Chapter 1

I slipped my phone back into my pocket, put on a smile warmer than any capitalist's, and stepped out from the corner.

My employer happened to be coming out of the kitchen with a plate of freshly cut fruit.

His name was Kyle Foster, a man with an exceptionally steady presence. The designer loungewear he wore so casually probably cost more than my entire year's living expenses.

"Mr. Arthur Wilder, come have some fruit," Kyle said with a smile. "Roobs is a little clumsy. She didn't scare you earlier, did she?"

Roobs?

The corner of my mouth twitched.

I glanced at my mother, Ruby Lawrence, who was following behind him with her head lowered, carrying a fruit platter. I'd lived long enough to see some strange things, but this was a first.

My mother was pushing fifty, and she had spent years working the assembly line on overnight factory shifts until wrinkles were etched into the corners of her eyes.

Here she was, in this mansion, being called "Roobs" with unmistakable affection. She'd somehow landed herself a taste of the wealthy life.

I had to admit, this sugar daddy’s taste was, to put it mildly, quite peculiar.

"No, not at all. Ms. Lawrence looks like a kind, family-oriented woman."

I practically bit down on the words "kind" and "family-oriented".

Mom coughed guiltily and hurriedly held a peeled grape up to Kyle's mouth. "Kyle, sit down and rest. Leave tutoring the child to Mr. Wilder."

Kyle casually took hold of her hand. Though he was smiling, there was an unmistakable sense of control in his voice.

"Roobs, what I like most about you is that you're completely devoted to Olivia and me.

"If I ever found out you were lying to me and had another family somewhere out there, I definitely wouldn't let you off easy."

My stomach churned, but my expression never changed.

Over the next two hours, I witnessed what a true master of emotional caregiving looked like.

Mom, who wouldn't even pick up a fallen broom at home, had transformed into the perfect homemaker and nanny rolled into one.

She massaged Kyle's shoulders and sat with five-year-old Olivia Foster, building LEGO sets. She even sang English nursery rhymes to Olivia with her hopelessly off-key voice.

Olivia called her Mom over and over.

As I worked through math problems with Olivia, I sneered inwardly.

Mom claimed she was only taking advantage of him.

However, from where I was sitting, nobody got this good at playing the role overnight.

This level of practice took time—at least a year or more.

When class finally ended, Kyle transferred my tutoring fee without hesitation and even added an extra $200 for a ride home.

After I walked out of the villa gates, Mom snuck out under the pretext of taking out the trash.

"Arthur..." She rubbed her hands together like a child who'd done something wrong.

"Stop right there." I raised a hand. "I don't care whether this whole story about taking money from him to help us is true or not. I only care about the result.

"Dad's dialysis and nutrition expenses for next week need to be paid by noon tomorrow. If they aren't, I guarantee that family portrait will be hanging beside his hospital bed tomorrow."

Mom nodded repeatedly.

To my surprise, her eyes even welled up with tears. "Don't worry. The money will be there.

"Arthur, I know you think I'm dirty, but if this can keep your father alive, then this old face and these weary bones of mine are worth selling."

As I watched her slightly heavier figure disappear back into the gilded villa, my emotions were a tangled mess.

On the ride home, I opened my banking app and checked Dad's medical account.

Sure enough, a large transfer had been deposited into the account every month for the past six months. It was enough to keep Dad on the best imported medication available.

Could Mom really be doing all of this just for the money?

I touched the two strands of hair tucked away in my pocket. While Olivia wasn't paying attention earlier, I'd quietly plucked them from her head.

Whether this was really only about money could be determined by finding out whether Olivia was biologically related to Mom.

After all, five years ago, Mom had claimed she was leaving town for a year to work elsewhere.