1 The family trip was meant to start today. Instead, I spent the morning doubled over, darting between the bedroom and bathroom. Mom stayed beside me the whole time, wiping my forehead and rubbing my back until the nausea finally passed. When we stepped out, the house was silent. Dad and Aunt Vivian were already gone. Mom stood frozen in the hallway, phone in hand, about to book a cab. Then a text from Dad appeared on her screen. You are a grown woman with a child. How can you not handle a simple stomach bug? Set a better example for Kate. The flight will not wait. Just stay home. A second message followed from Aunt Vivian. Mike and I have important clients to meet. It would not have been convenient having you two along anyway. Mom’s hand fell slowly to her side, her eyes dimming. Dad and Vivian had always been inseparable, both brilliant defense attorneys at a top firm. Mom never fit into their world, left behind to cook, clean, and manage the household. Whenever she voiced her hurt, Dad dismissed it with a laugh. She is your sister, Grace. Why be so jealous? Vivian is here so Kate can learn from her. Maybe our daughter will grow up smart like her aunt. My chest tightened. I tugged her sleeve, voice shaking. Mom, did I mess up again? Is that why they left us? No, sweetie, she said softly, kneeling to meet my eyes with a bright, forced smile. We left him behind. You have wanted to see the ocean, haven’t you? Let us go together, just the two of us. I wanted to jump for joy, but then I hesitated, twisting my fingers together. “But… won’t Dad be mad? And doesn’t Aunt Vivian hate the ocean?” Mom stiffened. Aunt Vivian had nearly drowned when she was a little girl, and she had a deep phobia of the ocean. Once, I came home from school and proudly showed off a watercolor painting I did of giant blue waves. That night, Vivian claimed she had terrible nightmares and couldn’t focus on her court case the next day. Dad had spent the entire night in her room, comforting her until she finally calmed down. The next morning, he looked at Mom with nothing but cold disappointment. “You picked Kate up from school and you didn’t even notice she painted waves? Vivian couldn’t sleep a wink. How is she supposed to present our case today?” “Grace, if you can’t even handle the basic preferences of the people in this house, what exactly do you do all day?” The argument ended, as it always did, with Mom quietly apologizing over and over. But Mom and I loved the ocean. Deep in her phone, Mom still saved old photos from before they were married. In those pictures, she and Dad were standing on a sandy beach, and she was laughing with a bright, radiant smile… a smile I had never seen on her face in real life. “What does his opinion matter?” Mom whispered, pulling herself out of the memory. She smoothed my hair. “We spent so much time preparing for this. Why should we stay home just because he says so? Kate, tell me, do you want to go?” I looked over at the heavy suitcases by the door. Mom had stayed up late researching travel guides. She had even crawled out of bed at four o’clock this morning to pack our bags and cook a hot breakfast. I had woken up early too, eager to help her. We got so little time with Dad. He was always busy, dedicating every spare second to Vivian and his career. Even this morning, he hadn’t said more than two words to Mom. He had spent the entire breakfast debating legal jargon with Vivian, words that flew right over my head. Looking at Mom’s hopeful, shining eyes, I nodded vigorously. “Yes! I want to go!” Mom smiled, her eyes crinkling. She immediately opened her phone and rebooked our tickets, changing our destination to a coastal town. But the moment we arrived at the airport terminal, Dad’s name flashed across Mom’s screen on a FaceTime call. Mom hesitated for a few seconds before tapping accept. Instantly, Dad’s familiar, accusatory voice boomed through the speaker. “Grace! It is bad enough that you missed the flight, but I just got a notification that you rebooked tickets to the coast? Are you out of your mind? Have you forgotten what happened last time…” My chest tightened, and I looked at Mom, terrified. But for the first time in her life, Mom didn’t apologize. She simply knitted her brows, her voice steady. “Mike. My daughter and I are going to a place we actually want to visit. Is there a problem with that?” “Lest you forget, Kate and I are your actual wife and daughter. Does our entire lives have to revolve around Vivian’s phobias?” Dad stared at the screen, momentarily speechless. But then, like a cat that had its tail stepped on, his voice spiked an octave higher. “Grace! You are the one who fed Kate something bad last night and made her sick, which is why you missed the flight in the first place! And now you are turning this around on me?” “Why are you always so careless? Why can’t you be organized and precise like Vivian?” “You two came from the same mother. How can you be so completely different?” The barrage of harsh words seemed to choke the air right out of Mom’s lungs. Her eyes welled with hot tears, and she bit her lower lip. I had seen her look this helpless too many times. Anger flared in my chest. Before I could stop myself, I snatched the tablet from Mom’s hands and glared into the camera at Dad. “Dad! You are a liar! You were the one who insisted on ordering spicy food last night because Aunt Vivian wanted to celebrate her case! You knew I couldn’t eat spicy food, but you didn’t care! How can you be so mean to Mom? I don’t like you anymore!” I slammed the screen, hanging up the call. I puffed out my chest like a little bodyguard, placing my hands on my hips. “Mom, Dad is a jerk! We don’t need him! I’ll protect you from now on!” Mom blinked in surprise, and then a genuine, beautiful laugh bubbled out of her chest. Over the intercom, the gate agent announced the final boarding call for our flight. “Alright,” Mom said, wiping a tear of laughter from her eye. “I’ll count on you to protect me then. We don’t need him.” When we reached our hotel by the beach, Mom threw our bags onto the bed and took me straight to the water. We splashed in the waves, built sandcastles, and took dozens of silly photos until the sun dipped below the horizon. When we finally returned to the room, Mom checked her phone. There were dozens of missed calls from Dad, and a long, guilt-tripping text from Aunt Vivian. “Sis, stop throwing a tantrum. How could you drag Kate into an adult argument? Mike couldn’t even focus during his meeting with the clients because of you.” “Just apologize to him and go home. Mike supports you financially. The least you can do is stop causing him unnecessary stress.” A shadow of sorrow crossed Mom’s eyes. She tossed the phone onto the nightstand and urged me to take a warm bath. In truth, Aunt Vivian hadn’t always been like this. When she first moved in with us, she was a quiet, timid girl who hid behind Mom’s back. She had worked incredibly hard to get out of her small rural town and get into a top-tier law school, dreaming of becoming a high-powered attorney just like Dad. Our grandparents had passed away when Mom and Vivian were young. Mom had worked multiple jobs to pay for Vivian’s tuition, only stepping back to become a homemaker after she married Dad. To help Vivian achieve her dreams, Mom had invited her to live in our guest room so Dad could mentor her and help her study. But somewhere along the way, the way Vivian looked at Mom changed. Sometimes, when Mom wasn’t home, Vivian would look over my graded schoolwork and let out a cold, mocking sneer. “You really are Grace’s daughter. Utterly brainless. If your mother hadn’t trapped your father first, a brilliant man like him would never be stuck with such a stupid kid.” I had run to Dad crying, desperate to tell him what she said. But Vivian would just put on a sweet, innocent face and deny it, and Dad would turn around and blame Mom for filling my head with lies. A sharp knock on the hotel door snapped me out of my thoughts. Mom quickly dried my hair, bundled me into my pajamas, and went to open the door. Standing on the threshold, looking exhausted and disheveled, was Dad. He stared at Mom for a long moment, then looked over at me. He let out a heavy sigh, walked into the room, and took the hairdryer from Mom’s hand to finish drying my hair. Mom stood by the window, watching silently. She didn’t do what she usually did… flutter around him, asking if he was hungry, or clinging to his arm. A flicker of panic crossed Dad’s eyes. He tried to crack a few jokes to make me laugh, but I kept my face squeezed into a pout and refused to say a word. Once my hair was dry, he walked over to Mom, his shoulders slumping. “Grace, look at what you’ve done. You get angry at me, and now even our daughter won’t talk to me.” Mom remained silent. Dad’s jaw tightened, his usual urge to scold her rising to the surface, but he forced himself to swallow it down. He lowered his voice, trying to sound reasonable. “Grace, stop acting like a child, alright? We agreed we wouldn’t fight in front of Kate.” “And about Vivian… you were the one who practically begged me to mentor her and help her career. How can you blame me for being close to her now?” “I was in the middle of crucial client meetings, but the moment I heard my wife and daughter were upset, I hopped on the very next flight. Doesn’t that prove how important you both are to me? Let me stay tonight, and we can put this behind us.” Mom looked at me, then at Dad. For a second, the coldness in her expression seemed to thaw. But before she could speak, Dad’s phone vibrated loudly on the table. The screen lit up with the caller ID: “Vivi <3". Mom's face froze. I knew for a fact that whenever Mom called him, his phone simply displayed her full name: "Grace." Dad swallowed hard, feeling Mom's gaze, but he answered the call anyway. Aunt Vivian's frantic, needy voice echoed clearly through the quiet room. "Mike... you have to come back. Grace forgot to pack the core files for the case when she was organizing your briefcase. This client is incredibly important, and only you know the details..." Dad's face fell. He looked at Mom with a familiar flash of deep disappointment. Without a second thought, he grabbed his coat. "Vivian, don't worry. Hold on, I'm heading to the airport now..." "Mike," Mom called out, her voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. "You just got here, and you're already running back to her? She has been working on this case with you from day one. How could she not know the files? What exactly are Kate and I to you?" "Enough!" Dad snapped, his patience evaporating. "Isn't this your fault in the first place? If you had packed my things properly and done your job as a housewife, would I have to fly back to help her? If you could actually comprehend a single line of legal text, would I even need Vivian's help?" "I flew all this way to find you, and you haven't given me a single warm look. Now I have to go handle a crisis, and you are throwing another tantrum. Grace, why are you so incredibly difficult to please?" He paused, glancing down at me as I sat frozen on the bed. "And look at Kate. Her grades are mediocre, and now she is throwing attitude. Growing up under your shadow is clearly ruining her. If this keeps up, I'm going to let her aunt take over her education!" With that, he turned on his heel and stormed out, slamming the door so hard the walls trembled. Mom slowly slid down against the wall, burying her face in her knees. Her quiet, breathless sobs filled the empty room. Bad Dad. He promised he wouldn't fight in front of me, and he broke his promise immediately. I climbed off the bed, wrapped my small arms around Mom, and tried my best to comfort her. After a long time, Mom wiped her tears. She looked at me, her voice trembling. "Kate... if Mom told you that you wouldn't see Dad for a very long time... would you be sad?" "No!" I crossed my arms and huffed. "We barely see him anyway. And I don't want to go to school anymore if the teachers keep asking if Aunt Vivian is my mom! I only have one mom!" Whenever Dad picked me up early from school, Vivian was always riding shotgun in his car. My homeroom teacher had even teased me once. "Kate, your father and mother are such a stunning couple. I watched them in court once... their chemistry is absolutely enviable!" And Dad had never bothered to correct her. Hearing my answer, Mom let out a wet laugh. She tucked me into bed and spent the next hour making several quiet phone calls. When she finally climbed into bed beside me, I saw a peaceful, relaxed smile on her face for the very first time. Over the next few days, Dad didn't call, and Mom didn't bother reaching out to him. Instead, she took me everywhere. We painted the waves together, and I was amazed to see that Mom's painting looked incredibly realistic, like real water splashing on the paper. Only then did I realize that Mom had given up her own dreams of going to a prestigious art school just so she could work and pay for Vivian's education. When she held a paintbrush, she looked entirely different from the stressed woman who used to hide in the study, trying to memorize boring law books just to have something to talk about with Dad. When our trip ended, we returned home. Mom spent the afternoon organizing a thick stack of documents before sending me to stay at a friend's house for a few days. Suddenly, Dad called her. "Grace, bring Kate to the firm's annual gala tonight. I managed to secure an invitation for Professor Harrison." "I know Kate likes to paint. Professor Harrison is a legend in the art world. If he agrees to mentor her, her future is set." Mom's initial refusal died on her tongue. She agreed, picked me up, and drove us to the gala. The moment we walked into the grand ballroom, we saw Dad and Aunt Vivian standing side-by-side near the center stage, welcoming guests like the hosts of the evening. It looked exactly like the parents of my classmates when they hosted parties together. Seeing us arrive, Vivian put on a show of affection. She scooped me up in her arms in front of several prominent guests. "Oh, look at our little Kate! You've gotten so thin and dark. I've only been away from you for a few days, and look what your mother did to you." In an instant, the whispers started. The surrounding guests looked at Mom with judging, critical eyes. I hated when Vivian did this. She loved playing the perfect caregiver in public to make Mom look incompetent. In the past, I would have stayed quiet, terrified of causing trouble. But this time, I squirmed violently out of her embrace and raised my voice. "I like being thin! And I like being tan!" I grabbed Mom's hand and pulled her toward our table. Whispers and chuckles rippled through the crowd. Vivian's face flushed a deep, embarrassed red, and she shot a helpless, pleading look at Dad. Dad frowned, but with so many eyes on him, he couldn't burst out in anger. Throughout the dinner, Dad's colleagues kept praising him and Vivian. "Mike, that last case you and Vivian co-counseled was absolute genius! Our firm is incredibly lucky to have a power couple like you two!" Mom's hand paused, her fork hovering in the air. Dad instinctively glanced at Mom, but her face remained entirely blank as she calmly wiped a drop of sauce from my chin. Aunt Vivian's eyes flashed with a smug, quiet triumph. One colleague, who had clearly had too much to drink, leaned in closer, his voice loud and loose. "Doesn't Vivian live with you guys anyway? You work late at the office together, go home together... man, talk about convenient! I heard Vivian was the one who insisted on joining you on this business trip, right? I left late the other night and saw the lights still on in your office. I snuck a peek... and man, Mike, you really know how to live the good life!" Clang. The spoon in Mom's hand slipped and hit her plate with a sharp, ringing sound. The colleague seemed to snap out of his drunken haze, his face paling as he quickly began to apologize. But Mom didn't say a word. She pulled me out of my chair and walked straight toward the exit. Dad chased us all the way to the glass doors of the lobby, grabbing Mom's wrist. "Grace! He was drunk and talking nonsense! Professor Harrison hasn't even arrived yet. What do you think you're doing, dragging Kate away and making a scene?" "Are you really this foolish? Do you always have to embarrass me?" "Mike." Mom slapped his hand away. When she looked into his eyes, the final spark of warmth in her gaze was completely gone. "Don't touch my daughter. You make me sick." Dad's expression darkened instantly. But before he could speak, Vivian ran up behind him, breathless. "Sis... Mike and I are completely innocent! Today is a major event for the firm. Please don't leave. If you walk out now, you will ruin his reputation!" "Mike works so hard to support you and Kate. How can you be so ungrateful..." "Shut up!" Mom barked, her voice sharp enough to cut. She immediately reached down and covered my ears. "Don't you dare speak in front of my daughter. You two talk about 'discussing cases' day and night. Is this how you discuss them?" Vivian's face went white, then red. She bit her lip, squeezing out a few trembling words. "Sis... if you hate me this much, then I'll leave! I won't bother your perfect family ever again!" Vivian turned and bolted out into the rain toward the street. Suddenly, a pair of blinding headlights rounded the corner, roaring toward her. "Vivian!" Dad shrieked. He lunged forward, throwing his body to tackle Vivian out of the way of the oncoming sedan. The sound of screeching tires and a sickening crunch echoed through the air. A heavy darkness swallowed me up. When I finally woke up, my entire body was aching. I cried out, desperately wanting Mom. A nurse rushed to my bedside to soothe me. That was when I found out that we had been in a terrible accident. Mom had taken the brunt of the impact. She had just gotten out of emergency surgery and was lying in the intensive care unit next door, her body wrapped in heavy bandages. I ignored the nurse's protests, dragged my aching body out of bed, and limped to Mom's room. Seeing her lying there, completely covered in white gauze and tubes, I burst into loud, hysterical tears. I wanted Dad. Where was Dad? Through the cracked door of the ward, I heard two nurses whispering. "Such a shame. The kid's father hasn't even shown up to the ICU. The mother's legs are severely shattered... she might be crippled for life. A mother and child, completely abandoned..." "I know! But get this... I heard that when the crash happened, the father immediately ran to pull the sister-in-law to safety. If a bystander hadn't pulled the mother out of the wreckage, she would have died right there." "The sister-in-law only has minor scrapes, but the husband has been by her bedside downstairs the entire time." A wave of pure, hot anger surged through my chest. I stormed out of the room, ran to the nurse's station, and demanded to know where Dad was. In a private ward downstairs, I saw Dad sitting on the edge of a bed, tenderly blowing on a spoonful of warm porridge before feeding it to Vivian. I lost all control. I charged into the room and bit Dad's hand as hard as I could. "Dad! Mom is hurt so badly! Why aren't you with her? I hate you! I hate you!" A flash of intense guilt crossed Dad's eyes. Vivian let out a weak, pathetic cough, leaning back against her pillows. "Mike... go see Grace. I'll be fine. If only Grace wasn't so clumsy... if she hadn't run out after me, this accident would have never happened..." She then glared at me, her voice sharp. "Kate! How dare you bite your father? Is this the kind of manners your mother teaches you? You are going to grow up to be a completely uneducated brat!" Dad looked at Vivian, a flicker of approval in his eyes... a look of respect he had never once directed at Mom. But I didn't care about him anymore. I grabbed his sleeve and dragged him up to Mom's room. Dad spent the next few hours fussing over Mom, waiting anxiously until she finally opened her eyes. The moment Mom woke up, her eyes searched the room until they found me. Seeing that I was safe, she let out a long breath, and tears finally spilled down her cheeks. But the moment her gaze landed on Dad, her face turned completely cold. "Grace... there's a highly sensitive litigation at the firm right now, and Vivian is the lead on the file. That's why I had to ensure her safety first," Dad muttered, his voice tense as he tried to break the heavy silence. "I know," Mom said, her voice flat. "It doesn't matter." Dad froze, clearly not expecting her to be this calm. After a long pause, he let out a sigh of relief. "Vivian is an adult now. It's not right for her to keep living with us anyway. Once she recovers, I'll have her move into her own apartment." "Do whatever you want." Dad breathed a sigh of relief. He tucked the blanket around her shoulders and stood up. "I'll help Vivian look for a new place, and I have to head to the firm to clean up the fallout from the gala. I'll let Kate stay here and keep you company." The moment the door clicked shut behind him, Mom spoke, her voice raspy and dry. "Kate... would you like to move to a new city with Mom?" I nodded with everything I had. Mom didn't wait to fully heal. She checked herself out of the hospital, packed our things, and took me on a flight to the coastal city of Westfield. The moment our plane touched the tarmac, my phone reconnected to the network. A barrage of notifications lit up the screen.
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