Chapter 2

How could I explain?

It was true. I hadn't seen my mother in years. After I married Cora, her expensive lifestyle meant I had to work constantly, day and night, just to keep up.

My sister and I used to be close. She always told me, "Declan, Cora isn't right for you. Just leave her. Come home and see Mom more."

But back then, it was like Cora had cast a spell on me. All I wanted was to be with her.

Now, I finally saw the truth.

After screaming at me, my sister fainted from grief. I rushed her to a hospital room.

My dad died when we were young. I was the only man left in the family. I had to be strong.

I pulled out my phone to call a funeral home, but I saw a message from Leo. We had been classmates, so we had each other's numbers.

【Hey Declan, thanks for all the money you saved up over the years. It saved my mom's life. I even posted about it online, you should check it out.】

The message was pure provocation.

I gripped my phone, my knuckles turning white, and opened his social media.

He had posted a picture of his mother. Cora was beside her, gently wiping her hand, a look of pure tenderness on her face.

The caption read: 【Thank you to the beautiful Cora for the timely help. You saved my mom.】

In five years of marriage, Cora had never shown my mother that kind of warmth.

When we got married, my family didn't have much money. She complained that my mother never helped us out.

So she forbade me from visiting her, and she never went to see her either.

She never even bothered to call on holidays.

And now my mother was dead, and Cora had used our money to save someone else's.

I hated myself for ever listening to her.

I almost crushed my phone in my hand. I forced myself to calm down.

Right now, I had to arrange my mother's funeral.

The day of my mother's funeral, I got a call from Cora.

"Where have you been? You've been gone for days! There's no one to take Cody to school!" Her voice was sharp with annoyance.

I was kneeling in front of my mother's grave. A cold fury washed over me.

"My mother is dead, Cora!" I roared, all the pain and grief of the past few days exploding out of me.

There was a pause on the other end of the line, then her voice, furious. "Declan, you keep using your mother as an excuse to get between me and Leo!"

"Are you ever going to stop with these pathetic games? Your mom was just here the other day, asking for money."

"I've been married to you for years, and she's never done a thing for me. Why the hell would I give her money?"

I froze.

So my mother had gone to her for help. If Cora had just given her the money then, would she still be alive?

"Just come home. Cody is waiting, and I have to get to work." She hung up.

After the funeral, I knew I had to go back. Cody was my son. I was the one who always took care of him. If I wasn't there, no one would be.

But when I got home, the house was empty.

Then, I got another message from Leo.

It was a picture of my son, Cody, washing his mother's feet. Cora was standing beside them, a proud smile on her face.

The message read: 【Cody is such a good kid. Came straight to the hospital after school to take care of my mom.】

【You really know how to raise a kid and train a wife, Declan.】

My hand was shaking. Rage burned in my chest.

I couldn't control it anymore. I raced to the hospital.

I had to ask her. What did our years together mean to her?

She not only gave our savings to another woman's mother, but she was now using our son, my son, to please them.

She had done so many things to hurt me, and I had always forgiven her.

But this was the last straw.