Revenge on My Dad's Mistress

: Departure

4

Janelle Kane lay limply in my father's arms.

My father nuzzled her dotingly. "Don't take things too far. When we argued the other day, she mentioned the contract to me."

"If I hadn't been found out by accident, you and the children never should have been exposed."

"Hugh, don't worry. I know what I'm doing."

'A contract?' The sight of my father holding Janelle Kane disgusted me so much that, as a child, I didn't realize I'd just overheard a crucial secret.

Later, I often wondered if I could have kept my mother forever if I had just told her what I'd heard.

In the days that followed, Janelle Kane seized complete control of our home with lightning speed.

All the servants, inside and out, were replaced with ones she preferred.

My mom could finally get out of bed, but she had no energy to argue with her.

My dad, trying to escape it all, just started sleeping at the office and not coming home.

Janelle Kane had become the new mistress of the house. Along with her two children, she used and controlled everything in our home without restraint.

My mom was tormented by her to the point of a near mental collapse.

Janelle Kane would say, "Tina, you and your daughter have had it good for so many years. It's time my children get to experience everything their father can give them. I'm right, aren't I? What do you think?"

She would say this with a beaming smile, leaving my mom shaken and helpless.

Julian Rowan tore down the swing set and put up a simple basketball hoop.

The basketball bounced around the house all day—BOOM, BOOM, BOOM—and the sound was incredibly annoying.

Lila Rowan said she liked my room and moved right in.

She brazenly took up two-thirds of the bed and rushed me every night.

"Little sister, hurry and lie down. Daddy says kids shouldn't stay up late."

But just as I was about to fall asleep, she would suddenly start talking to me.

"Little sister, I actually saw you once from a distance, when I was very little. The clothes you were wearing back then were so beautiful. I just kept thinking how wonderful it would be if I had a father like yours, too."

"I never thought that if I just kept wishing for it, it would actually come true. Isn't that magical?"

Lila Rowan's laughter sounded especially piercing to my ears.

"Daddy says that from now on, everything you have, I'll have too. And I'll even have things you don't."

This went on for days, and my nerves were completely shot.

For my sake, my mother went to confront Janelle Kane and asked what it would take for her to leave.

I knew my mother still wanted me to have a proper family.

Unexpectedly, Janelle Kane didn't cause any more trouble. Instead, she asked for a sum of money, packed her things, and left with her children that afternoon.

It wasn't just my mother; even I was stunned.

If this was her only goal, why go through all this trouble for so long?

"I never understood him," my mother murmured.

I didn't know if she was talking about my father or Janelle Kane.

One was her husband, the other her best friend. Betrayed by two people she trusted and held close, my mother had been through hell these past few months.

But she still put on a brave face and comforted me, "Sheng Sheng, it's all over now. Mommy's here. Everything will be okay."

Looking back on the past few months, it all felt like a dream.

The wind leaves no trace, but Janelle Kane had left behind many things that "couldn't fit in a suitcase."

The temperature dropped sharply after an autumn rain, and a chill seeped in through the half-open window.

I felt a piercing chill and couldn't help but shiver.

'Is it... really over?'