Until one day, I saw the photos in a secondhand marketplace.

Bird's nest supplements that retailed for three or four hundred dollars, listed at eighty. Unopened imported protein powder, listed at fifty. Daisy was the one selling them.

I didn't make a scene. I just went to my mother and told her she should keep those things for herself.

But instead, she turned around and lectured me. "Daisy's not doing anything wrong. I can't stand the taste of that stuff anyway. Might as well trade it for a little cash."

"She's willing to stay here and keep me company. Do you have any idea how much pressure that puts on her? When my condition gets worse, I'll be depending on them to take care of me. Don't you understand that?"

"She married into this family and does the job you should be doing as my daughter. You can't even be grateful, and now you have the nerve to criticize her?"

I lay awake the entire night after hearing that, convinced I'd overstepped. Convinced I'd been too controlling and hadn't considered Daisy's situation. Convinced I'd failed as a sister-in-law.

So I gave Daisy a credit card with a three-thousand-dollar monthly limit. It wasn't much, but I thought it might at least ease some of her burden.

And now she was calling me a freeloader.

I snapped back to the present and looked at my mother before I could stop myself. "Mom, is that what you think too?"

Her eyes turned even colder. "What? Is anything Daisy said wrong?"

"Every time you come over, you eat a meal, then get up and leave. If that's not mooching, what is?"

"Besides, you've always been sharper than your brother. A surgery this serious, I need you by my side to feel safe."

Sharper.

It hit me then. My mother couldn't bring herself to use a single kind word when she talked about me.

A bitter laugh escaped before I could swallow it. "So what you're saying is, Dad's too sick to help, Cornelius's honeymoon can't be postponed..."

"And I have to terminate my pregnancy to take care of you?"

She didn't see a single thing wrong with that. She nodded as if it were the most obvious conclusion in the world. "You're the eldest. Isn't it your responsibility to look after me?"

"Your brother is still young. He doesn't know how to handle things. Something as serious as surgery, I can only count on you!"

"Still young?" I lost hold of the last thread of restraint. "He's two years younger than me. He's turning thirty this year. What exactly doesn't he know how to handle?"

The words had barely left my mouth.

A slap landed square across my face.

I hadn't seen it coming. The force knocked me sideways off the chair, a high-pitched ringing flooding my ear. My cheek burned instantly.

"Sylvia Dickerson! You're talking back to me!" My mother's hand still hung in the air, her voice shaking with rage. "So what if he's thirty? Thirty means he's not your brother anymore?!"

"I was trying to have a civil conversation with you! Why do you have to be so ungrateful!"

"When it comes down to it, you just don't want to take care of me! I raised you for nothing!"

I pressed my hand against my cheek, frozen in place. "But the life inside me, doesn't that count too?"

"Mom, that's your grandchild!"

"My grandchild?" Her chest heaved violently, her voice cracking. "Did I tell you to get pregnant?!"

"Or are you saying the mother who gave birth to you and raised you matters less than the baby in your belly?"

I looked down at my stomach. This was my first child with my husband. I'd imagined the news would be cause for double celebration.

When I didn't answer, my mother took a step closer, her voice bearing down on me. "Sylvia, wasn't it you who had your husband look into this treatment plan?!"

"You know every detail of the surgical protocol. What's wrong with me asking you to be here for it!"

"So what now? You want to dump your responsibilities on your brother halfway through? Do you have any sense of duty at all!"

My heart was hammering, fast enough that it scared me.

She wasn't wrong. The treatment plan had been my doing.

The moment I'd found the research on a potential cure, I called my husband, Rhys Henson. He dropped everything on the spot and spent an entire week with me poring over medical journals until we confirmed it: this rare blood disease could be treated with a newborn's cord blood.

The success rate was high.

But only if the blood type matched.

Between me and Cornelius, I was the only match.

That was why Rhys and I had this baby.

I thought ten more months, and Mom would be saved.

I hadn't even told her about the cord blood. I was afraid she'd refuse out of concern for me.

Looking back now, that was laughable.

Concern for me?

She didn't have any.

What she wanted was for me to get rid of this baby so I'd be free to wait on her through surgery.

That was when Rhys's call came in.

Before I could answer, Cornelius snatched the phone from my hand and hurled it into the fish tank.

He stood there frowning, something threatening in his expression. "Sylvia, don't even think about telling your husband."

"What if he gets mad and refuses to do Mom's surgery?"

Mad. So he knew. He knew this would make someone angry.

Before I could react, he grabbed my arm and dragged me toward the stairs. "Just fall down yourself. That way it's an accident."

I wrenched free, fighting him. "Cornelius! That's a crime!"

He let out a scoff, contempt flickering across his face. "It's an accident. What crime?"

"Even if the cops do show up, the one they'd arrest is you, the ungrateful daughter."

Daisy leaned against the doorframe, scrolling through her phone, a lazy smile on her lips. "Mom asked you to go get it taken care of on your own. You refused. Now look where we are."

I forced myself to take a deep breath. Forced myself to stay calm. I turned to my mother. "Mom, I'll pay for a home nurse. Will that work?"

"A nurse would be more professional, more qualified to—"

She waved me off before I could finish. "A nurse? Those people are all scammers!"

"If you've got money to throw around, why not just give it to me? Your brother still needs gear for his trip."

Something heavy settled on my chest. I couldn't breathe.

It took me a long moment to find my voice again. I stared at her, disbelief written across my face. "Mom. Are you serious?"

She blinked, then stiffened her neck and doubled down. "Don't blame me. I'm going to be living with your brother from now on, so of course I have to look out for him."

"Besides, isn't your husband a doctor? You two can figure out the baby situation on your own. But my surgery is a one-time thing."

I couldn't hold it in anymore. The words tore out of me. "Do you even know that your disease needs my baby?!"

"Without my baby, your disease can't be cured!"

The room went dead silent.

But within seconds, Daisy let out a sharp little laugh. "Mom, she's threatening you."

"She's saying if you don't let her keep the baby, she won't let her husband do your surgery."

"She really knows how to twist your arm, doesn't she."

My mother's whole body shook. She jabbed a trembling finger at my face and screamed, "You! You'd threaten me over some shapeless clump that hasn't even formed yet?!"

"I'll ask you one more time! Are you getting rid of it or not!"

Cornelius still had my arm in a death grip. Behind us, the staircase dropped away, steep and unforgiving.

I thought about it. Actually, wouldn't a hospital be better? Rhys was on shift tonight. He would never let anything happen to me.

So I nodded. "Fine. Let's go to the hospital. As long as you won't regret it."

The moment I gave in, my mother's tone softened. A smile even spread across her face. "See? I told you Sylvia wouldn't be that heartless. I raised her all these years. This is exactly how she should be."

I looked at her, and whatever shred of mother-daughter bond I'd been clinging to evaporated on the spot.

I was going to keep this baby.

But the cord blood donation consent form? I would never sign it.

Cornelius released my arm and hurried toward the door. "Then let's go. Stop wasting time."

I got in the car. I was about to give the address of Rhys's hospital when Cornelius let out a cold laugh, his eyes finding mine in the rearview mirror.

"Don't think I don't know what you're planning, Sis."

"We're going to the small-town clinic."

"Relax. They do clean work there too."

My heart plummeted.

My mother sat in the passenger seat and glanced back at me. "Your brother's right. Why bother with some big hospital? A small clinic is cheaper and more convenient."

Less than half an hour later, the car pulled up in front of a clinic.

My mother couldn't wait. She checked me in herself. "Doctor, she's here for an abortion. The sooner the better."

My head spun. I stumbled back two steps. "No! I'm not doing this!"

The doctor paused, then turned to my mother. "What's your relationship to her? If she doesn't consent, we can't proceed."

My mother's face went dark. Then she burst into tears in front of the doctor. "Doctor, I'll be honest with you. My daughter has some mental problems."

"She was assaulted and didn't even know to tell anyone. If I hadn't noticed she was pregnant, she might have just..."

"Doctor, please. She's my only daughter. I can't bear to let her give birth to a rapist's child."

What...

Just then, I spotted Rhys's car parked outside the clinic entrance.

I didn't think. I just screamed toward the door. "Rhys! I'm in here!"

The car door opened. It wasn't Rhys. It was his medical assistant, Marlene Matthews.

My mother whipped around to face the doctor. "See? I told you she has problems. She calls every man she sees her husband."

"Doctor, please just do it. The further along she gets, the harder it'll be."

Hesitation flickered across the doctor's face. I seized the moment and bolted for the door. "Marlene!"

"Sylvia!" Cornelius lunged and grabbed my sleeve.

I wrenched free and kept running.

I was almost at the entrance when my foot caught on something. My balance vanished. I hit the floor hard, stomach first.

A searing pain ripped upward from my abdomen.

My mind went blank. Nothing but white noise.

Then warmth. A slow, spreading warmth soaking through my pants.

I panicked.

Marlene was already at my side, crouching down. "Mrs. Henson?!"

"Get me to Asclepius." I clenched my teeth. My voice shook. "Find Rhys. Now."

My mother snapped out of it and rushed over. "Don't listen to her! She doesn't know what she's saying..."

Marlene didn't even look at her. She was already lifting me up. "You're losing a lot of blood. I'm taking you to Asclepius right now."

My mother gritted her teeth and followed us out the clinic door. "I'm her mother! I'm going with her!"

Cornelius and Daisy trailed behind. All four of them crammed into Marlene's car.