Ten years after the divorce, my scumbag dad showed up with his three kids, wanting to remarry my mom. He had the audacity to demand our house in the good school district, take over our restaurant, and even asked me to hand over my social media account with millions of followers to my stepsister… My mom, the queen of sass, rolled her eyes and said, “An old dog trying to learn new tricks? Dream on, you shriveled up prune.” It was past midnight when my scumbag dad found us. Mom and I had just finished a long shift at our restaurant. “What are you two doing out so late?” he scolded, his face twisted with disapproval. Mom and I rolled our eyes in perfect sync. Ten years ago, we agreed to never see each other again. Now he’s suddenly here acting like he has the right to question us? Who does he think he is? “Honey, do you know why Mr. Johnson lived to be a hundred?” Mom asked me loudly. I replied, “Because he minded his own business.” Mom nodded approvingly and took my hand, walking right past him. “Sophia, we need to talk,” Brian demanded, grabbing Mom’s arm. I instinctively pulled Mom behind me and glared at him. “Don’t you dare touch her, or I’ll knock your head sideways!” Ten years ago, I was too small to stop him from hitting Mom. Now, I’m a black belt in Muay Thai. One hook punch past his ear would make his head ring for days. Twisting his head sideways wasn’t just an empty threat. Brian flinched at the speed of my punch, then growled, “This is adult business. Don’t interfere! You have no manners!” I coldly replied, “My dad died young. Please excuse me.” “You little brat!” He raised his hand, but Mom caught his wrist in a vice-like grip. Years of alcohol and debauchery had made him weak. With two quick twists, he was howling in pain. Mom tossed his arm aside, her face expressionless. “If you don’t want a beating, get lost. Stop barking like a dog and disturbing the neighbors!” “You’re still so vulgar!” Brian looked at us with disgust, then gritted his teeth. “Fine, I won’t argue with you now.” “I’m free tomorrow. Let’s go to the registry office and remarry.” Mom looked at him in disbelief. “Have you lost your mind?” I handed him a business card. “Top psychiatrist. Mention my name for a 20% discount. You’re welcome.” Brian’s face turned from red to purple. Finally, he looked at Mom with disdain: “Back then, you were begging me not to divorce you. Now that I’m willing to come back, what more do you want?” Right, Mom used to be so love-blind. She married Brian without a dowry or even a wedding. Two months after the wedding, Brian left for a long-term construction project. For over a decade, he barely came home, leaving Mom to struggle alone with the family. When Mom was pregnant with twins, she had to borrow money from friends for the hospital bills. During her postpartum recovery, she couldn’t even afford a decent meal. Meanwhile, Brian made up excuses about not being able to come back, when in reality, he was starting a new family with his mistress. Mom looked him up and down, then burst out laughing: “Why would I want to remarry you? For your beer belly? Your receding hairline? Or maybe for those jowls that could render enough lard to fry a dozen donuts?” “Don’t you have a mirror at home? Or at least a toilet bowl? Take a good look at yourself when you pee, for God’s sake.” Brian had always thought highly of himself. Mom’s tirade left him fuming. Two buttons on his shirt popped open, revealing a mound of quivering flesh. Oh, being the considerate person I am, I handed him another business card: “How about a gym membership? Mention my name, and you’ll get three free trial sessions.” Before he could react, I pulled Mom into our building and slammed the door in his face. Brian started kicking the door furiously. “Open up!” I wasn’t going to let him get away with this. I called the security office right in front of him: “Yes, there’s a flasher at Building 7, Unit 3 entrance. Oh my, he’s banging on the door now. Please hurry!” After hanging up, seeing he still wouldn’t leave, I smiled sweetly and asked, “Uncle, do you think security isn’t enough? Should I call the police too?” “Zoey, I’m your father!” Brian roared, his face red with anger. “Sorry, uncle, you’ve got the wrong person. I’m Zoey Paul.” “Paul as in my mom’s surname, and Zoey as in ‘my dad died early’, hehe.” Late that night, I paid triple the usual rate to have someone investigate Brian’s recent situation. Soon after, Mom came to my room, hugging her turtle-shell pillow. On the surface, she might be the beautiful owner of a popular restaurant, but behind the scenes, she’s the second-in-command of a billion-dollar food empire. Yet, whenever something’s troubling her, she still likes to come to me for comfort. My heart sank. She couldn’t be love-blind again, could she? What was I thinking? How could that dried-up old prune steal her heart? “Mom, forget it. I’d rather you go abroad and marry Aunt Tanya, giving me another mom, than ever accept Brian as my dad!” I shouted preemptively, then buried my head under the covers. Out of sight, out of mind! “What nonsense are you talking about?” Mom pulled me out from under the covers and showed me her phone messages. Apparently, Brian had gotten hold of Mom’s number somehow and sent her a message. It was an ultrasound image. The message read: This is Tony’s child. Five months along, it’s a boy. Can you bear to let your grandson grow up without a grandmother? Seeing this message, I was stunned. I didn’t know what to say. Tony is my twin brother. Mom raised us both single-handedly. Our grandparents never approved of Mom and were always stingy. They treated me poorly, and even Tony, their grandson, wasn’t much better off. During the divorce, Grandma pushed me away, saying, “Tony is our grandson, he has to stay. Zoey, you can go with your mother. We don’t need a granddaughter.” Grandpa even warned Mom, “You didn’t bring much of value when you married into our family. If you dare to take anything from our Lee family besides Zoey, we’ll call the police.” Mom didn’t ask for anything, but to take Tony with her, she was willing to go to court. But on the day of the court’s decision, Tony chose to stay with Brian. Even when Mom was slapped twice by Brian in public, even when I was thrown out and fell at the feet of his mistress and her daughter. He remained indifferent, just coldly turning his face away. I don’t hate Brian and those other demons anymore, but I still hate Tony. He protected me as we grew up and said he would always protect me and Mom. But he broke his promise. I pouted and said sarcastically, “Well, well, a free grandson. Are you tempted?” “Get lost!” Mom smacked my forehead. Finally, she said thoughtfully, “I just feel like that old scumbag is up to something, using both the carrot and the stick.” “Back then, even when he was cyberbullied so badly, he insisted on staying with his mistress. Why is he suddenly coming back to remarry me?” “Could it be because Zack recently made our restaurant famous, and he’s eyeing our business?” Zack is Aunt Tanya’s only son. He’d been hovering around the D-list in the entertainment industry for years, but this year he suddenly became famous with a drama series. As a result, our restaurant became a hotspot for fans, business boomed, and we frequently trended on social media. Brian’s sudden appearance was indeed likely because of this. A few hours later, we had our answer. Because the money was well spent, not only did they thoroughly investigate Brian, but they also threw in two gigabytes of juicy details about the people around him. From the information, the reason Brian insisted on remarrying Mom was simple: he was broke. A few months ago, his business failed, leaving him deeply in debt. His mistress also divorced him. As a devoted sugar daddy, he transferred his remaining car and house to his mistress. This doesn’t look like a real separation, but rather a fake divorce to protect the mistress and her daughter. During this time, Brian and Tony, the newlyweds, were renting a place to live. Their living expenses depended entirely on Tony’s income. Even though they were struggling, he still insisted on giving monthly child support to his mistress and her daughter. He even borrowed several hundred thousand in high-interest loans under Tony’s name, but this money couldn’t satisfy that mother-daughter pair for long. To make a comeback, he hooked up with someone running an illegal factory. Now, all he wanted was to raise some investment capital to join in producing and selling counterfeit products. Seeing this, my eyes were already filled with anger: “His reason for seeking remarriage isn’t just for money. He probably wants to use us as scapegoats when things go south.” Mom angrily slammed the mouse, cursing, “This black-hearted, rotten bastard! I’d like to see if he can swindle money from me, or if I’ll send him to rot in jail!” Saying this, she pulled Brian’s contact out of various blacklists and posted a moment on social media to bait him. “[Heart][Kiss] My daughter is so thoughtful, this year’s birthday gift is a beautiful ice blue Maserati!!! In three days, she’s even throwing me a birthday party at the Starlight Century. Everyone, come join us!!!” The accompanying photo was of her girlish pink Maserati. However, this car was actually a Women’s Day gift from Aunt Tanya this year. Soon enough, we saw Brian quietly like the post. He even left a comment saying: Honey, I’ll bring the kids to celebrate your birthday. Wait for me! Mom snorted disdainfully: “He really dares to come. Well, I’ll have to teach him a lesson first!” Early in the morning, Brian called to exchange pleasantries. Mom put him on speakerphone, lazily responding to his chatter. Brian was talking enthusiastically on the other end: “Your birthday is a big deal. I’m planning to bring the kids to celebrate with you. At our age, what we value most is family gatherings. Without your son and daughter-in-law there, your birthday would feel incomplete, wouldn’t it?” “I’m touched that you still remember my birthday,” Mom said sarcastically. “Of course, after all, we were married for so many years. I still care about you very much.” I felt a surge of anger rising in my chest. The old scumbag clearly never cared about Mom. Mom’s birthday wasn’t in three days; it was actually the anniversary of her divorce. In previous years, we would have a small gathering with Aunt Tanya and her son on that day, celebrating Mom’s new lease on life. This year, we were planning a big celebration just to lure him into our trap. On the phone, Brian said ingratiatingly that he was at the mall choosing a gift for Mom, asking if she had any preferences. Mom waved her hand grandly and said, “You really want to give a gift? How about the new Hermès bag? Anything else would be embarrassing in front of my girlfriends.” “…Alright.” I could hear Brian’s sharp intake of breath through the phone. Heh, you can’t catch a wolf without using a lamb as bait. He brought this on himself. Three days later, Mom’s “birthday party” was held as scheduled. On the way, Brian called Mom on FaceTime. “Suisuisui,” Brian suddenly called out affectionately. Mom shuddered, almost dropping her phone. I tried to hold back my laughter. That voice was indeed sickeningly sweet, enough to make me want to throw up the lunch I had earlier. “Suisui, why aren’t you saying anything?” Mom coughed and replied coldly, “If you have something to say, say it. If not, I’m hanging up.” “I do, I do,” Brian said urgently. “Mia is such a thoughtful child. When she heard about your birthday, she prepared a song to sing and play for you…” He really had the nerve to bring that up. Wasn’t he deliberately trying to provoke us? Mia is his daughter with his mistress. Back then, outside the court, when I was thrown by Brian and fell at her feet. She wore delicate little leather shoes and rubbed my face with the sole of her shoe, saying with disgust, “Get away, you dirty thing. You almost dirtied my shoes.” “You think Dad really wanted Tony? He just couldn’t bear for my mom to have a second child. Hmph, Dad said that even if he’s a son, I’ll be the one to inherit everything in the future.” Mom was silent for a moment, then said to him, “Don’t bring your dirty, stinking things to me.” Brian was clearly unhappy. But he still said with a thick skin, “How could that be? Mia told me that if we remarry, you’ll be her only mom in the future. And she plays the piano so well…” “Good eye, she thinks I’m better than her mom, huh?” Mom chuckled. “Fine, bring her along then. It’s just an extra set of chopsticks.” Only then did he hang up, satisfied. We had just arrived at the hotel when Brian’s family of four followed closely behind. Brian was dressed in a suit with a red rose pinned to his chest, while Mia clung to his arm, wearing a off-shoulder cocktail dress, her makeup exquisite and alluring. Clearly, they came prepared. Behind them, as pale as her dress, was a woman carefully walking with both hands on her slightly swollen belly, like a fragile white flower. Tony walked beside the white flower, tenderly supporting her waist, his whole being radiating fatherly love. He probably didn’t know yet that the child in the white flower’s belly wasn’t his at all. He was purely a naive cuckold. I couldn’t help but glance a few more times at Tony’s head, but he was oblivious, seemingly focused entirely on his newlywed wife. “Suisui! I’ve prepared a surprise for you later, you’ll definitely love it,” Brian greeted enthusiastically. “Mom, happy birthday~” Mia called out with a sweet smile. Mom didn’t give her a friendly look, but she wasn’t bothered. She turned and gave me a sickeningly sweet hug: “Sister, long time no see~” I forced a smile: “Long time no see, you’re still the same as before.” Still thick-skinned as ever, truly her mother’s daughter. At this moment, Brian pulled Tony and his wife in front of Mom. “This is Tony’s wife, her name is Chloe.” The white flower took out a box from her handbag and handed it to Mom: “Mom, this is a key chain I embroidered for you by hand. I hope you like it…” She held out the box reverently, displaying her scarred and slightly bleeding fingertips for us to see. She looked at Mom with a timid gaze, as if Mom not accepting it would be a grave sin. It was… quite inauspicious. I accepted it on Mom’s behalf and handed it to the reception desk: “Note this down, Brian Lee, gift of one key chain.” The receptionist repeated loudly: “Thank you, Mr. Brian Lee, for your generous gift of one key chain!” The smile on Brian’s face instantly froze. Tony’s expression also became inscrutable. Only Mia immediately supported the swaying white flower, looking at me disapprovingly: “Sister, even if you despise sister-in-law’s humble gift, you shouldn’t humiliate her like this. She’s pregnant, carrying your little nephew!” “Alright, the thought counts. Let’s go in,” Mom interrupted impatiently, pulling me into the venue. Mia scurried after us, chirping away: “Mom, where’s the piano? Can I try it out first?” “Are there many important people here today? I must perform well~” I kindly pointed her towards the stage, and she fluttered through the crowd like a butterfly. Soon, the opening notes of “The Wedding Song” rang out from the stage, attracting the attention of all the guests. Accompanied by the music, Brian walked onto the stage, holding a microphone and reciting a heartfelt speech. He kept talking about how he never forgot Mom and wanted to rekindle their relationship. “Sophia, I still love you.” “Twenty years ago, I couldn’t give you a proper proposal. Today, I want to make it up to you.” With that, Brian knelt down on the stage, holding out a ring box towards Mom: “Will you marry me again?”
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