Chapter 3

I lunged through the onlookers like a maniac, rushing to my mother.

"Mom! Get up! What are you doing here?!"

But the whispers around me drowned me out first.

"Well, look who finally showed up, the main attraction!"

"Is that her? She looks so innocent, but she's quite the player, isn't she?"

"No self-respect, and she makes her old mother clean up her mess. How filial."

Those poisoned words, like invisible steel needles, pierced my soul, leaving it riddled with holes.

I didn't want to listen. I just wanted to drag my mother away from this place of utter humiliation immediately.

"Mom, let's go home! There's nothing to say to them!"

But Eleanor clutched my hand with all her strength, her nails almost digging into my flesh.

She cried and shook her head: "No, Willow! I can't just watch them ruin you! Those videos... they absolutely cannot get out!"

My tears instantly broke free, a torrent I couldn't stop.

"Mom!" I practically shrieked, "I don't have many days left! What do I care about reputation?!"

At that, Blake's face darkened, enough to wring water from stone.

He stepped forward, his initial shock quickly replaced by contempt and disgust. He pointed a finger at my nose and demanded sharply.

"Willow! To save a few bucks, you'd make up a lie like that, cursing yourself? Saying you're dying in front of your mother? How could your heart be so cruel! You're not just materialistic, you're utterly vicious!"

Eleanor was sobbing brokenly, her heart utterly shattered.

"Willow, don't say such nonsense! Listen to me," she pulled a sweat-wrinkled bank card from her pocket, trembling as she handed it to Blake, "I've sold the old house, and I took out your father's pension. I've gathered nine hundred thousand. We're only ten thousand short... Please, I beg you, give my daughter back her videos..."

Dad's pension... his life's sacrifice, Mom's last shred of security.

Now, that money had become the ransom for my shame.

My heart felt crushed by an invisible hand, a dull ache making it almost impossible to breathe.

I took a deep breath, wiped away my tears, pulled my own bank card from my bag, and threw it at Blake's feet.

"Here's ten thousand. The PIN is six zeros."

That was the money I'd set aside for my painkillers and my funeral arrangements.

"Now, the million is complete."

I met his gaze, the last trace of warmth in my eyes gone, replaced by a cold, as if I were a lifeless object.

With that, I didn't look at him again. I turned, helped my trembling mother to her feet, and led her away.

Behind us, Chloe's acidic mockery echoed: "Blake, see that? That's your 'perfect' ex. Your taste is really something."

Back in the dingy, sunless rental apartment, shielded from the outside world.

Only then did I dare to hold my mother, letting my body tremble uncontrollably.

"Mom... you sold the house, and gave them Dad's pension... What will you do now?"

Eleanor held me, tears streaming down her old face.

"My Willow is almost gone. What future is there for me alone...?"

Just then, my phone chimed.

A push notification popped up, the icon for that digital avatar app.