Chapter 1 Chapter 1

It was the first time my father-in-law, Lincoln, took the initiative to go on a playdate with my four-year-old daughter. He had always been unwilling to even fetch her to and from kindergarten. Were pigs about to fly? "Really?" my daughter, Gillian, squealed. "Grandpa, you're the best!" Seeing my daughter's eyes light up struck me with melancholy. Grandfather and granddaughter grabbed their water bottles and headed out, giddy with excitement. With time on my hands, I returned to my room and resumed sleeping. Lo and behold, I was soon rudely awakened by Lincoln's rough yells. "Why are you crying, you brat? Had I known earlier, I would have strangled you!" An ominous feeling crept up my chest. I hurriedly threw on a shawl and rushed out of the room. The first thing I saw was my poor daughter's face, flushed from crying. Lincoln, meanwhile, sat on the couch with a dark face. Facing the scene before me, I felt fury burn in my chest. "Dad, what's all this? She's your granddaughter, for goodness' sake!" Lincoln looked even more livid than me, and responded by flinging two pieces of paper into my face. "Hmph! How dare you continue lying to us! This brat is no Jenkins! I have no granddaughter!" Only when I looked at the papers did I come to understand the reason behind his sudden burst of anger. His and my daughter's names were indicated there, alongside the result of their blood relation test—0%. The shocking information seared my eyes. I looked at Lincoln, filled with disbelief. As it turned out, the playdate was nothing but an excuse. In truth, he took Gillian for a paternity test. I thought back to my daughter's excited expression earlier this morning, and rage surged within me. Unable to hold back, I exploded. "Dad! What's the meaning of this?" I snarled. "I know you don't like Gilly because she's a girl, but I didn't think you'd go so far as to suspect that she isn't Leonard's! How are Leonard and I going to move on from here?" Instead of looking guilty, Lincoln smacked the table hard. "Had I not done the paternity test, I would never have known that she's not part of the family! A loose woman like you should be driven out of the house! How dare you try to ruin Leonard's life! Do you even have a conscience?!" Gillian hid in a corner and burst into tears, frightened. It was her first time witnessing such a scene. I sighed. I didn't want this event to leave a shadow in Gillian's childhood, so I tried talking sense to Lincoln. "Dad, Leonard is my first love and my only man. Gilly is truly his daughter. There must be a misunderstanding somewhere! Let's look deeper into it. Don't scare Gilly." The moment Lincoln heard Gillian's name, he sprang from the couch and pointed angrily at her. "That thing isn't part of our family!" he spat. "Misunderstanding, my foot! I spent a fortune on the paternity test at a private hospital. I saw them do the test with my own eyes! How dare you deny it when the evidence is right there, staring at you! I'll teach you a good lesson on behalf of my son!" In a fit of fury, he charged toward me and pinned me to the floor. Gillian was so frightened, she rushed out of her hiding spot and hugged Lincoln's leg. "Don't hit Mommy! Grandpa, don't hit Mommy…" I hurriedly pulled Gillian into my arms and comforted her, the gears in my mind turning desperately for an answer to this strange mess. My mother-in-law Maria entered just as Lincoln was about to strike me again, having just finished her card game. Her face twisted with frustration the moment she heard Gillian's cries. "All you do all day is cry!" she complained. "All my luck went down the drain because of your silly crying! I lost so much today…" That was when she realized Lincoln was in the midst of slapping me. Immediately, her frustration gave way to confusion. "Honey, what are you…?" The knowledge that Maria had lost money at card games added fuel to the fire burning in Lincoln's chest. "You stupid old woman! All you do all day is play cards!" he roared. "You don't even have a clue that your son has been cuckolded! The money we've spent on this illegitimate brat is enough for you to play endless rounds of cards!"

Chapter 2 Chapter 2

Suddenly, Maria recalled her husband's words. As she turned her attention to the report on the floor, something clicked in her mind. When Lincoln showed her the report and she saw his name together with Gillian's on it, anxiety flickered in her eyes. A second later, she snapped back to attention, sat on me, and started scratching my face viciously. "How dare you do something like this while Leonard works so hard to feed the family! You're shameless! I'll ruin your face! Let's see how you'd go out seducing men after this!" When Lincoln saw this, a smile finally flickered on his face. "Yes, teach her a good lesson! She's shameless, and her child is a bastard. They've been mooching off us all these years! Kick them out of the house! Just looking at them disgusts me!" Hearing that, Maria struck me even harder. I blocked her blows with my arms, but couldn't avoid getting scratched. Hot, searing pain spread across my cheeks. Mustering as much strength as I could, I pushed her away from me. Glaring daggers at Lincoln, I yelled, "Gillian is Leonard's daughter! This house belongs to me. You have no right to chase me out! After Leonard comes back, we'll go to another hospital for another paternity test! My conscience is clear!" The determination on Lincoln's face slipped once he heard that. "Never!" Maria yelled. Her fingernails scratched the corner of my eye. She pointed at me and continued shrilly, "It's enough for you to embarrass yourself! Why are you making us spend money to do that test again? Don't shame us! "It's written clearly on the report. Would the hospital lie? Who knows if you'd cook up a fake report to fool us? We won't take another paternity test! Take your illegitimate brat and scram! Go find your other man!" Before Lincoln could speak a word, Gillian raised her tiny fists and started hitting him, tears streaking her cheeks. "You're a bad person!" she cried. "All of you are baddies who bully Mommy!" Lincoln didn't hesitate to kick her aside. "How dare you hit me, you brat! I'll beat you to a pulp!" Before he could strike her, Maria beat him to it. She grabbed Gillian's collar and pinched Gillian's arm mercilessly. "You're shameless, just like your mother! How dare you touch my man with your filthy hands! Who do you think you are?!" Maria's action left unsightly bruises on Gillian's fair skin. Seeing my daughter's tear-streaked face, I hurriedly shoved Maria aside. "I'll pay for the paternity test. You won't need to fork out a cent," I snapped. "This house is mine, too. We'll wait for Leonard to be back first. If the report still says that Gillian isn't his, I'll make myself scarce." At that, Lincoln scoffed disdainfully. He pulled away Maria, who was still trying to tear my face off, and dragged her out of the door. I wiped the tears from my face and gently soothed Gillian. Then I pulled my phone out to call Leonard, urging him to come home quickly. He was out on mission support and was likely occupied. I had thought it would be tough for him to return, but after a moment's silence, he said, "I'll be home tonight." After everything that had happened, I was on high alert. I had a suspicion that something else might follow. When my husband appeared at the door with all his bags, I was still comforting Gillian. "Grandpa and Grandma were playing a game with Mommy today. Don't be scared," I cooed. "Go to sleep, dear." When I left her bedroom, I found Leonard seated on the couch. His expression was identical to that of Lincoln's earlier in the day. Now that my pillar of support was here, I couldn't help but vent out my resentment. "Dad and Mom said Gilly isn't their granddaughter. It's ridiculous! They kept calling her terrible names, and even wanted to chase us away. Others might not know me, but you…" "I thought I did," Leonard cut me off, "but now, it seems like I don't know you enough." As those words drifted into my ears, I looked at him with trembling lips. The love in my eyes faded into cold hopelessness. He pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and smoothed it out on the table. "Sign it."

Chapter 3 Chapter 3

To my utter disbelief, even my husband didn't believe me. As it turned out, Leonard had concluded that Gillian wasn't his child. His shouts startled his parents awake. When Lincoln saw that Leonard was back, tears fell down his cheeks; he looked just like a lost and helpless child. "My son, you're finally back! If you came any later, this family would probably take another name! I was so afraid I would die of anger because of this woman, and never see you again!" Leonard hurried forward and held Lincoln's arm while glaring at me with bloodshot eyes. I looked straight at him, trying my best to calm myself down. Despite my best efforts, my voice still trembled. "I didn't expect our decade-long relationship to be so fragile. You saw me pregnant with Gillian for nine months. You saw me give birth to her. She's your flesh and blood! How could you doubt her?!" Yet, Leonard remained unmoved and continued looking at me in disdain. "My ten years with you have been in vain. I could tell since a long time ago. Gillian looks nothing like me. To think that she really is another man's daughter!" My in-laws' insults and attacks were nothing compared to Leonard's accusations. I looked at the ugly faces of the entire family. A bitter chuckle escaped my lips. People say that you have no idea whether your spouse is man or beast till the very last moment. I was confident in Leonard; never in my wildest dreams had I imagined something like this would happen to me. Now, my eyes were finally opened to the truth. "It's fine if you mistreat me, but don't do that to Gilly. We'll go to a hospital for a paternity test right now. I'll pay for it!" With that, I made a move to stand up. Leonard grabbed my hair roughly, eliciting a gasp of pain from me. "You might want to embarrass yourself, Madeline, but I don't! It's not worth it for me! That brat isn't worthy of even a minute of my time!" he snarled. At his words, I smiled self-derisively. "You mistreat us, and don't even give us a chance to defend ourselves. How is that fair? I've already said that Gilly isn't an illegitimate child. She truly is your daughter!" I looked firmly at Leonard, refusing to yield even an inch. Lincoln's resolve faltered when he saw how certain I was, and he pulled Leonard's sleeve. Leonard looked at me with furrowed brows, about to say something—when Maria cut him off. "Pfft! The cheek of you to feel mistreated! We're the ones at the short end of the stick, suckers who raised another man's child! I'm sure you're in cahoots with the hospital to fool us so we'll continue raising Gillian!" I watched on silently as Maria bared her fangs, ready to attack. For some reason, I found her acting strangely today. She was a cheapskate, so she should have immediately agreed to me covering the cost of the paternity test. Why did she react like this instead? Leonard, noticing the disdain in my eyes, immediately spoke up for his mother. "Mom's right. Dad has already brought Gillian to do a paternity test once. The report clearly states that she has no blood relation with my dad. Why should our entire family torment ourselves with you?" I scoffed. "You think there's going to be a problem with the paternity test I'll take. Why don't you suspect the paternity test results your dad got?" Suddenly, a loud smack rang in the air. My cheek swelled and turned red in an instant. "How dare you compare yourself to my dad, you loose woman!" Leonard roared. His slap had woken me up completely. The moment he struck me, the very last vestiges of hope I was still clinging to disappeared into the depths of the night. "If you continue being unreasonable, I'll post this online and let everyone see how indecent you are! Don't be so shameless, Madeline!" I rubbed my buzzing ears, smirking. "Hah! Do whatever you want. But this is my house. You should be the ones leaving!" Leonard flared up at my words. "How dare you chase us out! You're the one who cheated on me! You should leave without a cent to your name! Sign the divorce papers and move out with that little bastard! Quit being an eyesore around here!" he demanded. My husband, usually so gentle and mild-mannered, was now glaring at me threateningly. We were shouting so loudly, we ended up waking the sleeping Gillian. She rubbed her eyes sleepily, but upon seeing Leonard, she broke into a joyful smile. "Daddy! You're finally back! I really love you! Daddy, Mommy was hurt…" Before she could finish, Leonard raised a hand and slapped her without hesitation.