Chapter 108

Yvonne had been getting more and more spoiled by Sally lately. As soon as she got in the car, she snuggled up in my arms, wanting me to hold her while she fell asleep.

Jared kept glancing at me from the side, and I had no idea what was going through his mind. But he must’ve noticed that not only was I cold to him, but my feelings for Yvonne had changed too.

As the car headed home, we passed a street, and I caught Jared deliberately glancing at a shop not far away, his lips pressed into a thin, tight line.

Upon noticing that little gesture, a wave of bitterness and old memories hit me.

Jared loved the cupcakes from that place. I used to always stop on purpose to buy him a pack, so he’d have them to eat when he got home at night.

But this time, as we drove by, I didn’t even bring it up. He probably felt let down.

Heh, scumbag. Don’t expect me to ever be nice to you again, I thought.

Yvonne fell asleep not long after, and I was lowering my head to check Yvonne’s hair, damp with sweat, when I suddenly heard Jared murmur in a wistful tone, “When are you going to buy me some cupcakes?”

“If you want them, go buy them yourself,” I answered flatly.

“I don’t want to wait in line,” Jared replied, sounding a bit sulky.

“Neither do I,” I shot him a grin. “Why not have Tracy do it for you? She’d probably love to help.”

“Victoria, can you just drop it already?” Jared’s face turned stormy with anger.

The mood instantly turned awkward because of what I said.

I didn’t know if it was the whole cupcake thing that set him off, but that seemed to be the last straw. Jared gave me the silent treatment for three days straight, even spending two of those nights away from home.

Since he was ignoring me, I sure as hell wasn’t going to go groveling for his attention. Luckily, work was keeping me insanely busy, and with my workouts on top of that, I barely had a second to spare.

Yvonne had recently gotten into crafts, so I signed her up for some classes. But now, it was the driver taking her back and forth. I was done playing the hands-on mom.

Yvonne picked up on the change, and she was definitely not happy about it.

One night, it started pouring rain, and Yvonne suddenly ran off. The driver was so anxious that he nearly had a heart attack. He called both me and Jared in a panic. Even the teachers at the center rushed out to help search for her.

Jared was out there in the rain, frantically searching everywhere. Honestly, I was freaking out, too.

After more than an hour of desperate searching, Yvonne finally came running out of a storage room at the center. When she saw all of us soaked to the bone, she finally realized just how much trouble she’d caused.

For the first time, I saw Jared go crazy with worry. He rushed over, gave her a couple of light smacks on the butt, and then pulled her into a tight hug.

Yvonne was stubborn. She didn’t cry when he smacked her, but the moment Jared hugged her, she burst into tears, sobbing and apologizing over and over, promising she’d never hide again.

On the way back in the car, both Jared and I were soaked to the bone, and Yvonne kept sobbing for what felt like forever.

Then, while crying, she choked out, “I just wanted to scare Mom. She doesn’t go to class with me anymore.”

I crossed my arms, and my face went cold. “Your life is your own. If you get lost or someone takes you, maybe I’ll be sad for a few days, but I’ll just think that’s the way your life turned out. I’ll still be living my life till I’m ninety-nine. Do you get that?”

Yvonne started shaking, her eyes wide and full of tears as she cried even harder. Jared’s face darkened, and he snapped at me, “She’s already scared enough. Stop scaring her even more.”

“She pulls this kind of stunt just to scare us, and she’s not even in the wrong? What if something really happened? She’d never see us again. If we don’t teach her a lesson now, she’ll just keep doing stuff like this.” I was so mad my eyes turned red. The kid I’d spoiled all these years was actually using her disappearance to get back at me.

“I’m sorry, Mom. I know I was wrong, I won’t do it again,” Yvonne said, probably because she saw me crying.

She reached out her hand and tugged at my arm. “Mom, I just wanted you to spend more time with me. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

I watched her apologize, but I just couldn’t bring myself to love her like I did in my previous life. I already knew what she’d be like when she grew up, how her heart would always drift further away from me.

Even though right now she looked so small and in need of love and protection, I just couldn’t let myself love her so easily anymore.

“If you know you did something wrong, then fix it. I’m a mom for the first time. Why should I always be the one to give in?” The more I spoke, the worse I felt, until I just buried my face in my knees and broke down, sobbing.

Jared reached out with his big hand and gently pulled me into his arms.

“Alright, you’re crying even louder than Yvonne,” he said. “I know you were scared, too. From now on, I’ll hire a full-time nanny to keep Yvonne company, so she won’t have to feel lonely anymore.”

Yvonne whimpered softly, “I want my mom.”

Hearing her say that felt like a knife twisting in my heart. I honestly didn’t know how to be her mom anymore.