3.

"Barbara says a mom is the person around a baby most of the time, so she can't be eating junk food."

"Are you really that lazy? You can't even find time to cook while holding the baby?"

I was too hungry to even have the strength to argue, so I carried my daughter back into the bedroom.

Vivian was floating on all that flattery, and the way he looked at Barbara had changed.

Like he'd finally found someone who understood him.

The way he looked at me wasn't so gentle.

"You want a divorce? I'll draw up the agreement right now."

"That two hundred thousand you lent me at the start, I'll hand it back to you, and you can take the kid and get out immediately."

"But how your family treats you after that, well, that's not my problem to worry about."

He was using my own family to threaten me.

The last few times I'd fought with him, my mom had called and torn into me.

If I divorced him, my only option was to go back to my parents, and that meant one of two roads.

Either my family would bully me into swallowing my pride and coming back to apologize, or I'd be out on the street with my child.

He was already certain which one I'd pick.

I let out a bitter little laugh. He thought I'd caved, and he kept going.

"I knew you couldn't bear to leave. You just take care of yourself and stay out of things between me and Barbara."

"We're just good buddies. What's wrong with spending a little money on a friend?"

"And she's even teaching you—"

I cut him off.

"The divorce agreement. Let's draw it up right now."

"I only want my own money and my own things."

He froze for a second, disbelief in his eyes. The words were already out, and now he'd backed himself into a corner. The anger on his face only deepened.

"You said it yourself. Don't come crying later."

"I've already sent the agreement over. It's an e-signature. You sign, and I'll give you the money."

I didn't really understand the clauses, so I sent it to an AI to check for me.

It matched pretty much everything he'd said, so I signed my name right there.

Once the two hundred thousand landed in my account, Vivian's face went uglier by the second.

He pointed at the door. "The agreement's done. This place isn't your home anymore. Pack your things now and get out."

"Of course, you don't have to go. All you have to do is beg me—"

I carried my daughter back to the bedroom. Her things and mine together didn't even fill a single backpack.

I slung it over my shoulder and walked out without looking back.

Behind me, Vivian slammed the door hard.

Like he was venting, he started hurling things around the room, smashing them to the floor.

"Go, then. Leave. And don't you ever come back."

But I'd stopped wanting to come back a long time ago.

Vivian was furious, but once the anger passed, a hollow feeling crept in.

He went to open the door and chase after me, but Barbara stopped him.

"Vivian, are you stupid? Your wife just wants you to give in."

"A woman knows another woman best. The second you give in, she'll make you change your daughter's nutrition plan and start feeding her meat and eggs, and everything you've sacrificed will be for nothing."

Vivian stopped in his tracks, like he'd already bought it.

Barbara pressed her advantage.

"Just stay home. A woman on her own, with a kid, where's she going to go?"

"She'll come back sooner or later. Treat this as a lesson for her."

With money in hand, the first thing I did was buy formula for my baby.

I found a clean little motel and checked in.

My daughter clutched the bottle and wouldn't let go. It was the first time I'd seen her drink so eagerly, and it eased something in me.

I was still working out how I'd get through the days ahead when my mother called.

The moment I picked up, her furious roar came pouring through.

"Mercedes Floyd, have you lost your mind? You actually dared to get divorced?"

"You go back right now and beg Vivian to cancel that agreement. Even if you have to get on your knees and apologize, you're going back, do you hear me?"

"If you don't do it, then you're no daughter of mine. I didn't raise anything as shameful as you."

She used the most vicious words she could to describe me.

Like I wasn't her own flesh and blood, like she'd picked me up off the ground.

"Am I your daughter?"

"Mom?"

I called out softly.

"You think I'm in the wrong. But I don't see it that way."

"I'm just fighting for one thing, a road where my daughter can grow up healthy."

"I don't want to live like that anymore."

Only rice water, never milk.

Only cloth rags, never diapers.

The whole household's spending squeezed down to pennies.

Anything more, I had to apply for it, and even then he might not give it.

I wasn't Vivian's wife. I was more like his childbearing tool.

"Mom, he can drop two hundred thousand on a dress for his girl buddy, but he won't spare two hundred to have his own daughter's blood drawn."

"I watched my daughter cry from how miserable she felt, and her cry was as weak as a kitten's."

"It hurt me, it broke my heart, she came from my own body."

The line went silent for a second, and the cursing stopped.

Then, a moment later, it started up again.

"Don't be so dramatic. What family doesn't scrape through their marriage the same way?"

"You're just lazy. That man looks after you so well, and you don't know how good you have it."

"If you won't go back and apologize, then don't call me your mother ever again."

4.

The call cut off, and the next second the phone lit up with calls and texts pouring in like a blizzard.

All from numbers I didn't know.

I answered one. A woman's voice came through.

"You're Mercedes Floyd, aren't you? How can you be such an ungrateful snake? Dr. Edwards helped you out of the goodness of her heart, building up your baby's health so your kid could be stronger."

"And this is how you repay her. The second your kid gets better, you kick away the ladder. Dr. Edwards kindly asks you to be her assistant and you just stand her up."

"You'd better pray I never find out where you are. Because if I do, I'll kill you."

The venom in her voice was thick. I hung up fast.

I opened the texts that had come in. Every one of them cursing me.

Then a local short video popped up.

It was Barbara giving a talk, someone had recorded it.

Except her opening, of all things, was about me.

Very pointedly, she said I was supposed to come and be her teaching assistant.

Half an hour of waiting, and still no one showed.

Barbara started to cry.

"I never imagined that mom would back out at the last minute. If she didn't want to come, she could have told me ahead of time."

"It's all right. I can still go on."

The parents in the audience were already worked up.

"Teacher Edwards, don't be sad, we all believe you."

"Who is that mom, exactly? Tell us and we'll get justice for you."

"Teacher Edwards..."

My information got dumped online.

The calls kept coming, and people were even tracing my number to add me on a messaging app.

Vivian messaged me right then too.

【Barbara's talk was ruined. Happy now?】

【If you didn't want to do it, why agree in the first place? Get back here and apologize to Barbara, or you can forget about ever coming home.】

But I never agreed. I never did.

I went back through the video, and in one image post I saw a chat with my profile picture on it.

Barbara had posted it.

【Teacher Edwards, I'll come to your talk after all. You've helped me so much.】

【Great.】

Someone pounded on the door from outside.

The bang, bang jolted my daughter awake.

She looked at me in a panic, on the edge of tears but not quite.

I carried her to the door, and I clearly heard the voice of the front-desk clerk who'd checked me in.

"That's right, this is it, I'm the one who checked that mother and daughter in."

The pounding got louder.

"Open up, you bitch. Hurting the one teacher we trust most, get out here right now."

"How can you be so shameless? I'm going to tear that lying mouth of yours right off your face."

"Open the door!"

The pounding made my heart race, fear rising in my throat.

The handle turned, and I was afraid.

The next second, angry shouts broke out at the door.

"Who do you people think you are? Who gave you permission to barge in like this?"

"Move, move, move. This is a normal guest. You're all mothers, all grown adults, and not one of you has any sense of the law? Don't you know doxxing someone and breaking into their room is a crime?"

Someone still wouldn't back down.

"We're here to teach her a lesson. So what if you're cops, cops can't stop us. Arrest us if you dare."

"You arrest us, we'll sue you."

Those few lines were the last straw.

The officer swept his hand out. "Take them all in for questioning. Find out who started the doxxing."

The noise outside gradually died down.

Then someone knocked on the door again.

My heart lurched, but this time the voice that spoke was one I knew.

"It's over now. But this place isn't safe anymore. You should take your daughter and move somewhere else."

"I'll head out first."

I quickly called out to stop him.

"Wait."

"What you said last time, does it still stand?"