I’m a foster daughter of the Johnson family. During the time when Gideon was temporarily blind due to a car accident, we had an unplanned night together. I ended up having a child with him, but following his family’s arrangements, I left the baby with the Johnsons and moved abroad. Gideon became a single father without even knowing who his child’s mother was. Five years later, I returned to the country and married him. People say I must be open-minded to take on the role of a stepmother at such a young age. But what they don’t know, not even Gideon, is that I am the biological mother of his son, Finn. At noon in the Johnson Corporation’s Legal Department break room, I stand to the side, making coffee. I overhear some colleagues discussing our top boss, the young CEO of the Johnson Corporation. “Mr. Johnson put on a wedding ring two months ago.” “Did our CEO suddenly get married and settle down?” “Why should a wealthy family’s marriage and children be announced to you?” “Just curious. It wasn’t publicly announced. What kind of woman could win over the cold Mr. Johnson?” “Maybe it’s a marriage alliance.” “But on the other hand, Mr. Johnson’s new wife became a stepmother right away.” Their current CEO, Gideon, is a decisive leader, only twenty-seven, very young and promising. Yet everyone knows he already has a son about five years old. The little boy was once brought to the company by Mrs. Johnson herself to see his dad. His delicate features are almost identical to Mr. Johnson’s, clearly showing their blood relation. Looking at Gideon’s timeline, he graduated from the country’s top university. His son, Finn, was born the same year he finished school. At a very young age, just after graduation, Gideon became a father. The little boy has always been raised solely by Gideon. The existence and identity of the child’s mother have always been a mystery. I heard someone among those people say: “More than being curious about Mr. Johnson’s new wife, I’m more curious about what kind of person the mother of the young master was. To make Mr. Johnson a father at just twenty-something.” Just as I left the break room, the department manager called me: “Nora, come with me to the meeting.”
I returned to the country about three months ago. Just a month after returning, I got registered and married to Gideon. It wasn’t a marriage alliance. Not only was I adopted by the Johnson family, but Gideon’s mother also liked me a lot. She insisted Gideon marry me. Almost no one in the company knows that Gideon and I are married because we keep work and personal life separate. I went upstairs for the meeting. In the spacious and bright conference room, I stood in high heels at the front to present the risk assessment report. Sitting at the head of the table was that man, impeccably dressed in a suit, looking exceedingly handsome and dignified. His raised eyes exuded an aloof aura, making people hesitant to approach or offend him. His gaze did not linger on me, as if we were unfamiliar and unacquainted. However, after work, in the Maybach driving out of the company’s underground garage, Gideon and I sat together in the back seat. Returning home, I didn’t see Finn. I asked the butler, “Where’s the kid?” Gideon, handing his suit jacket to the butler, replied softly, “Mom took him to the family estate. He won’t be back tonight.” Not coming back, huh. In the bedroom late at night, I came out of the bathroom after a shower. Gideon’s tall figure was leaning against the headboard. Unlike his impeccable image at the company, his hair was half-wet, one long leg slightly bent, in a lazy posture. He wore a dark, finely made set of loungewear, with the top button undone. The thin fabric outlined a mature and solid physique. During the day, Gideon in a suit was so proper and abstinent that people dared not look at him for fear of desecration. It seemed that such a cold face could never be associated with desire. I used to think so too, but after two months of marriage, I realized Gideon had desires. He even usually took the lead. Since we’re married, we’ve done all we should. He glanced at me, placing the tablet he held between his slender fingers on the bedside table. On the bed, Gideon leaned over me. He didn’t move at first but asked, “Has Mom been urging you to have a child recently?” My silence was my default. Gideon directly said, “Your body, your choice. If you want to have one, I’m completely on board. If not, I’ll refuse Mom and Dad.” We had never discussed such things so clearly before. A few years ago, I was young, and on weekends, when I returned to the Johnson family, he would ask if I was keeping up with my university courses. Suddenly, Gideon was asking if I wanted to have children with him. The leap was so big it made me uncomfortable. My cheeks heated up, thinking of Finn, so I refused: “I don’t want to yet.” “Okay.” Gideon got up to get a condom. When he was particularly forceful, I tilted my head, biting my lip, but couldn’t help softly calling out that familiar title: “Brother! Please, not anymore.” Gideon paused briefly. He was leaning down, his forehead pressing tightly against my sweat-dampened neck and shoulders, nibbling with his lips. He raised his head, came over to kiss my lips, his breath low as he murmured my name, “Nora,” like it was being rolled and bitten in his mouth. “Don’t call me that. It makes me feel like I’m committing a crime.” Maybe because we talked about kids tonight, afterwards, as Gideon got up to tidy up, he said to me: “You don’t have to put yourself in the role of a stepmother. If you don’t like Finn or don’t get along with him, don’t force it.” I almost instinctively retorted, “I like Finn.” “Oh?” Even Gideon was surprised. I opened my sleepy eyes, tentatively asking Gideon, “He’s very cute. Maybe one day his mother will regret…” “Her existence, to me, is just for giving Finn life.” Before I could finish, Gideon interrupted me. Even in the deep darkness, I could feel the oppressive and restless aura emanating from the man beside me. This was a rare emotion for the always calm and composed Gideon in my memory. Finn’s biological mother was his taboo. “Plotting to have a child with me,” Gideon slowly said, “No matter who she is, she should never appear before me again, never be found by me. Otherwise, even if she’s alive, I’ll make her wish she were dead.”
In middle school, my family went bankrupt. My parents fled abroad, leaving me behind. I was taken in by my mom’s former friend, Mrs. Johnson, and raised by the Johnson family. Gideon is a year older than me. Until the year of his car accident, I’d been calling him brother for seven years. The accident wasn’t serious, but it was an extremely rare case. The doctor said it was nerve compression, causing temporary blindness. Yet, after six months of treatment, his eyes still hadn’t recovered. Gideon grew colder and more volatile. All of Harbor City said the future heir of the Johnson Corporation had become blind. Unwilling to accept reality, he still attended a party, and unlike before, his sharpness was dulled. Gideon was drugged and set up. He didn’t know that the Johnson parents and I, worried, also attended the party. I felt something was off and followed him into the room to check on his condition, only to be pinned down by him. After Gideon’s first ravaging, I was sick with fever for two days. The morning-after pill I took in confusion was thrown up. Upon discovering the pregnancy, the Johnson parents who raised me almost begged me. If Gideon never recovered, this child would be the Johnsons’ current hope for the future. Mrs. Johnson asked Gideon, “Nora is gentle, caring. How about letting her stay with you in the future?” Even though Gideon couldn’t see, he remained exceptionally handsome and outstanding. During that difficult time, his response was firm and powerful: “Mom, our intention in adopting her was never to cultivate her into your obedient daughter-in-law. It was to raise her as a daughter.” “Nora is like a sister to me, nothing more. As for that girl that night…” Gideon’s expression turned unsightly, “Is she still alive?” Gideon didn’t know it was me that night. He only saw me as a sister. Even the Johnson parents didn’t dare tell him that the girl he saw as a sister was having his child. Later, while I was preparing for childbirth, I heard about a young and accomplished female ophthalmologist who had been carefully treating Gideon for months. Gideon even trusted her to perform a highly complex and risky surgery. Thankfully, the outcome was very satisfying. Six months after Gideon regained his sight, I had already flown abroad to continue my studies. Later, although the female doctor was young, she was still seven years older than then 22-year-old Gideon. The Johnson parents were not pleased, so they directly brought the six-month-old Finn to his father, Gideon. Upon learning Gideon had a child, the doctor quickly married someone else. No wonder Gideon hated the existence of his child’s biological mother so much. She directly disrupted his past relationship. As for why he later agreed to marry me, it was probably because Mrs. Johnson pushed us hard. Sure, here is the adapted translation: Fortunately, the results turned out to be quite satisfactory. Six months after Gideon regained his sight, I had already flown abroad to continue my studies. Later, although the female doctor was young, she was still seven years older than the 22-year-old Gideon at the time. The Johnson family parents were not pleased at all and directly brought little Finn, who was only six months old, to Gideon, now a father. After learning that Gideon had a child, the female doctor quickly married someone else. No wonder Gideon was so resentful of the child’s biological mother; she had directly ruined a relationship he once had. As for why he was willing to marry me years later, it was probably because Mrs. Johnson pressured us. On the first night after our marriage, I referred to Gideon as “brother.” He said that since we were married, he would embrace the role change. He wasn’t the kind of man to abstain and definitely wouldn’t stay away from his wife. Finn was sent back early. At the dining table, when I got close to him, the little boy interrupted me and asked, “Are you here to take my dad from me?” “I’ll never like you.” “Apologize.” Gideon stopped eating leisurely, with a father’s authority in his eyes. “What about the manners and upbringing you’ve been taught?” Finn stubbornly refused to speak, so Gideon asked the butler to take him to school. I hurried outside and told the butler, “I’ll take him.” It wasn’t until we reached the preschool entrance that the little boy spoke to me, “If you think I’m bothering you, Vivi and her mom invited me to stay at their house.” I teased him, “Is Vivi the girl you like?” He spoke softly, “I just like her mom.” “Her mom is a doctor, sometimes busier than my dad, but she still picks her up from preschool every day after school…” In the morning at the company, I ran into the deputy director of the Tech Department, who came over to greet me. Gossip spread instantly among colleagues. “Nora, what’s going on with you and Declan?!”
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