Chapter 1The Inheritance of Karma

I used a rock to smash a car window, saving my uncle who had driven his car into a river.

But instead of thanking me, he blamed me for accidentally scratching his paint job and demanded my family pay him $20,000 in repair fees.

My grandma chimed in with even more shocking logic: "All he had to do was open the door and swim out! Who told you to go smashing windows? If you ask me, your family owes your uncle a brand-new car!"

My mom snapped back on the spot. "If it weren't for Jane saving him, he'd be fish food by now. Forget twenty grand—I'd burn a hundred cars for him at his funeral!"

Denied his compensation, my uncle flew into a rage. He drove his truck and rammed our family car off a bridge and into the river.

"Won't pay? Fine! Let's see how you like having your car wrecked!"

My parents died instantly. I ended up in the ICU.

But Grandma took the money meant for my life-saving surgery and gave it to my uncle.

"Even if your parents are dead, a debt is a debt! He needs a new car!"

As I died filled with hatred in that hospital bed, my uncle was happily picking up a new car at the dealership.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back at the riverbank, watching the car sink rapidly into the water.

This time, I'd like to see how my unconscious uncle plans to just "open the door" and swim out.

* * *

I was awakened by the loud crash of my uncle's car hitting the water.

I opened my eyes to see the vehicle already drifting toward the center of the river.

The water was swallowing the car at an alarming rate, seeping into the cabin and submerging most of the seats in seconds.

Even though the water was up to his legs, Uncle Rick was slumped over the airbag in the driver's seat, motionless.

Without rescue, an unconscious Rick would sink to the bottom of the river with his car within five minutes.

In my past life, seeing this, I didn't hesitate. I grabbed a rock from the bridge and smashed the window.

I knew that once a car is submerged, the water pressure makes opening doors impossible. Smashing the window is the only way out.

I never expected that this common-sense act of survival would bring total destruction upon my family.

After escaping through the window I broke, Rick didn't offer a single word of thanks. Instead, he blamed me for scratching his paint job with the rock, leaving three coin-sized dents.

I explained that the car was drifting in the current, making it hard to aim. But he wouldn't let it go.

"I just bought this BMW! Your daughter smashed it up. Family or not, business is business. You owe me twenty grand!"

My parents called him ungrateful. But Rick insisted he would have survived without me.

"There are plenty of ways to escape! Who said you have to break the window? Someone else might have saved me without damaging my car!"

"Your daughter just had to play hero and ruin my window. Now I have to spend an extra grand fixing it. I'm being generous not asking for that too!"

Hearing that Rick had to pay for the window, Grandma turned on me.

"You little brat, can't keep your hands to yourself! Opening the door is easy! Who told you to smash the car?"

Then she demanded my mom buy Rick a whole new car.

"Your brother's nice car is ruined because of your daughter. If you don't pay him back, don't call me your mother anymore!"