Chapter 2

Cameras and microphones were shoved right into my face, accompanied by furious shouts.

"Ms. Jiang! How can you speak to your own daughter like that?!"

"We staked out here thinking there might be two sides to this story!"

"Instead, we catch you verbally abusing your own child in broad daylight!"

"People like you belong behind bars! We're putting this on the evening news!"

Riley immediately stepped in front of the cameras, holding back her tears and speaking in a trembling, fragile voice.

"No, please! Don't blame my mom!"

"It's my fault... I must have done something wrong to make her treat me like this..."

Her words drove the reporters into an even greater frenzy.

They pointed right at my nose, practically spitting in anger.

"Look at her! She's on the verge of tears and she's still defending you!"

"You dragged her to court three times trying to abandon her! Are you even human?!"

I glared at Riley with pure venom. She kept her wide-eyed, helpless expression firmly in place.

Her trick had worked again.

Ever since she was little, she knew how to weaponize public sympathy to get whatever she wanted.

Aside from me, probably no one in this world knew just how sickeningly vile she truly was beneath that sweet face.

I stared straight into her eyes, enunciating every syllable.

"Just you wait, Riley."

"Sooner or later, everyone will see who you really are."

With that, I turned on my heel and walked away.

I didn't look back once, letting the reporters' curses bounce off my shoulders.

When I reached the courtyard near the apartment gate, a figure suddenly darted out from the bushes and pulled me aside into the shadows.

I assumed it was another vulture trying to squeeze more clickbait out of my misery.

To my shock, the middle-aged woman looked at me and said quietly, "There's more to this case than meets the eye, isn't there?"

Looking at this woman, roughly my own age, an odd sense of trust welled up inside me.

Still, I didn't let my guard down easily. I gave a flat response. "The truth will come out soon enough."

She handed me a business card, her tone dead serious.

"My name is Helen Ho. I'm an investigative journalist for the Metro Daily."

"I'm a mother, just like you. I truly believe that no mother pushes her own daughter into court unless she's been driven completely to the brink."

"Demanding to sever parental ties completely... there has to be something massive you're hiding, right?"

Seeing the genuine concern in Helen's eyes, I reached into my pocket and handed her a flash drive.

"All the proof is in here. Everything you want to know."

"You're a mother too. Once you watch it, you'll understand why I had to do this."

"Promise me one thing: help me expose Riley for what she really is."

Helen took the drive, her expression heavy and solemn.

She took a deep breath and gave me her word. "Speaking as a mother, I promise you, I'll make sure justice is served."

She turned and hurried off into the dusk.

I stayed hidden in the shadows until the reporters in the hallway finally dispersed, and only then did I slip back into the apartment.

The moment I stepped inside, my daughter dropped the wounded act. She smirked at me.

"Look who finally crawled back."

"I thought those reporters would scare you so bad you'd dig a hole and bury yourself outside."

I trembled with rage, my eyes burning with hatred. "Enjoy it while you can. Everyone is about to find out the truth."