Chapter 4
A few hours later, my mother woke up in the sterile hospital room, but this time, it wasn’t Carter who greeted her–it was his mother, Rita.
“You turned your back on my son when he was nothing!” Rita’s voice was sharp. “Now that he’s on top, your daughter’s nothing but a shadow, someone you should’ve left behind long ago!”
“Don’t try to play these petty games, or I’ll make sure you and your daughter regret it! If you even think about interfering, you won’t walk away from this without consequences!”
Rita had once regarded me as her own daughter–in–law. I was the one who stood by Carter when he was at his lowest. But when
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he clawed his way back to the top, my worth in her eyes diminished to nothing.
Rita claimed I could stay close, but Carter would marry someone like Leila, someone who was “worth it.”
Cold stares from Carter’s men, venomous whispers, the disdain of everyone around me -it was Rita’s doing.
I foolishly held on for years, hoping that somehow he would remember me, but it was
all in vain.
Rita strutted out, leaving my mother in the hospital bed.
My mother grabbed a check from the table and tore it to pieces. Without a word, she stormed out of the hospital.
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She went straight to the morgue to collect my body. From there, she took me to the funeral home.
She sat alone, scrolling through my phone.
What was she looking for?
Three days later, my mother found the apartment where I had lived. She didn’t have the keys, but she had my phone.
Using it, she called Ben–the tattooed man who once helped me with all my crazy schemes. Ben came to her aid immediately, unlocking the door.
The apartment was empty, its walls stripped bare. –
Carter had already come and taken
everything that mattered to him–his clothes,
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his possessions, his mementos.
The space felt hollow, desolate. The wardrobe was empty except for the expensive suits and dresses I’d once hoped would impress him–now irrelevant. But my mother wasn’t interested in any of that.
She found a cardboard box at the bottom of the closet. Inside, it held my personal treasures. As she opened it, she muttered, “You never changed, did you?”
She went downstairs, and when she reached the door, Carter was waiting.
“I heard you were in an accident… I went to the hospital, but you were already gone…”
“Surprised you remember me.”
“Ariya secretly goes back to check on you…”
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My mother froze for a moment.
“She didn’t visit you, but I can tell she cares… She misses you…” Carter continued, .
My mother’s laugh was cold. “Is that what you tell yourself? She drank for you, ended up with a stomach ulcer. She knelt in front of your enemies just to protect you. When you were at rock bottom, she shared instant noodles with you for months, freezing through the autumn nights on the streets.”
“After everything she sacrificed to lift you up, you threw her away. And now, you have the gall to ask for my respect?”
Carter’s face drained of color.
“You left her alone on Mountain, didn’t you?”
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“You know she’s afraid of the dark. Did she never tell you?”
“She called you twentyytiineest that night, but you didn’t answer even once??”
“Oh, wait, you were too busy with your lover, weren’t you? What was her namneseagain? Leila?”
“Shut up!” Carter’s anger flared..
One of Carter’s men stepped forward, bobt Carter waved him off.
“How much more do you want?” he spat,t, pulling a check from his pocket.
My mother remained silent, placing the cardboard box on the table. She opened itt slowly and took out a small box.
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“All the money you gave her is here.”
“She never spent a penny of it while she was alive. And she won’t take a single cent from you now.”
Carter froze, dumbfounded. “What? She never spent anything?”
“Do you know how much you had to hurt her to make her refuse your money so adamantly?”
Carter’s hand trembled slightly as he held the box.
“Did you think that because you gave her money, you could own her? That you could use her like a tool, then discard her when you were done?”
“You owe her your life.”
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With a cold glare, my mother turned and left the room, taking my belongings with her. But just as she reached the door, she turned back.
“Your engagement party with that Leila right?”
My mother smiled darkly. “You’ll see.”
Not long after, my phone buzzed incessantly.
“Ariya, we need to talk. Stop using your mother as a weapon.”
“Ariya, what do you want from me? I’ve admitted I wronged you. Just tell me what you need…”
“Leila’s condition is finally stable. If you dare hurt her, I’ll make you regret it…”
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“Don’t make me do something I’ll regret.”
Each message was met with silence. My mother hung up after hearing their desperate pleas.
She went straight to the funeral home, withdrew all her savings, and said, her voice like steel:
“I’m arranging my daughter’s funeral at where Carter and leila held their marriage.”
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