On the day we were supposed to get married at the courthouse, my boyfriend Samuel Lee had someone kick me out and brought in Rachel, his childhood sweetheart.
He looked at me nonchalantly and said, “Rachel’s child needs legal custody. After we divorce, I’ll marry you.”
Everyone thought that I, being so in love with him, would willingly wait another month for him. After all, I had already waited for him for seven years.
But that very night, I accepted my family’s arrangement for an international marriage and disappeared from his world.
Three years later, I accompanied my husband back to the country for ancestor worship. My husband had some urgent business, so he arranged for the local branch company to pick me up.
Unexpectedly, I ran into Samuel Lee, whom I hadn’t seen in three years.
“You’ve made enough of a fuss. Come back… Rachel’s child is about to start kindergarten. You’ll be responsible for picking him up and dropping him off.”
In the arrival hall, I saw someone holding a sign with my English name. As I walked over, I realized it was Samuel Lee, whom I hadn’t seen in three years.
He was there with Rachel and a few of his good friends, all craning their necks and looking around expectantly.
“Sam, isn’t that your doormat Olivia?” one of them said.
Samuel looked surprised to see me too, but quickly pretended to be indifferent and said, “See? I told you she’d come crawling back.”
The group snickered and looked at me:
“Olivia disappeared without a word back then. Now that she sees Sam’s successful, I bet she cries herself to sleep every night regretting it!”
“But Olivia, if you wanted to pretend to bump into him, why did you just wear casual clothes? Couldn’t you have dressed up a bit?”
“Don’t tell me you can’t even afford decent clothes without Sam? You must be in a really bad state!”
In the past, whenever I went out to see Samuel, I would always put on my most exquisite makeup and choose the most flattering clothes, presenting my best side to him.
But now, there was no need for that anymore.
Because of my pregnancy, my husband doesn’t let me wear makeup and wants me to dress comfortably. This casual outfit was specially customized for me by someone he hired.
However, hearing their words, I realized they only knew my English name but didn’t know that I was the person they were supposed to pick up.
Seeing that I remained silent, someone who used to be closer to me quickly tried to smooth things over:
“Olivia, it’s good that you’re back. Actually, Sam has been looking for you all these years… asking around for news about you!”
Samuel’s smile froze, then he pretended to be nonchalant and said:
“Rachel’s child is about to start kindergarten. From now on, you’ll be responsible for picking him up and dropping him off.”
Samuel was still his same arrogant, self-righteous self.
But I was no longer that young girl who always accommodated him. Seeing him again, all I felt was annoyance.
Not wanting to waste time with them here, I was about to reveal my identity when Rachel spoke first:
“Olivia, don’t blame Sam. He did this to take care of you too. After all, who knows what you’ve been up to during these three years you disappeared?”
“Now that you’re in such a poor state, you couldn’t even handle being my personal assistant if he offered you the job.”
“Don’t worry, no one will look down on you if you help me take care of my son.”
Three years later, Rachel was still as arrogant as ever, still able to make me frown in disgust.
Samuel misunderstood my expression as jealousy and anger towards him, a hint of smugness flashing in his eyes.
“Alright, enough with the fuss when you can’t even make it out there anymore,” he said.
“Just take care of the kid properly and stop causing trouble. You need to know your place.”
“Don’t worry, we still have a room for the maid at our place.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the people around burst into malicious laughter.
“Olivia, see how good Sam is to you? He’s afraid you’re suffering out there, so he’s arranged food and lodging for you.”
“It’s just helping Rachel take care of the kid, isn’t that much better than your current poor life? Hurry up and thank Sam.”
Rachel touched her earrings, pretending to be considerate:
“Olivia, don’t worry. If my son misbehaves and doesn’t listen to you, I’ll discipline him for you. I won’t let you suffer any grievances.”
Samuel snorted with laughter, glancing at me.
“What grievances could she have? She disappeared over a trivial matter back then. Now that she can’t make it on her own and has come back, it’s only right for her to suffer a bit.”
Hearing these words, my heart skipped a beat.
Even now, did he still think that getting married to Rachel was just a trivial matter?
It turns out that the Samuel who once loved me was long gone.
He was no longer that boy who, covered in wounds, carried my injured self across half the city.
Nor was he that young man who, with nothing to his name, loudly proclaimed his love for me and promised me everything.
And he certainly wasn’t that successful man who was willing to cook for me with his own hands.
But it’s fine. It’s all in the past, no need to bring it up.
After all, I’m about to have my second child soon.
Suppressing my thoughts, I didn’t want to argue with them here. It was pointless.
I looked at Samuel and said calmly:
“Weren’t you here to pick me up? Let’s go.”
The scene went quiet for a moment, and they exchanged glances before suddenly bursting into laughter.
Rachel sneered coldly:
“Wait for you? Who do you think you are?!”
She pointed at the sign, “Look carefully, we’re waiting for Olivia. Do you know who that is?”
This was my English name, of course I knew.
“Olivia is Mrs. Young, the lady of the Young family, and the legal wife of Mr. Young.”
“Mr. Young is decisive in the business world, but he’s actually quite the romantic. They say he refused to marry for years, just waiting for Olivia.”
“Everyone in the circle knows that rather than trying to please Mr. Young, it’s better to please Mrs. Young. She’s the apple of Mr. Young’s eye.”
Hearing their chatter, a happy smile appeared on my face.
After three years of marriage, Gabriel’s business had grown bigger and bigger, and his reputation as a wife-doting maniac had spread far and wide.
Rachel, always trying to one-up me, couldn’t resist showing off in front of me:
“Mr. Young once bought a ‘True Love Forever’ bracelet at Christie’s auction for $20 million… US dollars, just to please Mrs. Young.”
“Mrs. Young is the envy of women all over the world.”
She paused, then pointed at my wrist and said shrilly:
“It’s this one!”
The scene suddenly went quiet, with everyone looking at my bracelet.
Samuel grabbed my hand abruptly, examining it for a moment before saying mockingly:
“The imitation is quite exquisite! Which delivery guy bought this for you? Giving fake gifts.”
“Trash.”
I shook off his hand, curled my lips into a smile, and gently caressed the bracelet.
Seeing my happy smile, Samuel’s pupils constricted, and he suddenly grabbed my wrist, roughly rubbing the bracelet.
I hadn’t expected this to happen and was caught off guard.
Rachel stepped forward to examine the bracelet, taking it from Samuel’s hand and playing with it.
“It is indeed more exquisite than the imitation I bought, but I would never wear it out. It’s embarrassing.”
“The imitations from abroad are really different, the feel is quite nice.”
“Or are you saying, Olivia, that you’re Olivia, that legendary Mrs. Young?!”
As she finished speaking, the people around burst into laughter.
After all, it was too absurd for them to believe.
Gabriel Young was a world-renowned financial genius, cold and ruthless in the business world, decisive and unforgiving.
And I was still hanging out with them three years ago, a nobody whose wedding was called off by Samuel.
No matter how they thought about it, it seemed impossible.
Rachel twirled the bracelet around her finger.
“Olivia, why don’t you give me this bracelet? I’ll pay double for it.”
Afraid she might drop the bracelet, I quickly said:
“Give me back the bracelet, it was given to me by Gabriel…”
Before I could finish, Samuel slapped me hard across the face, making my head turn and drawing blood from the corner of my mouth.
“Shut up!”
Samuel looked at me with some annoyance and said:
“Olivia Johnson, you dare to mention Mr. Young’s name? You’re even daring to spread rumors about having a relationship with him. Are you trying to get me killed?”
Samuel’s good friends also looked indignant, glaring at me angrily.
“Olivia, do you know that we barely managed to get the chance to pick up Mrs. Young today?”
“Sam’s company was acquired by Mr. Young last year. We all depend on Mr. Young for our livelihoods now. Only by pleasing Mrs. Young can Sam’s position be secure.”
“Now you’re here spreading rumors about having a relationship with Mr. Young. Are you trying to ruin Sam?”
I wiped the blood from the corner of my mouth and slowly turned my head, meeting Samuel’s gaze.
Perhaps my look was too frightening, as Samuel frowned, a flash of panic crossing his eyes.
Seeing Samuel’s strange look at me, Rachel shot me a venomous glance and pointed at my nose, cursing:
“Olivia Johnson, you ungrateful wretch! Sam has already agreed to take you back, don’t be so ignorant and ungrateful, getting above yourself.”
“Even if you have some resentment towards Sam, you can’t use this method to get revenge on him, can you?”
Hearing this, I felt like I was back three years ago.
No matter what I did, Rachel would always misinterpret my intentions and explain them to Samuel.
At first, Samuel would scold Rachel.
But later, he would follow Rachel’s words and blame me.
Just like now, Samuel scolded me in a tone of disappointment:
“Jealous woman.”
But this time, he didn’t continue to scold me as he did in the past.
After a moment of silence, Samuel took out a check for $200,000 and placed it in front of me.
“For the sake of our past relationship, I won’t do anything to you.”
“Take the money and buy yourself some decent clothes. If you don’t like taking care of children, I’ll find you a respectable job in a few days.”
“Don’t worry, since Mr. Young acquired the company, this amount of money is nothing to me now.”
Samuel’s patronizing attitude made me sick. Looks like he’s been doing quite well lately.
Under everyone’s surprised gaze, I pushed away Samuel’s hand holding the check, retrieved my bracelet from Rachel’s hand, and said with a smile:
“No need, Mr. Lee. I don’t accept things from strangers.”
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After my wife was reported for embezzlement by a business rival, I took the blame and went to prison for her.
She promised she would wait for me at our home, but she never visited me even once.
I thought she was just busy and didn’t think much of it.
Until the day I was released, I saw my wife leaning against another man’s chest, happily watching a boy and a girl playing in the yard.
No wonder she had no time to see me – she was too busy living her happy new life.
I sacrificed four and a half years in prison, thinking I was protecting her. But she didn’t care at all.
The little boy made eye contact with me as I crouched behind the iron fence. He turned and shouted excitedly:
“Mommy, Daddy, look! There’s a homeless man begging!”
The man looked over at me, and I felt my heart turn cold.
Wasn’t he Henry Shaw, the one who had reported my wife all those years ago?
…
Henry pulled the two children behind him and looked up warily.
“Go play with mommy, kids.”
The two children bounced over to my wife’s side. Claire just frowned as she stared at me.
Henry reached out to pat my shoulder, hesitated for a few seconds when he saw my ragged clothes, but still completed the greeting between men.
“Next time you come to our house, remember to call ahead. You showing up like this… almost scared the kids.”
“I remember you weren’t supposed to be out of prison this early.”
Henry pulled out a cigarette and offered it to me. I didn’t take it.
“Got out early for good behavior,” I muttered, the words tasting bitter. “The deed to this mansion is in my name.”
The fruits of my years of hard work had become Henry’s gift, handed to him on a silver platter.
Henry fell silent. He lit the cigarette and smoked it himself. Claire walked over, and Henry’s free hand naturally draped over her shoulder.
Claire looked me up and down, making me uncomfortable.
She let out a soft sigh, her expressive eyes gazing at me:
“You’ve lost weight.”
As if we were long-lost lovers reuniting.
I wanted to ask her if she still meant what she said years ago, if she had thought of me at all in these long days.
Henry suddenly clapped his hands, cigarette dangling from his lips.
“I almost forgot! Look at my scatterbrain. It’s all because your son riled me up.”
“Sweetie, stop eating.”
He picked up the dog bowl covered in the family pet’s drool and tossed it arrogantly at my feet. He blew a contemptuous puff of smoke in my face.
“Lambert, I’m not trying to insult you. Our dog’s monthly food budget is definitely way more than what you got in prison. The quality is much better too.”
“I just want to satisfy my curiosity. I heard that people who’ve been in prison for a while will eat even rotten vegetable roots with gusto. I want to see if it’s true that you’ll eat anything now.”
I had come on an empty stomach, rushing over as soon as I was released because I wanted to see Claire quickly.
But I certainly wasn’t so desperate as to eat rotten vegetables with relish, like he claimed.
I just never imagined that Claire already had two children.
She had long forgotten me and my sacrifices.
Henry treated me like less than human, and Claire smiled along indulgently.
[Paywall]
I angrily grabbed Henry’s collar with one hand.
“What are you so smug about? Setting up my wife, stealing my family – I haven’t even settled accounts with you for that yet!”
Claire’s nails scraped my arm as she impatiently said:
“Andrew Lambert, Henry was just joking with you. Why are you overreacting like this?”
I forced down the bitterness in my heart and let go.
As soon as I released him, Claire hurried to Henry’s side, carefully straightening his collar.
“Claire, aren’t you going to explain anything to me? Him and those twins…”
Claire glanced at her watch, her tone cold and distant.
“We’ll discuss this minor issue later. It’s time for Nathan and Haley’s swing session at our house.”
They treated me like I was invisible, walking away hand in hand.
My anger felt like it was hitting cotton – no one cared.
Claire pulled out a $100 bill from between her phone and case, tucking it into my hand.
“Thanks for your hard work these past four years. Treat yourself to something nice.”
I stood there stunned, holding the $100 bill. Keeping cash between the phone and case was a habit I’d had for years.
It started when Claire and I were on vacation once. She fainted from heatstroke, my phone was dead, and I had no cash on me.
I had to ask many passersby before borrowing money from a girl who had issues with Claire.
Her condition was slapping me once for $5.
From then on, to be prepared for emergencies, I would check every morning that we both had cash behind our phones.
Claire’s actions still had traces of my influence, but she no longer loved me.
Only this house we had lived in for years told me that our loving past had truly existed.
I swallowed the acid in my heart, found the key under the doormat, and prepared to go inside to change into slippers.
The housekeeper suddenly loudly scolded me.
“Mr. Lambert, what are you doing? There are muddy footprints all over the tiles. Can’t you think about how hard it is for us to clean?”
The housekeeper was someone I had hired from my hometown. She had been very grateful to me at first.
I never imagined that in four and a half years in prison, it wasn’t just Claire whose heart had changed.
I ignored the housekeeper and picked up a pair of slippers.
She exclaimed again: “Mr. Lambert, you’re breaking the rules again. Those slippers are for guests!”
I was about to lose my temper when she ran back and brought me a pair of my old shoes, along with two red plastic bags to use as shoe covers.
She patted my back like an elder.
“Mr. Lambert, don’t be angry with me. I have to follow the orders of whoever pays my salary, right?”
“Your things… the madam had me pack them all in the storage room. You should take that pile of junk and move out quickly.”
I shook my head and went to the storage room.
Expensive watches and custom suits were carelessly piled on the floor. But on the spotless top shelf of a glass cabinet sat a shoebox.
I carefully took it down, only to find shredded cloth shoes inside. The uppers had several burn holes, with traces of cigarette ash.
When I came out holding the shoebox, the happy family of four had returned.
Seeing my unhappy expression, Claire came over and felt my forehead.
“You don’t have a fever. Why do you look so unwell? I’ll have the housekeeper make you some chicken soup later.”
“I just discussed it with Henry. We’ve known each other for so many years, so you can continue living in our home. We won’t force you out onto the streets.”
I stepped back to avoid her touch and opened the shoebox.
“Who ruined my shoes?”
Claire glanced at them. “The ones your mom made for you, right?”
I nodded. Claire pointed at me and let out a clear laugh.
“Henry, he’s treating a pair of $20 cloth shoes like a treasure.”
“Who could stand this mama’s boy, wearing the same ratty shoes every day, putting them in the safe when it rains. Why doesn’t he just live with his mom forever.”
The little boy who had been hiding behind Henry bravely stepped forward, raising his hand high.
“I did it! Don’t blame my mommy.”
He seemed very proud. Claire gently ruffled his hair.
“If you break someone’s things, you have to pay for them. Go buy him a new pair.”
Then she said to me resignedly:
“Andrew Lambert, don’t quibble with a child. He’ll buy you a new pair, so let it go.”
The chubby boy ran over with an alligator skin wallet, taking out a handful of coins and scattering them on me.
He grinned, looking very much like Henry when he smiled.
Claire praised the boy for being sensible, but when she looked at me again, her brow furrowed.
“This matter is over now. What child isn’t naughty sometimes? Your old-fashioned cloth shoes – $20 is already generous of him.”
Henry gestured mysteriously with his cigarette.
The shoes were placed too high for a 3-foot-tall child to reach.
And there were cigarette ashes on them.
Claire followed my gaze, playfully punched Henry, then turned to me with an icy expression.
“You don’t suspect Henry did it, do you? Even if he knew that ratty shoe was your family heirloom, Henry wouldn’t bother touching your junk. Just have your mom make you another pair.”
She won’t be making any more.
This was the last pair of shoes my mom had sewn for me.
In those bitter years I spent in prison, only my mom visited once.
She specifically instructed me to treat Claire well in the future.
But was it me who didn’t want to have a good life with Claire?
In the five years I longed for her…
She was laughing in another man’s arms.
Claire ignored me and picked up her child.
“Baby must be hungry. Let’s go eat. Honey, you come quickly too.”
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The night before the college entrance exam, my stepsister poured boiling water all over me.
My forehead, face, and hands were all burned to varying degrees.
The doctor told me I needed to be hospitalized immediately.
I refused. I still had to take the exam. This was the biggest turning point in my life, and I couldn’t miss it.
The doctor shook his head as he prescribed burn cream and antibiotics.
My dad impatiently scolded me: “Why did you provoke her in the middle of the night?”
I was already in pain, and years of pent-up resentment finally burst out!
Standing on the empty street, I shouted: “How did I provoke her? I was sound asleep, how could I have provoked her?”
“Dad, your favoritism is too much! That kettle in our house had just boiled water! She was trying to kill me!!!”
“People in hell always try their best to drag others down with them!”
My dad slapped me across the face.
I was stunned.
The burn layered with the slap, and I was in so much pain I could barely breathe. Tears streamed down my face uncontrollably.
I was just a child no one cared about. In the eyes of my dad and my birth mom, I was always unwanted…
I kept thinking over and over: “Why didn’t I just die? All these years, why did I fight so hard to stay alive?”
My trembling hand touched my face. The burning, stinging areas had indeed broken skin.
My dad didn’t continue scolding me. He turned and walked towards home, and I silently followed behind him.
My dad had a mistress.
I knew about this since kindergarten. My mom would cry and threaten suicide every other day.
Later, one afternoon, she heard my dad was at a hotel with that woman and rushed over. But then a once-in-a-century earthquake struck.
My mom was crushed under a concrete slab and lost a leg. My dad and his mistress escaped unscathed.
It was May 12, 2008, in Hanwang, Sichuan province.
That year, there were many heartwarming stories in the news.
Influenced by the overall atmosphere, my dad didn’t divorce.
But my mom lost her job due to her disability. Her personality became even more volatile and weak. She would threaten suicide frequently, saying she wanted to die to spite my dad.
The following year, my dad divorced my mom against all odds and married that woman, moving to a new city.
I went with my dad.
First, because my dad was in a better financial situation, while my mom had no job.
Second, my mom didn’t want me. She said I was from the Parker family, so why should she raise a Parker child?
As for that woman…
Her name was Bella White. She was my mom’s best friend. When she got together with my dad, she was already married. In other words, she and my dad were having an affair with each other.
When she married into our family, she brought along a daughter who was the same age as me, just two months younger. She claimed the girl was my dad’s child.
From then on, I had a stepmother and a stepsister.
What’s it like having a stepmother?
Like the evil queen in Snow White, always plotting to kill the daughter of the original wife?
Or treating the original wife’s daughter like her own, no matter how much the daughter hates or mistreats her, always having a kind and forgiving heart, leading to a happy ending?
Reality isn’t so extreme.
It’s hard for anyone to be completely fair, let alone a woman who had an affair and even stole her best friend’s husband. What could you expect?
Those years…
Whatever my stepsister had, I had too!
Whatever my stepsister didn’t have, I still had!
My stepsister’s clothes would eventually become my clothes. When they were old, short, or no longer liked, they became mine.
My stepsister was a picky eater. The dishes she didn’t want to eat, leftover snacks, stationery she thought was ugly or didn’t like – those all became mine.
We were in the same school and same class. Everyone knew we were sisters. Some people secretly asked me: “Zoe, were you adopted?”
“No.”
“If not, why do you always take Olivia’s leftovers?”
I explained over and over that I was my dad’s biological daughter, that my mom was my dad’s legal wife, and that Olivia’s mom was the mistress who stole my dad.
This spread quickly, passing through countless mouths, embellished countless times. By the time it reached my ears again, it was completely distorted.
Because of this, Olivia became famous at school. Many people cursed her for being the daughter of a mistress, stealing what belonged to others.
My dad and stepmom beat me harshly. They said I was an ungrateful wretch, that when they divorced they shouldn’t have kept me, they should have left me to fend for myself with my crippled mom.
They transferred Olivia to the best and most expensive private school in the area. Her clothes, shoes, and stationery were all replaced with better ones.
My stepmom said to give me the old ones.
Olivia screamed, smashing the old stationery on the ground, using scissors to cut up the clothes, poking holes in the shoes, saying she’d rather destroy them than give them to me.
I stood at the bedroom door. Not waiting for Olivia to finish her tantrum, I turned and went back to my room.
This was my and Olivia’s room: “Two closets, one bed, one floor mat.”
The bed had a pink mosquito net and matching pink bedding.
The first time I lay on that bed, it felt so comfortable! Lying there, I felt like I had become a princess.
A few minutes later, Olivia screamed again: “Zoe Parker! You rotten person, how dare you sleep on my bed? Get off right now!”
My stepmom ran in with Olivia. Together, they grabbed my hair and dragged me off the bed, throwing me to the floor.
I clutched my aching scalp, looking at them defiantly and angrily: “I’ve been sleeping on the floor for 4 years. It’s time I slept on the bed!”
Back then, when we first moved to this city and this home, my dad and stepmom had told me and Olivia to discuss who would sleep on the bed and who on the floor, or to take turns.
I was so stupid!
I volunteered to let Olivia have the bed. My dad and stepmom praised me greatly, saying I was sensible and knew to let my sister have it.
To get their praise, many things after that followed the same pattern.
New clothes – Olivia wears them first. New stationery – Olivia uses it first. New toys – Olivia plays with them first… Whatever Olivia doesn’t want, don’t waste it, just give it to me…
In this family, I was basically treated like a beggar.
My stepmom walked up to me and kicked me, looking down at me condescendingly: “Zoe Parker, people need to know their place. In our family, you’re just a dog.”
“If we want to keep you, you’re a house dog. If we don’t want to keep you, you’re a stray dog.”
Her voice wasn’t loud, but every word dripped with viciousness.
I didn’t want to be a dog. I’d rather fend for myself with my mom.
I took the $300 I had stolen from home and returned to my hometown. My mom lived in resettlement housing, still unemployed, surviving on welfare.
My mom didn’t welcome me. She snatched away the $300 I had, then told me to get lost, to go find my dad.
In that moment, my whole world collapsed.
I was unwanted.
In my mind, the thoughts of ‘suicide’ and ‘clinging to life’ were like two little people pulling desperately at each other. In the end, I gritted my teeth and returned to the place where I was treated like a dog.
Waiting for me were cold mockery and sarcasm. My dad beat me, saying I was up to no good, running away from home.
A few days later, Olivia finally discovered her allowance was missing.
My dad was about to beat me again, telling me to hand over the money. I shouted that my mom had taken the money, if he had the guts he should go ask her for it!
My dad fell silent and let go of me.
That night, Bella covered my mouth with one hand and viciously pinched my thigh over a dozen times with the other. I was in so much pain I broke out in a cold sweat.
I struggled and bit down hard on the webbing between her thumb and index finger. I asked her: “My mom was your best friend. Aren’t you afraid of going to hell for treating me like this?”
She sneered: “Your mom doesn’t even care about you. What do I have to be afraid of?”
I was momentarily speechless.
I went to the bathroom and took off my pants to look. My thigh was covered in bruises.
After that day…
It was as if Bella had discovered a new world. Whenever she was in a bad mood, she would pinch my thighs.
This spot was good – hidden, wouldn’t be seen by others.
Olivia’s grades weren’t good. She had been below average in our class before, and remained below average at her new school.
Bella felt embarrassed, especially after comparing Olivia’s grades to mine. She would curse loudly at home…
“Look at you! All the family’s money is spent on you, and what’s the result? As stupid as a pig! Can’t even do better than Zoe! I’m telling you, if you don’t score higher than her next time, don’t call me mom anymore!”…
Olivia hated me.
Besides secretly cutting holes in my pants, hiding needles in my coat, she would also steal my homework notebooks, tear up my textbooks, pour ink on my books…
This went on for several years.
One night, after I finished washing up and was about to apply face cream, I noticed obvious signs of tampering in the baby lotion, with a faint smell of nail polish remover. I hesitated for a moment, then decisively scooped out a dollop of cream and applied it to my face.
My face immediately felt like it was on fire.
To be honest, compared to my dad hitting me or Bella pulling my hair, this really wasn’t much. But I screamed and ran into the bathroom to look in the mirror.
My cheeks turned red at a visible rate, with countless small rashes appearing on the skin surface.
I angrily ran back to the bedroom, scooped out a large glob of cream, and lunged at Olivia to smear it on her face.
Olivia screamed too.
My dad and Bella rushed in and pulled me away to save Olivia. I shouted at my dad, accusing him of favoritism, asking if he would only be happy once Olivia killed me.
Bella was very calm. She interrupted me, saying we should go to the hospital first, that a girl’s face couldn’t be ruined.
My dad nodded.
Then they took me to a clinic.
Again, a clinic… They had just said we’d go to the hospital, but we ended up at a clinic.
Hah, all these years, every time Olivia got sick it was the big hospital, while for me it was always the small clinic.
That’s right, Olivia was the precious darling who couldn’t risk anything going wrong. I was just a pebble on the roadside – keeping me barely alive was enough.
The doctor asked what I had used.
I angrily pointed at Olivia and shouted that it was the baby lotion she had poisoned.
Bella rushed forward and slapped me across the face, saying I was talking nonsense, that I was just a child making baseless accusations without seeing anything!
The clinic fell silent. Everyone looked at us.
I planted both hands on the doctor’s desk, my chest heaving violently. I bit my lip as big teardrops fell onto the desk…
People around us pointed and whispered, saying Bella had hit me too hard.
Bella panicked and explained that things had happened so suddenly, that she was just worried I would develop bad habits.
The result of this incident was…
Bella gave me $50 to buy a new bottle of baby lotion, telling me to keep the change as pocket money and not to talk about this outside.
My dad finally gave up the facade of family harmony and fairness, telling me to live in the school dorms.
I laughed.
I had traded a brief allergic reaction on my face for a degree of freedom, no longer having to see those three people every day.
In the years that followed…
In 8th grade, my grades plummeted from the top 3 in the class to the bottom 5-10, especially in math and science. I was always last on every test.
I often cried under the covers on weekends at home. I wouldn’t speak during the day, and would pull my hair out while doing homework.
Every time I couldn’t finish my homework, a clump of hair would fall out.
Bella sneered countless times: “Hmph, I thought you were some kind of academic genius. Now you’re showing your true colors!”
“Whether you’re a donkey or a horse, you only find out after running a few laps!”
In 9th grade, my grades stabilized at second to last in the class.
Why second to last? Because the last place was firmly occupied by the king of underachievers in our class, Ethan.
On 100-point tests, I would hover around 60 points.
But him? He didn’t even hover. He was always below 60, occasionally in the 30s. Very eye-catching.
During this time, without the pressure of my academic superiority, Olivia had an easier time at home.
Then came the high school entrance exam.
I scraped by, accidentally performing poorly and scoring just a few points higher than Olivia.
My dad couldn’t bear to send his precious daughter to a regular high school, so he spent $5000 to get Olivia into a key high school.
As for me, of course I went to a regular high school.
In my dad’s words, Olivia had underperformed, while I had overperformed.
In 10th grade, as luck would have it, Ethan and I were classmates again.
On registration day, he whistled at me, his smile incredibly smug: “What a coincidence! Eternal second-to-last.”
I finally understood. He was like me – those terrible grades we got all year were deliberately achieved. With our actual scores, we couldn’t have gotten into high school at all.
I walked over and looked him up and down: “Mr. Method Actor, what score did you actually get?”
He told me a number.
Wow!
My score was already barely scraping by. His was even lower, just barely above the admission cutoff.
“You didn’t do your research, did you? The admission scores for the past 5 years have varied by less than 3 points.”
His smile held a hint of mockery: “We’re in high school now. Want to keep competing with me?”
“For last place?”
I smiled back.
He raised an eyebrow.
High school material was much harder than middle school, especially math. For some people, it was like entering hell mode.
Olivia’s grades plummeted.
No matter how much Bella watched her study, how many tutoring classes she signed her up for, how many practice books she bought her, it was all useless.
I still went home every weekend. First, to maintain my image as a student driven crazy by poor grades. Second, to see how Olivia was doing, and to witness Bella turning into a roaring beast every time she heard about Olivia’s grades.
Olivia would occasionally rebel.
“You’re so amazing, why don’t you do it? You can’t even do middle school math, what right do you have to yell at me? Zoe’s a bad student too, how come you don’t yell at her?”
…
“Are you just projecting what you can’t do onto me?”
…
“I hate studying, and I hate you!”
My dad couldn’t stand it anymore. He pointed at me countless times and told Bella: “Don’t push too hard. Let the kids find their own way. Don’t drive Olivia crazy!”
Bella was both distressed and exasperated. She turned to take out her anger on me, her claws swooping towards my waist.
Did she think I was some pushover who would be afraid of her?
As soon as her hand reached out, I slapped it away. Then I curled up in a ball in the corner, pulling my hair and screaming hysterically.
“Aunt Bella, have mercy, have mercy!”
Bella cared about face to some extent. Afraid the neighbors would hear and spread rumors of an “evil stepmother”, she had no choice but to back off.
After that, my life got a little better.
I would scream.
Ethan shamelessly held onto last place in the entire grade.
Converting to a 100-point scale, he would score in the 30s for math, physics and chemistry each time. His language, English, history and politics were slightly better, in the 50s!
I really didn’t want to comment, but I had secretly flipped through the “5 Years of College Entrance Exam, 3 Years of Simulations”, “Golden Exam Papers”, “Must-Do Exam Questions” and “Dragon Gate Special Topics” hidden in his drawer…
Damn, this guy was doing even more practice problems than me!
His handwriting was messy and rushed.
“Ethan, what exactly are you doing?” I asked one day at lunch when no one else was in the classroom, drumming on his desk. “What’s the point of scoring so low every time?”
“There is a point,” he suddenly looked up and stared at me intently, his eyes bright. “More valid than your reasons.”
I couldn’t help but clench my jaw, wanting to ask if he had investigated me.
Before I could speak, he smiled.
…
“Zoe, want to make a bet?”
…
“Bet on what?”
…
“See who can get into Clearwater University.”
Clearwater was my goal too. I had been preparing since elementary school and had some confidence.
“Alright, loser buys dinner.”
“Let’s add one more condition – loser has to be the winner’s girlfriend.”
Me: “…”
Ethan and I weren’t dating, except for that vague hint of attraction.
Olivia knew how to dress up and was pretty. She often had many boys surrounding her like stars orbiting the moon.
It would be a lie to say I wasn’t envious at all.
Occasionally when we ran into each other on the way to and from school, Olivia would roll her eyes at me and whisper something to the group of boys. The boys would hiss at me and throw trash at me.
One time, on the way back to school on a Sunday, a group of people were waiting for me at a street corner. They started walking towards me as soon as they saw me.
Olivia was chewing gum as she walked in the middle.
I took two steps back and turned to run.
But I couldn’t outrun them…
Someone grabbed my clothes from behind and flung me hard to the side. I slammed into a wall.
The group swarmed me.
Some kicked my legs, some punched my stomach. I was in so much pain I could barely scream.
After the group finished beating me, Olivia told them to hold me down. She took out a razor blade and walked towards me.
She said she was going to cut up my face.
That day I was lucky. Among the people who shouted and tried to stop them was a teacher from their school. He yelled: “Which class are you from?”
I vaguely heard someone say “Mr. Song” with a hint of fear in their voice.
The group scattered.
I slid down the wall. My body hurt and my legs were weak. I couldn’t stand up at all.
“Young lady, are you alright? Should I take you to the hospital?” Mr. Song asked.
I curled up in the corner, shaking my head as tears streamed down my face.
Olivia and the others received major demerits at their school.
Everyone in town was gossiping about this incident.
Bella pinned Olivia to the bed and beat her viciously with a clothes hanger.
However, she still felt I was the root cause. She thought I shouldn’t have run at the street corner, shouldn’t have screamed, and most of all, shouldn’t have freeloaded in their home all these years, making people dislike me.
When she beat Olivia, she would beat me too, cursing me for being vicious. By now she no longer feared the reputation of being an evil stepmother.
I avoided them whenever I could, and gradually stopped going home on weekends.
Teenage boys and girls are at their most rebellious stage in life.
Olivia didn’t feel there was anything wrong with getting people to beat me up. On the contrary, she thought it was cool! She grew even closer with that group of boys.
I hid at school. Without all the chaos at home, I frantically did practice problems every day.
If I wanted to change my fate and leave this family, studying was the only way.
There were three days off before the college entrance exam. I reluctantly returned home.
To create a good study environment for Olivia, my dad and Bella tiptoed around like cats.
Olivia was a poor student. She sat at her desk either spacing out or chewing on her pen, frowning.
I couldn’t be bothered with these people. I just sat cross-legged on my floor mat and read.
No matter what happened, once the exam was over, this family would have little to do with me.
Two days later, the night before the exam.
As if summoned by fate, I woke up in the middle of the night. A huge shadow inches away startled me!
Olivia was standing next to my floor mat, holding a kettle of water motionless in both hands.
I shot up…
“What are you doing?”
Olivia let out a piercing scream, as if she was the one who had been frightened.
A large kettle of freshly boiled water splashed towards my face. I instinctively pulled up the blanket to shield myself…
This was my first time in a hospital since 2008.
My dad brought me. Bella stayed home to comfort the “traumatized” Olivia.
My forehead, face and hands all had varying degrees of burns.
What do burns feel like?
It’s like the flesh under a thin layer of skin has been scalded and cooked. It’s a constant, unrelenting pain that no nerves can block out. You can’t sleep, and it’s a living hell! Even with my writing skills, I still can’t fully describe it.
The doctor told me I needed to be hospitalized immediately.
I refused. I still had to take the exam. This was the biggest turning point in my life, and I couldn’t miss it.
The doctor shook his head as he prescribed burn cream and antibiotics, telling me to be very careful these two days and not let the skin break, to avoid infection.
Afterwards, on the way home, my dad impatiently said: “Why did you provoke her in the middle of the night?”
I was already in pain, plus I was anxious and worried about not getting enough rest affecting the exam tomorrow. On top of that, years of pent-up resentment finally burst out. My temper flared up like a volcano erupting. Standing on the empty street, I shouted: “How did I provoke her? I was sound asleep, how could I have provoked her?”
“Dad, your favoritism is too much! That kettle in our house had just boiled water! She was trying to kill me!!!”
“People in hell always try their best to drag others down with them!”
My dad slapped me across the face.
I was stunned.
The burn layered with the slap, and I was in so much pain I could barely breathe. Tears streamed down my face uncontrollably.
I was just a child no one cared about. In the eyes of my dad and my birth mom, I was always unwanted…
I kept thinking over and over:
That year, when my mom snatched away the $300 I had stolen and told me to get lost, why didn’t I just die? All these years, why did I fight so hard to stay alive?
My trembling hand touched my face. The burning, stinging areas had indeed broken skin.
My dad didn’t continue scolding me. He turned and walked towards home, and I silently followed behind him.
That night, the moon was high, clear and bright.
The shadows were long.
I didn’t sleep at home.
I took my exam admission ticket, packed my bag and left.
I didn’t have money for a hotel, so I found some steps outside the exam school and sat there all night, hugging my knees with my eyes closed.
The next day, exam takers started arriving early.
I didn’t want to move at all. Exhaustion swept over my whole body, and my mind was foggy.
“Zoe Parker!”
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The day after I had a fight with my husband over his first love, a young, energetic guy showed up at my door soaking wet.
“Please, can I stay here?” he begged.
Without hesitation, I let him stay for three months.
During those three months, he did everything he could to make me happy and win my affection.
Everyone said he had ulterior motives and was getting close to me for some other purpose. They warned me not to fall for him.
Sure enough, as soon as I agreed to be with him, Jason smirked and told me he was Jessica’s childhood friend, and he had only gotten close to me for her happiness.
But I already knew that, and I had collected evidence of my husband’s affair with his first love.
“Thanks for helping me gather evidence. Now you can get lost.”
Three months after a big fight with my husband Ethan, I returned to our home of three years for the first time, having collected all the evidence of his affair with Jessica and discussed divorce plans with my lawyer.
“That old hag is wrapped around my finger now. If I tell her to kneel, she wouldn’t dare stand up!” Jason’s familiar voice came through the door.
It was different from his usual pitiful tone when talking to me – arrogant and smug.
I paused as I was about to open the door. Ethan and Jessica’s voices followed.
“You’ve got her trained like that in less than three months? I thought Rachel loved me so much, but turns out she’s such a slut.”
“Jason, you’ve suffered for my happiness. Once Ethan successfully divorces that old cow, I’ll make it up to you!”
I quietly pushed open the door and saw Jessica sitting in Ethan’s lap.
Jason sat nearby, surrounded by his buddies who used to joke about me and him.
“Rachel said it’s her birthday today and she has a surprise for Jason. We all know the old hag can’t hold back anymore. Once she takes her clothes off, we’ll burst into the room and take photos of her in heat as evidence of cheating.”
“If it weren’t for that old cow stubbornly clinging to Ethan, we wouldn’t have to set her up to cheat and force a divorce.”
“Isn’t she supposed to be so successful in her career? When we post the video online, everyone will see what a slut she is. It’ll be payback for Jessica!”
“After the truth comes out, the old hag will probably go crazy. She might even kneel and beg us to let her off!”
“Jason, you take one for the team tonight. If she’s not bad, maybe let the rest of us have a go too.”
My husband of seven years and the man who had been devoted to me for three months were unfazed by the other men’s blatant insults towards me.
I quietly closed the door.
My feelings of guilt towards Jason instantly turned to anticipation and excitement.
I knew it was too good to be true – a handsome guy in his early 20s showing up at my door in a soaking wet white tank top, pitifully begging me to take him in.
So Jason was Jessica’s childhood friend, and he had appeared to seduce me so Ethan could catch us in bed, get evidence to ruin me, and kick me out penniless in the divorce.
Three months ago, Jessica had returned from abroad and moved in with us, using the excuse that she couldn’t find a place to stay.
My husband of seven years, married for three, didn’t take my side. Instead, he told me to sleep in the guest room.
“Jessica has nightmares if she doesn’t sleep in a big bed. Can’t you make this small sacrifice for me instead of being so unreasonable?”
I put up with it for a week, but Jessica showed no signs of leaving.
Every morning, Jessica acted like the perfect wife, wearing an apron and making Ethan breakfast.
“Rachel, a man is a woman’s sky and earth. A man’s hands are only for making money, how can you let him do housework?”
“I’m so envious of you, marrying such a good husband like Ethan. If I were Ethan’s wife, I would never let him step foot in the kitchen.”
Knowing I was allergic to tomatoes, Jessica deliberately squeezed tomato sauce all over my sandwich.
I broke out in hives and passed out at work from difficulty breathing. When I woke up, Jessica was crying in Ethan’s arms.
I pointed at Jessica, my hand shaking.
“Either she goes, or I go.”
Ethan frowned, acting like I was being unreasonable.
“It’s just an allergy, why are you making such a big deal out of it? I’ve never heard of anyone dying from allergies. Jessica almost fainted when she heard what happened to you.”
Ethan and I had a huge fight. He threw our wedding rings on the ground.
I packed my bags and left that night, moving into another rental apartment.
The next day, Jason appeared at my door.
“Can I stay here for the night? Don’t worry, I have money and I’ll be good.”
Actually, I already knew Jason was Jessica’s childhood friend. After finding out she was coming back, I had looked up all her social media accounts and found many photos of Jason.
Whenever she fought with Ethan or was upset, there were always photos of Jason quietly by her side.
Without a doubt, Jason was Jessica’s loyal puppy dog, the devoted second male lead.
Thanks to Jessica, I received the attentive care of this devoted second male lead for three months, and got to play the female lead for once.
Two months in, Ethan and I ran into each other while shopping. He glared at Jason beside me.
“Who’s this guy? It hasn’t been that long and you’re already with someone new. You’ve really disappointed me!”
I gave him what he wanted, acting haughty and replying, “None of your business!”
I pulled Jason into the mall. He pushed me against the wall in a changing room.
“Your husband doesn’t treat you well at all. He’s old and ugly, totally unworthy of you. Not like me – I only want to cherish you.”
I grabbed Jason’s collar, squeezing out two pitiful tears.
“I know, right? And that vixen still has the nerve to seduce him. I guess trash attracts trash!”
Hearing me talk that way about his beloved, Jason clenched his jaw but had to keep comforting me.
Pretending to be delighted by his comfort, I stood on my tiptoes to kiss him. His eyes widened in panic as he jerked backwards.
For the past month, although Jason had acted very fond of me, he was reluctant to get too physical.
I knew he found me less attractive than Jessica, being two years older. But he seemed to have forgotten that Jessica had sent him to sacrifice his body to seduce me.
Since that was the case, why keep up the act?
I pretended to be disappointed and let go of his collar, pouting with red-rimmed eyes.
“I thought you said you liked me? Why won’t you even kiss me?”
Jason’s eyes were a mess of emotions. He clenched and unclenched his fists before finally forcing out a stiff smile.
“Of course I’ll do anything to make you happy.”
I eagerly went to kiss him. He closed his eyes with a look of grim resignation. But I deliberately missed, brushing past the corner of his mouth before shoving him away. I ran out of the changing room with a coy expression, and sure enough saw Jessica outside with a thunderous face.
Seeing my flushed face and the lipstick mark on the corner of Jason’s mouth, Jessica nearly ground her teeth to dust.
“Broad daylight in a public place – have you no shame?!”
“Jessica, you’re the one who should be asking yourself that question. After all, you’re the one who’s taken shamelessness to new heights.”
Jessica’s face turned red. She sneered, “I’m standing up for Ethan! He works himself to the bone at the office to support you, while you’re lazy and now fooling around with some boy toy!”
The irony was, I had bought our house in cash, my salary was twice Ethan’s, and I paid for most of our expenses.
That’s why Ethan did housework – he felt guilty about freeloading.
I deliberately pulled the uncomfortable-looking Jason closer, saying haughtily,
“Jessica, you already have Ethan. Don’t tell me you want to steal this one from me too?”
Seeing that I seemed to have genuinely fallen for Jason, Jessica finally relaxed a bit. She looked at Jason and me like we were adulterers.
Afterwards, I went on a shopping spree in the mall, making Jason pay for everything.
His face got paler and paler as he hesitantly pulled out his card again and again.
After all, his job was mediocre, and I had nearly wiped out half a year of his savings in one go.
But he had no choice – wasn’t he pursuing me? Hadn’t he said he’d do anything to make me happy?
As we were leaving the mall, Jason said he needed to use the restroom. I nodded and followed him secretly.
At a corner, I saw him standing unhappily in front of Jessica.
“How much longer do I have to keep this up? I can’t stand that old hag for another day. Having to act cutesy with her makes me want to puke!”
Jessica stroked his head, swinging his hand back and forth.
“Bear with it a little longer for my happiness, okay? Didn’t you promise to be my knight in shining armor forever?”
Seeing Jason was still upset, Jessica bit her lip and gave him a quick kiss. Comforted by this, Jason cheered up and treated me even better in the following days.
But what people fear most is getting used to something.
Over our three months living together, Jason had grown accustomed to taking care of my daily life – cooking, doing laundry, picking me up from work, taking me out for nice meals.
At first he would stiffen uncomfortably when I took his arm, instinctively rejecting it. Now he would buy me gifts just to see me jump into his arms and kiss him.
The acting in his eyes grew less and less, while my calculations became clearer and clearer.
After learning his password and being able to freely check his phone, I looked through his group chat with his buddies more than once.
Jessica was the only girl in the chat. Jason reported on his progress pursuing me every day.
At first, he would boast in the group:
“I’ll have that old hag wrapped around my finger in no time. She already obeys my every word.”
“Took the old hag shopping today. She tried to kiss me – I got goosebumps, it was so gross. If it wasn’t for Jessica, I’d want to kick her to the curb!”
“Sigh, thinking about how devoted the old hag is to me, when I’m going to utterly ruin her reputation…I feel a tiny bit guilty.”
His buddies would cheer him on in the chat, saying there was no woman Jason couldn’t conquer.
They even planned that after Jason had me under his mental control, the group of them would take turns using me.
Jessica would also message him privately, acting concerned:
“I’m sorry, Jason. You have to put on an act with that disgusting slut for my happiness. If only I had fallen in love with you instead.”
Those words had Jason over the moon.
But gradually, Jason took longer and longer to reply to messages.
“Rachel just fell asleep so I couldn’t check my phone. Nothing special today, just did chores as usual.”
“Was making a midnight snack for Rachel earlier so couldn’t see the messages. She seems to like me a lot now. She even praised me for how neatly I peeled the crab for her today.”
“Taking videos is fine, but I should be the only one filming. She’s still a woman after all, that would be going too far. Isn’t there another way?”
Not just Jason’s buddies, but even Jessica started to sense something was off. She began interrogating Jason.
One night, I heard Jason on the balcony taking a call. Jessica’s crying voice came through.
“Why are you always doing laundry and cooking for that bitch? Have you fallen for her? Don’t forget you’re supposed to be seducing her, making her kneel and beg us for mercy! Not being her personal chef!”
Jason, who had always cared deeply about Jessica’s feelings, was silent for a full 30 seconds before answering.
“How could I possibly love that slut? I haven’t forgotten my purpose. Don’t worry, I’ll definitely torment her until she’s utterly ruined, as a birthday gift for you.”
“But from now on…don’t call me late at night anymore. She’s been under a lot of work stress lately and is a light sleeper. I’m afraid she’ll overhear.”
“Are you afraid she’ll overhear, or afraid of disturbing her sleep?!”
Jessica’s accusation followed immediately. I deliberately rolled over, making a small noise that caused Jason to instinctively hang up. He quietly came back to bed. Seeing I was still asleep, he let out a long sigh of relief.
Over these three months, despite his coaxing, I had never gone further physically with Jason. But I did allow him to sleep in my bed.
Jason carefully lifted the covers and got in bed. He gingerly put his arm around my waist and whispered in my ear:
“Rachel, I’m sorry.”
After he fell asleep, I opened my eyes, a mocking smile on my face.
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Olivia Harper watched in disbelief as her husband Marcus threw a lavish party to celebrate his first love’s daughter getting into community college. Meanwhile, their own son Ethan, the school valedictorian, was forced to work as a waiter at the very same event.
Chloe Gardner, Marcus’s first love, approached Ethan with a fake smile. “Ethan, it’s been a while since you’ve had your dad’s cooking, hasn’t it? Why don’t you try this special fish dish he made for Rose?”
Ethan hesitated, but before he could respond, Marcus intervened. “If Chloe’s offering, just eat it. Stop being so picky – you’re just like your useless mother!”
Without warning, Marcus forcefully opened Ethan’s mouth and shoved a piece of fish inside, making him swallow it.
Ethan collapsed, clutching his throat in agony. Marcus simply walked away, arm in arm with Chloe and Rose.
By the time Olivia wheeled herself to her son’s side, Ethan’s face had turned an alarming shade of purple. She frantically dialed 91
Desperate, she called Marcus, hoping he would help their son. But his voice was full of irritation: “He probably just got a fish bone stuck in his throat. Give him some vinegar and he’ll be fine. Stop making such a fuss.”
1
Olivia’s mind reeled at the mention of fish. “Marcus! Don’t you know Ethan is allergic to seafood?!”
But her husband’s anger only grew. “Olivia, what are you yelling about? I should be the one upset here. Look at the son you’ve raised – Chloe kindly offers him some food, and he has the audacity to turn up his nose at it. You two are exactly the same – utterly worthless!”
Olivia was stunned. How could her usually well-mannered son be painted in such a light?
“Ethan has always been severely allergic to seafood. You know this…” she tried to explain.
But Chloe’s apologetic voice cut in: “Oh dear, Olivia, I’m so sorry. I just wanted Ethan to taste his father’s cooking. He rarely gets the chance, you know.”
“Don’t blame Marcus. I’ll come apologize to you and Ethan another day, okay?”
Before Olivia could respond, Marcus’s furious voice boomed through the phone: “Listen here, Olivia. Both Chloe and Rose have asthma, but they ate the fish with no problems. Are you saying Ethan is more delicate than them?”
“You’re always jealous of Chloe, but now you’re dragging Ethan into your petty games? Enough is enough!”
The line went dead.
Outside, the ambulance sirens wailed. Soon, a team of paramedics rushed in with a stretcher. After examining Ethan, the lead paramedic scolded them: “I can’t believe you’d give seafood to a child with such a severe allergy! What kind of parents are you?”
“We don’t have enough epinephrine in the ambulance. We need to get to the hospital immediately. You’d better pray we make it in time.”
Olivia could only manage a bitter smile. Who would have thought that the person responsible for her son’s condition was his own father?
At the hospital, an ER doctor’s words sent Olivia’s heart racing: “A VIP’s daughter was just brought in with an asthma attack. They’ve used up all our epinephrine…”
Seeing Ethan’s face turning darker and his breathing becoming weaker, Olivia crawled into the ICU and fell to her knees: “Please… save my son…”
But as she looked up, she met Marcus’s furrowed brow: “Olivia, I’m impressed that a cripple like you managed to follow us here. What’s the point of this little act?”
Olivia’s mind was filled with images of Ethan lying on the hospital bed. She had no energy to argue with Marcus and pleaded urgently: “Ethan… Ethan is in critical condition. He needs epinephrine to save his life. Please, help him…”
Before Marcus could speak, Chloe put on a pitiful expression and leaned in: “Olivia, are you using Ethan as an excuse to try and steal Marcus from me?”
Her tone suddenly changed… “Or… are you trying to take our life-saving medicine, knowing that Rose isn’t out of danger yet, just to kill her?”
Olivia was stunned. A sharp slap across her face brought a stinging pain.
Marcus’s angry shout rang in her ears: “Olivia, have you lost your humanity?”
“Chloe and Rose are already pitiful enough, and now you want to harm Rose? When did you become so vicious?”
The pain on her face was nothing compared to the agony in her heart. Olivia begged through tears: “I’m not lying… Ethan is really in critical condition… If you don’t believe me, you can go to the ER…”
A violent gasp from the hospital bed interrupted her words.
Marcus quickly grabbed a vial of epinephrine from the nearby table and injected it into Rose. As her breathing stabilized, he turned to Olivia with an icy glare: “Olivia, are you done with your theatrics? Won’t you be satisfied until Chloe loses Rose?”
“Now, crawl over here and lick Chloe’s shoes clean. If she forgives you, I’ll give you a vial of epinephrine.”
Olivia looked at Marcus in disbelief.
But his eyes were filled with cruel anticipation. She understood – he just wanted to humiliate her for Chloe’s sake.
Once upon a time, he had been a good husband, taking care of both her and Ethan without complaint despite her disability.
But Chloe’s appearance had changed everything.
Thinking of Ethan’s increasingly dark face, Olivia could only endure.
She crawled humiliatingly towards Chloe’s feet, fighting back nausea as she extended her tongue.
Again and again, she licked Chloe’s leather shoes until they shone.
Chloe looked down, her face full of disgust: “You’d better not have any intentions of harming Rose. Being a mother like you is truly revolting.”
Olivia could only meet Marcus’s gaze, desperately asking: “Can you help save Ethan now?”
But Marcus turned to Chloe: “Well… that depends on whether Chloe forgives you or not.”
Olivia’s mind went blank. She could only force herself to kneel on the ground, repeatedly kowtowing to Chloe: “Chloe, please, I’m begging you. I’m an animal, I’m vicious, I’m not human. Please, save my son…”
Chloe put on an act of mercy, crouching down as if to help Olivia up.
But the words she whispered in Olivia’s ear were like a dull knife stabbing into her heart: “I specifically asked Marcus to make that dish, deliberately arranged the graduation party at the hotel where your son works part-time, and intentionally asked your son to taste it in front of Marcus.”
“It took so much effort to put him in this state. Why should I save him?”
2
“You bitch…”
Olivia’s mind exploded, her blood running cold.
She grabbed Chloe and threw her to the ground, pouncing on her without hesitation.
Her fists rained down on Chloe’s face, not even noticing when one of Chloe’s teeth became embedded in her hand.
It was only then that Marcus reacted, rushing over to pull Olivia off Chloe.
“Olivia, you’ve really gone mad! What gives you the right to suddenly attack someone?!”
Marcus glared at her with rage, seemingly about to hit her, but Chloe began gasping for air at that moment. Marcus hurriedly checked on her condition.
I took this opportunity to crawl back to my wheelchair, rush to the table, and grab the last vial of epinephrine, intending to leave the room.
But due to my disability, just as I was about to rush out the door, Marcus closed it before me and then kicked my wheelchair.
The wheelchair toppled, and I rolled to the side like a bag of garbage, still clutching the life-saving epinephrine for my son.
Marcus rushed over, using the heel of his shoe to step on my hand, grinding down hard. His voice was agitated: “Seeing Chloe’s asthma attack, you still want to steal this last life-saving medicine. Olivia, how can you be so vicious!”
I endured the pain in my hand, struggling in vain. I clearly saw Chloe gasping for air, but she opened her eyes and flashed me a smug smile.
I begged Marcus: “Marcus, this is also Ethan’s life-saving medicine… Chloe… she’s faking it, she’s not really having an attack…”
But Marcus didn’t even look back, the pressure from his foot increasing: “Still lying! Ethan inherited his father’s good constitution, what life-saving medicine does he need?! I know Chloe’s condition, what benefit would she get from deceiving me?!”
“If you’ve really gone crazy, I’ll send you to a mental hospital tomorrow!”
Marcus’s heel had dug into the back of my hand, blood oozing out, but I couldn’t feel any pain.
Not satisfied, he raised his foot and delivered a sharp kick to my abdomen with the pointed toe of his shoe.
My whole body curled up like a shrimp, and I finally let go of my tight grip.
To help Marcus’s company go public, I had worked tirelessly day and night, eventually developing a severe stomach condition.
Back then, whenever my stomach pain was unbearable, he would personally make a bowl of hot porridge and feed it to me with tears in his eyes.
But now, it had become a weak point for him to attack.
Marcus bent down to pick up the epinephrine.
Though it was within reach, my outstretched hand was in vain. Looking at the hand he had stomped on, he seemed to hesitate for a moment.
But as Chloe’s gasping became more urgent, he resolutely stood up and walked over to her.
Before injecting Chloe, Marcus turned to me and spoke with ice-cold words: “Olivia, remember this. If Ethan really is in critical condition as you say.”
He continued speaking as he injected the medicine into Chloe’s leg: “Even if Ethan dies, it’s all because of you.”
At this point, I couldn’t even let out a cry of anguish.
Ignoring my despair, I forced myself through the pain to climb back into my wheelchair and leave the ICU.
Maybe… maybe there was still time to transfer Ethan to another hospital…
But even though I rushed back to the ER as fast as I could, I only received news that tore my heart to shreds.
Ethan was dead.
He died a few minutes ago, just as Marcus was injecting the last dose of epinephrine into Chloe.
His eyes were bulging, the whites now stained dark brown by burst blood vessels, staring fixedly at the ceiling.
His entire face had turned blue from prolonged suffocation.
I hesitated for a long time before daring to acknowledge this was my son. Helplessly rolling off my wheelchair onto the floor, I let out an agonized wail.
……
I followed the gurney covered with a white sheet being pushed out of the ER towards the morgue in a daze.
Looking up, I saw Marcus walking towards me. He passed right by the gurney and came to push my wheelchair.
His tone was soft, with an indescribable gentleness: “It wasn’t easy for Chloe to raise Rose alone as a single mother, and they both have serious illnesses.”
“Taking care of them more, maybe it’s because my sympathy got the better of me. If it caused you any distress, it really wasn’t my intention…”
For a moment, I had the illusion that we had returned to years ago, when we were deeply in love.
Marcus paused, then continued: “Ethan… I remember his grades were pretty good, right? I’ll hold a more grand celebration for him in a few days for his college admission. After all, he’s our dearest son.”
But this sentence was like a bucket of cold water, instantly waking me up.
I turned my head to look at him, forcing a bitter smile: “Marcus, there’s no need for a celebration. Ethan… he’s already dead.”
I raised my hand to point at the gurney in front, coldly telling him: “He’s right there, you can go take a look…”
Marcus suddenly stopped, walked in front of me with a furrowed brow as if wanting to say something, but seeing the expression on my face, he turned and walked towards the gurney.
He slowly reached out to grab the white sheet, just about to lift it when Chloe’s voice suddenly rang out: “Marcus, you left your phone with me. Ethan sent you a message, seems like he’s asking what you want for dinner, says he’ll cook for you.”
I looked up at Chloe with surprise on my face, my hand unconsciously reaching for the inside pocket of my jacket.
Ethan’s phone was quietly lying there.
Before I could speak, Marcus had already walked in front of me and slapped me hard: “Olivia, I really fell for your tricks. I almost believed Ethan was dead.”
“How many times have you lied to me about Ethan? That’s your own son, is it necessary to curse him dead like this!”
3
My heart went completely cold. I let out a cold laugh and returned Marcus’s slap, shouting back without backing down: “Ethan is lying under that white sheet right now. You can look and see for yourself whether it’s true or false. What’s the point of me lying to you?”
“Go lift it and see! See clearly why your son died with his eyes wide open!”
When I touched Ethan’s phone in my pocket, I was already absolutely certain that Chloe was lying again.
But I knew that Marcus would definitely believe Chloe’s words.
Just as he would undoubtedly refute me without hesitation.
But this time Marcus hesitated. Instead, it was Chloe who came over, pretending to be sorrowful: “Olivia, is… is that really Ethan’s body?”
“Then it’s even more important for Marcus to take a good look. Such a good child, how could he have died…”
Others might not have noticed, but I clearly knew that Chloe’s words were dripping with mockery.
The next moment, before I could even react, Chloe directly lifted the white sheet covering my son.
And then, I was stunned!
Under the white sheet was clearly an old man in his eighties.
I quickly rolled my wheelchair to the bedside, looking in disbelief at this withered corpse.
This person isn’t Ethan? Then where is Ethan?
It must be Chloe’s doing!
Thinking of this, I raised my eyes to stare at Chloe, shouting furiously: “Where’s Ethan? Where have you hidden my son?!”
Chloe’s slightly raised chin, the smugness in her eyes about to overflow. But her tone was full of feigned panic: “O-Olivia, what are you saying? Didn’t I just hear you say Ethan was dead and want to take one last look at him? How can you accuse me of hiding Ethan?”
Before I could argue with her, Marcus’s hand slapped me across the face again.
The crowd turned to look, and he seemed to be struggling to suppress his anger: “Olivia, your acting skills have really improved. If it weren’t for Chloe, I might have really been fooled by you!”
“Now that you’ve been exposed, you’re using Chloe as a scapegoat. It seems I’ve been too lenient with you…”
But I had no time to care about Marcus. My mind was full of thoughts about where Ethan could be. Seeing the increasingly thick smile on Chloe’s face, the anger in my heart could no longer be suppressed. I raised my fist and struck Chloe in the abdomen.
She fell to the ground in pain. I rolled directly off my wheelchair, tightly gripping Chloe’s neck.
“Speak! Where have you hidden Ethan? Where is my son’s body?!”
Marcus shouted and was about to pull me away, but this time I didn’t let him succeed.
Chloe’s face turned from red to purple. It seemed the near-death experience made her panic. She kept patting my hand, and finally managed to squeeze out three weak words from her throat: “Gar… bage… room”
In an instant, I released my hand, ignoring Chloe who had started gasping for air. I struggled to get back into my wheelchair to go find Ethan.
But Marcus kicked my wheelchair aside, then crouched down and grabbed my hair, slamming my head against the ground again and again, ignoring the blood flowing from my forehead. He said viciously: “I’ve really been too lenient with you! You still want to kill Chloe? Why don’t you go die yourself!”
I endured the pain and accused: “Chloe has confessed… Ethan is in the garbage room…”
“Bullshit! How could she say anything when you were choking her?!”
Marcus interrupted me mercilessly. Then, as if still not satisfied, he put his hands on my neck and started squeezing.
“Come on! Speak to me! Say one word and I’ll believe you!”
The pressure on his hands gradually increased, and my breathing became labored. I struggled to say something, but couldn’t squeeze out a single word.
As my consciousness began to fade and everything around me became unclear, just when I felt I was about to be choked to death, in that last moment.
A scream suddenly came from not far away: “Ah— Ghost!”
The pressure on my throat instantly loosened.
When my vision cleared, I only saw Marcus stumbling through the crowd, his face pale as he rushed into the open garbage room nearby.
And what followed was his heart-wrenching wail: “Ethan——!!”
🌟 Continue the story here
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Working overtime until midnight, I was about to head home when floating comments suddenly appeared in the sky.
[Is this the lucky girl chosen by the male lead to be escorted home? She’s so ordinary, I wouldn’t even give her a second glance on the street.]
[Yeah, the male lead is handsome and rich. This plain girl got a free chance to be favored by him. Her ancestors must be burning incense in their graves.]
[Don’t be jealous, you guys. The male lead is just a chivalrous knight protecting girls. He won’t stop for any woman. He’s the male lead for all women, destined to conquer them all.]
I quickly stopped my motion of walking out the door.
Calling harassment “chivalrous escorting”?
What nerve!
Escort me? He’s not worthy!
Saying this, I called my three brothers.
Just as the call connected, a man suddenly rushed towards me.
“Hello, I’m Jack. I’m taking on a challenge to escort 100 girls home at night. You’re the 20th one I’ve chosen. You’re really, really lucky!”
His tone was upbeat, as if I had won a million-dollar prize.
But I remained vigilant, just lowering my head to quickly send my location to my older brothers on my phone.
Seemingly unsatisfied with my reaction, he brought his camera close to my face.
“Excuse me, miss, how do you feel about being chosen by me?”
As he spoke, he deliberately moved his face closer to mine, creating an intimate pose.
Because he was so close, I could smell the sickeningly sweet cologne on him.
I had been working overtime until dawn, my mind already foggy. Smelling this scent made me want to throw up even more.
Fighting the nausea in my stomach, I took a big step back:
“I don’t need you to escort me home. My family is already on their way. Please leave immediately!”
I thought I had made myself clear enough and he would politely withdraw.
But he suddenly laughed,
And affectionately tapped my nose:
“It’s already midnight. If someone was really coming to pick you up, they’d be here by now.”
“Alright, I know you’re just lying because you’re shy. You’re worried I might be a bad guy, but don’t worry, I don’t blame you. I’m really not a bad person. I just saw a girl hadn’t gone home so late at night and was worried about your safety. I want to protect you and escort you home. Give me a chance, okay?”
“Don’t worry, I’m just doing a challenge task. I’ll be your escorting knight, letting you enjoy the most beautiful night. You should trust…”
Before I could answer, he suddenly grabbed my hand and tilted his head to act cute at me.
Feeling the heat from his arm, I felt nauseated and violently shook him off.
After shaking him off, I vigorously wiped my arm with a tissue, scrubbing so hard I almost broke the skin.
Jack’s hand hung in mid-air, looking incredulous.
The floating comments exploded.
[No way, this plain girl actually rejected our handsome male lead? Has she looked in a mirror? Does she think she’s qualified to be picky?]
[I don’t think she’s rejecting him. This girl is probably playing hard to get. She’s doing this to make our male lead remember her. After all, the harder to get, the more memorable, right?]
[I think so too. Aren’t all women like this? Saying no when they mean yes~]
Come to think of it, that makes sense.
He’s the male lead in a harem novel. The author’s setting is that he’s practically irresistible to women.
Jack’s face soured, but he quickly put on a gentle expression again and apologized to me:
“I’m sorry, I wasn’t mindful of boundaries and scared you. But I really just want to escort you home and complete a challenge. Beautiful lady, can you please help me out?”
He rubbed his hands together and pleaded with me:
“Please, big sister, I promised my fans I’d do this challenge. Can you help me out~”
Goosebumps rose all over my body and I felt a chill.
“No, my brothers will be here soon. You should leave now.”
“If you want to challenge escorting someone home, find someone else. I’m not available.”
After saying this, I no longer looked at him and opened a match-3 game on my phone to pass the time.
Just as the “Unbelievable” sound effect played, Jack walked dejectedly towards the exit carrying his helmet.
Watching his retreating figure, I let out a long sigh of relief.
Thankfully, this area was covered by surveillance cameras.
He wasn’t so depraved as to force me against my will.
I quickly exited the game and opened the chat with my brothers.
In the past when I worked late, they would always come pick me up.
Tonight I thought I was working until dawn, and didn’t want to disturb their rest, so I specifically told them not to come and decided to take a cab home.
But because of this Jack guy challenging to escort strangers, I no longer dared to take a cab home alone.
After all, there was a 500-meter blind spot in the surveillance cameras from here to the street corner.
If something happened to me there, even the police wouldn’t be able to find me.
The only reliable option was to wait for my brothers to pick me up under the surveillance cameras.
They would arrive in just 10 minutes.
But at that moment, Jack returned.
He was holding a bouquet of flowers, walking towards me with deep affection.
I was completely disgusted, not expecting him to still be so persistent.
“Didn’t I tell you to leave? Why are you back!”
I grabbed the pepper spray from my bag and watched him warily.
If he made any inappropriate moves, I would definitely teach him a lesson.
But Jack just held the flowers out to me.
“Miss, this is my sincere gift. Please accept it. I’m sorry for bothering you so late at night. After you accept this, I’ll leave right away.”
His eyes were full of sincerity, as if he really was apologizing.
Thinking of those influencers I encountered on the street who wanted to do street photography with me, who were also this persistent but actually just doing their job,
I suddenly felt a bit softer.
Maybe I had thought too badly of him.
I hesitated for a moment, about to reach out and accept.
The floating comments appeared again.
[Brothers, here we go again, it’s the male lead’s shining moment. Every time he gives flowers, no girl can resist. Let’s wait and see this girl eat her words.]
[Haha, soon she’ll be desperately clinging to the male lead, wishing she could stick to him.]
[These materialistic women, they can’t take their eyes off a bouquet of flowers. Women are just this cheap.]
My heart tightened and I held my breath, quickly retreating several big steps.
Only when I was over a meter away from him did I release my nose and let myself breathe.
No girl can resist when he gives flowers?
How could there be such an effective method?
My sixth sense reminded me of the news I had seen about drugs that would make people obedient just by smelling them.
“I don’t need your flowers. Leave now!”
Jack’s expression changed and he explained to me pitifully:
“What’s wrong, sister? I’m just giving you flowers to apologize. Did you misunderstand something?”
“Is it that you don’t like roses? Are you allergic to pollen? If you don’t want the flowers that’s fine, don’t upset yourself. I’ll leave the flowers here and go first.”
The panic in his eyes wasn’t fake.
For a moment I was dazed, wondering if I had overthought things.
But suddenly a wave of dizziness surged through my brain and I almost lost my balance.
Jack, who had just left, exclaimed:
“Miss, are you okay?”
He tried to come forward to support me. I gritted my teeth and scolded him:
“Get lost! Take your flowers and get lost!”
Not only did he not leave, he kept coming closer. I got anxious:
“I told you not to come near me. Can’t you understand human language?”
“Do you want to wait for the police to come?”
I glared at him fiercely, holding up my phone with “911” dialed.
“Or do you want them to check what you sprayed on these flowers? What kind of unspeakable things are in there? Are you sure if this gets investigated, you can still be an influencer?”
At these words, Jack’s eyes clearly panicked. He seemed not to expect that I would know about this.
Seeing his expression, I was certain my guess was correct.
I had originally just wanted to bluff him, but I didn’t expect him to reveal his guilt.
This was the so-called male lead in the book?
Disgusting.
There were no girls willingly falling for him. They were all tricked by him.
He actually took advantage of girls’ kindness, step by step achieving his goals.
The phone started ringing, and Jack’s face changed.
I put the phone to my ear, glaring at him fiercely:
“Hello, I’d like to report a crime. Someone is…”
Seeing I was serious, Jack panicked and ran away clutching the flowers.
As soon as he left, I collapsed weakly against the chair back.
My head was dizzy and my whole body felt weak.
That drug was too strong. I had only smelled it a little but was still affected.
I looked at my phone that I had just turned off and smiled.
Thankfully, I had bluffed Jack before turning it off.
Otherwise it would have been dangerous.
I slapped my cheeks hard three times to keep myself alert.
Now, I either had to go back to the 25th floor office to charge my phone, or go to the security booth 500 meters away to use their phone.
After thinking it over, I decided to return to my company.
I was afraid Jack hadn’t gone far and was lurking outside. Going to the security booth meant walking 500 meters.
I pinched my palm hard and slowly walked towards the lobby elevator.
Pressing the 25th floor button, I leaned against the door to rest as the elevator closed.
But just as the elevator was about to close, a large hand blocked the doors.
I suddenly opened my eyes.
Jack tilted his head, smiling sinisterly while holding the flowers:
“Sister, I thought about it. I still have to give you these flowers.”
“Look at you, your phone is dead and you can’t contact your family. How can you get home alone? I still need to escort you, that’s the only safe way…”
I was thunderstruck, completely frozen.
I didn’t expect he hadn’t left and even knew my phone was dead.
Huge panic enveloped me.
In the enclosed space, the scent from the flowers grew stronger and stronger.
The dizziness in my brain intensified. My whole body was going weak. Jack’s voice became distant.
“Sister, come with me. I know you’re a good girl. You’ll agree to come with me, right?”
He reached out his hand to me.
My remaining consciousness told me to refuse, but my hand raised uncontrollably.
Tears flowed from my eyes. My mind was becoming unclear.
Just as I was about to touch his hand, I bit down hard on my tongue.
The taste of blood filled my mouth, giving me a moment of clarity.
I grabbed the pepper spray from my bag and sprayed it in his eyes.
The spicy scent wafted out as Jack let out a heart-rending scream.
He had never expected me to defend myself, which allowed me to succeed.
I grabbed my bag and used all my strength to push past him and run away.
Just then a security guard was making his rounds. I quickly ran over to him.
“Help! Help! Someone is trying to kidnap me!”
The security guard was a man in his 40s. We had met before when he helped me receive packages.
Hearing what I said, he took out his phone to call the police for me.
“It’s a misunderstanding, all a misunderstanding. Sir, she’s my girlfriend. We just had an argument. This is just a lovers’ quarrel. You should understand the situation clearly before calling the police. Otherwise it would be a false report and you’d be held responsible.”
The security guard thought Jack had a point and hung up the phone.
But he still tried to probe Jack:
“You say you’re this young lady’s boyfriend. Tell me, what’s her name? What does she do at the company? When’s her birthday…”
Jack fell silent.
I felt a glimmer of hope.
“Sir, you see he can’t answer. I have no relationship with him at all. I…”
“Her name is Olivia. She was born on April 20, 1997. She works in social media doing video editing. She’s working so late tonight because her colleague called in sick today, so…”
He narrowed his eyes and recited all the details about me word for word.
He even knew the specifics of my work without any errors.
I felt like I had fallen into an ice pit.
How did he know all this?
After hearing these details, the doubt in the security guard’s eyes faded considerably.
He rubbed his sleepy eyes and said with dissatisfaction:
“I really don’t understand you young couples nowadays. Why come to an office building late at night for a date? Hurry home and don’t hang around outside.”
Hearing this, Jack nodded repeatedly and responded:
“You’re right, sir. Sorry to disturb your work. If I hadn’t gone to buy flowers, we wouldn’t have delayed so long.”
He deliberately held up the bouquet of roses.
The security guard, who had still been slightly suspicious, saw the flowers and patted Jack on the shoulder.
“You’re quite the romantic young man. But in the future, think about the girl…”
Listening to these words, a wave of despair welled up inside me.
I wanted to run, but my body had no strength. What if I ran outside the surveillance area and got caught?
But now the security guard didn’t believe me and wouldn’t help me call the police. My phone was dead too.
Did I have no choice but to go with him?
No, absolutely not!
I took out a pen from my bag and held it to my throat.
“Sir, you know me. I’m begging you, please call the police. He’s really not my boyfr-”
Before I could finish speaking, I fainted into Jack’s arms.
He affectionately brushed the stray hairs from my forehead.
“Seriously, how old are you to still be so willful? Alright, alright, I’ll order that bag you wanted later.”
I wanted to speak, but my mouth wouldn’t obey. I couldn’t make a sound.
I could only see the floating comments surging in the sky.
[See, I told you this girl was just playing hard to get. What a gold digger…]
[Still pretending? She’s already fallen into our handsome male lead’s arms.]
[As expected of a harem novel’s male lead. He’s just so charming.]
Jack’s tone grew even gentler. One arm around my waist, he waved goodbye to the security guard with the other:
“Sir, we’ll be going now. Sorry for disturbing your work.”
Watching the security guard’s figure grow more distant, a wave of despair welled up inside me.
Tears flowed down like broken strings of pearls.
Jack leaned close to my ear and said ind in a voice only we could hear:
“It’s useless, Miss Olivia. I already promised my fan I’d deliver you to his house. He paid me $20,000. I’m keeping that money, and I’m definitely his house delivering you.”
I couldn’t speak at all as he carried me to his motorcycle.
He picked up the helmet he had prepared for me.
Just then, familiar shouts came from up ahead.
My three brothers got out of a car.
🌟 Continue the story here
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The first time I noticed something was off was when I smelled unfamiliar body wash on my husband.
We always use the same brand and scent at home. So that day, when Lucas came home and leaned in to kiss me, I immediately sensed something wasn’t right.
“Did you shower somewhere else today?” I asked casually.
“A bird pooped on my head. I didn’t want to stink up the house, so I showered at the university before coming home,” he replied smoothly.
I smiled and let my gaze flit across his face. He was too calm.
So I joked, “Good thing it didn’t happen back in your hometown. They’d say you need to eat ‘hundred-family rice’ to ward off bad luck!”
That night, before my shower, I pulled out the clothes he’d tossed in the washing machine. I sniffed them carefully but couldn’t detect any scent other than body wash.
How could a man go from morning to night, interacting with who knows how many people, without picking up even a hint of cigarette smoke, perfume, sweat, or food smells?
I examined his clothes more closely. The average adult male loses about 50 hairs a day, with the collar being a hotspot. Yet his shirt didn’t have a single hair on it! It was as clean as if he’d just put it on before coming home.
That night, he was particularly passionate in bed. A phrase popped into my mind: “Paying his dues.”
I felt nauseated. I have mild OCD, and even though there was still uncertainty about the situation, the whole process felt like swallowing a dead fly.
“Honey, you seem distracted tonight,” Lucas said, hugging me from behind afterward. “Did you hear something upsetting during a therapy session again?”
I’m a hypnotherapist.
Many people think we’re like clear mirrors or ethereal beings. In reality, we deal with people with psychological issues every day.
As the saying goes, ‘When you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes back.’ The little monsters in our clients’ minds often project onto us, creating new little monsters in our own minds.
Most of the time, we can self-regulate. When we can’t, we turn to colleagues for help.
“It was a case about chronic infidelity,” I made up on the spot. “The guy was a notorious playboy. He used to cheat in secret, but after his wife found out, he started bringing his mistresses home.”
“The wife, my client, is devastated,” I continued, turning to face him with a frown. “Why are you men so unfaithful?”
“That’s like tarring everyone with the same brush!” Lucas pinched my waist playfully. “Not all men are unfaithful! It depends on their moral compass.”
“Some men have no moral compass and sleep with anyone they can. Others, like your husband, have high moral standards. I’m your first and I’ll be your last.”
I couldn’t detect any signs of deception in his micro-expressions.
But that was normal. It would have been abnormal if I could.
As an associate professor of mathematics, Lucas was pure logic. In terms of IQ, he outclassed me by far.
Lucas and I met in college. We both did our bachelor’s and master’s degrees consecutively – me in psychology, him in mathematics. Everyone said we were a power couple, two rational minds colliding.
After our master’s, we got married as everyone expected. He started teaching undergrads at the university while working on his PhD. With my advisor’s support and my parents’ financial help, I opened a psychological counseling practice.
I majored in applied psychology, with hypnotherapy as a subspecialty.
Psychology got a late start in the US. In the early days, people were more skeptical than accepting of not just hypnotherapy, but psychology in general. Many thought the whole field was a scam.
My practice struggled at first but slowly improved. After handling a few big cases, I gained a small reputation in the industry.
Reputation may seem intangible, but it brings tangible benefits.
The practice’s revenue skyrocketed.
There’s a saying: “A woman’s sense of security doesn’t come from a man, but from money.”
Because I was earning more, my status at home rose, and I felt more secure. I was almost certain Lucas wouldn’t cheat. But reality slapped me hard in the face-
The day after I noticed something off, he picked me up from work and hugged me as usual.
With suspicions planted by the clothing incident, I didn’t hesitate to slip a lipstick into his coat pocket when I saw his overly clean clothes again.
Then I pretended nothing happened and happily went to dinner with him.
During the meal, he excused himself to the restroom for a full ten minutes. When he returned, he looked uneasy.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Nothing, just some work stuff,” he replied.
“Do you need to go back to the university?”
“No, I’ll deal with it tomorrow.”
Two skilled actors – I played the clueless wife to perfection, while he convincingly portrayed a man troubled by work issues.
Back home, he took off his coat and grabbed his phone to shower. I felt his coat pocket – the lipstick was gone.
Typical guilty behavior.
I tiptoed to the bathroom door. First, I heard the ‘ping’ of incoming SnapChat messages. Then his lowered voice, tinged with rebuke: “Who else could it be? No need to explain!… I’m home, we’ll talk tomorrow!”
My heart sank.
Before marriage, we had both expressed the same view: “Zero tolerance for cheating, no compromises.”
I stepped back, poured myself a drink, and sat on the couch, pondering my next move…
We didn’t have kids, so divorce would only involve property division.
Apart from fixed assets (house, car, collectibles, savings), Lucas managed all our joint assets. He bought stocks, funds, and insurance policies, all linked to his bank cards. I rarely inquired about them…
“Honey, what made you feel like drinking tonight?” Lucas asked as he came out of the bathroom, toweling his hair.
“Just for fun!” I raised my glass in his direction, with a hint of invitation. “I saw you go straight to shower when you got home, so I thought you… weren’t you?”
“I was,” he said, coming over to kiss me.
Two people with no real desire, both pretending to be in the mood.
I still felt as nauseated as if I’d swallowed a dead fly, but I kept reminding myself: “Don’t let him realize I know.”
I’ve seen many divorces. No matter how much couples once swore eternal love, when it comes to dividing assets, few remain dignified – most turn ugly.
I didn’t want to see Lucas’s ugly side, nor did I want him to see mine. So the best approach was: “Gracefully calculate what needs to be calculated first.”
I’m a selfish person. I don’t want years of hard work to benefit someone else.
The next day, I did two things.
First: “I went to a law firm and hired a lawyer to advise me on the next steps.”
“The lawyer approved of my actions from the night before. Don’t confront him yet, prepare everything before showing your hand. You want to catch him off guard.”
He was slightly concerned about the lipstick: “You were a bit impulsive. With your husband’s intelligence, he’ll quickly suspect you planted it.”
I replied, “He has no proof, and it’s not a shade I usually wear. Plus, he knows I have OCD.”
The lawyer told me to be careful not to give myself away, then suggested three steps plus one additional recommendation.
“Step one, gather evidence of his infidelity!”
“Step two, based on the evidence, apply to the court for asset preservation!”
“You don’t need to provide a comprehensive list of assets, just enough leads. Once you apply, the court can take measures to preserve the assets.”
“Step three, file for divorce, request dissolution of the marriage. The judge will decide how to divide marital property based on the evidence!”
Additional recommendation: “If Lucas bought any high-value items for his mistress during the marriage, like a house or car, that’s considered misappropriation of marital assets. We can legally reclaim those.”
The second thing: “I hired a private investigator to gather evidence of Lucas’s affair.”
This person, politely called a ‘private investigator’ but less politely a ‘paparazzo’, often helps dig up celebrity gossip too.
My requirements were:
“A, I want to know who the other woman is and how long it’s been going on!”
“B, Dating photos that prove their relationship, like kissing or entering a hotel!”
“C, I want to know if Lucas has given her any expensive gifts, like a house or car.”
The investigator agreed immediately, though his fee wasn’t cheap.
The private investigator’s efficiency put soap opera plotlines to shame. Those TV heroines who spend ages trying to catch the other woman should just hire a PI without hesitation.
Four days after I hired him, he had already identified the mistress.
Someone familiar.
Her name was Mia, a small-town girl who’d made it big.
During college, she interned at my practice in her senior year, then worked there for another six months after graduation. I even wrote her a recommendation letter for her next job…
Who would have thought? The farmer and the snake!
I almost laughed.
Two weeks ago, at an industry gathering, the person who clinked glasses with me and casually asked how I’d handle it if my husband cheated – that was her.
It was a subtle declaration of war.
I’m sure Lucas sensed her intentions too, which is why he never suspected me when I planted the lipstick in his pocket.
“When did they start?” I asked the investigator.
“Not sure yet, but they’ve been living together for 2 years. Here’s their address…”
I looked at the address on the note.
It was in a complex not far from the university, also close to Mia’s workplace. Convenient for both of them.
“Did they buy or rent?”
“Bought. It’s in Mia’s name.”
I didn’t need to ask who paid for it.
Mia had just a bachelor’s degree and less than 5 years of work experience. She wasn’t well-known in the field yet, with a monthly salary of just over $1,000.
In her hometown, being a college graduate was a big deal. The whole village would pitch in to help. Plus, she had a good-for-nothing brother who always needed support…
But that complex, even at prices from three years ago, would cost at least $200,000 for an 800 sq ft apartment!
I sighed.
Lucas was usually so stingy, refusing to buy me a $5,000 handbag. Who knew he’d easily shell out over $200,000 for his mistress’s apartment!
“Don’t be too heartbroken, sis!” the investigator said. “Men are all the same, thinking with their lower half.”
Though male himself, he had no qualms about criticizing his gender: “That woman isn’t as pretty as you. Your husband just got bored and wanted some excitement.”
I smiled faintly.
Lucas’s attraction to Mia was partly about ‘boredom and excitement’, but more about psychological needs.
They both grew up in small towns, fighting hard to make it in the big city. There was a sense of shared destiny. Lucas saw a bit of himself in Mia.
Lucas and I came from very different backgrounds. As he once said, he struggled for 20 years just to have the chance to drink coffee with me at Starbucks.
Between us, even though he now held a high social status, there was still an underlying inferiority complex. Whenever we went to upscale places, he’d unconsciously show timidity, observing others first.
But with Mia, given his absolute advantage in economic and social status, he must feel more relaxed and get a bigger ego boost.
Plus, in their hometown, there’s a backward view that a man’s success isn’t just about how much he earns or achieves, but also how many women he can get.
We discussed this topic when we were in college, and Lucas vehemently criticized it.
Unfortunately, ideas ingrained over years aren’t easily erased by having the right values.
As for Mia, I won’t speculate whether her feelings for Lucas were genuine.
In the adult world, it’s often just about mutual benefit.
When Mia interned with me, she repeatedly expressed envy for my background, career, and marriage.
So from my perspective, being with Lucas gave her material support. Emotionally, she probably felt she had finally surpassed me.
“Sis, here are their photos. This is all I’ve got so far,” the investigator handed me several pictures. “Do you want to go to court now, or wait a few more days?”
Looking at the photos of them coming and going together, I felt a mix of emotions.
Once upon a time promises couldn’t withstand the test of time.
“Sis, Christmas is coming up in a few days,” the investigator said, carefully gauging my expression. “Do you want to think it over?”
“In my line of work, I’ve seen a lot of dirty business. To be honest, I’ve never met a man who hasn’t strayed at least once,” the investigator said.
For a moment, I wavered, but finally just said, “Keep a close eye on them for me.”
Christmas soon arrived.
As usual, Lucas showed up at my practice with a huge bouquet of red roses.
As usual, the young staff at the office teased us, casting envious glances, posting in the work chat about being ‘fed dog food’…
I left work early, browsed the mall for a while, bought a handbag, then we had Western food.
I actually cherished the whole process, knowing it might be our last holiday together. But unexpectedly, before we finished dinner, Lucas got a call saying he had to leave.
He said his colleague had a fight with his girlfriend, then got into a physical altercation with her ex-boyfriend. Now they were at the hospital, with police taking statements, and he had to go check on them.
I knew most of Lucas’s close colleagues who might call him for something like this.
I picked up my coat and said “I’ll come too,” but Lucas stopped me. He told me to enjoy my meal, saying the person involved didn’t want too many people knowing about it. He promised to call me after playing peacemaker.
I understood immediately, reminded of those palace dramas on TV: “Those so-called favored concubines always like to flaunt their status in front of the empress. They never know how they end up dead.”
“Alright, you go then,” I said, sitting back down. “I’ll finish dinner and head to a bar for a bit.”
Lucas smiled at me, leaned down to cup my face, and touched his forehead to mine.
His tone was as doting as ever: “Don’t flirt with any young studs.”
I made a sound of agreement and played along, teasing, “You never know! If you’re jealous, come back early.”
Lucas pinched my nose, then turned and left.
Watching his retreating back, I called the private investigator: “Where are you? Lucas just left.”
The investigator said he was following Mia, then gave me an address.
From where we were eating to where Mia was, even with Christmas traffic, it should take about 40 minutes by car. But an hour passed.
The investigator messaged me that Lucas still hadn’t arrived.
I almost thought Lucas had a fourth woman, or that there really was a colleague in the hospital. But 20 minutes later, the investigator said Lucas had arrived…
That night, I met some friends at a bar. Surrounded by the noisy crowd, my mind was filled with images of those two in bed.
At midnight, I returned home. Lucas wasn’t back yet.
I walked into the study to turn on the computer. Before I even touched it, I knew why Lucas had taken twice as long to reach Mia after leaving the restaurant.
He’d come home first. Someone had used my computer.
Everyone has their own computer habits. My left and right eyes have different degrees of nearsightedness, and my right eye has astigmatism. So I keep the computer on the desk at a slight angle.
Lucas knew this house too well, so well that he forgot to pay attention to these details.
The computer usage history had been cleared.
Apart from some cutting-edge academic materials, the most important thing on my computer was the paper I was currently writing, which Mia could directly use.
Once published in an academic journal, the paper would be ranked within the industry.
I didn’t want to assume the worst intentions of Lucas and Mia, but I had to prepare for the worst-case scenario.
Although I had only recently started writing that paper, I had been preparing for it for three full years, analyzing thousands of cases and investing a huge amount of time and energy.
“Stealing my academic work is even more despicable than stealing my man!”
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I was feeding 7-year-old Lily some pumpkin porridge when Nathan stumbled drunkenly through our front door.
His collar was askew, and there were obvious red marks on his neck. “Olivia, someone spiked the drinks at the fundraising gala,” he slurred. “But don’t worry, I’ve already had the lawyers take care of it.”
I nodded silently. We’d been married for years, and he only had eyes for me and our daughter. He’d never strayed before.
Eight months later, Nathan was away on a business trip when news broke of a devastating fire on a cruise ship.
I rushed to the hospital with a crying Lily, only to find Nathan covered in bandages waiting outside the delivery room.
“Wendy is pregnant,” he choked out. “From that night at the gala… I never thought it would happen on the first try…”
His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed hard. “When the fire spread, she put the life jacket on me. But she got caught in the smoke…”
A baby’s cry pierced the air as Wendy was wheeled out of surgery. She grabbed my sleeve desperately. “Please, Mrs. Shen. A child needs a father…”
Nathan turned to me, his eyes full of torment. “Lily needs her mother. But this baby…”
I clutched our trembling daughter close and cut him off with a cold laugh. “Nathan, either make them disappear completely, or I’m taking Lily and leaving!”
He pressed me against the wall, eyes red. “I can’t lose either of you!”
On the day of the twins’ 100-day celebration, the Lu family home was decked out in festive decorations. Lily hid behind me, staring timidly at her new siblings.
I took off my wedding ring and pressed it into her little palm. “Sweetheart, let’s go meet your new daddy.”
As I dialed the number, a deep voice came through the line: “Olivia, you’ve finally decided to look my way.”
“Congratulations! The Lu family finally has an heir – twins no less!”
The Lu family mansion was filled with a joyous atmosphere as guests laughed and toasted.
Nathan was beaming as he held the two babies, handing out red envelopes to well-wishers.
Wendy leaned against him demurely, accepting congratulations as the new “Mrs. Lu.”
I stood at the entrance holding Lily’s hand. My daughter cowered behind me, staring wide-eyed at the lively scene. Her simple clothes stood out starkly against the lavish surroundings.
Wendy’s eyes flickered to us, a hint of triumph in her gaze. “Nathan, your sister and Lily are here.”
The room fell silent for a moment as all eyes turned our way.
Nathan’s smile faltered. He quickly handed the baby boy to a nanny and strode over. “Olivia, why didn’t you tell me you were coming back? I would have sent someone to pick you and Lily up…”
I let out a scornful laugh. Was he really concerned about us, or just worried we’d disrupt his happy new family?
Whispers rippled through the crowd.
“So that’s the original Mrs. Lu who couldn’t produce a son for 10 years? I heard she became infertile after her first pregnancy. If it weren’t for Young Master Lu protecting her, she’d have been divorced long ago!”
“Yet she had the nerve to run away with her daughter for three whole months, just because Mr. Lu took in his mistress and children!”
“How ungrateful. Old Mr. Lu’s dying wish was to hold a grandson. Mark my words, that Wendy girl will be the new Mrs. Lu before long…”
A flash of satisfaction crossed Wendy’s face as she slowly approached with the babies. “Sister, from now on Lily will have two little brothers. Let’s introduce them properly…”
Lily shrank back in fear. Before I could stop her, piercing wails erupted from the infants.
“Lily Lu!” Nathan roared, roughly shoving her aside.
Lily fell to the ground, scraping her knee. She burst into tears.
“Nathan, have you lost your mind?!” I crouched down to comfort Lily, glaring daggers at him.
But Nathan ignored me completely, frantically trying to soothe the crying boys.
Wendy dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief. “Sister, I know you don’t like me. But how could you teach Lily to hurt these innocent babies?”
“If Nathan hadn’t reacted so quickly, she might have poked their eyes out…”
The guests immediately turned on us in righteous anger.
“Such a vicious child at such a young age! What kind of mother raised her?!”
“The Lu family can’t keep a girl like that around!”
I held my trembling daughter close and shouted, “Wendy, you’re twisting the truth! How dare you slander us in front of all these people. Aren’t you afraid of karma?!”
Wendy turned to Nathan with pleading eyes. “Nathan, your sister can’t accept me. Maybe I should take the children and leave the Lu family…”
Nathan’s face darkened. When he looked at me, there was disappointment in his eyes.
“Olivia, I’ve been too lenient with you two. Since you can’t discipline your daughter properly, I’ll have to do it as her father.”
As soon as he finished speaking, two security guards moved to take Lily away.
I clutched her tightly. “Nathan, if you dare touch her, I’ll divorce you!”
Nathan hesitated for a moment. Suddenly Wendy cried out tearfully:
“Nathan, I think the babies are having trouble breathing. We need to get them to the hospital right away!”
Nathan’s expression changed instantly. He roughly pushed me aside and rushed to Wendy and the infants.
I quickly shielded Lily behind me, watching his panicked retreat. An icy realization settled in my heart.
It was clear now that these twin boys meant far more to him than we ever had.
“I’m taking Wendy and the babies to the hospital first,” he called over his shoulder. “As for the divorce – don’t even think about it!”
“As long as you accept Wendy and the children, you’ll still be the only Mrs. Lu! Olivia, my patience is wearing thin. Don’t push me any further!”
After they left, the guests’ gossip washed over us like a tidal wave.
“Tsk tsk, the drama in this household is better than any TV show. The proper wife can’t compete with the mistress, and even the child suffers for it.”
“Indeed. From the looks of it, Olivia has completely lost her standing. Once a man has a new love and sons, who cares about the old one!”
Lily looked up at me, confusion and fear in her eyes. “Mommy, does Daddy not want us anymore? It’s all Lily’s fault for making Daddy angry. Please don’t fight with Daddy because of me. If you get divorced, I won’t have a daddy anymore…”
I choked back tears as I hugged my daughter, desperately trying to reassure her. “It’s okay, sweetheart. You’ll have a new daddy someday.”
But memories of the past kept surfacing unbidden in my mind.
Nathan and I had dated for 3 years and been married for 8. He had always treated me like a precious treasure.
When I became infertile after Lily’s difficult birth, his grandfather tried to force us to divorce. But Nathan endured 99 lashes from the family disciplinary whip to keep our marriage intact.
The night of that fateful fundraiser, Nathan had sworn to me: “It was all an accident. I’ve already had the lawyers take care of everything.”
But a month later, he came back from a business trip missing a shirt button. He claimed it had come off during a meeting.
Soon after, I discovered an ultrasound photo on his phone, dated exactly one month after the gala.
When I confronted him, Nathan’s eyes darted away guiltily. “It’s a business partner’s baby. I’m just keeping it safe for them.”
From then on, Nathan started taking frequent business trips. He even missed our daughter’s birthday.
Until his latest trip, where he just happened to be on the same ill-fated cruise as Wendy…
“Mommy, it hurts.” Lily’s tearful voice snapped me back to reality.
Looking at the blood beading on her scraped knee, remembering Nathan’s furious eyes as he shoved her aside – I suddenly felt like our 8 years of marriage had been nothing but an absurd dream.
Nathan had long since betrayed his vows to me.
When I had a huge fight with him over Wendy and took Lily away for 3 months, he never once tried to find us.
I comforted my daughter and opened my phone to send Nathan the divorce papers I’d prepared long ago:
“Sign them. I don’t want anything except Lily.”
Then I dialed a number I’d blocked years ago. A deep voice answered:
“Olivia, you’ve finally decided to look my way.”
“Wait for me to return.”
I hung up the phone and picked up Lily, heading for the exit.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Lu ordered that you can’t take the young miss away.” The security guards blocked our path.
I steeled myself and opened my phone. But what I saw was a new social media post from Wendy, showing a photo of Nathan:
“Thank goodness Nathan rushed us to the hospital in time! On behalf of our boys, I want to thank their daddy!”
My breath caught painfully. I felt like I was about to cough up blood.
“Mommy! What’s wrong?!” Lily cried out in panic, seeing my pallor.
“Quick! Mrs. Shen is coughing up blood. Get her to the hospital!”
In the chaos, I was rushed to the emergency room. I remained unconscious for three whole days.
When I finally came to, Lily was nowhere to be seen.
“Lily!” I called out frantically.
“A man came earlier saying he was the little girl’s father. He took her away,” a nurse informed me.
My heart sank as a terrible premonition gripped me.
I called Nathan’s number three times before he finally picked up.
“Nathan, what have you done with Lily?! What are you planning?!”
Nathan let out a cold laugh. “What am I planning? I should be asking you that! You sent Lily to harm my children with Wendy. Did you think I was blind?”
“That’s impossible! Lily would never do such a thing. This is all Wendy’s scheme!”
I struggled to get out of bed, but the IV lines held me back painfully.
“A scheme?” Nathan’s voice was ice cold. “The security footage clearly clearly shows Lily approaching the cribs with scissors, saying she wanted revenge for you. What a fine daughter you’ve raised, Olivia!”
I felt like I’d been plunged into an icy lake. It couldn’t be true. Lily had even told me not to blame Nathan earlier…
There was a loud crash through the phone, followed by Lily’s tearful pleas:
“Daddy, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to hurt the babies…”
My hands shook uncontrollably as I gripped the phone. Tears streamed down my face.
“Lily! Nathan, don’t hurt her, she’s only seven years old! If you want to take your anger out on someone, come find me! I’m begging you…”
But Nathan didn’t even let me finish. “Olivia, from now on Lily is under my care. If you dare interfere again, don’t blame me for disregarding our marriage!”
The line went dead.
I yanked out my IV, ignoring the nurses’ protests as I stumbled towards the exit.
No matter what, I had to save my daughter!
But as soon as I made it outside, I was surrounded by a sea of flashing cameras.
Reporters swarmed around me, thrusting microphones in my face.
“Ms. Shen, is it true that you incited your daughter to harm the twins out of jealousy over Wendy giving birth to sons?”
“Online rumors say you can no longer bear children, so you wanted to eliminate the Lu family heirs. Can you comment on this?”
“Mr. Lu has released a statement saying he will hold you legally responsible. What is your response?”
I was jostled so badly I could barely stand.
My phone buzzed incessantly as trending topics popped up one after another:
#LuFamilyWifePoisons Illegitimate Children# #OliviaMadWithJealousy#
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Two months after a car accident left my face disfigured, my husband Jack and his sophisticated sister Olivia got together.
When my parents found out, not only did they not blame Jack, they actually urged me to step aside.
Even my own daughter looked at me with disgust.
“I don’t want this ugly freak as my mom. I want Aunt Olivia to be my mom,” she said.
I calmly agreed and chose to leave the Jiang family, cutting ties with them completely.
After years of hard work and struggle, I finally achieved financial freedom.
Later, I adopted two children from an orphanage.
Under my careful nurturing, they became a rising tech star and a business tycoon worth billions.
Watching them succeed, I decided to indulge myself for once and go on an aimless backpacking trip.
Halfway through my journey, Jack showed up with our daughter.
Seeing my disheveled appearance from roughing it, their faces were full of mockery.
“Looks like we were right. After leaving the Jiang family, you’re just barely scraping by like a beggar.”
“My parents want to see you now. We’ll give you one more chance to come back with us.”
“It’ll also let you experience the wealthy lifestyle we Jiangs enjoy now, you beggar.”
My daughter Lily also looked at me smugly.
“You left the Jiang family so decisively back then. I thought you had some skills up your sleeve. Turns out you’ve just been wandering around homeless this whole time!”
“If I were you, I’d find a block of tofu and smash my head into it. Save everyone the oxygen you’re wasting.”
I paused for a moment, looking at Lily with a complicated expression.
I couldn’t believe that after all these years, she was still so disrespectful, with no regard for her elders.
But I wasn’t angry. I just looked at them calmly.
“What does this have to do with you?”
From the moment they kicked me out of the Jiang family, I no longer had any connection to them.
“Your Jiang family may be doing a bit better now. You might even be comparable to one of Ethan’s subsidiaries.”
“But that’s your own business. No need to brag about it to me.”
Seeing that I wasn’t showing the reaction they wanted, the father-daughter pair were taken aback for a moment.
After a while, Jack looked at me with disdain.
“You’ve been reduced to wandering homeless, yet you’re still so stubborn?”
“If it weren’t for Dad wanting to see you for his 80th birthday, we wouldn’t even bother looking at you.”
“But since Dad asked, whether you agree or not, you have to come back with us.”
Jack’s tone was full of determination, just like in the past.
I still shook my head.
“Those are your parents!”
“From the moment I left, I no longer had any parents.”
Although they raised me, I had already repaid that debt when I left empty-handed, leaving all the assets to them.
Seeing that I was still so stubborn, Lily’s face became even more contemptuous.
“You’ve been reduced to wandering homeless. No need to put on an act in front of us.”
“Us bringing you back is a favor to you, understand?”
“But even if you come back, don’t you dare have any ideas about Aunt Olivia. We’ll never let that happen.”
Looking at her increasingly fierce expression, my heart sank a little.
She had always been extremely cunning, even as a child.
When she was just 7 or 8 years old, in order to stay with her aunt forever, she deliberately ran into the middle of the road to lure me over.
When a speeding car approached, she suddenly dodged to the side. But I, focused only on saving her, was hit and thrown several meters.
While I was seriously injured in the hospital, she slandered me, saying I was trying to take her with me to commit suicide, all to help her aunt enter the Jiang family smoothly.
Later, when I told Jack about this, he just sneered.
“She’s only 8 years old. How could she have such vicious thoughts?”
“I think you’re the truly vicious one, framing your own daughter for your own benefit.”
What he said wasn’t wrong.
If I hadn’t experienced it myself, I wouldn’t have believed an 8-year-old could have such malicious intentions.
But that was the reality, no matter how unbelievable.
The flesh and blood I once cherished more than my own life had become the one who hurt me the deepest.
Looking at Lily before me now, in my heart I already saw her as a complete stranger.
Just as I was lost in thought, Jack and Lily kicked aside the dog Yellow that had accompanied me for years, and roughly dragged me into their car.
I struggled desperately, wanting to check on Yellow’s condition, but was no match for the two of them.
Lily even took out a fruit knife from the car and waved it in front of my face.
“You ugly freak, you’d better behave. Otherwise I’ll disfigure the other side of your face too!”
Even though I had long decided to cut ties with her, seeing her vicious expression still made my heart ache.
No matter what, I was still the mother who gave birth to her and raised her. Yet she treated me like this.
I obediently stopped struggling and sat quietly in the car.
Because I knew Lily wasn’t simply threatening me.
If I continued to make a fuss, she really would follow through on her words.
After all, in her eyes, her own birth mother was no different from a beggar on the street.
“That’s more like it. As long as you obediently listen to us, we won’t let you keep wandering homeless. We’ll keep you in the Jiang house like a pet, since Grandpa still needs you.”
“You probably don’t understand the wealth of our Jiang family now.”
She held up the Cartier watch on her wrist, waving it in front of me like she was showing off.
“This watch was a gift from Aunt Olivia. It cost over $70,000. You could never afford something like this in your entire life.”
“As a poor beggar, you need to know your place. Don’t try to put on airs in front of us. It won’t do you any good.”
Even though I was Lily’s birth mother, it didn’t stop her from lecturing me with the attitude of an elder.
Listening to her words, my whole body started trembling with anger.
I really didn’t know what kind of environment the Jiang family was raising Lily in, to make her so utterly disrespectful.
Arriving at the Jiang house entrance, I immediately sent a message to my two adopted sons, telling them to come pick me up from the Jiang house right away.
I didn’t want to stay in this place for even a second longer.
Just as I sent the message, a familiar figure walked out of the house.
“Sister, it’s been so many years. How did you end up in such a sorry state?”
“You’re bringing shame to our whole Lin family!”
The speaker was my sister, Olivia Lin.
Olivia’s eyes were still full of disdain for me, and she even tilted her head up slightly as she spoke.
She seemed to have forgotten that she only got everything she has now because of my generosity.
“Olivia Lin, let go of me, and let go of yourself too!”
I tried to use a calm tone to communicate with Olivia.
She had always been strong-willed since childhood, liking to compete with me on everything.
For her sake, I had already given up too much.
My education, my family, even half my life I had given to her.
But she didn’t seem to appreciate my good intentions at all.
She was still as arrogant as before.
Olivia looked at me mockingly.
“Let go of you? Do you even deserve to say such things in your current state?”
“Know your place. You’re no different from a beggar now. From now on, as long as you behave like a good dog in our Jiang house, you can still enjoy some of the Jiang family’s glory and wealth.”
As she spoke, Olivia lightly clapped her hands, having a servant bring an exquisite gift box and place it in front of me.
“This is the birthday gift I prepared for Dad. It cost over $300,000. I’ll let you have a good look today to broaden your horizons.”
Saying this, Olivia took out a piece of Hetian jade from the box and held it out in front of me. Just as I was about to reach out and take it, Olivia suddenly slapped me hard across the face.
“Something like this is just for you to look at. Is it something someone of your status can touch? You may not mind the dirt, but I’m worried Dad will find it dirty!”
I was stunned by her sudden slap.
After a long while, I finally held back my tears and looked at her.
“If you didn’t want me to touch it, why did you hold it out in front of me?”
Olivia chuckled.
“I just wanted to humiliate you a bit. Is that not allowed?”
My heart suddenly understood. She simply wanted to humiliate me.
Jack, who had been watching this whole scene, showed no intention of stopping it. There was even a hint of mockery in his eyes.
But I seemed to have gotten used to this kind of scene many years ago.
In their eyes, Olivia was not only beautiful, but also cultured. She could do no wrong.
No matter what she did, they would unconditionally shield her.
And I would always be the one to swallow my anger and grievances.
Most of the time, I didn’t even have the right to argue with her.
Just then, the roar of car engines sounded outside.
My parents also arrived at the Jiang house, led by Jack’s driver.
Olivia and Jack immediately walked over excitedly to help my parents out of the car.
“Dad, Mom!”
When they walked up to me, I softly moved my lips and called out to them.
But they just glanced at me coldly before walking into the house with Olivia and the others.
It seemed they found it beneath them to even say a word to their daughter.
I stood there watching their backs as they entered the house, feeling as if my whole being was being torn apart in pain.
“Grandpa and Grandma are calling you inside.”
After I don’t know how long standing in the cold wind, Lily finally came out and told me in an unfriendly tone.
I nodded and followed behind Lily into the house, my face pale.
“Rose, after all these years, can you still not let go of what happened back then?”
As soon as we entered the living room, my father sitting on the sofa questioned me sternly.
I shook my head, looking at him with incomprehension.
“Do you think this is something easy to let go of?”
Back then, Olivia not only took over my family, but also guided the young Lily to push me into the abyss.
Yet they not only didn’t see it as Olivia’s fault, but turned all the blame on me. How could I possibly let go so easily?
My mother snorted coldly as she looked at me.
“Even if Olivia hadn’t married Jack, do you think you’d still be worthy of him?”
“A woman like you with no education and a ruined face – Jack would probably be laughed at just taking you out for a walk. How did I give birth to such an ungrateful daughter?”
Hearing my mother’s words, I once again felt as if my whole being was being torn apart.
During my school years, my grades were not bad. They were even better than Olivia’s.
Unfortunately, our Lin family wasn’t well-off at the time. Supporting one college student was already a struggle, let alone two.
After their constant persuasion, I had no choice but to give up my studies and start working to support Olivia through school.
Later, with our family’s all-out support, Olivia not only went to college, but also got into graduate school.
Olivia naturally became their pride and joy, while I, the sister who gave up everything for her, not only didn’t receive their gratitude, but was belittled to the bone.
In their words, it all seemed to have become my fault.
I could no longer control the emotions in my heart and shouted at them.
“Put your hand on your heart and ask yourself, is this really my fault?”
The room fell into a brief silence.
My father sighed and finally spoke again.
“Olivia is your younger sister. As the older sister, shouldn’t you have yielded to her a bit?”
“It’s all in the past now. There’s no use dwelling on these things anymore. I just hope you can let go of all grudges and stay by our side to take care of us. Jack’s business is growing bigger and bigger now. We can’t let the two of them be distracted.”
Hearing his words, I laughed coldly in my heart. Now I finally knew their purpose in calling me back – the family needed a maid, so they wanted to call back their obedient daughter to be the maid.
If it weren’t for this, they probably wouldn’t have even remembered my existence as their daughter.
I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and tried hard not to feel too hurt.
“I can only stay here for one day. I can’t stay by your side forever.”
Even if they had spoken a little more tactfully, or shown a bit more warmth towards me, as their daughter, I would have stayed by their side without hesitation.
But their words and actions were too hurtful, completely extinguishing the last bit of hope I had for them in my heart.
“You think you still have a choice in this matter? Rose Lin, let me make this clear to you today – no matter what, you must stay by Mom and Dad’s side to take care of them.”
Jack’s tone was full of arrogance, leaving no room for argument.
I looked at him in disbelief. “Do I not even have the right to choose my own life anymore?”
Jack snorted coldly.
“Isn’t staying in our Jiang family better than begging everywhere? We’re all doing this for your own good.”
Before I could react, Jack waved his hand. Several of the Jiang family’s servants rushed over, roughly tied me up, gagged me, and locked me in a guest room nearby.
The guests watching this scene had long become used to it. They all knew that Jack had abandoned a previous wife before. And I knew without thinking that I was that previous wife Jack had abandoned.
My facial features were just too distinctive.
“Rose Lin, I think you have far too many issues now. Today I’ll have someone help correct this nasty habit of yours first.”
Jack said these final words to me before directly locking the door. Inside the room, several servants holding clubs were eyeing me menacingly.
Before I could react, those servants had already started beating me viciously with their clubs.
The intense pain made me curl up my body and struggle constantly.
Soon, my whole body was covered in blood.
However, those servants seemed to have received instructions from Jack and showed no signs of stopping.
Gradually my consciousness became fuzzy, and I felt like I could barely breathe.
Only then did Jack walk in again, looking at me with a ferocious expression.
“If you don’t agree to stay, I’ll beat you like this every day until you agree!”
Hearing Jack’s words, my heart was filled with despair. Was I really going to be trapped here like an animal for the rest of my life?
Tears mixed with blood kept falling down my cheeks. I felt like I had fallen into a bottomless abyss once again.
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My wife went on a 3-year business trip abroad. When she returned, I went to pick her up at the airport.
To my shock, she wasn’t alone – there was also a 6-month-old baby.
My coworkers joked: “The kid may not be yours, but at least your wife still is!”
But then my wife handed me divorce papers. This time, I was the one who didn’t want her anymore.
Amber was my wife. She was a stunning beauty, a real knockout.
Soon after joining the company, she quickly climbed the corporate ladder. Three years ago, she left for an overseas assignment.
“Three years for a million dollars,” she said. “When I come back, we’ll be set for life.”
Today was the day of her return. I took the day off specially to pick her up.
At the airport, I spotted her from afar.
After three years apart, my wife’s figure had filled out a bit, which suited her well.
I waved to her, then noticed a woman in her 50s next to her, holding a baby.
As they got closer, Amber took the baby in her arms. I was stunned, then assumed she must be helping out. How kind of her.
“Honey!” I called out excitedly.
Amber walked over and handed the baby to the older woman. “You two go wait in the car first.”
The baby started crying. The woman comforted him: “Don’t cry, sweetie. Mommy will be back soon!”
I froze. Mommy?
I stared at Amber. “What did she mean by ‘mommy’?”
Amber said grimly: “Jack, we need to talk.”
She walked to the side and I hurried after her.
Up close, I noticed she smelled of baby powder. Her body also had the shape of a new mother.
“Amber, what’s going on with that baby?”
“Don’t tell me you were gone for 3 years and had a kid!”
Amber’s face was cold. “You’ve seen it all. I won’t lie to you. The baby is mine, but I’ll explain everything.”
“Go home first. I’ll contact you after I wrap up some work stuff. That’s all for now!”
Without another word, she turned and left.
I was dumbfounded. It took me a while to react and chase after her.
But I saw her being embraced by Eric as they got into a Mercedes.
Eric!
My heart sank.
Three years ago, Eric had also gone abroad on business. When he left, I’d given him some expensive gifts and asked him to look after Amber.
Looks like he took “looking after her” way too far!
I clenched my fists and drove back to the office.
With the baby, Amber would surely go home first. I didn’t care which home – it certainly wasn’t mine anymore!
Red-eyed with anger, I stormed into the office. I overheard some people gossiping in the break room.
“Amber got promoted as soon as she came back. Goes to show how being pretty helps your career!”
“More like she used her son to get ahead. Eric can’t marry her officially, so he had to give her something!”
“Jack’s pretty chill about it though. Doesn’t seem to mind his wife being a surrogate!”
Hearing their words felt like a knife to the gut. They all knew Amber had hooked up with Eric abroad, and kept it from me!
I’d been played for a fool, left in the dark while joking with them about missing my wife.
I’d told Amber I wanted to visit her abroad, but she made excuses about it being inconvenient and a waste of time and money.
She’d pleaded: “Jack, I’m doing this for our future. Can’t you just be patient?”
Patient? I’d waited faithfully for 3 years, only to get this result.
I cleared my throat. The group turned and saw me, their faces turning awkward.
“Jack, uh… came for some coffee?”
“Yeah, and to hear you guys gossip,” I replied coldly.
One of them boldly said: “Hey Jack, it’s really not a big deal. Most guys would kill for this chance!”
“You got your full salary these 3 years while your wife was making bank abroad. Now she’s back as a director!”
“How’s it feel? Got any tips to share?”
He looked at me smugly. I knew he’d never respected being on my team and slacked off constantly.
He was good at kissing ass though. Team 2 had asked for him, and I’d planned to transfer him at the end of the month. Now I realized I couldn’t fire him anymore – might as well let him go early.
But before that, I had to put him in his place!
I smiled at the guy who spoke. “For a grown man, you sure love to gossip. You’d make a great busybody.”
“You know, I do have some advice. Want to hear it?” to hear it?”
I beckoned him closer. He leaned in and I growled in his ear: “How about you strip naked and sell yourself, asshole!”
“What did you say?!”
I shrugged. “Isn’t this the advice you wanted? Can’t handle the truth?”
“Jack, you’ve got some nerve! Yeah, you’re fine with being a kept man. The kid’s not yours, but at least you’ve still got your wife! When Eric moves to HQ, you can have her pop out another one. Two for one deal!”
The group burst out laughing. I snapped and punched him, pinning him to the ground.
This chicken-legged punk was no match for my fists. He wailed and begged for mercy. The others watched and laughed at first, but when they saw I was really going to town on him, they rushed to pull us apart.
I shook out my hand. “Who’s the kept man now, loser?”
“Jack, I’m calling the cops!”
“Go ahead!”
Just then, Eric showed up. “What’s all this commotion about? Who’s calling the cops?”
“Mr. Cui, Jack beat me up! Look what he did to me!”
Eric glared at me. “Jack, what’s wrong with you? This is a workplace, not a boxing ring!”
“Your performance bonus is getting docked this month!”
Mike sneered. “Jack, I won’t press charges. Just pay me $5000 and we’re good.”
I laughed. “Sure, go ahead and call the cops. I recorded your trash talk earlier. If this gets out, none of us will look good!”
Mike was about to explode but Eric held him back. “Enough! Everyone get back to work. Adults need to take responsibility for their actions. Mike, come with me.”
Mike stormed off angrily with Eric. I looked around coldly at the group. “Anyone else want to gossip behind my back? This is what you’ll get!”
“Jack, aren’t you afraid of getting fired?”
“Yeah, you’re being pretty cocky!”
I shrugged. “What’s there to be afraid of? Worst case, I find a new job. I’m not worried – can you guys say the same in this economy?”
That shut them up.
I may not brag, but my skills speak for themselves.
To be honest, I would never have joined this company if Amber hadn’t insisted.
In 5 years, my performance was outstanding. We all knew how Amber got her management position.
At first she was grateful, but over time she started believing it was all her own merit.
No rush. I wanted to see what they were really thinking.
When Mike came out half an hour later, HR was with him, watching him pack up his desk. I was surprised.
“Listen up everyone. From now on, anyone who harasses or provokes others at work will be fired immediately!”
“Mike is the example!”
Everyone turned to look at me. My heart sank. They were doing this on purpose!
As Mike passed me, he sneered: “Jack, you sold out your wife to get ahead. You disgust me!”
I laughed but said nothing, just watched him leave. Then I turned to look at Eric’s office.
The bastard was clearly trying to provoke me. I was about to storm into his office when HR stopped me.
“Hold on, Mr. Cui is in a video call. You can’t go in.”
I glared at him. “I just beat up Mike and got away with it. What do you think will happen if I punch you? Will Eric fire me or you?”
The HR guy froze, not daring to stop me. I was about to go in when Eric came out.
Seeing me at the door, he frowned. “What do you want?”
“Mr. Cui, you seem to have forgotten. Didn’t you say you’d give me an explanation?”
“Or would you rather discuss this here?”
Eric thought for a moment. “Let’s talk outside. Follow me.”
He gestured for me to come along. I followed him, watching his furrowed brow.
In the parking garage, Eric handed me an envelope. I felt it – about $1000.
“What’s this supposed to mean?”
“Jack, take the money and you can keep working here normally. Don’t make a fuss about this.”
“Keep working normally? You slept with my wife and you want me to act like nothing happened?!”
I grabbed his collar. “Tell me the truth. When did it start?!”
Eric’s face darkened. “I don’t need to give you details. Besides this, there’s also a bank card with $3 million. That’s $1 million for each year – not a bad deal.”
“You have 3 days, Jack. This is my final offer. For each day you delay, I’ll deduct $1 million!”
I was about to say more but he cut me off. “Think it through before you speak to me again.”
“After all, I call the shots at the company now. If you don’t agree, once word gets out, I can crush you easily!”
He was threatening me!
I scoffed and slapped him hard across the face!
I dragged him out of the car and started beating him!
Eric was 7-8 years older and half a head taller, but he was all talk. He was no match for me at all!
Soon I had him pinned on the hood.
He yelled furiously: “Jack, you dare hit me?! I’ll fucking kill you!”
I kneed him hard. His face went white with pain.
I grabbed his throat and roared: “Eric, you bastard! How dare you touch my wife!”
Suddenly a strong force knocked me over. Security had arrived and pinned me to the ground.
Eric got up, livid. “Call the police! Call the police!”
“Don’t call the police!”
It was Amber. She came through the emergency exit.
I realized she’d been there the whole time!
“Let him go. I need to talk to him.”
Eric waved the guards off and got in his car.
The guards released me but stood nearby, ready to jump in.
I glared at her with bloodshot eyes. “You told me you were forced into it. Just say the word and I’ll help you get justice!”
Amber sighed impatiently. “Don’t be stupid! Jack, let’s end this peacefully!”
I stared at her, suddenly filled with rage. “Amber, we’ve only been married 4 years! You’ve been cheating for 3!”
“How could you do this to me?!”
But Amber was eerily calm. “Should I call you naive or just plain dumb? When has a newbie like me ever gotten an overseas assignment?”
The company had a policy of only sending men on foreign projects. I was shocked when Amber was chosen.
But she said she was talented enough to be the exception.
Even with the policy, they’d make an exception for her.
Now she was using this to mock my naivety.
She glanced at her phone. It showed a family photo of the three of them. How ironic!
“Jack, you can’t give me what I want. Let’s get divorced!”
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