The betrayal hit harder than the slap. I had raised David alone after his father abandoned us. I’d worked double shifts at a diner, sacrificing everything for him. The house they were standing in? I’d given them twenty thousand dollars from my own savings for the down payment.

“I’ve been paying rent here for two years,” I said, my voice trembling. “I help with groceries, utilities…”

Lilia laughed, a sharp, cruel sound. “The measly eight hundred a month you contribute? David makes six figures, Marlene. Your little contribution is nothing.”