Chapter 2My mom asked me to pay the tuition with a credit card

I still didn't want to believe that HappyFlower was my mom. She was strict and controlling, yes, but she loved me. She would eat ramen for a month just to afford my expensive tutoring sessions. She wouldn't do something like this to hurt me.

But… my rational mind told me it couldn't be a coincidence. The time of the post and the user's IP address both matched my mom's.

With trembling hands, I opened my messaging app and typed a tentative message to her: 【Mom, my credit card bill is due in two days. If it's late, it will affect my credit score.】

【Can you please just send me the $800 to pay it off? If things are really tight, I can get a part-time job next month and earn my own living expenses. Is that okay?】

I don't know what I said that set her off.

【Jessica, are you trying to use your 'poor college student' act to manipulate me?】

【Have I ever let you go hungry? Have I ever let you go without?】

【Don't you dare even think about getting one of those 'improper' part-time jobs. How long do you think you can sell your youth for?】

【How could you do this to me? How could you do this to your father's memory?!】

…

The stinging words made me feel like my mom was right there, screaming in my ear. My head was buzzing. I felt a rush of blood to my head and almost fainted.

Why did she automatically assume that any job I got would be "improper"? Is it normal for a mother to talk to her daughter like that? And she was the one deliberately withholding my living expenses to control me.

I couldn't hold back my anger anymore: 【Then what do you want me to do? I have no money. How am I supposed to pay the bill?】

【I just started college! I don't want to be labeled a deadbeat!】

My mom: 【I never said I wouldn't pay it. I just said things are tight right now. Can't you be a little more understanding?】

【You don't earn a single penny, all you do is ask for money. Do you think it's easy for a single mother to support a college student?】

A deep sense of guilt and self-loathing washed over me again. I knew it wasn't easy for her. After I graduated high school, I got a summer job to try and help out. But when she found out, she mocked me, saying I was too stupid and would just cause trouble for my boss, and she'd have to clean up my messes. I tried to explain that my boss had praised me for being a hard worker, that he really liked me. The look in my mom's eyes changed then, but she didn't say anything more. The next day, I found out she had broken her leg in a fall and was in the hospital. I had to quit my job to take care of her.

I wanted to get a job in college, but my schedule was packed with classes, and I had club activities and labs on the weekends.

I clutched my phone, feeling a profound sense of helplessness.

My mom sent another message: 【Jessica, instead of fighting with me over $800, you should take a good, long look at yourself!】

A good, long look at myself?

I let out a bitter laugh as tears streamed down my face.