Chapter 4Real Gold for the Wrong Daughter

“I’ve paid child support every month since the divorce,” he insisted. “She even made me pay extra every year—she said it was for the gold jewelry to build your dowry.”

“And just a few months ago, she told me you were starting work and needed a down payment for an apartment near the city. I wired the money to her.”

Now it was my turn to be stunned.

Mom had always told me she never received a cent of support, that she had tirelessly raised us all on her own.

But he was claiming he paid monthly support until I graduated college, funded the "gold dowry" jewelry, and most recently, gave her a large sum for an apartment down payment.

I had never seen any of that money.

My jewelry was gold-plated.

I had paid for my entire university education with student loans and work-study.

Seeing my disbelief, he pulled out his phone and showed me years of detailed wire transfers sent directly to my mother’s bank account.

I don’t remember how I got home.

Even with his bank records in my hand, a part of me didn't want to believe it. What if he faked the records? What if he’s just trying to poison me against Mom?

Then I saw Savannah’s new post on social media.

It was a picture of a newly framed deed of ownership for a condo.

The caption: So grateful to my amazing mom for the help. So excited to finally have my own place! #Homeowner

My hand trembled as I held the phone.

I remembered when I had first moved out for my job, I was broke and had asked Mom if she could lend me a little for a security deposit on a rental.

She had snapped, “Where would I get that kind of money? You know our situation. Every cent I’ve ever earned has gone to you kids. I have nothing saved.”

I ended up borrowing from a friend.

She had no money to help me rent a tiny apartment, but she had hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy Savannah a condo.

The post vanished a second later. She had blocked me.

But I had already screenshotted it.

Before I could figure out what to say to her, she called me first.

“Piper, did you meet with that sorry excuse for a father today?”

I didn’t deny it. “Yes.”

The next second, her voice erupted in a violent rage.

“I told you never to contact him! Don’t you remember what kind of man he is? He never cared for you after the divorce, never paid a dime! How dare you sneak around and meet him after everything I sacrificed to raise you?”

She had used that narrative my entire life. That was why I avoided Neil—I thought seeing him would be a betrayal.

But hearing the truth today, a terrifying possibility formed in my mind.

She didn't want me to see him because she was afraid the truth about the hidden child support would come out.

I remembered the ferocious fights my mother had with my father over my custody. I had always convinced myself she fought for me because she loved me so deeply. That was the only thing that had allowed me to forgive her bias.

But now, knowing Savannah wasn't his… I realized Mom only fought so hard because my custody was tied to the constant, substantial child support payments from Neil.

My mind drifted as Mom yelled into the phone, her tirade of accusations washing over me.

Finally, she ran out of steam and hung up in a huff.

Immediately, a notification popped up from the family group text.

It was a photo of Neil and me sitting across from each other. Mom must have hired a private investigator.

Below the photo, her message blazed across the screen.

[Family, look at the daughter I raised with blood and sweat for twenty years.]

[She knows that father never looked after her, never cared, yet she runs straight to him. She is an ungrateful wretch!]

The barrage of relatives began, piling on the judgment.

I smiled, a cold, hard finality settling in my chest. There was no going back now.

I typed a single line, calm and absolute, and pressed send.

[Then you can finally go back to pretending you don’t have this daughter.]