Chapter 63: Erin's past

ERIN'S POV

FLASHBACK

As I strode out of the living room, I gazed at the bunch of keys in my hand, a symbol of Mr. Clinton's kindness in offering me a place to stay. Yet, despite his generosity, I couldn't shake off the suffocating feeling of defeat. It was an all-too-familiar sensation, one that had haunted me since childhood. Defeat was annoying, painful, and heart-wrenching, tearing apart every shred of hope and shattering the fragile happiness my mother had worked tirelessly to provide.

My mother was my everything, the reason I toiled day and night, juggling multiple jobs to support our struggling household. It all began when I was thirteen, naive and innocent, believing my parents' marriage was built on love. But that illusion was shattered when my father abandoned us for a woman half his age.

He brought the bitch into our household, treating her like some goddess while turning my mother and me into punching bags. Not a day passed when he wouldn't leave an imprint on our fa