My Dead Mom Taught Me to Break Their Hearts

My ex-boyfriend’s excuse for dumping me was that I was too good. He said I was so obedient that fooling around with me made him feel guilty. Yet he still made me stand in Valentine’s Day lines, deliver condoms to hotels, and even give up the ambulance that was supposed to save my life. Before I passed out from blood loss, I heard someone say: “I spent all those years playing this game, and somehow I raised a daughter this useless!” “Pick up that phone. Look up the five biggest companies, pick a CEO, and start crying for Daddy!” “An unforgettable first love who died young? If those bastards dare ignore my baby, I’ll haunt their dreams until it kills them.” With her urging me on, I used my last ounce of strength to call the richest man in the country. “Excuse me. Can I call you Dad?” “Who is this?” To my surprise, he answered right away. His voice was low but gentle, nothing like what I’d imagined a powerful CEO would sound like. Unfortunately, the pain at the back of my head was unbearable. Before I could answer, everything went black. “I don’t care how bad my acting is. You have to make me famous.” I had no idea how long I’d been unconscious when my younger cousin Sophie Bennett’s voice woke me. She was curled up in Ethan Hayes’s arms, coaxing him into feeding her fruit. He agreed with a smile. “Relax. I’ve already contacted your favorite celebrity, and I’ve paid for people to flood the press conference coverage with positive comments. Just show up. Leave public opinion to me.” He’d comforted me with the same promises the night we started filming this series. Less than three days later, he’d broken up with me. Over the next two years, he’d gone through more than a dozen girlfriends. Buying flowers. Buying condoms. He made me serve every new girlfriend like a maid, never once imagining I might leave. “Shouldn’t we at least contact Clara?” The cameraman sitting across from them hesitated. He’d worked with me for a year. “This series was the last thing her mother wrote before she died. Clara spent two years filming it. She didn’t even use stunt or body doubles. You’re digitally replacing her face with Sophie’s. Aren’t you afraid she won’t come back?” His question brought an awkward silence. Sophie, sitting at the center of the conversation, laughed. “So what if she leaves? They’ve known each other since they were kids. No matter how pretty she is, he’s bound to get bored.” Hearing Ethan’s girlfriend say that, the coworkers who’d looked nervous relaxed. “Exactly. How many girlfriends has Ethan had these past two years? She still won’t let go. Clinging to him like that is embarrassing.” “She hasn’t squeezed enough money out of him yet. Didn’t you see how jealous she was of Sophie? She hit her like some lunatic. No wonder Ethan dumped her.” It was true. I hadn’t wanted to let go. Ethan had brought me home when I was five. Until now, I’d never spent so much time apart from him. I didn’t want to leave, especially not with Sophie taking my place. I’d swallowed my feelings over and over. Just as I was about to go out and explain myself, Mom’s voice sounded in my ear again. “That’s my girl. Even your backup men are just as good as mine used to be.” Backup men? When I realized who she meant, my eyes widened. How could Ethan possibly be my backup? We’d lived together since we were children. He treated me no differently from the cats and dogs at the mansion. Even when we were dating, he’d never said anything romantic. He couldn’t really love me. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have casually given the ring I bought him to some online gaming companion he liked. “Silly girl. Listen to your mother.” “He likes you. If you don’t believe me, put on a hat, wait for the right moment, and fall into the arms of that young man who spoke up for you. I guarantee he’ll panic.” I shook my head frantically, my heart pounding. Ethan was obsessive about cleanliness. Anything another man touched had to go. If I dared do that, he would throw me out of the Hayes family. The terror of losing my family again consumed me. But soon, that fear faded. Mom was still here. As long as she was here, I had nothing to fear. I made up my mind, pulled my hat down, and left the room with my head lowered. Then I stumbled into the cameraman’s arms. Ethan’s fingers tightened sharply around his wineglass. His beautiful eyes narrowed like a cat preparing to pounce. He looked dangerous, but he didn’t lash out. “That desperate for company? Seducing my uncle wasn’t enough? Now you’re going after the people you work with?” His uncle? I looked around at the room, and my mind exploded. The man Mom had told me to call was Ethan’s uncle, Adrian Hayes?! “What are you afraid of? He’s the least likely to be your real father.” Mom didn’t think it was a problem at all. I was so panicked I didn’t know what to do with my hands. I’d supposedly seduced my ex-boyfriend’s uncle, and now Ethan was calling me dirty. Did Mom really think none of that mattered? In all the time Ethan and I had been together, he had never said anything so cruel to me. “He doesn’t get to decide what kind of person you are. You aren’t even his girlfriend anymore. What right does he have to control you?” Mom laughed scornfully. “Only the most useless men shame women for their bodies. Don’t be scared, sweetheart. Listen to me. Be bold.” Her words seemed to have magic in them. My rigid body slowly relaxed. Tentatively, I leaned against the cameraman’s shoulder. “If I’m lonely, isn’t that your fault?” “Small and inconsiderate. Older men make much better boyfriends. Mature, gentle, and not the kind of men who’d humiliate someone by leaving her on the side of the road.”As I spoke, I reached for the glass the cameraman had been drinking from. Before my fingertips touched it, someone grabbed my hand. Ethan knocked the table sideways. His grip was shockingly strong. “He already drank from that.” Ignoring everyone’s startled looks, Ethan pushed Sophie aside and forced me into the seat next to him. “If you want water, use my glass.” I’d never seen him like this. When I caught the brief glimmer of tears in his furious eyes, my heart ached despite myself. “Actually, I…” Mom hushed me. “Remember what he did to you. This is not the time to go soft.” She was right. I couldn’t let this relationship keep me trapped. Ethan hadn’t even been a good older-brother figure. He knew my aunt’s family had put a dog collar on me and sewn my mouth shut with a needle and thread. Yet he’d still let my cousin take my place and star in Mom’s final work. I forced myself to let go, but a voice inside me kept saying: “He’s the man you grew up loving.” Ethan’s support hadn’t just been financial. More than anything, he was the person I relied on when no one else was there. I relied on him to listen when I was hurt. I relied on him to make sure I was never alone again. Our lives had been intertwined for fifteen years. Once we separated, even the smallest thing could become a thorn he drove into my heart. “An obedient dog is a loyal dog. If you want him unable to leave you for the rest of his life, learn to keep a tight grip on the leash.” Mom told me not to let go of the glass. Instead, she had me pull Ethan down onto his knees beside me. Ethan hadn’t expected me to resist. As he nearly toppled onto me, something like fear flashed in his eyes. Then he saw my mocking smile. Under the cameraman’s astonished stare, humiliation finally caught up with him. “Go wait in your room. Don’t make me angry.” “Mr. Wallace, show our guests out.” “The party just started. Why should anyone leave?” I released Ethan’s wrist and grabbed his collar instead, pulling hard enough to make him feel as if he were choking. Forced to kneel halfway onto the chair between the cameraman and me, Ethan finally realized I was deliberately testing his limits. “You don’t seriously think Adrian Hayes likes you, do you?” He blamed all of this on his uncle and smashed his wineglass. “He just doesn’t want me causing trouble. If you weren’t the orphan I brought home, he wouldn’t even spare you a glance!” “Ethan.” Just as the crash sent my heart racing, the front door opened. Adrian stood there with a deep frown, his private doctor behind him carrying a medical bag. “Smash something again, and I’ll bring back every etiquette tutor you had as a child. Clearly, they need to teach you some manners all over again.” He gave the doctor a look. Understanding at once, the man hurried over and removed my hat. The bandages beneath my long hair came into view. Ethan’s expression changed. “You’re hurt?” I cooperated with the examination and didn’t answer. I’d always been the talkative one between us. After being ignored over and over, Ethan was growing frantic. “When did you even meet Clara, Adrian?” “She’s an orphan with no parents. A couple of days ago, she was still begging to be a nude double. Don’t tell me you’re going to fight me over someone like her.” He said it deliberately. Beneath his forced smile, he was biting his lip hard enough to draw blood. Adrian didn’t notice anything wrong with his nephew. After confirming that my wound was all right, he took my broken phone from his pocket and gently placed it in my palm. “Where did you get that number?” “Don’t answer. See the red cord around his neck? Pull it off.” I trusted Mom completely. I reached out without even looking. A button snapped off and spun to a stop at my feet. The coworkers who’d been making excuses to leave froze. “What is she doing? Throwing herself at him right in front of Ethan?!” “That’s the jade pendant his first love gave him. He’s worn it for twenty years without taking it off, and Clara just ripped it off him?” “You’d have to be his favorite person in the world to get away with that.” Sophie crossed her legs, waiting for the show. Ethan’s eyes blazed as he glared at Adrian as if he wanted to tear him apart. Adrian looked exactly like Ethan when he was angry. I could practically hear him shouting at me to get out, but Mom was delighted. “Oh, he hasn’t changed a bit. Still so easy to rile up.” “It’s fine, sweetheart. Adrian and I were rivals forever. I can tell you exactly what he likes in two sentences.” I had no choice but to push past the hand he was using to pull his collar closed. His collarbones were beautiful. His neck was thicker than Ethan’s, his features sharply defined, his eyes unusually sensitive. “You don’t need a protective charm once you’re well.” I wrapped my arms around his shoulders. “Dad, after you received Mom’s corneas, did your eyes still hurt so badly at night that you couldn’t sleep?” Adrian stopped trying to push me away. He stared at me in disbelief. His slightly rough fingertips brushed my face again and again. “You really are her… Why did you wait until now to find me?” “Mr. Wallace, contact Mr. Lewis. Tell him I need an entire home designed and furnished for a young woman.”“She’s mine!” When Ethan realized Adrian really meant to take me away, he abandoned the last of his restraint. He pulled me into his arms, snarling like a dog guarding its food. “I bought the clothes she’s wearing. I paid for her dance and acting lessons. We grew up together. You have no right to take her!” Adrian’s eyes darkened. Still keeping his composure, he gestured for the butler to escort my coworkers out. Unfortunately, Sophie had never been good at reading a room. She stood with her crutches and deliberately showed Adrian her injured leg. “You must be mistaken, Mr. Hayes. Clara’s mother was a whore. The only reason she became a star was the pair of tits on her chest.” “Clara’s just as cheap as her mother. How could she possibly be your daughter?” On the surface, she was saying Adrian had made a mistake. What she was really asking, in front of everyone, was whether he dared acknowledge the child of an actress notorious for playing innocent while juggling men. Her words were so vile that the cameraman spoke up. “Her mother is dead. Can’t you show a little respect? Do you really have to talk like that?” Sophie didn’t have the insecurity I’d developed from a childhood of bullying. She shoved her way between us and projected all the old photos of Mom from her phone onto the whiteboard. “Respect the dead? Do you know my mother got her leg broken while looking for her? Or that my uncle is still in prison because she set him up? What gives you the right to tell me not to hate her?” Photo after photo of Mom with different men appeared before us. She’d known plenty of men, but only three had left photographic evidence. Adrian Hayes, her bitter business rival. They’d fought in public by day and tangled in bed by night. After Mom died, he’d gone on nearly a hundred arranged dates without marrying a single woman. The second was Victor Pierce, the man she’d been supposed to marry in a family-arranged match. They’d fallen in love at first sight. Mom had wrapped that old-fashioned man around her finger, made him break his own rules again and again, then found an excuse to take his money and leave. He’d since married someone else, but he and his wife were strangers. He still wore the same cedar cologne. The last man was Julian Brooks, a younger student from Mom’s college. She’d spent a fortune creating their love nest. Once she got bored, she disappeared without a word. “She was engaged to both you and Victor Pierce. Even if she’d gotten pregnant, there would’ve been no reason to leave the industry.” Sophie smiled as she tapped her phone, convinced I was Julian’s shameful little secret. Under the dim lights, the photos made people’s breathing turn heavy. Someone muttered, “What a slut,” and the others laughed. “Clara was really putting on a show earlier. Did she actually think Mr. Hayes would claim a bastard like her?” “Look at her mother in those men’s arms. The mother couldn’t survive without a man. What do you expect from the daughter?” “Clara hit Sophie over a broken vinyl record the other day. What, did it come with your mom’s homemade sex tapes?” My hands slowly clenched. Suddenly, all the noise around me seemed to fade. “Don’t listen.” It was the first time I’d ever heard Mom sound vulnerable. She’d never been afraid of anything. Now she was hurting because of me. She could live with being called a shameless woman who broke every rule. She couldn’t bear to be a bad mother whose daughter suffered for it. “Why are you still standing there?” Sophie laughed. “You homewrecker’s bastard. Take your clothes and get out.” I picked up my clothes. Then, facing the smile that had haunted countless nightmares, I slapped her as hard as I could. The crack silenced the room. Sophie screamed. “You hit me! You actually hit me in front of Ethan?!” Adrian watched me return to his side with tears in my eyes. With a wave, he ordered the butler to shut Sophie up. “Beautiful.” His gaze greedily traced every tiny expression on my face, as though he were studying a masterpiece he’d never expected to see again. His hand gently stroked the injured back of my head, leaving a warm, ticklish feeling. “You’d only just turned five when Ethan brought you home, hadn’t you?” “Has anyone ever told you? You really look like your mother.”