No Home Tonight

Mom yanked me up and shoved my daughter and me toward the door. "Out, out, out! You wanted to leave, didn't you? Then go, and fast! Can't even bother to bring a present, what kind of family does that?"

Suzy was all smug, showing off her fancy nails and shooting me a taunting grin.

"You're really going through with this? Don't you feel bad? If not for yourself, then at least think of your daughter.

"I don't need much for a welcome gift—just stick to our family tradition and make it ten thousand dollars," she said.

My brother shot me a look, "Sis, Suzy's trying to let you off easy. Don't throw it back in her face, okay?"

Tracy was shoved to the front door, her face ghost-white with fear.

I wrapped my arms around her in a flash, gritting my teeth. "I could sell everything I own and still not scrape together ten thousand dollars. You want money from me? In your dreams!"

With that, I scooped up my daughter and bolted out the door.

The howling wind and snow swallowed the sounds of the quarrel we left behind.

My dad was so enraged that he shattered a plate, and Mom came after us, hurling words like daggers. "New Year's is around the corner, and you just have to drive us mad, don't you?! How did I end up with a daughter who's lost all shame?!

"Just go on, freeze to death for all I care!"

I clamped my hands over my daughter's ears, acting like I could not hear a thing either.

I dialed a number, and before long, a driver showed up to whisk my daughter and me away.

Good thing, too—taxis were a rare find on New Year's Eve.

The driver dropped us at a hotel, and I went all out, ordering a feast fit for a queen.

Stuffed and satisfied, my daughter and I settled by the panoramic window, gazing at the fireworks bursting in the night sky. I even squeezed in a call to my ex, just to confirm one thing.

This New Year, I gifted my daughter something huge—a wish for her happiness.

No need to visit anyone; we were free to do as we pleased.

That night, I took her out for dinner, just the two of us.

However, as fate would have it, we bumped into my parents and the whole clan of relatives.

As I sat in the dining hall with my daughter, sipping on water, Suzy laughed mockingly. "Need us to send over a couple of plates? Just drinking water looks pretty sad."

Hearing her, my parents and other relatives emerged. My daughter clung to me, frightened, so I wrapped my arms around her protectively.

Dad exploded with anger. "I knew you hadn't left. Why are you still hanging around? Let me make it clear, you're no daughter of ours!"

The relatives chimed in, trying to calm him down. "Don't get worked up; she's the one at fault for her divorce. Don't stress yourself sick over it."

"Amy's just confused. A divorced woman is like a pair of second-hand shoes—worthless even at a discount."

I let out a derisive laugh and faced them. "Are you done yet, you bunch of has-beens?"

Their faces flushed with anger. One woman muttered, "You're the has-been! How dare you talk to your elders that way!"

Mom was livid, ready to slap me. "You've lost all sense of decency, spouting off like that."

I caught her hand mid-air, my voice icy. "What? When I was well-off, you all couldn't wait to cozy up for a piece of the pie. Now that you think I'm a nobody, you're all ready to kick me while I'm down?"

My brother, with his girlfriend's hand in his, stepped up to me. "What are you blabbering about? The family never respected you.

"You were only something when you had money, thanks to your rich husband. Now that he's dumped you, what good are you?

"Do you even know who owns this place? If you don't apologize to everyone right now, do you think my girlfriend won't have you thrown out?"

That was when it hit me—this restaurant was part of the Cromwell Group empire.

Just as the tension peaked, a sharply dressed man strolled up.

"Sorry I'm late, ma'am."