Chapter 3

My parents came looking for me the next afternoon.

They'd heard about Eddie's company being in trouble and found out who I really was.

They stormed the Horizon Capital building, practically falling over themselves, crying and shouting to see me.

The receptionist couldn't stop them, so she called me. I told Russell to bring them to the meeting room.

When I pushed the door open, my mom rushed over with a sickly sweet smile plastered on her face.

She looked nothing like the woman who'd called me heartless before.

"Jessica, my wonderful daughter. I always knew you weren't ordinary. You really did us proud!" she gushed.

My dad shuffled over too, rubbing his hand swhile trying his best to please.

"Yeah, Jessica. We messed up before and didn't realize how amazing you are. Please don't be mad at us. We're your parents, after all!" he said.

Staring at their phony, insincere faces, I felt utterly disgusted.

I pulled out a chair and sat down, leaving them standing. I gave them a cold, hard stare.

I said, "Let's be real. You didn't come here to reconnect with your daughter.

"You want me to bail out Eddie and your company that's about to go bankrupt, isn't that it?"

Their faces went stiff for a moment. Emily instantly turned on the waterworks, reaching for my hand, but I pulled away.

Sshe cried, "Jessica, I know you've been through so much. But Eddie knows he was wrong. He swore he'll treat you right from now on.

"Please, help him for our sake. If the Barlow family collapses, our company is finished too. We're in debt for tens of millions of dollars. We'll end up in jail!"

"Jail?" I raised an eyebrow and slapped a stack of papers down in front of them. "You really think Eddie's the only one facing prison? Why don't you see for yourselves?"

The first page was a copy of my acceptance letter to a top law school, plus the delivery receipt from the post office that was signed by Emily.

I said, staring them down, "Back then, when my acceptance letter showed up, you hid it and burned it.

"You told me I didn't get in, forced me to drop out, and made me learn all that so-called high-society etiquette.

"You wanted to pawn me off to Eddie and lock in your partnership with the Barlow family."

"There is more."

I added, pulling out a bank transfer record. "The 600 thousand dollars I busted my ass for, working day and night on projects in college, was stolen by you.

"You claimed it was your own savings and used it to bail out Eddie's company to seal the engagement with the Barlow family.

"You took my money to boost your own reputation, then turned around and called me useless, saying all I did was splurge money.

"When I was eighteen and got into that car accident, lying in the hospital fighting for my life, the first thing you asked wasn't if I was okay.

"It was whether Eddie, who was sitting in the passenger seat, was hurt. You were scared he'd get injured and ruin the engagement you cared about. Did you forget all that?"

With every word I threw at them, their faces got paler and paler. By the end, they were trembling, totally speechless.

I stared at them, my gaze icy with disappointment. "You never treated me like your daughter. To you, I was a tool and a bargaining chip to get in with the rich and powerful.

"Now that I'm finally useful to you, you want to act like you care? It's way too late for that."

"No! That's not true, Jessica!" Emily suddenly dropped to the floor, crawling over, trying to cling to my leg, sobbing so hard she could barely breathe.

She said, "I know I was wrong. I really do. Please, forgive me this once, okay. I swear I'll make it up to you. Please, help us. If you don't, we're really finished!"

Harlan followed suit, dropping to the ground, crying his heart out, begging for mercy.

I stepped back, dodging their touch.

Then, my mom pulled something wrapped in a piece of red cloth out of her pocket. She carefully unwrapped it, revealing the shattered lucky charm my grandma had left me.

They'd actually managed to find all the missing pieces and piece them back together.

My mom said, holding it up, tears streaming down her face, "Jessica, look, this is the lucky charm your grandma left you.

"I know I was wrong. I shouldn't have snatched it from you back then. I spent so long searching for the pieces, and finally managed to glue them back together.

"I am giving it back to you. Please, can you forgive us this once?"

I stared at the patched-up lucky charm, feeling absolutely nothing inside.

Once something was broken, even if they pieced it back together, the scars would never disappear.

Just like the pain they caused me, no matter how many times they apologized, it'd never be erased.

I said coldly, "Don't bother. The day you tore it off my neck, whatever bond I had with you was shattered for good.

"Putting it back together now doesn't change a thing."

I paused, then added, "I've already handed over all the evidence of your tax evasion and unauthorized financial guarantees to the tax authorities and the courts. Good luck with that."

"One more thing," I said, pulling out my phone, opening up a WhatsApp group chat, and shoving it right in their faces.

I said, "I've sent every bit of proof, including how you hid my acceptance letter, stole my money for the engagement, and even forced your own daughter to get an abortion, to your family group chat.

"I also sent them to your old colleagues and your friends.":

What mattered most to them was keeping up appearances in front of everyone they knew.

And now, I'd ripped that apart with my own hands.