Chapter 2

Claire's POV

I didn't go to the hospital the next day.

That evening, my phone suddenly started buzzing nonstop. I picked it up and found the family group chat exploding with messages.

At the top was a photo Mom had posted. She was propped up against the pillows in her hospital bed, with Cathy sitting beside her. They were both smiling at the camera, their hands forming a heart between them.

Mom had added a caption. "Thank you to my sweet Cathy for taking such good care of me and helping me pull through. I wouldn't be here without you."

In the photo, Cathy was holding a hospital receipt. Her phone was conveniently angled toward the camera, showing a 1,370-dollar transaction.

The relatives immediately flooded the chat.

"Priah's out of danger now? She seems to be doing pretty well!"

"Cathy is such a good daughter. It's a weekday, and she still took time off work to stay with her mom."

"Paying the bills and taking care of her? You raised an amazing daughter. You're so lucky!"

My cousin had always been especially close to Cathy, so naturally, she was the first to bring me up. "Where's Claire? How come she isn't there?"

My aunt jumped in right after her. "Oh, Claire's a big-shot career woman now. She's far too busy making all that money to sit around at a hospital. But not even contributing to the medical bills? That's a little hard to excuse, isn't it?"

I let out a bitter laugh.

So that was what this was about. My aunt was still holding a grudge because I hadn't gotten her son a job at my company after college.

Except there hadn't been anything I could do. He'd failed so many classes that he hadn't even graduated. What was I supposed to do, march into HR and demand they hire him anyway?

Of course, my aunt insisted those were "minor details". According to her, I was simply cold and selfish and couldn't be bothered to help family.

After her message, the group chat went strangely quiet for a few minutes.

Then, another relative, the kind who lived for stirring up drama, tagged me. "Your mom was in a serious car accident. Are you really not going to help out? You always acted like such a devoted daughter before."

Mom was still active in the chat. She saw everything, but she didn't say a single word in my defense. She simply ignored those messages and replied to whichever ones suited her.

"Don't come visit me, Emma. The ICU only allows one visitor a day. Cathy says she can't sleep at night unless she sees me and makes sure I'm okay. So those visits have to be saved for Cathy."

That set everyone off again.

"Cathy really is her mom's guardian angel."

"Having a daughter like Cathy must be such a blessing."

"She's so thoughtful. Priah, you're one lucky mom."

I stared at the screen, my stomach churning. If getting the hospital's security footage weren't such a hassle, I would've loved to show them what Cathy had actually looked like during her first visit.

The impatience on her face and the way she'd clearly wanted to be anywhere else… I would have dropped that footage straight into the family chat and let everyone see their precious Cathy for themselves.

The day of the accident, Cathy hadn't even bothered to show up until after Mom's surgery was over.

Then, the hospital asked us to settle the outstanding balance.

The second Cathy saw a bill for more than 10,000 dollars, she suddenly remembered she had "something important" to do and disappeared.

Today, the other driver's insurance had finally kicked in. Cathy had paid a little over 1,000 dollars yesterday, and she'd been making sure everyone knew about it ever since.

I couldn't believe Dad had the nerve to call me calculating and accuse me of putting on a show.

I'd already decided I was cutting ties with the family. Once I left, I wouldn't have to deal with these relatives anymore, either. There was no point wasting my energy arguing with them.

At least, that was what I told myself.

Then, Dad posted two messages in the group chat.

"All I did yesterday was ask Claire to pay one hospital bill, and she accused her mother and me of treating her like an ATM. What can you do? In the end, Cathy was the one who stepped up and paid for it."

"I just never thought Claire would consider taking care of her own mother a burden."

Something inside me snapped. Within seconds, the family chat erupted.

"What's wrong with Claire? Her mother's in the hospital, and she's seriously throwing a tantrum now?"

"Exactly! She's old enough to know better. How can she still be this immature?"

"Claire, your mom nearly died, and you won't even contribute a cent toward her medical bills?"

Finally, Mom sent one last message. "Let's stop talking about things that'll only upset me. I still don't have much strength, so Cathy's been typing all these messages for me. We only have a few minutes left together. Let's talk about something happy instead."

I stared at the screen and forced myself to read every single message.

I wanted to remember every accusation, every insult, and every smug, self-righteous comment. I wanted to remember exactly who had said what and exactly who had shown me their true colors when it mattered most.

Then, I waited.

The moment the 15-minute visiting period ended and Cathy left the ICU, I uploaded a document to the family group chat.