3
540words
A single "Not seeing her" echoed through the hall.
Like always, he made excuses to avoid me.
He'd hated me since he was little.
Because I stopped him from hanging with street thugs, forcing him to study hard.
Joel was just a normal kid, but Noah was born rotten.
I worked hard to steer his sharp mind toward school and life.
When he went into business after college, his dad, furious from a quarrel with Chloe, street-raced and killed a family of three back then.
I used points which the system granted to change Noah's identity, keeping him out of jail and boosting his career.
But when he succeeded, he loved being taken by Chloe to street races and underground bars.
"Chloe made me feel free and taught me what real living is."
"You? You only care about your image, whether I'm good enough to show off."
Fine. Let me give you a show.
"Everyone, come and see! See how the mighty CEO treats his own mother!"
Noah stormed out, dragged me into his office under everyone's stares.
"Mia! What do you want now?"
"I want a divorce from your father."
Noah spun around, "No way! Dream on!"
I'd tried everything to end the marriage these years.
But they just wouldn't let me go.
Chloe lived lavishly. My husband took out huge loans to spoil her.
I used points for cash to pay off debts, keeping my kids' lives stable and their dreams alive.
After the man went to jail, he wanted to divorce me and marry Chloe.
But Noah refused.
He worried his dad would mistreat Chloe, so he used his power to block the divorce at the civil registry.
I sued. He had connections delay the court date.
Now that I was leaving, I would let their "perfect couple" have each other.
I stared at Noah's smug face.
"Name your price. Whatever it takes to get the divorce."
He laughed like it was a joke.
"Whatever? Mia, what could you possibly offer?"
No time to waste — the system warned my life was down to 30% after the mountain climb.
"How about my eyes?"
Noah looked stunned. "What did you say?"
"I said, will you take my eyes in exchange?"
Chloe loved my eyes, the pupils of which were in different colors.
These eyes made her lose the spotlight and attention she craved.
So she schemed against me, stole my man, my kids.
Noah studied me, weighing whether giving these eyes to his beloved Chloe was worth letting me divorce.
Finally, he decided.
"Deal. But I want the eyeballs intact."
I almost laughed in his face.
Noah thought he was being ruthless, waiting for me to back down.
But he had no idea how much pain I'd endured — my legs crushed, my heart torn out when Dodo was killed.
Compared to what's coming for you, losing my eyes was nothing.
I met his gaze. "I'll dig them out myself. Besides the divorce, I want Joel arrested for stealing and killing Dodo."
Noah didn't believe I'd do it. "Fine. Let's see how long you keep up the act."
The next second, I drove two fingers straight into my eye socket.
