Paid in Full to Cut Ties

Summary

For three years, my life had revolved around my mother’s hospital bed. Today, as I was wiping her down with a warm, damp cloth—just as I did every Saturday morning—she suddenly looked up at me, her expression hardening into a cold, unfamiliar mask.

"You’re quite the actress, aren't you, Lauren?" she said, her voice dripping with venom.

I froze, the washcloth dripping onto the linoleum floor. "What?"

"Don't act dumb. You think I don't know why you’re playing the dutiful daughter? You just want everyone to praise you, and you want a cut of my estate." She let out a dry, rasping laugh.