Chapter 2

She dragged me back to the dinner table.

She grabbed my hair and forced my head up so everyone could see my tear-streaked face.

“I punished her for keeping the money to herself. But she’s already spent everything she got. So, there’s no way to pay any of you back.”

Clearly, no one was happy about that much money going down the drain.

Mom could see it too.

She suddenly grabbed a wooden serving spoon from the table and started hitting me with it repeatedly.

The air whistled with each strike.

When the spoon broke, Mom pretended that it pained her to hurt me.

“Anna, I don’t have a choice. You see how upset everyone is. What else am I supposed to do if they won’t forgive you?”

Her voice was shrill and dripped with hidden meaning.

Sure enough, our relatives quickly tried to calm her down because they felt put on the spot.

“Hey, it’s Christmas. Don’t hit the kid like that!”

“Let’s just forget about it. She’s learned her lesson now. It was just a gift, anyway. It’s not like we’d actually ask for it back.”

Seeing that her plan had worked, Mom set down the broken spoon.

Just then, my father, Adam Fisher, returned home.

The relatives immediately started talking over each other to fill him in on everything that had just happened.

His expression darkened. He dropped the gift he had bought for me onto the floor.

“Anna, did you really keep that money to yourself?”

The first thing Dad usually did when he returned home was pat my head gently.

However, he kept his distance today. He did not even seem to notice my swollen face.

I did not want Dad to misunderstand me.

I did not want him to think I was a bad kid. I was afraid he would not love me anymore.

Just as I was about to tell the truth, Mom suddenly dug her fingers into my waist and whispered a threat in my ear.

“Anna, do you want Dad and me to divorce? I’ve sacrificed so much for you and for this family. Can’t you help me just this once?”

She was right.

Dad had a strong sense of justice. He hated dishonesty and schemes more than anything.

If he found out what Mom had done, they would definitely fight. Maybe they would even get divorced.

I did not want to be a child from a broken home.

I wanted our family of three to stay whole.

And Mom...

She used to be gentle. She used to pull me into her arms and let me cling to her.

My grandmother told me that when I was born, Mom lost her career. She spent every day buried in cooking, cleaning, and other household chores.

That was why she had become so anxious and bitter.

It was all my fault. I owed her.

I clenched my fists, nodded, and admitted to everything.

The relatives shook their heads as they tried to smooth things over.

“Anna, I’ve known you since you were little. I thought there must be some misunderstanding, but now that you’ve admitted it…”

“What happened to you, kid?”

It was just like they said.

I was a bad kid and a liar.

But at least I had saved my family.

Mom breathed a sigh of relief beside me.

Dad, on the other hand, was so angry that he flipped the Christmas dinner table over. Then, he tore apart the princess dress he had bought for me and stomped on it.

It was the latest design. He had bought it because I had lingered on it a little too long in the store. He had spent half a month’s salary to buy it for me.

I forced back my tears and made myself look away.

What hurt even more was my throat. Those hits from my mother had driven the fish bone deeper.

Every breath now felt like torture.

My teacher had said that this kind of situation was very dangerous.

I crept over to Dad. I was careful and hesitant.

With my head lowered, I tugged lightly at his sleeve and managed to force some words out. “Dad, there’s a fish bone stuck in my throat. Can you take me to the hospital?”

Dad stared at me.

Normally, he would have panicked. Although at this moment, he simply snorted.