Chapter 4

Ever since I laid things out with my three sons, no one had come by my ward for days.

I was glad for the peace and quiet, so I didn't look for any of them.

Unfortunately, the calm lasted only a few days before my phone rang. It was Karen Zimmer, my former across-the-hall neighbor.

She yelled frantically, "Susan! Hurry back to your old apartment! Your sons are causing a huge scene downstairs!"

My heart skipped a beat. Hadn't the old apartment already been sold? What were they doing there?

I asked the caregiver to notify the hospital and took a taxi back.

The closer I got, the louder the shouting was.

Before the car even came to a stop, I saw a crowd gathered at the entrance, old neighbors clustered together. In the middle, my sons were grabbing each other's collars and arguing.

Their hair was a mess, their clothes pulled out of shape, and whatever dignity they'd had was gone.

Victor pointed at Ryan, spitting with rage. "Ryan, stop lying! You were the one who bad-mouthed me to Mom and told her not to give me money!"

Ryan shoved him back. "What nonsense are you talking about? When did I say that? You're the one whining about being broke in front of Mom every day, trying to squeeze money out of her!"

"When did I ever do that? How about the money in the fund we set up for her? You probably used it for your school district apartment!"

"You used it for your daughter's piano program!"

Wiping his tears, Leo roared, "You're both trash! When I was taking care of Mom, I heard her say it herself. She said both of you scammed the money from her! She also said I'm the most sensible one and told me not to argue with you two. And yet I ended up with nothing!"

"That's ridiculous!" Ryan and Victor snapped.

"It's true!" Leo cried even harder. "Mom told me not to tell you she still had money! She said you two are asking for more! Now look at this. She's pretending to be poor, and you two are already tearing each other apart."

Those words stunned both Ryan and Victor. They immediately turned on each other again.

"You told Mom to hide her money from us, didn't you?"

The neighbors shook their heads, whispering among themselves.

One of them clicked their tongue and remarked, "What's with these three? Their mom is hospitalized, and they're here arguing."

"It's obviously about money. Susan must have some savings. Otherwise, they wouldn't be arguing out in the streets, would they?"

"I bet that's the case. Kids don't turn out like this for no reason. Susan must've played favorites and been stingy, which is why her sons turned out this way."

"I always said it's important to raise kids the right way. If you don't, they'll end up doing something embarrassing like this!"

"I don't get what's on Susan's mind, though. If she has the money, why not just distribute it evenly to her sons? Why is she hiding the money?"

Each word pierced my heart.

Trembling with anger, I pushed through the crowd and yelled, "That's enough!"

The three of them were shocked to see me.

Ryan rushed over first and grabbed my arm. "Mom, you're finally here! Quick, tell us! Victor asked you for money first, didn't he? He even bad-mouthed me, right?"

Victor squeezed in beside us. "Mom, don't listen to Ryan! He asked you for money to buy an apartment, didn't he?"

"Enough!" I shouted hoarsely, shaking them off. "You've all gone shameless over money!"

They froze at my shouting, saying nothing, just staring at me wide-eyed.

The crowd murmured louder, and someone even said, "Well, since Susan is here, she should just split the money evenly. They've embarrassed themselves enough already."

I took a deep breath and stared at my sons. "You all think the others have taken the money, right? Do you think I'm playing favorites? Let's find out what's really going on!"

I pointed toward the bank down the street and continued, "That's the bank, and I have the bank card with me. Let's go there now and see if I have the money, where it went, and whether I favored anyone at all!"