Chapter 3

Zoey waved her hand impatiently. "I don't buy it. Whatever it is can wait. I need to call Caleb right now and tell him to stop doing dangerous work for cash."

She was right, so I kept my mouth shut.

But the moment Caleb picked up, Zoey's face turned white, and she bolted upright. "What did you just say?"

My heart instantly leaped into my throat. "What's wrong?"

Zoey's lips trembled, and it took her forever to squeeze out a single sentence. "Caleb's in trouble."

My mind went completely blank. I snatched the phone from her hand.

It wasn't Caleb on the line but a construction foreman. "Your son fell off the scaffolding and broke his neck. He's in the ER right now. You need to scrape up the medical fees immediately, or he isn't going to make it."

A wave of dizziness hit me.

Large wire transfers had to be done at the bank.

I dragged Zoey off the bus immediately, but as soon as my foot hit the pavement, I tripped and cracked my head hard against the curb.

Everything went black.

When I finally opened my eyes, I was lying on the sidewalk, surrounded by a crowd.

"Henry! Thank God you're awake! The hospital has been calling non-stop for the medical fees! I don't know your PIN! I've been losing my mind! They need 300 thousand dollars for the surgery right now. Transfer it!"

Zoey pulled at my arm, trying to drag me toward the bank. But I planted my feet, refusing to budge.

"W-We can't transfer the money."

"Why?"

Zoey's eyes were bloodshot, but I clamped my jaw tight. "When I was knocked out just now, Mom appeared in my dream again. This time, I saw her face perfectly clear. She said we must give all five million dollars to Jayda. Not a single cent can go to Caleb. Otherwise—"

Before I could finish speaking, Zoey slammed her fist into my chest. "Your son is dying! Who cares about some damn dream? If you hadn't insisted on faking a terminal illness to test the kids, Caleb would never have taken that job, and he wouldn't have broken his neck!"

The crowd began whispering around us.

"Is this old man losing his mind? He's letting his son die over a dream?"

"Is that guy even his son?"

"God is blind for letting a piece of trash like this win the lottery!"

Suddenly, realization dawned on Zoey, and her voice shook as she asked, "Henry, did your mom even appear in your dream? You just favor Jayda, don't you? You're using your late mother as an excuse to leave everything to her!

"But Caleb is dying! He only needs 300 thousand dollars! I'm begging you. Just give Caleb the money, and you can give the remaining sum to whoever the hell you want!"

I bit down so hard that my jaw ached. "No. Mom said all of it has to go to Jayda. Not a single penny can go to Caleb, let alone 300 thousand dollars. If we do, our whole family will die!"

Utterly broken, Zoey collapsed onto the pavement. "Why do you trust your dead mother so much?"

My temples throbbed violently.

Mom's first two warnings had saved our lives. There was no way she was speaking nonsense this time.

But I couldn't understand it.

When Mom was alive, she doted on Caleb. She had even sold her jewelry just to pay for his tuition.

Now that her precious grandson was on his deathbed, why was she forbidding me from giving him a single cent?

A thought suddenly struck me. "Could Caleb be faking it?"

Zoey froze for a second, then jumped up and screamed at me, "The hospital literally sent a video! Are you blind?"

On the screen, Caleb was covered in blood on a hospital bed.

My hands shook.

If I didn't save Caleb, he would die. But if I did save him, our entire family would die instead!

The onlookers couldn't take it anymore.

A few good Samaritans stepped forward and shouted to the crowd, "This is a matter of life and death! If his father is too heartless to save him, we will!"

People started pooling money on the spot.

But 300 thousand dollars was a massive sum. After a frantic effort, they only managed to raise 150 thousand dollars.

Zoey scraped together her entire life savings, but that only brought the total to 200 thousand dollars.

Biting her lip, she dialed Nathan's number to beg for a loan, but the line was busy.

Time was running out. Zoey turned back to me, her eyes red and brimming with tears. "Henry, I know you have a secret stash of 100 thousand dollars.

"Take that out. It's exactly what we need to save Caleb, and we won't be touching the lottery money. That wouldn't be going against your mom's message in the dream."

Her voice trembled, carrying a desperate plea.

Given the circumstances, this was undoubtedly the best option.

I reached into my pocket to pull out my phone for the money transfer. But as my fingers slipped inside, they brushed against the hard object that had poked me earlier.

I slapped my forehead.

I had tripped and passed out the moment we got off the bus, completely forgetting about this.

I unlocked my phone, and dozens of messages from Jayda flooded the screen.

"Dad, I heard that Caleb is dying.

"Does that mean your entire inheritance is mine now?

"Hurry up and transfer all the money to me while you've still got a pulse!

"I'm going to hire ten male models to celebrate!"

Zoey erupted into curses, but my fingers flew across the screen. I immediately transferred the 100 thousand dollars I had prepared for Caleb's treatment to Jayda instead.

Everyone stood frozen in disbelief.

Zoey slapped me across the face, weeping hysterically. "Henry Dawson! Do you have any idea that our son is dying? That money was Caleb's last hope! You're murdering him!"

I shook my head. "Just the opposite. I did this to save him."

With that, I pulled the object out of my pocket and held it out to Zoey.

The moment she saw what it was, her eyes widened in shock.