Chapter 2

Five days later, my phone buzzed with a reminder: Jimmy's graduation ball was tonight.

They called it a graduation party for the students, but honestly, it was just another chance for the parents to swap business cards and talk shop.

I deleted the reminder and set my phone aside, focusing on the game of checkers with Mom.

Suddenly, my phone rang. But I was too focused on the game to answer it.

Mom grabbed it and put it on speaker.

"Who is it?" she asked.

At the same time, Jimmy's voice came through.

"You promised me a custom suit, so why did you cancel it? What am I supposed to wear tonight? God, you're so useless!" he yelled, sounding annoyed.

I quickly reached for the phone.

Mom held it back. Her eyes shimmered with tears, but her voice was steady. "Jimmy, this is your grandma. How could you speak to your mom like that? You need to show her some respect."

Jimmy had been coddled and never talked to like that before, so he lost it. "You old hag, my mom messed up my suit because she was busy looking after you, right? This is all your fault."

Mom was so furious she couldn't catch her breath, nearly passing out right there.

I snatched the phone and yelled, "Jimmy, I'm not your mom anymore. Don't ever call me again—I don't have a son like you."

Then I hung up and helped my mom lie down on the bed.

She gripped my hand tightly. "Sienna, I got you into this mess. I'm so sorry."

I shook my head and gently comforted her until she finally fell asleep.

Years ago, when Harrison asked me to quit my job, Mom warned me to think carefully. She'd said it was easy to leave work for family, but much harder to return.

Harrison had held a grudge against her ever since, and as a result, Jimmy never showed her any respect.

I let out a long, deep breath. Then I noticed Mom's frown—was she worrying about me even in her sleep?

Mom, for the rest of your life, I'd be here with you.

*****

I quietly closed the door and headed to the kitchen to start dinner. Suddenly, my phone rang again.

It was Harrison. I hung up, but he called again. I hung up once more, and then a text popped up: [Should I call your mom instead?]

He called again, and this time, I picked up.

"I'm not blaming you for not getting new suits for me and Jimmy," he said coolly. "But you have to come to the graduation party tonight. I need to talk business with one of Jimmy's classmates' parents, and he's bringing his wife along."

I knew he wanted to use the image of a happy couple to help close the deal.

"What a pity, Mr. Chappell. We're divorced," I replied flatly.

Harrison took a drag from his cigarette. "We're not divorced yet."

Suddenly, a familiar woman's voice came through the phone. "Hey, why are you still smoking? That's not good for you."

It was Miranda.

And Harrison put out his cigarette.

I said breezily, "Why not let Miss Watson go with you instead?"

Harrison snapped, "Don't slander Miss Watson!

"She has to earn money to pay for her dad's cancer treatment, take care of her depressed mom, and look after her bedridden grandma. Still, she manages to be such a great teacher that all the students adore her.

"Look at you—you can't even handle something as simple as ordering a custom suit. Maybe you're getting senile."

I narrowed my eyes at the clouds above, my tone calm. "Well, it's not just the students who like her—you do too."

Harrison lost it. "You're being totally unreasonable. Just don't keep me waiting on divorce day."

After hanging up, I let out a long, slow breath.

I felt so good.

I really got to Harrison this time.

I'd caught him getting cozy with Miranda, and he still acted all calm and innocent? How ridiculous.

*****

After dinner, Mom and I went to the gazebo by the creek to cool down.

A local drove over and called out excitedly, "Sienna, a luxury car just pulled up at your place. Is your husband coming to pick you up? Man, rich people sure live another way. I'm so jealous."

I headed back home and found Harrison's secretary, who looked on the verge of falling apart. He begged me to go back with him, saying he'd get fired otherwise.

What a pro at guilt-tripping—typical of someone trained by Harrison.

I called the cops, and only then did the secretary leave.

Later that evening, while I was chatting with my neighbors, I got a message from Jennifer Reed, my college senior. She'd helped me out a lot back when we worked on the projects with our professor.

It read: [Sienna, why didn't you come to Jimmy's graduation party? I was hoping to surprise you, but you never showed.]

I was a bit caught off guard and replied honestly: [I've split up with Jimmy's dad.]

[Oh, sorry! Anyway, happy breakup.]

[Thanks, Jennifer.]

After that little exchange, I went to take a shower. When I stepped out, my phone was blowing up with messages.

Harrison: [You got what you wanted. Happy now?]

The rest were all from Jimmy.

[You didn't show up, whatever. But why did you let everyone know about the divorce? You messed up a deal worth hundreds of millions. Hurry up and clear things up—tell them you were getting divorced out of spite.]

[Keep ignoring me, huh? That money could set you up for life. Dad busted his ass for over a decade to give you this cushy life, and not only did you not appreciate it, you stabbed him in the back. I'm beyond disappointed.]

I called him and sneered, "You graduated middle school and still this stupid? How could a nine-figure deal fall apart just because I didn't show up? Harrison blew it, got it? If you don't, maybe you should go back to kindergarten and start over."

Then I hung up quickly, cutting off Jimmy's furious yelling.

Before long, my phone buzzed nonstop with his messages.

[You crazy woman!]

[You ruined everything.]

[You forced my hand, so don't come crying later. I'm gonna make you regret this.]

I couldn't even be bothered to reply.

Had he ever shown me a single ounce of respect?

He idolized Harrison like some hero while looking down on me for only doing laundry and cooking.

But it didn't matter anymore.

The past was past.