Chapter 2

The next comment made me feel even sicker.

A user named "ParkerDad" replied, "Congratulations. Once she graduates, have her marry my son. I'll pay you $50,000."

My mother immediately responded with a thumbs-up emoji.

My stomach churned.

Then someone else asked, "Keeping her close is one thing, but ruining her future... is it really worth it?"

My mother answered that one too. "Girls leave once they get married anyway. 'ParkerDad' promised that as long as she stays here, she'll marry his son after graduation. I'll get $50,000 for my retirement.

"And he'll pull some strings to get my brother a county job. Now that's a real bargain!"

My grip tightened around my phone as I struggled to breathe.

The hospital room was quiet.

My mother rolled over, mumbled something in her sleep, then started snoring again.

Eighteen years.

She'd spent all that time lamenting to everyone how hard it was to raise a daughter as a single mother.

The truth?

My tuition had been covered by scholarships and financial aid.

Every dollar of spending money came from collecting recyclables, handing out flyers, and stocking shelves at the grocery store.

I lived in the dorms all three years of high school. She never gave me a single dollar toward my monthly food expenses.

I couldn't even bring myself to order the cheapest pasta in the cafeteria. Most days, I survived on plain dinner rolls and mashed potatoes.

Meanwhile, she spent five days a week feeding the slot machines.

During my junior year, I won first prize in a state academic competition. The prize money was $3,000.

Before I could even enjoy it, she took $2,500 to pay off one of my uncle's gambling debts. She kept the remaining $500.

"I'll save it for you," she said. I never saw a cent of it again.

After sending the money to my Uncle Derek that day, she sat on the couch smoking in silence. Ashes fell onto her pants, but she didn't even brush them away.

Then she quietly said, "My mother did the same thing to me. She gave all the money she'd saved for my wedding to Derek."

Back then, I hadn't understood what she meant.

Now I did.

She'd been sacrificed once. So she believed sacrificing me was only natural.

As for my forty-year-old Uncle Derek, he still lived off my mother. Whenever he lost money gambling, he came begging her for cash.

When he wanted a new phone, he went to her.

When he started dating someone, she paid for that too.

She handed over the money without hesitation, then turned around and told me, "Your uncle's had a hard life."

The only thing she'd ever bought me was a $30 pair of winter boots. She talked about that purchase for the next six months.

Back then, she'd still ask whether I was cold. On freezing winter mornings, her fingers would be bright red as she crouched down to tie my shoelaces. Then she'd look up and smile at me.

That felt like another lifetime.

Somewhere along the way, the only things left in her world were the slot machines and her brother. She used my money to pay off his debts, then bought herself a gold necklace.

And now?

It wasn't enough to drain my bank account.

She intended to sell me too.

$50,000.

Dawn's light slowly crept through the hospital window. I sat there all night, forcing every ounce of anger back down.

My application had already been locked in the portal. Even if I confronted her now, at worst she'd get scolded, and I'd gain nothing.

Not yet.

I opened my phone and hired a same-day courier.

At seven the next morning, my mother woke up. When she saw me still sitting beside her bed, her eyes immediately reddened. She grabbed my hand.

"Gemma, you scared me to death last night. You're all I have. If you move away, what if I suddenly die? No one would even know..."

The tears came instantly, streaming down the wrinkles in her face.

I simply looked at her.

She wiped her eyes and choked back another sob.

"I know your grades are good, but our local universities are perfectly fine. You'll stay close to home, and I can still take care of you..."

Take care of me?

I took a deep breath and forced a few tears into my eyes.

"Mom, I'm not leaving. I'll stay here with you."

Her tears vanished almost instantly. A smile spread across her face as she patted my hand.

"That's my good girl."

That afternoon, after she was discharged, I picked up the package the courier had delivered to the ER reception desk.

As soon as we got home and she went to take a shower, I opened it.

I tucked a miniature camera deep inside the leaves of the potted pothos, angling the lens toward the couch and coffee table.

Then I took out two digital voice recorders. One went underneath the edge of the coffee table. The other was attached to the side of the TV stand.

Perfect.

My mother walked out of the bathroom and glanced at me.

"Derek's family is coming to stay for a few days tomorrow. Clean out the guest room.

"Oh, and Mr. Parker is bringing his son over in a couple of days. Dress up a little. Don't look like such a bookworm."

"Okay," I said.

Satisfied, she nodded and wandered into the kitchen, humming to herself as she started making lunch.

I sat alone in my room, staring at my backpack with its hidden surveillance equipment.

'Mom, the biggest mistake you've ever made was thinking all I knew how to do was cry.'