Chapter 3

Grinding my teeth, I transferred the plane-ticket money, willing to pay just for a little peace, so I could finally make good on my promise to my daughter.

I had barely led Daisy out through the hospital's front doors when the two nieces, Lindsay Whitney and Celine Whitney, came chasing after us.

They were whining and clamoring to go to the arcade downtown.

I softened my voice and explained:

"We already planned to go to the aquarium today. Daisy has waited so long for the sea lion show, and it's about to start."

Lindsay let out a snort, her tone dripping with sarcasm:

"Who even goes to the aquarium anymore? It's so childish. That's a place for little kids."

I answered quietly:

"Right, it's a little kid who wants to go. Daisy's been looking forward to it all semester."

Celine bent down, pinching my daughter's cheek, coaxing her:

"Daisy, forget the aquarium, come to the arcade with us, okay? They've got claw machines, racing games, shooting games. Way more fun than watching sea lions."

Her cheek squeezed, Daisy tilted her head slightly, keeping it lowered as she pushed back in a timid little voice:

"I still want to go to the aquarium. I want to see the sea lion show, I want to play with the sea lions."

The smile drained from Celine's face. She rolled her eyes at Daisy, her voice full of disdain:

"So boring. No fun at all."

Beside her, Lindsay was already sixteen, and her mind worked faster than her sister's.

She glanced at the look on my face, grabbed Celine by the arm, and spoke with a threat in her voice:

"We'll go by ourselves, Auntie. If you're fine with it, take Daisy to the aquarium. But we don't have any money on us, and I can't promise we won't get into some kind of trouble."

Anger itched at the roots of my teeth, and my chest felt so blocked I could hardly breathe.

My daughter saw how stuck I was and gave a soft tug at the hem of my clothes:

"Mom, maybe we don't go to the aquarium today. I want to see the arcade too."

Seeing how well she understood, something turned sour and bitter inside me.

But once we got to the arcade, my daughter clapped her hands over her ears, her little face scrunching up:

"Mom, why is it so loud in here? Aren't they afraid of going deaf?"

Before I could answer, Celine sidled up to me and said, as if it were the most reasonable thing in the world:

"Auntie, give me 5,000. We want to buy a credits card."

I froze on the spot, shock all over my face:

"5,000? Why do you need that much?"

The two sisters looked at me in unison, eyeing me like I was an idiot, their faces full of scorn:

"5,000, is that a lot? We can play here all day, and grab snacks and drinks while we're at it. Food and fun, all covered. What a deal."

Angry and helpless, I threw the question back at them:

"Would your mother be willing to fork over 5,000 for you to play here?"

Celine pursed her lips:

"My mom definitely wouldn't. That's why we came to you, Auntie. You're the best auntie we've got."

I refused flat out:

"No. I only make four thousand a month. Five hundred is the most I'll load for you, not a cent more."

The two exchanged a glance and grudgingly agreed.

I lowered my head and opened the payment page. I had just entered the last digit of my password when Lindsay suddenly snatched the phone from behind me and told Celine with a grin:

"I saw Auntie's payment password, it's 201108. Load 5,000, hurry."

Lindsay tossed the phone to Celine, who stood a little way off, then turned and wrapped her arms around my waist to hold me back.

Lindsay was taller than me, and stronger too.

Before I could break free, Celine had already finished the charge.

When she returned to the main screen, her eyes went wide in disbelief:

"Wow, Auntie, you've still got a hundred thousand in your balance!"

"You have a hundred thousand and you couldn't stand to load us 5,000? That's so cheap."

Ever since I gave birth to my daughter, I'd lived with my palm turned up.

Once, right at the end of the month when the living expenses had run dry, my parents came to visit, and Tristan would only give me 58 dollars for groceries.

When my parents found out, they were too angry to eat, but they still urged me to endure it for the child's sake.

After all, my three exes had all been left half-dead by the time I was through with them; not one of them ever recovered.

It was from then on that my parents gave me 3,000 every month to help with the household.

This hundred thousand was the emergency fund I had scraped together, penny by penny, for me and my daughter.

I grabbed the phone back and changed the password at once.

The two of them huddled together, muttering, and Celine looked at me with a mocking smile:

"So stingy. No wonder Uncle doesn't want you. I'll be honest with you, Uncle never went on any business trip. He's been living at Auntie Noreen's place this whole time, and Auntie Noreen's even pregnant with a little brother!"

"If you're willing to be generous with your money, we'll accept you as our auntie. Otherwise…"

Celine was about to go on when Lindsay yanked hard on her arm:

"Shut up. Did you forget what Mom told us?"

I was stunned for a moment, then immediately shifted my tone:

"Celine, Lindsay, if you tell your auntie about Auntie Noreen, I'll give you another 2,000, okay?"

Celine's eyes lit up. While she and Lindsay whispered it over, I quietly tapped the record button on my phone.

Lindsay lifted her eyes to me and warned me with the air of someone far older:

"We can tell you, but you absolutely cannot let my mom know it came from us."

I nodded calmly.

Between the two of them, the sisters laid out the whole truth, piece by piece.

It turned out Tristan, because I'd had a daughter and refused to have a second child, wanted to divorce me and marry that woman named Noreen.

The reason he hadn't laid it all out yet was that I still had use value: I could take care of his parents for free.

Once his mistress had the baby, he'd find a way to register the child under our names.

I'd go on caring for his parents plus the two kids, while he went on living it up with his mistress.

This time the mother-in-law came to Chicago under the excuse of seeing a doctor, and the sister-in-law just happened to tag along, mainly to go comfort Noreen, who was carrying the "crown prince," and to squeeze in a little sightseeing.

Once I'd heard all of it, all that was left inside me was a cold smile.

It seemed that all these years, I'd put on too good an act, and given them too much face.