All Chapters of I Let the Comments Coach My Timid Mom to the Top: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

Mom made muffled noises behind my hand, glaring at me, her eyes screaming, “You ungrateful brat, let go so I can kill him!”Dad watched her thrash like that, smirked, tossed the agreement onto the table, and wore a look that said: “So I cheated, what are you going to do about it?”My knuckles went white. God, I wanted to deck him!But the comments were flying.[Easy, easy, easy!][Lose your temper and you lose! He thinks he's a tycoon now, and you two are acting like fishwives, beneath his station. Divorcing him is the right move!]The comments were right.If I didn't stop her, Mom would just sob and scream accusations, then declare out of pride that we didn't want a single cent.I pinched her, hard.The pain brought tears to her eyes instantly.Perfect. A beautiful woman in tears.That was exactly how Dad fell for her, all those years ago.I reached up like I was wiping her tears, letting my own eyes go red. "Mom, don't be sad."Then, under cover of the gesture, I leaned to her ear. "

I bit down so hard my face went red, not daring to laugh.Only Dad was actually taking it in.The hand holding his spoon went still.His expression changed."You stayed... the whole time? Why did you never tell me?"Mom shook her head."We were husband and wife. It's what you do. Nothing worth mentioning.""You matter more to me than anything. More than dance."She looked at him with longing as she spoke, her nose reddening, and with one blink the tears fell.The timing couldn’t be more perfect!He was leaving her, and she still loved him this much, still put him first.Just like all those years ago, when she chose to get pregnant, to have me, to leave the company, all for the family.In his early start-up years, the company nearly went under three times. Too proud to ask my grandfather again, it was Mom who emptied her savings and sold every piece of jewelry she had to fill the holes.She never disturbed my father even when she fell unconscious from illness, all so he could focus on h

With Dad indulging her, Vivian started showing up four or five times a week.Practically a full-time job.She claimed she was determined to make us stop hating her.Every visit, she wore a different designer outfit and carried a different bag, like our house was her personal runway.She even brought an ultrasound and proudly showed it to me."Leah, doesn't your little brother look just like your dad? Your dad says the moment he's born, he'll sign ten percent of his shares straight over to him."What could you possibly tell from a three-month-old fetus?Every time, after she left, Mom would fume: "What's so great about a son!"Twenty years living with Dad, and he'd never once thought to give us even one percent.What made Mom angrier was that all her careful performing still counted for less than the gender of an unborn child.Vivian was running her own performance on social media too.One day: "One year together, and he booked out an entire restaurant for me."The next: "Ugh, he gave h

Dad had a major deal to sign, and he'd deliberately chosen the ballroom of the most expensive hotel on the east side.Unlike Mom, Vivian loved being the center of attention.Today, I'd make her go viral across the entire internet.Vivian stood beside Dad in Chanel's newest limited-edition suit, clinging affectionately to his arm.To the dozens of press outlets in front of him, Dad said, "Thank you all for coming to witness this important moment. I also have a personal announcement."He glanced at Vivian."We'll be getting married next month."A moment this important, this serious, and he had to make everyone witness his love life.God help any business partner stuck working with a lovesick idiot like him.Let me be generous and lend his partners a hand.I tapped my screen a few times.Footage suddenly started playing across the big screen.It was all footage of Vivian's visits to our home.She showed off, she belittled us, she hurled insults."What's the point of getting into Yale or H

Dad showed up forty minutes after the recording went out.He looked hollowed out from the inside, his hair uncombed, his suit jacket slung crookedly over one arm, the top button of his shirt fastened in the wrong hole so the hem hung uneven."Is the recording real?"His voice was hoarse, like someone had had a hand around his throat."It's real.""The baby... the baby isn't mine?""No. It's her ex's. They've been together for over three years."He knew I could never fake something like this.His voice shook. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"I smiled."You wouldn't listen to a single word of Mom's explanation. Would you have believed me?"He couldn't get out a word. He dragged himself out the door.I soon found out what he went to do.Someone filmed it and posted it online: Vivian dragging a suitcase, being thrown out of the apartment building, in a wrinkled pajama coat, no makeup, her hair a bird's nest.Security blocked her from getting back in. She turned and screamed up at the windo