Chapter 3

When Mom woke up and saw my eyes that were swollen from all the crying, tears welled up in her own.

“Don’t fear, Ann. I’m fine.” She caressed the burn marks on the back of my hand. “Ann, if I were to leave Dad, would you come with me?”

I nodded without any hesitation. “Mom, I just want to be with you.”

Dad used to treat me very well, taking me out for fun and even taking care of me when I fell sick.

However, the moment he abandoned me for Megan’s sake, I knew I didn’t want to be with him anymore.

“My teacher said that fathers don’t treat their children this way.”

Tears welled up in Mom’s eyes.

“Ann…”

Just then, the door to Mom’s ward opened. Dad walked in with a thermos flask in hand.

“Tina, here’s some chicken soup I made for you. Have some. Megan’s fetus has stabilized, and she’s very grateful for what you did.”

His gaze landed on the burn marks on Mom’s back, feeling slightly bad about what happened.

“Don’t you worry. I’ve found you the best doctor and I’m sure you’ll recover with barely any scars.”

Mom didn’t say anything.

As Dad put the thermos flask down, his phone rang. His face darkened as he listened to what the caller had to say.

“Did you see a lawyer yesterday?”

Mom sat stunned. “You know about it?”

The fact that Mom didn’t deny his accusation made him so furious he flung the thermos flask on the ground.

“Tina, I can’t believe you’re filing an appeal to the court of second instance against her in her current state!”

The broken shards of the thermos flask went flying and scratched Mom’s face. She smiled self-derisively, as though not feeling the pain.

“So that's what you think.”

Dad froze for a second upon seeing the scratch on Mom’s face.

Just as he stretched a hand out on instinct, Megan appeared, looking weak and frail.

“Tina, I know you bear a grudge against me, but my baby is innocent. Please spare him.”

She then made a move to kneel.

Dad stopped her, looking like his heart was about to break into pieces. He swung around and pointed a finger at Mom.

“Are you quite done? Megan is almost on her knees begging! Must you torment her like this?”

Perhaps due to overwhelming disappointment, Mom didn’t bother explaining herself. She looked calmly at Dad and said, “Gerald Gadbury, I want a divorce.”

Dad stood stunned, but his face soon twisted in anger.

“I can’t believe you’re using divorce as a threat just to get even with Megan.”

He was certain Mom was only doing it out of spite.

“Since you insist on being this way, I’ll let you know the price of your decision.”

He stopped all financial support for Mom. He even tapped on his network to stop subsequent treatment for her.

When she was driven out of the hospital, blood was still seeping out of her wounds on her back.

Even so, she didn’t once complain about the pain and insisted on filing the appeal.

However, without Dad’s approval, none of the lawyers in Junicia City dared to assist Mom.

On the day of the appeal, Mom was all alone without any support and lost the lawsuit.

Her case was plastered all over social media.

Everyone praised Dad for being an excellent lawyer that was hard to come by who was willing to stand up for justice even at the expense of his own family.

Mom, on the other hand, was lambasted by netizens.

Someone suspected that Mom knew she would lose her baby soon and used it to frame Megan.

Someone even said that the baby was a result of an affair, so she had to play the part of a victim and find a chance to abort the baby.

Even my classmates dragged my table and chair to the dump site in school. They said that I was the daughter of a wicked scammer, and that even my father didn’t want me. All of them refused to be in the same class with me.

Many parents complained to the school.

“Who knows whether the child of such a shameless mother will end up harassing my child?!”

“Get her out of the school compound!”

I was eventually asked to withdraw from the school.

It was around that time Megan came knocking on our door. She saw the terrible plight Mom and I were in and smirked.

“Tina, Gerald knew a long time ago that I deliberately hit you on the road. In fact, he implicitly allowed it to happen.

“That’s because the baby in my womb is his.

“His heart ached for me that I remained single and he didn’t want me overthinking things, so he got rid of your baby.”