All Chapters of I Pay Strangers to Be My Dad: Chapter 1 - Chapter 9

9 Chapters

Chapter 1

The wall was covered with family pictures, all captured during award ceremonies, but the men standing beside Mom and me in every single shot were all strangers."Rebecca, who are the guys standing next to you in these pictures?"Dad's voice was icy, his gaze practically burning a hole through the frames.I had no idea why he was so angry, and I fiddled with my fingers, completely at a loss for words.The maintenance guy wiped the sweat from his brow. "What are you talking about, kid? Your dad's still very much alive!"With a nervous chuckle, he hurried out of the apartment to escape the tension.Hearing those words made Dad's jaw twitch with rage. He was so angry that he didn't even notice the cake slipping from his grip and smashing onto the floor."I've only been gone for two months, and you two are already telling people I'm dead? Rebecca, come out! Is this how you're raising our kid?"Terrified, I rushed forward to defend Mom. "Nobody taught me that! Don't blame Mom. I'm th

Chapter 2

Mom picked up the camera and clicked on the gallery, which stored row after row of photos featuring Dad, Winona, and her daughter.I saw a photo taken on the day Mom miscarried. Dad was accompanying them on a Ferris wheel ride.Another photo was taken the night Mom bled a lot after cutting herself. Dad was accompanying them to watch a fireworks display.A sharp pang of agony pierced my chest, and I cried. It turned out Dad did have time after all. He just never spared any of it for Mom.Trembling from head to toe, Mom pulled me into her arms, her raspy voice filled with determination. "Sarah, Dad is dead to us, right?"I nodded repeatedly.Having clearly made up her mind about something, Mom raised the camera and threw it against the wall with all her might.With a loud crash, the camera shattered into a million tiny pieces.I knew her heart had broken right along with it.Before falling asleep that night, I overheard Mom talking to a man on the phone."I'll take the photogra

Chapter 3

"Did Callum…" Jacob Peters asked, his voice hoarse."He's dead," Mom and I said in unison.Jacob seemed to put two and two together, following us straight into the dining room without another word.As we stood around the cake, I started singing "Happy Birthday". Just as Mom was about to blow out the candles, her phone buzzed with a notification. She froze instantly, her fingers trembling as she tapped the screen.Curiosity got the better of me, and I glanced over. In an instant, the color drained from my face. Winona had posted on Instagram again. Her caption read, "I love breaking things, but he doesn't mind at all. Instead, he just smiles and hands me more things to break."The photo showed the trophies Mom and I won, shattered into a million pieces across the floor. Even the toys I cherished too much to play with were covered in ugly scribbles to look like monsters.Another message popped up, this time from Dad. He sent a transfer for 50,000 dollars.Mom clicked on the vo

Chapter 4

Blood instantly stained my knees crimson. The pain brought tears to my eyes, and I couldn't help but cry out in pain.Right next to me, the little girl named Yvonne James suddenly shrieked, "Why did you push me? Daddy! It hurts so bad!"She fell back onto the track, her piercing cries rattling my eardrums.Mom hurried to my side and shielded me in her arms, but the moment Dad and Winona arrived, they immediately started screaming at me."Sarah, why would you do that to Yvonne?" Dad demanded."I didn't do anything!" I cried, enduring the unfairness of it all.Yvonne merely sobbed harder, pointing at me. "It was her! Daddy, she pushed me, and she did it on purpose!"Rage exploded in my chest, making it hard to breathe.Mom couldn't sit back anymore, and she demanded icily, "Check the security cameras then! Since you don't trust Sarah, let the footage speak for itself!"But Dad simply scooped Yvonne up into his arms and walked away, throwing a final remark over his shoulder. "The

Chapter 5

The final day before our departure arrived.Mom packed our suitcases and took me to get our visas finalized.Over the past few days, Dad had been coming by every single day to visit Mom.The moment he caught sight of the orderly, his brow furrowed."Sarah already has a father," Dad said with a sneer. "Are you just lonely after the miscarriage, or are you that desperate for a man's company?"Mom and I kept quiet, but the orderly cussed him out.Later on, Dad brought Mom a mountain of clothes and jewelry, and he gave me a bunch of toys. We ended up giving all of it to the older kids next door who were fighting cancer. Dad had absolutely no idea.Five hours before our departure, Mom took me to the amusement park I had been dreaming about for the longest time."Sarah, you've wanted to come here for so long," Mom said. "I'm sorry I pushed it off because my health kept getting in the way."I smiled so wide that a neat row of my little teeth showed.Just then, Dad's message abruptly

Chapter 6

Dad had just brought Winona and Yvonne to a safe zone at the hospital next door when a breaking news alert suddenly popped up on his phone.A sharp pang gripped his chest out of nowhere, squeezing so tight that it left him breathless with an inexplicable sense of dread and panic.With trembling hands, he tapped on the notification."Breaking news! Rabid Dogs Unleashed at an Amusement Park. Two Tourists Pronounced Dead!"His heart missed a beat as his mind blanked.He stared blankly at the picture in the news article, which showed two bodies covered in white sheets. One of the corpses had a wrist exposed, revealing a ring on the ring finger.The moment Dad caught sight of that ring, his grip slipped on the steering wheel. He recognized it instantly. It was his fifth-anniversary gift to Mom.Back then, I was only three years old, and the three of us sat at the most scenic spot in Jarrow, watching the night sky light up with fireworks.How could that exact ring be on a corpse's ha

Chapter 7

Dad couldn't find his voice. He stared blankly into space, looking as if his soul had abandoned his body."They're dead… Becky and Sarah were mauled to death by those dogs…"A flash of triumph crossed Winona's eyes, though she quickly masked it behind a mask of sympathy."Oh my God… How could this happen? Rebecca was such a wonderful person. I can't believe she's… Don't let the grief destroy you, Callum. Everything happens for a reason. I'm sure they're in a much better place now.""A better place?"Dad let out a bitter, self-deprecating laugh. His heart felt as though it were splintering. The agonizing pain cut straight to his bones before spreading through his entire body.He was the one who killed us. If he had shown us any concern recently, he would've known our plans for the day.If he hadn't lied to us and claimed Winona and Yvonne had already gone abroad, we might've forgiven him right then, and he could've made up for missing Mom's birthday.But now, he had nothing le

Chapter 8

"Ms. Jennings' postpartum depression was so severe that she needed daily medication, injections, and constant hospital trips for blood work. "From what I know, during one of her worst episodes, she suffered a massive hemorrhage and begged you for help. You lied and told her you were away on a business trip out of the country, didn't you?" Finneas asked.Dad's pupils dilated in shock. He gripped the edge of the desk so hard that blood began to seep from beneath his fingernails.He had no idea. Mom had never told him.No, that wasn't true. She had tried to tell him, and so had I.Back then, I had wrapped my arms around his leg every single day, sobbing and begging him not to leave.Mom had even trashed the house, screaming at him with bloodshot eyes, "Callum, my depression is so bad that I can't even care for Sarah. I'm begging you. Please, just stay home for once!"Alas, his mind was occupied by the thought of Winona and Yvonne waiting for him.A crushing wave of agony exploded

Chapter 9

"Mr. Luther, Henry didn't actually die back then. He paid off the prison guards and spent the last two years hiding in the basement of Winona and Yvonne's house."The shocking news made Dad's vision go dark with rage. At that, he lost his mind and let out a hysterical roar."Gather the three of them and ship them off to a slum in Aeloria. Strip them of every single cent they have and make sure they're never allowed back into the country for the rest of their lives!"…By our third month in Glenside, I had already blended right in with the other kids at preschool.I made so many new friends over the past few months. During my time at preschool, I learned all kinds of facts and poems, and I would recite them for Mom every day when I got home.Meanwhile, Mom's life played out exactly the way I thought it would. In our very first month here, she relied on her old award-winning portfolio and won first place in an international photography competition.In the second month, Mom us

SCAN CODE TO READ ON APP