Chapter 2

"You said it yourself. I'm your mother, so everything I do is for your own good! Holding onto your position as Mrs. Parker is good for you, and it's good for all of us."

That last sentence made me suddenly realize something, and I snapped my head up to look at her.

"Mom, tell me the truth. Did you take more money from James?"

My mom's lips twitched, but she didn't say a word.

"If you don't tell me, I'll go ask him myself."

Only then was she forced to tell me the truth.

"It's just that your brother is getting married, so James gave him a high-rise downtown condo as a wedding home." She wiped away a tear. "Don't blame your brother. If you want to blame someone, blame your father and me for being useless."

A sharp pain twitched through my chest again.

I had to face a bitter truth. In my parents' eyes, I was always the one who had to be sacrificed for my brother.

My eyes turned bloodshot, and my voice was terribly raspy.

"Mom, in your eyes, my husband missing a dead woman is nothing. And the daughter I nearly died to give birth to calling someone else 'Mom' is also nothing.

"Then what about me? What am I in the eyes of you, Dad, and James?"

My mom moved her lips and finally squeezed out, "I don't understand all this talk about love and affection. I only know that what's in your hands is the most tangible.

"You're Mrs. Parker. You live without worry, and your family benefits from it too. What's bad about that?

"Celeste, back then, you chose to trade your life for the position of Mrs. Parker because you wanted the Parkers' lifestyle. Why bother stressing over a dead person now?"

At her words, my nails dug into my palm from how tightly I clenched them.

After Olivia died, James was heartbroken, living almost like the walking dead. I was the one who insisted on staying by his side to take care of him.

Once, he was drunk and walking in the middle of the street, almost getting hit by a car. So I acted fast and pushed him away.

In the end, he didn't get hurt at all, but I suffered broken ribs, a damaged heart, and almost didn't make it out of emergency care. After I recovered, James proposed.

Everyone said my car accident was worth it, letting me transform into a princess overnight.

When James and I fought and he got angry, he would also say, "I already married you, and divorce isn't in the picture, so what else are you unsatisfied with?!"

Right, what else was I unsatisfied with? It was that no matter how I fought, I could never compete with a dead person.

Thinking of this, my gaze moved to my daughter's face. I had to admit then that she really didn't look like me.

I slowly loosened my clenched fists and said softly, "Mom, you don't need to take Willow to kindergarten tomorrow. I'll call in sick for her."

"What for?"

I said word by word, "To go to the hospital for a DNA test."

…

Early the next morning, as I walked out of the room with Willow, I saw Mom sitting tiredly on the couch, her eyes bloodshot.

The first thing she said to me was, "Celeste, can you stop making a scene?!

"Willow is a child you almost died to give birth to. Why are you randomly doing a DNA test for no reason, just making people laugh at you? If James and his parents find out, how do you plan to explain it?"

I mumbled softly, "Yeah, she's a child I almost died to give birth to, so why doesn't she look like me, but like Olivia instead?"

After speaking, I ignored my mom and carried Willow out the door.

The testing process went smoothly. Since I took the expedited lane, I got the result two hours later.

When I saw the conclusion in the report, tears flowed down uncontrollably.