3
I called a moving company and had all of
Chloe’s belongings packed and sent to
John’s house. Then I listed the house.
As soon as I was done, my phone rang.
It was John. He must have received Chloe’s
things.
I answered.
“Jane Miller!” he barked. “I’m warning you,
drop the act! You think you can force Chloe
to come back by sending her stuff over and
saying you’re selling the house?”
“You raised her for a few years, so what? She
wants to be with me now.”
<
“You better be smart and give me full
custody. Or you’ll regret it.”
I laughed coldly. After our divorce, John had
been in a car accident. It supposedly affected
his ability to have more children.
He’d been through several wives since then,
with no sons and not even any other
daughters. Chloe was his only child, which is
why he wanted her now.
It was laughable that this selfish, shameless
man was the “dad” she adored.
“She’s your precious bloodline now, is she?” I
asked. “Where were you before?”
John’s voice tightened with anger. “Jane, if
you don’t back off, I swear I’ll make sure you can’t hold down a job.”
I scoffed. “You can have custody. But I want
nothing to do with her after this.”
“You wish!” he roared. “Her dance classes
are expensive! Who’s going to pay for those.
if not you?”
The audacity.
He mistook my silence for agreement, his voice smug. “I get custody, and you pay me
two thousand dollars a month in child
support. And you pay for her dance classes
directly to the studio.”
I actually laughed. “John, have some shame.
You think you’re the only one who knows
<
where the other works?”
“Don’t think I don’t know why you suddenly
want Chloe. I’ll tell everyone what really
happened. Let’s see who ends up looking
worse.”
I hung up and finally slept soundly.
I woke up the next afternoon, sunlight
streaming through the curtains. I felt a
strange sense of peace.
For years, rushing Chloe to dance, I hadn’t
slept in. I’d forgotten I used to enjoy lazy
mornings.
How long had it been since I focused on
myself?
I smiled wryly, got ready, and went to look at
some rental apartments. I’d need a place to
stay after the house sold.
I was busy all afternoon and grabbed some
takeout before heading home.
Chloe was leaning against the door when I
arrived.
Her hair was dyed blonde, and she wore a
bright pink tube top and short skirt.
“You changed the code!” she yelled. “You
crazy woman! You threatened Dad’s job just
to force me back here! You’re disgusting!”
“I’m back, are you happy now?”
بر الممملمحطم
She still th
<
I laughed sadly. She still thought this was all
about forcing her back.
Too bad for her, I really didn’t want her
anymore.
I unlocked the door. The house felt empty
without her things.
Chloe glared at me, shoving past me into the
house. “If you mess with Dad’s job, I’ll never
speak to you again!”
I looked at her, a faint smile playing on my
lips. “You seem to forget, your dad already
cost me my job.”
“That’s different!” she retorted. “Your stupid
job didn’t matter! Dad’s a manager! He’s a
hundred times more important than you!”
I shook my head. Seventeen years of
devotion, of giving her everything, meant
nothing compared to a month of sweet talk
from her father.
It was absurd.
Chloe frowned, her face hard. “Don’t think I
don’t know what you’re doing. You’re not
going to win. I’m not going to that dance
camp. Give it up.”
I looked at her sincerely. “I told you, it’s your
decision.
99
“And I’m giving your father custody.”
Chloe snorted. “If you were really giving up
custody, you wouldn’t have threatened his
L
job.”
“I am giving up custody,” I said evenly. “I
threatened his job because he had the nerve
to demand two thousand dollars a month in
child support, plus your dance tuition.”
Her eyes lit up. “Dad just wants to make sure I’m taken care of,” she sneered. “And you,
you pretend to love me but won’t even pay two thousand dollars! You’re just trying to
turn me against him!”
“You’re pathetic! No wonder everyone leaves
you!”
I don’t know how she could say those things.
My heart turned to ice.
I looked at the daughter I had treasured and
く
said softly, “I’ve done my part. I won’t be
taking care of you anymore.”
“If you think dance is too hard, don’t do it.”
“If you think your father is better, go to him.”
Chloe frowned suspiciously.
She didn’t believe me.
And she had a right not to. Chloe wasn’t a
good student academically. Dance was her
best path, which is why I pushed her so hard.
Last time, around this same time, she had run
off to her father’s. I ended up begging John
to convince her to come back, promising him
all the benefits of her winning the
competition.
Г
Another reason she didn’t want to go to
dance camp was because of the punk she’d
been seeing while staying with her dad.
They were in the honeymoon phase,
inseparable, so she didn’t want to go to any
isolated camp.
I didn’t know about him at first. Then her
teacher told me Chloe had been sneaking out
to see him.
I tracked her phone and found them together.
The punk…he was bad news.
I separated them, gave him a piece of my
mind, and sent Chloe back to dance camp.
く
In college, I had a close friend. Smart, driven,
a bright future ahead of her.
Then she fell for the wrong guy, got pregnant
before graduation. She took a leave of
absence to have the baby, promising to come
back.
She never did.
The guy, after he got what he wanted,
bragged about their relationship.
I saw her years later, a shadow of her former
self.
So when I found out about Chloe and the
punk, I only had one thought: protect my
daughter.
<
I couldn’t let him ruin her life.
I thought I was doing what was best for her.
But I forgot one thing.
It was her life.
What I thought was best wasn’t what she
wanted.
With that realization, I felt a sense of release.
“You and your father are in charge of your life
now.”
Chloe rolled her eyes, hesitant for a moment,
but then went to her room.
She still didn’t believe me.
L
But she would soon find out I meant it.
Chapter 2
Here’s an Americanized version of the story,
keeping the first–person narration, localized
names and cultural references, and a
conversational tone. Each sentence is a
separate paragraph as requested:
