Chapter 4

A week before the SATs, I began packing my things.

Sam kept flaunting his place in the family in front of me whenever he could.

“Ron, you have to admit, you’re a pretty pathetic excuse for a father.”

He waved a credit card in my face.

“See this? Meera gave me a card with no spending limit. I’m the one she really loves!”

I could not help but laugh out loud.

“If she really loved you so much, why didn’t she marry you? You’re nothing but a sugar baby.”

“You…”

Sam’s face flushed with rage. He was breathing heavily.

“Don’t be so smug. As soon as Bessie finishes her SATs, Meera’s filing for divorce. You’re dead weight around here, Ron. You couldn’t do a good job taking care of your own daughter, yet you still refuse to step aside. Let me tell you something, Bessie already calls me Dad.”

He pulled up their chat history on his phone.

On Father’s Day, Bessie had given him an electric razor, along with a heartfelt message.

[Happy Father’s Day to the best dad in the world.]

My heart gave a sudden, painful thud.

Bessie had said those same words to me countless times before.

However, ever since I started pushing her relentlessly during her senior year, our relationship had fallen apart.

I drew in a deep breath.

“Tell Meera to hurry it up then. I couldn’t be more ready.”

After that day, Meera and Sam stopped trying to hide their relationship.

They took Bessie to parties and posted pictures online, proudly presenting themselves as the perfect family of three.

Bessie treated Sam more like a father than she ever treated me.

“Sam, when I get into an Ivy League school, I’m going to buy you a huge house!”

“I’ll hold you to that.” Sam grinned from ear to ear.

Meera linked her arm through his and shot me a smug glance.

“Look at what a wonderful daughter Bessie is. If you hadn’t held her back all these years, she might already have received an early acceptance from a top college.”

I did not bother to respond. I just sent her the divorce papers and walked out the door with my suitcase.

The night before the SATs, Meera called me for the first time since I moved out.

“Bessie takes the SATs tomorrow. You will come with us to drop her off at the school.”

“Not happening.”

She gasped. “Ron, how can you be so heartless? This is one of the biggest days of Bessie’s life, and you can’t even show some decency?”

I had no interest in arguing with her.

“Just sign the divorce papers and stop calling me.”

Meera must have been genuinely furious.

“Fine! After I drop Bessie off at the school tomorrow, I’ll meet you at your attorney’s office. I should’ve known you were never much of a husband!”

The next day, outside my attorney’s office, Meera looked positively triumphant.

“Bessie got the second-highest score in her entire grade on the mock exam two days ago. She’s practically guaranteed a place at an Ivy League school! Just wait until her real score comes back! You’re going to eat your words!”

Standing tall in her high heels, she looked unbearably pleased with herself.

“You still have time to change your mind.”

I quickly signed the papers and slid them across the table.

“Stop wasting my time. Just sign.”

“Fine. I will!”

She snorted and signed her name across the papers before putting the pen aside.

“When Bessie’s results come back, you’re going to regret this!”

Just then, her phone rang.

“Hello? Who’s this?”

She had accidentally put the call on speaker. The voice on the other end echoed through the attorney’s office.

“Are you Bessie’s mother? You need to get to the school immediately. Bessie was caught cheating on her SATs!”