Chapter 9

"Mom's a leech," Michael said. "All she knows is get mad and waste your money."

The car came to a hard stop.

Finn's face darkened as he turned to stare at his son, who was still muttering under his breath.

Who could have imagined that such ugly words could come from the mouth of a seven-year-old child?

Michael froze, frightened.

Finn drew in a deep breath. "Who taught you to say that?"

He remembered his son as a gentle, well-behaved boy. When had Michael turned into this?

There was a time when Michael adored his mother—when he would follow her everywhere, calling out "Mom" in that sweet, sing-song voice that filled the house with warmth.

He didn't know when that changed.

At some point, Michael had grown sharp-tongued, defiant—demanding a new mother, showing open disgust toward the mother who had raised him.

Back then, Finn had assumed it was because Michael had seen too many of his mother's emotional outbursts.

But now… now he realized that once upon a time, she had been the