Chapter 2

Timmy instantly went ballistic. "Are you out of your mind?" he shouted. "Who turns down a million dollars? Do you actually enjoy living like a peasant?"

Chloe immediately jumped in, pointing an accusatory finger at me. "Your husband left us with absolutely nothing when he died. Now we finally have a chance to secure our future, and you want to throw it away?

"If I knew I was marrying into a family of broke losers, I never would have said yes."

My grandson, Ayaan Gray, viciously kicked my bad leg. "It's your fault. I could have been rich, but you ruined everything, you old witch."

Listening to their constant berating, I felt the last spark of warmth in my heart freeze solid.

These leeches had been living rent-free in my house, surviving entirely off my meager pension for years. And they actually had the nerve to act like I was the villain?

It was almost comical.

"I don't care," I snapped. "I am not signing it."

Timmy's face flushed purple with rage. "You better give me a damn good reason right now. Why are you saying no? Have you completely lost your mind?"

Chloe snorted, "She's going senile. Why are you even arguing with her? Just make her do it."

Taking her cue, Timmy lunged forward. He violently grabbed my hand, trying to physically force my fingers around the pen.

When I struggled and tried to pull away, he kicked me hard.

He aimed directly for the leg that had just undergone surgery. The stitches were still fresh. The force of his heavy boot instantly split the incision wide open, and blood began pouring down my shin.

"You kicked me?" I gasped, staring at him in sheer disbelief. "Do you seriously not remember how I got this injury?"

Timmy flinched, his eyes darting away in a fleeting moment of guilt.

But a second later, his face hardened into a vicious sneer. "So what? You chose to jump in front of that car. You're my mother; that's your job. Don't try to guilt-trip me now.

"Let me make this perfectly clear. Dad is dead. Nobody is coming to help you. You better behave and do exactly what I say, or things are going to get a lot worse for you."

I stared at him, feeling my soul shatter into a million pieces. Was this really my son?

When he suddenly decided he wanted to be an entrepreneur and bankrupted three businesses in a row, who bailed him out? Me.

When his debts got so bad that he threatened to jump off a bridge, who talked him off the ledge? Me.

When he wanted to marry Chloe and her family demanded a sky-high cash gift, I slaved away night after night, taking every job I could find to scrape together 260,000 dollars to pay for his wedding.

And this was how he repaid me? By threatening me in my own home?

From the moment Chloe married into this family, I treated her like a queen. Since we weren't a wealthy family, I cherished her as my own daughter.

When she gave birth to my grandson, I did all the night shifts and paid for all the baby supplies. And now she was sneering at me.

"Old people need to learn their place. Just shut up and do what you're told."

The greatest sting came from my grandson, the boy I had nurtured with my very soul.

His early years were a constant battle with illness, and I was his lone guardian. I bore the weight of his fevered body on endless trips to the clinic, foregoing sleep for weeks on end.

When he was confined to a hospital bed, I was his constant anchor.

Back then, he looked at me with tearful eyes and whispered, "You're the best grandma in the whole world."

But now?

Seeing the blood soaking through my pants, he kicked me again. "Sign the paper, you old hag. My dad promised to buy me the new iPhone."

My heart died in that moment.

A dark resolve settled over me. If this was how they wanted to play, the gloves were off.

I picked up the pen and scrawled my signature on the dotted line.

Using the details burned into my memory from my previous life, I picked up the phone and called the very lender, taking out a million-dollar loan under Timmy's name.

We were family, right? It was only fair to share the wealth.

And just to be beautifully petty, I set the repayment date for his loan exactly one day before mine was due.