking onto her eyes. "If I was the one running late today, would you have forced Elise off the bus to wait for me?" I didn't blink. "Would you have made Elise risk her own scholarship just to wait for me to buy a bagel?" That shut her up.

Her mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. "You wouldn't. So what gave you the right to demand I wait for her?" The surrounding parents started whispering and pointing.

Realizing she was making a public scene, her face flushed red. She shoved me toward our car without another word.

The second the front door clicked shut at home, her fingers clamped onto my arm like a vice. "Hazel, are you completely dead inside?! Do you have any idea how devastated Elise is?!

This was the state exam!" I yanked my arm free, ignoring the sting. A bitter laugh escaped my lips. "Oh, so you do know it was the state exam!

Her screwing up has absolutely nothing to do with me!" She snatched a fruit basket from the counter and shoved it into my chest, practically pushing me toward the front door. "You are going over to Elise's house to apologize right now," she hissed through gritted teeth. "Tell her you panicked and didn't leave her behind on purpose!

I refuse to let the entire neighborhood know I raised such a selfish bitch!" I took the fruit basket and slammed it against the hardwood floor.

Apples and oranges scattered violently across the room. "I left her behind on purpose. Deal with it." A dead silence fell over the living room.

I closed the distance between us, pronouncing every single word with lethal precision. "This is an exam that dictates the rest of my life.

Why the hell should I pay the price for her screwup?" She shrieked and swung her arm, aiming a heavy slap straight at my face. This time, I snatched her wrist right out of the air.

I twisted it backward with enough force to make her gasp in sharp, sudden pain.

I shoved her hand away and took a step back. "If you ever try to lay a hand on me again, I'm calling the cops." "The cops?!" Her face twisted into something ugly. "I'm your mother!

I have every right to discipline you, and you're threatening me with the cops?!" "If you think your rights as a mother are so absolute, then why the hell are you forcing me to sacrifice my entire future for a neighbor's kid who doesn't even share our blood?" I tilted my head. "Is that your twisted version of what's right?" Her voice actually shook.

She stared at me like I was a total stranger. "What happened to you…" She started grabbing whatever she could reach—vases, remotes—and hurled them against the walls.

She gasped for air between her hysterical sobs. "I never should have let you apply for college! I should have married you off the second you turned eighteen!

At least then I wouldn't have raised an ungrateful snake!" After half an hour of smashing things and screaming herself hoarse, she finally ran out of steam.

She grabbed her purse, smoothed out her clothes, and hurried across the street to grovel and apologize to Elise's family. Like this whole mess was still somehow my fault.

Chapter 3 The day the official results dropped, my finger hovered over the mouse before I clicked refresh. My score was brushing the ceiling of a recordbreaking perfect score.

An Ivy League acceptance letter was securely in the bag. My mother couldn't have cared less. She spent her days paralyzingly obsessed with Elise's situation.

She darted across the street to Elise's house the second she woke up, only to come back and aggressively slam cabinet doors.

She glared at me like I was her mortal enemy, completely ignoring my existence. Her hostility was fine by me. Once I left for college, I was cutting her out of my life permanently.

I locked my phone screen.

A muffled sobbing drifted from the living room. "I just don't know how we're supposed to survive this…" Elise's mother choked out. "Her father absolutely refuses to pay for a prep program so she can retake the exams.

He says there's no point in a girl getting that much education, that we should just marry her off to someone with money… I've screamed at him a dozen times, but he won't budge…" The crying paused. "Hazel definitely crushed her exams, right?" Elise's mother pivoted. "You guys are welloff, and Hazel is so driven, not like my Elise…" The sobbing hitched, growing louder. "If my Elise had just made that bus, she'd be waiting for an Ivy League acceptance letter right now…" Dead silence fell over the living room. "How much is the prep program?" my mother asked.

Elise's mother hesitated. "Tuition, living expenses, prep materials… It's going to cost at least ten grand for the year…" "I'll pay for it." My mother spit the words out rapidly, like she was afraid she'd choke on them if she waited. "Elise is a good kid.

I can't let her life be ruined." I could practically hear Elise's mother grabbing her hands. "You are an absolute saint… I don't even know how to thank you…" Leaning against my bedroom door, a cold smirk crept onto my face.

A saint. A saint who was actively destroying her own flesh and blood. My mother's voice cracked. "Elise is like my own daughter.

I won't let her be denied an education." The corners of my mouth twitched. It was a flawless rerun of my past life.

Back then, she had promised to cover Elise's expenses right to my face, spinning some bullshit about how we grew up together and needed to look out for each other.

Back then, I was naive enough to think she just had a generous heart.

Right up until the day she shredded my Ivy League acceptance letter, pointing a trembling finger at my nose and screaming, "What gives you the right to go to an Ivy League?!

What right do you have?! If Elise hadn't been late, she would have gotten in too!" That was the exact moment I realized she wasn't generous. She had a martyr complex.

She was convinced she owed Elise a future, so she decided to cannibalize mine to pay off her imaginary debt.

On the other side of the door, the groveling continued. "You are our family's savior.

When Elise finds out, she'll owe you her life…" "Don't say that." My mother sounded frantic. "Just head home. I'll figure out a way to get the money." The front door clicked shut.

Two seconds later, my mother was dialing her phone. "Hey, Uncle Zhang?

I need to borrow some cash…" Her voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper, but every syllable bled through the thin walls. "Yeah, ten grand… Hazel needs it for her college tuition…" I pressed the back of my head against the wood and closed my eyes.

It was the exact same script. Begging for loans, using my college fund as the perfect cover story.

Instead, she dumped every last cent into Elise's account, convinced I was the reason Elise missed the exams, and that I deserved to shoulder the financial burden.

Just like before, the second she found out my final score, her entire demeanor flipped.

She acted like the perfect mother again, booking us a summer vacation and pretending Elise didn't exist. I wasn't falling into that trap a second time. Let her play house.

I would smile, nod, and play along. Chapter 4 But I wasn't stupid enough to believe she would just sit back and do nothing after seeing my nearperfect score.

Sure enough, late the next night, the muffled sound of a hushed phone call bled through the bathroom door. "We can't just let Hazel go to college… She made a terrible mistake, and she needs to pay the price…" I dug my fingernails so hard into my mattress that my knuckles popped.

The phantom suffocating dampness of four years locked in that basement clawed at my throat, forcing hot, humiliating tears out of my eyes. I was her flesh and blood.

How could she be so utterly ruthless? "Hazel! Delivery. Need a signature." The courier handed over a thick, premium envelope. My hand trembled slightly as I took it.

The day was finally here. The master bedroom door, shut tight for half a month, violently slammed open. My mother lunged forward, snatching the heavy envelope right out of my hands.

She didn't say a single word. She just gripped the edges and ripped. The thick cardstock and the outer packaging snapped in half with a sickening tear, but she didn't stop.

She stacked the halves and shredded them again. Confettisized pieces of paper fluttered to the floor.

I let the blood drain from my face, pointing a trembling finger at the mess. "Mom, what the hell are you doing?!" I shrieked. "That was my Ivy League acceptance letter!" Her eyes bugged out of her head as she grabbed my pointing finger, bending it back as a psychotic sneer twisted her lips. "What?

You doomed Elise to marry some old creep!" "She's at home crying every single day, and you think you have the right to go to a fancy college?

Keep dreaming!" I jerked my hand free, retreating two steps. A low scoff vibrated in my throat. So the mask is finally off. Too bad it wasn't going to play out the way she wanted.

That was a decoy letter. She could shred it until her fingers bled for all I cared. Outwardly, I kept up the act, twisting my face into a mask of devastated betrayal. "Mom!

You said you were over it!" "Why are you doing this?! Am I not even your daughter anymore?!" I screamed the questions that had completely broken the pastversion of me.

This time around, I expected absolutely nothing. The front door violently smashed open.

My uncle and cousin—two thugs who had just gotten out of county lockup—stormed in, radiating bad intentions. I spun around and bolted for the hallway.

My cousin closed the gap in two strides, his meaty fist twisting into the collar of my shirt. My uncle flanked me, wrenching my arm sharply behind my back.

They pinned me down like a stray animal. They dragged me toward the stairwell. I braced my sneakers against the drywall, leaving deep scuff marks. "Let go of me!

What gives you the right to stop me from going to college?!" My uncle didn't waste his breath. He just drove his heavy boot straight into the back of my calf. My leg gave out.

They halfdragged, halfcarried my dead weight down the stairs. The basement was pitchblack.

The sensory trigger was so absolute, my entire body broke out in a violent, uncontrollable tremor. My uncle hurled me inside like a sack of garbage.

I slammed into the concrete floor, tearing the skin off my palms and knees. Blood beaded along the raw scrapes. My mother stood in the doorway.

Unbelievably, tears were actually streaming down her face. "Hazel, don't blame your mother for this.

You made a mistake, and you have to be punished." She wiped a tear from her cheek. "You're going to stay down here for four years.

Once Elise graduates college, you can come out." I pushed myself up off the freezing concrete. The performance was over.

I pointed straight at her face and let out a vicious laugh. "Are you seriously delusional enough to think that locking me up is going to magically get Elise into college?" Her fake sorrow vanished, replaced by pure venom.

She lashed out, driving the toe of her shoe into my shin. "Just rot in there and think about what you did!" She slammed the heavy steel door shut, permanently dropping the lovingmother act.

The deadbolt slid into place with a sickening thud. I let out a low chuckle, leaning my back against the damp concrete wall. I waited until the dead of night.

Then, I reached into my pocket, my fingers brushing against the cool metal of my digital voice recorder. I hit the 'save' button.

Every single word of their little kidnapping operation was officially on the record. Chapter 5 In my past life, I bled out my youth on this exact concrete floor for four years.

I survived on rancid scraps and listened to her scream at me through the heavy steel door.

There was absolutely no way I was going to sit around the house and wait for the mailman this time around. I didn't even put down our home address on my college applications.

I used my homeroom teacher's address. She had already secured the real acceptance letter two hours ago.

I glanced at a slight bulge in the corner of the concrete floor, a cold smirk creeping onto my face. We'd see who ended up locked away for four years.

On my third day in the basement, I finally dug out the burner phone I had hidden in the corner. I pulled up Kendall's contact. Kendall was my best friend in high school.

In my past life, she went out of state for college. After I was dragged down here and vanished, my phone went straight to voicemail.

Whenever she showed up at the house looking for me, my mother fed her some bullshit excuse. This time, I wasn't keeping her in the dark.

My thumbs flew across the screen. [Kendall, help.] [My mom locked me in our basement.

She shredded my Ivy League acceptance letter and said she's keeping me down here for four years. I have audio proof.

Call the cops.] Three seconds later, the screen lit up. [On my way. Hold on.] I had thought about fighting back in my last life.

But back then, the fun summer trip my mother took me on had completely lowered my guard. I didn't gather any evidence, and I definitely didn't have a backup plan.

Plus, every time she shoved a bowl of scraps through the door, she patted me down to make sure I didn't have a phone. This time was different. I had the audio recording.

I had hard evidence. And I had Kendall. It didn't take long. Heavy footsteps echoed across the floorboards upstairs. "Police!

Open the door!" My mother's voice trembled, leaking pure panic. "What cops? You must have the wrong house!" The sheriff's hand rested heavily on his holstered sidearm.

His voice was ice. "You're Hazel's mother, correct?

We received a 911 call." "We're investigating a severe case of firstdegree unlawful imprisonment." He stared her down. "Step aside and cooperate." My mother's eyes darted around the room. "That's impossible!

Who called you?!" "I'm just disciplining my kid! Every parent disciplines their kid!" "Does disciplining your kid involve locking her in a basement?

And shredding her college acceptance letter?" A new voice cut through the chaos. "Hazel's mother, it's Mrs. Lee. I know Hazel scored a perfect SAT and ranked top fifty in the state.

Where is her acceptance letter?" My homeroom teacher. I gripped the hem of my shirt so hard my knuckles popped. This time, I was going to college. The officers glared at my mother.

She stammered, taking a nervous step back. "The… the letter… I accidentally lost it…" Mrs.

Lee let out a sharp scoff. "Do you think we're idiots?" The sheriff didn't waste any more breath on her. "Step back and unlock the door. Now." "She's my daughter!

How I treat her is none of your damn business!" She was still clinging to her delusional authority, throwing her body against the basement door to block them.

The sheriff lost his patience.

He squared his shoulders. "Unlock it, or we're breaching the door." Crushed by the sheer weight of a felony charge, her pathetic resistance finally crumbled.

She fumbled with her keys. The heavy steel door scraped open. The harsh hallway light flooded in, burning my retinas. I squeezed my eyes shut.

Kendall rushed in and grabbed my arms, her eyes rimmed with red. "Hazel! Are you okay? Did she hurt you?!" I pushed myself up from the freezing concrete.

A violent tremor racked my legs. After three days in the damp dark, my muscles were totally numb. I leaned heavily against the rough wall, slowly dragging myself out into the light.

A female deputy locked onto my pale face. Her brow furrowed deeply. She stepped up and supported my other side. "Are you alright, sweetie?

Do we need to call an ambulance?" My throat felt like sandpaper. "No. I'm fine." Chapter 6 My mother stood in the hallway, the blood completely drained from her face.

The second she saw me walk out, the fake tears started flowing.

She was putting on a masterclass performance. "Hazel, how could you call the cops on your own mother… I was only doing this for your own good…" She let out a pathetic sob. "If you didn't want to go to college, that's fine.

I just wanted you to clear your head.

How could you tell these people I locked you up?" Kendall looked like she was ready to rip my mother's throat out, but the sheriff actually hesitated, his expression softening at her crocodile tears.

He turned to me, his tone shifting into a harsh interrogation. "Kid, did your mother actually abuse you?

If you're filing a false police report, we're going to have to detain you." He frowned, his hand dropping from his sidearm. "Having a record will ruin the rest of your life." My mother instantly weaponized his hesitation. "What unlawful imprisonment?!" she shrieked, suddenly finding her voice. "I am her mother!" "I was disciplining my own kid!

This is a private family matter! It's none of your damn business!" Mrs. Lee let out a sharp scoff.

She stepped right into my mother's personal space and slammed a thick stack of legal indictments right into her chest, locking onto her eyes. "Discipline?

You locked your child in a windowless basement and starved her. You call that discipline?" "I didn't starve her!

I brought her food every single day!" I kept my voice deadpan. "What food? You mean the rancid leftovers from whatever meals you cooked for Elise?" Mrs.

Lee's face darkened even further. My mother pointed a trembling finger at me, her entire body shaking. "She ruined that poor girl's life!

She deserves to be punished!" Her voice cracked hysterically. "If she hadn't refused to wait for the neighbor's kid, Elise would be going to college right now!

This is all her fault!" Mrs. Lee blinked, momentarily thrown off. "Are you talking about Elise?" My mother latched onto the question like a lifeline. "Yes!

It's all Hazel's fault!" "If she had just told the driver to wait, Elise wouldn't have been late! Now her father is selling her off to some newmoney creep!

Do you have any idea how miserable she is?!" Mrs.

Lee's patience completely evaporated. "Get your facts straight." She crossed her arms, staring down at my mother. "The charter bus had a strict schedule. That is the rule.

Hazel got on the bus exactly on time." "She did absolutely nothing wrong. Elise wasn't prepared and showed up late.

How the hell is that Hazel's responsibility?" "If she had just made the driver wait—!" Mrs.

Lee cut her off, her tone dropping to absolute zero. "If they waited, what if the other students on that bus missed the exam?" "You wanted your own daughter to sabotage her fullride scholarship for a neighbor?

You wanted to sabotage every other kid on that bus?!" My mother's mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out. "You pushed the blame onto your own flesh and blood, and tried to destroy her future just for a neighbor's kid.

What the hell is wrong with your brain?" "I… I didn't…" My mother's voice shrank to a pathetic whisper. "You did." I pulled the digital voice recorder from my pocket and hit 'play'. "You forced that poor girl to take a gap year, what gives you the right to go to a fancy college?" My mother's recorded voice echoed through the hallway, dripping with a venom that no mother should ever direct at her child