- 9.
A few days later, Mom called me, asking how
I was doing.
“Ashley, you haven’t visited me in a while. Are
you still mad at me? You’ve always been so filial. Please don’t hold a grudge.”
She never called unless she wanted
something. I wondered what she was up to.
“Your brother promised to take care of me,
but he disappeared after a few days. He
won’t even answer my calls.”
11111 all
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“I’m all alone here, hungry and cold. It’s
torture.”
Her voice lacked its usual arrogance; she
even sounded depressed.
I remained unmoved. “You should talk to your
son about that. If that’s all, I’ll hang up. I’m
busy.”
Seeing my indifference, Mom brought up the
will again.
“I left you all my inheritance! How can you be so heartless? You won’t take care of me, and
now you won’t even visit.”
<
“If I’d known, I wouldn’t have had you. Why
am I so unlucky?”
She started crying.
I waited for her to finish before replying.
“Mom, didn’t you say your heart belonged to
my brother? Are you sure you left the
inheritance to me?”
“Of course! Didn’t you watch me write the
will? You’re doubting me now? What’s the
point of living anymore?”
She still wouldn’t tell the truth.
く
But I wasn’t disappointed anymore.
She wanted to keep up the act, but I wasn’t
playing along.
“I overheard your conversation with my
brother at the door that day. You said it was
just a trick to fool me, that it wasn’t real.”
Mom tried to explain. “No, you
misunderstood. How could I lie to you? You
saw me write it myself.”
That was because I knew what she was up to.
Otherwise, she would have continued the
charade. Even now, she wouldn’t admit the
truth.
<
“Mom, I have a recording. Do you want to
hear it?”
Mom erupted into a tirade of curses, calling
me conniving, ungrateful, and a monster.
I chuckled and hung up, ignoring her outburst.
I didn’t expect to receive a call from the police shortly after.
“Are you Ashley Miller? What kind of children are you? Your mother has been dead at home
for days, and the neighbors only called us
because of the smell.”
<
“Come down to the station, and bring your
other family members.”
It was so sudden that all I could do was rush
to the station.
I tried calling my brother repeatedly, but he
didn’t answer.
At the station, I asked about my mother’s
cause of death.
“Officer, how could my mother suddenly die?
She was fine before.”
“We’re waiting for the coroner’s report. Do
<
you have security cameras at home? That
would be helpful.”
I remembered the cameras and handed over
the footage to the police.
The video clearly showed everything. It was
uneventful until my brother appeared.
He stood by her bed. “Mom, I really need money right now, and I have to ask you for it. You’re not going to live much longer anyway, so you might as well just die.”
He then suffocated his own mother with a
pillow until she stopped moving.
My brother was quickly arrested.
I saw him at the police station while I was
giving my statement.
“What are you arresting me for? Let me go!” He glared at me. “Did you call the cops? Mom died at home; if anyone’s responsible, it’s you! Why are you arresting me?”
He was truly remorseless.
“We have evidence. You killed your own mother for the inheritance. Didn’t you know
how much she loved you?”
My brother showed no remorse. “You actually
installed security cameras! So what? Mom
wasn’t going to live much longer anyway. She
loved me so much, she wouldn’t blame me.”
I laughed, looking at Brian. Mom would never
have believed that the son she favored her
whole life would kill her for a little bit of
money.
“You’re right.”
A month later, the trial began.
With irrefutable evidence, Brian Miller was
sentenced to life in prison without parole.
く
With irrefutable evidence, Brian Miller was
sentenced to life in prison without parole.
The court inventoried Mom’s remaining
assets. After paying off my brother’s debts,
there wasn’t much left.
Because of the will, I inherited the remainder.
Holding the few thousand dollars, I couldn’t
help but feel a sense of irony.
Sometimes, so–called family love was worth less than a few pieces of paper.
How laughable.
