After my wife died, our entire family spoiled our son rotten. We treated him like a prince. My mom worked tirelessly for three years for the principal of the most elite high school, just so our son could get in. My dad drove Leo to and from school every single day. One rainy morning, he slipped on the way out and shattered his spine. On Leo’s 18th birthday, my sister, Skylar, painstakingly prepared a gift for him. But on her way there, she got into a car accident. I answered the FaceTime call from Skylar. Her face was a bloody mess on the screen. “Alex… I saw… I saw Seraphina…” As her phone camera moved, Seraphina, who was supposed to be dead, appeared in the frame. She looked utterly impatient after hitting someone. Next to her, a handsomely dressed man casually pulled out a wad of cash and flung it at my sister. “Seraphina, this kind of person clearly just wants to scam us. It’s more important to get to Leo’s coming-of-age party.” “If I miss Leo’s party, he’ll definitely blame me, his father.” At that instant, a cold dread washed over me, chilling me to the bone. Our son, whom our family had cherished for eighteen years, wasn’t even related to me by blood?!
“Seraphina, don’t just stand there. Ten grand is already more than enough for this lowly beggar. We need to hurry and see Leo; we can’t miss his coming-of-age party!” In the video Skylar had sent me, the man hooked his arm through Seraphina’s, about to get into the car. I recognized him. It was Victor, Seraphina’s childhood sweetheart, the one she’d grown up with! And my wife, who had been dead for eighteen years and now suddenly reappeared, didn’t even recognize the person she’d hit, lying injured on the ground—it was my sister, her own sister-in-law! She just gave Skylar a dismissive glance, then turned to comfort Victor: “Alex and I couldn’t have kids back then, so I borrowed your help to get pregnant just to make him feel better.” “You’re Leo’s biological father. He won’t blame you.” Watching the two of them, so cold and arrogant in the video, my head reeled. So, Seraphina’s death was a lie, and tricking me into raising her son was the truth! What did all our family’s sacrifices over the past eighteen years even mean? A crushing pain seized my heart, but I had no time for grief. Skylar was still barely clinging to life on the ground. I frantically rushed to the city hospital. When Skylar was wheeled into the operating room, she was still clutching Leo’s coming-of-age gift in her hand—a custom-made gaming controller. “Alex… don’t be sad. Leo… he’ll definitely side with you…” As she was pushed into surgery, I clenched the blood-stained controller so tightly my nails almost dug into my flesh! If it weren’t for delivering Leo’s gift, she wouldn’t have gotten into an accident. After three long hours of frantic rescue efforts, the operating room light finally went out. The doctor told me Skylar was out of critical condition. But her left leg had sustained a comminuted fracture, and she had a concussion. Her recovery would be long and arduous, with potential lasting complications. My knees buckled, and I nearly fell, my heart ripping apart. It took me a while to collect myself and call my parents to reassure them. I pulled out my phone and instinctively clicked on Leo’s latest update on Ins. In the photo, my son stood center stage in a sharp suit, a brilliant smile on his face. In eighteen years, I’d rarely seen Leo smile at me like that. With me, it was mostly annoyance. I’d always just told myself he was going through his rebellious phase. The last photo showed Leo intimately linking his left arm with Seraphina, who was supposed to be dead, and his right arm tightly pressed against the man from the video. The three of them smiled brilliantly at the camera, a picture of pure, unadulterated family happiness. The sight burned my eyes. Below the image was a caption. “Thanks, Mom and Dad, for my amazing coming-of-age party! This is the best gift ever! Love you guys!” And then, a follow-up: “Unlike some people’s crappy handmade junk, so cheap and tacky, it was an embarrassment.” The ‘junk’ he spoke of was the celestial model I had personally polished for three months. It lay silently in my bag now, like a silent taunt. I had painstakingly carved that celestial model from a treasured piece of rare rosewood, a leftover from before Seraphina’s “passing.” Leo had loved the stars since he was a child. I had promised him that for his 18th birthday, I’d give him a truly one-of-a-kind gift. For three months, I’d pulled countless all-nighters, my fingers raw and blistered multiple times, just to finish it before his birthday. I’d even imagined his surprised expression when he received the gift. Turns out, Leo knew everything. He knew Seraphina wasn’t dead. He knew his biological father was Victor. And my eighteen years of pouring my heart and soul into him, had been a complete and utter joke.
I suppressed the turbulent storm of emotions raging within me and called my parents, who were on their way to the hospital to see Skylar, telling them not to panic just yet. No sooner had I hung up than Seraphina’s figure appeared at the ward door. Eighteen years. The moment our eyes met, her brows furrowed slightly, and a hint of displeasure flashed in her gaze. A maelstrom of emotions churned within me. I didn’t know how to even begin speaking to her. Before I could even question why she faked her death and disappeared for eighteen years, Victor followed her in, his tone laced with mockery. “Alex, really, what are you doing here? On such an important day as Leo’s coming-of-age party? Leo was just asking about you, saying he felt unsettled without you there.” Seraphina’s face instantly darkened, and she looked at me with an accusing gaze. “Alex, what is wrong with you? How dare you miss Leo’s coming-of-age party?” “My faking my death back then was just to test your sincerity, to see if you’d take good care of Leo in my absence.” “You did well for the first eighteen years, but now it seems you haven’t taken my words to heart.” A test? My sincerity? In that moment, I felt all my strength drain away. My heart was pricked by countless steel needles, the sharp pain spreading through me. Her casual declaration of a “test” erased my eighteen years of walking on eggshells, erased all the sacrifices our entire family had made for her son. Seraphina, you’re truly heartless! Seeing my silence, Seraphina’s expression grew even uglier. “I’m taking Leo and Victor on a trip abroad tomorrow. You stay home and reflect on your mistakes.” With that, they turned and walked away, a united front, leaving me alone outside the cold hospital room, facing my sister’s closed door, a chill spreading through me. I never imagined that after eighteen years, our first reunion would be like this. I remembered when I first married her, how I’d come home dead drunk from work dinners. Even though Seraphina would complain I wasn’t ambitious enough, she’d still clumsily get up in the middle of the night to make her homemade hangover remedy, carefully blowing on it to cool it before bringing it to my lips. Her eyes red-rimmed, she’d say, “Honey, don’t push yourself so hard. From now on, I’ll shoulder this burden with you.” She once said she’d love me for an eternity and give our child the happiest home. But those sweet memories now felt like sharp knives, slicing my heart to bloody ribbons.
Not long after they left, I dialed Leo’s number with trembling hands. I wanted to ask him what was going on. Since he already knew the truth, why hadn’t he said a single word to me? Did he also think this was some kind of “test” for me? The phone rang for a long time before it was finally answered. “Hello? What do you want? I’m busy!” Leo’s voice was utterly impatient. In the background, I clearly heard Victor’s voice: “Leo, do you like this Patek Philippe watch? It perfectly suits our Leo’s status.” Seraphina’s gentle voice echoed, “Yes, Leo, wear this, and you’ll be the handsomest young man around.” So, after leaving the hospital, they had gone straight to a luxury store with Leo. Leo must have been at the hospital earlier too, or rather, he’d come with Seraphina and Victor all along. He just couldn’t be bothered to even step into the ward to take a look. On the phone, Leo responded to their every word, his tone filled with genuine intimacy, as if they were the real family. Yes, they were the real family. I was just an “outsider” who had raised their son for free for eighteen years. But I still couldn’t give up, and I spoke: “Leo, your Aunt Skylar… she got into a car accident. She’s still unconscious in the hospital. Can you come see her?” “Oh, okay.” Leo’s voice was flat, devoid of emotion, even carrying an undertone of annoyance at being disturbed. He didn’t care at all about the aunt who had doted on him since he was little, who would have plucked the stars from the sky for him if he’d asked, who loved him the most. “If there’s nothing else, I’m hanging up. I still have things to pick out!” Before I could say anything else, Leo abruptly hung up. The buzzing dial tone finally severed the bond between us, father and son. For eighteen years, our entire family, the Alex family, had cherished him, Leo, like the apple of our eye, sacrificing so much, giving so much for him. My mom’s presbyopia, my dad’s back injury, my sister’s severe injuries now… Who knew that all our efforts, our everything, would only nurture a cold-hearted, ungrateful viper! Since Leo didn’t value this family anymore, there was no point in us demeaning ourselves any further for an outsider. A week later, Skylar’s condition stabilized, and she was discharged from the hospital. The four of us, with no regrets, quietly left the city that held too much pain, returning to our quiet little hometown we’d left behind long ago. We had originally moved to the big city just for Leo’s schooling. Now… there was no need anymore! I never thought Seraphina would still be sending me messages at a time like this. She was publicly and lavishly throwing a grand birthday gala for Leo. The dozens of messages she sent me were still in her usual imperious, princess-like tone. She ordered me to bring the whole family to Leo’s birthday gala on time, even saying she had arranged a suit for me and that I should dress appropriately, so as not to embarrass the Seraphina family. I looked at those condescending words and found them utterly ridiculous. I casually turned off my phone and tossed it aside. At the birthday gala, Seraphina waited for a long time, but I never showed up. She clearly couldn’t bear to lose face in front of the numerous dignitaries and celebrities. “Go, bring Alex to me!” ———-此处为截断点———- Annoyed, she sent her assistant to the apartment I rented. Another hour passed, but the assistant returned alone, looking flustered.
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