Chapter 3

I pushed past Mom and ran downstairs, only to run straight into Dad, who was standing outside Grandma's ward. He was talking to her doctor.

"Dr. Lander, you're seriously just going to stand by and watch a kid suffer?"

I heard what Dad asked, but I had no clue what he meant.

Dr. Lander was the same one who promised he'd do whatever it took to get Grandma's surgery moved up. When he saw me, he motioned me over, looking worried.

"You're here, Zoe. Your dad said you're okay with your grandma donating blood?" he asked.

Asking someone over 80 to donate blood? No way I was going along with that.

Dr. Lander explained everything to me. Alice's blood type matched Grandma's, so Mom and Dad wanted Grandma to donate blood to her.

I was fuming. I shoved Dad aside, pointed at them, and shouted, "I'll never go along with this! If you even think about touching Grandma, I'll jump off this building to show everyone how shameless you all are!"

Dad shot me a look of disgust. "How can you say something so cruel? How can you just sit there and watch someone die? Your grandma could be doing something good. Plus, going through the regular process takes too long. If she donates willingly, it'll be done right away."

I let out a bitter laugh. "Oh, sure, you're such a saint for having your mom save someone's life!"

Dad raised his hand like he was about to hit me. I saw it coming, so I threw everything in my arms at him, my eyes burning with tears of anger.

"How many times have you even come to see Grandma since she got sick? Yeah, you were busy, but now that you're here, you want to take her life away!" I shouted.

The surgeon handling Grandma's hip replacement surgery was actually hesitant to go through with it because of her age and the high risks. And now Dad was asking her to donate blood. It felt like he was just playing with fire.

Mom came downstairs with Alice and shot me a look like I'd somehow let her down in every possible way.

"Good grief! I honestly wonder if I got the wrong kid when I had you. You can't even lift a finger to help anyone. Alice even said she didn't want to bother you earlier. How are you so different from her?" she questioned.

Alice hid behind Mom, peeking out like she was the one being picked on. I was so disgusted by all three of them together that I grabbed a broom without thinking and started swinging it at them.

"Listen, we're done!" I yelled. "Stop trying to drag Grandma and me into your mess! Other people's daughter is none of our concern!"

Grandma heard the noise and called out from her bed, clearly worried. I rushed in to calm her down, hoping she wasn't too scared.

When she saw I was fine, she let out a big sigh and patted my hand. "Don't worry, Zoe. I know what's going on. It's okay."

That was when my tears started to spill. How could anyone care so much about helping others and ignore what was going on with their own family?

Dad and Mom walked in with Alice.

Then, he talked to Grandma like he wasn't even asking her opinion. "Oh, you're up, Mom. We've got someone who needs a blood transfusion, and lucky for her, your blood type matches. Why don't you help her out? She's so young and helpless.

"And by the way, stop coddling Zoe so much. She's lacking the compassion and softness someone her age should have. She's like a ticking time bomb. And don't worry, this procedure's no big deal. You're not the type to just stand by and let someone die, right?"

What a "perfect" son Dad was.

Grandma was so mad, her breathing got shallow and her heart rate spiked on the monitor. I quickly tried to help her calm down.

She pointed at the door and yelled, "Get out—take your precious kid and leave! Zoe's way better than all of you put together. She must've had the worst luck to end up with parents like you two!"

Dad and Mom exchanged looks, still trying to make their point.

Without thinking, I pressed the call button. "Nurse! These people are disturbing the patient's rest. Can you do something about it?"

Worried about their reputation, Mom and Dad quickly left with Alice.

…

The next day, I took a day off from school. My homeroom teacher didn't mind at all since my grades were always good.

I picked up some meat and headed back to Grandma's to cook her some meals. She could only eat soft foods now—stuff that was easy to swallow.

She needed all the nutrients she could get at her age, so I usually made everything myself and fed her with extra care.

But when I opened the door to her place, I saw that the drawers in the living room had been completely ransacked. I thought someone had broken in, so I checked the security footage.

Turned out, it was Mom and Dad. They'd taken Grandma's property deed and her bankbook.