Chapter 1

My mother always said that people don't learn from being told; they learn instantly from experience.

When I was little, I reached for a kettle of boiling water, and she just stood by and watched coldly. I screamed and cried when I got burned.

"Good, it hurts," she said. "If it doesn't hurt, you won't remember."

I didn't know how to read traffic lights, and she didn't warn me; instead, she urged me to walk faster.

I got hit by an electric scooter and was thrown flying, needing seven stitches.

But she told me, "Getting hit once will teach you a lesson for life. It's a good thing."

I became cautious and composed. To escape my toxic family, I studied hard and got into a top university.

My mother, however, believed it was a testament to her successful parenting. She'd tell everyone that this was how you had to raise kids – talking sense was useless; they'd understand once they suffered a loss.

Later, when she made a spectacle of herself in our upscale neighborhood, I stayed silent.

When she got completely taken in by a scamming group,

I watched her fall right into their trap with cold eyes.

Doesn't she love learning from experience? Then let her have her fill!