Chapter 3

I found an excuse to leave the house.

As soon as the cold wind hit my face, I realized I was shaking uncontrollably.

Not from fear, but from pure, unadulterated hatred.

The images of Richard and Melanie's hypocritical faces played on a loop in my mind.

I took a deep breath, forcing myself to calm down.

I got into my car, locked the doors, and immediately dialed Vivian's number.

The phone rang... and rang...

Each ring felt like a hammer striking my chest.

"Hello?"

My daughter's voice was hoarse and quiet. She sounded completely drained, filled with a numb acceptance of her fate.

"Vivian..." My voice trembled. "It’s mom."

"Oh," she replied. Her tone was icy and defensive.

"Is something wrong? Melanie said... you didn’t even want to give me the hundred dollars this month. She said you wanted me to just figure it out on my own."

One hundred dollars? I had been sending fifty thousand dollars every single month!

"Vivian, listen to me!" I interrupted her, my tone more serious and urgent than ever before.

"The money I send you every month is fifty thousand dollars!"

There was a dead silence on the other end of the line. After what felt like an eternity, Vivian’s voice came through, shaking.

"Fifty thousand? You... you're lying! Dad and Melanie both said I was just a burden to you. They said the hundred dollars was already charity."

Her words felt like knives slicing through my heart.

"Vivian, stay exactly where you are. Don't go anywhere. Mom is coming to get you."

After soothing Vivian, I immediately started the car and drove toward the bank.

Only one thought consumed my mind: I was going to make them pay in blood!

As my car rounded the corner near the high-end shopping district by the bank, I caught a glimpse of the luxury mall entrance.

What I saw made my heart seize. The blood rushed to my head.

Melanie was practically glued to Richard's side. She was dressed in the latest Chanel outfit, laughing like a schoolgirl.

Richard had one arm wrapped tightly around her waist, while his other hand held their beloved son, Leo.

We had been married for twenty years, and Richard could never find the time to have a simple dinner with Vivian and me.

Yet, he had all the time in the world to go luxury shopping with his secret family.

I suppressed the urge to run them over. With trembling hands, I pulled out my phone, aimed it at them, and zoomed in as far as the camera would go.

"Daddy, I want this!" Leo yelled, throwing a tantrum in front of a toy store window.

Melanie immediately cooed to Richard, "Oh, honey, buy it for him! It’s only twenty thousand dollars. We can just take a little bit out of Vivian’s budget, right?"

Richard smiled dotingly, pulling out his credit card without a second thought.

"Buy it! If my boy wants it, he gets it!"

In my past life, Vivian hadn't ended up as a club hostess, but she had been forced to become the plaything of a wealthy, disgusting older man just to pay for her college tuition. She had been physically abused night after night.

And the perpetrators of her misery were right here, spending my hard-earned cash like water.

I forced down the boiling rage, sent the video and my bank statements directly to my lawyer, and hired a team of private bodyguards to watch over Vivian.

Only then did my heart finally settle.