The Girl They Ignored Returned as the Woman Seven Men Would Die For novel Chapter 103

"Good to you? You mean making you cook all the meals, wash all the clothes, take care of his kid and his parents, and then buying you a five-dollar rose for Women's Day?"

Mika glared coldly at Damaris, refusing to back down.

"Well, at least he doesn't cheat on me, he doesn't hit me, and he doesn't go out getting blackout drunk! He just plays a few hands of poker every now and then! He's already miles better than the last few men I dated."

Damaris felt a twinge of guilt under Mika's scrutiny, yet she still stubbornly refused to admit Caleb's worthlessness.

She genuinely believed she was doing okay right now. There had been a guy before who spent seven or eight grand on her a month.

But that man had a severe gambling addiction. He eventually racked up over a hundred thousand in debt and bolted, leaving Mika and her mother to be relentlessly harassed and threatened by local thugs for nearly six months.

Even though she still got into screaming matches with Caleb, at least this life felt safe and stable compared to the hell she'd lived through before.

"Not cheating, not hitting your partner, and not drinking or gambling your life away is literally just the bare minimum requirement for a functioning human being!"

Mika felt utterly exhausted trying to communicate with Damaris, but she still desperately tried to make her see reason.

"Damaris, grandpa used to be a highly respected scholar and athlete in our county.

He raised you with the best of everything. When other kids were wearing rags, you were wearing beautiful floral dresses. When others were eating scraps, you were having four-course meals.

You grew up gorgeous with endless suitors. You played the piano. You sang. Think about how radiant and glamorous you used to be. Is this really the life you envisioned for yourself?"

As if Mika had struck a raw nerve deep in her soul, Damaris's eyes instantly welled with tears.

She suddenly raised her voice, shrieking defensively. "Yeah, I thought I was going to be a wealthy housewife living a life nobody else could touch! But I made the damn mistake of choosing your deadbeat father!

He was a shameless bastard who kept a mistress on the side! He threw the two of us out on the streets! I'm a divorcee dragging a kid around, what other choices did I have?! I should be thankful anyone even wanted me! Do you really think my miserable life has nothing to do with you?!"

Mika froze, her fingers silently curling into fists on her lap.

There it was again.

Whenever life proved disappointing, Damaris would lash out at Mika and scream about her bastard father, blaming them for every single misfortune she had ever endured.

There was a time when Mika truly despised herself, wondering if she simply shouldn't have been born...

She had no idea how long she'd been walking until she felt a frigid dampness on her cheeks. Only then did she realize she had been crying so hard she could barely breathe.

Mika genuinely believed that after dying once, her heart would have turned to stone. She thought she would only care about herself and no one else.

Yet, she couldn't stop the memories from surfacing—

In her previous life, she had stayed behind to protect Seraphina from a stalker. Seraphina had locked the door on her, leaving her outside to be stabbed dozens of times by the assailant. She had bled out and died.

After her murder, the entire world seemed to accept her death as a trivial matter, entirely unbothered.

Except for Damaris.

Only she had traveled hundreds of miles on a train to Juniper Springs, just like she had today.

Only she had clutched Mika's portrait, collapsing outside City Hall, fiercely and stubbornly demanding justice, before...

Breaking down in utterly gut-wrenching sobs.