All Chapters of Mom Picked Her Golden Child: Chapter 1 - Chapter 8

8 Chapters

Chapter 1

The second I heard her talk, I knew—Mom was back too.She hated how the last round played out. Blamed me for not handing her some glamorous life, so this time she practically leapt at Katerina, who looked shinier on paper.But she forgot something. It wasn't that she didn't pick Katerina last time—Katerina didn't want her.Mom had been a housewife forever, and no one saved squat for her retirement. When I suggested we split the cost, Katerina shot it down."She's got two daughters," she'd said. "How could she possibly end up treated badly?"Easy to say when you're married to some rich foreign guy. Money never touched her nerves.But when it came down to it? Katerina wanted Dad. A quiet, harmless teacher beat our loud, scene-making mom any day.Sure enough, Katerina hesitated for a split second, then slipped on that fake sweet voice."Mom, I WANT to take care of you, but those long flights? Way too hard on your body. Better to stay in Bellavaro with Anya! We'll totally visit whe

Chapter 2

Mom jumped in fast. "Exactly. These apartments are OUR property. We can give them to whoever we want. Anya, your father and I aren't even dead yet, and you're already pushing him to take everything we built?"Take what, exactly? What did she think Pavel was gonna snatch?If anything, it was always Pavel slipping them money whenever we had a little extra.I let out a dry laugh. "If you don't like it, take both of them with you. Take the apartments too. I don't care."I stood up. Mom shouted after me, "What kind of attitude is that? Whether you get the apartments or not, we're still your parents. You OWE us!"Pavel rushed in with a fruit plate, wiping his hands on his apron, trying to calm things down."Adrian, Milena, please don't be upset. I know Chris is doing well, but we'll manage on our end."Watching him bend like that made my chest ache.Last time, he even gave up our master bedroom. The three of us crammed into one tiny room, and he never said a word.Eva didn't even ha

Chapter 3

Everyone froze.Katerina shrieked, hand over her mouth. Chris swore, eyes blown wide.Dad clutched his chest and sighed. "What is this? How did it get this far? Anya, you know your mom's temper. Just let her have her way."Katerina chimed in, all shaky and sweet. "Anya, it's just an apartment. It was theirs to start with. Why are you pushing Mom so hard?"I was shaking with anger. Mom looked smug, like she was flashing her ultimate card—'I'm still your mother.'Then I felt warmth on the back of my hand.Pavel had taken it.He looked at me, steady. "Babe, forget the apartment. Don't fight your mom over this. I'll take care of your dad. He can stay with us."Tears stung my eyes. I sniffled and nodded. "Fine. I'll give up the apartment. But I want it in writing—me and Katerina. From now on, she takes care of Mom, I take care of Dad. No backing out. No take-backs. Ever."Before Katerina could say a word, Mom jumped in."Perfect! Without you dragging me down, I'll probably live to

Chapter 4

Mom, Katerina, and Chris flew off, and for the first time in forever, life finally felt quiet.Dad never needed asking—every morning, he'd walk, grab breakfast, then drop Eva at school.Pavel got so choked up he hugged me and said we should get Dad something. Since Dad liked art, Pavel picked out fancy drawing paper and ink.Dad teared up, totally stunned, like he was about to call Pavel his best friend.The place felt alive again.Then a late-night call yanked me out of sleep.Half-asleep, I fumbled for the phone under my pillow. Mom's smug face lit up the screen on video."Look, this is Katerina's mansion! And there's a huge swimming pool!"I rubbed my eyes, watching her pan around. "You don't even swim. Why's that impressive?"Her smile dropped. "You never say anything nice. No wonder nobody ever liked you."I blinked—and she hung up.Next night, same time, the phone rang again.I checked the clock. 1 a.m. Broad daylight over there.She bragged that Katerina took her to

Chapter 5

I slipped on my slippers and opened the door. Dad held out the phone—Mom's voice blasted through."I don't care. I'm going back! Katerina and Chris ran off to travel the world and dumped the kids on me!"On screen, she stood by the pool, hair wild, face worn. One kid in her arms, another strapped to her back, a third splashing at the edge.The swagger she had when she left? Gone. She just looked tired and old.I'd thought it was something serious. I dropped onto the couch. "How are you even planning to come back alone? Just wait for Katerina and Chris."Her jaw clenched. That old fire in her eyes sparked back. "Anya Kovarik, you just don't want me to come back!"I nodded. "Finally, you get it."She froze, eyes wide. "What did you say? You dare talk to me like that?"Dad yawned, trying to play peacekeeper. "We can't really do anything. How about I call Katerina and tell them to come back?"Mom snapped, "You think I haven't tried? They won't even pick up. Who knows what country

Chapter 6

Katerina went quiet, caught off guard. She stammered, "I-It's not like we're vacationing—it's for business."Mom jumped in. "Exactly! Katerina told me everything. It's work. Just one deal over there can bring in over $500,000!"I let out a short laugh. "With that kind of money, you'd think she could afford a few maids.""Maids? Absolutely not! Doesn't matter how rich you are, that's just wasteful. I WANT to watch my grandkids myself!"The way she flipped her script like that? Honestly impressive.I shut my mouth and let it go.If she wanted to play maid, fine by me.At noon, Dad made lunch. The moment Mom saw it, she started up again. "You call me the maid? Your dad's the real 'maid' around here!"Dad rushed to explain. "No, no. Pavel usually cooks—he's just busy today, so I figured I'd help."Somehow, we all ended up eating together for once.At the table, Mom couldn't stop bragging about Amiraka—how massive the mansion was, how wide the pool, how pricey everything was.Eva

Chapter 7

Katerina's face flushed bright red and she shot me several furious glares.She'd clearly expected me to break the news gently—but I'd just blurted it out.Mom jumped to her feet, eyes blazing at Katerina. "Katerina, did you really say that?!"Katerina immediately tried to weasel out. "I didn't! Anya, stop making things up!"Mom turned on me. "Anya, you've lost your mind—how could you make up something like this?!"I pulled out my phone and hit play: "Anya, I think we should let Mom stay here..."Lucky for me, I had the sense to record her exact words.Katerina went pale hearing her own voice. She ground her teeth and lunged for my phone. "Anya, you've really outdone yourself. We're sisters, and you record me?!"I looked right at her. Exactly because we're sisters, I know exactly what she's like.The recording kept playing while Mom's chest heaved with rage.She really didn't expect this—not from her so called golden child. "Katerina Kovarik, you better explain this right now!

Chapter 8

Word got back to me—no surprise—there was no luxury life waiting in Amiraka. Just a busted dream and zero refunds.Katerina couldn't cough up a cent of the money Mom gave her. The second they landed, she and Chris bailed, leaving three half-grown kids behind.Mom wanted to call the cops. Didn't even know the number.She sat in that empty house, cursing the walls and blowing up my phone. We all had our ringers off. No one jumped to answer.Then Katerina's youngest almost drowned in the pool. That finally brought the police, and Katerina and Chris came back.From what I heard, the second they walked in, Chris straight-up punched Mom. No warning. Just bam—down she went.He pointed at her like she was trash. Called her a useless old woman who couldn't even watch a kid.She hit the floor. Katerina screamed.Mom had never been hit in her life. Back at our place, Pavel treated her better than his own mother. That one punch? Cracked her pride clean in half.She clung to Katerina, sobb

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