Chapter 3

“Kyle is your and my husband’s bastard, isn’t he?! You shameless homewrecker, you stole my husband’s money and then you have the nerve to ask me to raise your child?! You’ve got some nerve!”

I swore I would rip their smug faces apart, but Leo stopped me again.

“Jade, Jade, calm down.”

I wouldn’t listen. “Give me back my money! That’s my money, and my daughter’s money!”

“Dean ate my food, drank my water. I even had to borrow money to buy him underwear fabric! How dare he give all his money to Melody?!”

“When my daughter was burning with fever and turned stupid because I couldn’t afford her medicine, that vixen was probably cozying up in the same bed with Dean, you heartless monster! Why didn’t you just die with him?!”

The grievances of two lifetimes finally erupted in that single scream. I couldn't help but sob, expecting Leo to help me get my revenge.

Instead, he raised his hand and slapped me twice.

“Try cursing Melody again, I dare you!” he spat. “To say such filthy things over a bit of money—how could Factory Manager Dean have married such a selfish lunatic like you?!”

Leo’s disgusted tone shocked me. He and I had worked on boats together. Since I was fifteen, he had been my most respected mentor. What was Melody to him? How dare Leo, like Dean, treat me this way for some stranger?!

Leo’s face showed no hint of remorse. He turned, picked up Kyle, and placed him in the three-wheeled cart.

“Don’t worry, sister-in-law. Dean was my good brother. If this ungrateful wretch Jade won’t help, I’ll look after you for Factory Manager Dean!”

Melody smiled and thanked him. Leo helped her into the cart. Before leaving, he tossed a bundle of miscellaneous vouchers and ration coupons down the embankment.

“If you won’t even help a dead man, don’t ever call me master again! I don’t have a cold-blooded apprentice like you!”

He had thrown away the money and vouchers I’d given him to help me find a job. The official job placement letter he’d secured for me was tucked into Melody’s pocket. He looked at her with doting eyes. “This is the best factory in our county. Dean and I used to work there. If you need anything, everyone will be happy to help.”

His words struck me. I suddenly realized that everyone knew. The doctors at the health clinic, the workers at Dean’s old factory—they all knew. They knew Dean was cheating, they knew his death was suspicious, yet they turned a blind eye. Not one of them told me the truth. And here I was, foolishly crying over his death, willing to sell my own blood, just to protect his belongings.

Kyle, whom I had raised by hand in my previous life, sat in the cart, laughing hysterically, clutching his stomach as he watched Lily chase after the scattering vouchers, stumbling down the hillside.

Melody’s face beamed with triumph. “Trash is trash, no matter how hard they try to climb. You and your daughter, you’ll always be beneath us.”

I picked up stones and hurled them at the three-wheeled cart, screaming, “Dean’s crappy factory won’t last! Your worthless son will never amount to anything!”

“Melody, just you wait! You and those two monsters from the family—none of you will have a good ending!”

“One day, I’ll make you beg me, on your knees, to pick up every single one of those vouchers you threw away today!”

I cried, hugging Lily tightly, watching yet another one of my closest friends abandon me. My heart was ripped to shreds. Lily wiped the fresh scrapes on her knees and carefully handed me each retrieved voucher.

“I’m here, Mama. Don’t be scared. I’ll never leave you.”

Her bright eyes reflected all my cowardice. I held my daughter close, vowing that this would be my last hysterical cry before I succeeded.