I just found it ironic and ridiculous.

"Mom, how are you doing?"

"If I ever find the person who hurt you, I'll tear them to pieces!"

My son's eyes were red like he was about to cry.

His acting was truly impressive.

Even now, for a fleeting moment, I almost believed him.

When I didn't respond, he quickly added, "Mom, last night was the company's anniversary celebration. I was the only one on duty, so I couldn't return."

"Please don't be mad."

"I even asked my boss to save some of the good dishes from the party for you. There were meatballs, beef stew and lobster."

Deryl unwrapped the plastic container and the sour stench of spoiled food hit me instantly.

My son really was a smooth liar.

Anniversary celebration?

These were clearly just leftovers from Cynthia and her daughter.

"Eat it yourself if you want it!"

Just then, Lucy burst into the hospital room, snatched the leftovers and dumped them straight into the trash. Then she pulled out a thermos of chicken soup and a bag of KFC.

"Grandma, we won't eat other people's leftovers anymore."

She said with a cold expression.

"You … "

Deryl was taken aback and then immediately put on a stern face. "What's gotten into you today? How dare you be so wasteful? Don't you know our family's situation?"

"Grandma's sick. What's wrong with her eating something good? Why must she eat spoiled food?"

Lucy retorted stubbornly, but tears welled up in her eyes.

Usually, Cynthia's daughter, Summer, drove luxury cars, wore designer clothes and carried purses worth over a hundred thousand dollars.

She swapped phones, laptops, necklaces and bracelets every few days.

She'd toss out half-eaten fruit and unfinished milk tea without a second thought. If her shoes got dirty, she just bought new ones.

My son supported all of this unconditionally.

But if Lucy didn't eat leftovers, she got scolded.

How could she not feel wronged?

"You brat, you've grown bold, haven't you? Today, I'm going to teach you a lesson."

Deryl didn't realize his mistake and instead angrily raised his hand.

"I was the one who told Lucy to buy it. If you want to hit someone, hit me, too."

I glared at him.

"Mom, weren't you always extremely frugal before? Why are you … "

My son was stunned.

"Lucy just said I'm sick."

If this had happened in the past, I would've happily eaten whatever food he brought home.

Now, these leftovers felt like knives stabbing into my heart.

"I'm sorry, Mom. I didn't think it through."

Deryl quickly apologized.

Then, I deliberately tested him. "Instead of blaming Lucy, maybe you should deal with Summer."

"She smashed an ashtray over Lucy's head in public."

Last night, Lucy was working part-time as a waitress at the hotel and was bullied by Summer.

Not only did she not get her wages, but she was also injured.

"Mom, this isn't Summer's fault."

"The hotel staff said Lucy cursed at Summer first and made Summer cry."

My son instead blamed Lucy, "We may be poor, but we should have integrity. Don't do things like that in the future."

"Lucy never curses!"

I retorted seriously.

"Mom!"

"You just dote on her too much."

"I am a bit strict with Lucy, but it's all for her own good."

Deryl put on a helpless expression.

I'd prepared a dozen arguments, but hearing him like this, I swallowed them all.

Because no matter how much I said, my son wouldn't believe me.

Lucy bit back her tears and said to her father, "If you don't stand up for me, then at least move Grandma to a VIP ward. Get her the best meds and hire some nurses."

"That way, she'll recover faster."

My son sighed, clearly troubled. "We can't afford a VIP ward in our situation."

"Then what about the follow-up medical expenses?"

Lucy pressed.

"You can help me cover them for now. When Grandma gets better, we'll take her to the beach for a few days to relax."

Deryl replied with a smile.

Lucy and I were both silent in disappointment.

Actually, if my son genuinely liked Cynthia, we wouldn't object.

But the problem was, he pretended to be poor and deceived us for seven years.

Even now, he's still unwilling to come clean.

Buzz! Buzz!

My son's phone rang.

After answering, his face suddenly changed and he hurriedly said to me, "Mom, something came up at work. I have to go."

However, I caught a glimpse of the caller ID.

It was clearly Cynthia Larkin.

After we finished eating.

Lucy went to get hot water, but when she returned, she threw herself into my arms and cried loudly.

"What happened?"

I asked anxiously.

"Dad lied to us again."

It turned out that Cynthia's parents had caught a cold and had a fever.

My son busied himself with everything and paid a million in hospital fees in one go to secure the best VIP ward.

He also spent a fortune hiring top specialists from all departments for consultations.

Lucy saw all of this with her own eyes.

She worked part-time daily, enduring all sorts of grievances without saying a word.

She studied hard and read late into the night.

She mended and patched her clothes to save money and split a single bread into two meals.

All of it was to help her father pay off his debts.

Later, she eventually discovered.

That Summer had stolen her life as the daughter of a wealthy family.

How could she not be devastated and heartbroken?

Buzz! Buzz!

My son sent a text message. [Mom, the company needs me to go on a business trip. I won't be back for half a month. Please take care of yourselves and Lucy.]

If it were before, I would have replied, [Deryl, you've worked hard. Focus on your work and don't worry about home.]

But now, I didn't reply. I just held Lucy tightly as tears streamed down my face.

Sure enough.

In the following days, my son didn't visit me even once.

He devoted himself wholeheartedly to taking care of Cynthia's parents.

On the contrary, Summer led a group of fake creditors into the ward.

Attracting a crowd of onlookers.

"Humph, you think I couldn't find you if you hid here?"

The creditor grabbed Lucy's hair and roared viciously.

"Let go of my granddaughter!"

Anxiously, I fell off the bed. Because my injury hadn't healed, I couldn't stand up and could only grab the fake creditor's leg.

Immediately, I received two slaps across the face.

Some people wanted to help us.

But Summer stopped them.

"Don't be fooled by them. These two are just putting on an act."

Summer sneered and continued, "They're deliberately pretending to be sick and hiding in the hospital to avoid paying their debts."

"The creditor can't even afford to pay his employees, yet they eat and drink lavishly every day."

The fake creditor also took out the IOU with my signature and fingerprint as proof.

Instantly, the way everyone looked at Lucy and me changed.

"How shameless!"

"The old one looks like a crook and the young one's just a tramp. Neither of them are any good."

"If you don't pay your debts, you're worse than a beggar!"

Lucy wept silently.

Trembling with rage, I wiped blood from my lip and glared at Summer. "Do you have no conscience? Bullying us like this, aren't you afraid of karma?"

Slap! Slap!

The creditor slapped me again, then slammed Lucy's head against the cabinet.

"You've got three days to pay this month's installment."

"Or I'll rip your heads off and use them as soccer balls."

He dropped the threat and turned to leave.

The crowd dispersed, muttering curses.

Only Summer didn't leave.

"Did you arrange this?"

I looked up and questioned her.

"That's right!"

Summer smiled smugly, casually closed the door and continued, "This is just a warning."

"If you know what's good for you, quickly break off all ties with Uncle Deryl and get lost as far as you can!"

"Don't disturb my family's happiness."

Seeing that girl act so smug made my chest tighten with anger.

"Does my son even know what you're doing?"

"So what if he does?"

Cynthia strode into the hospital room, first casting a disdainful glance at Lucy before turning to me, her lips curling into a cold smirk.

"Everyone knows your son's my bootlicker. He loves me so much he'd die for me."

"Don't talk to me about bullying. Even if I beat you two to death, he wouldn't bat an eye."

"We're his real family now. As for you two? You're not even worth mentioning."

Summer echoed, "Uncle Deryl only pitied you two like people feel sorry for beggars. Don't flatter yourselves."

"Oh, right, Lucy Lockwood, I must tell you something."

"Back in freshman year, Uncle Deryl stole your invention proposal and gave it to me. That's how I won the award and you were labeled a plagiarist."

"How is it? Surprised?"

Each word hit like a knife to the heart.

Lucy broke down in tears on the spot, sobbing uncontrollably.

She had been cyberbullied for an entire semester over that scandal and eventually was forced to transfer schools.

I collapsed against the hospital bed, completely drained. My voice trembled as I choked out, "Fine. We'll leave. We can't fight you, but we can stay out of your way."

"Hmph, that's more like it."

The mother-daughter pair exchanged satisfied smiles before strutting out.

Initially, I had planned to recuperate for a few more days. Still, given the current situation, I couldn't stay even for another day.

So, I hurriedly left the hospital with Lucy to apply for visas without completing the discharge procedures.

The university took this matter seriously and especially sent a car to pick us up.

However, before leaving.

I took off the wooden bracelet and tucked it into Lucy's letter, asking the head nurse to keep it safe for me.

If my son ever remembered me, she should give it to him.

Otherwise, she could just throw it away.

***

Deryl had just helped Cynthia's parents clean themselves up when he glanced out the window mid-phone call and froze.

"Huh?"

"Isn't that my mom and Lucy? The one opening the car door for them was the principal of the Nexon Polytechnic Institute?"

"That's not right. Why would the principal treat them with such importance?"

"Maybe I'm seeing things."

My son shook his head.

It wasn't until Cynthia's parents were discharged that he went to my ward, where he happened to bump into the head nurse.

"You've finally come."

"The patient asked me to give this to you."

The head nurse handed him the envelope.

My son was taken aback. He tilted his head and glanced into the ward, asking, "Where are they?"

"They were discharged three days ago."

The head nurse replied, "The patient's granddaughter obtained an official overseas study opportunity and they went abroad together."

"The principal of the Nexon Polytechnic Institute personally drove them; they didn't even have time to complete the discharge paperwork."

After that, the head nurse left.

"So, I wasn't seeing things."

Deryl was stunned for a moment, then showed great joy. "Lucy is so amazing! She has a lot of potential!"

"But why did she keep it from me?"

He hurriedly opened the envelope.