Liam and I grew up together in the same orphanage. On my tenth birthday, I made a wish: to marry Liam when I grew up. But then, a group of older kids started bullying me. Liam shielded me, yelling for me to run. I ran from the orphanage like crazy. And then, I time-traveled ten years into the future. The orphanage was now a ruin. A man stood in front of the wreckage. I recognized him as Liam at first glance. But the woman he was embracing wasn’t me. Liam glanced at me, then said to the woman beside him: “Damn it, Stella, that kid looks exactly like Mia.” Stella, the woman he’d called out, squatted down, scrutinizing me with a gentle smile: “She certainly does. It’s been ten years since you two split. If Mia remarried and had a child, they’d be about this age.” “If that messy incident hadn’t happened back then, our child would be taller than her now, wouldn’t they?” She measured my height with her hand again, her eyes suddenly welling up. Liam seemed momentarily stunned, resting his chin on her head, his voice soft: “It’s okay. It’s all in the past.” His gaze fell back on my face, and he couldn’t help but ask: “Is your mom named Mia?” He frowned, a hint of barely concealed disgust in his tone: “So dirty. Exactly like she was when she was little.” Liam had changed. He seemed to really dislike me. My hand, clutching the hem of my clothes, tightened. I nodded gently: “Yeah, I’m lost.” Liam didn’t waste words. He pulled out his phone and tapped a couple of times: “Mike, find Mia’s address for me.” After a long moment, a reply came through. He hung up, walked to his Maybach, and opened the door: “Get in. I’ll take you home.” His tone was flat, devoid of emotion. I slipped into the car gingerly, pulling a crumpled tissue from my pocket. I padded it under my butt before I dared to sit down lightly. “You actually have more manners than your mother.” Liam glanced at me. I couldn’t tell if it was mockery or an observation. Stella in the passenger seat leaned against the seat and nudged his arm: “Why are you arguing with a kid, Liam? She’s so well-behaved.” Liam caught her restless hand and kissed it openly, as if no one else was there. I quickly lowered my head, feeling awkward. The Liam from my childhood said he’d be with me forever. It was a lie. My nose stung with a pang of sadness, and my stomach rumbled unruly. It was exceptionally loud in the quiet car, and my face flushed. Stella smiled, handing me a beautifully wrapped cream cake: “Hungry, aren’t you? Have this to tide you over.” I shook my head, my voice faint: “No thanks. Could you please stop the car? I want to buy a couple of pastries.” I added: “I’ll pay for them myself. It won’t take long.” The car slowly decelerated, stopping in front of a bakery. Liam got out with me. “One savory pastry, one plain roll.” I reached into my pocket for money, but Liam was faster. He tapped his phone to pay, and the person behind the counter immediately handed me the pastries. I was startled: “It’s so advanced!” A rare smile touched Liam’s eyes: “What, does your mom usually raise you like a cave dweller?” “Then again, she was so clumsy. At your age, she couldn’t even tie her shoelaces, let alone raise a child this old.” As he spoke, his lips involuntarily curved upwards. But soon, the warmth faded from his face, replaced by cold indifference: “Eat quickly. I don’t have time to waste with you.” “Mhm.” I took a bite of the savory pastry, and instinctively offered Liam a flattened piece of the plain roll. At the orphanage, we used to flatten the rolls, making them bigger, as if that would fill our stomachs more. Liam’s gaze fixed on my actions, his pupils constricting. I realized what I’d done, my face flushed crimson, and I awkwardly pulled my hand back. I quickly finished the pastry and got back into the car. I instinctively took out a tissue and folded it under me. When I looked up, I met Liam’s gaze. He said nothing. The car started, eventually stopping in front of a kids’ clothing store. “Try this one.” He took down a white tulle dress, adorned with delicate pearls. When I put it on, the sales assistant couldn’t help but compliment: “Sir, your daughter looks beautiful in this, like a little angel.” “Yeah, just like her mother.” He didn’t correct her, a faint smile gracing his lips. Stella’s face stiffened, and the warmth in her eyes lessened as she looked at me. She reminded him: “Liam, let’s not waste time. Mia will be worried if she can’t find her daughter.” Liam nodded and strode back to the car. The car drove for almost an hour, eventually stopping in front of an old, dilapidated apartment complex. The paint was peeling from the walls, and clutter was piled in the stairwell. Liam frowned but said nothing. He led me up to the sixth floor and raised his hand to knock. I felt a flicker of excitement. What would my grown-up self be like? But an old lady opened the door. When she heard we were looking for Mia, she tilted her head in thought for a moment before suddenly tapping her forehead: “Oh, you mean her? She died ten years ago.”
Liam’s car keys clattered to the floor, but he didn’t notice. Staring intently at the old lady, he choked out the words with difficulty: “What did you say? How is that possible…?” I was stunned too. The wind blew in from the stairwell, carrying a chill. I instinctively shrank behind Liam, feeling a little scared, and an indescribable sadness. “Why would I lie to you?” The old lady sighed: “She rented my place. Her husband ran off, and with postpartum depression, she committed suicide by hanging.” “Her body hung from the old ceiling fan, creaking for a week before anyone found it. I only found out when I came to collect the rent.” Her tone held a hint of reproach as she mentioned this: “Made this place unsellable, so I, this old woman, had to live here myself.” “Impossible!” Liam suddenly pointed at me, his emotions flaring: “Mia, who was afraid of even a fall, how could she commit suicide?” “Besides, if she died, how did her daughter grow up to be this old?” “That girl did have a daughter back then, but I heard she was sent to an orphanage after birth.” The old lady’s clouded eyes fixed on me: “You certainly look like your mother.” She paused, then remembered something else: “Oh, and she left a pile of belongings. They’re just taking up space in the storage room. If you want them, take them.” The old lady hobbled inside. I cautiously explained to Liam: “I was also trying to find my mom through you. I didn’t know she…” Liam didn’t listen to me, walking straight in. The interior was dilapidated, with large patches of peeling paint on the walls. He stared at the creaking ceiling fan, muttering to himself: “How could she have ended up like this? Back when she left, I gave her half my assets, at least a few million.” No one could answer his question, and neither could I. He took a large box of belongings from the old lady, walking downstairs dejectedly. I followed closely behind him. Stella, who had been waiting in the car for a long time, looked at me in surprise: “Liam, haven’t you sent her away yet?” “Mia… is dead.” Liam choked out the words, his shoulders trembling almost imperceptibly. Stella gasped, covering her mouth: “How could this happen? Liam, did you ask where Mia’s grave is? Let’s go visit.” “Even though she did those things back then, we were still friends.” She leaned closer to Liam, her eyes slightly red-rimmed. I couldn’t help but wonder. From the moment we met, I felt a barrier between the grown-up Liam and me. What happened ten years ago to break us apart, even causing me to leave? “No need.” Liam’s voice was cold: “I said I’d hardly ever see Mia again, whether she was alive or dead.” “Stella, didn’t you have a salon appointment? I’ll drop you off.” He pulled open the car door. Stella pointed at me: “What about her? Maybe send her to an orphanage.” Liam glanced at my restless self: “Let’s take her back first, we’ll figure it out.” A flicker of disappointment crossed her eyes, but she still smiled and nodded: “Okay.” Soon, the car arrived at the beauty salon. Liam kissed Stella’s forehead: “Go on, I’ll pick you up when you’re done.” “Mrs. Stone is so lucky!” The wives waiting at the salon joked: “I heard that whenever you go out, you don’t even have to put on your own shoes; Mr. Stone drives you everywhere and even carries you out of the car.” Stella blushed and waved goodbye to Liam. Hearing those words, a pang of sadness hit me, and I stared blankly out the window. Liam, however, was clearly more distracted than me. Not long after driving off, he accidentally cut off another car. The driver opposite immediately rolled down his window, leaned out, and was about to curse. But when he recognized Liam, his expression suddenly turned to surprise: “Liam!” “Do you remember me? I’m Brenda, Mia’s classmate from grad school.” Brenda leaned in to look into the car, her gaze falling on me with delighted surprise: “Is this your child with Mia? She’s all grown up and looks just like her mother!” After saying that, she couldn’t help but sigh: “Everyone in our department was envious of Mia back then. She’d be busy with experiments until midnight, and you’d always be waiting downstairs with hot soup for her.” “I thought that after what happened, with her stubborn personality, she’d never end up with you.” “Guess I was overthinking it.”
Confusion flickered in Liam’s eyes: “Something happened? What happened?” “Mia and I always had a great relationship during grad school, we never even argued.” “No wonder people always sugarcoat the mistakes they made back then.” Brenda’s gaze towards Liam grew cold, filled with scorn and condemnation: “That year, Mia cried for a day and a night because you cheated. She called you hundreds of times, even flew to A-City overnight to find you.” She pulled out her phone, scrolled for a long time, and finally brought up a photo. The pixel quality from over ten years ago was blurry, but it was vaguely identifiable as a photo of Stella and Liam. In the picture, Liam’s collar was open, his neck covered in suggestive hickey marks. Stella lay in his arms, smiling at the camera. My heart felt like it was being pricked by needles, hurting intensely as I looked at the photo. So the grown-up me was with Liam, but he cheated. Brenda grew angrier as she spoke: “Even on our university’s anniversary, Stella, visibly pregnant, publicly slandered Mia as a homewrecker in front of hundreds of faculty and VIPs.” “The incident became a huge scandal. Mia was crushed by public opinion, unable to hold her head high, and was eventually forced to drop out of school.” “Liam, did you even have a heart back then?” Liam stared at the photo, his eyes filled with shock: “I had no idea about any of this.” “That year, I was drinking all night for a tricky project. The next day, I had no record of Mia’s calls on my phone, and I didn’t know she came to find me.” “Even when she dropped out, she only told me she wasn’t feeling well and wanted a short break…” His throat tightened, and he involuntarily gripped the steering wheel, his knuckles white. Liam didn’t remember how he got home. Exhausted, he instructed a maid to prepare a room for me: “Get some rest first. Call me if you need anything.” After that, he walked straight to the liquor cabinet, opened a bottle, and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. Smoke quickly filled the air, blurring his expression. From upstairs, I watched Liam curled up in the corner, feeling an inexplicable ache in my heart. His phone buzzed. Liam glanced at the screen, then silently turned it off. In the evening, Stella returned. She stomped her foot, pouting dramatically with feigned grievance: “Liam, didn’t you say you’d pick me up? Why didn’t you answer my calls?” She naturally threw herself into Liam’s arms, not noticing the pile of empty bottles on the floor. Liam looked at her, then after three seconds of silence, he abruptly grabbed her by the neck: “Why did you go to Mia’s school and cause trouble that year? Do you even know that her biggest dream since childhood was to study?” Liam’s grip slowly tightened. Stella’s face turned crimson, gasping for breath, as she weakly tried to argue: “I was just a jealous young girl back then. I didn’t know it would affect her so much.” She cried harder and harder, tears splashing onto Liam’s hand. He paused, then withdrew his hand. Stella collapsed into his arms, sobbing: “Liam, it’s been so many years. Please forgive me.” “Besides, didn’t I get punished too?” “Mia pushed me down the stairs. I miscarried, and it’ll be difficult for me to have children for the rest of my life.” Liam’s fingers curled, but he ultimately pulled her into his embrace. For a long time, he stood on the balcony, cigarette butts littering the floor. “She bullied my mom. Are you just going to let her get away with it?” Liam turned around and saw me standing in the darkness, my eyes fixed on him. That gaze almost made Liam squirm with shame. Especially looking at my face, so similar to Mia’s, he couldn’t even meet my eyes. “Adult matters aren’t as simple as you think.” He touched my head, a bitter smile on his face: “Your mother also did something very wrong back then.”
Watching his retreating back, I suddenly felt Liam was a stranger. Perhaps feeling guilty towards Mia, Liam poured all that compensatory guilt onto me. He arranged for my adoption, and took me to amusement parks on weekends. Any doll I casually mentioned would appear by my bedside the next day. But the longer we spent together, the more complex his gaze became. My habit of chewing on pen caps, or licking the milk mustache before drinking, would make him stare blankly for ages. He would also murmur: “So similar.” Stella watched this scene, her nails digging deeply into her palms. The next morning at breakfast, she suddenly clutched her throat, recoiled, and slapped me hard across the face: “Why did you put peanut butter in my toast? Don’t you know I’m allergic to peanuts?” Stella’s body rapidly broke out in a dense rash, visible to the naked eye. Liam rushed over at the commotion. The maid chimed in: “Sir, we’ve followed your instructions. No peanut products are allowed in the house. This child must have snuck them in.” “Yesterday, she even specifically asked me about Ms. Stella’s likes and dislikes, saying she wanted to get revenge for her mother.” Liam supported Stella, his eyes full of disappointment as he looked at me: “How could you become like this, as vicious as your mother?” Before he could finish, I scratched my arm. A patch of rash also appeared on my arm. Stella and I were both sent to the hospital. The diagnosis was that I was also allergic to peanuts, and it was hereditary. Liam seized on the word ‘hereditary’ and stormed into Stella’s hospital room. Grabbing her hand, he sharply questioned: “Eleven years ago, you almost went into anaphylactic shock because of a peanut allergy, and you claimed Mia loved peanut butter so she forced you to eat it.” “But the doctor just said this is a hereditary allergy. Mia couldn’t eat peanuts either.” His grip was so strong it almost crushed Stella’s arm. Stella, her face pale, tried to argue: “It happened so many years ago, how could I remember clearly?” Liam let go of her, the disappointment in his eyes intensifying. He turned and left. Stella frantically chased after him, tugging at his clothes, tears streaming down her face: “Liam, please listen to me. I must have said the wrong thing back then because I was so scared.” “But my allergy is real, and Mia forcing me to eat it is also real. Let’s go back to the room and talk properly, okay?” Liam looked at her tear-reddened eyes and finally gave in, letting her pull him into the hospital room. The door clicked shut, and ambiguous gasps came from inside. I stood at the stairwell, my heart sinking bit by bit. So the grown-up Liam was so easily swayed. His kindness to me before didn’t seem so steadfast anymore. With Liam backing her, Stella became emboldened, and her tactics grew even more malicious. She would deliberately paint me as vulgar and uncouth in front of him, saying I chewed with my mouth open, and always spoke ill of her behind my back. She would even suddenly scream while showering, then rush into Liam’s arms wrapped in a towel, claiming I was secretly filming her. After a while, Liam grew annoyed. When Stella again suggested sending me to an orphanage, a clear flicker of hesitation crossed his eyes. At dinner, Liam sat across from me, hesitating before speaking: “I’ve asked Mike to find your biological father. In the future, I’ll pay you five hundred thousand dollars in child support annually, as compensation from me to Mia.” I nodded numbly: “Okay.” Liam’s phone suddenly vibrated. He answered the call. Mike’s voice came from the receiver: “Mr. Stone, the child with you isn’t Ms. Mia’s at all.” “And Ms. Mia’s death isn’t as simple as it seems!”
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