Chapter 2

The day Mom was set to be discharged, Samuel promised he'd come pick us up.

At 10:00 am, after the nurse pulled out the last IV catheter, Mom changed her clothes on the edge of the bed.

In the blink of an eye, two hours had passed. Every few minutes, she'd glance at the door. "Is he stuck in traffic?"

"Probably."

"Give him a call and tell him to take his time."

I didn't.

At 12:30 pm, Samuel finally sent me a message. "Willow's place has a leak, and her neighbor downstairs is raising hell with property management. I need to take care of it on her behalf. Go ahead and arrange Rowena's discharge without me. I'll come over as soon as I'm done."

I locked my screen and called a ride.

Mom sensed something was wrong and asked softly, "Is he helping that Ms. Emerson again?"

I straightened her clothes. "Yep."

After a moment of silence, she pinched the hem of her clothes. "Janice... have I become a burden to you?"

I crouched down in front of her. "This has nothing to do with you."

As soon as the words left my mouth, the door to the ward swung open. Willow walked in with a fruit basket. Her filming assistant trailed behind her, training the camera on the fruit basket in her hands.

"Mrs. Fischer, I heard you were being discharged today, so I came to see you off. Samuel couldn't make it, so he asked me to come in his place."

I looked at the camera. "Turn it off."

Her assistant looked a little awkward.

Willow raised her hand, but she didn't tell him to stop filming. "Don't get the wrong idea, Janice. I've been working on home makeovers for women who live alone lately.

"When my followers heard Samuel had helped me fix a leaky pipe, they all praised him for being such a responsible man. I figured I'd stop by to see Mrs. Fischer while I'm at it and set the record straight for you."

"Set what straight, exactly?"

Her smile faltered for a fraction of a second. "My relationship with Samuel, of course. There's nothing going on between us."

"My husband couldn't be bothered to show up, so he sent his ex-girlfriend to bring my mom a fruit basket instead, all while filming it on video. That certainly clears things up."

Willow struggled to maintain her smile.

The very next second, Samuel barged in. The moment he walked in, he noticed Willow's misty eyes. "What's the matter?"

"It's nothing. Janice doesn't want me here, so I'll just take my leave."

When she turned around, her wrist brushed against the edge of the fruit basket. He hastily caught her. "Careful, the floor's wet."

Then, he shifted his attention toward me. "Willow came here out of the goodness of her heart to pick up Rowena in my place. Did you really have to put her on the spot?"

Mom hurriedly waved her hands. "No, no. Ms. Emerson has been very polite."

Mom had just gotten surgery, and her voice was barely above a whisper. Yet here she was, apologizing to them on my behalf. It felt as though a boulder had settled on my chest.

"Samuel Sullivan, you were the one who promised to come pick us up."

"The leak could cause problems with the neighbors downstairs. Willow can't handle that on her own!"

"It's her apartment. Why can't she handle it on her own?"

Samuel scowled. "Several of her neighbors were ganging up on her. Do you expect me to just turn a blind eye? You've really changed, Janice."

Willow gently tugged at his sleeve. "Stop it. Mrs. Fischer isn't well. I just… can't help but feel that if Janice can't even tolerate something this trivial, you're going to have a hard time with her in the future."

Samuel didn't refute her. He led her out, and when he walked past me, he lowered his voice and said, "We'll talk about this when we get home. Let's not make ourselves a laughingstock in front of outsiders."

…

Half an hour later, that video made it onto the trending list. I had a cold look on my face as I told Willow to turn off the camera in the clip.

The edited video was titled "My ex is married now, and somehow, it's a crime for me to visit his elders on his behalf." The comments section was filled with netizens calling me petty, mean, and ungrateful.

Mom chanced upon the video in the car. She stared at the screen for what felt like an eternity before locking her phone.

After returning home, she took her pill organizer out of her luggage. "Janice, perhaps it's best if I return to the countryside tomorrow. You've been married for so many years. I don't want your marriage to fall apart because of me."

Mom kept insisting that she was fine, but her hand never left the spot on her chest where she'd recently had stitches. I helped her lie down. Then, I turned around to contact my lawyer, Max Smith.

As soon as the divorce agreement was successfully sent, Samuel dropped a message into the family group chat. "Willow is coming over for dinner tonight. Since Rowena's home, we can clear up this misunderstanding once and for all."