Chapter 1

1

My daughter intentionally flipped the plate I spent an hour preparing onto the floor.

She sneered, saying my cooking was trash and couldn't even compare to her father's little mistress.

When her father came home, he didn't even ask what happened before he started screaming at me.

He accused me of being a bully and picking on a helpless child.

Sienna immediately scurried into the mistress's arms, sticking her tongue out at me.

"You're so annoying, no wonder Daddy doesn't love you!" she shouted.

"You're not sweet at all. I don't want you to be my mommy anymore. I want Miss Jocelyn to be my mommy!"

At that moment, I realized there was no room for me in this house.

I stopped fighting and signed up for a top-secret federal research initiative.

I left and didn't look back for ten long years.

An ungrateful husband and a heartless daughter didn't deserve another second of my life.

...

I finished bandaging my hand, which had been scalded by the hot soup Sienna threw.

The moment I stepped out, I saw Sienna's stubborn, defiant face.

She stared at me with those big, round eyes, but there was no love in them.

"The food you make is seriously disgusting!" she barked.

"Where are Daddy and Miss Jocelyn? I want to eat with them. I don't want to be near an old hag like you!"

Hearing those words from the daughter I carried for nine months felt like a knife to the heart.

I tried to stay patient and reached out to brush her hair.

"Sienna, your father is busy at work and will be home late. Can't Mommy just spend some time with you?"

"No! Miss Jocelyn buys me cupcakes. They're way better than your gross cooking!"

Watching her throw yet another tantrum, my patience finally snapped.

"I'm not trying to be mean, honey. But look at your teeth. The dentist said no more sweets for a while."

"If the girl wants to eat something, let her eat. Why do you have to be such a control freak? No wonder she hates you!"

Jasper's voice boomed as he walked through the door.

Right behind him was a woman in a sleek suit with a soft, practiced smile.

It was Jocelyn, Sienna's private tutor.

Seeing Sienna's fake tears, Jasper immediately glared at me as if I were a monster.

He called me a bitter shrew for scaring his daughter.

Sienna dove into Jocelyn's arms, mocking me from her embrace.

"You're so annoying, no wonder Daddy doesn't love you!"

"I don't want you to be my mommy anymore. I want Miss Jocelyn!"

She clung to Jocelyn as if she were her real mother.

I stood there, frozen, as Jasper scooped Sienna up and led Jocelyn away without a second glance.

Before he left, he threw one last threat over his shoulder.

"If you make her cry one more time, we're getting a divorce."

Divorce.

It was funny, really. Father and daughter were exactly alike, using the same threats to keep me in line.

Last month, I was in the middle of a lab experiment when the school called.

They told me Sienna had physically assaulted a classmate.

I rushed to the school only to find Sienna standing there with her arms crossed, looking down at the other girl.

The poor girl's face was covered in deep, bloody scratches.

The security footage showed it was a total accident―the girl had just bumped into her.

But Sienna had snapped and attacked her like a wild animal.

I spent the afternoon apologizing and paying for the medical bills.

I was fuming when I took her home, but I tried to talk to her calmly first.

Sienna didn't care at all.

"I felt like hitting her, so I did. Who told her to get in my way?"

Jasper and I had spoiled her since she was a baby, but I never realized she had become such a brat.

That day, I slapped her for the first time and forced her to go to the girl's house to apologize.

I'll never forget the pure hatred in her eyes that afternoon.

Looking back, that must have been when she started truly loathing me.

I walked into the dining room later and saw the three of them eating together.

I wanted to just walk past, but I saw the greasy, unhealthy takeout on the table.

"Sienna has a sensitive stomach. She shouldn't be eating that junk," I said quietly.

The second I spoke, Sienna screamed.

"Get lost! Why do you have to ruin everything?"

Tears streamed down her face as she shrieked at me.

"It's just some good food! Nothing is going to happen. Why are you so obsessed with ruining my life?"

She looked at me with bloodshot eyes, finally venting all her rage.

"You don't love me! You only care about pointing out my mistakes and making me apologize to people. You control what I eat, you won't let me play games, you don't even give me space to breathe!"

I stood there, stunned into silence.

All the years of careful nurturing and worrying about her health... she saw it all as control.

It felt like a thousand needles were piercing my heart at once.

I bit my lip, turned around, and walked away before things got even uglier.