Chapter 3Polished Parents

His face was a canvas of shock, which quickly melted into a sneer.

"Don't play the victim, Tia. Of all the gold diggers out there, I chose you to be Mrs. Astor."

He took a step closer, his voice dripping with condescension. "I made you. From a nobody to the most famous financial anchor in the city. I gave you money, power, access. You got everything you ever wanted. So how exactly are you a fool?"

"And divorce?" He scoffed. "I decide when this is over. You don't have the right to even suggest it."

His arrogance was a physical blow, shattering what was left of my heart into dust.

I stared at him, forcing back the tears that burned my eyes.

"I really did love you, Julian."

"You think I faked my background because I'm a gold digger desperate to climb the social ladder. But I only did it so I could marry you."

The resources he gave me were just opportunities. I was the one who worked myself to the bone to seize them, not just for myself, but to help him, to make him happy.

But the truth didn't matter anymore.

A desolate smile touched my lips. "I'm willing to step aside. Just make it a clean break."

A flash of triumph lit Rosalind's eyes.

Julian, however, looked as if he'd been struck. His pupils constricted, and his lips twisted into a cruel smirk.

"Feelings, Tia? Does a gold digger even have those? Still spewing lies at a time like this. It's pathetic."

"Don't worry," he added, his voice like ice. "We'll be divorced in three days. At most."

I didn't argue. I went straight back to the Astor mansion. For three years, my in-laws had been nothing but kind to me, and I had deceived them. The guilt was crushing.

I confessed everything. "Mr. and Mrs. Astor, I'm so sorry. My parents aren't university professors. They're just ordinary people. My high-society identity was a lie from the very beginning. Scold me, punish me… I'll accept whatever you decide."

Mrs. Astor simply stared for a moment, then took my hand in hers, her grip firm and warm.

"Silly girl," she said softly. "We knew you were faking it from the day we met you."

"Then why…?" I choked, unable to finish the sentence.

Mr. Astor spoke, his voice calm and steady. "Because aside from your background, you were flawless."

"It's true," his wife added. "We saw how you cared for Julian, how you dedicated yourself to this family. We saw your kindness, your brilliance. In these three years, we've come to think of you as our own daughter. Do you really think we care where you came from?"

Tears streamed down my face. I tried to smile through them. "But… Julian has never loved me. Rosalind is back, and he's going to marry her. I've already agreed to the divorce. I'll pack my things tonight and be gone."

The warmth drained from their faces, but they didn't try to stop me.

"Child," Mr. Astor said, his voice grave, "we know our son. If he has made a terrible mistake, do not spare him on our account. You teach him the lesson he deserves. And remember this: we can live without a son, but we cannot live without you."

I cried in their arms for a long time before finally going up to my room. My eyes fell on our wedding photos, on all the relics of our "sweet" past, and my mind drifted.

Just then, Leo walked in with a glass of orange juice.

"Grandma and Grandpa said you were sad today. I brought this to cheer you up."

I looked at the five-year-old boy. He was the spitting image of Rosalind. How had I never seen it before? Still, I had helped raise him for years. It would be rude to refuse his farewell gift.

"You should be happy more often," he said, his tone oddly adult. "Don't always look so serious."

I took the glass and drank. The taste was… wrong.

Suddenly, Leo burst out laughing, a triumphant, ugly sound.

"How does dog piss taste, you bitch? You think you can seduce my dad just because you're pretty? Shameless!"

His voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper. "Don't think I don't know Julian is my real dad! Now my mom is back, and you can get the hell out!"

My stomach heaved. I scrambled to the bathroom and retched until there was nothing left.

When I stumbled out, Leo was waiting by the door. He shoved me, hard.

Caught off guard, I tumbled backward down the grand staircase. My head cracked against a marble step, and a warm rush of blood instantly matted my hair.

"You stupid bitch," he sneered, "I'll make Grandpa and Grandma hate you. Then they'll have to love my mom."

Pain exploded through my body. Through a blurry haze, I saw Leo smear my blood on his own forehead and then start screaming at the top of his lungs.

"Help! Tia's hitting me! She's hitting me!"

"Tia!" Julian was suddenly there, I don't know when he'd returned. He scooped Leo into his arms.

His eyes were terrifyingly sharp. "You'd take your anger out on a child? When did you become so vicious?"

I lay on the floor, the pool of my own blood spreading around me, unable to move.

"I… didn't."

Leo's wails grew louder. "She started picking on me the second she got home! She said she hates me! Uncle Julian, it hurts!"

"It's okay, Leo, I've got you. I'm taking you to the hospital." Julian soothed the boy, then shot me a look of pure disgust.

"You're a grown woman. Can't you get up on your own? Or is this another pity play to win my forgiveness?"

With that, he turned and rushed out the door with Leo in his arms.

I watched him go, the pain in my heart eclipsing the pain in my head. A few years ago, when I had collapsed from exhaustion, he had raced me to the hospital, terrified I wouldn't be okay.

Now, I was lying in a pool of my own blood, and he didn't care. He thought I was acting.

So this is what it feels like when your heart dies.