Chapter 37
My mom nodded, her voice barely above a whisper as she answered me.
“It’s true. I–I owed over three million dollars. They said the house would fetch about one million dollars, so I sold it to them. I know I messed up. I’m sorry! Please, you have to help me. I don’t want to die!”
She was crying so hard, tears and snot running down her face. Watching her, I felt a mix of frustration and pity. I was just about to agree when something clicked, and I froze.
“So, the whole thing about investing was a lie too?”
Mom was startled. She hadn’t expected me to bring that up
“Joshua, I can explain. 1-1 really did plan to invest with a few friends, but things didn’t go as planned. You have to believe me. I’m your mom. Everything I do is to make your life better. Why else would 1-”
I cut her off, my anger finally boiling over. “This is your idea of helping me? Seriously?”
Back when my dad was drinking and gambling his life away, at least she still cared about me, even if it was just occasionally,
When our life was starting to get better, she didn’t seem to care about me at all. She wasn’t like this before.
Mom was stunned. She could tell something had changed within me.
“Joshua, you’re my son. I worked so hard to raise you. Even if I haven’t done everything right, I’ve still sacrificed a lot for you. You wouldn’t just abandon me, right? I promise this is the last time. I’ll change. From now on, I’ll stick to eating, drinking, and having fun. Nothing else. I swear!” Mom kept repeating herself and begged for forgiveness. The group sitting on the couch began to grow impatient.
The leader of the debt collectors rolled his eyes and snapped, “Are you done yet? Are you going to pay the money today? If not, then just let the old lady jump from here!”
“No! Don’t!”
Mom turned to me in panic. “Call Sophia if you don’t have the money. She does! She’s your wife. She won’t say no if you ask her. She- “Enough!”
I cut her off sharply and turned to the man on the couch. “Look, it’s 330 thousand dollars. I can’t get that money today. But like I said, give me a few days. I need some time.”
I hated how my mom couldn’t see the bigger picture, how she’d managed to get scammed out of so much. But she was still my mom. As angry as I was, I couldn’t let her die here in front of me.
My mom sat on the floor and nodded vigorously. “Please, just a few more days. My son can get the money. 230 thousand dollars isn’t a problem. We’ll pay, I swear!”
Before the man could speak, I added, “If someone dies here, it’s going to be on you. You’ll be dealing with a criminal case, not just a debt. Is that the kind of mess you want?
The man hesitated, then finally nodded.
“Fine. Ten days. But if you don’t pay by then, I’ll bring my people and wreck your place!”
As he walked past me, he threw a smirk over his shoulder and hissed, “If I were stuck with a mom like this, I’d probably just jump and be done with it.” He left with his men, their laughter echoing behind them
I stood in the wrecked living room, my gaze Landing on my mom.
“Did you tell them where any workplace is
