Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Mom froze.

She bent down, held my shoulders, and answered me solemnly, her eyes full of aching tenderness.

“No. It’s Dad’s fault. He shouldn’t have gone soft and lied to Yibao, letting her think he really was her dad. And he shouldn’t have comforted someone else’s daughter while abandoning his own. You didn’t do anything wrong. It’s his fault. We can’t stay here anymore. We’re going home.”

She packed up right away and took me back to my uncle’s place.

My uncle received us warmly.

He could see the worry between Mom’s brows and said he would get justice for her.

Mom refused to let him go.

But he said he was her older brother-he would never watch his own sister get bullied.

He went to the hospital.

Then, he didn’t come back.

Mom and I stayed at my uncle’s house for three days.

For those three days, Mom asked for leave for me, so I didn’t have to go to kindergarten.

We kept each other company.

We watched the floating clouds, watched frost and dew, admired spring blossoms, and admired the moonlight too.

It was a rare, unhurried stretch of time in my life.

Three days later, Uncle finally came back.

He looked drawn and worn, his eyes hesitant, and the first thing he said was the kind of thing that hurt to hear.

“Wanwan, can you give in to Anxin? She’s sick…”

I stared at my uncle, stunned, unable to squeeze out a single word.

Mom froze as well.

That day, Mom told me to go back to my room first and let her be alone for a while.

She and Uncle argued loudly in the study.

Before long, she came out with her face livid and took me away from my uncle’s house.

We wandered the streets with nowhere to go. The city was huge, yet there wasn’t a single place we could call home.

When we passed a flower shop, Mom bought a bouquet of pure white lilies.

We went to Grandma’s cemetery.

Mom laid the lilies before Grandma and cried as hard as she wanted.

She said, “Mom, I’m sorry. I should’ve listened to you back then.”

I’d heard Mom and Dad’s love story from Aunt Zhang.

A mature, steady, domineering CEO and a naive college girl-people from two different worlds, colliding and sparking into love, and finally ending up together.

Aunt Zhang had sounded so envious. She said it was a romantic fairy tale.

But fairy tales are lies.

In only six years, love lost to a third person.

I wanted to say, Mom, let’s go. Let’s divorce him. We don’t need Dad anymore.

But I couldn’t.

It was like a jack was pressed against my mouth-so heavy I could barely breathe.

Then Mom spoke first. “Yaya, if I divorce your dad, who will you go with?”

In that instant, it felt like I was finally saved.

The crushing pressure vanished.

I cried from anger.

“I’m going with Mom.”

Mom hugged me tight, her whole body radiating resolve.

She really did bring up divorce with Dad.

But Dad didn’t take it seriously at all.

He said, “Stop messing around. I need to find a heart donor for Anxin-I don’t have time to deal with you. Don’t stir up trouble at a time like this.”

Mom didn’t even want to talk to him anymore.

She only left him with one line: “Sign the papers and I’ll go. No one wants to come and disturb you.”

She took me with her to leave that house.

But Grandma refused to let me go.

“Yaya is a descendant of the Yu Family. You can leave. The granddaughter stays.”

Several bodyguards forcibly tore Mom and me apart.

In that moment, I hated Grandma.

I scratched, bit, kicked-I struggled as hard as I could.

Mom panicked.

“Yaya, be good. Don’t hurt yourself. Never hurt yourself. Mom won’t go. Mom won’t ever go again.”

I realized it wouldn’t work.

I couldn’t be Mom’s burden.

So I stopped.

“Mom, goodbye! I’ll be good and wait for you to come back.”

I ran back to my room and pressed myself to the window, watching Mom.

She was crying.

She wiped her tears.

She looked up toward my window, and I hurriedly ducked back.

I hid behind the curtain, my heart pounding like a drum.

When I peeked out again…

Mom was gone.