Chapter 2

Then Mom said leisurely:

"Sorry, I was careless and said it wrong."

"One plus one should equal two."

But the countdown had ended. My surgery funds were gone.

Sharp pain shot through my chest. I nearly blacked out from the agony.

My brother lost control, shouting:

"Mom! What are you doing?"

"Chloe's going to die!"

Mom just calmly pointed at the screen:

"Look, isn't Chloe suffering?"

"You know she's suffering and you deliberately answered wrong?!"

My brother's eyes were bloodshot.

"You knew perfectly well that if you answered correctly, she could live!"

"This is all your fault..."

Mom suddenly raised her voice:

"My fault? I didn't do it on purpose!"

"Of course I know one plus one equals two, but I was just careless!"

Careless? My eyes widened in shock.

How could anyone carelessly answer one plus one wrong?

Mom knew perfectly well that without the prize money for surgery, I would die immediately.

Why would she...

Amid everyone's confusion and anger, Mom raised an eyebrow and turned to look at my brother.

"Carson, do you remember? On your middle school entrance exam, you lost a full five points because you wrote one plus one equals three."

"Because of those five points, you couldn't get into the top middle school."

"When I criticized you then, you had the nerve to talk back, saying you were just careless and would be more careful next time."

"Today I'm showing you exactly what kind of consequences a moment of carelessness can cause!"

Mom pointed at the big screen:

"Take a good look and remember what Chloe looks like right now, covered in sweat from pain."

"This is the consequence of carelessness!"

"Today I'm using your sister's suffering to teach you a lesson!"

Everyone exploded.

I stared in disbelief.

My brother was already a college junior! Mom was still holding a grudge about his middle school entrance exam!

Dad was furious:

"Do you realize Chloe's about to die?"

"If you wanted to teach Carson a lesson, couldn't you have picked another time?"

Mom muttered impatiently:

"Doctors always exaggerate. Chloe's so young, she can definitely hold on longer than other people."

"Carson's careless habits should have been corrected long ago! Gentle methods don't work, so I'm giving him a lesson he'll remember in his bones!"

I could barely breathe.

The nurse gripped my hands tightly, her eyes full of pity.

Dad roared that he'd fight Mom to the death.

Mom raised her hand to block him.

"What's the rush?"

"Doesn't the show have one more bonus round?"

"If we answer the next question correctly, we won't get five million, but we can still get three million!"

"That's enough for Chloe's surgery!"

With the host's intervention, Dad and my brother finally calmed down.

Mom looked at the big screen, her gaze tender:

"Chloe, hang in there a little longer."

"Mom just wanted to take this opportunity to teach your brother a lesson."

"I promise I'll answer the next question correctly!"

I bit my lip hard, forcing back tears.

"Mom, I know you love me, but for the next question... can Dad or Carson answer instead?"

Mom's expression froze.

Dad and my brother were afraid Mom would pull another stunt and strongly supported my suggestion.

But unfortunately.

During the earlier rounds, they'd already used up their chances to answer.

So Mom had to go up again.

This last question determined whether I lived or died.

The studio fell silent.

The host was sweating as he frantically searched the question bank, finally selecting the simplest possible question.

"Ms. Lily Smith, what's your birthday?"

I relaxed, looking at the host with gratitude.

Mom hit the answer button without hesitation.

But said:

"Host, I'd like to use my lifeline—phone a friend!"