Chapter 4Escaping The Woman Who Birthed Me

I was wearing a surgical mask, so she didn't recognize me right away.

She and a friend were lounging in the plush pedicure chairs, chatting away while their feet soaked.

"Are you really going to just let the kid starve?" her friend asked. "She's your own flesh and blood. What if something happens to her at school?"

My mother scoffed, waving her hand dismissively.

"That little ungrateful brat is useless. Her heart isn't even with me anyway."

"This time, I’m going to teach her a lesson she’ll never forget."

She leaned her head back against the leather headrest, closing her eyes. "A while ago, I bet the family she’d be top of her class. I told them if she didn’t get first place, I’d marry her off to my cousin’s slow-witted son. And then look what she did to her grades."

"If that idiot boy actually shows up at her door, it’s her own fault. I'm certainly not paying for her college tuition anymore."

My hand froze in mid-air. The glass bottle of eucalyptus oil nearly slipped from my fingers.

I barely caught it, my entire body trembling.

I kept my head down, staring at the tiled floor.

My mother kept talking. "Her dad called again the other day. He wants custody. Do you know what I told him?"

"I told him Harper wishes he were dead. When he heard his own daughter said that about him, you should have heard the silence on the line. It felt so damn good. That’s what he gets for divorcing me! Claiming he ‘couldn't do it anymore’!"

"The more he wants Harper, the more I’m going to make her life miserable! And I'll make sure he sees every second of it!"

I bit down on my lower lip so hard I tasted copper.

A loud, rushing noise filled my ears.

"God, that poor girl must absolutely despise her father by now," her friend muttered.

My mother's smug, triumphant laugh grated against my nerves like a rusted blade.

I took a shaky breath. The room tilted.

I couldn't laugh. I couldn't breathe.

Tears completely blurred my vision.

So my dad hadn't abandoned me?

He had been trying to find me this whole time?

The glass bottle slipped. It shattered against the tile floor, shards of glass and sharp eucalyptus oil exploding outward.

The woman finally leaned forward, peering at my face over the mask. Her expression twisted in horror. She practically leaped out of the chair. "What are you doing here?!"

Her friend looked confused. "Who is this?"

My mother stammered, a panicked, awkward laugh escaping her lips. "No—no one. Just my cleaning lady’s daughter."

I stayed completely silent.

Then, a hollow, broken laugh spilled out of my chest.

My mother looked frantic. After quickly ushering her friend out to the lobby with some excuse, she spun back to me, her eyes ablaze with sheer rage.

"Just how desperate for cash are you to end up working in a sleazy joint like this?!"

I pressed my lips together and looked her dead in the eye.

"You cut me off. Did you forget?"

That made her even angrier.

She grabbed my arm, dragging me toward the front counter to scream at the manager. She kicked over a stack of magazines and knocked a display of lotions off a shelf.

She caused an absolute scene.

"Who hired her?! Do you realize she’s a minor? You people are basically running a brothel, forcing young girls to sell their bodies!"

The manager was terrified.

She tried to placate my mother. "Ma'am, please lower your voice. Let's go to the back office and talk about this."

My mother refused.

She screamed, "You run a filthy business and you're scared of a little noise?! I'm going to let everyone in this town know you're exploiting children!"

The manager lost her patience.

"Look, lady! The kid begged me for a job! Don't come in here throwing around accusations like that!"

My mother's face turned purple.

"Harper Davis, you are a shameless little tramp! Do you have any dignity left?! How could you beg for a job washing strangers' feet?! All the money I spent on your education, completely wasted!"

Oh, right.

When you haven't eaten a full meal in three days, dignity is the last thing on your mind.

A wave of severe dizziness hit me. My heart hammered wildly against my ribs.

It hurt to breathe.

A crowd had gathered outside the large glass windows. I even spotted a girl from my AP History class standing on the sidewalk, whispering to her friends, a malicious smirk playing on her lips.

When our eyes met, I went entirely numb.

As my mother continued her self-righteous tirade, spitting venom in my direction, a dark, radical thought bloomed in my mind.

The next second, I turned and sprinted straight out the door, aiming directly for the busy street outside.

My mother screamed in terror. "Harper! What the hell is wrong with you?! Get back here!"

"You think you can threaten me with this?! It won't work!"

The manager was tearing her hair out in a panic.

"Ma'am, just stop screaming at her!"

"Harper, sweetie, come back inside! We can talk this out!"

SCREECH— CRASH!

As I turned my head, an immense, crushing force slammed into my side.

The sky flipped upside down. I hit the asphalt, my vision tinting red as blood pooled around me.

Through the haze, I saw my mother standing on the sidewalk. Her face was frozen in a mask of absolute, unadulterated horror. Her eyes were blown wide, unable to process what she was seeing.

And as my consciousness began to slip away, I saw the man jumping out of the silver sedan that had slammed its brakes.

It was my dad.