Chapter 4

My mother was serious about starting a studio.

Only a few days later, I started hearing news about her from relatives, and the details were quite specific.

One relative sighed and told me that she had taken all the cash from the divorce settlement and poured it into renting an entire floor in the busiest office building downtown for her studio.

However, she had been a stay-at-home mom for decades. She spent her days scrolling through her phone, reading novels about “great heroines.”

She only knew that a great heroine had to build a career and be independent, yet she had no idea what exactly to do or how to go about it.

On one random afternoon, she called me.

When I answered her call, she spoke in excitement and confidence.

“Selena, guess what? My studio’s finally opening!

“In two days at 10 a.m., bring your dad and your little boyfriend and come see me launch my career.”

On the opening day, my father, Miles, and I arrived at that office building on time.

As soon as we walked into the lobby, we saw many familiar faces. There were my mother’s relatives, old neighbors, and even my father’s former colleagues.

It seemed that my mother had invited almost everyone she knew.

When we got to the floor my mother had rented, I could already see her from down the hall.

She was dressed head-to-toe in designer wear. Her hair was perfectly in place, and every gesture seemed carefully rehearsed to project the image of a successful businesswoman.

I walked up and said, “Mom, you’re amazing. You rented out an entire floor for your studio? That’s such a huge move. You must be starting something big, right?”

She became smug when she heard this.

“You bet I am! I’m running the hottest money-maker in town right now. This is going to be an aesthetics clinic.

“Every woman wants to look flawless these days. You can’t even imagine how much an aesthetics clinic earns.

“Of course, the upfront costs are massive, too. But not everyone is bold enough like me to drop that kind of cash upfront.”

She then quickly pulled out her phone, opened a photo, and held it up to me.

“Look, this is Dr. Parker, whom I personally brought over from Korvia. He’s a big name in the aesthetics industry, with top-notch skills.

“He’s also my business partner. He handles all the day-to-day operations of the studio. I’ll just sit back and let the money roll in.”

Those who were standing nearby could not hold back their praise.

“No way! Did you actually bring in a Korvian doctor as a partner? That’s insane!”

“An aesthetics clinic with a Korvian expert? You’re definitely going to make bank.”

My mother’s smile broadened even more when she heard this.

“Of course! You’ll all get to meet him later. He’ll come over to invite us in and host the opening ceremony.”

She spoke while tucking her hair back, feigning shyness.

“Actually, Dr. Parker took care of the setup and the decorating himself. He wouldn’t even let me peek, saying he wanted it to be a huge surprise. How sweet is that?”

Time ticked by. Eventually, the initially scheduled time came and went, yet the so-called Dr. Parker was still nowhere to be seen.

The relatives around them also began to whisper among themselves.

“What’s going on? Where’s Dr. Parker?”

“You don’t think something happened to him, do you?”

I could not help but urge my mother as well.

“Mom, why don’t you give Dr. Parker a call? We’ve all been waiting here for a while now.”

However, my mother just waved her hand.

“Relax. Good things take time. He’s probably just caught in traffic. Hang on, he’ll be here any minute.”

Yet after another full hour of waiting, there was still no sign of Dr. Parker.

The murmurs around them grew louder.

My mother’s expression turned more sour by the minute. She gave up waiting.

She gritted her teeth, walked quickly to the studio’s front door, and pushed it open abruptly.

The moment the door opened, she froze completely. She gasped in disbelief.

“Wh-What happened to my clinic?”