But money like that didn't come easy, of course.

The next day, Vivian showed up at our door.

She wore a Chanel coat and carried a Hermes bag so loaded with Labubu charms it looked too heavy to lift.

The actual mistress, and yet she insisted on selling this sweet, innocent act.

When she saw us, she smiled like a winner.

"Evelyn, finally we meet. Samuel kept telling me not to come. But I heard you were upset, so I figured I really ought to pay you a visit."

Her voice was sweet to the point of cloying, like a bag of dollar-store candy.

Mom gave a faint smile and turned to tell the housekeeper to pour tea.

She winked at me, looking a little excited.

A new script to play, after all.

I shrank behind Mom, playing the helpless daughter.

Vivian looked me up and down.

"This must be Leah. Your dad always says you're... very well-behaved."

She paused a long beat, as if it took real effort to find one nice thing to say about me.

She smiled. "Soon I'll be your mom too."

The comments grabbed their popcorn:

[Nah, her acting's nowhere near as good as the real Mom's.]

[The mean-girl energy is leaking through the screen. She couldn't fake it if she tried.]

I fought the urge to roll my eyes.

She looked barely a few years older than me. Hearing that made me want to gag.

Mom sat down across from her, spine straight, carrying herself a hundred times better than this woman.

Vivian's eyes landed on Mom's face.

"So what skincare do you use?"

Mom set down her cup, sounding mildly surprised. "Oh, I don't really use skincare. A bit of sun, plenty of water, and that's it."

Vivian's grip on her cup tightened. She managed a stiff smile, her eyes sweeping over Mom.

"No wonder. Well, you'll have to start taking better care of yourself. You're not exactly a sweet young twenty-something men dote on, like us."

Mom was forty-two.

She was trying to stab at Mom with her youth.

But Mom only smiled lightly and nodded. "You're right. Men always love twenty-year-old girls. The thing is, nobody stays twenty forever."

The comments were dazzled:

[Mom's so clear-headed. How did the deadbeat have her fooled for twenty years?]

[Women: brilliant the second they fall out of love!]

Stumped, Vivian snapped, "You're good at comforting yourself. About to get dumped and still sitting here playing it cool."

Mom kept smiling. "I just want him to be happy."

The comments teared up. [I genuinely can't tell anymore whether Mom's acting.]

Seeing that line of attack fail, Vivian tried another way to get under Mom's skin. She swept a hand through her red hair, conveniently flashing the thirty-carat diamond on her ring finger.

"Oh, this? Samuel paid five million for it at auction. I told him it was too much, but he wouldn't hear it. He says when he sees something he likes, he just has to buy it for me. There's no stopping him."

Mom's breath caught.

Her ruby necklace had only cost three million.

No woman could stomach that comparison.

Her fury looked ready to burn the woman alive!

The comments panicked:

[Mom, don't crack now, don't let her win!]

[The second you snap, the deadbeat walks in and "catches" you bullying her. That's exactly how these stories always go!]

I nodded fast and tugged her sleeve.

She took a deep breath and said dryly, "Young girls really are easy to fool. Women our age only accept what holds its value: gold."

Vivian's mouth twitched, angrier now. "Hmph. Diamonds may not hold their value, but the baby in here? She does."

She dropped the bomb so casually.

"Samuel says it's definitely a boy. He'll take over the company one day."

"Honestly, I envy you and Leah. You get to take it easy every single day."

"But if you two ever need help, just ask, and I'll be there. You've never worked a day, and Leah, well, Leah doesn't really know much about anything."

A mistress, stepping on us, and offering to "help" us with my dad's money?

My fingers tightened around my cup. I wanted to throw the hot tea right in her face!

Mom gripped the couch, just as furious.

Uh-oh. I couldn't hold her back.

Right as she was about to blow, the fingerprint lock clicked at the door.

Comments drifted past.

[Oh no, oh no, the deadbeat's here, and now this woman's going to pull something!]

[Hold it together! The smugger she is now, the harder she'll fall later! And honestly, who even knows whose kid that is!]

My stomach dropped, but Vivian had already made her move.

She glanced toward the door, took a step forward, then flinched as if something had startled her. Mom instinctively raised her arm.

That one motion.

Vivian let out a sharp cry, lurched to the side, right hand clamped over her belly, her face flipping from smug to terrified in a heartbeat.

"You—"

The word was barely out when Dad came rushing in.

"What's going on?"

Vivian's eyes went red.

"I... I'm sorry. I shouldn't have come. It's just, the moment Evelyn saw this ring she got so worked up she had to grab it and look. I'm sure she didn't mean to shove me..."

"I didn't—"

"Enough."

Dad didn't give her the chance to explain.

He looked at her with disgust.

"Evelyn, you're still completely out of line! So vicious! I thought we could end this with some dignity!"

Before Mom could speak, he wrapped an arm around Vivian and turned to go.

"Don't be scared, I've got you. This shrew won't dare lay a finger on you."

The door closing landed like a blow on both of us.

That beautiful face filled with grief she couldn't hold back. "I'm... not dignified? The ring he proposed to me with was a few-hundred-dollar moissanite. Twenty years of marriage, and he won't listen to a single word of explanation..."

I reached over and gently took her hand.

Love that was gone didn't come back.

Only money never disappeared.

I held tighter. "Don't worry, Mom. I recorded everything she just said."

"You don't need to fight her, and you absolutely can't fight Dad. The assets aren't split yet. She's pregnant, and one little crying fit from her could cost us a fortune!"

Mom looked up. "You recorded it? It can prove I'm innocent?"

She smiled, though it came out strained.

"How ironic. Twenty years married, and I need someone else to prove I'm innocent."

Then the self-pity drained from her face, replaced by something cold. "I can't wait for that idiot to see exactly what kind of woman he’s head over heels for!"