Chapter 4

June said, "No, Roderick, I don't want to see you two fighting because of me.

"I promised Samantha that once I'm better, I'll go abroad again and won't cling to you anymore. Otherwise, she'll make things hard for my family."

Roderick snorted.

"If it weren't for me, Samantha wouldn't have so much influence," he said.

As soon as we stepped out, Roderick bumped into my mom.

She was holding a mop, cleaning the floor.

I was shocked, and so was Roderick.

"Why are you here?" Roderick asked.

Roderick didn't bother to show any respect to my mom.

My mom's eyes flashed with anger when she saw Roderick.

"I'm just working as a cleaner," she replied.

Roderick let out a cold, mocking laugh.

He sneered, "Doesn't Samantha send you a generous allowance every month? Still not enough for you? What, here to guilt-trip me?

"The Blanton family really never knows when to stop. How much more do you want from me?"

My breath caught, and my mom's face fell.

I never used Roderick's money to support my mom. Even though I didn't have a steady job at home, I knew how hard life was for her.

She had a heart condition, just like me. So I picked up part-time gigs, drawing illustrations for different places or teaching kids how to paint, and made a bit of extra cash.

Roderick gave me 2 thousand dollars a month for living expenses, but it was never enough.

I had to split my own earnings, giving some to my mom and using the rest to keep the household running. I never told Roderick about any of this.

My mom clutched the mop so hard her knuckles turned white.

"I won't let you slander my daughter like this!" she shot back.

Roderick was completely unfazed.

Roderick spat, "If the mother is rotten, the daughter can't be any better. With your messed-up values, it's no wonder your kid turned out so nasty.

"Listen up, I don't ever want to see you in this hospital again. Get out of my sight."

My mom was trembling with anger, but before she could say anything, she suddenly fainted right there.

Roderick kicked her twice.

He sneered, "You old witch, always acting just like your daughter. Seriously, you two never get tired of this drama, huh?

"What, trying to scam me now? Or are you just playing dead like your daughter?"

Anyone with even a bit of medical knowledge could tell my mom was really convulsing and gasping for air. She obviously wasn't faking it.

A doctor passing by spotted her and quickly called the nurses over. They lifted my mom onto a gurney and wheeled her straight to surgery.

I was freaking out, totally helpless as a soul, my temples pounding, unable to do anything.

I was the only one who knew. If her heart condition flared up again, it could actually kill her.

Roderick sneered, his face full of disdain.

"Let's see how long you can keep pretending," he sneered.

It seemed like Roderick had just remembered he was supposed to settle things with me, but before he could take more than a couple steps, the doctor who had just rushed out of the operating room stopped him.

"Mr. Tingey, could you sign the surgery consent form? The patient has a hereditary heart condition, and she has no family to sign for her," the doctor said.

Roderick stopped in his tracks, his face turning sour.

"What are you talking about? I have nothing to do with the Blanton family. If you need someone, go find Samantha. I don't want anything to do with their drama!" he snapped.

The doctor furrowed his brow, looking puzzled.

"You didn't know? Samantha died on the operating table a while ago. She got an infection during the surgery, and then had heart complications. I thought you knew," the doctor said.

Roderick staggered back a couple of steps, looking like he might collapse.

"No way. Wasn't she just pretending? It was only a kidney operation, nobody dies from that!" he stammered.

The doctor sighed.

"Samantha had the same heart condition. You really didn't know?" he asked.

Roderick suddenly grabbed the doctor's shoulders.

"Where's Samantha's body? I want to see her with my own eyes!" he demanded.

The doctor looked genuinely shaken.

The doctor explained, "Samantha's mom handled the cremation herself. They couldn't afford a proper funeral, and she needs special medication to stay alive.

"Even though she's elderly and sick, she's still working as a cleaner here just to get by."

Roderick sank to the floor, utterly defeated. The doctor handed him the surgery consent form.

"Please sign here," the doctor urged gently.

Roderick signed the form mechanically, then slumped against the wall, his mind blank, unable to process what had just happened for a long time.

"Mr. Tingey, if you hadn't rushed in and forced the kidney surgery on Samantha, she wouldn't have ended up with an infection, and she wouldn't have died," the doctor said quietly.

The doctor paused, clearly unable to hold back, took a few steps away, then turned around and threw in that last comment.

Roderick let his arms drop helplessly to his sides, a bitter smile twisting his lips.

"Turns out it was me all along. I never trusted you. I always thought you were just faking it," he muttered, barely audible.

Looking at Roderick now, I could only find it ridiculous.

He killed me, and now he made my mom's heart condition flare up. If he never loved me, I wondered why he wouldn't just let me go from the very beginning.

Maybe I had it coming. If only I'd agreed to the divorce the first time Roderick asked, none of this would have happened.

There was no point for Roderick to say all of this now.