Chapter 1
When I opened my eyes again, hatred still surged through me. I thought I had been sent to the mental hospital.
But I looked around and realized, wasn’t this our piano room?
Suddenly, I heard a quiet sob. Aria knelt before me, her eyes brimming with tears, her palms red and swollen from being hit.
I stood there, arms crossed, a ruler still clutched in my hand.
Seeing my daughter alive and well, I couldn’t help but burst into tears of joy. I quickly tossed the ruler aside and hugged her tightly.
Aria seemed startled by my strange behavior.
Her body involuntarily flinched. She cautiously whispered, “Mom?”
“Yes, sweetheart?”
Aria saw me crying. She looked disbelieving, but also asked with concern what was wrong.
I wiped away my tears. “Mommy’s just so happy.”
I didn’t know how, but I had returned to the time when Aria had just started her junior year of high school.
No matter what, this time, I wouldn’t let the previous tragedy happen again.
All those rules about being a lady, all those strict manners, I’d throw them to the wind.
This time, all I wanted was for my daughter to grow up healthy and happy.
As for that despicable couple, I wouldn’t let them off easy either.
Especially that scumbag husband. I would make sure he lost everything and everyone.
I stroked Aria’s head, telling her she didn’t have to learn piano if she didn’t want to.
She looked at me, disbelief in her eyes, then cautiously said, “Mom, didn’t you always say a proper lady had to learn piano?”
I sighed. What was I thinking back then?
Why did I keep pushing my daughter, making her so miserable, making her speak to her own mother so timidly?
I looked at her seriously. “From now on, do what you want to do. Mom used to think those things were for your own good, but I never considered if you actually needed them.”
“From now on, Mom just wants you to be happy.”
A flash of surprise crossed Aria’s eyes, but her gaze was still filled with doubt.
My heart ached a little. It seemed I truly had been awful before.
Even my own daughter didn’t believe I could truly change.
But years of ingrained behavior don’t change overnight, and I understood that.
I would prove it with my actions. I would earn her trust.