Part 2Her Parisian Ballet Dream, My Final Invoice

My mom's messages kept coming in nonstop. I just turned off my phone and went to sleep.

Early the next morning, I went straight to the office to work.

In this world, the only person who will never betray you is yourself.

But when it rains, it pours. At half past ten, my stomach suddenly started cramping in agony again.

At that moment, my phone vibrated. My mom's texts were like a death warrant.

"Why aren't you replying? What are you doing?"

"When can you wire that $15,000 I told you about yesterday?"

...

I replied to her: "My stomach hurts. We'll talk later."

"Why does your stomach hurt again? I tell you to cook for yourself every day, but you insist on eating takeout. If your stomach doesn't hurt, whose will?"

I couldn't be bothered to argue with her. I work overtime every single day; where would I find the time to cook for myself???

It was actually laughable. People like her, who talk a big game but never actually sacrifice anything, still manage to earn the reputation of being caring and maternal.

I can only blame myself for being too stupid in the past to see through these cheap tricks.

"Why is your face so pale?"

My coworker, Harper, walked over holding a coffee and handed me a cup of hot water.

"Did you eat something bad?"

I opened my mouth, but it hurt so much I couldn't make a sound. I could only wave my hand.

She grabbed me and pulled me up. "Don't try to tough it out. I'm taking you to the hospital."

The lights in the ER were blindingly bright.

When the nurse handed me the test results, her eyes carried a trace of pity. "We are considering the possibility of a malignant tumor. We recommend further pathology tests."

I stared at that line on the medical report, suddenly feeling like life was a sick joke.

Just last night, I was running the numbers. I figured if I ground it out at the company for a few more years, I'd save enough for a down payment and finally move out of my cramped apartment.

After that, I would never give my mom another dime. I wanted to travel abroad, eat my favorite foods, buy clothes I actually liked. For the rest of my life, I was only going to love myself.

But now, fate had blindsided me with a sledgehammer.