Chapter 2

Mom wiped the corners of her eyes. "You... how can you say that? Who else would Mom work hard for if not you?"

"Liar."

I smiled bitterly.

"When I was eighteen, Meredith said I hit her. You slapped me ten times without asking why. I threatened to run away from home. What did you say?

"You said if I had the guts, I could die out there. You said you only needed Meredith for the rest of your life!"

Mom's face went pale.

Meredith panicked. "Miranda..."

"What right do you have to speak?" I cut her off.

"Meredith, I don't want to dwell on how many times you've framed me.

"But right now, you have the least right to call me unfilial!

"When Mom got sick, the only thing you did was make one phone call to me.

"And then? In these three years, besides coming now to see the will, who's been taking care of Mom! Did you pay anything? Did you help at all? Did you spend all your savings on Mom?"

Meredith avoided my gaze.

I laughed coldly.

"Three years without visiting, but when it comes to giving you the entire inheritance, suddenly you love Mom so much?"

"Shut up!" Mom scolded me. "Meredith hasn't come to see me because she's preparing for graduate school entrance exams! Her concern for me hasn't diminished one bit. She messages me every day!

"But you-I knew all along you only came back for my inheritance. Otherwise, after being away from home all those years, how could you suddenly come back! You think I can't see through you!"

Everyone gave me disapproving looks.

"Don't be so heartless. You can't measure family affection with a price tag."

"That's right. Besides, a mother knows her daughter best. She left the entire inheritance to Meredith, which shows she knows who you really are. You must have misunderstood them."

Meredith wiped the corners of her reddened eyes.

I looked coldly at Mom.

"She couldn't come take care of you because of grad school exams. What about me quitting my job for you?"

Everyone froze.

The next second, I snatched the will from Meredith's hands, along with my three years of hospital expense records, and threw the long list of bills into her lap.

"I spent the entire million I saved over ten years working on you. You normally wouldn't even buy yourself a towel. I thought you were so hard up, so I scraped together every penny for your medical bills.

"Ha! Turns out you have ten million. You're not short on money at all-you just wanted to save every cent for Meredith!"

"What?!"

Even the girl supporting Mom's eyes widened.

I smiled bitterly.

"Then what about me? What about me, who spent a million on you all these years? Should I just die? Am I supposed to be Meredith's stepping stone!"

The girl picked up one of the bills, looking at Mom in disbelief.

"You have ten million dollars sitting right here, and you're bleeding your eldest daughter dry instead of spending a single cent of it?"

"I'm not..." Mom tried to explain.

A family member from the next room couldn't take it anymore.

"Enough! For three years, Miranda has been busy taking care of the old lady, sleeping only three hours a day, working harder than the caregiver. You can be biased, but there has to be a limit!"

Everyone's gaze toward the two of them instantly changed.

"Grandma, you're too biased!"

"Anyway, you have ten million. Either pay for your own treatment, or don't blame your eldest daughter for being heartless!"

"Exactly! If not, let your younger daughter pay!"

Mom's eyes reddened.

"Meredith is still a child. How can I ask her to pay?"

I laughed coldly.

I pushed past Meredith and strode away, without looking back.