"If you don''t believe me, ask your mother. She knows exactly how much she owes."


    Vanessa believed the owner wasn''t lying. After all, he''d been running his business in the area for seven or eight years.


    "I''ll pay it for her," Vanessa said, taking out her phone.


    The owner saw this and quickly took out his own phone to receive the payment. After the notification for the $300,000 transfer sounded, he couldn''t help but offer a piece of advice. "Tell your mom not to gamble if she doesn''t have the money." Closing the door, Vanessa''s heart sank to a new low. In just two weeks, she had already dealt with two groups of her mother''s debt collectors. While she still had money, she didn''t want to use it to fill the ck hole of her mother''s gambling debts.


    Half an hourter, lona returned. Seeing her daughter on the sofa, she looked a little guilty. "Vanessa, have you eaten?"


    Vanessa''s eyes were fixed on her. "How much goddamn debt are you in? Tell me everything."


    "Vanessa, I... I don''t owe that much."


    Vanessa violently threw a couch pillow at her. "Tell me right now, or I''m done with you. I won''t care if you live or die."


    lona flinched. She walked to her bedroom, took a small notebook from a cab, and timidly handed it to Vanessa, her eyes darting away, too scared to meet her daughter''s gaze.


    Vanessa snatched the notebook from her hand, her own fingers trembling. She opened it. Inside were her mother''s records of dates and debts amounts ranging from a few thousand to half a million dors, scribbled densely on the pages. At the end, there was a grand total.


    Over 7.8 million dors.


    The world went dark, and Vanessa nearly lost her footing. She grabbed the sofa for support, gasping as she stared at her mother. "You-how could you rack up so much debt? Over seven million dors! How are you going to pay that back?"


    lona shrank baek, muttering, "My luck''s been bad thest couple of years. I wanted to win it back, but ? just kept losing more and more. Vanessa know was wrong. promise I''ll never gamble again. Please, help me pay this off, okay? I''ll change, I swear."


    Vanessa mmed the ledger down on the table. "Help you? With what? Do you think I''m the same person I was two years ago? I can''t even support myself right now, and you expect me to pay your debts?"


    "But don''t you still have


    endorsement deals? Don''t you have a bunch of rich friends? And your piano career-you could y one concert and make a few million, right?" lona had no idea about Vanessa''s actual situation. She only knew that even though her daughter had leftn, she must still be able to make money.


    Vanessa let out a cold, self-deprecatingugh. "Mom, do you still think I''m that dazzling piano goddess and advertising darling? Let me tell you the truth. I have no source of ie anymore. I can''t even support myself."


    lona was stunned. "Vanessa, you''re so young and beautiful. There must be plenty of people who want to hire you for performances. You can''t just give up on yourself! Even if you can''t perform on a proper stage, there are other ces you can go!"


    lona''s mind started racing. "Like ying piano in some high-end club for entertainment," she said, "or tutoring rich people''s kids. Aren''t those options?"


    Vanessa''s face turned pale with anger. So, in her mother''s eyes, her well-being didn''t matter at all. She just saw her as a tool to make money.


    Her mother''s expression at that moment chilled her to the bone. She finally understood something: her mother had never loved her.