Chapter 2

Back then, I was still in elementary school. As soon as class ended, I'd head straight out to help her run her food stall or bus tables.

On my eleventh birthday, debt collectors showed up at our door, threatening to sell me off to pay off the debt.

My mom fought tooth and nail to stop them, but in the end, she had no choice but to go with them to some shady underground clinic and sell one of her kidneys.

That day, there was a cake on the table, the kind that only showed up on TV.

I was dying to eat it, but I forced myself not to touch it.

My mom wrapped her arms around me, gentle as ever.

She smiled and said, "Violet, let's wait for your dad to come home, and then we'll blow out the candles together."

But my dad never came home that night. No matter how many times we called, his phone kept going to voicemail.

Just when my mom and I were starting to worry he'd gotten into a car accident while delivering food, we saw it on the news.

The CEO of Tyler Group had thrown a seventeen-million-dollar wedding bash for his childhood crush.

I pointed at the face on the screen, my mind reeling.

"Mom, isn't that Dad?" I blurted out.

My mom's face went ghostly pale. She grabbed my hand and dragged me straight into the wedding venue.

We walked in just in time to see my dad slipping a ring onto Julia's finger and pressing a kiss to her forehead.

My mom finally broke down, her eyes swollen and red as she confronted him, voice trembling with tears.

She cried, "Bruce! You said you were broke! You've been lying to me this whole time! Why are you marrying another woman when I'm your wife?"

I was sobbing so hard I could barely speak. "Dad, are you going to leave Mom and me behind?"

The whole wedding venue went dead silent.

Julia's face went ghostly pale, trembling as she clung to my dad. "Bruce, tell me it's not true?"

My dad wrapped his arms around her, trying to comfort her.

When he turned to look at my mom and me, there was a flicker of guilt in his eyes, but then his brows knitted together, and he snapped, "Who let these two lunatics in here? Get them out, now!"

That sentence felt like a slap in the face to my mom and me.

As we were dragged out, the whole crowd erupted in laughter and jeers.

"These two scammers are so desperate to hitch themselves to the rich and powerful!"

"Don't they know Mr. Tyler is famous for protecting his wife? Trying to mess with Ms. Reilly? They must have a death wish!"

After everything, my dad grabbed my mom and me by the hand, apologizing again and again.

He said he only faked going bankrupt to test if Mom really loved him.

He said we were the ones he truly cared about.

He even said Julia was terminally ill, and all she wanted before she died was to have a child with him. He was fulfilling her last wish.

Dad told us, "Just hang in there a little longer. Once Julia's gone, I'll bring you both back, and you'll be living in luxury.

"I'll bring Violet home, and she'll live like a princess. I swear, I'll make it up to you and Violet, I promise."

My mom finally snapped. She yanked her hand away from him, tears streaming down her face and splashing onto the floor.

She cried, "Do you even know how much blood I sold to pay off your debts? I even had one of my kidneys cut out for you. Violet's been wearing the same clothes for five years!"

I looked down at my pants, which were way too short for me now, and my eyes filled with tears.

My dad stood there, frozen, a flicker of guilt flashing in his eyes. "Betty, Violet, I—"

But before he could say anything, a scream suddenly rang out from behind us.

Julia stared at my mom and me, her face white as a sheet as she clutched her chest.

Julia asked, her voice trembling, "Bruce, why are they here?"

My dad's face twisted suddenly, and without warning, he shoved me hard to the ground.

He didn't even glance at my bleeding knee. Instead, he jabbed a finger at my mom and me, barking angrily, "Julia, don't get the wrong idea. These two lunatics won't leave me alone!

"You two bitches, you scared my wife! Apologize to her, now!"

The bodyguards pinned me and my mom to the floor, making us kneel there the entire night, powerless to resist.

We knelt right outside the door, forced to listen to every intimate sound coming from the bridal suite all night long.

The next morning, my mom looked completely numb, like she'd finally given up on my dad for good.

She took my hand, her tears falling silently.

She said, "Violet, let's leave this place. Let's forget about your dad, okay?"

I nodded, with tears in my eyes.

I said, "No matter where you go, Mom, I'll go with you."

Just as I finished speaking, my dad swung the door open, his face darkening in an instant.

"Where do you two think you're going?" he snapped.

My mom looked up at him, her eyes cold as ice.

"Bruce Tyler, that's it. Let's get a divorce," she said.

My dad's face darkened instantly, his eyes full of impatience.

He snapped, "What kind of nonsense is this? I've given you and Violet eleven years of my youth, all my love. What else do you want from me?

"If we get divorced, have you even thought about what will happen to Violet? Do you really want her to suffer with you? How can you be so selfish?"

My mom was shaking with rage, so upset she couldn't even speak.

I stood there, stunned. How could this cold stranger be the same dad who raised me for eleven years?

He didn't even bother to look at my mom or me.