After a quick wash, I did not go to sleep right away.

Instead, I checked one of my other bank accounts. It had 50,000. This was the money I had secretly saved over the years, just in case something happened.

However, it was still not enough to cover my treatment costs.

If I wanted to get the rest in two weeks, I had to take a risk.

On the table was a design I had worked on for six months. If I entered it in a contest and won, the prize money would cover my medical costs.

Also, if I entered it under my name, I would not have to share it with the company.

The next day, I opened the registration portal and submitted my design.

Unfortunately, before the day ended, I received a call from the organizers. They said the design had already been entered under my company’s name and asked me not to resubmit it.

Under the company’s name?

I felt a rush of anger. My chair dragged across the floor loudly as I got up, and I walked straight to my boss’s office.

My boss looked happy to see me. He pulled me in and poured me some tea. “Jenna, I didn’t think you’d be willing to enter your design under the company’s name. Starting next month, we’re giving you a 10% raise.

“Your mom told me to submit the design for you this morning, so I sent it right before the deadline. Don’t worry. If you win, you’ll get 70% of the prize. You’re doing the company proud.”

My mom?

After a bit of small talk, I stepped out and called her from the break room.

I did not hide my frustration. “Mom, did you give my design to my boss? I told you I was entering on my own. That way I’d get to keep the full prize if I win.”

“You’re so heartless and selfish. Your boss is nice to you, and he even said you’d get a raise.”

According to her, I did not understand how things worked in real life.

“It’s payday. Remember to pay Joan’s medical bills. The doctor asked me about it this morning.”

She was always like that. She decided on everything concerning me without asking, as though the design was not mine. It was like I was just a tool she used to deal with my boss.

I only mentioned the contest once, but she took it seriously and made decisions without telling me.

I wanted to enter the contest under my own name so that I could save more money for Joan’s medical bills.

Two weeks later, I won first prize and could get 150,000.

I quickly found my mom and showed her my early-stage brain cancer report. I told her that I needed treatment.

She did not even look at it. She turned away and made hot water for Joan instead. “You’ve probably just been playing on your phone too much. People always get worried over small headaches or fevers. You had a fever all night when you were a kid, but you were fine the next day.”

I stood in the hallway holding my wrinkled report and felt lost. “It’s real. I’m not lying.”

“I’m going to wipe Joan’s face now. Remember to pay her medical bills.”

With that, she walked down the hall.

The morning sun was bright. It shone on her and made her look like a caring mother, but only to Joan, not to me.

The next day, the doctor called. He told me to undergo an examination and begin treatment soon.

I told the doctor that I did not have money, and my family was against it.

Hearing this, the doctor spoke louder. “Your mom came to see me yesterday. I told her how much your cancer has spread. She said she’ll try to convince you to get treatment. Please make an appointment soon, or else, it will be too late.”

Right then, I felt a little happy. At least, she cared.

After I spoke to the doctor, my mom called me. My voice sounded happier when I answered, but my heart sank in the next moment.

“I’ve talked to the doctor. Your cancer isn’t serious. Just rest, and you’ll be fine. Don’t waste money on checkups or hospital stays. We can barely afford Joan’s treatment as is. Quit your weekend job and rest.”

At that, my heart clenched again.

However, the doctor had clearly explained my condition to her.

When Joan and I both had fevers as kids, my parents would point out that I was the older sister. So, there was apparently no need to waste money on me. They would take Joan to the hospital and only give me some basic fever medicine.

I should have gotten used to it after so long.

I tried to keep working part-time, but my body just could not keep up, so I quit.

Even the restaurant owner said I looked pale and suggested that I go for a checkup.

After pushing through for another week, I decided to get another checkup at a different hospital.

The results did not come out right away. But based on experience, the doctor told me to be mentally prepared, as my condition did not seem good.

I lowered my head. There was nothing left to prepare for.

As I was leaving, I ran into my neighbors, a middle-aged couple. They showed real concern for me. Most of the kindness I had experienced in life had come from them.

After I bade them goodbye, I went to pay the bill. But the staff told me that there was not enough money in my account.

Thankfully, I had some cash on me, or else, it would have been embarrassing.

How could there not be enough money? This card had 50,000 in it. With the prize money, there should have been 200,000.

I started to feel uneasy and called the bank to check.

A woman answered politely, “Hello, there were two transfers this week, one for 50,000 and one for 150,000.”

There was only one possibility: My mom had moved the money. I rushed to my parents’ rental place.

When I knocked on the door, she was making chicken soup.

Once she opened the door and saw me, she said, “Why are you here in the middle of a workday? Your boss must be too easy on you. I should call him and tell him to give you more work. You’ve got too much free time.”

However, I was not free at all. Because of her, I had to handle all kinds of small tasks at work.

It was my boss who had noticed I did not look well. He gave me half a day off and told me to visit the hospital. He also told me to rest.

“Where’s the money in my card? That money could save my life!”

“Your money? I can’t believe you were hiding money from us. That money is for your sister. It could save her life!”

However, I was the one who had cancer!

The doctor already told her I was not doing well.

If she looked closely at my face, she would see how pale and tired I was.

Maybe then, she would not say such a thing. At least, I tried to believe that.

“Good timing. Tomorrow, you’re going to the hospital for a checkup.”

I looked up at her with hope.

“You’ll get tested again. See if you can donate a kidney to Joan. The doctor said it’s safer between family.”

They already tested me before. Back then, they got on their knees and begged me to help Joan.

The results showed that I was not a match.

Yet, she never gave up on the idea of me donating my kidney.

She told me to stay over so that we could go to the hospital early in the morning.

That night, I could not sleep.

The next morning, my mom got up early and made porridge for Joan. After pushing me to eat, she took me to the hospital.

When we walked into the hospital, my mom pulled me toward the stairs instead of using the elevator. She made us take a longer way.

By the time we reached the fourth floor, I was out of breath, and I had to hold on to the railing.

She kept walking fast and said with a sneer, “See? You’re not sick. You just don’t exercise enough.”

When I got to Joan’s room, my mom had already set the porridge in front of her.

Joan looked at me and quietly started eating.

When she looked down, I saw the hatred in her eyes.

She used to show off in front of me all the time.

However, after she got sick, she just became cold toward me.

I knew I was not welcome, so I stepped out of the room to wait for my mom.

I leaned against the wall and looked at my feet. Just then, I heard footsteps, and someone stood before me. It was the doctor who had examined me before.

At that moment, I realized something. My mom had taken the stairs on purpose to avoid him.

The doctor sighed and said, “Finally. I’ve been trying to reach you. I told you to get treated right away.”

He calmed down and said, “The doctor who examined you the other day is my friend. We talked about you. You need to be ready. Besides brain cancer, your kidneys aren’t doing well either. If you don’t get treated soon, you’ll have only about three months left.”

Just then, my mom peeked out of the room and said, “That can’t be true. She’s been fine. She’s still going to donate a kidney to Joan. She’s strong.”

“It doesn’t matter how strong someone is if the cancer spreads. That won’t help,” the doctor said angrily.

Then, he looked at me with concern and said to my mom, “Joan is already first on the transplant list. She still has time. It’s Jenna who’s running out of time. Don’t you want to save her?”