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"Lily,did you forget?Insurance company paid a lot for your brother’s death.Your mom's old—she can't spend it all.Borrow it temporarily;you'll make a fortune soon,right?"
Margaret received a hefty sum from my husband's death.
Half was meant for me,but she kept it all.I didn't care then—I wasn't poor,and it gave her security.
Not anymore.
A lifetime ago,Margaret was sleeping right next door when Lily and that man tried to kill me.With her light sleep,she didn't call the cops or intervene.
"Mom!Save me!"
I screamed for the woman who called me her"real daughter,"hoping she'd appear.
She didn't—until I was dead.To save Lily from jail,she staged my murder as suicide,then lived lavishly off my savings,house,and the compensation,guilt-free.
"You’re your mom’s only child—she can't use all that money herself.It's practically all yours."
"You're right!"
But Margaret's cash wasn't easy to pry loose.
I eyed the shrine at home.Maybe through God?
Let's see if Lily could empty their coffers.
At Margaret's ward,Lily was sweet-talking.
"Mom,I'm not lying—my boyfriend runs a company in Ashton City.He's testing me.My shot at being a rich wife depends on you!"
She claimed three months'investment would yield$50,000.
She said she had been praying alone at the church, and God told her to go ahead with it.
I smirked—I was the one playing God’s voice behind the curtain at the church.
Margaret,swayed by her trusted faith,wavered.
They were laughing until I walked in.Their faces soured.
"You're here—give Lily a million for her business.When she's rich,she won't forget you,"Margaret said.
I replied calmly,"I'm broke.Oh,and you owe me$25,000 from the compensation.Pay up now—your son's dead,I'm not your daughter-in-law anymore."
Margaret cursed,"Your mother-in-law's hospitalized,and you're after money,not caring at all?Planning to remarry?"
She ranted in the old times I’d be executed,that I would be a Brooks in life and after death,and all I owned was theirs.
Other patients couldn't stand it.
"Lady,be reasonable—this isn't the old days.She doesn't owe you anything."
"Mind your own business!"
But,thinking of Lily's deal,Margaret offered,"Leave with nothing,transfer your house to Lily,and I'll allow you to remarry and give you$2,000 as reward."
