Chapter 4

The glass from the frame cut my finger.

She glanced at it and said coldly, "This is where my real mom's picture goes. Don't mess with things in my house."

Back then, I told myself she just missed her mother. I quietly gathered the pieces and put them away in a drawer.

They stayed there for fifteen years.

Remembering it, my chest felt tight. I gently pushed her little hands away.

"You don't need to call me anything new. Aunt Vanessa is fine."

Ivy pouted again.

"Then why won't you come live at my house?"

My mother pulled her into a hug and looked up at me.

"The child is willing to call you Mom. You'll also get to spend the Campbell family's hundreds of millions. What more could you want?"

I got to my feet.

"Because I'm better off on my own."

Ivy got upset and wriggled out of my mother's arms.

"Better how? Both grandma said you're already twenty-nine, and when you get older nobody's going to want you."

"My dad is worth over a hundred million and he's still willing to marry you. Are you mad he didn't buy you a real diamond ring? Are you playing hard to get so you can ask for more money?"

The room went quiet.

My stomach turned sour. So in the Campbells' eyes, my refusal was just a way to raise my price.

My mother's expression changed, and she slapped the back of Ivy's hand.

"Why are you repeating grown-up talk?"

Ivy started sniffling and crying instead. "Aunt Vanessa, I don't have a mom anymore. Can't you just let me have this?"

I spoke coldly.

“Marriage is a matter for adults. I don’t want to get married, and your crying won’t change anything.”

My mother shot to her feet and jabbed a finger at my nose.

"She's only seven! Why are you saying this to her? If your sister knew you this was how you were treating her only daughter, would she ever forgive you from her grave?"

I met my mother's eyes.

"If she knew you were all using her death to force me to marry into this family just to be a free nanny, would she be happy?"

My mother's turned grim. She grabbed Ivy and headed for the door.

"Fine! Don't you ever regret this! And as for your niece, you can forget she exists!"

Ivy gripped the doorframe and looked back at me.

"Aunt Vanessa, if you say yes now, I won't be mad at you. When I grow up and take over Dad's company, I can even take care of you when you're old."

I didn't go over to her. "I can make my own arrangements for when I'm old."

The door slammed shut.

The phone on the table lit up. It was a message from Martin.

[I'm sorry for the trouble. Ivy can't be without you, and there's nothing I can do. Calm down first. If it's the toy ring that seemed cheap, once you've thought it over, I'll have someone pick out a hundred-thousand-dollar one to make up for it.]

I stared at the screen, shaking with anger.

To him, I was only throwing a tantrum because I hadn't gotten enough out of it.

In my past life, he'd told me himself, as he lay in his hospital bed, to stay away from him in the next life.

Now that I was doing exactly what he wanted, he couldn't get used to it.

I sent one last reply.

[I've thought it over. I'm not marrying you, and I'm not waiting either.]

Then I deleted his contact.

This time, whoever's life got hard could figure it out themselves.

***

A week later, my mother called out of nowhere and said Ivy's seventh birthday was coming up.

I meant to hang up and refuse right away.

But my mother was crying on the phone.

"The child just lost her mom, and this is her first birthday since her mother's death. She's hoping you'll be there. You won't marry into the Campbell family, and we'll never force you. But can't you even have a simple meal with the child?"

I held the phone in silence for a long time. In the end, I gave in and agreed.

When I reached the gate of the Campbell Mansion, I saw red wedding decorations pasted on the front doors.