Chapter 2

The tears came up out of her like a dam breaking.

I held her until she could talk. Then she told me–things I had not heard, things I had not been around to hear.

"Daddy, they said I'm a cash drain. Grandma wouldn't give me food.

"I was so hungry… so I ate what cousin Ace left on his plate. They said that was all I deserved.

"Uncle said everything I had was Ace's. He made me wash Ace's underwear. He made me serve Ace at dinner. He said if I didn't, they'd throw me out…"

The pain in my chest doubled with every line.

I had wired so much money home. My daughter had not been allowed to sit at the table. She had been a five-year-old housekeeper for a six-year-old.

When Ace fell, the punishment landed on Lily.

I wanted to walk into that kitchen, pick up the cleaver, and end every adult in this house at once.

Vera was banging on the bedroom door.

"Levi! Open the door! Why are you locking it? We're family!

"This is what happens when you spoil her! She doesn't think of anyone but herself! Ace is her own family! It's just one kidney–why is she being like this?!"

Lily started shaking against my chest.

The fury cleared the rest of my head. I opened the door–my hand came down hard across Vera's face.

She held her cheek, eyes wide, disbelief and anger flashing.

"Levi Jordan! Have you lost your mind?! You hit me?!"

My brother-in-law looked at me with disapproval, going on about how I had no sense of family, no right to call myself her husband.

I stopped listening. I went back to the room, packed our things, picked Lily up, and dragged the suitcase to the door.

If I stayed one more minute, I knew I would walk into the kitchen… and not walk out a free man.

My mother-in-law was at the front gate.

"Mom! Stop him!" my brother-in-law shouted from behind. "He won't let Lily donate!"

She grabbed my arm without thinking–but when she met my eyes, her grip loosened.

I stepped past her.

She suddenly dropped to her knees in front of me, wailing.

"My son-in-law has lost his mind!

"I came all the way from the village to help raise his child, and now he wants to take my granddaughter and run away!

"If you want to leave, you'll have to step over my dead body!"

The moment I thought about what they wanted to do to my daughter, the anger surged.

I kicked the old woman in the stomach.

Then I picked up my suitcase, held my daughter tight, and walked away.

I thought that would be the end of it.

I was wrong.

Vera went live on a streaming platform.

She cried to the camera, accusing me of being violent. She said I only came home once a year, and that I had led our usually obedient daughter astray.

She even played footage–her mother kneeling in front of me, and me kicking her without hesitation.

It was the holiday season. Everyone had time.

Her stream exploded.

Within hours, people were digging up my information, flooding me with insults. Some even edited black-and-white memorial photos of me and posted them on New Year's Day.

Worse, Vera called the police.

They tracked me down at a hotel.

She showed up holding her phone, livestream still running.

In front of everyone, my mother-in-law dropped to her knees again.

"Levi, I'm sorry. I forgot you don't like black sesame dumplings. I should have made peanut filling.

"It's my fault… I didn't make your holiday comfortable. You can hit me, you can scold me–but please, don't take my granddaughter away from home…"

Vera held the phone steady, her voice softer than ever.

"Honey… don't be angry. It's all my fault."

"It's New Year's Day. Come home with me."