Chapter 85

"Mom!" Selene shut her eyes for a brief moment. "I told you—I'm changing my name. Stop making a scene." She had only come by around noon to drop off a few handmade trinkets for Marceline. That message this morning had unexpectedly brought their long-forgotten friendship back to life. Selene had been overjoyed. The last thing she expected was to find Lauren tailing her. Lauren had long since hardened into something cold and self-serving. She sneered. "Selene, do you really think I raised you all these years so that you could talk back to me? Look at this finger. I had it cut off to pay for your medicine. "You were burning up, nearly dead, and we were 5,000 dollars short. Or have you already forgotten how I lost it?" Every time she pulled out that stump, it felt like invisible hands wrapped around Selene's throat, choking off any words before they could leave her mouth. A glint of triumph flickered in Lauren's eyes before she spoke, putting on a show of magnanimity. "That's enoug