Chapter 3

Before I could even go look for her, she showed up at the hospital herself.

She wore a mask and pinched her nose. "This place smells awful. Evelyn, give me the other six hundred dollars right now, and I'll leave."

Not only was I not giving her any money, but I was also taking back the four hundred David had given her.

The moment I said that, she stepped back like I was crazy. "Are you sick or something? That money was what you owed me in the first place."

"Owed you?" I snapped. "What do you mean, owed you?"

She had actually chased me to the hospital to demand money.

I was shaking with rage. "Your granddaughter is hospitalized, and you don't care at all. You're perfectly capable, but you still expect me to wait on you and feed you. Mom, even a queen wouldn't behave this way."

Other patients and family members in the ward started staring at her with open disgust.

The woman in the next bed couldn't hold back anymore. "How can you be so heartless? Your daughter didn't sleep a wink last night and has been here all day.

"I felt awful for her and thought she had no one helping her. Turns out you're right here?"

Another mom chimed in, "If you won't help, fine. But making things worse like this? I've never seen a mother behave this way."

With everyone criticizing her, Linda exploded. "What do you people know? I worked my whole life. Now that I'm old, don't I deserve to enjoy myself? Her kid isn't even mine. What does her being sick have to do with me?"

The woman next door shot back, furious. "Your daughter is yours, though. Why don't you feel anything for her?"

Those words stabbed straight into my heart.

I had carried that question with me for years. I had always wanted to ask her, but I never dared.

I held my breath and waited for her answer, trying desperately to convince myself.

If she could come up with even the smallest excuse, just a tiny one, I could forgive her.

Because I was both a mother and a daughter.

But she still disappointed me.

She looked at me with cold arrogance and said, slowly and clearly, "Why would I care about an outsider?"

The thing I'd feared for years finally came to pass.

The pain tore through my entire body, sharp enough to make me feel like I might die on the spot.

The woman next door was livid. "What do you mean, an outsider? She came from your own body. You're a woman yourself. I honestly don't understand how you think."

Linda showed not a hint of guilt. "She got married. She's not part of our family anymore. The people who should care about her are her husband's family."

The woman shook her head, speechless. "You don't even care about her yourself, yet you expect others to. I've truly seen it all today."

Afraid of hospital germs, Linda stopped arguing with her and turned back to me, urging me nonstop. "Hurry up and give me the money. Do you think I want to be in a place like this? It's crawling with bacteria.

"I'm old. My body isn't what it used to be. I can't afford to catch anything."

I stared straight at her. "No money. Not a single dollar. And the four hundred you took from David this afternoon, you're paying that back too."

She blew up. "Are you out of your mind? I came here to get money from you, and now you want me to return money? Evelyn, are you even my daughter anymore?"

"No," I said, forcing my voice down. "I'm just an outsider."

She suddenly laughed, "So you're holding a grudge over that? Evelyn, you're really that petty? Fine, I won't argue with you. If you won't give me the money, I'll go ask David. Let's see if he dares to defy me."

She turned and reached for David.

I stepped in front of him immediately. "From now on, he won't give you a single cent."

She lost it.

She yanked her mask off, spraying spit as she yelled, "You're crazy, Evelyn. I'm not some useless old woman. I get fifteen hundred dollars a month in retirement. Why won't you give me money? Why should I have to live like this, begging?

"I'm telling you, if you push me too far, I'll sue you. Let's see if you still care about your reputation then."

Sue me?

That was almost funny. I wasn't scared at all.

I laughed, "Go ahead. Sue me. While you're at it, tell the judge exactly where your fifteen hundred dollars a month is going.

"And tell the judge who's forcing you to beg your daughter for money when you already have a pension. Go on. Sue me. Do it right now."

"Evelyn!" She suddenly screamed my name and slapped me across the face. "That's my retirement money. I'll give it to whoever I want! Who do you think you are to question me?"