Chapter 2

"You two just wait! My husband is on his way to deal with you two freeloading nobodies trying to skip out on the bill!"

Hearing her absurd accusations, my entire body trembled with rage.

"What are you talking about? We never said we couldn't pay! We're questioning you for using expired medicine to harm people!"

She gave me a cold, dismissive glance.

"You? You think you're in any position to question us? Look at you, all bloated and ugly after childbirth, saggy skin, stretch marks all over your belly. You can't even afford basic care, and you dare to come to a high-end establishment like ours?"

Martha saw my face drain of color from her insults and immediately stepped in front of me.

"How dare you speak to my daughter-in-law like that? She became this way because she gave birth! What right do you have to mock her? Besides, this is *my son's clinic*! Even if it were just a regular place, you're using expired medicine, and we have every right to question it!"

Hearing Martha's words, her face instantly darkened.

"You old hag, who do you think you are? Your son's clinic? This place was opened for *me* by *my husband*! Look at the rags you're wearing! Who do you think your son is to even *compare* to my husband? I'm telling you, whether you get the injection or not, if you don't pay me that sixty-eight thousand today, you're not walking out that door!"

Martha was always modest, used to wearing custom-made clothes that most people wouldn't recognize the value of.

I never imagined she'd be underestimated because of it.

But Sera wasn't done. Still seething, she shoved Martha hard.

Martha was older, and the push sent her sprawling to the ground.

"Mom!"

I rushed to her side, helping her up.

Martha's face turned ashen, and she clutched her chest, gasping for air.

"Mom, what's wrong? Is your asthma acting up again?"

Martha's asthma was a chronic condition, easily triggered by excitement or stress.

As I asked, I frantically pulled her inhaler from my bag, just as Dr. Reed snatched it away.

"What an act, truly well-prepared!"

"Call… call 911…" Martha stammered, barely coherent.

Seeing Martha's worsening condition, I had no time to deal with Dr. Reed. I quickly pulled out my phone to dial for emergency services.

But Sera was lightning-fast. She lunged, grabbed my phone, and smashed it violently to the ground.

*CRACK!*

The screen instantly shattered into a spiderweb of cracks.

"What a performance! When the expired meds didn't work, you decided to fake an injury and call an ambulance, hoping to scam me out of money!" she sneered. "I've seen countless poor people like you! First, you nitpick and refuse to pay, then you fake illness, then you pretend to call an ambulance – it's all just a ploy to extort money from me! Let me tell you, I, Seraphina Thorne, wasn't born yesterday! I've seen through all these tricks before!"