“The patient’s condition is very critical. Severe pressure damaged her lungs and brain nerves. Multiple organs are failing. She needs major surgery right away. It’ll cost two hundred thousand dollars. You need to decide whether to save her or not right away.

“If you decide not to save her, just sign this form.”

The doctor handed over a Refusal of Treatment form.

After the doctor finished speaking, I frantically opened my bank app to check my balance.

“I just put my last chunk of money into the stock market. Pulling it out now shouldn’t be too late. I’m still short of thirty thousand dollars. You should be able to cover that…

“Don’t worry. Your mom’s going to be okay—”

Before I could finish speaking, Ruth cut me off.

“Don’t bother saving her. I’m not paying for it!”

“What? That’s your mother in there! You don’t want to save your mother?”

I thought she was worried about the two hundred thousand dollars. So I tried to reassure her.

“We have enough money. Don’t worry.”

Ruth pulled a pre-written liability waiver out of her bag.

“Half of your money is mine. That’s marital assets. I refuse to let you use it to save your mother.

“I know you’re hurting right now. But what’s done is done. Everyone has to move on, right? The mortgage and car loan cost money. You can’t let your mother hold us back.”

I was confused as I listened to her. She thought that I was talking about my own mother?

“Even if you save your mom, what then? Even the doctor said all her organs are failing. She might end up bedridden for the rest of her life.

“Have you ever thought about how much trouble that would cause our family?

“I’ve worked so hard for so long. I didn’t work this hard to spend money on something like this.”

She said a lot of things, but I was fixated on her calling the person in the operating room my mother.

Was that why she could stand in front of me so calmly and refuse treatment?

“You won’t save her just because you think the person in the operating room is my mother?”

“Yeah. I’m not heartless, but this is just reality.”

At that moment, I felt nothing but bitterness.

“What if it were your mother lying in that bed? Would you still say that?” I asked agitatedly.

Craig said rudely, “Zac, how could you say that just because your own mother isn’t going to make it?”

“Shut up! If you hadn’t turned off that scuba tank, none of this would have happened!”

I grabbed Craig by the collar in anger and raised my fist to punch him.

Ruth stepped in front of him.

My fist was close to her face, but I managed to stop in time.

There was a time when she used to shield me like that.

However, she stood on the opposite side of me to shield another man at this moment.

“Have you lost your mind?”

Ruth slapped me across the face.

“You need to calm down!

“I get how you’re feeling, but Craig is my best instructor. I’m not letting anything happen to him!

“He feels terrible and guilty about what happened. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have spent the whole night on the phone with him, helping him work through it.”

I trembled all over.

“Was that why you were ignoring my calls and messages all night?”

Craig nodded.

“Yeah, Ruth gave me a hundred dollars to cover my phone bill. We talked on the phone all night.”

I was speechless. I felt like I did not even know her anymore.

Craig tilted his head and added, “Zac, I really didn’t think your mom would be that fragile. Can’t she take a simple prank?

“Also, your mom is such a poser. She doesn’t know anything about diving, but she still wants to do it anyway. It’s like she was asking for trouble.”

Rage surged within me when I heard that.

It did not matter whether Adeline was posing or not. There was no justification for harming her.

Even I, who did not know much about diving, knew that turning off someone’s scuba tank underwater was extremely dangerous.

How could he say it like it was just a harmless prank?

“A prank? Do you realize that this falls under attempted murder?”

Just as I was about to confront him, Ruth shoved me aside.

“Enough! Stop this!”

Neither Ruth nor Craig answered my question.

“Don’t try to change the subject. Even if you keep saying all that, it doesn’t change the fact that your mother is lying on that operating table.

“I know the situation was urgent, but this is not the time to throw a fit.”

“Listen to me, Ruth! The person in that operating room is your mother. If you don’t want to regret this later, come with me right now and pay for the surgery.”

Craig added fuel to the fire.

“What kind of mother is she anyway?”

“Ruth told me everything. Your mom’s always getting sick with one thing or another. You’ve never been able to save any money all these years because of her. Honestly, she should be dead.”

I looked at Ruth with a conflicted face when I heard that.

“Zac, if you spend money on your mom’s surgery today, we’re getting a divorce.”

In that instant, my heart sank.

Ruth and I grew up together as childhood sweethearts. All these years, whenever her family had problems, my mother was the one who helped them out.

Even my mother’s chronic health problems were because she had risked her life saving Ruth from under a car in the past.

“Fine. Let’s get a divorce.”

When Craig heard me say that, his eyes lit up.

He continued putting up an act.

“Zac, Ruth only said that to test you. How can you take it seriously? I really have to question your love for Ruth at this point.”

Ruth gave me a cold, sideways glare. “You think you can pressure me by threatening me with a divorce?

“Stop wasting my time! Just sign the Refusal of Treatment form and the form declining to press charges.”

She shoved both the forms in my face.

I sneered and said, “What do I have to sign that? The person in the operating room is your mother.

“You’re the one who should sign it.”

Ruth frowned and glared at me.

“Zac, why are you throwing a fit right now? How could my mother possibly be lying on an operating table? You’ll say anything to trick me into giving you the money.”

Craig nodded. “Yeah, Ruth. Good thing you checked the dive roster beforehand. Otherwise, Zac really would’ve tricked us.”

“What if it really is your mother in the operating room?” I asked again.

Ruth saw how serious I looked. She hesitated a little.

Craig quickly tugged at her sleeve. “Ruth, don’t you fall for it!

“If she survives, you won’t be able to focus on diving anymore. Zac will have a million ways to keep you stuck at home taking care of his mom.”

Ruth said firmly, “Even if that is my mother in the operating room, I still wouldn’t save her.”

Just then, a man in a police uniform walked over from a distance.

Ruth glared at me. “You called the police?”

I sneered. “What else was I supposed to do? Don’t people have to pay for hurting someone deliberately?”

Craig was panicking.

“No! I’m still so young. I can’t have a criminal record!

“Ruth, didn’t you say you’d protect me? The police officers are coming to arrest me!”

When Ruth saw that I had no intention of signing the form, she signed both forms herself.

Then, she turned to the doctor. “We’re giving up on saving her.”

She looked at me and said, “I signed the form declining to press charges for you. I’m not going to let you ruin Craig’s future.

“As for your mother, I’ll give you ten thousand dollars as compensation. Take the money and stop making a scene.”

I lost all desire to argue with her when I heard her absurd words.

The police officer had indeed come to arrest Craig. “Where’s the suspect?”

Craig quickly hid behind Ruth. She also tensed up.

“Officer, this is all a misunderstanding! It was an accident, and the patient’s family has agreed not to press charges.”

She hurriedly pulled out the form declining to press charges that she had signed.

I grabbed her wrist and tried to reason with her.

“Who are you to forgive a murderer on your mother’s behalf? You’re just helping a monster.”

She pulled her arm away. “I told you! Stop saying that the person in there is my mother!”

I could not persuade her.

Just then, a voice broke the tense atmosphere.

“Ruth, you finally made it!”

My mother’s voice rang out. There she was, walking over while carrying a food container.

Ruth’s eyes went wide. Her expression shifted from surprise to panic.

“What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be in the operating room? If you’re here, then who’s in there?

“Where’s my mother? No! There’s no way that’s my mother in there.”

Just as she started screaming, the operating room doors opened.

The doctor walked out, pushing a body covered by a white sheet.

“I’m sorry. We couldn’t save her.”

My mother quickly set the food container on the floor and pulled Ruth into her arms.

“Ruth, I’m so sorry! This is all my fault. I should’ve stopped your mother from going into the water with that diver. Otherwise, none of this would’ve happened.”

Ruth was still frozen in shock. Her whole body trembled as she lifted the white sheet in terror.

She lifted it halfway, revealing just enough to see Adeline’s lifeless eyes.

“Mom!”