Chapter 2

When Veronica was at home, she acted like royalty, with me catering to her every need.

Even now, amidst our heated arguments, she made demands without hesitation. "Mom, cook me a bowl of noodles. Add two soft-boiled eggs."

I scoffed and asked, "What, you don't have hands?"

Despite being in the wrong, she threw a tantrum, emboldened by the indulgence I once gave her.

But no matter how much she screamed or raged, I stayed unmoved, and in the end, she had to back down.

"Mom, don't be mad." Veronica tugged at my sleeve, apologizing shamelessly before making another demand, "Mom, can you buy me a car? I like the Porsche models."

Seeing she didn't even bother to pretend, I dropped the act too and declared, "Don't even think about my money. I earned every cent, and it has nothing to do with you."

She threw a fit right there. "You only have one daughter. When you die, all your money will be mine anyway. What's wrong with giving me some now?"

As Veronica continued her hysterics, I cut her off. "You really can't wait for me to die."

"Yeah!" Veronica dropped all pretense and laid it bare.

She shouted, "You killed my dad back then. You ruined my chance at a complete family and kept holding me back. Jeremy! Why don't you just die already and give me back my dad's money!"

Though I knew how this story ended, her words still cut deep.

I never imagined my mother-in-law had brainwashed her to this extent.

Nor did I realize this was how she saw me.

I sneered," If you hate me so much, why should I leave you anything?"

She snapped, "You're going to get old and die eventually. Who else will take care of you and handle your funeral? If you don't give me the money, are you going to hand it over to some guy?"

Veronica knew exactly how to provoke me.

In the past, I turned down countless suitable partners because of a single word from her.

Now, I didn't bother arguing and admitted, "Yeah, who says I can't remarry? Who says I can't have a son to inherit everything?"

Veronica's eyes turned red as she screamed. "I knew it! I knew it! You've always wanted to remarry, you shameless woman!"

"Slap!" I struck her across the face.

The blow carried the weight of my hatred from my past life.

Ignoring her shouts and cries, I refused to waste another word, opened the door, and shoved her out.

That night, I had all the house keys changed and threw the few things Veronica left behind into the trash.

I thought that fight marked the end of any bond between us.

But just a few days later, she showed up at my door, begging for forgiveness.

This time, she brought along the boyfriend she'd been living with for two years.