My Dad Cast Me Out, I’m Worth $100M

Chapter 2

Dad: Lily, go back, alright? Be a good girl.

Dad: It's Jack's birthday today. We've already reserved a family restaurant to celebrate with him. It isn't the right time for you to be here.

Dad: Next time, OK?

Next time? In the past 14 years, he had promised me more next times than I could count.

Next Christmas, next summer, next time he would come get me. Next time he would bring me something nice. I crossed hundreds of miles chasing another next time, only to leave empty-handed.

I didn't leave at once. I searched for a ticket home on my phone, wanting nothing more than to escape this city where I had humiliated myself. But the last train had already departed. That meant I had to spend the night in Avermont City.

I found a quiet corner, rested my back against the cold tiled wall, and sank into a crouch. It was the same position I had taken years ago when the kids in my town chased me around, calling me a fatherless bastard.

I had huddled against the classroom wall the same way, pretending I couldn't hear them, pretending their malice couldn't touch me.

After what seemed like ages, a middle-aged man in a smart casual suit stepped out of the station. My eyes swept past him, then immediately darted back.

He wore a fitted navy jacket with the sleeves casually rolled twice. The mechanical watch on his wrist flashed beneath the lights. His hair was perfectly styled with pomade, neat down to every strand. Everything about him reflected the confidence of a successful businessman.

A boy of about 10 walked beside him, his soft curls bouncing as he tugged on the man's sleeve. "Dad, I'm hungry."

The man laughed and tousled his hair. "Daddy booked a Michelin restaurant. Come on. My little guy isn't going hungry."

Talking and laughing, they walked right by me without slowing down. Neither of them looked twice at the girl crouching in the corner.

But I knew it was him. The faint dimple on his right cheek when he smiled matched Grandma's description exactly. I jumped to my feet and followed them from a distance.

My father opened the door of a black Maybach. The back seat was filled with colorful packages. There were bunches of balloons, gift bags in bright wrapping, and an ice cream cake protected beneath a clear cover.

Jack eagerly climbed into the back seat, hugged my father around the neck, and chatted without stopping.

I lowered my eyes to the bag of Christmas ham in my hands. I sat on the curb and opened it. The ham was already cold, but I kept swallowing one bite after another.

My father now dined at high-end family restaurants. Food made in a remote small town probably meant nothing to him anymore. Neither did the daughter he had left behind.

I placed the rest of the ham, bag and all, beside an elderly woman collecting recyclables.

My phone screen suddenly lit up. A transfer notification popped up. My father had sent me $60,000.

Dad: Lily, I'm sorry. This should be enough for your college tuition.

Dad: Don't come here again.

I looked at the transfer without moving. Silently, I calculated every dollar left in my bank account.

When I applied for college, I earned a scholarship. After paying my first year's tuition and fees, I still had some money left. Every month, I was to send my grandmother money for her medicine. Even then, it would not be enough.

In my first month of college, I would start waiting tables at a small restaurant behind campus. On weekends, I would work as a tutor. I planned to save every penny I could to finally buy my father a proper gift.

I came here carrying a heart full of hope. In the end, he wrapped everything up with $60,000.

It felt like swinging at empty air. It also felt like finally seeing the truth I had refused to face for years.

I sat motionless in the train station the entire night. At dawn, a cleaner carrying a broom walked over and asked why I had spent the whole night sitting there.

I parted my lips and forced out several words. "Waiting for someone."

I was waiting for someone who was never coming.

As soon as morning broke, I bought the earliest ticket home. While going through security, I turned back for one last look at the dull gray sky above Avermont City. Quietly, I made a promise to myself.

I would give my father exactly what he wanted. I would never come looking for him again. But one day, I would make sure he remembered for the rest of his life the daughter he chose to abandon, who would rise to a place he could never hope to reach.