It all started when I had a few extra bites of the cake made by the housekeeper. My mother suddenly snapped and ruined my birthday party. “Just like your father. Can’t resist a little indulgence. “You like her, huh? Well, let her be your mother then. “I don’t want you anymore.” I was left speechless, terrified, crying as I begged her to forgive me, but in a fit of rage, she pushed me. I hit my head on the edge of the table, blood pouring out. In my dazed state, I heard her thoughts. “You’ll regret this. Just wait. Anyone who throws away my love deserves to suffer. That heartless man and his brat of a daughter… they must be regretting everything now.” She felt smug, her heart filled with satisfaction, but not a trace of concern or love for me. But if she truly loved someone, how could she bear to let them get hurt? “You like cake, don’t you? Well, have all you want.” When Mom suddenly grabbed an entire piece of cake and slammed it into my face, the once-boisterous living room fell dead silent. Her sharp voice cut through the stillness, hanging in the air like a blade. She wiped the cake off her fingers with a napkin, then shot a disgusted look at Maeve, our housekeeper. “Avery, you really are your father’s child. You two sure do have the same taste. “Well, since you like her so much, why don’t you just let her be your mother?” I glanced at my mom, then at Maeve’s worn-out face. At an age when I didn’t even fully understand what absurdity meant, I suddenly realized what it felt like without anyone telling me. It was all my fault and Dad’s. We always made Mom misunderstand us, and that was why she was so angry. “I’m sorry, Mom. I was wrong.” My voice faltered, and I lowered my head, trying to hide the tears welling up in my eyes. The cream on my face felt sticky and gross. I didn’t dare go wash it off or change clothes. I was too scared. If I made one wrong move, Mom might really leave. But my apology didn’t soften her at all. She looked at me coldly, her gaze sharp, like she was searching for something on my face. “Well? What exactly did you do wrong?” she demanded. I twisted the hem of my shirt in my hands, desperately trying to think back to what I had done to upset her, but nothing came to mind. Singing the birthday song, blowing out the candles, cutting the cake, eating the cake… wasn’t that just the usual birthday stuff? I hadn’t misbehaved. I hadn’t done anything wrong. I dug my nails into my palm in frustration, tears threatening to spill over. As I hesitated, unable to answer, Mom’s face darkened further. Finally, her patience snapped. She grabbed the cake from the table and hurled it to the floor, along with the gifts beside it. They crashed to the ground with a loud bang. “Your dad likes a woman like Maeve? He must be starving for attention. “When I cook, you two always pick at everything. “But when she makes cake, you can’t get enough, huh? “Fine, Avery, you get your wish. I don’t need you anymore. “From now on, you’ll have no mother.” Maeve stood there, frozen, her face pale with shock. She couldn’t understand how, after all her hard work, cooking and cleaning every day, she was now the one accused of breaking up the marriage. I was trembling with fear, too scared to care about the cream still smeared on me. I rushed over, throwing my arms around Mom’s legs. “Mom, I’m sorry! I won’t eat cake anymore. Please… don’t leave me.” My sobs only seemed to annoy her, and the sticky sweetness of the cream on my face made her even more disgusted. “My new dress!” She shoved me away, eyes burning as she looked at the white splatters of cream on her dress, her chest rising and falling with every breath. “Go find Maeve. I don’t want to be your mother anymore.” The force of her shove sent me stumbling, and with the floor covered in cake, I lost my balance and fell hard. My forehead hit the edge of the table with a sickening thud. For a moment, everything went blurry, and a warm liquid started to spill from my head. Before I passed out, all I saw was red. Whether it was blood or just the red of Mom’s dress, I couldn’t tell. “Mom, don’t go…” A cold fear gripped my heart, a desperate, bone-deep terror that Mom might actually leave me.
I woke up in a hospital bed. “Mom!” Panic surged through me as I frantically searched for her. My heart didn’t settle until I spotted her sitting in the corner of the room, casually scrolling through her phone. She was still here. Relief washed over me like a wave, though I couldn’t take my eyes off her, afraid she might vanish if I so much as blinked. Then my dad’s name popped up on her phone screen. Mom let out an annoyed huff and declined the call. But Dad didn’t give up. He called again and again. By the tenth attempt, Mom finally picked up, her voice sharp with irritation. “Clayton, stop calling me. I told you, I’m done. This time, I mean it. I want a divorce. “Go back to your little harem. Enjoy your life with them. “Don’t expect anyone to cook for you anymore. Don’t expect anyone to stay up all night waiting for you to come home. “Losing me is your problem, not mine.” A heavy silence followed. Dad didn’t say a word, but as I stared at Mom, I could almost hear her thoughts, like they were being broadcast straight into my head. “You’ll regret this. Just wait. Anyone who throws away my love deserves to suffer. That heartless man and his brat of a daughter… they must be regretting everything now.” Her tone in my head was full of smug satisfaction, even triumph, but not a shred of it sounded like love or concern for me. I didn’t understand. Why would she say things like that? What did I or Dad ever do to deserve this? I looked at her, my chest tightening with a sadness I couldn’t shake. I wasn’t heartless. I loved her and I always had. But that didn’t seem to matter. A crushing exhaustion settled over me, as if I was trapped in a nightmare I couldn’t wake up from. Why had it come to this? Was it really because I couldn’t resist having a few extra pieces of cake that Maeve made? Tears blurred my vision and dripped onto the blanket, leaving dark, wet patches. “Beatrix.” Dad’s voice sounded tired, his frustration barely concealed. “Can’t we just talk this out like adults? Don’t take this out on Avery. She’s just a kid. “And honestly, you’ve got some nerve bringing up cooking. You nearly poisoned me with yours!” Before he could finish, Mom interrupted him with a cold laugh. “A kid? Please. She’s smarter than you think. I bet she already knows Maeve will be her stepmom one day. That’s why she’s bending over backward to cozy up to her. “But here’s the thing. Stepmothers don’t care about their stepdaughters. I’ll be waiting for the day you regret this.” She threw me a pointed look with those last words, her eyes brimming with something cruel. It was as if she couldn’t wait to see me suffer under Maeve’s care. “You’re unbelievable,” Dad said, his voice turning icy. Then the line went dead. “You’ll be begging me to come back one day,” Mom thought to herself, her anger morphing into a twisted kind of satisfaction. She sat there for a moment, stewing in the fantasy of Dad pleading for her return, before finally grabbing her bag and striding toward the door. “I’m not your mother anymore, so don’t expect me to take care of you,” she said, her tone indifferent. “Stay here and see if Maeve will come get you.” This time, I didn’t try to stop her. I curled into myself, clutching my knees, trying desperately to hold back the sobs threatening to escape. In my mind, I cried out in anguish, “Mom, you always said people who betray your love deserve to be punished. But if you really loved me, how could you stand to see me hurt?”
Maeve never showed up at the hospital to take care of me as she had quit. For someone hardworking and skilled like her, finding a new job wasn’t a problem. There was no reason for her to stay in a house full of drama and risk ruining her reputation. That day, I sat alone in the hospital from morning till night. I didn’t eat or drink, and I felt like I was drifting in and out of a fog. Eventually, one of the nurses took pity on me. She brought me a meal from the cafeteria and called my dad. When he found out Mom had abandoned me at the hospital, he rushed back overnight from out of town. The moment he walked into the room, I blurted out, “If I disappeared one day, do you think Mom would regret it?” I’d been staring at the hospital’s towering buildings all day, and a dark thought had crept into my mind. If I jumped from up there and disappeared forever, would she finally regret it? Would she cry and beg for me to come back, the way I’d begged her on my birthday? “No,” Dad said, his voice firm and unyielding, not even pausing to think. “Avery, people who love you would never want to see you hurt. “People who don’t love you wouldn’t care, no matter how much pain you’re in. “Hurting yourself to make someone feel guilty or regretful? That’s just a stupid game you play with yourself. It won’t get you love or respect. “If you don’t believe me, let’s bet on it.” Not long after, my parents’ divorce became official. Mom took the house and a sizable amount of money but didn’t want me. Her new place was just next door. Whenever I missed her, I’d sit outside her door, hoping to see her. If I got lucky, I’d catch her leaving or coming home. But she never spoke to me. No matter how much I tried to get her attention, she ignored me completely. Then one day, she brought home a little boy. I overheard her calling him Jasper. That was the first thing she said to me since the divorce. “Avery, this is my son, Jasper. “You’d better not bully him. Otherwise…” She didn’t finish her sentence and just gave me a cold, knowing look, as if she was certain I’d hurt him. A few days later, a good-looking man moved in with her. Mom had no problem kissing him right outside the door where everyone could see. Dad came home early a few times and caught them in the act. His face darkened as he tried to talk to her. “If you want to kiss, do it inside your house. Don’t do it in the hallway where the kids can see.” Mom didn’t take him seriously. She just smirked, clearly enjoying herself. “Since when do I need your permission? Or what, are you mad you’re not the one kissing me anymore?” After that, she only got bolder. She loved putting on shows of affection with Jasper too. “Sweetheart, come here. Let me fix your collar. “I made your lunch myself. Make sure you eat it, okay?” I stood there, lingering in the doorway, hoping for even the tiniest bit of attention. But her gaze never once landed on me. When she finally closed the door behind her, I stared at the lunchbox in Jasper’s hands. For a moment, I hesitated. Should I stop him? But before I could say a word, Jasper’s face darkened. Misreading my hesitation, he charged at me, ready for a fight.
Jasper blocked my way, his voice sharp and mocking. “Move it, you motherless stray.” He was built like a young bull, tall and strong. “Don’t even think about touching my lunch.” I could’ve stepped aside. I should’ve. But my bet with Dad played on a loop in my mind. So, I stood firm. Pain exploded in my stomach as Jasper charged, slamming into me. I hit the ground hard, my hands and knees scraping against the rough concrete. Blood welled up from the torn skin, hot and stinging. “Mom!” The word tore from my throat, raw and desperate. My chest tightened with a mix of humiliation and longing, and before I knew it, tears poured down my face as I sobbed uncontrollably. Jasper froze, his bravado cracking. “It’s not my fault! You fell on your own!” he stammered, his guilt barely concealed. The noise must have carried into the house because the door swung open, and there she was, my mom. I cried harder, louder, willing her to come to me, to pick me up, to care. “Mom! Jasper pushed me!” The words spilled out between hiccupping sobs. For a moment, guilt twisted in my chest. Was I wrong to complain? Was I being petty? But I was desperate, starved for even a shred of her attention. Her reaction left me cold. She walked right past me and crouched down beside Jasper, brushing the hair from his face with a tenderness I’d never known. “Are you okay, sweetheart? Did she scare you? Don’t worry, I’m here. I won’t let anyone hurt you.” I stared at her, the lump in my throat tightening. She had never, not once, spoken to me like that. When she finally turned to me, her eyes were hard, her voice sharp. “Avery, I warned you not to bully Jasper. “Stop this nonsense. No matter what you do, I’m not coming back. “I’ve told you before. I’m not your mother anymore. From now on, I only have one child, and that’s Jasper.” Her voice was dripping with contempt, but beneath it, there was a glimmer of satisfaction, a silent victory she wasn’t bothering to hide. In her mind, she thought, “Regret it now? Too late. All the suffering I endured because of you and your dad… it’s time you felt it too.” “Mom,” I said quietly. “Aren’t you even going to ask if I’m okay?” Her frown deepened, a flicker of unease crossing her face before she forced it back into indifference. “Why would I? Whether you’re hurt or not has nothing to do with me.” And there it was. The truth was stark and undeniable. Dad was right. She didn’t love me. That was why she didn’t care. I stood up and wiped my face with my sleeve, looking her straight in the eye. “Actually, I could’ve dodged him. “But I didn’t. I wanted to see if you’d feel guilty if I got hurt. “And you? Was this your plan all along?” In that moment, it all became clear, like the constant guilt I felt around Mom, the reason she left without hesitation, and why Dad stood by, letting it happen without a fight. Her face flushed red, anger flashing in her eyes. She grabbed Jasper’s hand, pulling him toward the house. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” But she did. I saw it in the way her steps quickened, in the tight line of her mouth. She understood exactly what I meant. And it scared her.
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