Ten years after my falling out with my mother, she fell ill. My selfish sister Meredith wasted no time dumping her at the hospital. For the last three years of my mother’s life, I kept her alive with my life savings of a million dollars. But then I accidentally found her will. A ten million dollar check for Meredith. A handwritten blessing card from Mom for me. She avoided my eyes. “The inheritance was always meant for Meredith. You chose to come home and care for me.” “You ran away all those years ago because Mom only loved Meredith and ignored you, didn’t you?” “Now I’ve written you a card. Why are you still unhappy?” I laughed. I tore the card to shreds and ground them under my heel. Then I turned and walked out of the hospital room. “Pull the respirator. I’m done paying for her treatment.” “Ma’am, are you sure about removing all support? This will cause the patient significant distress!” “Ma’am, your mother just completed chemotherapy. Her body cannot withstand this shock!” “That’s right. Remove everything. Process her discharge right now.” I walked out, leaving no room for argument. Mom looked at me in disbelief. Meredith shot up from her seat. She was holding the will she’d just signed, filled with righteous indignation. “Miranda, have you lost your mind?! Look at Mom! Do you really want to pull all her support and send her home to die?” “How can you be so heartless?! I won’t allow this!” Mom’s eyes reddened as she looked at Meredith, gripping her hand tightly. I turned around. Looking at Meredith, who had only shown up twice since Mom got sick, I gave a cold laugh. “Do I need your agreement?” “From the first day Mom got sick, I paid the medical bills. I bought the supplements.” “Even the caregiver’s salary of twenty-eight thousand a month came from me. Have you paid a single cent from start to finish?” “Now I don’t want to pay anymore. All the medical services I paid for-I’m withdrawing them. Is there a problem?” “I…!” Meredith choked. Then her eyes reddened. “No! I can’t bear to see her suffer! You can’t remove them!” “Fine, I won’t remove them.” I made a “please” gesture. “This room plus all the medical equipment costs thirty thousand a month. If you pay that, Mom can keep staying here. Go ahead and pay.” “I…” Meredith’s face flushed red. She gripped that will tightly. Mom started coughing. The look she gave me was exactly like when I was a child, overflowing with disapproval. “Meredith just graduated. How can you ask her for money? You’ve been working for years. You have the money but you refuse to use it. What kind of person bullies their own sister?!” “Fine. If you won’t pay for my treatment, then don’t. I raised an ungrateful wretch who thinks I’m a burden. I’ll just leave on my own. Is that what you want?!” With that, she got out of bed herself. Because of her frail body, she collapsed at the doorway after just two steps. Everyone passing by in the corridor saw it all. Meredith rushed forward and knelt beside Mom, tears streaming down. “Miranda, Dad died when we were three. All these years Mom has been both father and mother to us. She literally worked herself to this state for us, and you’re driving Mom away over some medical bills. “You can’t be this heartless!” Everyone immediately gathered around. Mom started crying right away. “It’s all my fault. Miranda, you don’t need to drive me away. I’ll go home and wait to die on my own.” “Oh grandma, please get up!” A young woman rushed forward to help Mom up. Looking at her emaciated body, the girl’s eyes instantly reddened. “You’re going too far! If you treat the elderly like this now, don’t expect anyone to care for you when you’re bedridden later!” “Exactly, exactly! You’ve gone too far!” “Meredith is so good! Her heart and eyes are full of her mother.” “Look how thin your mother has become. Who do you think she did this for!” I let out a bitter, angry laugh. “That’s right. I’m throwing my own mother out. I’m heartless. But you tell me, Mom. Who was all that suffering for? All those years of struggle, was any of it ever for me? Not even one day?”
Mom wiped the corners of her eyes. “You… how can you say that? Who else would Mom work hard for if not you?” “Liar.” I smiled bitterly. “When I was eighteen, Meredith said I hit her. You slapped me ten times without asking why. I threatened to run away from home. What did you say? “You said if I had the guts, I could die out there. You said you only needed Meredith for the rest of your life!” Mom’s face went pale. Meredith panicked. “Miranda…” “What right do you have to speak?” I cut her off. “Meredith, I don’t want to dwell on how many times you’ve framed me. “But right now, you have the least right to call me unfilial! “When Mom got sick, the only thing you did was make one phone call to me. “And then? In these three years, besides coming now to see the will, who’s been taking care of Mom! Did you pay anything? Did you help at all? Did you spend all your savings on Mom?” Meredith avoided my gaze. I laughed coldly. “Three years without visiting, but when it comes to giving you the entire inheritance, suddenly you love Mom so much?” “Shut up!” Mom scolded me. “Meredith hasn’t come to see me because she’s preparing for graduate school entrance exams! Her concern for me hasn’t diminished one bit. She messages me every day! “But you-I knew all along you only came back for my inheritance. Otherwise, after being away from home all those years, how could you suddenly come back! You think I can’t see through you!” Everyone gave me disapproving looks. “Don’t be so heartless. You can’t measure family affection with a price tag.” “That’s right. Besides, a mother knows her daughter best. She left the entire inheritance to Meredith, which shows she knows who you really are. You must have misunderstood them.” Meredith wiped the corners of her reddened eyes. I looked coldly at Mom. “She couldn’t come take care of you because of grad school exams. What about me quitting my job for you?” Everyone froze. The next second, I snatched the will from Meredith’s hands, along with my three years of hospital expense records, and threw the long list of bills into her lap. “I spent the entire million I saved over ten years working on you. You normally wouldn’t even buy yourself a towel. I thought you were so hard up, so I scraped together every penny for your medical bills. “Ha! Turns out you have ten million. You’re not short on money at all-you just wanted to save every cent for Meredith!” “What?!” Even the girl supporting Mom’s eyes widened. I smiled bitterly. “Then what about me? What about me, who spent a million on you all these years? Should I just die? Am I supposed to be Meredith’s stepping stone!” The girl picked up one of the bills, looking at Mom in disbelief. “You have ten million dollars sitting right here, and you’re bleeding your eldest daughter dry instead of spending a single cent of it?” “I’m not…” Mom tried to explain. A family member from the next room couldn’t take it anymore. “Enough! For three years, Miranda has been busy taking care of the old lady, sleeping only three hours a day, working harder than the caregiver. You can be biased, but there has to be a limit!” Everyone’s gaze toward the two of them instantly changed. “Grandma, you’re too biased!” “Anyway, you have ten million. Either pay for your own treatment, or don’t blame your eldest daughter for being heartless!” “Exactly! If not, let your younger daughter pay!” Mom’s eyes reddened. “Meredith is still a child. How can I ask her to pay?” I laughed coldly. I pushed past Meredith and strode away, without looking back.
After leaving the hospital, I planned to return to my rental apartment. The Audi I’d bought with my savings five years ago had been sold these past years to pay for Mom’s treatment. I got on the subway in a daze. My phone buzzed with a message from Mom. “You’re just leaving like this? Leaving your mother alone in the hospital? The hospital is already trying to discharge me.” I replied, exhausted. “Don’t you have money? Just pay them.” “How can I do that! Meredith will need money for so many things in the future! That money is all reserved for her!” “Then go home and wait to die.” It was the first time I realized I could say something so cruel. After I sent it, I couldn’t help but break down sobbing. Everyone stared at me curiously. But I couldn’t care about their looks. Over these years, I’d lost my job, my savings, my car. All because of that tiny thread of mother-daughter affection, fantasizing that I could improve our relationship before Mom died. So she would understand I wasn’t the bad sister who only bullied people, like Meredith claimed. So she would know I was also her daughter. But in the end, she didn’t seem to care about any of that at all. She knew I wouldn’t abandon her. She had no fear. When I got off the subway, my eyes were already red and swollen. As soon as I opened the door, I found the place packed with people. “You guys…” I looked in disbelief at the apartment full of relatives. Right in the center, surrounded by everyone, was my crying mother. She gripped her phone. “I never imagined that after raising her all these years, she’d tell me to go die! “When she ran away from home back then, I worried about her every single day. “When she came back to take care of me, I thought she’d remembered our mother-daughter bond. I never expected that when she heard I was leaving more inheritance to Meredith, she’d turn around and tell me to die. “How much longer do I have to live? She can’t even pretend for that long!” I pulled out my phone. Only then did I discover the family group chat I’d set to “do not disturb” had gone 99+. Scrolling up, the first message was a screenshot Mom had sent of our conversation. The four words “go home and die” were particularly glaring. “Miranda, your father died early. Without your mother, would you have grown up at all!” “Apologize to your mother right now! If we hadn’t rushed over, your mother would have jumped off the building!” “Miranda, you left home for ten years. Meredith spent more time with your mother than you did. You didn’t fulfill your duty as a daughter, but you want more money. People can’t be this heartless!” Mom sobbed. “It’s fine, it’s fine. After all these years, I’ve come to terms with it. “Whether she wants to acknowledge me as her mother is her business. I’ve done my duty to her. If my daughter doesn’t want to support me, I don’t want to be a burden anyway!” With that, she shakily stood and lunged toward the window. Everyone stopped her. “Miranda! Get on your knees! This family has no room for an ungrateful wretch like you!” “If you don’t kneel and apologize, consider yourself disowned! Your father was a good man, so don’t you dare tarnish his name!” “After you apologize, you will take your mother back to the hospital and care for her properly. The entire family will be watching!” Crash! A glass shattered on the floor. I was furious. “Stop making a scene!” Everyone looked at me in surprise. I was breathing heavily. I pointed at my uncle Lucas. “You loaned her a hundred thousand for surgery, right?” He froze. I pointed at my another uncle Jimmy. “You loaned two hundred thousand.” Then I pointed at my aunt. “You loaned her a hundred and fifty thousand you were planning to use to build your son’s house, didn’t you!” Mom’s face went pale. “Miranda! Shut up!” “Do you all know she actually has ten million on hand, but won’t spend it-she’s planning to leave every cent to Meredith!” “What?!” Everyone looked at Mom in shock.
Mom frantically waved her hands. I laughed coldly. “The reason she didn’t say anything is because she’s waiting for this debt to fall on me, isn’t it? “But I’ve long since been drained dry by her. You probably won’t get this money back for the next ten years!” All the relatives’ faces went pale. I continued. “You all felt sorry for her. Knowing she ‘had no money,’ you were still willing to loan her money to save her life. But she never considered you family. “Rebecca! Is what she’s saying true or not!” Lucas stood up. “Right! When Miranda’s dad died on duty all those years ago, the government gave compensation. We never asked how much it was all these years!” “This, this…” Mom gripped the corner of her clothes, unable to say a word. “Since you treat us this way, Miranda did nothing wrong!” “Someone like you should go home and wait to die!” Everyone threw her aside and walked out one by one. “I’m telling you, if you can’t pay back this money, we’ll only ask Meredith for it, not Miranda. Figure it out yourself!” “You people!” Mom looked helplessly as everyone left. Finally, she turned her pleading gaze toward me. I coldly turned away. Before long, I’d packed up my luggage. “I’m going back to Los Angeles for work. Take care of yourself.” “What about your mother if you leave?” “Figure it out yourself.” With that, I closed the door. Over these years, though I’d lost my car and money, At least my fiancé of five years was still there. During these three years when my savings ran out, he’d transferred me five hundred thousand to help out. This time when I returned, he proposed to me. Seeing my haggard appearance, Ethan pulled me into a tight embrace. “It’s okay. From now on, I’m your family. I’ll fulfill my responsibilities as a husband.” At the peak of gold prices, he forcibly expanded the traditional five gold gifts to eleven pieces of gold. As one gesture of his sincerity in proposing. His mother also brought me home and prepared a huge table of delicious food. Things my own mother had never done for me. Moved to tears, I posted my first social media update in three years: “So glad I met you.” After dinner, I discovered my mother had already called countless times. When I answered, she launched into a scolding tirade. “You’re out there wearing gold and silver-did you consider my situation at all! “Your mother is suffering in the hospital while you’re having fun outside. What kind of person are you! Come back now! Meredith is getting married, and you need to come back and help! Stop just thinking about yourself!” I laughed coldly. Hung up. Blocked her. I no longer planned to have anything to do with this family. Since they didn’t consider me one of them, I might as well become a complete outsider. But that day while picking out a wedding dress, Ethan suddenly burst into the bridal shop. He yanked the dress I’d chosen from my hands. “You already have a fiancé at home-why did you hide it from me!” I froze. “What are you talking about?” He handed me his phone. On it was a wedding invitation sent by a familiar number. The bride… Miranda? I was stunned. “Ethan! I’m not engaged! This groom is just my middle school classmate. I have no idea how my name ended up on an invitation with him!” “Stop pretending!” His eyes were red. “Your mother called me.” “What…” I stood frozen in place. “I didn’t believe it at first, but the wedding venue, the officiant, the guest list, even the groom! I saw them all! “Meredith said you two started dating in middle school, and if it weren’t for your mother being sick and needing money, you never would have deceived me for financial support!” “Ethan…” I tried to explain, but he flung my hand away. “What am I to you? “The wedding’s off. We’re breaking up.” He left without looking back. I stood alone on the empty street, watching his taillights vanish into the distance. I gritted my teeth and dialed that familiar number. “Mom, you told him I was engaged?” “That’s right. Since you won’t spend money on your own family, don’t think you get to keep it all for yourself. We just changed the name on Meredith’s old invitation. She isn’t selfish like you.” The call ended. A cold laugh escaped me. I immediately bought a ticket home. So Meredith wants to get married? Fine. If I can’t have my happiness, then neither will she.
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