The warm, happy scene made it feel like Ellie and I had walked into the wrong apartment.

"Lucia—"

Pierce jumped up and hurried over to take my bag. "Daphne's landlord suddenly sold the place and kicked them out. They haven't found somewhere new yet, so I brought them here. Can they stay a while?"

I didn't answer. I just watched the housekeeper carry our stuff into the storage room piece by piece.

Daphne spoke softly, though the smug look on her face was impossible to miss. "Sorry, Lucia. My health's not great, so I need a room with good sunlight and airflow. Pierce gave me the master bedroom."

Jared had taken over Ellie's room.

Her favorite doll had been tossed aside by him, its arms and legs snapped off.

Pierce suddenly looked uneasy. "Lucia, if you're not okay with this, I can find them another—"

"I'm fine with it." I held my hand out calmly. "Same rates as before. But since they're staying in my apartment, there's a location fee. And your company gets billed separately."

A loud smack echoed through the room.

Pierce slammed my bag onto the floor, his face dark with anger. "Lucia Leighton, have you lost your mind? What kind of crap are you saying in front of the kids? Do you have any shame left?"

I almost laughed.

He was the one who brought another woman and her kid into our home, yet somehow I was the shameless one for saying it out loud.

Pierce grabbed Daphne and Jared and headed for the door.

As he passed me, he threw a bank card at my face. "Five hundred grand. Happy now? I tried being nice, and you kept pushing. Why don't you just marry your money already?"

When the apartment finally went quiet, Ellie sniffled and wiped my face with a tissue.

That was when I realized the edge of the card had sliced the corner of my eye.

"Mommy, it's my fault for being sick. You have to put up with Daddy because of me every day."

I forced back my tears and held Ellie tight. "I'm not mad. Once your surgery's over, you'll be okay. I'm happy..."

Ellie, who used to need Daddy to tell her bedtime stories every night, cried herself to sleep in my arms.

I stared at the tight crease between her brows, my chest aching like it was being crushed.

When did our happy little family turn into this?

Was it after Daphne's husband died, when Pierce got scared she'd do something reckless and started spending every night at her place to comfort her?

He went so often the paparazzi started calling him her boyfriend.

Or was it when he worried Jared would get bullied for not having a dad, so he never missed a parent-teacher conference?

Children's Day. Birthday parties. He showed up for all of it.

Meanwhile, my daughter got treated like some illegitimate kid at school and bullied nonstop.

Or maybe it was the first time Ellie collapsed from a heart attack.

I called Pierce over and over, but his line stayed busy.

By the time I got to the hospital, every doctor had been pulled away to treat Jared's tiny scrape.

Ellie's heart stopped three times.

I begged until my voice gave out and collapsed from exhaustion before I finally stopped a doctor and barely saved her.

I snapped out of it, took a deep breath, and headed for the storage room to pack.

Other than clothes and daily essentials, I left everything behind.

Then I saw the ceramic mugs the three of us had painted together at a craft shop back when Pierce used to take Ellie and me out.

A sharp pain twisted through my chest.

The Pierce who once gave Ellie and me all his love, patience, and time was gone.

After making sure I hadn't forgotten anything important, I carried the sleeping Ellie out of that unfamiliar apartment without looking back.

A week passed in our new place. Pierce never sent a single message.

Daphne, though, kept blowing up my phone.

Every message was another tabloid article about their trips together, like she was scared I might miss one.

I opened them without expression.

They'd gone everywhere Ellie and I used to dream about visiting.

Watching the Northern Lights in Iceland. Skiing in Switzerland. Seeing cherry blossoms in Japan.

Even the media company covering them was the same one that had once reported on my fairytale wedding with Pierce.

[Sorry, Lucia. I tried convincing Pierce to pay the paparazzi to delete the articles, but he said you have plenty of money. This all started because of me. Maybe I should sell the jewelry and bags Pierce bought me and use that money to remove the news?]

Daphne deliberately photographed every gift Pierce gave her, obviously trying to get a reaction out of me.

Before, I would've stormed over and smashed everything in sight.

Now, I simply replied:

[Then I'll leave it to you.]

The typing indicator hovered on the screen for what felt like an eternity, but no new message ever came.

Just when I thought things were finally calming down, a million dollars suddenly hit my account.

The second I saw the note attached to the transfer, my blood went ice-cold.

I stumbled toward my mother's grave. Pierce stood there directing workers to dig it up.

"Stop!"

I rushed forward, shoved both workers down, and grabbed a hoe, blocking the grave.

Pierce pulled Daphne and Jared behind him and scoffed. "Lucia, didn't you say anything can be rented if the price is high enough? I already transferred the money for your mother's grave. So why are you freaking out now?"

I shook so hard my teeth chattered. Barely able to stand, I glared at him. "Are you even human?"

Pierce shrugged. "I'm playing by your rules. How does that make me the bad guy? Or is every kind of love sacred to you except our marriage? That one's cheap enough to put a price tag on?"

My nails dug into my palms, but I was too furious to feel it.

I couldn't understand it.

The man who once stood beside my mother's hospital bed and swore he'd protect me forever—how had he turned into this?

Daphne clutched a framed photo of Goldie, her eyes glossy with tears. "Forget it, Pierce. Goldie was family to Jared and me, but an animal is still an animal. Taking Lucia's mother's grave... it's wrong."

The second he saw her cry, Pierce's expression went cold.

"Lucia. Move."

I clenched my jaw. "Not happening."

He stepped beside me and leaned close. "Ellie's surgery is next month. You should really behave until then."

My whole body went numb. I stared at him in disbelief. "Ellie's your daughter. You're seriously using your own kid's life to threaten me?"

Pierce reached up and brushed my hair behind my ear.

His voice was gentle. His words weren't.

"She is. But Jared's my son too. The night before our wedding, Daphne came to see me. We drank too much and screwed up. You and Ellie already have money and status. You should be more understanding."

Cold sweat drenched my back. A sharp ringing filled my ears.

Ellie collapsing from a heart attack kept flashing through my head. Over and over.

Slowly, I lowered the hoe.

My legs felt like concrete as I stepped aside.

Jared instantly lit up. "Yay! That old lady finally moved out so Goldie can have the spot!"

He ripped my mother's photo off the headstone and grabbed the urn like he was about to smash it.

"Don't!"

My mind went blank as I threw myself at him.

I shielded the urn, but my head slammed hard against the stone.

The world spun. Blood blurred my vision red.

And still, the urn shattered in my arms. Ash scattered everywhere.

Jared got even more excited. He stomped all over the ashes again and again.

Daphne pretended to stop him. "Jared, stop being naughty. What if that dirty stuff stains your clothes and shoes? Then Pierce will have to wash them for you."

As she dragged Jared back, she "accidentally" dumped her entire boba tea onto my mother's ashes.

"Ah!"

Daphne stared at the mess with fake panic. "Lucia, I didn't mean to ruin your mom's ashes. What are we supposed to do now?"

She hid behind Pierce, barely holding back her smug smile.

"Lucia!" Pierce rushed over to help me up, his hands shaking as he wiped the blood from my forehead. "Does it hurt? Are you dizzy?"

I looked at the ashes scattered across the ground and completely snapped.

I shoved him away and swung my bag at that disgusting mother and son.

"I'll kill you!"

Before I could reach them, Pierce slammed a kick into me.

I crashed to the ground so hard it felt like my whole body shattered.

Pierce stood in front of Daphne, his face dark with rage.

"Lucia, you've seriously lost your mind. Attacking women and kids in public? Maybe a few days at the police station will calm you down."

He pulled out his phone and called the cops.

I was too weak to even get up. Blood filled my mouth, thick and metallic. My voice came out raw.

"They desecrated my mom's ashes like that, and you're seriously pretending not to see it?"

Pierce only checked whether Jared was hurt.

"He's just a kid. Why couldn't you talk things out? Besides, Daphne already tried to stop him."

The cops showed up fast. As they moved to put me in the squad car, I struggled. "Officer, I didn't even touch them!"

Daphne pointed at a bruise barely bigger than a fingernail on Jared's knee, tears pouring down her face. "She hurt my son like this. He's still so little. This could traumatize him forever!"

The two workers backed her up too.

I was taken to a detention center for disturbing the peace and sentenced to five full days.

The second I heard that, panic hit me. "Pierce, can't we settle this privately? You know Ellie's heart condition is serious. If she doesn't see me for five days, she'll panic. What if something happens to her?"

Pierce hesitated.

Daphne instantly wrapped herself around his arm. "Pierce, if you let this go now, Jared will think actions don't have consequences. He's still young. What if he grows up spoiled?"

Pierce's expression hardened immediately.

"Lucia, you were wrong. Let this be a lesson for both kids. I'll take care of Ellie. You can use this time to think about what you did."

"Pierce!"

I jumped up and tried to grab him, but an officer dragged me away to change.

I didn't even want to imagine what Ellie would go through after five days alone with Daphne and Jared.

The fear crushed me. I paced nonstop inside the tiny cell.

That night, I finally broke down.

I collapsed onto the hard bunk, and the pain from everything that happened finally hit all at once.

I closed my eyes, hoping sleep would make the time pass faster.

Less than five minutes later, someone jolted me awake.

A man in the next cell leaned against the bars and whistled. "You're hurt pretty bad. Figured I should wake you in case you died quietly over there."

I turned my back to him and ignored him.

Five minutes later, he woke me up again.

I barely got a second of uninterrupted sleep that whole night.

By morning, I was slumped against the wall, exhausted.

I tried to ask the guard to let me use the bathroom.

But the guy across from me always seemed to know. Every single time before I could speak, he called the guard over first.

I held it until my stomach cramped and cold sweat drenched my back.

Right before I blacked out, he smirked. "Pretty girl, that's what happens when you mess with people you shouldn't."

That's when I realized Pierce had paid someone to make my life hell in here.

I didn't even have the energy to hate him anymore.

I just wanted time to move faster.

By the fifth day, I'd been reduced to skin and bones.

Pierce was already waiting outside the detention center.

The second he saw me, pain flashed across his face.

He walked over and pulled me into his arms. "Did you learn your lesson? Your mom's ashes weren't completely ruined. I had someone gather what was left and place it in a new urn. She's been reburied in a better cemetery plot. Once you recover, I'll take you there."

I didn't answer. I shoved him away.

Then I pulled the papers from my bag and stuffed them into his hands.

"The money you paid for my mom's grave wasn't enough. Sign."