I stared at her coldly, as if looking at a stranger who had never truly belonged to me.
Terror flickered across her face.
She tightened her arms around me, but I didn’t know where the burst of brute strength came from—I tore free from her grasp in an instant.
I shoved the knife into her hand, grabbed her wrist with my other hand, and looked up at her.
I locked my eyes on hers and enunciated every word:
“Marielle, you gave me life. Now you stab me once with this knife—let fate decide.”
As soon as the words fell, I lifted her hand and aimed it at my own chest without hesitation.
“If I die, I won’t blame you.”
“If I survive, then I sever our bond as mother and daughter. From this moment on, you’re no longer my mother, and you’re not to meddle in my life again.”
Marielle trembled viol
