Before I could react, she grabbed my hand and dragged me straight toward the payment window.
“Hurry and pay the bill! Luke is waiting for his surgery!”
The way she and Willow exchanged glances wasn’t lost on me. They were in on this together. No wonder she hadn’t shown up since Luke was admitted to the hospital. I used to think it was because Luke didn’t want his mother to worry. Now? Now I realized the three of them had planned this all along. They wanted to squeeze me and my mother dry.
I glanced around at the crowd of relatives who were eagerly waiting for me to pull out my wallet. I shrugged. “You want me to pay the bill? But…I don’t have the money. I couldn’t gather them on time.”
The room went dead silent for a beat—then my mother-in-law’s face twisted in shock and outrage. Her voice echoed down the hospital corridor.
“What? You don’t have the money? Nova, this isn’t time for joke!”
She looked me up and down like I’d lost my mind. “You’ve been out these past three days trying to sell the house for the surgery, haven’t you? Luke signed over his rights to you! That place was bought for a hundred grand! How could you say you don’t have money?”
The second she mentioned the house, the other relatives jumped in like a pack of wild dogs who smelled blood.
“Yeah! That house was one of the priciest properties in town when you bought it! Even if you undersold it, you should’ve gotten at least eleven or twelve grand!”
“Luke is your husband! How could you be hiding money from him? He needs this surgery to survive! Are you seriously saying you don’t have a dime?”
“Exactly! And what about the dowry? We gave you three grand when you two got married! Even if you didn’t sell the house, you should still have some of that money left, right?”
That was the final straw. When their mention dowry, my expression turned cold.
“Oh, so now you want to talk about the dowry?” I scoffed. “That money was supposed to be my security, right? But the moment we got married, Luke said his mom was sick and borrowed two grand back. Then there’s the hospital expenses from the last few days. The money’s long gone.”
I looked them all dead in the eye. “And that house? My family paid for most of it. What exactly are you trying to say? That I’m lying to you? I said I don’t have money. You can scream and cry all you want, but I don’t have it. So figure it out yourselves. If you can’t get the money together, then there won’t be a surgery. If he dies, well… that’s just how it is.”
The moment the words left my mouth, my mother-in-law’s expression twisted into something ugly. She raised her hand and slapped me across the face, hard enough that I staggered back a step.
“How dare you say something like that?!” she shrieked. “I was sick! My son spent money on my treatment—what’s wrong with that? Isn’t that his duty as my son? And now you’re blaming me?”
She was seething, her chest rising and falling in anger. “You two are husband and wife and you’re being this stingy over money? Fine! If you’re so worried, I’ll write you an IOU! I’ll pay you back every penny! But right now, my son is fighting for his life and you’re standing here playing games?”
My cheek throbbed from the slap, but inside, I felt nothing. Just an eerie calm.
“Call it whatever you want,” I said, my voice steady. “I told you—I don’t have the money. I came here today for one reason—to say my final goodbyes.”
Her eyes darted around and then, without warning, she collapsed onto the hospital floor, wailing at the top of her lungs.
“Oh, God, why did this happen to me? My daughter-in-law is leaving my son to die! She won’t pay for his surgery! She wants to stand here and watch him take his last breath! I’ve been cursed with the worst fate! My Rhodes Family must have done something terrible in a past life to deserve this heartless woman! Someone, tell me—what kind of monster would let her own husband die?!”
Her cries were so loud that people from nearby wards started gathering. They pointed at me, whispering among themselves. Some were less subtle, their voices dripping with judgment.
“How could you be so cold-hearted?” said a man to me. “That’s your husband in there, fighting for his life! How can you put a price on a human life?”
“Aren’t you ashamed? No matter what, he’s still your family! What’s more important—money or saving someone’s life?” A woman pointed at me.
“She looks so well put-together, but she’s heartless! God is watching, young lady. You’ll regret this one day!” And elderly woman scolded me.
