Chapter 2

"Chloe, look! I got this teddy bear for you. Isn't it pretty?"

My daughter Lily’s voice echoed beside me. I looked down at her and suddenly noticed a flicker of... disgust in her eyes.

I froze. I realized that even at this point, her loyalty had already shifted to that other woman.

In my past life, to help Lily progress faster in her dance classes, I had specifically applied to work as an instructor at her dance studio.

Back then, I held Lily to high standards. Because of that, she resented me deeply.

So when Lily handed me this teddy bear in my past life, I was absolutely thrilled.

I kept it on my office desk, looking at it happily every single day.

It wasn't until my husband’s girlfriend barged into our dance studio that I realized I had been labeled as the "homewrecker."

She shoved her phone in my face, recording a video while screaming, "Look at yourself! You actually make this poor little girl call you mom? Aren't you embarrassed?"

"Don't you know her dad has had a girlfriend since his divorce? That’s me!"

"Using a child to cling to a man—how shameless can you get!"

At that time, to protect Lily from being gossiped about by her peers, I didn't announce to the crowd that she was my biological daughter.

I had only let her call me "Mom" privately in my office.

Who would have thought this woman would upload that video online, calling me a disgusting homewrecker?

I had looked at Lily desperately, begging for help. But my own daughter just turned her head away, refusing to say a word to defend me.

That woman posted the video on her TikTok. Her hundreds of thousands of followers exploded instantly.

They swarmed all my social media accounts, leaving thousands of abusive comments. The harassment lasted for six long months.

Meanwhile, my husband and daughter were playing happy family with that cheap homewrecker, acting as if I didn't exist.

The pain was too much. I ended it all in a house fire.

Now, I was back. Back in my office, with Lily handing me the teddy bear.

I looked at her coldly. "Got it. Just leave it on the desk. And remember, we are at school. Call me Ms. Chloe."

Lily didn't expect such a cold reaction. She pouted.

"Fine."

Shortly after Lily went back to class, I received a Snapchat from my husband, Carter.

"I’m taking Lily out for a dinner party with some friends tonight. Want to join?"

In my past life, I suffered from severe postpartum depression and hated socializing.

But back then, I didn't want Lily to be cooped up at home with me. So, I always encouraged Carter to take her out to have fun.

When Lily was three, she said she wanted to learn ballet. I picked up my old passion, practicing day and night to get a job at this prestigious dance academy. Aside from training her at school, I even built a private dance studio for her at home.

I loved dancing when I was a kid, but my parents were sick and we couldn't afford it.

I wanted to give Lily everything I never had.