Chapter 2

When I saw the look on Hailey's face, I quickly hurried after them. However, as I reached the stairwell corner, I heard Mom speaking proudly to her in a bright, satisfied voice.

"Finally, we can dump Caroline, that burden! She actually thinks I'd help her with treatment? I wish she'd drop dead!"

Mom affectionately patted Hailey's hand, and her eyes gleamed. "Hailey, haven't you always liked Ashton Lloyd? Now that Caroline is sick and probably doesn't have much time left, you'll finally get her boyfriend."

She continued, "And that job she just interviewed for will conveniently have an opening, too. I already asked someone to pull some strings and get you in."

Their wild laughter echoed through the stairwell, and I froze mid-step. My whole body went cold. I thought Mom had simply mixed up mine and Hailey's test results, but there was so much more scheming behind it all.

At this point, this went way beyond favoritism. To be precise, Mom not only did not see me as her daughter, but she did not even treat me like a human being either.

Oliver hurried up behind me, asking urgently, "This is an emergency. We need to admit the patient for surgery immediately. Will you be signing the consent forms, or will it be your mother?"

I looked at the surgery consent form and waved it away with a cold laugh. "Cancel the surgery. Hailey is the sick girl, and I have no obligation to worry about her!"

When I got home, I quickly packed up all my belongings and moved them to my rental apartment.

After finishing grad school, I had landed a great job and rented a cozy little place near the office. Compared to the two-story apartment in the city center where my family lived, my studio was not even as big as Hailey's bedroom. Nonetheless, it was the most comfortable space I could afford with the money I had saved from working part-time jobs throughout college.

After all, through four years of undergrad and three years of grad school, which was a total of seven years, Mom had not given me a single dime.

Every time tuition was due, she would pretend to be concerned and promise me, "Caroline, I'll definitely transfer your tuition to your account tomorrow! And don't worry about living expenses either–I'd never let you suffer!"

Forget living expenses; I never even saw the tuition money. I had to apply for financial aid and work part-time jobs just to barely scrape by with my studies and living costs.

The next month, Mom would video call me, looking all apologetic.

She would say she had been too busy last month and forgot to send the money, wiping away tears as she swore this month would be different. She would look at my increasingly gaunt face, crying about how she wanted to send me extra money so I could eat well and dress nicely while I was away in Airedale.

After being let down so many times, I had stopped foolishly waiting for any of her empty promises.

Action always spoke louder than words.

Still, Mom spun beautiful tales about how much she loved me with nothing but words. Her concern was always empty talk, and not a single dollar ever appeared. Fortunately, I had developed the determination and skills to support myself early on, so I did not need to keep living under her thumb.

I had just finished unpacking at my apartment when Mom called.

"Caroline, why aren't you home? You can't delay your treatment. We really need to get you checked into the hospital!"

Hearing her fake concern, I rolled my eyes, my expression blank. "I moved out. I'm living near work now, so it's more convenient for commuting."

When she heard that, her voice shot up a notch. "Work? Why are you still thinking about work? Caroline, when you're sick, you need to focus on treatment and stay in the hospital. I already called your office and told them you won't be coming in starting today."