Chapter 2

I was dead.

Floating in the air, I glanced down and saw my body sprawled out on the bed.

Foam clung to the corners of my mouth, tear stains marked my cheeks, and my hair was a tangled mess stuck to my forehead.

What an ugly way to die.

Without thinking, I tried to fix my hair, but my hand just went straight through me.

Forget it.

Not like I ever looked any better to them when I was alive.

Laughter drifted in from the living room, louder and more lively than before.

I floated out and saw the dining table already set with freshly made dishes.

Steamed white fish sat in the center, glistening with oil.

Alyssa was sitting in my spot, and Shane was eagerly piling food onto her plate.

Wayne raised his glass with a fawning smile. "Alyssa, let me toast you. Please take care of my dad from now on."

Alyssa quickly waved her hand. "Wayne, don't say that. Your mom is still here."

Wayne paused, his voice dropping but every word clear.

He said, "With my mom the way she is, she might as well be dead. If you don't want to see her, we can send her to a nursing home. We'll cover the costs, so she won't be in your way."

I hovered behind Wayne, and even though my heart was gone, a stab of pain still hit right where it used to be.

I remembered that winter, twenty-four years back.

Wayne was just three days old when the doctor walked in, his face grave. He said Wayne had kidney issues and might not survive past his first month.

I begged desperately in the doctor's office. "Doctor, please, save him. I'll do anything. Take my life if it'll save him."

When it was finally time for the transplant, I was the first one to volunteer for the match.

The doctor told me there were risks, but my hand was steady as I signed the consent form.

"He's my flesh and blood. My kidney was always meant to be his," I said.

On the day of the surgery, right before the anesthesia took effect, I held the doctor's hand and said, "If anything happens, please save my son first."

Now, my son was ready to get rid of me.

All so his dad's new lover, Alyssa, could have my place.

My daughter, Jocelyn, picked up her drink, her tone casual.

She said, "Alyssa, don't feel pressured. My mom really has been holding my dad back for too long. He's only sixty-five. He can't spend his whole life taking care of her, right?"

Jocelyn curled her lip, that look of disdain so familiar to me.

She continued, "Honestly, my mom doesn't just drag my dad down. She drags the whole family down.

"If Mom hadn't gotten sick, I'd have been working at the headquarters by now. Instead, I'm stuck in this small town, and my whole career's gone down the drain."

She sighed, and the bitterness in that sound made my whole body go cold.

"It's all because of her," Jocelyn added.

I floated in front of Jocelyn, wanting to take a closer look at the face I had cherished since she was little.

Memories came crashing over me like a flood.

Twenty-six years ago, I gave birth to Jocelyn.

When Maeve, my mother-in-law, lifted the blanket and saw the baby, her face dropped. "Just another money pit."

Late at night, I overheard Maeve whispering to my father-in-law. "Just toss her in the ravine out back, so she can have a son next time."

I ran out barefoot, managing to catch up with Maeve in the snow.

She had already reached the riverbank, cradling Jocelyn in her arms.

I clung to her arm and begged her desperately.

The snow was falling heavily that day, the cold nipping at every inch of skin.

"Maeve, please, I'm begging you. She's your own granddaughter. I swear I'll give you another grandson someday. Just spare her, please," I said.

I sank to my knees, gripping her legs, pressing my forehead to the frozen ground, over and over. The dull thud echoed in the cold air.

Blood seeped from my forehead, and Maeve finally hurled Jocelyn, her small frame blue with the cold, back into my arms.

"She's nothing but bad luck. Even alive, she's no good," Maeve snapped.

From that day forward, I cherished Jocelyn even more than Wayne.

I was always afraid she'd feel like she shouldn't have been born.

When Jocelyn started school, she was always at the top of her class.

Maeve snorted. "Why bother sending a girl to school? She should start working and making money as soon as possible."

I clenched my jaw and set up a street breakfast cart on the sidewalk.

I got up at three in the morning to buy fresh ingredients, prep the food, and bake muffins and other treats.

To earn a bit more, I skipped my lunch break to keep selling boxed lunches and grab-and-go meals all afternoon.

To make a little more money, I didn't take a break at noon and kept selling grab-and-go lunch boxes.

Still, I got Jocelyn into college.

She was the first college student in Shane's family.

The day I took her to the train station, she hugged me, crying, "Mom, once I've made something of myself, I'll bring you with me so you can live the good life."

I said, "I don't need you to make life easy for me. I want you to spread your wings and soar. Don't end up stuck in the kitchen all your life as I did."

Now she had flown away.

And she said I was the one holding her back.

Alyssa set down her fork and picked up a napkin, gently dabbing at the corners of her eyes.

That move was so graceful. I could never pull that off, not in a million years.

Her voice caught just the right amount of emotion. "Kids, you've both been through so much. I've watched you grow up since you were little, and in my heart, you've always been like my own children."

Alyssa looked up at Shane, her gaze watery with emotion.

She said, "If your mom hadn't married your dad first back then, maybe I'd be the one you call mom.

"Honestly, all of this is your mom's fault. It's got nothing to do with you."

Alyssa wiped at the corners of her eyes again.

Shane reached out and took her hand, his eyes teary. "Alyssa, don't say that. It's just the way things are."

Suddenly, Wayne stood up, his face set in a solemn expression.

Then Jocelyn rose to her feet, too.