Chapter 4

On my dad's wedding day, my mom put on the bridesmaid dress she'd rented so long ago.

The pretty dress couldn't hide the helplessness on her face, yet she still dressed me up nice and pretty.

"Sweetheart, we're going there to earn money, not to suffer."

"Don't be sad. Give Mom a smile."

Only then did I manage to force out a smile.

The wedding was grand, but scene after scene of my parents' own wedding kept flashing through my mind.

Mom said that back then the family was so poor they had to split a single bowl of dumpling soup in half to eat.

The wedding was thrown together with just two tables, and then they went to the County Clerk's Office to get their marriage license.

They always meant to hold a proper one later, but it never happened.

My memories were suddenly cut off by an uproar in the crowd. Fern Swanson frowned and walked step by step over to my mother.

She shouted, "Bella, if you can't stand me marrying Nathaniel, you didn't have to come!"

"But you didn't need to steal my diamond ring! Nathaniel waited in line for ages overseas to buy it!"

"We're going to need it at the wedding any minute now. Hurry up and hand it over, and I won't hold your mistake against you!"

Mom's best friend chimed in to back her up:

"Well now, Bella Henson, no wonder you agreed so quickly that day!"

"So it turns out you'd planned to steal Fern's diamond ring all along!"

The people around us pointed and whispered, but my mother only answered firmly that she hadn't taken it.

"I'll go pull the security footage with you."

But before she could finish, her best friend slapped her hard across the face.

"Who knows what tricks you've pulled this time? Since the ring is gone, we have to search you!"

"Bella Henson, don't even think about explaining anymore!"

The words had barely left her mouth when several burly men pinned my mother down.

The next moment, the snow-white bridesmaid dress was torn to shreds.

I stood frozen in place, desperately trying to shield her body, while my mother's head was shoved hard into the dirt.

She didn't shed a single tear, didn't so much as change her expression.

More and more people crowded around to watch, but the men stripped her bare from head to toe.

And they still didn't find the missing diamond ring.

"What do you think you're doing now?!"

My father's voice rang out, and only then did Fern panic:

"Nathaniel, I can't find the diamond ring you bought me. I only wanted to ask Bella if she'd taken it!"

"I didn't mean it, I was just too anxious, the wedding's about to start!"

Before she could finish, my dad's face went stiff, and he hurriedly put my mom's clothes back on her.

He said in a low voice, "Bella, the girl doesn't know any better. Don't stoop to her level."

But my mother only smiled, stood up, brushed the dirt off her clothes, and acted as if nothing had happened.

"Right. This time we'll count it as my emotional damages. I want a hundred thousand."

"Mr. Gilbert has a big, wealthy family. Surely he won't refuse."

My dad's face was deathly pale, but he managed a weak smile.

"Here, two hundred thousand. Is that enough?"

My mom laughed, and a simple "Thank you for the tip, boss" jammed every word back down my dad's throat.

She looked at the balance that had landed in her phone, took my hand, and chuckled softly:

"Today's Mr. Gilbert's wedding. I don't want to ruin the mood, so I'll take my little girl and go on ahead."

It rained on the way home. My mother said nothing, only quietly paid for the wedding dress.

Then she put the rest of the money into a single savings passbook, two hundred twenty thousand, and sewed it into the pocket of my clothes.

She gathered me into her arms and told me stories until dawn.

By the time the first rays of morning sunlight streamed into the room.

My mom had fallen asleep.