Chapter 8

Mom stayed in the hospital for a week.

During that time, Denise tried multiple times to press charges for assault, aiming to have her thrown in jail. But every time, Dad would angrily retaliate, saying, "Fine, go ahead. But if you send Nicole to jail, I'll take back the house I bought you."

Denise was always left seething, her teeth grinding in frustration.

Aside from that, after Dad visited my grave following Mom's hospitalization, he came back like a completely different person.

He cried, apologized to Mom, and admitted his mistakes. He even suggested that they have another child, hoping to somehow ease the pain of losing me.

Hearing Dad say that broke my heart. It wasn't jealousy or resentment that stung—it was the thought of having a brother or sister raised by a father like him.

I didn't want a new sibling, not when the father would be someone as weak and unreliable as Dad. Having a father like him was too painful, too unbearable.

Perhaps Mom felt my sadness too beca