Chapter 2

Mark didn't expect my luggage to be already packed, so he rushed over to stop me.

At this moment, the sound of the door unlocking came from outside.

The next moment, Sophie walked in holding her daughter Tammy. I did not expect her fingerprint to be keyed into our home door's lock.

However, I clearly told Mark that I didn't want to see Sophie in this home.

She defamed me, she took everything from me, and I hate her.

Obviously, Mark didn't take my words to heart.

When Sophie saw me, her expression changed. She displayed a pitiful look, "Lily..."

Tammy immediately hid behind her, as if I were a savage beast. Tammy cried and said, "Aunt Lily, don't hit my mother!"

I looked coldly at this little girl — who was only ten years old — that looked extremely innocent.

However, it was she who, during Christmas Eve, accused me of beating Sophie at my parents'.

That night was a reunion that I had been looking forward to for several years.

It was also the first time ever since the incident that my parents were willing to let me be home for the holidays.

I tried hard to make my parents love me again, but Sophie pushed me down from the staircase. My leg was injured and no one batted an eye.

Everyone rushed to Sophie's side instead.

They gathered around her to see if she was okay. I cried from the pain and said, "She pushed me."

Sophie didn't defend herself, but said bitterly with red eyes, "Whatever she said."

Tammy suddenly burst into tears. As she came down the stairs, she asked, "Auntie, why did you push my mommy? Mommy did not want to come here and disturb your family reunion. It's Granny and Grandad who insisted on inviting us here. If you don't like us here, we can leave. Why did you push Mommy?"

After she said that, my mother rushed up to me and slapped me in the face.

She spoke with disgust in her voice, "I thought you had sincerely repented in the past few years, but I didn't expect you to be even more vicious than before!"

At that moment, tears flowed out of my eyes like a broken dam.

I insisted with tears in my eyes that I didn’t push Sophie, yet no one believed me.

My dad looked at me with a disappointed face, "Can a child as young as Tammy know how to lie?"

Mark clenched his fists and said coldly, "Lily, you really are a lost cause."

Anthony came over and kicked my broken leg with intention, causing me to cry out in pain.

However, no one cared about my pleas. They felt as if they had finally released their resentment after seeing me wince in pain.

No one said a word, but their faces were clear and said everything — they believed I deserved every bit of this pain.

Anthony said, "You are a bad mother, I hate you so much."

…

That day, I limped away from their home in tears. I still remember the heartache from that night.

With that final push, I decided to file for a divorce.

At that time, he just calmly tore apart my divorce papers and said, "Lily, don't you understand? No one can love you except me now."

I was stunned and speechless, questioning if he ever even loved me.

He saw through me and mocked, "If I didn't love you, how could I have tolerated all your evil deeds? Lily, your parents no longer want you. They want to accept Sophie as their adopted daughter. Just stay by my side and atone your sins for Sophie with me, okay?"

That night, my unloved self was convinced by Mark.

I was so scared. I was afraid that no one in this world would love me. I was afraid that if I lost this family, I would be a homeless orphan, drifting like a duckweed in the water.

I didn't want to be a weed that no one liked.

Therefore, I learned to give in and stayed quiet.

I stopped defending myself, and allowed the father and son to ignore me and favor Sophie and her daughter under the pretext of making amends.

However, my submission did not lead to a favorable result after all this time.

It was too painful to look back, and my thoughts were interrupted by Anthony rushing over.

Anthony pushed me away, took Tammy's hand, and comforted her, "Don't be afraid, Tammy. No one can bully you and Aunt Sophie under Dad and I's watch."

After saying that, he shot me a warning look, "If you dare to hurt them, I will never call you my mother ever again."

Tammy said with a sensible tone, "Anthony, don't be rude to Auntie Lily..."

She looked at me with a flattering smile, "Auntie, I know you don't like me and my mommy. We are not like you. We have nothing. Can you please not drive us away?"

As the saying goes, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

I smiled at her, "What do you mean you have nothing? This home will be yours from now on."