On the Snowy Mountain, Mom Gave My Brother the Last Oxygen Tube

My brother, Charles Raymond, said he wanted a family mountain climbing trip. So, Mom forced me to go, completely ignoring my raging fever. Halfway up the snowy peak, Charles and I got severe altitude sickness. But Mom didn't care if I lived or died. She insisted on giving the very last oxygen tank to him, even though his symptoms were mild. When the rescue team finally arrived, I begged her to save me first. Instead, she looked at me with pure disgust. "There isn't enough room in the vehicle," she snapped. "Stop faking sickness just to compete with your brother. You're delaying his medical treatment." In the end, I was left behind. I died a brutal death in the endless, freezing snow. And my unloved life finally came to an end. Chapter 1 The heavy snow fell fast, quickly burying my corpse. I watched as my soul tore away from my body, forced down the mountain by a blinding white light. When I finally opened my eyes, I was in a hospital room. I was right next to my mother, but she couldn't see me anymore. I smiled bitterly. Honestly, what difference did it make? Even when I was alive, she never really saw me. "Charles, sweetheart, how are you feeling? Does it still hurt?" Mom stared at Charles with complete devotion. She looked like she would gladly suffer in his place. The door slammed open. Dad rushed into the room, carefully holding a bowl of hot soup. His voice was laced with panic. "How is Charles? Is he any better? I had the hotel owner brew some chicken soup. Drink it while it's hot to warm yourself up." "His symptoms are mild," the doctor said, finishing a quick checkup. "He just needs some rest. You don't need to worry too much." After giving those few instructions, the doctor left. "Mom, Dad, I'm fine. It's just..." Charles cut himself off with a couple of dry coughs. Seeing our parents hovering over him with such desperate concern, a flash of smugness crossed his eyes. He couldn't hide it. Playing the innocent victim, he casually brought me up. "Where is Kyle? It's snowing so hard outside. I'm really worried about his safety." Charles made a show of trying to get out of bed to look for me. Mom immediately stopped him. Her face twisted in disgust. "Kyle has been lying to get attention since he was a child. He knew you were weak, yet he still tried to steal your oxygen tank. He is utterly selfish." She sneered, looking toward the window. "He actually dared to use his own health to threaten us this time. “Let's see if he really throws a tantrum and dies just because he didn't get his way!" I froze. Slowly, I raised my hand to touch my cheek. It was wet. Well, she got her wish. This time, I was really dead. Chapter 2 Just because Charles wanted a family trip, Mom forced me to scale a freezing, bitter mountain while I was running a high fever. Before the climb, I stood shivering, holding my weak body upright. I watched longingly as Mom tore open heat packs and carefully pressed them onto Charles’ clothes. Dad couldn't make the climb due to his fear of heights. Instead, he wrapped his own scarf around Charles' neck and handed him a set of premium trekking poles. Both of them were terrified he might freeze or get too tired. But halfway up the mountain, Mom did something completely out of character. Perhaps she was just in a good mood. But for the first time in my life, she didn't hand the bread to Charles first. She gave it to me. Overwhelmed by the unexpected kindness, I took it. But before I could take a bite, a wave of intense dizziness hit me. My throat closed up and I couldn't breathe. "Mom, I can't breathe..." Right then, Charles cried out too. Without a second thought, Mom ripped the last oxygen tank from her bag and shoved it into his hands. Later, when the rescue team arrived, she used a lack of space as an excuse to leave me behind in the snow. But I knew Charles was perfectly fine. He had recovered long ago, frequently sneaking out to wild club parties whenever our parents traveled for business. Only Mom and Dad were still blinded by his acting. Or maybe they just loved him too much to ever doubt him. I always knew I could never compete with Charles and I never dared to beg for Mom's love. Still, I never imagined she would be cruel enough to abandon me alone on a frozen peak, completely ignoring my desperate pleas for life. I should have stopped expecting anything from her a long time ago. After all, I was only born to save Charles’ life. Even my death was just meant to serve him. I just didn't expect that being forced to watch their tender, loving care toward him after my death would hurt this much. It was pure torture. Seeing our parents rage against me, Charles’ secret satisfaction deepened. He put on his best victim face. "Mom, Dad, it's all my fault. My weak health always worries you. Kyle only held a grudge for all these years because you had to look after me." He sighed, looking down. "If only I had been born healthy like him. Then he wouldn't have hated me for so long.” Chapter 3 "Charles, how could any of this be your fault?" Seeing his drop in mood, Mom quickly grabbed his hands to comfort him. "I know you're kind and mature. You just want peace. If anyone is to blame, it’s Kyle. “He's no longer a kid, yet he still throws tantrums for attention like a toddler. “Just wait until he gets back. I'll make him get down on his knees and apologize to you." Dad chimed in from the side, "Exactly. He absolutely must apologize. A human with such a petty temper will never amount to anything in life!" Mom’s eyes flared with a sudden, vicious hatred, as if she wanted to skin me alive. "If Kyle hadn't pushed you into that swimming pool back then, you wouldn't have run a fever for a whole day and night. “Your health wouldn't be this fragile now." "Mom, please don't hold a grudge. I'm sure he didn't mean it," Charles said, waving his hand magnanimously. "I accidentally blew out his birthday candles that day. It was only natural for him to be upset. I don't blame him." His grand display of forgiveness only made our parents grit their teeth in deeper rage toward me. But hearing them bring up that day ripped open a deeply buried trauma. It tore the scab right off a wound that had barely healed, leaving it raw and bleeding. I was thirteen when Mom offered to throw me a birthday party for the very first time. I spent an entire month looking forward to it. I even used all my savings to buy a brand-new outfit. Since it was a party my mother was hosting for me, I didn't want to embarrass her. Charles had watched me prepare with utter disdain. He mocked me with a cruel smirk. "Do you really think this party is actually going to happen?" I didn't want a fight, so I ignored his taunts. On the day of the party, Mom walked out carrying the birthday cake. But she completely forgot who the guest of honor was. Seeing Charles looking lonely and sullen, she bypassed me entirely and placed the cake right in front of him. "Charles, go ahead. Blow out the candles and make a wish.” Chapter 4 Mom looked at Charles with nothing but tenderness. Everyone in the room assumed Charles was the birthday boy, clapping in unison to celebrate his special day. Dressed in my finest clothes, I felt like I had just been slapped hard across the face. Meeting Charles' smug, gloating gaze, the past month of eager anticipation felt like a pathetic joke. I quietly got up and walked out to the backyard, desperately needing to escape the celebration inside. But Charles refused to leave me alone. He followed me out under the guise of bringing me a slice of cake. With his back turned to our parents, he flashed me a malicious smirk. "You will never have their love." Then, he threw himself backward into the swimming pool. Dad dove in immediately to save him. Mom refused to listen to a single word of my explanation. Convinced I was trying to murder her precious son, she shoved me to the ground and kicked me viciously in the stomach. "If anything happens to your brother, I will never forgive you!" The sheer hatred on her face back then perfectly mirrored the expression she wore right now in the hospital room. "Thank goodness I gave you that oxygen tank," Mom said, snapping back to the present. "He’s so incredibly petty. He’s probably been harboring a grudge against you for years." She made no effort to hide her disgust for me, as if my very existence was a stain on her life. Honestly, if Charles hadn't needed my umbilical cord blood to save him back then, she would have never gotten pregnant a second time. "Charles, sweetheart, you need to recover quickly," Mom cooed. "Only then can your father hand the company over to you." "That's right, son," Dad chimed in. "Get well soon. I promise you, the company belongs to you." I stared at them, numb. When I graduated from college, Dad had claimed he was getting too old. He said the shareholders were eyeing his position. And since Charles was too sickly to handle the stress, he begged me to take over the family business. Faced with my father’s desperate pleas, I couldn't say no. I abandoned my dream career in scientific research just to manage the company. To expand the business, I worked myself to the bone. I ran meetings all day and entertained clients all night, frequently landing myself in the hospital from alcohol poisoning. Hard work paid off. Under my leadership, the company reached new heights and secured a massive share of the overseas market. Yet, everything I built meant absolutely nothing to them compared to Charles. They had decided to hand the company to him from the very beginning. All my blood, sweat and tears were just meant to pave a golden path for Charles. Chapter 5 Charles was only faking his illness, and given his restless nature, he couldn't stand being stuck in a hospital room for long. He put on a show of having fully recovered, urging our parents to handle his discharge papers. As always, Mom and Dad never doubted a single word. Whatever he wanted, they made it happen, no matter how difficult. Watching the three of them chat and laugh as they processed the paperwork made me feel utterly pathetic. I had never known a single day of genuine affection. Yet here I was, forced to watch Charles effortlessly bask in the warmth of our parents' love. In that moment, the heart in my ghostly chest, the heart that had already stopped beating, gave a sudden, violent throb. The phantom pain was agonizing. From the day I was born, I never had much. My life was the only valuable thing I possessed. And I had lost that now. By the time they cleared out of the hospital, not a single one of them had spared a thought for me. I was still abandoned on that frozen mountain peak. Back at the lodge, the owner smiled warmly when he saw them return so soon. "Altitude sickness is practically a rite of passage for tourists here. You must be in great shape to get discharged this fast!" He paused, looking around the lobby. "Where’s the other one? I remember that young man looking incredibly ill before the climb. “I even warned him not to go, but he insisted. Is he still resting at the hospital?" Charles' face paled slightly. Terrified that his fake illness would be exposed, he quickly hunched over and began to cough violently, trying to look fragile. "This boy was just worried about ruining our family vacation by wasting time in the hospital," Mom explained, gently rubbing Charles' back. The moment the lodge owner mentioned me, her eyes which were filled with tenderness for Charles, hardened into a mask of pure ice. "My youngest son is perfectly fine. He has a body like an ox," she sneered. "He just complained that his brother’s weak health was ruining the itinerary. He's probably out partying somewhere by now. “He has absolutely no consideration for his brother's condition. He is thoroughly selfish." Hearing Mom's words and seeing Charles cough so desperately, the lodge owner instantly painted a picture of me in his mind. He assumed I was a spoiled, unfilial brat who didn't care about his own family. He frowned, his tone turning disapproving. "That kind of selfish person always gets what's coming to them! Don't let an ungrateful son ruin your trip. “Enjoy yourselves. A family staying together is all that matters.” Chapter 6 I knew better than anyone that a happy, harmonious family was the ultimate blessing. But had they ever actually considered me a part of their family? For as long as I could remember, Mom’s attitude toward me had always been freezing cold. She never gave me a single pleasant look. When I was little, I used to hide in the corners of the house like a rat in the gutter. I would watch longingly as Mom cradled my six-year-old brother, reading him fairy tales with a soft, gentle voice. Yet, even sneaking a glance at a happiness that didn't belong to me was treated as a crime. She would yell at me, claiming that lurking in the shadows like a ghost would frighten Charles. She strictly warned me never to wander around the house without her explicit permission. I was her flesh and blood too. Why did Charles deserve their endless affection while I was forced to survive like an unwanted orphan under their roof? Now, they just sat there and let a clueless lodge owner label me an ungrateful brat, never uttering a single word to defend me. Did I really have to carve out my own flesh and bones to return the debt of my birth before they would finally be satisfied? Well, I was dead now. This worthless life of mine had officially been paid back to them. After scrolling through short videos for a while, Charles grew restless. "Mom, let’s go ride the cable cars later. Sitting around this lodge is completely boring." "Sure, sweetheart," Mom replied instantly. Just then, Dad walked through the front door. His face was dead serious. "Our son wants to go to the cable cars, let's head out now," Mom said. She didn't notice his expression, busy holding a new coat up to the full-length mirror. "A man's body was just found up on the snowy mountain," Dad announced grimly. "The police suspect foul play and have already been called." He sighed, locking the door behind him. "They're ordering all the lodges to lock down and banning tourists from leaving. They want to prevent the killer from striking again." Mom froze. The coat slipped from her fingers, hitting the floor with a soft thud. Her voice trembled. "A man's body? Did the lodge owner say how old he was?” Chapter 7 A man's body. Had they finally discovered my corpse? I felt a sudden wave of relief. Maybe now I could finally leave this place. I wouldn't have to watch the three of them play happy family anymore, constantly reminding me of how utterly unloved I was. "Let me go find out more details," Dad said, turning back toward the door. "Mom, why do you even care?" Charles whined, completely annoyed. He was furious that this sudden lockdown was ruining his plans. He aggressively tapped at a game on his phone, turning the volume all the way up. The blasting sound effects were incredibly grating in the tense room. "Charles, turn that damn game off right now!" Mom suddenly snapped, her voice lifting to a harsh yell. I froze in shock. This was the first time in my entire life I had ever heard Mom raise her voice at Charles. Charles was clearly stunned too. He never expected his usually submissive, doting mother to lash out at him. His eyes darkened and his jaw clenched tightly. "Mom, I was just worried you were scared because there's a killer on the loose. I didn't mean anything else." Seeing his wounded victim act, Mom’s rigid expression softened immediately. "I'm so sorry, sweetheart," she apologized, her voice full of regret. "I didn't mean to snap at you. I'm just stressed. Kyle is being so incredibly irresponsible, still running around out there. “Just wait until we get home. I am going to teach him a lesson he'll never forget." I let out a hollow, bitter laugh. Home? What home did I even have left? "Honey, the police brought the body down," Dad rushed back into the room, breathless. "They want everyone to come out and see if we can identify him. What a nightmare! “We finally take a vacation, and we get saddled with this bad luck!" Mom didn't even seem to hear Dad's complaints. She pushed past him and bolted out of the room. Outside, a shape covered in a stark white sheet lay in the center of the clearing. A police officer stood by, holding up a red cord with a pendant attached. He addressed the gathering crowd. "We found this necklace on the victim. Does anyone recognize it?" Mom shoved her way through the onlookers. The moment her eyes locked onto the pendant, all the color drained from her face. Her knees buckled and she collapsed heavily onto the frozen ground, staring in sheer, horrified disbelief. "No... No, it can't be him.”