The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

Cassidy swallowed hard, a gesture she'd made countless times while recounting her tale to others.

But no matter if it was neighbors or strangers online, everyone seemed to urge her to let it go, to not dwell on it. Now, finally, someone was willing to believe her.

Her grip on the blanket tightened, her chapped lips barely moving without causing her pain.

But Cassidy didn't care. Her dull, numb eyes stared unblinkingly at Vivienne, tinged with an indescribable hysteria, "My depression isn't because of Julian-it's because of my mom." Her voice dropped as she began to unravel her story.

Cassidy's family was never wealthy, but they were comfortably middle-class. Initially, when it was just Cassidy, Zinnia appeared relatively normal. She wasn't exceptionally nurturing, but she fulfilled her maternal duties.

Everything changed when Cassidy was ten. Her father died in a car accident suddenly.

Around the same time, Zinnia discovered she was pregnant. The settlement from the accident was substantial, but not a cent went to Cassidy's grandparents. All the money was spent on the new baby and Zinnia's living expenses.

Without a job, Zinnia quickly burned through the settlement, struggling to provide for her newborn. Eventually, she sent Cassidy to live with her grandparents in the countryside to save money. Cassidy's voice trembled as she recounted, "Back then, my grandparents didn't even know my father had passed away. I stayed with them until my first year of high school. After they passed away, I managed to reconnect with my mom."

By then, Zinnia had remarried a wealthy old man with no children of his own, coming into a significant inheritance.

Initially, Zinnia didn't want Cassidy back. But something or someone changed her mind. She drove to pick Cassidy up, enrolling her in an elite private school that was beyond the reach of ordinary people! At first, Cassidy thought maybe Zinnia did care about her. But that illusion shattered within a day. Zinnia treated her like a free maid.

Cassidy was left to clean their massive house alone, cook, and wash clothes for her and her young half-brother to save money. Any mistake resulted in beatings and scoldings.

Julian, upon discovering this, confronted Zinnia multiple times only to be rebuffed and insulted.

Julian left, Zinnia and her son would gang up on

eyes red but dry, her voice flat as

her tone matter-of-fact, "Didn't you ever think of fighting

me about providing for my education.

the blanket. "She brought me back, paid for my schooling, just to sell me off to old men to fund her and he son's

that dinner, the lecherous gaze of that man in his seventies or eighties made Cassidy shiver with disgust. sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ ꜰindNʘvel.ɴet

slander Julian! He's been the kindest to me, aside from my grandparents. But, but I

me off to that old man! I couldn't accept that

response was blunt. "You've had

question but a

as if she'd heard a trivial tale,

detached demeanor, leaving Cassidy stunned at their lack of

Thomas showed some emotion,

loss for words, her voice hoarse,

online, upon hearing her ambiguous

were these two

silent, exuding an air of exhaustion as if a long movie had

a good student; surely, you could've thought of another way out." Cassidy choked up. Facing Vivienne's piercing, clear gaze, she shamefully lowered her

Cassidy could have sought help from the