Chapter 4

Jack had emptied all our bank accounts, leaving less than $200 in total balance.

"No money? Why don't you ask Ethan?" he said flippantly. "Isn't Emma's prolonged illness your fault anyway? Just get another pill for her, and she'll be up and running in no time, right?

"Lisa, I don't know how you have the nerve to criticize me. I'm just trying to pursue my youthful dreams, while you keep using our daughter's life to blackmail me!"

As soon as he finished speaking, I heard enthusiastic applause in the background.

They were praising him for his courage and determination, for daring to pursue his dreams despite societal judgment. They called him Vicky's hero.

How ridiculous. A man who disregarded the lives of his wife and daughter had become another woman's hero!

I couldn't bear to hear more of the cheering, so I quietly hung up.

They were like leeches, sucking the life out of my daughter and me until we were dry, then happily bouncing away.

Without a shred of guilt.

I spent the ent