Chapter 2

Dominic choked on that for a second, and then something worse rose up in him.

"Three hundred? Who do you think you're fooling?" He jabbed a finger toward her face. "Is my mother that kind of person? She scrimped and saved her whole life, and for who? For us! No, this is you again, buying all that useless makeup, propping up that broke family of yours, and when the money runs out you dump the blame on an old woman!"

He pulled out his phone and, right in front of her, dialed his mother Bernice Lawrence, deliberately putting it on speaker, as if he meant to expose her lie on the spot.

It rang twice before it connected. Bernice's booming voice came through, mahjong tiles clacking in the background.

"Aiyo, son, why are you calling now? You haven't eaten yet, have you?"

"Mom," Dominic said, shooting Joan a glare, his tone easing a little, "Joan says you only give her three hundred a month for the household, so we can't even cook dinner here. Talk to her. Tell me what's actually going on."

There was a one-second pause on the line, then the hard smack of a tile against the table, and Bernice's pitch shot up an octave. "What? Three hundred? Aiyo, that ungrateful thing! Son, don't you listen to her run her mouth! I'm putting that money into an investment for the two of you! She comes to me every month asking, and when have I ever not given it to her? Last week she said she needed to buy rice, didn't I just transfer her two hundred? How does that turn into three hundred a month? She's trying to drive these old bones of mine into the grave!"

Molly Fox's voice cut in from the side, snide as ever. "Bro, I told you a long time ago, she's a scheming one. Who knows where she's stashed the money, and now she's the one pointing fingers. Mom won't even let herself eat meat just to save you money, and there she sits, taking it easy at home all day and filing complaints."

Dominic hung up with a look of triumph on his face, a look that said I knew it, and turned to Joan. "You hear that? She gave you two hundred just last week for rice! Joan, what have you got to say now? You'd throw away every last shred of dignity over a little money?"

Joan looked at that self-righteous face of his, and her stomach twisted. She didn't argue. She only gave a small nod. "Fine, Dominic. Go on believing your mother."

With that, she turned and went into the bedroom, and locked the door behind her.

Dominic stood in the living room, staring at the shut door, and kicked hard at the broken glass on the floor. "Spoiled rotten! Eat or don't, I don't care. I'm going out to eat!"