He Mocked Me, I Ruined His Plans

After my deadbeat stay-at-home dad fumbled so badly he dropped me on the floor for the seventh time, my mom was 100% dead set on getting a divorce, no arguments, no take backs. Dad scooped me up in a hurry, mumbling rapid, half-assed apologies. "Selene, Elara kept clamoring for you, I was so focused on calming her down that my hand slipped, and I dropped her by accident." I was just about to puff out my cheeks and beg Mom to scoop me up, when all of a sudden, I heard Dad's inner thoughts loud and clear. "Divorce? Perfect, finally I'll be free. This bratty little dead weight cries and throws fits all day long, she's such a pain in the neck! "Selene's got tens of millions in assets, she has to give me half. If she doesn't set Celeste and me up for life, she's not getting off that easy!" I blinked, then snuggled deeper into his chest. "Mommy, don't divorce Daddy, okay?" Mom froze on the spot. Dad was cursing me a thousand times over in his head. "Did this little i***t hit her head too hard when she fell? She hates my guts more than anyone, doesn't she?" But he still slapped on a fake, doting dad mask. "Did Elara bump her head just now? Does it hurt?" Mom panicked the second those words left his mouth, reaching out to take me from him right away. I wrapped my arms around Dad's neck so tight my knuckles went white, refusing to budge. "Elara's fine!" Dad's mouth twitched, but he quickly smoothed his face back into a gentle expression. "Good girl, even though Daddy's arms aren't that strong, I'll never let you fall again. "What other kid is as sensible as you, Elara? You even helped Daddy boil water this morning! Later I'll go buy you two ice creams..." Mom's eyes immediately blazed with white-hot anger. "Dorian! What kind of careless garbage care is that? Giving her ice-cold food? And letting her boil water all by herself?" Dad was practically doing a happy dance in his head. "Little brat, let's see how you stop me from divorcing Selene now!" In the next beat, I tilted my head all innocent. "What's boiling water? I was asleep the whole morning, though?" The smile froze on Dad's face so fast you could almost hear the c***k. "And ice cream? Didn't you say it's way too cold for me to eat, Daddy?" With that, I looked over at Mom. "I love playing with Daddy. Please don't get divorced, okay?" Mom turned away quickly to wipe her eyes. When she looked back, she stroked my cheek softly. "Don't worry, baby. Mom won't get divorced." Looking at her red, puffy eyes, my chest ached. I was just about to say something to comfort her when Dad's inner voice cut in again. "Little s**t, how long do you think you can keep this fake act going?" I forced myself to look away from Mom, snuggling deeper into Dad's arms. 'Mom, I won't ever let that bad Daddy hurt you.' I woke up at 1 a.m. to a draft blowing across my face, and realized my bedroom door was left ajar. I stepped onto the little pillow tossed beside my bed and clambered down with a soft thud. Just as I reached the door, I heard Dad talking on the phone, his voice oozing fake sweetness. "Baby, I miss you so bad I can't sleep. Why would I ever lie to you? That little brat's been acting totally crazy, she's throwing a total fit refusing to let Selene divorce me! "If I'd known she'd be this much trouble, I would've just dropped her hard enough to knock her silly back then. Now I've got to come up with some other dumb plan!" I curled my lip in disgust. I was just about to shut the door and crawl back to bed when Dad's voice suddenly spiked, loud and sharp. "C'mon, don't joke around. Selene's got zero sense of fun, not an ounce of warmth in her. I'd have to be blind as a bat to ever actually like her! "That b***h walks around with her nose stuck so high in the air she can't even see my parents. What guy in his right mind would put up with that crap?" I squeezed the little rabbit plush Mom bought me so tight my knuckles went white. That's a load of garbage, and Dad knows it. He'd been out of work for six whole months, and Mom never even breathed a word of complaint about it. But instead of lifting a finger to help around the house, he'd gone and invited my paternal grandparents to move in with us. "Selene, the house you bought is way too big. Having the two old folks here will liven the place up a little," he'd said back then. Who would've guessed that on their very first day, they'd steal my solid gold protective lock charm. Mom didn't confront them directly. Instead, she brought a thick envelope full of cash, hoping to buy the lock back from them. "That lock was specially blessed for Elara by her grandmother. We can settle anything else, but I simply cannot let this go." They'd torn into her for that, yelling and screaming like she'd done something unforgivable. "It's just a dumb lousy lock. We're just keeping it safe for the kid, like we'd even care about a cheap trinket!" With that, they'd hurled the gold lock hard against the floor with a loud thud, snatched the twenty thousand dollars Mom had wrapped up, and hightailed it out of the house that same night, scared she'd change her mind. Even now, my protective lock still has a big old dent in one corner. Dad's voice kept carrying through the doorway. The more I thought about all of it, the angrier I got. I hugged the plush rabbit tight to my chest and yelled at the top of my lungs, "Daddy!" He scrambled to hang up the phone in a panic.