Rewriting My Heart's Fate

Jack didn't understand why I would do what I did.

I scoffed. "What father would treat their daughter as something that could be exchanged for money? I assume your beloved wife and daughter had never once come to visit you, right?"

Elene and Ivy had seemed to be long gone. These two women were the truly smart ones.

Out of sight, out of mind. After Jack was thrown in prison, it was really the case for this mother-daughter duo.

Jack's eyes grew distant and bleary like he was looking through the fortress of time into the net that he had intricately woven but could not control.

"Did you think that I wanted this to happen?" he asked. "I tried to protect you two as well, but in this humongous chain of profit hierarchy, I'm nothing but a puny pawn."

I took a deep breath as I tried to calm the chaos in my heart. "What's the real secret, then? What's the scam that you had mentioned about?"

He was silent for a while, like he was contemplating something before he spoke again.

"The art gallery was just a tool those people used to launder money and to cover up for illegal transactions. I was unexpectedly caught in this mess and wasn't able to free myself from then on. Your mother might not have known about all of these, but her presence became my biggest weakness."

My heart constricted. The beautiful memories I had of my mother were shrouded by a dark shadow.

that my

his head, gentle flashed

All she knew was that her husband was an artist, and her daughter inherited

this scam?"

bitterly,

his words. "You? You're the leverage they use to threaten me. Your safety

I was

what else he said next, but I knew what he had said shook me to

world I have known for years had been a lie. It seemed like I was the troublemaker stirring the pot when I knew

Kevin. But, he didn't answer the phone. I wandered on

street lights emitted a yellow hue, casting a long, lonely shadow

my face, but it was almost like

tightly onto my

I

call" notification on

to be mocking