Chapter 2

I made the funeral arrangements alone.

The funeral home director was kind, his voice soft.

He asked about family. I just said it was me.

Each decision felt like a heavy weight. Casket, flowers, the small service.

Dad didn't have much money left. Victoria had made sure of that over the years.

While I was picking out a simple headstone, the local news website flashed an update.

"CEO Victoria Hayes Hosts Lavish Gala for Stepson Ryan Davenport's University Acceptance."

There was a picture.

Victoria, beaming, in a sparkling dress. Richard Davenport beside her, smug. Ryan, looking awkward in a suit, holding a university banner.

They were all smiles, champagne flutes raised.

The article called her a "pillar of the community" and a "doting mother."

I felt sick.

My father was lying in a cold room, and she was a doting mother to someone else's kid.

Flashbacks hit me, sharp and unwelcome.

Victoria wasn't always Hayes Innovations CEO.

She met Dad when he was a promising young architect, and his father, my grandfather, was a respected local councilman.

Grandpa had connections. He helped Victoria. Introduced her to people. Maybe even funded her first small ventures.

She was charming back then, ambitious. Dad was in love.

He told me once she married him for love and opportunity. I only saw the opportunity part.

After Grandpa died, his influence faded.

Suddenly, Dad wasn't enough for her.

His local architectural firm wasn't growing fast enough for her ambition.

Richard Davenport reappeared. Her old flame. He was an opportunist, feeding her ego.

She left. Just packed her bags and announced she was moving in with Richard.

I was twelve.

She bought Richard a luxury condo downtown.

She got Ryan, who was a year older than me and not very bright, into St. Augustine's, the most prestigious private high school in the city.

And me?

I was a straight-A student at Northwood High, one of the best public schools.

She pulled me out.

She said the district lines were changing, a lie.

She enrolled me in Lincoln High.

The worst-funded, lowest-performing school in the city. Overcrowded classrooms, not enough books, teachers struggling.

She said it would "build character."

She said Dad couldn't afford Northwood's fees anymore, another lie. He never paid fees for public school.

It was to punish Dad, I knew. And to make space for Ryan in her new, shiny life.

She didn't want me around, a reminder of her past.

Or maybe she just didn't want me to outshine Ryan.

It didn't matter why. The result was the same.

I was grieving my father, and she was celebrating a life built on lies and cruelty.

The contrast burned in my mind.

Her world, full of applause and fake smiles.

My world, filled with quiet sorrow and the truth of what she'd done.