I carefully placed the box of ashes and the upside-down portrait on the cabinet, then walked slowly, step by step, until I stood in front of Drew.

Without a flicker of hesitation, I picked up the pen and signed my name.

From the corner of my eye, I saw him scanning me coldly from head to toe. All I felt in return was a wave of disgust and a quiet sense of powerlessness.

As soon as I finished signing, he gave a mocking snort and tossed a bank card onto the floor.

"All your money’s in there, untouched. Take it as my gift for two years together. I was wrong about you."

I turned back and looked at him one final time.

I remembered just days ago when my mom was on the brink of death. She whispered that she wanted to see Drew and said she just wanted to know we were doing well.

By then, he had already lost all patience with me, ever since I begged him for help. Still, for my mom’s sake, I swallowed my pride and called him.

It wasn’t until the next morning that he finally answered. The moment he picked up, he snapped with biting sarcasm.

"Back to beg for money again? Go ahead. What is it this time?"

I choked back my anger and said quietly, "My mom’s not going to make it. Can you come to see her? Just once. Let her believe we’re okay. That’s all she wants."

What came next was a loud burst of laughter from his end.

"Nice upgrade to your little script. Do you really think that’ll make me feel sorry for you? That I’d suddenly throw money at you because you tugged a few heartstrings?"

"This drama’s not really my thing. Keep practicing. Maybe next time, come up with something actually touching. Who knows. I might even believe it."

Then he hung up. When I called again, I was already blocked.

He never showed up. Not even when my mom passed away.

I couldn’t forget the last thing she said to me.

She looked at me, her voice soft but filled with warmth.

"When the baby comes, I won’t be around to help with your postpartum care. Women really need rest after childbirth. I still wanted to remind him to take good care of you."

"A couple needs to understand each other. He’s a good boy. You two should live well together."

Even in her final breath, she still wished for me to have a good life with him.

But she didn’t know that just one day after I begged Drew for help, he dragged me to the hospital and forced an abortion on me.

He said he didn’t want a child to be used against him. Said he’d crush any hope I had left.

Fresh out of surgery, I had no time to breathe. Medical bills hounded me like shadows, and I threw myself into endless side jobs, day and night, without pause.

And what was Drew doing during that time? Drinking, partying with another woman, whining to his friends that I was using him?

I couldn’t even summon the strength to be angry anymore. All that remained was a bitter, ridiculous sense of absurdity.

I picked up the card because inside was the money my mom had spent her entire life saving. That money was hers. I had every right to take it back.

Drew let out a cold snort behind me as if mocking the way I stooped to retrieve it.

I said nothing. I pocketed the card and quietly began packing my things.

Five hundred thousand dollars, enough to buy my mom a proper urn and a grave where she could finally rest in peace.

The thought hit me like a blow, and a sharp sting rose in my nose.

I had never been someone who cried. Not when I was caring for her, not even when she passed.

Even now, I keep wondering if I had just tried a little harder, would things have turned out differently?

But the truth was, the pain had only just arrived. And it was only now that I began to realize, piece by piece, that my mom was truly gone.

Tears slid silently down my cheeks as my trembling hands struggled to keep packing, until, all of a sudden, the doorbell rang.

Drew went to answer it, and I slowly looked up.

The woman standing at the door looked familiar; it was the same young girl I’d seen at the dealership picking up her new car.

She beamed at Drew, her voice light and sweet.

"Brother, I was worried she might lose it and do something desperate, so I came to protect you. Poor people can be terrifying when they’re cornered. Did you finish signing the papers? I came to take you home."

Drew’s expression softened the instant he saw her.

“You’re always so thoughtful.”

The woman lowered her head with a sly smile before shifting her sharp gaze toward me.

“Nice to meet you. I’ve heard Drew talk about you plenty. I thought you’d be different from the usual lowlifes, but turns out you’re just a poorly-skilled liar. Such a devoted daughter, huh? Now that you’ve got your money back, feel free to drop the act. Go ahead, resurrect your mom, though be careful. Saying unlucky things too often might just make them come true.”

Her mocking tone and contemptuous smirk ignited the fury I’d buried deep inside.

Say whatever you want about me, but not my mom.

Without thinking, my fist shot out and connected hard with her face. Before Drew could even scream in rage, she was already crumpled on the floor.

“Anya, are you insane?! Do you lose it the moment someone hits your sore spot? Do you even know who you’re hitting?”

Did it matter who she was anymore? I had nothing left to lose.

Ignoring his threats, I grabbed her roughly and slapped her again, hard.

But before I could let out all the anger I held, several burly men dressed in black stormed in and forced me down to the floor.

The woman scrambled to her feet, tears streaming as she threw herself into Drew’s arms.

“I’m fine, brother. I provoked her on purpose! I caught her hitting me on a hidden camera. I’ll sue her right away!”

Pinned to the floor, unable to move, I could only grit my teeth and lock eyes with her.

She pulled a tiny micro-camera from her collar, flashing me a cruel smile.

“I’ve got everything I need now. She hit me. Brother, you have to avenge me!”

Drew’s gaze shifted to me. Without hesitation, he slipped off his shoe and slammed it across my face, and then his hand followed with a brutal slap.

The sting landed perfectly, a fierce blow that instantly blurred my vision with tears.

For a flicker of a moment, guilt crossed his features, but it vanished quickly, replaced by cold disappointment.

“I never thought it’d come to this. You were so close to passing my test. But at the last second, you showed your true colors.”

“I really did love you all those years. This slap is just payback for what you did to Briar. Let’s end this cleanly, you and I were never meant to walk the same path.”

The woman, still holding back, sneered as she spoke.

“Drew, you’re way too soft. That’s how this gold-digging woman fooled you so easily. Look at her, no regret at all. If she ever learned who you really are, I bet she’d come crawling back, begging.”

Drew looked down on me with a pitiful gaze, as if mourning the misfortune of my life.

But in the two years we were together, he had never once given me a gift. I, on the other hand, poured everything I had into meeting his endless demands.

Maybe that was part of his so-called “test,” but in the end, I owed him nothing.

I met his eyes with a cold, steady voice.

“Is playing with someone’s true feelings really that entertaining for you? I never wronged you in this relationship. Maybe I wasn’t enough for a wealthy heir like you, but that doesn’t give you the right to insult me.”

“From start to finish, the only one who owes anything is you.”

No sooner had the words left my lips than a furious slap struck me across the face.

“I owe you?! I wasted two years on you! Do you think those cheap things you gave me make up for my youth? Since you know I’m a rich heir, do you even grasp how valuable my time is? Someone like you could never understand!”

His face flushed red with rage, while the woman beside him, Briar, burst into cruel laughter as if watching a twisted spectacle.

“See, Drew? I told you. People like her never repent. You try to treat her with dignity, and she only fights back harder.”

“She still needed a proper lesson, once fear crept in and she realized her mistakes, an apology would follow naturally.”

Briar leaned in close, her voice sharp and deliberate.

“Miss Dutiful Daughter, your apology alone won’t cut it. I want you to drag your lying mother out here, too, and make her apologize to Drew. Don’t wait for me to step in, when things turn ugly, a simple sorry won’t fix a thing.”

Drew sneered coldly.

“That’s right. Since you refuse to show your face, I won’t give you mine either.”

“When you mess up, you own it. Even if it’s your mother, an elder, she’s no exception. I treated her with genuine respect, but who would’ve guessed she was part of your scheme? Like mother, like daughter.”

“Didn’t she teach you that old trick? Using a pregnancy to manipulate me? Thinking I’d be scared of the child you carried, forced to obey your every whim?”

His eyes burned red with anger as he spat the words. “And you still dare say you owe me nothing?”

I was consumed by fury, unable to hold back any longer. Summoning every ounce of strength, I broke free from the bodyguards and grabbed Briar by the collar.

Insults and blows. I could bear them. But trusting the wrong person? That was my deepest regret.

But my mother had done nothing wrong. I wouldn’t let anyone insult her.

My fists flew wildly, barely under my control.

The bodyguards reacted quickly, shoving me hard to the ground.

But they hadn’t expected to topple the cabinet; my mother’s portrait and the urn crashed to the floor.

The photo frame shattered with a sharp crack, and the metal urn’s lid popped off, scattering her ashes like dust across the floor.

Everyone froze, especially Drew.

He stared blankly at the wreckage, muttering in disbelief, “This… this can’t be real… Briar looked into it, your mom wasn’t really sick. How can there be ashes and a memorial photo?”

His hands trembled as he looked at me. “How… how is this possible?”