Part 2Love Was My Mom’s Farewell

I have hemophilia. Dad hired a girl with the same rare blood type as a secretary.

Her name was Vivian. She was a bit dim-witted, but likable enough.

He said she was my walking blood bag.

But gradually, when the blood bag came to give me transfusions, Dad would frown with concern.

Even when I was critical, if Vivian said she was afraid of needles, Dad would pull out my IV.

I nearly died that day. Thankfully, the hospital contacted a blood bank in another state.

When I woke up, I saw Dad holding Vivian's hand, saying to Mom:

"I'm sorry, Willow. I've fallen in love with Vivian."

"As long as you accept this, you're still my wife, and Sienna is still my only daughter."

Mom calmly accepted reality.

She said, my Sienna is still sick—if we divorce, I really can't afford to raise her.

Just like that, Mom became the most magnanimous wife in the entire city.

So magnanimous that when photos of Dad in bed with club girls leaked, she personally handled it herself.

Whenever that happened, Dad would apologize to her, then transfer money into my account.

Mom would accept it on my behalf and act like nothing happened.

Until a few days ago, when Vivian showed up with a pregnant belly.

She said she was carrying Dad's child—a boy.

"He was ecstatic. I knew right then that this fetus would eventually threaten Sienna's position. It had to be eliminated."

"And I'm dying anyway... After being a parasite my whole life, using this life to pave the way for my daughter—I'm satisfied."

As Mom spoke, she pulled out a brand-new diary.

A gold-digger with only an elementary school education naturally had no habit of keeping a diary.

So she had to forge one.

Her fingers were swollen, barely able to grip the pen.

But she still wrote about all these years with Dad, word by word.

After finishing, she sent the diary to be aged, then locked it in a safe.

She made me memorize the combination:

"After I die, on the day your dad misses me most, guide him to find this diary."

Forging the diary took several days. Mom clutched her stomach, sweat pouring down from the pain.

She gave me a black card and told me to buy her painkillers.

How strange—it was only September, but snow was falling from the sky.

I didn't have time to think about it. I fell several times running to the pharmacy.

Buy medicine. Swipe card.

"Beep beep. This card has been frozen."

I froze.

This was Dad's supplementary card, always with unlimited credit.

It couldn't be frozen.

I immediately called Dad.

But the person who answered was Vivian, her voice lazy.

"That's your dad's punishment for your mom."

"He also told me to tell your mom to be a good wife and stop playing those manipulative games."

I screamed: "Impossible! You must have provoked Dad!"

Vivian laughed softly, lowering her voice:

"Yes, I provoked him. So what?"

"After all, with one sentence about the baby brother in my belly wanting to see snow, your dad spent tens of millions on artificial snow!"

I looked at the bruises on my body and sobbed.

So this snow that made me fall so many times was Dad's gift to his mistress.

By the time I bought medicine with my piggy bank savings, Mom had already fainted from pain.

I fed her the medicine. Mom looked at my injuries, her eyes reddening.

I heard her call Aunt Rachel:

"He loves her more than I imagined."

"I need to accumulate more moral capital for Sienna. I need to die more tragically."

I don't know how long passed before I woke up in Mom's bed.

Mom was panting as she packed things.

She threw wedding photos into the fireplace, sold all her clothes and jewelry.

Just as she was about to destroy the scarf she'd knitted for Dad herself—

I rushed over to stop her.

But she kissed my cheek:

"Mom knows Sienna can't bear to part with it."

"But Mom has to make sure you're Mom's only keepsake."

I opened my mouth but couldn't speak.

Dad's assistant called Mom.

"Mrs. Hayes, Mr. Hayes just took Miss Vivian for a prenatal checkup and was photographed by reporters."

"He wants you to film an apology and clarification video as soon as possible to avoid affecting the company's stock price."