Zero Devotion: The Price of My Mother's Love Chapter 2

All hope had turned to ash.

I opened KinKeeper again, attempting to apply to unbind from the family.

A pop-up instantly blocked me, the bright red exclamation mark blinding.

[REJECTED! Due to a history of maliciously evading family debt, your unbinding privileges have been restricted.] [To unbind, the request must be initiated by the Primary Account Holder, Susan. Please fulfill your filial duties and strive to improve your score.] Looking at those two lines of text, another wave of coppery blood rushed up my throat.

Was I really going to be chained to this $300,000 debt until the day I died?!

Just then, a nurse came in for her routine rounds.

As she was leaving, a stack of medical charts slipped from her hands, the top one sliding near my bed.

I instinctively leaned over to pick it up and saw the pathology report for the patient in the next room: Stage IV Gastric Adenocarcinoma. Stomach cancer.

As I opened my mouth to call the nurse back, a sudden thought struck my brain like a bolt of lightning.

The next second, I opened my camera, snapped a picture of the pathology report, and photoshopped my own name onto it.

Then, I reopened KinKeeper.

This time, I didn't click unbind. I went to the "Family Mutual Aid" section, which featured a "Critical Illness Relief" option.

I uploaded the fake medical report and added a message:

"Mom, the hospital just diagnosed me with stage IV cancer. The doctor says I need to be admitted for chemo immediately, and it's going to be incredibly expensive! I have no other options, please, I'm begging the family to help me..." I attached a photo of the hospital's overdue payment notice.

Next, came the waiting.

Minutes ticked by. Finally, a familiar, booming voice echoed from outside the room, thick with undisguised fury.

"Hailey! Get your ass out here! Begging for cancer money during the holidays?! What kind of sick game are you playing?!"

"Your sister just got engaged, and you're intentionally bringing bad luck to ruin our mood, aren't you?!"

The hospital door was kicked open, and my mother stormed in, breathing fire.

Behind her trailed Mia, dressed to the nines, a look of pure disgust on her face.

I coughed weakly, my voice barely a whisper.

"Mom, I didn't want this either, but the doctor said if I don't get treatment, I might only have two months left..."

Mia crossed her arms and let out a scoff.

"Sis, where exactly is this family supposed to get the money for you to burn through? Mom needs to save up for me, to give her real grandchild the best of everything! Isn't that right, Mom?"

Hearing this, my mom glared at me with pure venom. "Let me tell you something, Hailey. This family isn't giving you a single dime! Give up that pipe dream!"

Mia immediately chimed in, her voice sickeningly sweet yet brutally cruel.

"Yeah, Sis, can't you just be a little understanding? Your score is already so far in the negatives anyway, keeping you alive is just an embarrassment to this family!"

Watching them play off each other, my heart sank into an icy abyss, but my face displayed an even more profound sorrow.

"Mom, I'm your daughter too. How can you be so heartless..."

"Bullshit! I only have one daughter!" Susan snapped. "Hurry up and unbind! Whether you live or die has nothing to do with us from now on!"

I struggled to speak. "Mom, my app restricted my unbinding feature. I need you to do it from your end..."

Hearing this, Susan grew even more impatient. She quickly pulled up her app and navigated to "Remove Family Member."

A confirmation prompt popped up on her screen: [Upon removal, all of this member's points will be reset to zero, they will no longer enjoy any family privileges, and they will automatically be absolved of all family debts. Confirm removal?] "Mom, are you really throwing me away?" I looked up through teary eyes, my voice trembling.

"Shut up!" Susan's finger slammed down on the screen without a millisecond of hesitation.

[Removal Confirmed.] [Success! Member "Hailey" has been removed from the family group.] In that exact same second, the blood-red KinKeeper app on my phone turned gray.

It displayed: Not bound to a family. The invisible shackles that had bound me for so long were finally broken.

My tense nerves relaxed, and the corners of my lips curled into a slight smile.

That expression didn't escape Mia's notice. She shrieked, "What are you smiling at?! You're about to die, and you're smiling?!"

Before I could answer, the hospital door was violently slammed open once again.

The vicious loan shark from yesterday was back.

"Hailey! Did you think what I said yesterday was a joke?!"

"I meant what I said! I'm breaking your arm right now!"

I lay back against the pillows, facing the man's murderous glare, and smiled radiantly.

"Hey man, you've got the wrong person. My mom just officially removed me from the family app!"

"Right now, the person who owes you money..."

I raised my hand and pointed straight at Mia, whose face had instantly drained of all color.

"Is her."