Chapter 2The Inheritance of Karma

Usually, Mom gave in to Rick and Grandma's demands. But seeing their greed grow out of control, she finally woke up and firmly refused.

"Jane did nothing wrong. We won't pay a single cent!"

Rejected, Rick locked the gate, trapping us, and threatened violence.

This infuriated my parents. They warned him that if he didn't let us go, they'd report his drunk driving to the police and sue him for the $15,000 he'd borrowed over the years.

Hearing "police," Rick reluctantly let us leave.

But as we drove onto a nearby bridge, Rick chased us down in his truck and rammed our car into the river.

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

My parents drowned. I suffered severe brain damage and was rushed to the ICU.

Friends and coworkers pooled money for my surgery. Grandma promised them she'd do everything to save me.

Then she turned around, signed a "Do Not Resuscitate" order, and gave the money to Rick to buy a new car. She cremated my parents and told everyone they died due to drunk driving.

While I lay dying in agony, Grandma comforted Rick.

"Don't blame yourself! Their deaths have nothing to do with you. It's their own fault for being bad people!"

"Look! You both drove into the river, but you're fine and they're dead! If that's not karma, what is?"

Karma.

I clenched my fists tight.

I hope that in this life, when Grandma sees Rick's corpse, she can still casually call it karma.

The crash naturally attracted the villagers. But it took nearly a minute for anyone to actually walk to the riverbank.

Several elderly voices rang out.

"Did I hear that right? Sounds like a car went in the water?"

"Let me put on my glasses... Oh my! It really is a car. We should call 911!"

"Huh? Where's my phone?"

Watching the old folks slowly patting their pockets for phones, I almost laughed.

In my past life, when Rick woke up on the shore, the police and fire department had already arrived, leading him to believe plenty of people could have saved him.

He didn't know that the only reason a kid like me had to smash the window was that the first responders on the scene were geriatrics and toddlers.