Chapter 2

My hand holding the water glass paused for half a second. Then, I slowly set the glass back on the table.

I stood up. I was half a head taller than Brenda, and I looked down at her coldly.

"If you want to drag up what happened ten years ago in front of all these people, I'd be more than happy to clear the air."

Brenda took a step back, her aggressive bravado shrinking visibly.

"Back then, you looked down on David for being broke. You thought he had no future, so you abandoned your ten-year-old daughter and ran off with a sleazy building contractor."

My voice wasn't loud, but every crisp syllable carried effortlessly across the silent ballroom.

"The day you walked out, it was pouring rain. Your child had a burning fever, but you didn't even spare her a single glance before you grabbed your luggage and fled."

"David rushed her to the emergency room, sitting outside the ICU on the cold hospital bench all night long."

Brenda's face drained of color.

"You're lying! That's not how it happened at all—"

"I'm lying?"

I cut her off, taking a step forward. Brenda instinctively stepped back again.

"That was the year I launched my company. David was my very first employee."

"He worked for me by day and hauled bricks on construction sites by night, killing himself working two jobs."

"When your daughter needed to be picked up from school, I picked her up. When she had parent-teacher conferences, I showed up. When she got her very first period and cried her eyes out in sheer terror, I was the one who held her hand and taught her how to use a pad. And you? Where the hell were you?"

Brenda opened and closed her mouth, completely speechless.

I turned away from her and shifted my gaze onto Chloe, who stood paralyzed beside us.

She looked as though she had been struck by lightning. Her bridal makeup was ruined, smudged beneath bloodshot, terrified eyes.

"You're twenty years old today. When I first met you, you were barely ten."

My tone suddenly dropped into a quiet, chilling calm.

"Do you remember what kind of state you were in back then?"

Tears instantly welled in Chloe's eyes, spilling over and streaming down her cheeks.

"You cowered in corners. You refused to speak, refused to make eye contact. Your teachers warned us you were slipping into severe clinical withdrawal."

"Every morning, I sat with you through breakfast. Every night, I read you bedtime stories. Every weekend, I took you to Central Park, patiently teaching you step by step how to interact with the world."

Chloe clamped a hand over her mouth, her shoulders trembling violently.

"From childhood until now, every single cent of your private school tuition, your violin lessons, and your elite tutoring came out of my pocket."

"On your eighteenth birthday, I transferred ten percent of my company's shares into your name. You promised me then that you would always love and honor me, that you would treat me just like your real mother."

I paused, staring straight into her tear-soaked eyes.

"All those words... did you completely forget them?"

With a loud thud, Chloe dropped to her knees on the floor.

"Mom—"

She choked, sobs ripping through her throat. She collapsed forward, reaching out a trembling hand to grab the hem of my trousers.

Beside her, Brenda panicked, rushing over to drag her back to her feet.

"Why are you kneeling to her?! Get up! Have some self-respect!"

Chloe violently shoved Brenda's hands away with so much force that Brenda stumbled backward.

"Get away from me!"

Chloe screamed at Brenda through her tears. Brenda froze, utterly stunned.

"Why did you have to come back?! Why did you have to show up at my wedding?!"

"For the past six months, you kept whispering in my ear that stepmothers are all fake, that only biological mothers truly love you! You told me to squeeze all her money out of her and kick her to the curb!"