Chapter 1

I did not find out the truth until the bank called to demand loan payments.

My wife, who pretended to eat leftover scraps with me every single day just to pinch pennies, had turned around and bought two luxury condos in cash for her younger brother.

The properties were titled under her brother's name, while the massive mortgage was dumped entirely on me.

I slammed the purchase contracts onto the dining table.

"You told me our daughter's leukemia was a bottomless financial pit, so I worked ten jobs a day and starved myself!"

"You said the money was never enough, which drove my father to sell his own kidney just to pay for Nina's latest round of chemo! But because of that filthy black-market clinic, he died on the operating table!"

"And now you used the blood money my father and I earned with our lives to buy houses for your brother? Are you even human?"

"Your father was old, that was his destiny!" Fiona yelled back, completely unbothered. "Medical bills can always be earned back later, but my brother needed those houses right now to get married!"

Before my rage could explode, my ten-year-old daughter rushed out of her bedroom.

"Dad, Uncle Mason is the real hope of our family! I don't care if that money was spent on him!"

In that crushing moment, I finally realized the truth.

To this family, I was nothing more than an ATM.

And the daughter I had cherished for a decade was nothing but an ungrateful monster.

1

"Nina, I am trying to get back the money for your medical treatments..."

"I don't need it!"

Nina screamed, cutting me off without hesitation.

"Uncle Mason is the future of our family! What would an outsider like you even know?"

"Uncle said once he gets married and has a son, he will carry on the Summers family legacy!"

"You're just a useless, stingy loser who can't make real money, so you use me as an excuse!"

She pointed her finger right at my nose, her young face twisted in disgust.

"You're just a sweaty, pathetic delivery driver. You aren't even worthy of shining Uncle Mason's shoes!"

Her sharp words pierced straight through my heart.

My hand froze in midair as I reached out toward my daughter, Nina Summers.

Years ago, I felt for Fiona when she went through a painful delivery.

Knowing she grew up in a traditional household where daughters were neglected, I voluntarily let our child take her last name.

Yet after all these years, that single concession had turned me into an outsider in their eyes.

Fiona seemed to realize that Nina had gone too far and quickly covered the girl's mouth.

"Calvin, honey, she's just a kid who doesn't know any better. I only said those things because I lost my temper. Don't take it to heart..."

Just a kid? She was ten years old.

She was more than old enough to understand right from wrong.

If she didn't know any better, who taught her to say those venomous words?

Looking at Fiona's guilty eyes, I felt nothing but bitter amusement.

Twelve years ago, when I moved from a small rural town to the city, I had nothing to my name.

Back then, Fiona sat on the rack of my beat-up bicycle, wrapping her arms tightly around my waist.

"Calvin, I don't care about money. I only care about how well you treat me."

"As long as we stand together, I'd happily eat dirt with you."

I was so moved that I immediately took her home to meet my parents.

My father pulled me aside that night with a worried frown. "Son, she has thin lips and a bitter, calculating look. She won't treat you well."

I refused to believe him.

"Dad, Fiona had a rough childhood. She's kind at heart and knows how to care for people."

Overriding my family's objections, I married her.

After our wedding, I couldn't bear to let her suffer, so I handed over my entire five-thousand-dollar monthly paycheck.

It was not a fortune, but it was more than enough to cover our living expenses.

Later, Fiona said we needed to save up for a baby, and I agreed without hesitation.

Even if it meant eating stale leftovers every day and wearing clearance clothes, I bore it with a smile.

Then Nina was born and diagnosed with an illness.

To keep Nina alive and support our home, I worked sales by day, delivered takeout during lunch, drove Uber at night, and took dangerous freelance labor shifts on weekends.

My spine wore down until I suffered a severe herniated disc, leaving me in agonizing pain, but I kept pushing forward because I believed my family needed me.

Now, they were telling me that three-quarters of my blood, sweat, and tears had gone straight into someone else's pockets.

Even the life-saving money my father traded his kidney and life for had been stolen.

How utterly ridiculous.

The woman I loved for twelve years and the daughter I doted on for a decade only ever saw me as an open wallet.

Seeing that I remained silent, Fiona's face darkened instantly.

"Calvin Hayes, don't push your luck! I did this so our family would have a solid backup in the future!"

"If you're so capable, go make millions! You have no real skills, your heart is tiny, and you're throwing a tantrum over two condos. Are you even a man? Can't you be a little generous?"

She glared at me indignantly, as though I was the one being ungrateful.

"Fine."

I nodded slowly, grabbed the purchase agreements from the table, and ripped them to shreds with a violent tear.

"Since your brother is the hope of this family, you two can depend on him from now on. I am done with this misery. We're getting a divorce!"