My Daughter Ruined My Birthday Party, So I Cut Ties

1: 1

At my birthday party, my daughter showed up in mourning clothes, cradling Camille Sullivan's funeral portrait, and came to wreck the whole thing.

She looked at me with a face twisted by hatred, and through sobs that seemed to bleed she said, I wish I'd crawled out of Aunt Camille's belly instead of being your daughter!

My best friend, Camille Sullivan, had lost her husband and come to stay at my house, and somewhere in there she'd gotten her hooks into my husband.

When I found out, Giles Sanchez flew into a rage and threw both me and our three-year-old daughter out of the house.

After that, I raised the child alone, scraping by through everything, and then Giles came crawling back, begging me to take him back.

When she saw her father, my daughter's eyes were full of longing.

"Mom, why won't you remarry Dad? Dad's clearly a good man."

She'd forgotten that one winter, wearing nothing but a thin nightgown, she'd been thrown out the window by Giles.

The day my daughter tore apart the birthday party, she knocked over a candlestick by accident.

The flames climbed the curtains, spreading fast, and I didn't make it out.

When I opened my eyes again, I'd been reborn back into my mid-twenties.

Sadie Abbott was only three that year.

The way Sadie looked at me was exactly the same as in that final moment of my last life.

"I'm not a little kid anymore. There's no way I'll let my life turn out as awful as it did before!"

So she'd been reborn along with me.

I'd thought I'd given her all the love I had, yet she kept clinging to endless fantasies about a father's love she'd never actually had.

I let out a tired sigh.

"Suit yourself. This time, the choice is in your own hands."

When Sadie saw Camille Sullivan, the tears finally broke loose, and she threw her arms around the woman's leg and wailed.

In my last life, she'd quietly taken Camille as her godmother.

Camille and I had grown up together from childhood, in the same class at school, at the same company at work.

Anyone I knew, she knew too.

The day Camille died in my last life happened to be my birthday.

I'd thrown a birthday party, and all my friends had come.

Camille lay dying, sick in bed with no one to look in on her, and it was Sadie who put on mourning clothes for her, who saw her off on her final journey.

In Sadie's heart, Camille mattered far more than I did.

Now that she could see her beloved godmother again, she was too overcome to know what to say.

She wanted to pull her preschool perfect-score test and a little gold star out of her pocket, but before she could get them out, someone kicked her aside.

"Oh? Crying and howling all over my momare you trying to smear her again, saying she secretly abused you?"

2: 2

The boy who'd spoken was Cedric Cobb, Camille's five-year-old son.

In my past life, Cedric and Sadie were close toochildhood playmates who eventually became a couple.

I heard they even set a wedding date on the quiet, though they never told me.

But the Cedric standing here now looked at her without a trace of the tenderness from that other life.

Not that it was strange.

I never knew how good Cedric was supposed to be to Sadie.

What I did know was that as a boy, Cedric beat her more than once at school. The worst time, he shoved her head into a toilet.

I went down to the school and made him drink toilet water before I'd agree to let it go.

And for that, the whole school whispered that I was a shrewsix years of it, right up until Sadie finished elementary.

Sadie stared at Cedric, stunned, her eyes swimming with tears and hurt.

I never lied about anyone why

Giles carried Camille's things through the door, his tone sharp with reproach.

Keep Sadie in line.

He reached out, peeled Sadie off of Camille, and shoved her toward me.

Sadie looked like the whole thing had frozen her solid.

I caught her steadily, bent down, and told her,

Sadie, a couple of days ago you had bruises on your legs. You said Aunt Camille pinched them.

Her eyes went wide, full of shock.

Too many years had passed, and she was so small now she didn't remember any of it. All I could do was walk her back through it.

Giles stood in front of me and handed the bag to the nanny.

Quinn, watch Sadie. Cammie is my late childhood friend's widow, and she's my most important guest. I don't want to lose my temper with either of you.

I nodded.

Understood.

Giles took off his coat and said to Camille and Cedric, Lunch is ready. Go wash up and eat.

Camille smiled brightly, said yes, and fell into step behind him.

As Cedric passed, he pulled a face at Sadie.

Jinx. Nobody wants you. Your daddy loves me and my mommy, not you and your mommy.

Then he darted off.

Sadie's eyes brimmed over with tears.

I went to wipe them, but the second my hand reached her, she slapped it away.

It's all your fault! They don't like you, so now they hate me too.

If you weren't in this house, the four of us would never fight!

3: 3

That night I came downstairs and found Camille and Giles both in the living room.

Giles had oil on his fingers, working it into Camille's ankle.

She wore a shy little look on her face.

Giles, who had always been fastidious about cleanliness, showed no trace of distaste. If anything, there was something almost tender in his eyes.

"You know your foot's hurt, and you still wore heels all day. You must not want these feet anymore."

When she was little, Sadie and Cedric never got along.

To get even for her son, Camille pretended to bump into Sadie by accident, then ground her heel into Sadie's leg, scraping the child's tender skin raw and purple.

Sadie wouldn't stop crying and went to confront Camille about it.

Camille played dumb, then, as if driven past her limit, tumbled down the stairs and hurt her leg.

Giles had just gotten home and caught the whole scene, and he rushed Camille off to the hospital.

After that, Sadie and I fell completely out of his favor.

I couldn't even remember the last time he'd looked at me with eyes that soft.

Camille heard what Giles said and only pouted, playing spoiled.

"Heels are a grown woman's standard, you know."

Giles gave a helpless little laugh.

"Seth was a lucky man, marrying a woman as poised and sophisticated as you. The one in my house"

He stopped there.

Because he'd spotted me walking past him, on my way to the fridge for some coconut juice.

Camille glanced my way and smiled faintly.

"Flats are wonderful too, though. Like a child, growing up under your care, doted on. Not like me, one woman dragging a child from place to place. I really do envy you, Quinnie."

The moment Giles saw me, he let go of Camille's foot.

His expression went a little stiff, and as he came toward me he tried hard to change the subject.

"It's late already. Drinking iced coconut water this time of night will give you a stomachache."

There were still drops of water at the corner of my mouth, and Giles reached out to wipe them away out of habit.

I stepped back.

"You just had your hands all over someone else's feet, and now you want to touch my face. You think that's appropriate?"

Giles looked slightly displeased.

"Camille is like a sister to you, and she got hurt here in our home. Are you really going to hold even that against her?"

I didn't want to deal with him and turned to leave.

That set Giles off completely.

"Quinn Harper, this is how you treat me?"

I was about to answer when footsteps came clattering down the stairs.

Sadie had my coat and my bag in her hands, and she threw them at my face.

"It wasn't even Daddy's fault. What gives you the right to get mad at Daddy!"

"Daddy works so hard to take care of us, and you don't have an ounce of consideration for him. We don't need you in this house! Get out of our home!"

When she finished, I wasn't the only one stunned.

The living room went silent. Even the housekeeper stared at Sadie, baffled by how completely she'd changed.

Children are sensitive to people's feelings. In my past life, Sadie sensed Giles and Camille's malice from the very start.

She recoiled from them.

Sadie wanted to cling to me every waking moment. If I was out of her sight for even a little while, she'd wail and throw a fit.

After Sadie threw those things at me, she went over to Camille's feet and used her small hands to rub Camille's ankle.

"Does it still hurt, Auntie? Sadie will kiss it better. Kiss it and it won't hurt anymore."

I watched all of this and said nothing for a long time.

Giles came back to himself, saw me starting to put on my coat, and reached out to hold me still.

"Where do you think you're going?"

I said, "Leaving your home."

Giles knit his brows, looking at me like a child throwing a tantrum.

"You're taking a kid's angry words to heart? Do you have any idea what time it is?"

I pushed Giles aside and walked on out.

"She didn't say it out of anger."

If that was what she wanted, then I would give it to her.

This life, I would be the good mother she wanted.

4: 4

Once I'd found a place to stay for the night, a text popped up on my phone from a number I hadn't saved.

Don't come back.

There was no name, but I didn't need to guess. It was Sadie.

I didn't reply. I just set the phone down.

I wasn't going back.

This time, I'd give her exactly what she wanted.

And I'd live for myself.

I thought that would be the end of it, but the next day I was woken by the phone ringing.

When I saw it was Sadie's preschool teacher, all the sleep left me at once.

"Ms. Harper, Sadie's gotten into a fight with another child at school!"

My chest ached. I hesitated, thinking I'd say I wasn't home, that they should call her father.

But then I thought better of it. Knowing Giles, he'd only kick the problem right back to me.

When it came to Sadie, he never asked so much as one extra question.

"I'm on my way. I'll be there in about half an hour."

I threw on my clothes and hurried over, and when I got to the preschool, I found Sadie with a big lump on her head, crying against Camille's leg.

Cedric stood off to the side, chin up, looking at Sadie with plain contempt.

Sadie was tugging Camille's hand toward her own head, trying to get her to rub it.

"Auntie rub it for Sadie. Once Auntie rubs it, Sadie won't cry anymore."

Cedric shouted across at Camille.

"Don't rub it for her! Is it her you want, or me?"

Camille looked down at her new dress, streaked all over with Sadie's tears, her face full of distaste, but she didn't seem to know what to say.

The teacher saw me come in and quickly pulled Sadie toward me.

"Look, Sadie, your mommy's here. Let mommy rub it for you."

The second she saw me, Sadie stopped crying.

Her voice went sharp all at once.

"Didn't I tell you not to come back! I don't want to see you again!"

I turned to the teacher and asked, "What happened?"

Before the teacher could speak, Cedric jumped in.

"It's her own fault, she was asking for it. Last night she wanted to sleep with my mom, and this morning she made my mom dress her. So pathetic. Don't you have a mom of your own? Are you an orphan?"

He paused after that, malice clear in his eyes.

"Oh, right. Your mom got thrown out by you, and your dad doesn't want you. You're pretty much an orphan."

The teacher's face changed.

"Cedric!"

It really was a cruel thing to say, but Sadie didn't look angry. If anything, she looked like she was trying to win him over.

She leaned in and kissed Cedric on the cheek.

"Don't hate me, big brother. I like you, and I like Auntie. I want us to be a family."

Sadie's eyes were full of hope.

Cedric stared at her in disbelief.

A crowd of kids was watching, and they all broke into shrieks.

"A boy and a girl kissed, shame on you!"

Cedric's face went red, and he shoved Sadie hard.

"Do you have any idea how bad your mouth stinks right after you drink milk?"

Sadie froze, then, wounded, burst into loud sobs.

The teacher scrambled to smooth it over.

"Ceddy, Sadie just likes you."

Cedric turned his head away, disgusted.

The whole scene was chaos.

When the teacher glanced toward the doorway, her face lit up, and she quickly pointed and said to Sadie:

"Look, Sadie, your daddy's here!"

Giles got out of the car and walked toward us.

I was still surprised, wondering how Giles had become a different person, that he'd actually come to check on Sadie, when I watched him walk right past her and go straight to Camille and her son.

Giles pulled Camille's crumpled dress out of Sadie's hands, then shoved the child at me.

"Quinn, is this the kind of manners you've taught your daughter?"

He pointed at the smear on Camille's hem, snot or tears, impossible to tell, and said:

"This dress was the last gift Cammie's husband ever bought her before he died."

Camille smiled bitterly and said nothing.

Sadie's crying cut off. Realizing she'd caused trouble, she belatedly ducked behind me.

"It's just a dress. I'm sure Cammie won't mind."

The one who said it was the younger brother of Camille's late husband, Arthur Cobb.

The moment Giles saw Arthur, his expression went as dark as it possibly could.

Cedric, who never obeyed anyone, was clearly afraid of his uncle the moment he saw him.

Arthur stroked the boy's hair, then pressed his head down toward Sadie.

"The teacher told me everything. No matter how much Sadie upset you, you shouldn't just hit people. Ceddy isn't some mute with no tongue who can't be reasoned with, is he?"

The color drained from Cedric's face in an instant, his voice trembling.

"I'm... I'm sorry, Sadie."

Arthur patted his head.

"There we go. That's a good boy."

He nudged the two children back toward the teacher.

"Then it's settled. Go on back to class. Tonight your daddy Giles is coming to pick you both up and take you home."

Cedric didn't dare look back and bolted for the classroom.

Sadie wanted to turn around, but one look at Giles's grim face and she had no choice but to follow after Cedric.

Giles stared at Arthur, his face dark.

"What did you come back for?"

Arthur answered with a grin:

"My brother's dead. Of course I couldn't stay abroad forever. And there happens to be someone here I want to look after, so I came home early."

When he'd finished, he turned to me, smiling, and gave me a little wave.

"Long time no see, Quinnie."