Chapter 1

By the time Sue and our daughter Tina returned, two weeks had passed.

The quiet house suddenly turned chaotic.

Tina poked her head into the kitchen and started complaining.

“Dad, didn’t I say I want steak for lunch this afternoon? Did you not see my text? It’s already midday, and you haven’t even started cooking.”

Over the years, I've been doing almost everything at home. Having married Sue for so many years, she had never set foot into the kitchen.

I doted on Tina to the heavens, too.

“Cook it yourself if you want to eat it. You’re 18 years old, for goodness’ sake.”

My tone was flat, but her eyes widened nonetheless.

Sue flung her handbag on the couch. “We waited for you for so long! Why didn’t you buy another ticket and join us?”

There was reproach in her voice, as though it was all my fault.

My heart sank as I sighed, feeling exhausted. “Were you genuinely waiting for me?”

Over the past two weeks, the mother-daughter pair didn’t bother blocking me from all their posts on social media. They would go to a different attraction every day and have tons of fun.

Even if I managed to rush there, I wouldn’t be able to catch up with them.

I had been looking forward to my daughter’s graduation trip. I stayed up many nights to draw up the itinerary, but as it turned out, they didn’t need me at all.

Sue was dumbfounded.

Clement Goodwill was right behind her, walking in with bags upon bags of things.

“Harley, don’t blame Sue. She didn’t mean it. You’re a family, anyway. You can go on a holiday anytime. I simply lucked out and earned a holiday.”

Clement smiled smugly.

It was the same smile he wore when he used to snatch my beloved toys from me when we were young.

Tina looked at me in displeasure. She stood right in front of Clement and said, “Dad, can you quit being such a party pooper? I like it better going out with Clement compared to you anyway…”

Perhaps realizing that she had been shooting her mouth off, her voice trailed away toward the end.

My heart trembled as pain spread to the rest of my body.

One was my wife whom I had been married to for 20 years. The other was my daughter whom I had raised for 18 years.

My heart turned cold looking at them defending Clement, but I refused to give up hope.

“Were you not thinking of including me right from the beginning?”

Sue and Tina exchanged glances, both looking guilty.

I rubbed my temples, feeling helpless. “I simply bought the wrong ticket. Must you keep harping on my mistake?”

The tension in the air was palpable.

Clement spoke up.

“Forget it, Sue. He’s just like that, always suspicious of people around him. It must feel tiring to be married to him. If I had a say in this, you’d be better off divor…”

Before he could complete his sentence, the anger and indignation buried deep in my heart burst forth, and I swung my fist at him.

The next second, I felt an intense pain in my forehead.

Someone shoved me aside.

“Clement! Are you alright?”

Tina’s face was etched with concern when she saw the bruise on Clement’s face.

I briefly touched the wound on my forehead where blood had started flowing.

There was an ashtray stained with blood by Tina’s feet. For Clement’s sake, my daughter whom I had raised for 18 years hit me with an ashtray.

Sue looked extremely concerned as well.

“Harley, how ridiculous can you be? Clement is your younger brother! Let’s go to the hospital.”

Before they left, Sue turned to glare at me.

“If it’s anything serious, I’ll never spare you!”

She slammed the door behind her, leaving me with indignation I couldn’t quite swallow.