Chapter 3
The next morning, I walked into the hospital room to hear Linda sobbing her heart out.
"All you ever care about is making money. I barely see you all year. Is it my fault I cheated? Why don't you ever reflect on yourself?" she cried.
I stood off to the side, and honestly, I wanted to give her a thumbs-up.
She never stopped to think—if it weren't for David, she wouldn't be living the good life she was.
It was the early 2000s, and she'd blow hundreds on a single lace cami without blinking. Meanwhile, David—pulling in five figures a year—handed over every dime he earned, just because he felt guilty.
David and my dad were close. He was so worried no one would look after Linda and Sophie that he even took out a loan to buy them an apartment near my dad's place, hoping my dad would look out for them.
But who would've thought that "looking after them" would end up with my dad sleeping with Linda?
David didn't even waste his breath arguing with Linda.
He just spat out coldly, "Let's get a divorce."
Linda wasn't about to let go of her cash cow.
She instantly went full drama mode, crying and screaming.
"How dare you, David? I've given you a kid and run this house for years, working myself to the bone for you. I slipped up once, and you're going to hold onto it forever?" she shouted. "Be a gentleman and move on, okay?"
David was so mad, the veins pulsing on his forehead, but he didn't lay a hand on her.
Linda kept acting like she was the wronged one, sobbing until she passed out.
The doctor rushed in to check on her.
Turned out, she was already more than a month pregnant.
And everyone knew whose baby it was.
In my previous life, Linda was terrified that her dirty affair with my dad would get exposed. After finding out she was pregnant, she even went to see David on the coast, then later claimed she'd had a premature son.
Henry, the kid, looked just like Linda, so David never suspected a thing. He raised Henry for more than twenty years, only to get stabbed in the back.
When everything blew up, Henry teamed up with my dad, looted all of David's assets, and threw him out of his own home.
This time around, I was going to drag everything into the light.
Those guys were not getting another dime off David—ever again.
When Linda came to and learned she was pregnant, she wasn't ashamed—she was even more indignant.
With David dead set on divorce, she wouldn't let up.
"David, Sophie's gone. Can't you accept this child as yours? Why are you being so petty?" she sobbed.
David, who'd never laid a hand on a woman, finally snapped and slapped her hard.
"Get out!" he roared.
*****
News spread like wildfire throughout the neighborhood. People were talking about how Linda's affairs led to her daughter's kidnapping, and now she was pregnant with another man's child.
It got so big that local tabloid reporters even wrote a story for the local news.
Facing massive public pressure and David's threat of a lawsuit, Linda finally agreed to the divorce.
Of course, she made sure to cash out before she walked out the door.
My dad couldn't be happier as he welcomed Linda back home.
He even took her to the hospital for a check-up, and after making some careful inquiries and finding out it was a boy, he started treating her like a princess.
They speed-married, and their marriage was actually pretty loving.
My dad had lost his job because of the scandal, but he had some savings. He made sure Linda had the best of everything.
Linda was living her best life, with my dad by her side and money to burn—not a single thought spared for David anymore.
But as time went on, she got more hostile toward me, scared I'd try to steal her son's inheritance.
I overheard her multiple times trying to convince my dad to get rid of me.
My dad was probably thinking the same thing. With a new wife and son, I was basically worthless.
As Linda's belly grew bigger, my dad started worrying that the gossip floating around the neighborhood would mess with her mood, so he upped and moved her to a new place.
Naturally, he left me behind.
By the time I got back from school, the whole apartment had been cleared out. The landlord was there, ready to reclaim the place.
I laughed in furious disbelief. Did this bastard even realize he'd committed felony child abandonment?
I called the cops, but the first one to arrive was David.
He picked me up and sighed deeply.
"Poor kid. That dad of yours is just a bastard. Why don't you come stay with me? At least we'll have each other," he said.
Once my dad found out David wanted to adopt me, he rushed to sign away the custody papers—anything to make sure I didn't mess up his shiny new romance with Linda.
David took me home. This rough, not-so-talkative guy started learning how to be a real guardian.
It was clear how much these family disasters had crushed him.
He quit his shipping job and found some random local work just to get by.
It wasn't easy, but for the first time, our life felt somewhat stable.