Reborn As A Ghost: Time To Build My Undead Army!-Chapter 1851: Her Sacrifice

-----

The mother and her two daughters stared at one another blankly for a long moment.

They were stunned—even Maria.

So much had happened.

Their paths had diverged, and at one point the entire family had fractured.

Jessica honestly didn’t know what to say right now.

"I’m sorry..."

That was all that came from her mouth once she realized this was real.

"I’m sorry... for leaving you behind..."

Laura and Fran looked at their mother. Their eyes slowly widened.

"It’s all my fault... I..."

But her daughters stepped forward. Fran hugged her tightly, giving her the warmth her cold body had long forgotten.

"What are you talking about?" Fran sighed.

"Mom... I missed you..." Laura cried.

"...!"

Jessica’s face twisted into tremendous sorrow. Tears spilled from her eyes.

Her hands remained frozen; she couldn’t yet hug her dear daughters back.

Was she even worthy of their love anymore?

After what she had become?

After everything she had done?

Wasn’t she the same as the despicable monsters they hunted?

She was no different from a beast...

Oh, how many people she had killed...

Innocent, good people.

Guilt and shame consumed her.

There was nothing she wanted more than to die...

And yet...

"It doesn’t matter," Fran said firmly.

"You were forced to do this, Mom," Laura added.

"A-Ah?"

"You’re just a victim. There were many people like you," Fran said.

"You aren’t at fault..." Laura said.

Her daughters comforted her, even though the guilt burned so fiercely...

Jessica’s hands trembled. Slowly, she hugged her children tightly.

"I’m sorry..."

Amidst tears, her daughters poured all the love she believed she no longer deserved.

She kept saying she was sorry.

She had suffered for so long...

All so her little princesses could live well.

Could she really allow herself to be a little selfish?

Just this once?

"I love you two so much..."

As she cried, memories of her daughters flooded her mind.

Like the day she gave birth to her dear Laura.

How she watched her grow from a grumpy little baby.

Laura always got into trouble at school. She wasn’t friendly and acted like a mean girl.

But slowly she taught herself to behave, and Jessica always trusted that her daughter was good at heart.

And she was, of course.

Then little Fran was born—smaller and shyer than her big sister.

Laura, who had often felt lonely, smiled every day after her sister arrived. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

Every day she ran to see little Fran.

She would jump at the cradle, wake her, and Fran would cry loudly.

Jessica would scold Laura, and Laura would learn to be gentler.

Together with her husband, they raised their girls well.

Until her husband left.

And everything became so much harder.

She didn’t know what to do. Her daughters were still children.

Now she was alone, left to fend for herself.

Her husband had vanished; some believed he had died somewhere.

There were no clues. His phone was left at home.

Everything they had built together, all the time they had spent...

It now meant nothing.

But seeing her two daughters innocently playing—unaware of the harshness of the world outside...

Jessica realized she had to help them live.

No matter what.

For her daughters...

She could tear her body apart and destroy her own soul.

Just to help them live well.

She worked.

And worked.

And worked.

And worked.

And worked.

And worked.

Tirelessly, endlessly.

From day to night, from night to day.

Sometimes she went without sleep for over seventy-two hours.

At work she would collapse, then wake up and return to work.

She would come home after days away, smiling and crying because her babies were fine, cared for by a good neighbor she paid for.

"Mommy!"

"Mamaaa!"

They always ran to her and smiled the moment they saw her. All the exhaustion, all the pain—it flew away.

She enjoyed delicious food with them and sent them to the best schools she could afford.

She loved them more than the world.

No—they were her world.

Her daughters learned not to cry when she wasn’t around. They grew strong like her.

And so years passed.

Many years.

She kept struggling, working hard.

She helped her daughters focus only on their studies while she worked tirelessly for them.

Every day, and almost every night too.

Just for a little more cash, just scraping by, to keep up the illusion that everything was fine.

She smiled, pretending all was well.

Even though her body was failing, her blood pressure swung wildly.

She fainted more and more, nearly losing her job.

But she couldn’t tell them.

She couldn’t afford to shatter the world she had built for them...

But the tower did.

It broke everything, shattered her world apart.

"Fran...! No! Wake up...! Please!"

Amidst tears she watched her young daughter fall into a coma as an ominous tower appeared out of nowhere.

She was fired afterward and had to do everything to survive with her elder daughter—all while trying to pay the hospital bills to keep Fran alive.

They hunted monsters, risking their lives, awakening and gaining whatever power they could.

Her eldest daughter had talent; she worked hard and grew into a fine hunter.

For her and her youngest, Jessica never stopped working.

But they struggled. They struggled so much...

"What do I do? Where do I get more money? I need more money...! I can’t let Fran die...! No, no, no! Anything...! I need more money...! Money, money, money...! It’s all that matters in this horrible world...! Why can’t I raise my daughters?! Just how much do I need to destroy myself to give them a decent life?! I’m not even asking for anything extraordinary... just a normal life...! While there are people with so much money they don’t even know what to do with it...! I...! I nearly kill myself for fifty bucks every day..."

Jessica stood on the verge of a mental breakdown.

And that’s when they approached.

They offered something beyond her wildest imagination.

In exchange for one little thing.

Her humanity.

"Join our Family, become a Vampire and work as a Hitman for us. You will identify suitable prey and help us hunt them. You will earn $20,000 per prey captured."

"..."

Her hands trembled; her eyes fixed on the money.

Twenty thousand.

Enough to cover the bills for almost two months.

To keep her daughter alive in the hospital and equip her other daughter with the best gear to survive dungeon delves.

"Y-You promise that..." Her voice trembled, hesitating one last time. "That you won’t harm my family?"

"As long as you remain loyal, their safety will be ensured. In fact, other factions won’t dare touch them."

"..."

And that day, Jessica lost her humanity. She drank from a cup of vampire blood. Her body underwent a painful transformation.

-----