Chapter 3

My mom pointed at my nose and started yelling. She was so furious, her lips started trembling and she blacked out there and then.

Sue and Clement started panicking and getting flustered.

Clement grabbed my collar and yelled, “Harley! How could you say something like that to anger Mom? How are you going to make up for it if anything happens to her?”

Sue hurriedly called for an ambulance and looked at me with eyes filled with disappointment.

“Harley, are you bent on destroying the family’s peace?”

When the ambulance arrived, they shifted my mom into the vehicle and left with her for the hospital.

I splashed cold water on my face and saw that a faint handprint had appeared on my cheek. By the time I rushed to the hospital, my mom was already in the emergency room.

Sue kept patting Clement on the back. “Mom will be fine. Don’t worry.”

Clement’s head was hung low as he sobbed. “Harley could have just said no if he didn’t want me to have the property. Why did he have to say that and send Mom to the hospital?”

At Clement’s words, Sue looked up and met my gaze. She stood up and pulled me to a nearby corridor.

“When Mom wakes up, sign the property transfer agreement. You’ll also pay for today’s surgery and hospital fees.”

Helplessness rose up my chest as I stared at Sue. “Why? We’re both her sons. What about him?”

Sue rubbed her temples irritably.

“Harley, I didn’t marry you to suffer for the rest of my life. You angered Mom so badly she was sent to the hospital. Yet you’re still thinking about splitting the bill with Clement? Why didn't I realize the kind of person you are before?”

I opened my mouth, but swallowed the words of rebuttal.

I bought my mom a coat with my first salary at my very first job.

She praised me, something she hardly did, before keeping the coat in her wardrobe.

Because of her praise, I was in a good mood for a long time. I felt that this was the one thing that would finally make her regard me as her son after all those years of being neglected.

When I went home to celebrate the new year, I saw my neighbor wearing the coat I gave my mom.

All the money I gave my mom was in turn given to Clement.

Just then, the door to the operating theatre opened.

My mom was pushed out.

The doctor pulled down his mask and reassured us, “Don’t worry, it’s just appendicitis.”

Sue and Clement looked stunned.

“Appendicitis? She didn’t faint out of anger?”

The doctor left after shaking his head.

My mom was sent to her ward. I was about to enter it when Clement stopped me outside the door. He tilted his chin upward and looked at me.

“Harley, I’m sure Mom doesn’t want to see you right now. Just stand at the door and wait.”

He then slammed the door shut.

I sat at the bench along the corridor the entire night.

The moment day broke, I heard a commotion from inside the ward.

I immediately pushed the door open.

The anesthesia had worn off. The first thing my mom did when she regained consciousness was to kick up a fuss and claim to want to kill herself.

“If you don’t let your brother have your house, I’ll die right away! I’ll let everyone know how unfilial you are!”

Sue and Clement struggled to hold my mom back.

She even threatened me with divorce.

“Harley, if you don’t give him the property, we’ll get a divorce. You can also forget about fighting for our daughter’s custody!”

A crowd was gathering outside the ward.

They were all pointing their fingers at me.

I stood rooted to the ground, my heart turning numb.

“Fine, I’ll let him have it.”

The moment I said so, my mom calmed down immediately. She pulled the agreement out from below her pillow.

I smirked at the sight of the document. She had even brought the contract with her to the hospital just so I could sign it.

And so, I signed it.

Everyone was happy.

Clement hugged my mom tight, and Sue smiled.

I flung the pen on the table. No one even noticed when I left.