Moments later, Richard returned to his house. Theresa looked mildly confused as to why he was the only one returning.

"Where are they?" she asked, referring to the loansharks.

"Ma, you really should tell me if you debt from the others. Or else they’ll end up harassing us nonstop. Don’t worry about them, they won’t return anymore as I have talked to them nicely."

"Talked to them nicely?" Theresa repeated his words. "What do you mean by that?"

"It means I just asked nicely if the payment can be deferred to another day. Again, you don’t have to worry but please, you have to be honest with me. Aside from them, and the one who owed us the medical bills, is there any other loansharks I am not aware of that you borrowed money from?"

Theresa immediately looked away afterward.

And honestly?

That reaction alone already answered enough for Richard.

His expression slowly deadpanned.

"...Mom."

Angela beside them awkwardly scratched her cheek afterward.

"There’s... a few more."

Richard closed his eyes briefly.

Of course there were.

Why was he even surprised anymore?

Poor people honestly did not borrow from one loanshark only.

Because usually one debt was used to pay another debt.

Then another.

Then another.

Until eventually everything became one giant tangled mess of interest payments and delayed deadlines.

Richard slowly exhaled afterward while rubbing his forehead.

"How many?"

Theresa looked genuinely embarrassed now.

"Three..."

Richard stared at her silently.

Then after several seconds.

"Three?"

Angela quickly added afterward.

"One of them is small only."

"That doesn’t help," Richard muttered immediately.

Theresa sighed heavily afterward before finally sitting down on the plastic chair near the doorway.

Honestly?

For the first time since Richard came home, she looked emotionally exhausted instead of merely worried.

"I didn’t want to tell you," she admitted quietly.

"Your salary from the repair shop was already barely enough."

"So whenever emergencies happened..."

She slowly looked down afterward.

"I just borrowed."

Richard remained silent.

Because honestly, he understood the situation, especially when they are the ones experiencing it.

This was how many poor families survived in places like Tondo.

Borrow. Delay. Borrow again. Repeat.

Hospital expenses.

Medicine.

Electric bills.

School projects.

Food.

One emergency alone could destroy an entire month financially.

And when there was no savings?

Loansharks became the fastest option.

Richard slowly sat down afterward while placing the black duffel bag carefully beside his feet.

Then he looked directly toward his mother again.

"How much total?"

Theresa hesitated briefly.

Then quietly answered:

"Around one hundred thirty thousand..."

"That much huh? Mother, do you have any gambling vices that I don’t know of? Because if we are only talking about emergencies, it shouldn’t be that much, regardless of whether the interest is high or not."

He looked around, they were still outside with their neighbors murmuring.

"Let’s continue this inside."

Richard immediately picked up the duffel bag afterward before opening the rusting gate and entering their cramped house.

Theresa and Angela followed quietly behind him.

Meanwhile outside?

Several neighbors were still pretending not to stare.

Classic Tondo behavior.

People acted like they were minding their own business while secretly listening to everything.

The moment Richard closed the door behind them, the atmosphere inside the small living room immediately became quieter.

The old electric fan rotated noisily near the corner.

Their television remained turned off.

Theresa slowly sat down afterward while looking visibly uncomfortable.

Meanwhile Angela quietly sat beside her.

Both of them were still obviously confused.

Especially after seeing the way the loansharks suddenly backed off earlier.

Richard placed the duffel bag beside the plastic table afterward before finally looking toward his mother again.

"So?"

Theresa sighed heavily.

Then after several moments of silence, she finally admitted quietly:

"It wasn’t just emergencies."

Richard’s eyebrows slowly furrowed.

"There it is."

Theresa rubbed her hands together nervously afterward.

"Some of it was used to pay older debts."

"Then another loan was used to pay those."

"And then..."

Her voice slowly weakened.

"It just kept growing."

Richard quietly nodded afterward.

Honestly?

Exactly what he expected.

Debt snowball.

One of the most common traps among poor families.

Because when income barely covered survival itself, people borrowed money not to improve life...

But simply to delay collapse.

And every delay cost interest.

More pressure.

More desperation.

Until eventually they no longer even knew how much they truly owed anymore.

Richard slowly sat down across from them afterward.

Then finally asked the important question.

"How much principal did you originally borrow?"

Theresa hesitated.

"...Maybe around sixty thousand total."

Richard immediately clicked his tongue slightly.

So the remaining amount was almost entirely interest and rollover debt.

Disgusting.

Angela suddenly spoke quietly afterward.

"Mom even borrowed before because your father’s old drinking debts suddenly came back."

Richard’s expression darkened slightly afterward.

Right.

Their father.

Even after dying from cirrhosis, the man still somehow managed to leave problems behind.

Richard barely even knew what to feel anymore regarding him.

Anger?

Resentment?

Pity?

Probably all three.

Theresa quickly looked down afterward.

"I was trying to protect both of you. I’m sorry for burdening you."

"Well, it doesn’t matter anymore. So long as you tell me who you are owed to, I’ll talk to them. Promise me that you’ll never loan again from loansharks. Because we won’t be able to escape debt."

"I promise...but how are you going to deal with the loansharks? Simply talking won’t work, they’ll still harass you. Leave that to me."