Chapter 1

When my daughter was pushed down the stairs and lost her shot at the chess championship, my wife stopped me from reporting it, just because the culprit was the son of her school sweetheart.

She said, "The boy didn't mean it. This is between kids. Let's not blow it out of proportion."

I hated how she defended the culprit and insisted on justice, only to be warned by her. "If you insist on reporting him, I'll make sure our daughter couldn't even get a second place!"

I was shocked, unable to believe my wife would say that.

At this point, my daughter wiped her tears and grabbed my hand. "Daddy, I don't want the trophy anymore. And I don't want Mommy too."

I hugged her. "Okay. Daddy will take you far away from here."

*****

After I nailed down the new job at the research institute, I started drafting the divorce papers.

Just then, my wife Ellen Burnett arrived home.

"Chloe, come over here. Look, Mom got you some brand new clothes," Ellen said.

But for once, our usually sweet daughter, Chloe ignored her. She just shot Ellen a cool glance, then lowered her head and kept working on her homework.

Ellen just brushed it off, smiling as she walked over and stroked Chloe's cheek. "I know, sweetie. You must be feeling down because you didn't get first place, right?

"It's no big deal. You're still young. There'll be tons of competitions like this, and you'll get your first place soon enough."

Seeing Chloe's head down, biting her lip, and looking miserable, my rage boiled over.

I shoved Ellen away. "Enough! What, you think Chloe's just a kid and couldn't understand the crap you said before?"

Chloe and I both remember it well—Ellen had said, "If you dare report this accident, I'll make sure Chloe couldn't even get second place."

Ellen frowned, looking at me dismissively. "Oscar, come on, it was just some harmless messing around between two kids. Desmond didn't do it on purpose."

Pissed off, I let out a bitter laugh. "Harmless? Ellen, do you have any idea how high that staircase is? If Chloe hadn't been lucky, she'd have more than just a twisted ankle.

"Desmond was terrified Chloe might win, so he went and pulled this dirty trick."

Ellen frowned, clearly annoyed. "Oscar, give it a rest. Desmond is only ten years old. For God's sake, how could he possibly do something so malicious to Chloe?

"Chloe hurt her ankle, not her brain. She just wasn't good enough this time and landed second place.

"What's the big deal? It's not like I blamed her. She can try harder next time. Why are you so set on making excuses for her?"

Just as I was about to retort, her phone rang.

Ellen answered it right in front of me, and a man's voice came through. "Hey, Ellen, I was wondering if you're free. You gave Desmond that super expensive chess set, and I'd really like to take you out for dinner to thank you in person."

It was Neil Whitaker, Desmond's dad and Ellen's junior.

I really didn't want to get dragged into whatever was between them, so I turned to leave—until I heard the word "chess".

My gaze zeroed in on the table in the corner of the living room. That was when I realized Chloe's chess set was missing.

My heart skipped a beat, and I blurted out, "Where's Chloe's chess set?"

Ellen glanced at me. "Desmond wanted it, so I just handed it over."

When Chloe heard that, her eyes reddened.

Chloe's grandfather had the chess set made just for her, and every piece carved from crystal.

Chloe had treasured it for five whole years, never letting anyone else touch it.

And now, just because another kid fancied it, Ellen gave it away like it was nothing.

Seeing Ellen's total indifference, I was furious. "Ellen, are you crazy? Who the hell gave you the right to give away Chloe's stuff?"

Neil, hearing my voice on the other end of the line, pretended to be anxious. "Is that Oscar? Oh, I had no idea he wasn't okay with it. I shouldn't have let Desmond keep it. I'll send it back tomorrow."

Ellen frowned. "No need. It's just a chess set. It's not like I can't just buy another one myself."

She shot me a cold look. "Oscar, stop freaking out. It's just a dumb chess set. I'll go buy Chloe a new set right now, okay?"

With that, she turned and stormed out the door.

The door slammed shut with a bang, and my face turned ashen. A hollow ache of bitterness and disappointment gnawed at my chest.

Ellen had brought up Neil more times than I could count.

She'd say Neil reminded her of me when I was younger. And since he was a single dad, she always felt like she needed to look out for him a little more.

Back then, I believed Ellen knew to keep boundaries.

Turned out, I was dead wrong. Every single time, she'd jump in to defend Neil, and always end up taking his side against me.

Now she'd gone even further. She let Neil's kid hurt our daughter and handed over the chess set Chloe loved most in the world, just because Desmond wanted it.

I was completely gutted. Staring at the divorce papers spread out across the table, I swore I wasn't only going to divorce Ellen. I'd make her pay for everything she'd done to me and Chloe.