After I Died For 7 Years, She Finally Found Truth
Cameras flashed nonstop, but she ignored them. As soon as her plane landed, she stepped on the gas and sped straight to the nursing home.
That was where my mother, Katie Moore, was confined.
She was the mother of the man Regina had hated for seven years.
"Regina, let me out! How can you do this to me?" Katie's voice trembled with desperation. "Have you forgotten how I cared for you when you were with Arnold?"
"Don't you dare mention Arnold to me!"
Regina stormed in, her breath still uneven from the rushed drive. Without hesitation, she struck Katie hard across the face, sending her collapsing to the floor.
"What right does he have to claim he was ever with me? Back when my illness relapsed, and I was on the verge of death, he was the first to abandon me."
Her words were sharp and filled with bitterness. "And now you want to talk about favors from the past? Do you really think your family deserves any respect?"
Fueled by rage, Regina kicked Katie hard.
Panicked, I rushed to shield my mother, but it was useless. Regina's stiletto heel struck her, and Katie's groans of pain filled the room.
It was then I realized the truth. I was dead.
I had been dead for seven years.
What remained was only my spirit, powerless to protect anyone.
"Regina, Arnold didn't abandon you! He..."
He gave you his organs and chose to die in your place.
My mother's voice faltered before she could reveal the truth, so I silently finished the thought in my mind.
But Regina would never believe it. In her heart, my selfishness had long been an established fact.
Nothing anyone said would change her mind.
"He didn't abandon me? Are you joking?" Regina's sneer deepened.
"Seven years ago, Arnold called me a burden in front of everyone. He said he would never marry a woman with a broken body. Every word of his, I remember clearly. Let me be clear. I came back to take revenge on your family. No one can stop me."
Her smile was beautiful but chilling, her eyes brimming with fury.
She gestured, and several bodyguards stepped forward, surrounding Katie. One of them carried a bottle of some unknown liquid.
"You and your husband took care of me once, Katie, but unfortunately, Arnold betrayed your kindness." Regina's voice was icy.
"You like mentioning his name, don't you? Well, I hate hearing it. So I'm going to make sure you can never say it again!"
The next second, those guards pinned Katie to the floor while the liquid was forced down her throat.
I screamed and begged, trying everything I could to stop them, but nothing worked. The air felt frozen, unmoved by my desperate cries.
"Mom! Please, Regina, let her go! I'm begging you!"
My words were useless, trapped inside me. By the time the bottle was emptied, Katie's voice was gone. All that remained were hoarse, garbled sounds that barely resembled speech.
The sight of her devastated look hurt more than anything I had ever experienced.
But Regina showed no sympathy.
She even stepped back in disgust as if she had forgotten the countless days Katie had spent by her hospital bed, refusing to sleep or leave her side.
"Go back and tell Arnold that if he doesn't come to me and admit his sins, my revenge will never stop. Let him ignore my warnings if he dares. Just come and try me!" she said coldly.
I stood frozen as she walked away, her beauty sharp and unyielding.
She had changed. She was no longer the kind, gentle girl who once cried at the smallest act of cruelty.
Regina's power now was overwhelming. Burying what she had done to my mother would have been effortless.
Yet she chose not to hide it from my father, sitting calmly at home as though setting a perfect trap.
Sure enough, the very next day, my father came knocking on her door, his face filled with anguish. He wanted justice for his wife but hadn't expected to be shoved to the ground the moment he stepped inside.
"Just you? Where's Arnold? Don't tell me he's hiding from me, scared of my revenge," Regina mocked, completely missing the flash of grief in my father's eyes.
I knelt beside him, begging desperately for him to stop hiding the truth. Love, promises, final wishes... I didn't care about any of it anymore.
All I wanted was for my death to bring my family peace.
Finally, my father seemed to sense something. His voice broke as he tore open the wounds of the past.
"Regina, you'll never find Arnold... He's dead!"
The air grew eerily still the moment the words left his mouth.
I watched as Regina's expression shifted. Her sarcasm gave way to shock, which quickly transformed into unbridled fury.
"Your family really has no limits, do you? I gave you a full day to come up with a solution, and this is what you came back with? Lies to try and fool me?" she spat.
I had imagined countless ways Regina might react to learning of my death, but I had never expected this. She didn't believe it.
In her mind, I was someone who loved money and feared death.
How could I possibly have chosen to give up my life?
My father hadn't anticipated her reaction either. He tried to defend me, but Regina silenced him with a harsh slap.
"Shut up! I've had enough of your excuses. I don't want to hear another word. It's clear Arnold has no intention of coming to beg for forgiveness. Since he's so determined to stay out of my reach, I see no reason to hold back anymore.
You've always been so quick to defend your son. Well, I'll just use you to get my revenge on him. You're fine with that, aren't you?" she snapped.
Her words sounded almost like a question, but every syllable she spoke laid out my father's doom.
Regina's cruelty knew no bounds. She picked up a knife, stabbed herself in the chest just deep enough to bleed, and then flung the bloodied blade in front of my father.
"Attempted murder. With the evidence and my testimony, they'll lock you up for decades," she declared coldly.
My eyes widened in shock. I couldn't believe she would go to such extremes just to hurt me.
My father was over fifty years old! How could he possibly survive years in prison?
But Regina didn't care. All she wanted was to make me suffer in every way imaginable.
When the police arrived, she cried and wailed, painting my father as a violent, greedy criminal.
She twisted the truth until he was no longer an innocent man but a vicious villain scheming for money.
My father, who had lived a life of integrity, was now dragged into a nightmare simply because of me.
I could do nothing but watch helplessly as the police hauled him away.
His pitiful cries shattered what was left of my heart.
With fabricated evidence in place and Regina sparing no expense to smooth over every connection, my father's fate was sealed.
The court sentenced him to fifteen years in prison without hesitation.
The day the verdict was announced, my mother collapsed in the courtroom, overwhelmed by rage and despair.
From that moment on, she began tirelessly seeking ways to clear my father's name.
But she underestimated Regina's reach. Regina had already issued orders forbidding any lawyer from taking on the case.
No one dared to offend Harrison Group for the sake of a guaranteed losing battle.
Left with nowhere to turn, my mother was forced to return to Regina, pleading for mercy.
Regina towered over her, satisfaction glinting in her eyes as she took in the pitiful sight before her.
"If you came here to tell me Arnold's whereabouts, let me save you the trouble. I don't care anymore," she said, her voice cold.
"I've thought it through. Why should I forgive him? He hurt me so deeply back then. Why should I just let it go? Nothing you say matters now. None of you are getting away from this."
Her tone was venomous, her gaze filled with hatred. I moved closer to her, searching for a trace of the Regina I once knew, but all I saw was resentment.
She didn't love me anymore. From the day I insisted on breaking up with her, love had died. And after all these years, it had only been replaced by anger and bitterness.
I could still remember the look on Regina's face when she lay in her hospital bed, disbelief filling her eyes as she heard me say the words that shattered her.
I had always known about her severe congenital illness, but I never treated her any differently because of it.
When others mocked her, I was always the first to stand up for her.
That was why my words hurt her so deeply when I finally said them.
"Regina, I didn't tell you earlier because I didn't want to upset you, but I've wanted to break up for a long time," I said.
"You're no help to my future. To me, you're just a burden who could die at any moment.
I'm tired of being with you. Please, I'm begging you, let me go. Stop clinging to me."
Ignoring her pale face, I crushed her completely in one breath. But no one knew how much it hurt me inside.
She was the girl I had loved for three years. Watching her suffer broke my heart.
As she drifted in and out of consciousness, she clung to my hand, her weak voice pleading.
"Don't leave me, Arnold... I promise I'll get better...
Please, don't abandon me. I'll behave. I'll try my best to be normal. Just don't leave me, okay?"
In the final moments before she lost consciousness, I forced her hand away and left her with nothing but an expressionless face.
It was the same face she now showed to my mother.
My mother, her voice irreparably damaged, could only kneel and use stiff hand gestures to communicate with Regina.
But Regina had no patience for her. With a frown, she called her bodyguards to drive my mother away.
"My parents are coming to see me soon. I don't have time to waste on you," she said sharply.
"Get out of here now. If you dare upset my parents, don't blame me for destroying your entire family."
It was an open threat, and we all knew Regina was fully capable of carrying it out.
My mother lacked the courage to keep fighting Regina on her own. She had to stay alive. She had to wait for my father to be released.
As I watched her frail, hunched figure shuffle away, a wave of bitter sorrow washed over me.
For the first time, I felt a pang of regret for saving Regina all those years ago.
Just as my mother's hand reached for the doorknob, someone else opened the door before her.
It was Regina's parents.
Both of them froze at the sight of her, stunned by the transformation. The kind, cheerful woman they once knew had been reduced to a shadow of herself.
Perla Harrison, Regina's mother, quickly took my mother's hands, expressing concern and gratitude.
But it wasn't long before she noticed something amiss.
"Katie, your... your voice... what happened to it?"
"Mom, don't bother with her!"
Regina's sharp voice cut in as she shoved my mother aside, nearly knocking her over. She grabbed Perla's arm and led her into the house.
"Her son abandoned me so cruelly all those years ago. If I don't take revenge on his family, how could I ever ease the hatred in my heart?"
Regina's tone was filled with righteous indignation, but she was completely oblivious to Perla's growing shock.
"Katie's voice... is this your doing?" Perla asked, her voice trembling.
"Of course it is. She wouldn't stop bringing up the person I hate most. And his father? Just as foolish. It only took a little effort to get him thrown in prison," Regina said with a casual shrug.
"Arnold is next. None of them are getting away."
The loud slap that followed shattered Regina's tirade.
Perla's hand trembled as she stood frozen in place, her palm still raised from the blow.
"Mom... you hit me?" Regina's voice wavered in disbelief as she clutched her cheek.
"Yes, I did! I never asked you for much. All I wanted was for you to grow up kind and safe." Perla's voice cracked.
"I never imagined you'd become a monster who tortures people without blinking an eye!"
Perla had always been gentle, steadfast, and composed. Even in anger, she rarely raised her voice, let alone her hand.
Regina hadn't expected such a firm response and avoided her mother's gaze, though she still tried to defend herself.
"I just wanted Arnold to regret what he did. What's wrong with that? I didn't want things to go this far, but I gave him so many chances. He never showed up, so I had no choice!"
"But Arnold is dead! How could he have come to you?"
Perla's anguished cry hung in the air, her grief mirroring what I saw in her eyes the day I was wheeled into the operating room.
Her tears flowed freely as she steadied her breath and revealed the truth she had kept hidden for so long.
"Seven years ago, he gave his life to donate his organs to you.
He was so afraid you'd refuse and even more afraid you'd be heartbroken that he begged us not to tell you.
Do you really think a son as devoted as Arnold would sit idly by while his parents suffered like this?
If we had known you would do something so cruel, we would have rather let you die on that operating table than let him make such a sacrifice!"
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