Chapter 1Mom’s Affair Clues Were Just Records of My Foolishness

My mom was having an affair.

The necklace that man gave her? She claimed I’d stolen money to buy it, just to please her.

Their late-night dates? She said I was sleepwalking, and she was out looking for me.

To make Dad believe her, she beat me black and blue every single time.

I became her perfect alibi.

Until that man’s wife showed up at our door, pointing at me, calling me a bastard, a love child of a whore.

My mom, to absolve herself, grabbed my hair and slammed my head against the wall, screaming that she’d beat this disgusting daughter to death with her own hands.

“Iris, come here and let Daddy see.”

Dad’s voice was like warm winter sunshine, yet I felt as cold as if I’d fallen into an ice cave.

He held a delicate dragonfly brooch, its tiny diamonds glinting blindingly under the light.

I didn’t dare go closer, my fingers, clutching the hem of my shirt, turned white from the strain.

“Arthur, don’t scare the child.”

Mom, Eleanor, walked over and gently pulled me into her arms. I smelled a strange men’s cologne on her.

“This child, she’s just getting more and more troublesome.”

She sighed, her voice laced with feigned exasperation.

“I just found out today that two thousand dollars I put in my drawer is missing.”

“I asked her about it, but she wouldn’t say. Then, this afternoon, she showed me this, parading it like a trophy.”

“She said it was a Mother’s Day gift for me. Arthur, tell me, how did this child learn to steal money?”

Dad’s face instantly darkened.

“Iris, is what your mom says true?”

I shook my head desperately, tears welling up in my eyes.

“No, Dad, I didn’t…”

That brooch was given to Mom yesterday by a man I didn’t know.

I saw Mom put it into her bag with my own eyes, her face beaming with happiness.

“Still lying!”

Mom’s hand gripping my shoulder suddenly tightened, with enough force to crush my bones.

She pushed me in front of Dad, her face contorted in a show of profound sorrow.

“Arthur, look, we’ve spoiled her too much, turning her into a host of bad habits!”

“Stealing money, lying, and now daring to argue back in front of us!”

“Today, I *have* to teach her a good lesson, otherwise, there’ll be no stopping her!”

Dad looked at me, his gaze shifting from warm to deeply disappointed.

He tiredly waved his hand.

“You deal with it, just don’t seriously injure her.”

Having received permission, the gentleness on Mom’s face vanished instantly.

She dragged me by my arm into my small room.

The moment the door closed, slaps rained down on me.

“You little bitch, dare to mess with my business?”

“I’ll teach you to talk too much! I’ll teach you to pry!”

Every slap was full-force, my cheeks burned with pain, and I soon tasted the metallic sweetness of blood in my mouth.

I didn’t dare cry out, only bit my lip raw.

Because I knew, the louder I cried, the more excited she got hitting me.

She needed my cries to prove to Dad, who was outside the door, how “devoted and responsible” she was as a mother.

I don’t know how long it was, but Dad finally knocked on the door from outside.

“That’s enough, she’s learned her lesson. The child is still young.”

Mom stopped, she opened the door, her voice tearful.

“Arthur, my heart aches. My daughter turned out like this, it’s my failure as a mother.”

Dad walked in, hugging Mom, who was crying so hard she couldn’t breathe.

“It’s not your fault, I’m usually too busy and neglected her discipline.”

They were like a loving couple, comforting each other in my room.

And I, like discarded trash, curled up in the corner, cold all over.

Mom lifted her head from Dad’s embrace, looking at me with swollen, red eyes, her gaze poisoned with malice.

“Iris, go apologize to your dad, and promise you’ll never steal money again.”