Chapter 3 Forced to Break Up
Cora stood on the crowded street, cars rushing past like waves of noise and light.
Her life, her future—both were already ruined.
If she and Matt were destined to separate, then this phone call had only brought that day forward.
She forced her voice steady. “I understand. I’ll do as you say.”
Matt’s mother sounded satisfied. “That’s best,” she said before hanging up.
Cora tilted her head back, willing the tears not to fall again.
But her body wouldn’t stop shaking.
The heat of the sun only made the cold inside her worse.
Everything kept falling apart—one blow after another.
She couldn’t pretend to function anymore.
After asking for leave from work, she packed a small bag, boarded a long-distance bus, and headed back to her hometown, her heart shattered and empty.
⸻
She’d thought coming home might give her a bit of comfort.
But the moment she opened the door, that hope died.
“Like mother, like daughter! Trash breeds trash!”
Her grandmother’s voice was sharp as a whip. “Look at your precious girl—sneaking off to a hotel with a man!”
Her mother was on her knees, trembling. Photos were scattered across the floor.
Ravi Dev, the matriarch, hurled another one at her face.
Cora froze.
Her family came from a small, conservative town in the Deep South — a place that never forgot its gossip.
Strictly speaking, this wasn’t even her real home.
She’d been adopted into the Dev family, a clan with old money and older pride.
Her mother had Asian roots; in a family of dark-haired, traditional Southerners, Cora’s golden hair made her stand out like a target.
Her grandmother had never forgiven her mother for “tainting” the bloodline.
Now, her mother was shaking, bruised, a purplish welt blooming across her forehead.
“Mom—!” Cora dropped her bag and ran forward, falling to her knees beside her mother.
“Grandma, what did she do wrong this time? Why are you hitting her again?”
Ravi glared down at them with disgust.
She snatched a photo from the table and slapped it across Cora’s face.
“You dare ask? Your mother can’t even bear a proper child—that’s her first sin! And as for you, the adopted bastard she dragged in from nowhere—you’re no better!”
Ravi’s voice rose to a shriek. “These photos were delivered to me this morning! You, in bed with a strange man in a hotel room! You filthy disgrace—you’ve shamed the Dev name!”
Cora’s blood ran cold.
She picked up a photo—her hands trembling—and felt the world collapse.
It was her. In that room. With him.
She flung the picture away like it burned her.
“How… how did you get these?”
Her voice cracked. She couldn’t breathe.
Everything in the photo was real. There was no way to deny it.
“Grandma…” she whispered, desperate to explain, but her throat closed up.
Her mother tried weakly to intervene. “Mom, please, it’s not what it looks like. Cora—”
“Shut up!” Ravi slammed her hand on the table. “What right do you have to talk back? Photos don’t lie! What have I done to deserve two shameful women in this family?”
She grabbed a metal tray from the table and hurled it at them.
Cora reacted instinctively—turning and shielding her mother with her body.
Clang!
Pain exploded down her back.
“Cora!” Her mother’s voice broke. She clutched her daughter, tears streaming. “Does it hurt?”
Cora shook her head, though her eyes were wet.
This pain was nothing compared to what her mother had endured for years.
Ravi sneered. “Spare me this pathetic mother-daughter act.”
⸻
Then the television cut to breaking news.
“This morning, Julian Watson, heir to the Watson Group, was photographed spending the night at a hotel with an unidentified woman.
Photos show the room in disarray, clothing scattered everywhere…”
Ravi turned to the TV—and saw Cora’s face.
Her fury exploded.
“You worthless slut!” she screamed, snatching up her cane and swinging it toward them.
“You’ve brought shame on this family! Get out! Both of you—get out of my house!”
Cora couldn’t believe it. The scandal was on television.
Her mother clung to her, both of them trembling, trying to protect each other as Ravi’s cane came down again and again.
Neither dared fight back.
Because if they left this house now, they knew there would be no coming back.
Just then, the door burst open.
“Mom!”
Cora’s head jerked up. Hope flared in her eyes.
Her father was home.
She looked at him, desperate for help—for someone, anyone, to stand up for them.
