Florine had been quietly savoring her victory when the doorbell suddenly rang.

Frowning at the unexpected interruption, she got to her feet and walked toward the front door.

The moment she opened it, her eyes widened in shock.

Before she could say a word, one of the men standing outside shoved the door open and pushed past her.

"Ah!" Florine stumbled backward, barely managing to keep her balance.

Within seconds, several men stormed into the house, spreading through the living room and knocking over furniture. Decorative items crashed to the floor as drawers were yanked open and belongings were tossed aside.

"What are you doing?" Florine cried, panic rising in her voice. "Who are you people? Stop!"

The commotion drew Nora out of her bedroom.

The moment she saw strangers tearing through the house, anger flashed across her face.

"Mom!" she shouted, rushing to Florine’s side.

Florine immediately pulled her into a protective embrace, both of them watching helplessly as the men continued wrecking the room.

Hearing the noise, France hurried out from the hallway.

"Hey! Who are you? What do you think you’re—"

He never finished his sentence.

The nearest man caught him by the shoulder with practiced ease and, using his momentum against him, threw him hard onto the floor.

France hit the ground with a painful thud.

"Ugh!"

"France!" Florine and Nora screamed in unison, horror etched across their faces as they rushed toward him.

Before they could reach him, another man stepped into their path, silently blocking the way.

The room fell into tense silence, broken only by the sound of shattered glass and France’s pained groans as he struggled to sit up.

France gritted his teeth and pushed himself onto one elbow, glaring at the men.

"Have you lost your minds?" he snapped. "Get out of my house!"

The tallest of the intruders didn’t even look at him. He continued inspecting the room while another man calmly swept a stack of framed photographs off a shelf, sending them crashing onto the floor.

Florine’s face had gone pale.

"Please," she begged, her voice trembling. "If you want money, we’ll give you whatever we have. Just stop destroying our home."

The man finally turned to face her, his expression cold and unreadable.

"Good," he said evenly. "Because if you don’t, your son won’t live to see another day."

The threat wasn’t an empty one.

Florine and Nora had seen firsthand what people like these were capable of. They knew the man wasn’t bluffing.

A wave of fear washed over them as they instinctively looked toward France, who was still struggling to get back on his feet.

If they wanted to keep him alive, they had no choice but to do exactly as they were told.

***

The front door slammed shut behind the intruders, leaving the house in eerie silence.

For a moment, none of them spoke.

Then Florine turned to France, fury replacing the fear on her face.

"This is your fault!" she shouted, her voice shaking. "Tell me the truth. How much did you lose this time?"

France rubbed his sore shoulder and looked away.

"I asked you a question!" Florine snapped.

He let out an irritated sigh. "It wasn’t that much."

"Not that much?" she repeated in disbelief. "Men just barged into our home, threatened your life, and destroyed everything we own, and you’re telling me it wasn’t that much?"

Nora stepped forward, glaring at her brother.

"You never learn, do you? Every time Mom bails you out, you promise to quit gambling, and every single time you go right back to it. Now you’ve dragged all of us into your mess."

France clenched his jaw but remained silent.

"Look around!" Nora continued, pointing at the overturned furniture and shattered glass. "Because of you, people are showing up at our door threatening to kill us."

Finally, France exploded.

"Oh, stop acting like you’re innocent!" he shouted.

The room fell silent.

He turned to Florine, resentment burning in his eyes.

"And you—don’t stand there blaming me for everything."

Florine stared at him in shock.

"I wouldn’t have had to borrow money if you actually gave me enough!" he yelled. "You received a fortune from Xander, didn’t you? So where did it all go?"

Florine’s expression hardened.

"I used that money to buy this house and keep this family afloat."

France scoffed.

"And what about me? You always treated me like a burden. You kept lecturing me about responsibility while hoarding the money for yourself."

"I was trying to protect our future!" Florine shot back.

"Our future?" France laughed bitterly. "Look around, Mom. What future? We’re still living one disaster after another."

Nora shook her head in disgust.

"You gambled away your own future. Don’t blame anyone else for your choices."

France glared at both women, his chest rising and falling with anger.

"You can judge me all you want," he said through gritted teeth, "but none of us would be in this position if this family had ever been honest with each other."

His words hung heavily in the air, leaving Florine and Nora speechless as the weight of their own secrets settled over the room.

Florine didn’t answer immediately.

She simply stared at France with an unwavering gaze, her expression stripped of anger and replaced by something far more unsettling—disappointment.

Slowly, she walked toward him until only a few feet separated them.

"For years," she said quietly, "I’ve covered for you. I’ve paid your debts, believed your promises, and cleaned up the messes you created."

France looked away.

"I told myself you would change. I convinced myself that the next time would be different."

Her voice hardened.

"But today, men walked into my home, threatened our lives, and turned this place upside down because of your recklessness."

She pointed at the broken furniture scattered across the room.

"This is the last time."

France frowned. "Mom—"

"No." She cut him off with a raised hand. "Listen carefully, because I won’t repeat myself."

Her eyes locked onto his.

"From this moment on, you’re on your own. I won’t pay another debt. I won’t beg anyone on your behalf, and I won’t sacrifice this family to save you from the consequences of your own choices."

Nora stood silently beside her mother, surprised by the firmness in her voice.

"If you gamble again and find yourself in trouble," Florine continued, "don’t come knocking on my door expecting help. I won’t give you a single rupee."

France’s face darkened.

"So you’re just abandoning me?"

"I’m refusing to enable you."

The words landed like a slap.

"If you keep making the same mistakes," Florine said, her tone unwavering, "the next person who comes after you will have to deal with you alone. I will not put myself or Nora in danger to rescue you again."

For the first time since the argument began, France had nothing to say.

The room fell silent as Florine turned away, leaving him to stand amid the wreckage of the home—and the consequences of his own actions.