Chapter 2

That was the moment I finally understood.

Everything I had given over those twenty years, he and his daughter had taken as their due.

Because I was her aunt.

Because the whole reason I had married into that house was to take care of them.

Ivy's voice pulled me back to the present. She wriggled out of Martin's arms and ran over to me.

"Don't you want me anymore?"

Her eyes glistened with tears as her small hand tugged at the hem of my top.

I crouched down and stroked her hair.

"Be a good girl, Ivy. I'll come see you, but I can't be your mom."

"Why not?"

Tears spilled down her cheeks.

"Kids at school say a kid without a mom is a stray. I don't want to be a stray."

My mother scooped her up right away.

"Marry Martin and you'll have a mansion and a child. What could be better?"

I looked back at the hopeful eyes fixed on me.

It was as if this marriage were the greatest gift anyone could ever give me.

Martin finally spoke, "If she thinks the terms aren't good enough, just forget it."

He lifted his head and looked at me. "I don't want to force anyone, and I'm certainly not going to use Ivy to bargain with people."

My mother panicked. "Martin, don't say that. Vanessa just hasn't come around yet. It’ll be fine once she comes to her senses."

Martin turned and headed for the door. "I'll take Ivy home first. You don't need to talk her into anything."

Seeing him about to leave, my mother grew frantic.

"Vanessa, what exactly do you want? You think you're still some twenty-year-old girl?"

"You're a twenty-nine-year-old, practically an old maid. If you don't marry Martin, what wealthy family is ever going to want you?"

Her shouting made my ears ache.

I took a deep breath.

"Then I won't get married at all."

The living room went quiet. Everyone froze.

My mother's face changed. "What did you say?"

"I said I'm not getting married. I'm fine never getting married."

I picked up my bag. "I'm leaving, Mom."

My mother grabbed my arm.

"If you dare walk out today, don't ever come back to this house!"

I could hear mom crying and Ivy calling after me.

But I didn't stop. This time, I wasn't going to make myself suffer for anyone.

***

"Are you out of your mind?!"

My brother, Trevor, called the minute I got home.

"Mom's crying her eyes out, and you still walked out?"

"I'm not out of my mind. I just don't want to get married."

"You don't want to get married?"

His voice rose. "Then what's your plan? Spend the rest of your life alone?"

"Yes."

The line went silent for a few seconds.

"Vanessa, are you still blaming Mom for favoring me back then? I've been married for years, and you're still hung up on that?"

I laughed.

In my past life, I really had held on to it.

I remembered that when he got married, Mom gave him three million dollars for a house.

I remembered that when my sister got married, Mom gave her ten percent of the family company's shares as her dowry.

I remembered that when I married Martin, Mom gave me nothing but a single comforter, and pressured me into signing a prenup that said I'd walk away with nothing.

But I never said a word of complaint.

Because Mom had told me, “You're marrying your sister's husband, we're all family, don't fuss about money, or Martin will think you're after the Campbell fortune.”

In this life, I didn't want to hold on to any of it anymore.

"Trevor, I don't blame Mom. I just want to live my own life."

"What's so great about living on your own? How much can that little studio of yours even make?"

Trevor sighed. "Martin's worth over a hundred million, and Ivy's a good kid. Marry him, be a rich man's wife, and you won't lose out."

"Besides, you're twenty-nine. What do you think you can still be picky about?"

That line again.

As if, at twenty-nine, I should be grateful anyone was willing to marry me at all.