Chapter 3

Sophia bawled her eyes out, claiming she had lost her mind. She promised to never see Marcus again.

I was so overjoyed I couldn't sleep. I handed my platinum card right over and told her to go shopping.

I never imagined that the very next day, she would take the money and run. She drained my accounts and blocked my number.

Terrified she'd been kidnapped, I called the cops.

When the police kicked her apartment door down, we found her cuddled up on Marcus's chest.

She looked at me with total disgust and offered a sickeningly sweet excuse. "Mom, chill out. That money was going to be my inheritance anyway. I just took an early advance.

"Why did you call the cops? Stop being such a drama queen! Marcus owes some bad people money, and collectors are threatening us.

"I've been crying for days. You don't want your daughter to suffer, right?"

Marcus stood there, arrogantly twisting the knife. "Come on, lady, have a heart. This is pocket change for someone like you. Sophia is pregnant. Her only option now is to marry me."

I almost passed out from the rage. I sobbed, "You robbed your own mother for a gambling, cheating deadbeat?!"

She flew into a rage the second I insulted him. She lunged at me, only to be held back by a police officer.

She shrieked, "He's not a deadbeat! He is my soulmate! He's the closest person to me in the world.

"A cold-blooded, greedy bitch like you doesn't know the first thing about love. I'm sticking with him forever. Try and stop me, and you're dead to me!"

Back then, I honestly thought she was just confused. Desperate to save her, I caved. I even got Marcus a cushy security job paying six grand a month, praying he would treat her right.

I compromised constantly. I bought them cars, leased their apartment, and funded their entire lifestyle.

But Marcus was never going to settle. He worked that security job for exactly two days before hooking up with a wealthy female resident. Then, he kicked Sophia to the curb.

Naturally, Sophia blamed everything on me. In my last life, her face twisted in pure rage as she drove that knife into my chest.

The memory of that agonizing pain still made my blood run cold.

But now, on this FaceTime call, she was slapping her own cheeks like a maniac.

She cried and begged for my forgiveness.

She even claimed she was pregnant, trying to guilt-trip me into saving her. "Mom, I'm carrying a child now. You can't be so heartless as to abandon your own flesh and blood grandchild, right?"

I turned a deaf ear to her pleas and simply said, "Get rid of the baby, and I'll let you come back."

She stared at me in disbelief, her lips trembling. "How... how could you be so cruel? This is my baby. I could never... I could never do that!"

"Then don't ever expect to step foot in my house again."

Terrified by the sheer ruthlessness in my eyes, my daughter bit her lip and hesitated. Then, as if a sudden thought crossed her mind, she finally agreed to my demand.

Of course, I knew she would never actually terminate the pregnancy. In her eyes, that child was the ultimate symbol of their epic romance.

However, I had already sold off everything of value in her room and frozen her credit cards.

Marcus was already spiraling into a gambling addiction, and those ruthless loan sharks had probably threatened her more than once by now.

So, what exactly would a desperate, penniless girl do?

I smiled as I hung up the phone. I abruptly changed my plan, texting her the front door passcode before quietly turning on the hidden security cameras inside the house.

This time, I was going to let her reap exactly what she sowed.

Sure enough, at two in the morning, the piercing wail of the infrared alarm echoed through the empty mansion

Before leaving, I had deliberately locked all the bank cards and jewelry inside a high-security safe.

The moment someone tried to force it open, it would automatically trigger the alarm, alert the police, and use its built-in camera to capture the intruder's face and fingerprints. It was foolproof.

By now, the cops had probably already slapped the cuffs on Marcus.

A short while later, my phone rang. It was the police station.

The officer explained that my daughter was claiming to be the homeowner, insisting that breaking into the safe was just a huge misunderstanding, and begging them to release Marcus.

The police had informed her that without the actual property owner's consent, nobody was going anywhere.

Knowing she had no other choice, she finally swallowed her pride and begged me to come down and clear things up.

Initially, I had no intention of dealing with them. But on second thought, watching this trainwreck unfold in person sounded like highly entertaining theater.

*****

The moment I walked into the precinct, Sophia lunged at me like I was her saving grace, gripping my hands and refusing to let go.

She looked like an absolute wreck, weeping pitifully. "Mom, you're finally here! These cops won't listen to me at all. Marcus was just helping me pry open my own safe. How is that breaking and entering?"

I yanked my hands away and let out a cold laugh. "I have absolutely no relation to that man. If he steals from my house, what else do you call it but burglary?"

Noticing the officers watching us, she panicked. "Diana! What the hell are you talking about? That is my house, and he is my boyfriend.

"Taking things from our own home isn't stealing! What are you standing around for? Tell them to let Marcus go!"

Wow. She dropped the "Mom" pretty fast and still had the nerve to claim my house as her own. What a raging hypocrite.