Chapter 1

My mother has a thing. If anyone is kind to her, she feels indebted, and she has to pay them back, no matter what.

One winter, old Mr. Wang from downstairs carried a crate of fruit up the stairs for her. That same day she went to the supermarket and came home with a haul of groceries to give him. He said it wasn't necessary. She said it was. She couldn't live with herself otherwise.

At church, everyone knows her as the warmhearted one. Sunday service every week, first in line at the Christmas drive, first on the scene when a neighbor needs help.

She says God's eyes are always on her. She can't let her conscience slip.

Sometimes, after giving away something of mine, she'd say, "Mia, you have to learn to let go. Giving is more blessed than receiving." She genuinely believed that making me lose things was building up my virtue with God.

After she remarried, she went above and beyond for Serena. My stepfather is a quiet, decent man who barely speaks. Serena moved in with us, and Mom fussed over her constantly, said the poor girl had lost her real mother young, said she deserved extra love.

I got it. I didn't push back. But things kept tipping further.

Serena picked up a box of cold medicine for Mom, and the same day Mom handed her the keys to my Tesla.

I'd saved for three years to buy that car. I needed it for work. My office is out in the suburbs, and without it, I had to take two buses, leave the house at five-forty in the morning, and didn't get home until past eight at night.

Serena drove off in it right in front of me, and Mom said, mildly, that it was hard being a young woman, and the car was just a way to get around.

The long commute had done something to my legs. They'd flare up sometimes, and walking too far hurt. Mom told me to just get up earlier, walk to work, it'd do me good to fix my schedule anyway.

Emma is my daughter. Congenital heart defect, diagnosed at birth. The doctor said it could go off at any time, that she has to carry emergency medication, and if she has an episode, she needs it immediately or things get dangerous. She's six years old. She never throws tantrums. She's so well-behaved it breaks my heart.

Around that time, I'd been quietly working on something else for Mom. She'd mentioned her heart had been bothering her. I took her in for a check-up. The results weren't great, but I didn't tell her. I didn't want her to worry. I started hunting for an appointment with a top cardiologist behind her back. He was retiring at the end of the year, and it took me almost three months of refreshing the booking page to land a slot.

That day I came home with Emma. I hadn't even put my bag down when Mom pulled the appointment slip out of it.

"Serena, honey, you said your heart's been bothering you, right? Mia has a specialist appointment here. You take it. Think of it as my thank-you for the cold medicine."

Serena was leaning against the arm of the couch, one hand pressed to her chest, face twisted up like she was in pain. The corner of her mouth twitched up.

I swallowed, opened my mouth to speak, and then Emma collapsed.

I dropped my bag and started looking for her medicine. Tore through the bag, the couch cushions, the cabinets, the drawers. Nothing.

Mom said, in that same flat tone, "Tyler said he was curious about it. I let him play with Emma's pills for a bit."

I looked up. Tyler was dumping Emma's emergency medication out onto the floor and stomping on the pills, one by one.

That medication is imported. There's exactly one pharmacy in this city that carries it, and they're out half the time. I have an alert on my phone, and the second they're in stock, I drop everything and run over. I never want Emma's medicine to not be there.

I lunged for him. Tyler tucked his hands behind his back and grinned. "It's mine. You're a bad lady, you can't have it." I pried his hand open. The bottle was empty. Every pill inside was crushed. The bottle hit the floor with a clatter.

I looked down at Emma. Her lips were already purple. There was a backup pill in my bag, and I reached for it. Serena snatched the bag away.

She pulled the pill out, held it between her fingers, and smiled at me.

I slapped her across the face.

"What the hell are you doing? That's Emma's medicine."

The room went quiet for a beat. Serena clutched her cheek, tears welling up instantly, and turned to Mom. "Carol, look at her."

Mom stepped between us, blocking Serena. "Mia, what are you doing? Serena's heart isn't well either. What's the harm in her holding it for a second? Apologize to Serena and she'll give it back."

"Mom, Emma is dying."

Serena peeked out from behind her, voice softening. "Mia, if you're so worried about Emma, take her to the hospital. Why are you yelling at me? I didn't make her sick."

Mom nodded along. "Exactly. Take the baby to the hospital. What's the point of fighting here? Mia, just apologize."

I looked at Emma's purple lips. What choice did I have. That pill was Emma's life.

I said I was sorry.

Serena rolled the pill between her fingers. Then she tipped her head back, popped it into her mouth, and swallowed it.

"Carol, my heart's really hurting."

She raised her eyebrows at me.

I turned back. Emma was on the floor, calling for me in a thread of a voice.

I scooped her up. "Emma, hang on. We're going to the hospital." I pulled out my phone to call 911, and Mom snatched it out of my hand.

"Oh come on, you don't need an ambulance for something this small. Let her catch her breath. You're going to bother those poor paramedics for nothing, I couldn't live with that." She ended the call, rambling.

My vision started going dark. I couldn't process a word she was saying. I held Emma tight and ran for the door. The screen flashed: child lock engaged, unlocking in five minutes. She'd activated the child safety lock. The app was on the phone she'd just yanked away.

"Mom, can't you see Emma can't breathe?" Tears were sliding down my face before I could stop them.

Something in Mom's expression cracked. She looked down at Emma, at the white face and the blue lips, and took a hesitant step toward the door, like she was going to override the lock.

That was when Serena spoke up. "Mia, I know I'm not your real sister. I know you don't like me. But how could you fake all this just for attention? You're lying to Carol."

Mom seized on it like a lifeline. She hurled my phone at the floor. "Mia, you've always been like this." The screen shattered. A piece of glass kicked up and cut my cheek.

I didn't care.

I stood at the door holding Emma, watching the countdown. She was slumped against my shoulder, breathing getting shallower. I kept saying her name so she wouldn't drift off. Four minutes. Three minutes. Two minutes. The second the door clicked, I ran.