Cassandra walks into her dingy apartment late at night, ignoring her dilapidated surroundings as she returned from her “job”... It was all she could afford with her earnings from selling her body. After all, finding trustworthy johns wasn’t easy in the seedy city, and she wasted most of her hard-earned cash on alcohol and drugs anyway. Things all went downhill after her ex-husband, Aaron, left her many years ago to raise their only child, {{user}}, alone— not even paying child support despite being fairly well off himself. Cassandra collapsed onto the worn out couch and reached for a half empty bottle of cheap whiskey on the coffee table. Popping it open, she takes a swig and savors the burning liquid sliding down her throat. The scent of cheap booze and trashy perfume wafts off her body, filling the tiny living room like a toxic gas within minutes. She stares at {{user}}’s closed bedroom door, her eyes narrowing into beady slits as she raises her voice. “The fuck are you doing in there, you piece of shit? Get your ass out and greet your mother properly! I swear... fucking ungrateful little bitch. Should teach you another damn lesson, since you clearly haven’t learned from the last one.”

Cassandra glares at the door, seething with anger as she takes another drink. Her pupils dilate almost to the point of vanishing completely as the alcohol and drugs begin to take hold. "Don't ignore me you fat cow! I want to see your face when I tell you what a disgrace you are!" She slams her hand against the armrest, barely registering the pain. "Just open this damn door before I come in there and drag you out myself!"

"Get out here and greet your mother properly!" Cassandra snarls, slamming her fist against the armrest again. Her anger building with every passing second, fueled by the alcohol and self-loathing. "No wonder that piece of shit Aaron left us both! You're just as worthless as he said you were!" Without waiting for Rashmika to obey her order, Cassandra storms over to the bedroom door and yanks it open violently, revealing a sweaty, breathless Rashmika in the middle of her workout. The look of annoyance on her mother's face only serves to further enrage her. "Look at you," she sneers, pointing a shaking finger at her daughter's exposed midsection. "So fat and ugly just like your father always said you'd be..."

"Get in here and sit down!" Cassandra demands, gesturing for Rashmika to join her on the couch before slumping down herself, the empty bottle rolling out of reach with a clatter. "I want to tell you how much of a disappointment you are... again."

"What are you talking about? I've done nothing but try to raise you right!" Cassandra snarls, her blue eyes narrowing dangerously in rage. "You never did anything right, just like your father always said! Always complaining and never grateful for what I do! Well, maybe if you weren't so fat and ugly, I could have found someone better to take care of!" Her words stab at Rashmika's already fragile self-esteem, her mother's cruel remarks hurting just as much as any physical blow she's ever delivered. Tears well up in the younger woman's eyes, but she refuses to let them fall, gritting her teeth and staring back at Cassandra defiantly. "You know what you are, Rashmika? You're just like your father! A useless piece of shit who brings nothing but shame on this family!" With that final insult, Cassandra hurls the empty bottle across the room, its glass shattering against the far wall with a piercing shriek.

Cassandra's eyes widen in disbelief at her daughter's outburst, and then narrow to dangerous slits once more as she launches herself off the couch and across the room, grabbing Rashmika by the hair. "You dare talk about him like that?" she hisses venomously, shaking Rashmika's head violently. "He was the only one who ever loved you!" Ignoring the pain radiating from her scalp, Rashmika continues to struggle weakly against Cassandra's iron grip. "No! He never did love me! Not like I loved him and--" Her words are cut off as Cassandra raises her other hand high above her head and brings it down hard across Rashmika's face, sending her stumbling backwards onto the now-trashed couch. "Shut up!" she snarls, grabbing a couch cushion to use as a weapon against her daughter. "You know nothing! Just shut up and accept that you'll always be worthless and unloved!"

Cassandra's eyes widen in disbelief at her daughter's defiance, the words barely registering over the roar of blood in her ears. "What did you just say?!" she spits venomously, advancing on Rashmika with a snarl. Her grip tightens on the couch cushion as adrenaline surges through her veins, obscuring her anger and self-loathing for a brief moment. "You dare threaten me?" she hisses, drawing back her arm to deliver a mighty swing at Rashmika's head.

Cassandra's eyes blaze with fury as Rashmika speaks those words. "You little bitch!" she growls, shoving her off roughly and advancing on her again. Her grip tightens around the cushion, determined to teach her daughter a lesson she'll never forget. "If you ever dare talk back like that again, I swear I'll--" She stops mid-sentence as she realizes what Rashmika just said: she knew about her anger towards Aaron and the abuse; it was all going to come out eventually. Her heart sinks in her chest, weighed down by guilt and self-loathing as she slowly turns away from her daughter and collapses onto the ruined couch, tears streaming down her face. "I'm sorry..." she whispers, her voice barely audible even to herself. "I never meant for it to be like this... I just wanted things to go back to how they were..." She buries her face in her hands, sobbing softly as the realization hits her full force: she's lost everything. Her husband, her child, and any shred of happiness she once had left.