I never thought my wife’s business failure and massive debt would lead to such a devastating chain of events. Despite my cancer diagnosis, I worked tirelessly to ease her financial burden. One day, I accepted an urgent delivery job for a large family portrait, hoping to earn enough to buy my wife a new dress and my daughter some art supplies. But when I arrived at the birthday party venue, I was shocked to see a happy family of three posing together – a man with a woman on each arm, beaming with joy. Guests whispered enviously: “The Johnsons are so wealthy. They spent millions just for her husband’s birthday.” “Their daughter is loaded too. She inherited a fortune in company shares and even ordered this family portrait for her dad today.” I froze, unable to move. The two women weren’t strangers – they were my supposedly bankrupt wife and beloved daughter. 0 With a loud crash, the massive family portrait slipped from my hands, shattering into pieces. All eyes turned to me as I stood there, feeling sick to my stomach. The party planner berated me harshly: “What kind of delivery guy are you? You broke Miss Johnson’s custom portrait! You broke delivery guy, how are you going to pay for this?” I stared blankly at the shards on the floor, piecing together the man’s face – a perfect match for the guy in the designer suit on stage. In our line of work, there’s a rule against peeking at customers’ orders. I had no idea the man in the portrait was Nathan Pierce, my wife’s childhood friend. At that moment, he stood there looking blissful, holding hands with my wife and daughter on either side. They looked like a real family of three. A glass of water hit my forehead, snapping me back to reality as warm liquid trickled down my face. The pain confirmed this wasn’t just a bad dream. Nathan’s eyes flashed with malice for a split second, too quick to catch. He started to reach for me in a show of concern, but suddenly I was kicked from behind, sprawling face-first onto the floor. I turned to see my daughter Emily glaring at me, her little face scrunched up in anger. “You ruined my daddy’s portrait! I’m going to report you!” I instinctively pulled my face mask tighter, realizing she didn’t recognize the father who had sung her lullabies just last night. Olivia’s voice rang out, accompanied by the click of high heels. She narrowed her eyes at me haughtily. “Since it’s my husband’s birthday, I’ll let this slide. Take this money and get out of here.” She carelessly tossed a wad of cash at me. I stared at the money on the floor, trembling uncontrollably. The medical bills I couldn’t afford for my cancer treatment were nothing but loose change to them. My chest ached as if I couldn’t breathe, and my stomach cramped painfully. I clutched my abdomen, reaching out to grab Olivia’s arm. But Emily snatched an expensive bottle of wine from the table and smashed it over my head without hesitation. The little girl glared at me fiercely. “You keep trying to ruin things for my mom and dad. Don’t blame me for not being nice!” The room fell silent. No one dared stop a child, simply because her mother was Olivia Johnson – rich and powerful. I watched helplessly as mother and daughter tenderly presented birthday gifts to Nathan. My vision blurred as I lost consciousness. When I came to, I found myself in a hospital bed. A nurse noticed I was awake and exclaimed happily: “Remember when you were diagnosed with stage 3 stomach cancer here a few months ago? The head doctor says it was a misdiagnosis – you don’t have cancer after all! That diagnosis report was fake!” Her smile faded as she added worriedly: “But your body is severely malnourished and overworked. You’ll collapse if you keep this up.” I clutched the fake cancer report tightly, unsure whether to laugh or cry. I had been surviving on one pack of ramen a day, working myself to the bone even as my stomach bled. In what I thought were my final weeks of life, I pushed myself relentlessly so my wife and daughter could have a slightly better life after I was gone. My sweet daughter never complained or asked for expensive things like her classmates. Just last night, my wife had curled up in my arms, saying she’d washed dishes as a housekeeper that day to buy me new clothes. I had felt so guilty then, hating myself for failing as a man and forcing them to live in such hardship. But now I knew the truth – Olivia’s casual birthday gift to Nathan was an entire public company. Even my daughter’s present was an exquisite emerald watch. I looked down at my patched-up, faded clothes. Tears streamed down my face unbidden. I clenched the fake cancer report in my fist. If the man they wanted wasn’t me, then I would disappear from their lives for good. The nurse left to get medication, and I received a video message on my phone. The clip showed Olivia and Nathan kissing passionately in front of a volcano. Emily stood nearby, happily snapping photos of the moment. Nathan teased: “Olivia, you’re spending all your money on me. What about your husband?” Olivia scoffed dismissively. “You’re the one who saved my grandfather’s life. He insisted I marry that penniless nobody instead. Why else would I have married him?” An awkward silence fell after her words. Emily’s sweet voice piped up: “Uncle Nathan, you’re the best daddy ever! I don’t want some poor loser as my dad!” In that moment, my heart shattered completely. But confusion mingled with the pain. Five years ago, Olivia’s grandfather had nearly drowned. I was the one who dove in to save him without hesitation. To this day, my leg still aches in rainy weather from the injury. Sadly, we couldn’t revive her grandfather, but on his deathbed he had made Olivia promise to treat me well. So why did Olivia believe Nathan was her grandfather’s savior? A memory flashed through my mind – I had lost my mother’s heirloom necklace while rescuing her grandfather. It took me ages to find it again afterwards. But today, I saw an identical necklace around Nathan’s neck. My own necklace was safely stored away in a small box. I had been saving it in case I really did pass away suddenly, hoping to leave Olivia and Emily with something valuable to sell. As the pieces fell into place, my mind reeled. Olivia had mistaken Nathan for the real hero, so she orchestrated this elaborate bankruptcy charade to string me along. Even my own daughter wasn’t on my side. What did all my years of sacrifice mean to them? I yanked out my IV and headed to my delivery company’s headquarters. Thanks to Emily’s stunt, I had received over a thousand negative reviews today. My boss fired me on the spot. After collecting my final paycheck, I mechanically made my way back to our tiny rented room. The dark, damp space was home to rats and roaches – and us. My lips twisted in a bitter smile. I had to admire how well mother and daughter had played their roles all this time. I had barely finished packing a small bag when Olivia walked in with Emily. They had changed into shabby, worn-out clothes. Emily hugged my leg like a sticky rice ball, her little face full of adoration. “Daddy, look at the drawing I made for your birthday!” My daughter was incredibly talented at art, especially portraits. But I could tell at a glance this wasn’t her work – probably just a cheap sketch bought from a street vendor to appease me. My wife had already tied on an apron and was setting out a bowl of noodles with a gentle smile. “Jack, I made you longevity noodles for your birthday. Thank you for always standing by us through thick and thin.” She must have been too careless in her act, forgetting I was severely allergic to the seaweed she had added to the dish. If I hadn’t witnessed how they celebrated another man’s birthday with my own eyes, I might have still been fooled by this mother-daughter duo. Noticing I wasn’t smiling like usual, Olivia spoke up nervously: “Honey, do you think the noodles I made are too plain?” Emily’s face scrunched up, looking on the verge of tears. “Daddy, do you not like me anymore? You don’t want my gift?” I looked up, noticing the obvious bite mark behind Olivia’s ear and the gold bracelet peeking out of Emily’s pocket. Just moments ago, Nathan had posted an update on social media. The photo showed an opulent mansion, with Olivia and Emily in designer dresses presenting another birthday cake to him. Nathan stood between them like a precious treasure being pampered. The caption read: “Money buys love. You two are the best birthday gifts ever!” Tears welled up in my eyes, but suddenly I felt like laughing. These two had really gone all out to deceive me. They didn’t even notice the injury on my forehead that they had caused themselves. My throat felt like it was stuffed with cotton, choking me. I used to be a volunteer teacher before marrying Olivia. After our wedding, I quit to take on multiple part-time jobs. Once, a young girl was going to be forced into an arranged marriage for money. I frantically called Olivia, asking if she had any extra cash so I could help save the girl. But my calls went unanswered. With no money of my own, I couldn’t do anything to stop it. Reality had dealt me a cruel blow. Wasn’t I just like that helpless young girl? The person I loved most had been lying to me all along. For their sakes, I had worked my body to the bone, never eating a full meal or getting a good night’s sleep. But now I knew the truth. They had been deceiving me this whole time. Before I could speak, Olivia took a call behind my back. After hanging up, she looked at me apologetically. “Honey, I’m so sorry. My boss just called me in to do some laundry. It pays $100 per load.” She quickly changed out of the apron and planted a soft kiss on my cheek. “Once I pay off our debts, I promise I’ll give you a proper birthday celebration.” She grabbed Emily’s hand and hurried out into the night, seeming eager to leave. If I hadn’t overheard Emily’s excited whisper as they changed clothes, I might never have known: “Mommy, are we going to see Daddy now? This place stinks, I can’t stand being here another second!” I didn’t try to stop them. There was no point in holding onto people who wanted to leave. My mind was in chaos as I stumbled out, clutching our marriage certificate. Somehow I ended up at the registry office. Deep down, I knew I wanted a divorce. I didn’t want Olivia or Emily anymore. “Mr. Wilson, after careful examination, we’ve found your marriage certificate to be fraudulent. The official seal is forged,” the clerk informed me matter-of-factly.
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