My dad’s crush came back, and my mom decided to fake her death.

“Jane, I’m the main character of a tragic story. If I don’t fake my death now, I’ll end up miserable.

“Go tell your dad that Quiana killed me.”

In my past life, I had done exactly as she said.

My dad had flown into a rage and destroyed the Sullivan family. After that, my mom returned to the land of the living.

I thought our family would finally be whole again.

Instead, she clung to Dad and cried.

“I gave Jane my contact information. How could she say I was dead?”

To punish me, my dad locked me in a cold storage room.

My mom shot me a cold look. “That’s what you get for calling that woman pretty.”

In the cold storage room, at −58°F, I froze to death.

When I opened my eyes again, my mom had already faked her death and ran off with her devoted admirer.

I looked at my dad and asked with an innocent expression, “Dad, what does eloping mean?”

My dad frowned. “Who taught you that word?”

I put on a clueless look. “Mom said she was going to fake her death and elope with Mr. Lewis. She told me not to tell you.”

“Fake her death and elope?” My dad gritted his teeth. Every word was full of anger. He radiated such rage that everyone kept a distance away from him.

A moment later, he muttered to himself, “Thank goodness… she’s still alive.”

My dad looked disappointed that my mom had deceived him, yet surprisingly, there was a hint of relief.

My heart sank. My dad’s feelings for my mom were not something I could destroy with just a few words.

But truthfully, my mom was the other woman!

Without my mom’s lies, my dad and his crush, Quiana Sullivan, would have been a perfect match.

After spending those years by my mom’s side, I finally learned the secret she had been hiding all along.

My mom was the real daughter whom my grandfather acknowledged and brought home.

For the first ten or so years of her life, she worked in the fields and lived among chickens, ducks, cattle, and sheep.

She had no understanding of high society. Before she could even prepare, my grandfather had sent her straight to an elite private school.

My grandfather expected that she would marry for the good of the family.

Soon after my mom enrolled, she became a target for bullying by wealthy students. Quiana, the fake daughter, reached out to her with kindness. She patiently helped my mom improve from the bottom of the class to earning the teachers’ praise. She also taught her how to dress and do her makeup, as well as how to carry herself at high-society events.

Over time, the world that had once belonged only to Quiana and my dad slowly became a world for three.

But then, Quiana was diagnosed with stomach cancer and had to go abroad for treatment.

She did not dare say goodbye to my dad in person, so she entrusted my mom with a letter for him.

The letter said that if my dad was willing to wait for her, he should call her.

It included her new phone number.

But my mom secretly hid the letter from him.

She also had someone forge evidence showing Quiana with another man and made it look like she had abandoned my dad before going abroad.

My dad drowned himself in drink night after night. My mom took advantage of it and drugged him.

She became pregnant after that night. They married because of the child, and after the wedding, my dad reined himself in and devoted himself to being a good husband.

This time, when Quiana returned to the country, my mom feared the truth would be exposed, so she staged a fake death.

In my past life, my dad believed it without question. He thought that his once pure and gentle crush had killed my mom out of jealousy. In his rage, he drove the Sullivan family into bankruptcy.

Quiana’s parents could not withstand the blow and collapsed. On the way to the hospital with her parents, Quiana was involved in a car accident and died instantly.

After Quiana’s death, my mom returned to us.

But she accused me of lying on purpose. She said I had misled my dad about the Sullivan family and caused Quiana’s death.

She persuaded my dad to lock me in a cold storage room and secretly set the temperature to −58°F.

Having returned to the past, I would no longer be my mom’s pawn. I would make her taste what it was like to lose everything.

With that thought, I took out the letter Quiana had once left for my dad.

“Dad, does eloping mean Mom ran away with Mr. Lewis and doesn’t want me anymore? I found this in her drawer. I can’t read it, so I don’t know where she’s hiding. Can you help me? Let’s go find her together, okay?”

The familiar handwriting on the envelope made my dad freeze.

His hands shook as he opened the letter.

After so many years, he saw the letter from the woman he loved for the first time. The pain struck him like a knife.

He pressed the letter to his chest and wept like a child.

Every word he spoke was an apology.

The promise he had made so long ago had been broken because of someone else’s deception.

I gently patted my dad’s shoulder. “Dad, don’t cry. Does Mom not want us? Did we make her upset?

“My teacher said that if you do something wrong, just saying sorry is enough. Let’s go apologize. Mom will definitely forgive us!”

Tears streaked my dad’s face. “Can saying sorry really fix everything?”

I nodded firmly. “Yes. If we’re brave enough to say sorry, she’ll forgive us.”

My dad thought for a moment. Then he called the Sullivan family.

But they told him that Quiana had never come home.

Quiana’s whereabouts were unknown. My dad panicked.

Determined to find her, he spared no expense and used every connection he had.

The search was extensive, but he did not make her name public because he feared for her safety. To the outside world, the CEO of Jefferson Corp only seemed to be searching for his lost love.

My mom thought he was looking for her. She even called me several times and warned me not to say anything.

After investing enormous manpower and resources, my dad finally found Quiana in a mountainous area, where she was doing charity work.

Time had been especially kind to her. No traces of hardship showed on her face.

“Quiana, it’s been a long time.”

My dad had rehearsed many opening lines on the way there, but when they finally met, that was all he could muster.

His tone was still a little stiff.

“Are you all right?

“I mean your stomach cancer.”

Quiana paused for a moment, then smiled gently. Her voice was calm. “The treatment was painful at first, but it’s over now.”

“I never received that letter back then. Mindy hid it.”

My dad continued in a low voice. “I should have brought her here to apologize to you, but she… she went missing.”

Concern rose in his eyes. “I’ll have people look for her over the next few days. When she comes back, I’ll bring her to you and have her apologize properly.”

My dad was still worried about my mom.

They had spent many years together. Even someone with a heart of stone would grow tender. Besides, her deception back then had started from love.

I pursed my lips and said unwillingly, “Dad, I don’t want Mom to come back.”

My dad’s face darkened, and he angrily said, “She’s your mother. Who taught you to say that?”

I ate the candy Quiana had given me. I pouted, and my eyes quickly filled with tears.

“The candy Ms. Sullivan gave me tastes really good. Mom always makes me drink chili water. I don’t like chili water at all!”

My dad’s face immediately changed.

As long as I could remember, my dad rarely came home at night.

Every day, my mom cooked a full table of food, then quietly threw everything away.

One time, I was so hungry that my stomach hurt. I was rolling on the floor while crying in pain.

Only then did my dad rush back and take me to the hospital.

After that, whenever my dad did not come home, my mom would not let me eat. Sometimes, she even forced me to drink chili water to aggravate my stomach.

Whenever the pain made my face turn pale, she would hold me and cry until her eyes were swollen. “It’s all your fault. Jane is too fragile and too picky. She refuses to eat every day, so I can’t eat either.”

Each time, my dad would pull her into his arms and comfort her softly.

During that time, the way my mom looked at me became much gentler.

Because of that, I did not dare say that I was not picky.

I also could not say that she was never actually hungry. She always ate in secret.

I cried and buried my face in my dad’s arms. “I don’t like drinking chili water. But Mom said that you would only come back to see me only if I got sick.

“I’m not afraid of getting sick. The chili water is just too spicy. Every time I drink it, my throat hurts.”

When I remembered everything from my past life, the tears still fell through my sobs.

My dad stood there without moving.

After a long while, his hands began to tremble as he gently held me. He softly said, “All right. We won’t look for your mom. As long as I’m here, you’ll never have to drink chili water again.”

My dad’s expression grew heavy. For that time being, he stopped thinking about searching for my mom.

“Then, can I eat cake today? The kids at kindergarten say that you have to eat cake on your birthday.”

My dad finally realized that it was my birthday.

I seized the chance to grab Quiana’s hand. “Ms. Sullivan, I’ve never celebrated my birthday before. I want to celebrate my birthday with Dad and you and eat cake together.”

My very first birthday took place in the mountains. Quiana had planned it for me.

My mom never once celebrated my birthday before. She treated me like a tool to win Dad over, yet she hated the fact that he had married her because of me.

It was the first real birthday I had ever had.

As fireworks filled the night sky, I saw my dad and Quiana lock eyes.

True love really did not need schemes. Just by being there, my dad was already drawn closer to Quiana.

But as he tried to move nearer, Quiana stepped back.

“Mindy is still your wife.”

I knew that as long as my dad did not divorce my mom, she would always be their biggest obstacle. That was true before, and it was true again.

I purposely stepped into a mud puddle and asked Quiana to give me a bath.

My mom never let the nanny bathe me. She always did it herself.

No one knew about all the bruises and needle marks covering my body.

When Quiana saw me, her gasps brought my dad running from outside.

Quiana wrapped a towel around me and left only the marks on my arms visible.

“There are more marks on other parts of her body.”

My dad grabbed my arm and coldly asked, “Who did this?”

I pointed to the faint scars on my arms.

“One time, you didn’t come home for dinner. Mom was very angry.”

I pointed to the cluster of needle marks.

“These are from the days you didn’t eat the breakfast Mom made for you.”

I rubbed my stomach through the towel.

“And the marks on my belly… those are because you forgot Mom’s birthday.”

…

My dad stiffened up at every word I said.

A cold edge flashed in his eyes. He gritted his teeth and said, “A fake death, huh? Then, I’ll do as she wants.”

My dad immediately told his assistant to arrange for my mom’s death certificate. He also canceled all her extra cards.

I hugged Quiana’s neck tightly. “I want Ms. Sullivan to sleep with me.”

As my dad turned to leave, I grabbed his hand.

“I also want you to tell me a story, Dad.”

Dad told the story. He could barely keep his eyes open. Outside, the night was filled with the sound of insects.

Quiana gently stroked my hair. I saw myself reflected in her eyes.

“Ms. Sullivan, will you be my mom?”

A faint blush appeared on her face.

I stole a glance at Dad, who was pretending to sleep. A faint smile appeared on his face.

When we got home, my mom’s things had already been thrown out.

Quiana stayed for a while, but then got up to leave.

I grabbed her hand and whispered, “Ms. Sullivan, I’ll help you be my mom.”

She froze for a moment. I pouted at Dad, acting like a spoiled princess.

“Dad, if Ms. Sullivan isn’t with me, I’ll have nightmares at night. I always dream that Mom pinches me and hits me.”