Chapter 1

My father cheated. The woman he kept outside was a whole fifteen years younger than my mom, a sweet-faced college girl.

Men didn't remember the hardships their wives went through with them. Once they made it, all they did was scheme against their wives.

When it came time to split the assets, my mom finally realized: every penny and every property was under the company's name. My dad's monthly salary was one dollar.

My mom cursed him out, calling him every name in the book. But faced with her fury, my dad didn't show a shred of guilt.

To spite her, he even turned to me with a smirk. "Sweetie, your mom and I are getting divorced soon.

"So, do you wanna stay with Dad and live the good life, or go with your mom and beg on the streets?"

I threw myself straight into his arms. "Dad, I'll always be your only daughter."

Hearing that, my dad beamed.

What he didn't get was that the keyword wasn't "daughter". It was "only".

*****

My dad was over the moon, laughing out loud as he'd just won the lottery.

"Good. That's my blood, my little darling. No wonder you're my girl," he said, grinning from ear to ear.

He was probably feeling on top of the world at that moment.

My mom gave up her own dreams to help him build his career, choosing to stay home as a full-time housewife, devoted to looking after both him and me.

If it weren't for her, my dad's stomach would've been wrecked by all that booze ages ago. She'd make him sober-up soup, get his stomach meds ready, and wait up for him till late at night.

When he was sick and stuck in the hospital, my mom was glued to his bedside, pulling all-nighters to watch over him.

But by the time he finally got discharged, it was my mom's health that had taken the real hit.

But he couldn't see any of that. All he cared about was that college girl, innocent face on the outside, sexy lingerie underneath, teasing him every chance she got.

My mom cried, yelled, and begged, but he was bewitched by that homewrecker, totally deaf to her words. He didn't care at all about the decade-long marriage with my mom.

Finally, fed up with my mom's questioning, he brought that woman home and had his way with her right in front of my mom, crushing any hope she had left of staying with him.

He never really cared about me, not as his daughter, anyway. He wanted to prove himself to my mom. If I picked him, he'd totally rub it in her face and win, no contest.

To him, I was nothing but a tool to break my mom's heart for good.

When I said that, my mom went so pale she looked like she might faint. She stumbled over, grabbing my arm, her whole face twisted in shock. "Stella, what did you just say? Say it again."

"It won't change no matter how many times you ask," I pulled my arm free from her grip. "I'm sticking with Dad."

Her tears slid down her cheeks, stabbing me right in the heart.

"Stella, don't you want your mom anymore?" she choked out.

I gestured at the huge house, "What good are you? Could you ever get me a place like this?

"I'm about to take exams. Can you even afford my one-on-one tutoring?

"I'm still growing. How are you supposed to make sure I eat well? With those sad leftovers from the market?

"Mom, Dad doesn't even care about you. You can't drag me down with you, right? Why should I give up the good life and suffer with you?

"Dad could just throw me some spare cash, and I'd be living large. Even if you worked ten jobs a day, could you ever make as much as Dad does in an hour?"

My mom broke down, her knees buckling as she dropped to the floor. She stared at me, eyes empty. "You really don't want me anymore?"

I shot her an impatient look. "Mom, is this really about me not wanting you? Let's be real. You can't afford me. You can't give me the life I want.

"Stop wasting your time fighting for me. You'd be better off finding a job and figuring out how to survive on your own."

With that, I shook off her hand and marched straight to my room. No matter how many times my mom called after me, I never looked back.

I couldn't risk it. If I turned around, my tears would totally betray me, and all the performance I put on for my dad would go down the drain.

Before I closed the door, I saw my dad with his arm around that woman, grinning like a victorious general.

"Get out. Don't linger here. If you dirty up my brand-new carpet, could you even afford to replace it?" he snapped at my mom.