In the hospital room, my older sister-in-law was lying in bed, still smiling and reassuring me that everything would be fine.
Even though she was the one sick, her words made me feel even worse.
Why would such a good person get this kind of illness? I wish I could take the pain for her.
Don’t worry. The doctor said it’s just a small surgery. I sent Mike to get the money. Once we pay, the surgery will be done, and in a few days, you’ll be better.
“He’s wasting money for no reason. I know my own body. What’s meant to happen can’t be avoided.”
When she said this, I couldn’t hold back my tears. Just then, my husband, Mike, came back.
He glanced at me and said, “Why are you crying like this? People who don’t know might think you two are real sisters and I’m just the brother-in-law.”
His joke wasn’t funny at all. I glared at him. “Did you pay the money?”
“Pay what?”
“The surgery fee for her. I asked you to go get the money and pay for it.”
“I ran into a friend while getting the money. He said there’s a business investment with high returns, so I gave him the money for that.”
“Mike! Her life depends on that money!”
——
“It’s been two years already and she’s still alive. Why is it now that you need money to save her? My friend said the investment would return in at most three months, plus there’s profit.”
I noticed my older sister-in-law’s face change. I turned to Mike with a cold expression and pulled him out of the hospital room.
“Didn’t you hear the doctor? Her condition is getting worse. Without surgery, she might only last a month at most. That’s the most optimistic scenario. We have to arrange the surgery immediately. Go get the money back right now.”
“What money? We only have 40 thousand dollars in savings. Are we supposed to throw it away?” Mike glared at me. “You didn’t hear the doctor properly. He said the surgery’s success rate is less than ten percent. Even that number might be too low. With such a high risk of failure, do you think money grows on trees? I worked hard for every penny myself.”
The doctor also said the surgery might leave her permanently paralyzed. In that case, keeping her alive would cost thousands of dollars every day.
“You don’t earn money, you don’t know how hard it is to get it,” he said.
I couldn’t understand how a warm-hearted person could say something so cold.
Money was hard to earn, but what about life? Was money more important than a human life?
And what did he mean, “you don’t earn money”? I used to earn more than him at my job. But when my older sister-in-law fell ill, there was no one to take care of her or the child, so I had to quit.
Even so, I still did some part-time work in my spare time to help with the household expenses.
Even my older sister-in-law, though sick, would still push herself to do some handicrafts to help bring in extra money for the family.
I stared at Mike. “Your parents passed away early and it was your sister who raised you. Her school grades were better than yours, but she chose to drop out and work so she could support your studies. Your marriage, the house, the car, even the bride price she gave me—all of it, she saved every penny herself.”
“Just like you, I lost my parents when I was young. After having a child, there was no one to help take care of them, so she quit her job to help us with the child so I wouldn’t have to give up work.”
“You know, I always see her as my mother. Do you even have a conscience? You owe everything you have now to her.”
“Did I ask her to do that? She kept saying ‘an older sister is like a mother’ and she wanted to help. Do parents raise children to get something back? If it’s about payback, I don’t need her care. And if it were me with this kind of illness, I wouldn’t want you to take care of me either.”
I couldn’t hold back my anger anymore. I slapped him hard.
“You hit me?” Mike shouted, then kicked my stomach, knocking me to the floor. After that he kept punching and kicking me. “Who do you think you are, daring to hit me?”
My body hurt, but my heart hurt even more. Tears kept falling as people around us came to pull him away, but he kept shouting.
“Stop pretending to be a saint! She’s my sister. If I want to spend money on her, I will. If I don’t, no one can tell me otherwise. I’m not her father!”
“Mike, are we short on money?” I glared at him. “The old house is about to be demolished. We’ll get at least 1,5 thousand dollars from it.”
“Zerra, you finally said it,” he snapped. “I knew you were after the demolition money. You want to play the good person with that money? Dream on.”
“Don’t think I don’t know what you’re planning. You heard the doctor say that even if she becomes paralyzed, new medical treatments will come soon. You think if she can hold on for two more years, she might be cured. You want to use that 1,5 thousand dollars to keep her alive. I’m telling you, stop chasing impossible dreams.”
“You clueless people are the ones who let hospitals scam you.” Mike’s voice grew louder as he spoke. “I’ve long anticipated this trick of yours. I signed the papers—we’re divorced. If you treat her like your mother, then you handle her yourself.”
“I’m telling you, stop dreaming!”
“You people who don’t understand anything just let hospitals cheat you out of money.”
Mike’s voice got louder as he spoke. “I’ve been expecting this from you. I signed the papers so we’re divorced. If you treat her like a mother, then you take care of her yourself.”
He threw the divorce papers at me.
“Mike, Zerra, stop arguing. Come in, I have something to say.”
Stella stood weakly at the door, looking at me and Mike in the hallway. Tears streamed down my face.
Mike stormed into the hospital room and I followed, afraid he might argue with her.
“Now that we’re talking openly, I won’t hide anything,” Mike said, looking at Stella. “You probably already heard. Your illness is terminal. It can’t be cured. I hope you understand—I don’t want to waste money on this.”
My heart sank completely. For more than two years, I had been hiding the truth of Stella’s illness from her and I had repeatedly told Mike not to let her know.
“Zerra, I’ve known about my condition for a long time. Don’t cry,” she said, wiping away my tears. “Everyone dies eventually. I’ve already accepted it. Don’t argue because of me. Mike is right — we shouldn’t waste the money. You two should use it to build a good life together.”
“Your son and daughter will need a lot of money as they grow up. You have to look at things more openly.”
I held Stella tightly, sobbing uncontrollably. If there truly were no hope of a cure, I wouldn’t insist.
But the doctor had said there was hope. Even if the chance of success was less than ten percent, it was still a chance.
Besides, the doctor had said that even if she became paralyzed, there was still some hope. New medical treatments would soon come out.
Once the demolition money came in, it might have been enough to save Stella’s life and help her fully recover.
In my eyes, that demolition money was a gift from heaven—a lifesaving fortune.
Even if it all got spent, as long as Stella could get better, I was willing.
Money could be earned again, but once a person was gone, there was nothing left.
I had lost my parents when I was little and I didn’t want to lose the woman who treated me like her own child.
Stella hugged me and comforted me with a smile, then looked at Mike. “Stop talking about divorce all the time. A good woman like Zerra is hard to find even with a lantern. Apologize to her.”
“I was planning to divorce her after you died, but I can’t wait anymore. She disgusts me.” Mike glanced at me. “A fake saint like her will ruin the family sooner or later. Stop pretending to cry and just sign the divorce papers.”
“Mike, have I spoiled you too much?” Stella glared at him. “Do you really want me to die without peace?”
“Look at her—does she look like a woman in her early thirties?” Mike gave me a disgusted look. “Anyone who doesn’t know her age would think she’s a forty- or fifty-year-old housewife. She’s never even bothered to buy herself a single nice piece of clothing.”
“Just looking at her shortens your life. Living every day with such an ugly woman would drive any man crazy. You wouldn’t even dare take her out to eat. At the kindergarten, people always mistake her for the child’s grandmother.”
Stella’s eyes turned red. “Mike, are you even human?”
“Why doesn’t she dress up? Does she even have time? She wakes up early and works late every day, taking care of the child and me. Whenever she has a bit of free time, she goes out to do odd jobs to earn money. Look at her hands—do they look like the hands of a normal woman? They’re all calloused. She’s your wife and you don’t even feel sorry for her. Instead, you insult her. Where’s your conscience?”
Stella was truly angry now. She went on, “You say she doesn’t buy clothes—do you know why? Because she’s trying to save money!”
“You heartless bastard! After work, you either go out drinking or lie at home playing games. You buy cigarettes that cost four or five a pack, expensive wine worth hundreds of dollars just to ‘try,’ and you spent over ten thousand on a motorcycle just to ride it on weekends.”
“And who saved that 40 thousand dollars that Zerra asked you to withdraw today? It’s the money Zerra saved bit by bit over the years. You say she doesn’t earn money? How can you even say that with a straight face? You earn one and spend two. You’ve already wasted all of Zerra’s dowry and everything she had saved before. Mike, tell me—are you even human?”
“I’m not afraid to tell you the truth — Zerra has been putting up with not divorcing you because of me. You ask for a divorce, who do you think you are?”
Stella understood me. Her words hit deep inside me and I couldn’t stop crying.
Losing my parents when I was young made me value family more than most people. I didn’t want my child to grow up in a single-parent home and I couldn’t bear to leave Stella behind, so I kept enduring.
In fact, my marriage to Mike had been dead for a long time. He only stayed to make the family look whole and to give the child a father.
After hearing what Stella said, an idea formed in my mind.
Mike listened and stayed cold. “You say I have no heart, do you? She’s like this and you’re also to blame. If you care so much about her, why didn’t you die earlier? You’re a sick burden; whoever gets stuck with you is unlucky.”
“Enough.” I shouted angrily. “Stella, don’t cry. I’ll divorce him.”
I looked at Mike. “Mike, give me back that 40 thousand right now. Even if half of the divorce money is mine, the house and car must be split equally. I also want half of the demolition money from the old house.”
“Split the property?” Mike glanced at me. “Fine, sue me then. There’s a one-month cooling-off period. Let’s see who can hold out. And if you try to fight me for the money, I will fight for custody of the child.”
I looked at Mike calmly. “I’m giving you a chance to split the property now. If you want to wait for my divorce lawsuit, I will give the court proof of your cheating. Then you’ll have to leave with nothing.”
Mike’s face darkened. “Don’t talk nonsense.”
“You think I don’t know you cheated?” My face got much colder. “I have the records of every time you booked a room. That bitch even sent me a video of you two sleeping around to taunt me. If my sister hadn’t been sick, I wouldn’t have wasted time on someone so heartless. I would have left long ago. Now go change the divorce papers so the property is split. Go get that 40 thousand back from that bitch. If you stall, I will make sure you walk away with nothing.”
“Zerra, you finally stopped pretending and started fighting for money, huh? After I heard about the demolition, I was already watching out for this. I’ve already put the old house in Melly’s name.”
Mike dropped all pretense and went on, “Oh, and by the way, I’ve already taken out loans with the house and car as collateral. After the divorce, you won’t get a single penny, but you’ll still have to pay half the debt. Didn’t you want to play the saint? Fine, I’ll let you — you can help me pay off that loan.”
His words hit me like thunder in June. I stared at him, stunned, never imagining the man beside me in bed could be this scheming.
Stella gripped my hand tightly. I could feel her trembling, just like I was trembling with rage.
Mike looked at the two of us with a careless expression.
After a moment, I came back to my senses and knelt in front of him. “I don’t want anything else. I only want that 40 thousand. Give me that money and I’ll leave with nothing.”
Mike sneered. “You don’t want to take anything? Wow, such a saint. You still have to help pay the loan back.”
“She’s your real sister, I need that money to save her life,” I said.
“She’s just my half-sister, not my real sister. I have no duty or responsibility to support her. I’m not wasting my money on this. Besides, how is a half-sister from the same mother but a different father— even a ‘real sister’?”
He looked at Stella coldly and said, “Don’t think I don’t know—Mom was already pregnant when she married Dad. You’re the bastard she was carrying.”
Mike spoke coldly again and threw the divorce papers at me. “For the sake of our marriage, I’ll let you off the loan repayment. But you leave with nothing. Sign it. If you don’t, you’ll have to help pay the loan.”
Outside the door, a crowd had gathered. Many people were scolding Mike.
He glanced toward them and said, “Stop pretending to be kind. If you pity these two cheap women so much, why don’t you pay for the surgery yourselves?”
People were angry, but in a hospital, who wasn’t short on money?
Seeing that no one spoke up, Mike looked back at me. “You have three minutes to think. If you still want a divorce after that, then be ready to help pay off the loan.”
“Sign it,” Stella said to me, wiping away my tears. “Spending 40 thousand to see someone’s true face is worth it.”
I picked up the divorce papers and read them carefully.
After working so hard for this family all these years, now I was being kicked out with nothing.
The bitterness hit me so hard that tears fell uncontrollably again.
I wiped them away fiercely, then picked up the pen and signed my name.
“Go on being her holy saint. When she dies, you can bury her yourself. I’m starting a new life,” Mike said before walking away without looking back.
Inside the ward, Stella stayed silent. She had tried to hold herself together in front of him, but now her tears kept falling.
Her heart was broken—and I could see the fear of death in her eyes.
She had never truly realized that her illness could be fatal. I believed that too—until today, when Mike said it so bluntly.
I didn’t try to comfort her. Quietly, I walked out of the ward.
A few hours later, I arrived at the payment counter.
My credit score had always been good, so I took out various online loans totaling 17 thousand dollars.
And when I called the friends I’d helped over the years—people who knew my character—l one by one, they all did what they could.
After dozens of calls, I finally managed to gather the remaining 25 thousand dollars.
In the past, when my world collapsed, Stella was the one who held it up for me.
Now that her world was falling apart, it was my turn to hold it up for her.
Just as I was about to pay the hospital fees, Stella stopped me. She looked at me and said softly, “I’m sorry.”
“Come on, Stella, what are you apologizing for? It’s just 40 thousand. I’ve got it covered.”
“That’s not what I meant,” she said, her eyes complicated and heavy. “I lied to you.”
She handed me a medical report.
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