The Million-Dollar Heart

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.

someone changed her mind. She drove to pick Cassidy up, enrolling her in an elite private school that was beyond the reach of

to clean their massive house alone, cook, and wash clothes for her and her young half-brother to save money. Any

this, confronted Zinnia multiple times only

after Julian left, Zinnia and her son would gang up on Cassidy, physically and verbally abusing

Percival listened in silence, Cassidy's eyes red but dry, her voice flat

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

did. But every time I argued, she'd guilt-trip me about providing

for my schooling, just to sell me off to old men to fund her and he son's lavish lifestyle! She didn't even wait for me to finish college. Right before my graduation, she

dinner, the lecherous gaze of that man in his seventies or eighties made Cassidy shiver

continued, "I'm not trying to slander Julian! He's been the

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

was blunt. "You've had it

wasn't a question but

else, her demeanor remained unfazed, as if she'd heard a

same detached demeanor, leaving Cassidy stunned at their

Thomas showed some

for words, her voice hoarse, her expression bewildered, "You... don't find Zinnia

ambiguous plight, would curse Zinnia in

were these two

exhaustion as if a long movie had

detestable, sure, but that doesn't justify your betrayal of Julian. Cassidy, I heard you were a good student; surely, you could've thought of another way out." Cassidy choked up. Facing Vivienne's piercing, clear gaze, she shamefully