Chapter 1

I had a sudden heart attack in the middle of the night.

My son, who drives for Uber, drove me to the hospital. But when we arrived at the entrance, he locked the doors and demanded five hundred dollars for the ride.

Clutching my chest in agonizing pain, I looked at him in disbelief.

It was only a two-mile drive from our house to the hospital.

"Lily and I are getting married soon, and we need every penny," he said coldly.

"Mom, you weren't planning on freeloading, were you?"

Looking into my son’s icy eyes, my hands shook as I opened PayPal and transferred the money.

The moment I was discharged, I called his future mother-in-law and canceled the wedding.

Then, I took my savings and booked an all-inclusive VIP package at a luxury retirement community.

As for my son’s one hundred and twenty missed calls? I blocked his number without hesitation.

It was three in the morning when the sudden heart attack hit me.

Pain rushed through my entire body. I dragged myself to my son Ethan's bedroom door, gasping for help.

Without saying a word, Ethan grabbed his keys, got me into his car, and sped toward the hospital.

When the car finally screeched to a halt in front of the emergency room, I reached for the door handle. But the lock wouldn't budge.

"Mom, you haven't paid me for the ride yet. It's five hundred dollars. Just PayPal it to me."

Ethan's voice was freezing cold. It was as if I, a dying woman, had absolutely nothing to do with him.

The distance from our house to the hospital was barely two miles.

"Midnight rides are always more expensive. It's surge pricing," he added casually.

I clutched my agonizing chest, struggling to force the words out of my throat.

"Ethan... I am your mother!"

Ethan just sneered.

"I’m an Uber driver, Mom. No one rides for free."

"Besides, Lily and I are getting married soon. We have so many expenses!"

"You weren't seriously thinking of freeloading, were you?"

A surge of anger rushed to my head. I realized that if I kept arguing with him, I would die right there in his passenger seat.

With trembling fingers, I pulled out my phone and sent him $500 via PayPal.

The moment the notification popped up, a warm smile instantly broke across Ethan's face.

"Now, that’s more like a supportive mother!"

Thanks to the emergency room doctors acting within the golden window of survival, I managed to keep my old life.

The doctor told me that if I had been even one minute later, I wouldn't have made it.

I looked down at myself. I was hooked up to all kinds of tubes and machines. But the physical pain didn't compare to even a fraction of the heartbreak I felt.

During my entire hospital stay, Ethan didn't visit me once.

My primary doctor called him multiple times, asking him to come check on me.

"Why are you calling me?" Ethan had snapped over the phone. "I’m not a doctor. Just treat her however you need to, and stop bothering me!"

I turned my head away, and a cold, firm resolve began to take root in my heart.

I had gone through four painful rounds of IVF to conceive Ethan.

I had cherished him as my ultimate treasure. Since he was a child, no matter what trouble he caused, I had never said a single harsh word to him.

And now, this pampered son of mine had put a few hundred dollars over his own mother's life.

If this was my son, I didn't want him anymore.

On the day I was discharged, I dialed Mrs. Carter's number—Lily’s mother.

"Cancel the wedding between Ethan and Lily," I said directly.

"Have you lost your mind in your old age?" Mrs. Carter shrieked through the line. "Aren't you afraid your son will hate you forever?"

Clattering noises echoed from her end.

"Did that heart attack damage your brain? The invitations are already sent out! You can't just cancel it!"

But my mind had never been clearer.

"Watch your tone with me," I replied coldly. "I don't owe your family anything. If Ethan insists on marrying Lily, go ahead. But I won't contribute a single penny."

"You're his mother! If you don't pay for the wedding and the house down payment, who will?"

"I don't care. That’s your problem."

Lily had been Ethan’s fiancée for five years.

To ensure my son had a dignified wedding, I had planned to use the $100,000 life insurance payout from my late husband, Robert. I had even taken out a mortgage to buy them a house.

I was using my $2,000 monthly pension to pay off their mortgage, leaving me so broke that I had to collect plastic bottles and soda cans in the neighborhood just to buy groceries.

Yet, Ethan still complained that I wasn't doing enough to lift him up.

And because of Ethan’s pathetic attitude toward me, Lily and her family had never shown me an ounce of respect.

Less than two minutes after I hung up on Mrs. Carter, Ethan’s call came through.