Chapter 7

I woke up the next day.

Looking around the room, the mess from yesterday had been cleaned up.

I assumed my mom must have tidied up.

Deep down, she still loved me, even if that love wasn't much.

I got up and took a shower. The pain in my stomach felt like a snake writhing around inside me!

It took all my strength just to finish bathing.

As I walked out of the bathroom, my head spun and I collapsed on the floor.

I lost consciousness.

In my dream, I went back to that summer when I was a teenager.

Gabriel was my parents' adopted son. They had raised us together since we were little.

Back then, our family was poor. Gabriel and I had no pocket money for school.

One day on the way to school, I saw a bottle of iced tea. I thought it cost the same as water.

So I used the one dollar I had saved up for a long time to buy the iced tea.

The vendor told me the iced tea cost three dollars...

I swallowed hard, wondering what iced tea tasted like.

Gabriel was beside me and solemnly declared: "Zoe! I'll definitely buy you iced tea!"

For the next few lunch breaks, Gabriel would leave early after eating.

I had no idea what he was up to.

But every afternoon when class started, he every afternoon when class started, he would be covered in dirt and grime.

A week later.

We passed by the shop again. Gabriel pulled out a wad of crumpled bills from his pocket.

"Two bottles of iced tea please!"

Gabriel grinned as he placed the cold bottles in my hands.

"Zoe! They're both for you! Hehe!"

I was shocked: "Where... where did you get the money?"

"Hehe, I've been collecting scrap! There's some scrap metal on the streets that I gathered to sell! On slow days I'd make 20 cents, but on good days I could earn a whole dollar!"

"Next time you want to drink this, I'll buy it for you anytime!"

"Drink up and enjoy!"

"In the future, anything others have, I'll make sure you have too! I'm going to earn lots and lots of money!"

Gabriel's young face shone with ambitious determination.

"What do you need so much money for?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"To spend on you, of course! I'll buy you a whole fridge full of iced tea, haha!"

"Who could drink that much?!" I laughed.

"If you can't finish it, we'll save it. The fridge has power, so it won't go bad!"

I took the iced tea and drank it all in one go!

I grinned happily. How could my younger self have known that years later, this bond would be completely worn away...

When I woke up, I was still lying on the floor, tears rolling down my cheeks.

I struggled to get up and walked to the fridge, taking out a can of iced tea to drink.

Feeling a bit better, I went downstairs.

I planned to sell off the last of my remaining assets.

These days, I had already sold everything I could. The house was practically empty.

I had also signed an agreement with the landlord to end the lease early.

Now I was just quietly waiting for my final moment to arrive.