Chapter 2

My mother's expression froze.

That mixture of rage and disbelief on her face reminded me of my past life.

In my past life, after all my savings were stolen and I discovered my wife's affair, the first thing my mother said when she came to see me was:

"Who told you not to listen to me? You can't even control a woman. You're useless!"

In that moment, I suddenly understood that my repeated compromises back then had already ruined my entire life.

"You... what did you say?"

Her voice trembled. I turned toward the stairwell.

"I said if you're going to jump, hurry up. I'm in a rush—I need to go apply to universities."

"Julian!"

Her voice turned shrill. "Stop right there! You heartless boy, are you really trying to drive me to my death?"

I stopped and looked back at her.

"Mom, you're the one who voluntarily climbed onto the rooftop to threaten suicide. What does that have to do with me?"

With that, I walked down from the rooftop without looking back.

When I got home, I locked myself directly in the study and opened the college application system. My fingertips were trembling.

This time, I wouldn't attend some ordinary university.

From memory, I filled in the Ivy League universities I'd been thinking about for three years, one by one.

The moment I clicked submit, my nose stung and I almost cried.

This was the first time I'd made a choice for my own life.

I had just logged out of the system when the study door was suddenly pushed open.

My mother stood in the doorway, her eyes red and swollen, her hair disheveled.

She must have run down. Her chest was still heaving violently.

"You..."

She gasped for breath, her gaze falling on my computer screen.

"Did you finish submitting?"

I nodded and closed the laptop.

"Let me see!"

She rushed over, trying to grab the computer.

I turned to shield it. "Mom, I already submitted it."

"I said let me see!"

Her voice rose, carrying a sharp edge of losing control.

When she saw I wouldn't move, she reached out and pressed the computer's power button. The screen lit up, showing a login page that required a password.

She stared at me. "What's the password?"

"I'm not telling you." I said, "The application is already submitted. It can't be changed."

"Where did you apply?"

Her voice began to tremble.

"Is it out of state? Is it?"

I said nothing. Silence was the answer.

She suddenly screamed and grabbed my keyboard, smashing it violently on the floor.

Plastic fragments flew everywhere. Several keys popped off and rolled into the corner.

"Julian! Are you trying to drive me to death?"

She cried out, tears flooding down her face.

"I told you to apply locally! Don't you understand human speech?"

"I raised you all by myself through so much hardship! Was it easy for me?"

"Now you've grown up and want to fly away!"

"First it's going to college out of state, then what? Working out of state! Getting married out of state!"

"You'll never care about your mother again. You're just like your father—you both want to abandon me!"

She collapsed on the floor, pounding the ground, her cries piercing.

This scene had happened countless times in my past life.

Every time I showed the slightest resistance, she would cry about how hard she had it and how unfilial I was.

I used to truly believe I was wrong, that I had failed her—until the moment I jumped off that rooftop...

"Mom," I interrupted her. "I never said I wouldn't take care of you."

She lifted her tear-filled eyes, as if grasping at a thread of hope:

"Then change your college application! You can still change it! You have three days to change it!"

"How great would it be if you applied to a local university! Mom could see you often..."

"I won't change it."

My voice was soft but firm.

"Don't try to interfere with my college application."

She froze, as if she hadn't expected me to refuse so directly.

I picked up the computer, walked around her collapsed body on the floor, and headed to my bedroom, locking the door.

Outside, her crying continued. Before long, I heard her making phone calls.

She was sobbing to relatives, crying about how much trouble I was causing and how hard she had it.

I didn't bother listening. I opened the password settings on my computer and changed it.

I leaned against the headboard and silently repeated to myself:

This time, I won't compromise my life for anyone.