Chapter 1

"Viv, your dad is such a scoundrel! If it weren't for you, I would have broken up with him a long time ago!"

I could hear Mom's familiar nagging in my ears again.

I abruptly opened my eyes and saw Mom sitting next to me. She talked while choking back her tears.

Judging from the exact same words she was saying to me as she did in my past life, I knew then that I had been reborn.

"Life has been so hard on me…"

Mom continued sobbing as she grabbed my hands, letting her tears drip onto the back of my hand.

She looked just as sincere as she did in my past life. However, this time, I wasn't in a rush to comfort her. Instead, I silently wiped the tears on the back of my hand against the bedsheet.

"Mom," I said in a quiet voice. "I know… Dad does get a little out of hand at times."

Mom started crying and sobbing even more loudly than before. It was as if she wanted to vent and let all of her feelings out.

"He doesn't care about the family anymore! He's keeping all the money and won't let me even touch it! He doesn't care about you or me anymore and is just letting us suffer!

"I just asked him to buy me a new dress last week, and he wouldn't stop yelling at me and insulting me in public!"

I listened to her complaints quietly while scoffing in my heart.

Last week?

Just last week, Dad had bought her a gold chain necklace, and she'd even proudly shown it off to her bridge club members when she saw them. She'd flaunted, saying that she'd bought the necklace with her own private stash of cash.

"And yesterday, too!" Mom continued, sniffling harder. "I just asked him for some buffalo wings, and he threw his fork at me, yelling at me for wasting money on food!"

But Dad had been away on a business trip yesterday and only came home at the crack of dawn.

I reached out and lightly patted Mom on the back.

"Mom, you're going to get sick if you keep crying like this," I said.

Mom then grabbed my hand tightly like I was her lifeline and said, "You're the only one who understands, Viv! You're the only one who understands what I've been suffering through all this time!"

As if on cue, her tears began falling again. It was as if she were born to be an actress.

"I really can't bear to put up with life like this anymore! If it weren't for you, I would have already…"

She didn't finish her sentence and suddenly stopped halfway, looking at my expression from the corner of her eye.

In my last life, I had finished her sentence for her, saying, "If it weren't for me, you would have already divorced Dad, right? I'm sorry for all these years, Mom."

At first, I thought that we were just seeking solace from each other at that moment. However, Mom went right out and twisted my words when conveying them to Dad, painting me into the picture of an ingrate who had been forcing her to divorce Dad all the time.

I wasn't going to fall for her tricks again in this life.

"Mom," I said, interrupting her in my gentlest voice. "This is between you and Dad. You're both adults. You can both make decisions for yourselves now."

Mom did a double-take as she stared at me. Her sobs died in her throat.

A shocked look briefly flashed across her face, as if she never expected this response from me.

If I were still in my past life, I would have already gotten emotional and taken her side by now.

"Viv… What are you trying to say? What do you mean by this? Aren't I doing everything for your sake?"

"For my sake?" I echoed, looking at her with calm eyes.

"Mom, I've grown up now. Your happiness shouldn't be bound to me anymore."

Mom's eyes turned evasive. She let go of my hand and began wiping away the tears on her face in a fluster.

"You… You think that I'm a nuisance now, don't you? I'm too naggy for you, aren't I?"

"No," I said with a shake of my head. "I just think that this is a problem that should be solved between you and Dad as husband and wife. I'm just your daughter. I shouldn't interfere too much in this."

I knew it. Mom didn't want to divorce Dad.

She just wanted to use the excuse of her "doing it for my sake" to gain pity points to justify all of her complaints and demands for compensation from Dad.

I scoffed coldly in my heart as I said quietly, "I'm tired, Mom."

Mom froze for a second, giving me a once-over like she was trying to determine whether I was lying or not.

She opened her mouth like she was about to say something, but I beat her to it and lay down in bed with my back to her.

"Mom, you should go to sleep a little earlier tonight too."

There was silence for a few seconds.

Finally, I heard Mom getting to her feet and slowly walking toward the door.

"Alright, then go to sleep, Viv. Good night."

It wasn't until late at night, when there weren't any more sounds coming from the door, that I finally relaxed. It seemed as though Mom hadn't gotten suspicious of me yet.

However, just a split second later, the sound at the door suddenly gave me goosebumps all over.

I saw Mom making a suspicious phone call in the kitchen, unable to hide the excitement in her voice as she said, "Don't worry, she hasn't begun suspecting me yet…

"Wait for my next update, okay?"