By the time she reached the top, her knees were torn open to the bone. Blood ran down her forehead and into her eyes. She was barely conscious. But she obtained the jade pendant.
Maybe heaven itself was moved by what she'd done.
I woke up. Against every medical expectation, I opened my eyes.
But my mother never recovered. The ordeal destroyed her health, and she fell into an illness she would not survive.
On her deathbed, she pressed the pendant into my palm and told me to keep it safe. Always.
I'd treasured it every day since. I wore it everywhere, never took it off. It was the thing my mother traded her life for.
It was the one thing no one was allowed to touch.
"The more you want it," Cora said, smiling, "the more I want to destroy it."
Before my fingers could reach her, she hurled the necklace at the floor.
A sharp, clean crack.
The jade split apart. Four pieces. Five. Fragments scattered across the tile.
"No!"
I watched the pieces settle. The pendant my mother had given her life for, shattered on a dormitory floor.
My chest caved in. I couldn't breathe.
"You're an animal!"
Something inside me snapped. I swung my hand and slapped Cora across the face with everything I had.