Chapter 38

“See your mother dead, would you?”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t have a choice. If I didn’t tell them, they would have killed me. You wouldn’t want to see your…”

Tears streamed down Mom’s face as she stumbled toward me, grabbing my hand tightly.

“Look at this place. It’s been smashed to pieces, and it’s not even ours anymore. Why don’t you take me to your place? I’m getting old, so you can’t just leave me to wander the streets, right?”

I spun around and slammed my fist into the wall, hanging my head as I let out a yell. “Mom, do you just hate seeing me live a decent life? Is that it?”

I could barely keep going as it was, so why did she have to make it harder for me?

Mom didn’t get it; she never did. Instead, she burst into a dramatic wail.

“I worked so hard, raising you from nothing! And now that you’re grown, you’re just going to abandon me? Is that it? Who said that having children was the way to secure a comfortable life after retirement? What a lie! If that were true, why is my son unwilling to take care of me?”

I closed my eyes. For the first time, I didn’t try to soothe her like I always had before.

A moment later, I opened my eyes, said nothing, and turned to leave. She stumbled after me in a panic.

As soon as I slid into the driver’s seat, my mom flung open the back door and climbed in.

“I’ll go wherever you go. Don’t even think about leaving me behind!”

I stayed silent, started the car, and headed toward a motel. I wasn’t about to bring her home and chance disturbing Sophia, nor did I want to give my mom more reasons to be greedy.

“Hey, 230 thousand dollars isn’t that much. Holmes Group is such a large company. Sophia can easily get that amount, right? I’m the only family you’ve got left in this world. If I get pushed to the brink, you’ll have no one. Are you really going to just stand by and watch your mother be killed?”

When I didn’t respond, she screeched, “Joshua, are you mute? Say something!”

I remained silent, letting her rant the entire journey.

An arduous twenty minutes later, the car came to a stop in front of a motel. I helped Mom check in and led her to the motel room. “Stay here for a few days. Don’t go anywhere.”

Just as I was about to leave, she grabbed my arm. “You’re not going to leave me here and forget about me, are you?”

“I’ll get the money,” I said coldly, pulling my hand away before turning to leave.

Mom stood still, watching me walk away slowly. She then laughed and said, “I knew having a son would come in handy. I’ll wait here for your good news.”

Her carefree attitude only made it harder for me to smile.

I drove the car to a used car dealership and parked outside, not getting out right away. This car had been with me for two or three years. I purchased it with the money I had saved up over time. I didn’t want to sell it, but there was no other option now.

In the end, the car sold for 30 thousand dollars, still 200 thousand short of the 230 thousand dollars Mom owed. Adding my savings of 60 thousand dollars, I was still 140 thousand dollars short. That was an enormous amount to me now.