Author: Momo Chan

While scrolling through Twitter late one night, I stumbled across a girl’s post gushing about her sweet love story with her boyfriend. But as I read it, something felt terribly wrong. The guy she was describing in the post… why did he sound exactly like my boyfriend?! 01 Late at night, while scrolling through a popular relationship confession account on Twitter, I saw a girl’s submission about her romance. The post was dripping with sickeningly sweet details. She bragged about how her boyfriend, despite being broke, was incredibly considerate. He would rub her stomach when she had cramps, remember every single anniversary and holiday, and constantly cook different meals for her… The comments below were a chorus of people whining about how single they were, complaining about getting hit in the face with this “cold, hard dog food” (PDA). As I read, the corners of my mouth couldn’t help but curve up. Because my boyfriend, Ethan, was exactly like that. Even though he didn’t have much money, he was incredibly honest, kind, and driven. And he treated me incredibly well. But as I kept reading, a chilling sense of wrongness crept over me. Not only did the guy in the post share an uncanny personality resemblance with Ethan, but his height, weight, age, zodiac sign, and even his hometown were exactly the same. This was way too much of a coincidence, wasn’t it?! I turned my head to look at Ethan sleeping next to me, my heart sinking like a stone. It’s impossible, I comforted myself. Ethan would never cheat on me. But for some inexplicable reason, my chest tightened with panic. If I didn’t investigate this tonight, there was no way I was going to sleep. I carefully reached over and took Ethan’s phone. He never hid his passcode from me; he always let me look whenever I wanted. It was the same this time. I scoured every single app and couldn’t find a single suspicious thing. I let out a sigh of relief, silently cursing myself for being paranoid. How could there possibly be such a coincidence? Just as I was about to put the phone down and go back to sleep, I suddenly remembered that Ethan had borrowed my car yesterday. When I asked him why, he said he had to go to the office for some overtime… Driven by a ghost of a suspicion, I slipped out of bed, went to the bathroom, and pulled up the dashcam app on my phone. I never checked my dashcam footage. But the moment I opened the log, my heart stopped. All the previous footage had been completely wiped clean. The only recordings left were from yesterday. Only Ethan had access to my phone. If the footage was wiped, he was the only one who could have done it. But why would he need to delete the recordings?! I took a deep breath and opened the only remaining footage from yesterday. He had been exhausted today and passed out the second his head hit the pillow. He probably just hadn’t had the chance to delete today’s footage yet. I clicked on yesterday’s date. The fluorescent light in the bathroom was so bright it made my head spin. I stood there in dead silence, watching the progress bar slowly move forward. After a short while, the car pulled into a residential complex I didn’t recognize. Then, the car parked in front of an apartment building, and the sound of the car door shutting echoed through the speaker. No one spoke in the car, but almost immediately, the unmistakable sound of kissing filled the audio. Then, a woman laughed coquettishly and said: “When are you going to get the rest of the money?” I froze. That voice was so familiar. Wasn’t that my coworker, Rachel? Why was she in my car? Ethan’s voice rang out next: “Soon! I just hit her up for another $15,000 yesterday. Combined with the $10,000 from before, we’ve already got half of it. “I’ll make up another excuse in a few days. I’ll tell her the business went under and I lost everything, and ask her to give me more… Who knows, maybe your future husband can squeeze enough out of her to buy you a house too!” Ethan slapped Rachel affectionately, judging by the sound, and laughed: “We’ll buy you that house in Oakwood Estates you love so much!” Rachel scoffed playfully. “She’s so stupid and so obsessed with you, of course she’ll give it to you! “Chloe has the best background in our entire company. I heard her uncle is the director of the City Planning Bureau. You better not let this catch slip away!” Rachel’s tone then softened completely: “Hubby, you’ve really suffered for us. If my parents weren’t demanding a $50,000 dowry for my brother, you wouldn’t have had to go seduce her…” Ethan chuckled. “She just got lucky being born into money, right? What does a woman need all that cash for anyway? She might as well let us spend it! “I heard her dad is planning to buy her a house soon. God knows how much dirty money that old bastard has embezzled. When the time comes, I’ll convince her to put my name on the deed, and then it’ll all belong to us!” I was paralyzed. I stood rooted to the spot, staring blankly at my phone screen. Rachel was a coworker at my company. When I first joined, she found out I was single and very enthusiastically introduced Ethan to me. And I fell for him at first sight. We got together very quickly. My hands were trembling so violently I could barely hold the phone. A freezing chill swept through my entire body. Ethan and Rachel’s voices echoed in my head like a demonic chant. It turned out that beneath the skin of the honest, driven, and considerate man I thought I knew lay an entirely different, monstrous face. My supposed “love at first sight” was nothing more than a calculated approach designed to steal my family’s wealth. Ethan only got together with me to scam me out of my money, all to satisfy the exorbitant dowry Rachel’s family was demanding for her brother. This was absolute, complete bullshit! I collapsed onto the bathroom tiles, covering my burning, stinging eyes. Tears of pure, unadulterated humiliation streamed down my face. Ethan and I were already talking about marriage. I genuinely thought he was a gift from God, a man perfectly tailored for me. My parents had already started preparing my wedding fund. They were very satisfied with Ethan and planned to give me a $30,000 cash gift and buy him a car. But now… I stared at the ceiling, my brain a chaotic, spiraling mess. Just as I was paralyzed with shock and betrayal, the faint sound of footsteps came from outside the door. Ethan was up. I instantly swiped away the app and stood up to splash cold water on my face. Ethan pushed the door open, wrapping his arms around me from behind, his voice dripping with gentle concern. “Why are you up washing your face in the middle of the night?” I stared at him intently through the mirror. I used to think heaven had taken pity on me, sending me such a perfect man. I never imagined it was all an elaborate, malicious scam. These two disgusting grifters had set this vicious trap just to drain my bank accounts! And Rachel had the sheer, unmitigated audacity to go brag about it on Twitter! The handsome face I once thought was flawless now looked twisted and repulsive. I clenched my fists, a venomous hatred blooming in my chest. These two pieces of trash. I was going to make them pay for this! … “What’s wrong?” Ethan noticed my expression change, his face immediately shifting to concern. He pressed the back of his hand against my forehead, looking incredibly worried: “Do you have a fever?” It took every ounce of strength in my body to suppress the urge to turn around and slap the life out of him. I forced a strained smile. “I’m fine. It’s just too hot, I was sweating and felt gross.” “Let me feel, are you really that sweaty?” Ethan laughed, slipping his hand under my shirt. This absolute animal! Trying to steal my money and use my body! I gritted my teeth so hard my jaw ached. I grabbed his hand, brushing him off dismissively: “I don’t feel well.” “…Okay then,” he muttered, clearly disappointed. He pulled me out of the bathroom and back into bed. Ethan lay next to me and was asleep again in minutes. I, however, stared at the pitch-black ceiling, fury boiling in my veins. I wasn’t going to let them get away with this! 02 First thing the next morning, I requested a few days off work and stayed home specifically to investigate Rachel. Sure enough, after a few hours of digging, I finally found her Twitter account. Besides retweeting giveaways, her entire feed was dedicated to showing off her relationship. The timeline spanned years, proving they had been together for at least three years. Almost all the photos were of her and Ethan. Many of them were taken in hotel rooms. At a glance, I could tell they were cheap, rundown motels—worse than a Motel 6. Both Rachel and Ethan came from rural, struggling families. At first, I actually felt bad for Rachel. Whenever I bought something nice, I’d buy two and give her one. I even let her carpool with me on the way home from work. But my kindness had fed a monster! She actually set her sights on my family’s assets! The whole picture was crystal clear now. I took screenshots of every single tweet and saved them all to a hidden folder. I lay on my bed, my mind racing with plans. I wasn’t going to just let this go. Since they had the guts to target me, they had to pay the price! They want money, right? I’m going to make them vomit up every single cent they have! … According to their conversation on the dashcam, Ethan was going to ask me for money for the third time very soon. Before this, he always claimed he was starting a business. To support him, I gave him all my savings. I even stopped driving my car. Afraid he was working too hard running around for his “business,” I gave him my keys and started taking the subway to work. But while he claimed to be out hustling for his startup, he was actually driving my car to take Rachel out on dates! Rachel even had the shameless audacity to post pictures of my car on her Twitter, acting like it was hers! I suppressed the fury threatening to consume me and waited for Ethan to make his move. Sure enough, two days later, Ethan started acting dejected, moping around in front of me. He wouldn’t say anything first. He just kept sighing heavily in my presence, waiting for me to ask. I watched his performance with cold, detached eyes. After a while, he clearly started getting impatient, and his sighs grew louder and more dramatic. “What’s wrong?” I asked, pasting a look of deep concern on my face, deciding to play along with his little act. Ethan glanced at me, pretending to hesitate, before continuing his performance: “Forget it, it’s nothing.” I gave him an out: “What is it? Just tell me!” “Sigh. I wasn’t going to tell you, but a large shipment of my inventory got held up at customs. I don’t have the cash to order new stock right now. If this keeps up, I’m afraid my company is going to go under!” I sneered internally. Company? I had already run a background check. There was absolutely no company registered under his name. He didn’t even know how to lie properly. Blinded by love, I used to actually believe this garbage and transferred money to him time and time again. I feigned distress: “But I don’t have any money left either. That $15,000 I gave you last time was everything I had left…” I watched Ethan’s expression out of the corner of my eye. His face tightened slightly, but he quickly adjusted and nodded: “I know. As a man, I shouldn’t be asking you for money anyway. “I was just venting…” If this were any normal day, I would have already been frantically trying to find a solution for him. But today, I acted like I didn’t hear a thing and completely ignored his bait. Ethan watched me for a moment. When I didn’t take the bait, he pulled a makeup gift set out of a shopping bag and handed it to me. “Tomorrow’s Valentine’s Day! An early gift for you!” I took the set. One glance was all I needed to know it was a cheap counterfeit. Ethan had given me counterfeits before, but he always claimed he bought them through a personal shopper. I used to think he had just been scammed and felt too bad to tell him the truth. Thinking back on it now, he just didn’t want to spend money on me. He bought fakes on purpose! Tomorrow was Valentine’s Day. He was definitely planning to go out on a date with Rachel. I thought about it and decided to just hand him the perfect opportunity. “Thank you, baby. But it sucks that I have to go out of town on a business trip tomorrow and the day after. I won’t be able to spend it with you…” Ethan froze, quickly putting on a disappointed face: “Ah, that long… I’m going to miss my wife so much. Can you try to get out of it?” I looked him dead in the eyes and smiled: “Then should I just call in sick?” Ethan choked, his expression turning incredibly unnatural: “I was just kidding. Work comes first. I’ll just have to endure it.” My stomach churned with disgust, but I played the charade to the end: “I’ll be back the night after tomorrow. You have to come pick me up from the airport.” … That afternoon, I pretended to pack my bags. While Ethan was out of the apartment, I installed several hidden pinhole cameras around the place. To save money, Ethan would never pay for a hotel room. I bet he would use my “business trip” as the perfect excuse to bring Rachel back to my apartment. I grabbed my suitcase and went back to my parents’ house. I pulled out my phone and kept an eye on the dashcam feed. These two disgusting grifters definitely wouldn’t be able to wait until tomorrow. Sure enough, as soon as evening hit, the dashcam feed came alive. The car pulled into Rachel’s rundown, older apartment complex. When she got in the car, Ethan seemed to pull something out and hand it to her. “Wifey, early Happy Valentine’s Day!” Rachel let out a gasp: “La Mer?! This is super expensive! I saw Chloe using this at the office.” Then she playfully slapped him: “So what did you get her? La Mer too?” Ethan chuckled smugly. “Are you kidding? I got her a counterfeit set I bought off some guy on Facebook for a hundred bucks. That dumb bitch can’t even tell the difference.” Hearing that, a violent tremor wracked my heart. I had been using La Mer since high school. How could I possibly not know the difference between the real thing and a cheap fake? I only pretended to be thrilled because I knew Ethan’s financial situation was tough, and I wanted to protect his fragile ego. I never expected my genuine compassion to be so thoroughly trampled on by him. Rachel’s laugh was laced with pure malice: “Who knows, maybe the stuff she used before was fake too. I hope her face rots off!” … Exactly as I predicted, Ethan drove the car back to my apartment building. The moment Rachel walked through the door, she made a beeline for my vanity, opening every single one of my skincare products. “I heard this one is super expensive. Like three hundred dollars a bottle!” She aggressively scooped a massive glob out of my face cream jar and smeared it on her face: “She won’t notice I used it, right?” Ethan hugged her from behind, completely indulgent: “It’s fine. If she notices, I’ll just say I used it.” I felt a surge of pure rage shoot from the soles of my feet straight to the top of my skull! No wonder my skincare products were running out so insanely fast! Every time I asked Ethan, he claimed he was just curious and tried some. It turned out Rachel had been using them! I was so incredibly disgusted I sprinted to the bathroom and scrubbed my face raw. While I was washing my face, Rachel had put on one of my dresses and was posing in front of the mirror, wearing one of my designer bags. “Hubby, this bag is gorgeous. When are you going to buy me one?” Ethan’s face stiffened awkwardly: “That one’s pretty expensive… like four thousand dollars…” Rachel stroked my bag, her face twisted with greedy longing, begging him: “All my coworkers have bags like this. I’m the only one carrying a fake every day. They all look down on me…” She was talking absolute, unfiltered bullshit. Our office was so insanely busy everyone was running around like headless chickens. Who the hell had the time to care what kind of bag she was carrying? I often went to work carrying a canvas tote bag, and literally no one ever said a word. Hearing this, Ethan looked deeply conflicted. After a long while, he gritted his teeth and said: “If you like it, just take it. “She has so many bags, she probably won’t even remember. If she does notice it’s missing, I’ll just say I accidentally ruined it and threw it away.” Rachel’s eyes lit up. She leaned over and planted a massive kiss on Ethan’s cheek. “Hubby, you’re the best!” … Watching from the other side of the screen, I was so furious I wanted to crawl through the phone and stab these two scumbags to death! Using my skincare, stealing my bags. How fucking cheap can you get?! I took a deep breath, forcing my rage down as I watched them aggressively making out and rolling around on my bed. My dad had bought me that bed. The mattress alone cost over three thousand dollars. The silk sheets they were ruining cost eight hundred. I was extremely particular about my bedding. It had cost me almost an entire month’s salary at the time. And now, these two pieces of human garbage were rolling around on my expensive silk sheets, making nauseating, grotesque sounds. Ten minutes later, Rachel lay on Ethan’s arm, cuddling him and talking. “My parents said we need to get the dowry money together ASAP. My brother is waiting on it so he can marry his girlfriend.” Ethan rubbed his temples, sounding exhausted: “I know, but we need money, and that bitch refuses to give me any more. “Fuck, rich people are the worst. They all deserve to die!” Rachel traced circles on his chest, whispering poison: “Just PUA her! (Pick-Up Artist/Gaslight her) “Pick apart all her flaws, make her feel like she’s not good enough for you, and she’ll naturally want to please you. “Haven’t you seen the news? Girls who get PUA’d are willing to die for their men.” A flash of venomous malice crossed Rachel’s face: “What right does she have to live such a good life? Just because she was born lucky?” Ethan fell deep in thought, playing with Rachel’s hair. “I’ll give it a try.” A freezing chill ran down my spine. I had truly believed I was treating Ethan with my whole heart, and I had always looked out for Rachel at work. I never imagined that some people are born as parasitic, man-eating wolves, lurking in the gutters, waiting to tear the flesh off anyone who walks by. My fingernails dug deep into my palms. Shaking, I saved the video files and backed them up to my laptop. Ethan. Rachel. I am going to make absolutely sure every single drop of your malice blows up right in your own faces! 04 The next day, I packed my bags and went back to the apartment. The very first thing I did was take all my skincare products and bedding and throw them straight into the dumpster. Even though it hurt to lose the money, the thought of them being contaminated by Rachel was too disgusting. I physically couldn’t bring myself to use them anymore. After cleaning the apartment, I sat in the living room and waited for Ethan to get home. At 6 PM sharp, Ethan walked through the door. Seeing the apartment looking different, he looked surprised: “What put you in the mood to clean?” I brushed it off: “It felt a little dirty.” Ethan nodded, a bright smile plastered on his face as he walked over to hug me: “I missed you so much! Let me hold you!” I stiffened as he wrapped his arms around me. Ethan paused for a microsecond, then said casually: “Chloe, did you gain weight?” I sneered internally. Here we go. “Really?” Ethan, following Rachel’s script, started picking me apart: “Yeah, you definitely look a little thicker than before. You’re getting a muffin top.” I gripped the armrest tightly and looked up at him: “So, do you want to break up with me?” Ethan’s expression froze, but he quickly recovered: “How could I? I’m the only one who wouldn’t be disgusted by you. Why would I break up with my wife? “Speaking of which, wifey, do you have any more cash? Can you think of a way to help me cover this week? Ten grand is all I need!” He sat down next to me, wrapping his arm around my waist, coaxing me: “Once I make it big, I’ll buy my wife a massive mansion. How does that sound?” He rested his head on my shoulder, looking incredibly pitiful: “I started this company right out of college. I’m just short this little bit of cash… Wifey, I really don’t want to give up on years of hard work!” I looked conflicted. I hesitated for a long time before saying: “Baby, I really am completely broke. I gave you everything I saved.” Ethan looked noticeably impatient, but he suppressed his frustration: “What about your parents? Your family has money, just ask your parents for a loan.” If this were the past, Ethan would never be this aggressively impatient. He would constantly hint at me, but he would never explicitly ask. It seems Rachel’s family was putting severe pressure on them for the dowry. “My dad’s company just had a massive shipment delayed. He’s really tight on cash too…” I turned my head, looking at Ethan hesitantly: “But…” “But what?” Ethan sat up straight instantly. I bit my lip and said: “But I heard my dad say he has a connection to get two cheap luxury villas. “He said someone foreclosed on them or something. It’s guaranteed to be a massive profit, but my family just doesn’t have that kind of liquid cash right now. “If we could just buy them and flip them immediately, we could easily make a million or two in profit.” Hearing this, Ethan’s eyes instantly lit up with a greedy fire. But then he remembered I just said I didn’t have any money, and his expression deflated. “Is there no other way?” I shook my head: “My family really can’t pull the cash together. You know how I am with you. If I had it, of course I’d give it to you. “Sigh, this deal would make us two million overnight. It’s such a shame…” Two million. To Ethan, this was a life-changing amount of money. There was no way he was going to let this go. Sure enough, Ethan hesitated for a moment before asking: “How much are you short?” I controlled my tone carefully: “Those villas are worth at least six million on the market. My dad has about five million tied up in receivables he can pull together, so we’re just short about a million.” I looked down, my expression totally defeated: “I originally thought if I bought the house, I’d put your name on the deed. The timing for this is just terrible!” I used to be entirely open and honest with Ethan. When he needed money, I never hesitated to give it to him. Because I never really valued money that much. I always put love and relationships first. My friends called me a hopeless romantic and an idiot, but I didn’t care. Looking back, I truly was an absolute, naive idiot. Ethan didn’t suspect a thing. He looked down, calculating rapidly: “Baby, I still think this opportunity is too rare. Flipping it for two million in profit… “Two million! Think of how many designer bags that could buy you!” I leaned against him and sighed heavily. “I know. But what can we do?” Ethan thought for a moment before saying: “Let me figure something out! I’ll help you scrape together that million!” I kept my head down, the corners of my mouth curving into a sharp, cruel smile. “Okay, hubby. I’m counting on you.” 05 Ethan left the apartment immediately after dropping that promise. A guy like him shouldn’t have believed me so easily. But he knew my family was wealthy, and my uncle was the director of the City Planning Bureau. He truly believed my family had elite connections. Combined with the fact that I had never hesitated to hand him cash before, he had absolutely no reason to doubt I was lying. But where the hell was he going to get a million dollars? Even subtracting the twenty-odd thousand I had given him before, the remaining amount was not a small number. Would he ask Rachel? Or would he go back to his parents, who had broken their backs farming their whole lives? I sat on the sofa, filing my nails, meticulously planning my next move. Rachel and Ethan. I wasn’t going to let either of them off the hook. For greedy, money-obsessed parasites like them, money was the only thing they truly cared about. How could I force them to vomit up every single cent they had? … Ethan came back half an hour later. He looked at me, his expression much less frantic than before. “Chloe, that villa you mentioned… is it legit?” He quickly explained: “I don’t mean anything by it, I’m just afraid your dad might get scammed.” I knew exactly what had happened. He had definitely stepped outside to call Rachel. Rachel was suspicious of what I had said. Ethan continued: “Where is the villa anyway? Can we go take a look?” I nodded easily. “Sure. It’s right off Ocean Drive. Oakwood Estates. You know it, right?” Ethan’s expression froze for a microsecond, then the corners of his mouth uncontrollably curled upwards into a massive grin. “What?” I smiled at him. “You know the place?” Ethan quickly suppressed his smile, trying to act casual: “No, just heard people talk about it. They’re single-family homes, right? “Those are super expensive. Probably three hundred a square foot. A three-thousand-square-foot house would be pushing a million… “If we can snag it for six hundred thousand and flip it for a million…” He couldn’t help but ramble on, his eyes growing brighter and brighter. He was clearly already fantasizing about the luxurious life he and Rachel would live in that villa. It seems Ethan’s feelings for Rachel were genuine. Rachel said she loved Oakwood Estates, and Ethan had actually done the research. However, with their salaries, they could never afford a place like that in this lifetime. I looked at Ethan’s excited face and sneered internally. Be happy now. Your agony is coming. … I don’t know what Rachel said to Ethan, but despite his verbal promises, he never actually transferred the money to me. To completely eliminate their suspicions, I took him for a drive around Oakwood Estates the next afternoon. “That’s the one.” I pointed to a house and told him: “My dad said the owner’s cash flow dried up and he desperately needs money. This house was signed over to my dad’s contact as collateral. “Honestly, a normal sale would be fine, but there aren’t many buyers who can drop that kind of cash upfront. Plus, my dad had inventory tied up with that guy, so he asked my dad if he wanted it.” “Oh.” Ethan’s eyes were glued to the house. He walked around the perimeter, his hands behind his back, examining every detail with extreme focus. That night, Ethan came back very late. He claimed he was working overtime, but I had already listened to his entire conversation with Rachel on the dashcam. “…I asked around. The property management confirmed the owner is a businessman. Someone in retail furniture, I think.” Rachel’s voice could barely hide her excitement. “Did she really say that? Her dad can get Oakwood Estates for six hundred grand?” “Yeah. We’re just short a hundred grand now. I told her I’d get it together.” Rachel was silent for a moment before saying: “I still have fifteen thousand here…” “Fifteen thousand?” Ethan sounded confused: “Didn’t I give you twenty-five thousand?” Rachel’s voice faltered, suddenly lacking confidence: “…My brother wanted to buy a car a little while ago. My mom borrowed ten thousand from me.” “Rachel! That was the money I saved for the dowry! What are we going to do about the fifty thousand your parents are demanding?!” Ethan was panicking. Rachel quickly tried to soothe him: “My mom said she’ll pay it back. Don’t worry. Besides, once we get the house, are we really going to care about ten grand?” Ethan took a few heavy breaths, forcing himself to calm down: “We only have fifteen thousand left now. How are we supposed to buy the house?!” Rachel’s tone softened: “I’ll figure something out. I’ve saved a few thousand over the last two years. We’ll just have to go back and beg my parents for a little more.” “Are we asking your family, or mine?!” “My mom saved thirty thousand for my brother’s future wife’s dowry… Let me think. If we’re flipping this house in two months tops, we should be able to make it work!” Rachel pondered for a moment: “And there’s the money for the car they haven’t bought yet. That’s another twenty thousand… “What about your family, hubby? Can your family chip in a little more?” Ethan snapped irritably: “You know exactly how much my family has. I’ve drained them dry over the years. The most I can do is make my mom sell her land. That might get us another ten grand!” Rachel cooed gently: “If she sells it, she sells it. Once you get the house, Mom won’t ever have to farm again, right?” Ethan fell into a heavy silence. The atmosphere between them grew incredibly tense. When Ethan dropped Rachel off that day, neither of them said a single word. I rubbed my phone, calculating my next move. Sure enough, it didn’t take long for Ethan to transfer all the money to me. Exactly one hundred thousand dollars. Nothing more, nothing less. I have no idea how Rachel convinced his parents. A family that basically sold their daughter to pay for their son’s dowry actually coughed up the cash. But for a family like hers, that money was likely their entire life savings. When he sent me the transfer, Ethan looked exhausted. He had deep, dark bags under his eyes. I leaned in close, my voice soft: “What’s wrong?” Ethan shook his head, forcing a strained smile: “It’s nothing, baby. When is the house going to close?” I pretended to think for a moment: “Two months, max. Hubby, do you think we should flip the house or keep it for ourselves? “If we keep it, I’ll put the deed entirely in your name, okay?” Ethan froze. I watched as sheer, uncontainable ecstasy erupted across his face. He quickly turned his head, covering my hand: “…Whatever you want. I don’t care about the house. I’m just afraid that if I don’t have anything, your parents will look down on me when I go ask for your hand in marriage.” “How could they?” I hugged him tightly, whispering, “So, Hubby, since you gave me this hundred grand, should I write you an IOU? I feel like we should keep things clear.” Ethan was terrified I would keep things clear. He knew that if I wrote an IOU, there was no way I’d put his name on the deed. He quickly panicked: “No need! My money is my wife’s money. Why are you trying to draw lines between us?” I looked up at him and asked: “Hubby, you’re amazing. Where did you get a hundred thousand dollars? “Did you borrow it? Who do you know that’s close enough to just loan you that much cash? We should go visit them and say thank you.” Ethan looked completely flustered. “No, no one lent me the money. It’s… it’s from my parents selling their land… Look, just don’t worry about it, your husband’s got it handled!” “Oh,” I nodded, hugging him closer. “Hubby, you gave me all this money and don’t even want me to pay you back. You’re the best.” Ethan was riding a tiger and couldn’t get off. He forced a smile: “Of course. What’s mine is yours. It’s what I should do…” I hugged him tight. In a spot where he couldn’t see, I pulled out my phone and hit “Stop” on the voice recorder. Everything I needed, I now had.

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “436709”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

Late one night, doubled over in agonizing stomach pain, I begged Liam to take me to the hospital. He told me to just endure it. “Chloe’s neighborhood lost power. She’s terrified being alone with the kid. I’m going to go check on them first.” He didn’t come home that night. The next morning, Chloe sent me a photo. In it, Liam was wearing a goofy SpongeBob apron, holding a spatula with a look of fond helplessness on his face. Chloe captioned it: [Liam is going to be such a good dad someday!] I, who had just lost my baby, was lying in a hospital bed. I replied: [He’s all yours!] 1 Valentine’s Day fell on a Saturday this year. Not celebrating felt like a disservice to ourselves. “Let’s catch a movie first, then grab dinner. What are you in the mood for? How about that new seafood buffet?” I was excitedly planning our evening. Liam, however, looked conflicted. “What’s wrong?” I asked. “Chloe said Lily wants to go to the adventure park tomorrow. They’re having some themed event, and Chloe’s worried she can’t keep an eye on the kid by herself.” “Can’t she ask her parents to help? Or a friend? Does it have to be you?” I felt a surge of suffocating irritation building in my chest, and I couldn’t hold it back. Liam sighed. “Her parents are older, they don’t have the energy. Plus, tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, and a Saturday. Her friends all have their own plans.” “You realize it’s Valentine’s Day too, right?” Everyone else has plans, but you don’t? Liam frowned, his voice rising. “What’s the point of being petty over a kid? Does she even know what Valentine’s Day is?” My expression turned cold. I stood up, ready to leave. Liam panicked. He grabbed my arm. “Maya, please, stop making a scene. I don’t have a choice. You know I can’t say no when Chloe asks.” I felt exhausted to my core. “When does this end?” “When Lily is a little older, and Chloe has fully adapted. It’ll get better!” He said it with absolutely no conviction. I didn’t even know where to begin arguing. I could only compromise, again. “Forget it. We just won’t celebrate!” 2 On Valentine’s Day, my husband spent it with someone else. I couldn’t be angry, I couldn’t complain, I even had to send him off with a smile. They had a fantastic time, and even ate at the seafood buffet I had wanted to try. Meanwhile, I was stuck at home eating instant ramen. A fiery anger ignited in my chest. Without a second thought, I ordered the designer bag I had been eyeing for months but couldn’t bring myself to buy. I swiped Liam’s credit card. Not long after, Liam called. His voice held a hint of amusement. “Not mad anymore?” I said stiffly, “I was never mad to begin with.” “Right, right, my sweet girl is the most understanding. What did you have for lunch?” I looked at the ramen container and was about to answer. Chloe’s voice filtered through the phone. “Liam, my arms are dead. Carry Lily for a bit. You little chunk, did you gain weight again?” “Hmph, mommy is mean! Daddy, carry me!” That single word, “Daddy,” made my brain explode with a deafening ringing. “Liam…” “Maya, I gotta go, we’ll talk when I get back!” The line went dead. My heart twisted into a painful knot. Without thinking, I hit redial. No answer. I hung up and called again. Still no answer. On the fourth try, Chloe answered. “Maya? Is something wrong?” “Where is Liam? Put him on the phone!” Ignoring the icy tone in my voice, she continued gently, “Liam took Lily on the zipline. He can’t take the call right now. Is it urgent? I’ll tell him when they’re done!” Conversations like this always made me feel a bizarre sense of role reversal. It was as if she were Liam’s wife, and I was just an oblivious outsider intruding on their day. Chloe went on, “Don’t worry, Liam is doing great. We’re having a wonderful time. I’ll send you some pictures in a bit. It’s a holiday, you should experience it too…” Before she could finish, I hung up. I was afraid if I listened for another second, I would start screaming curses. 3 The Chloe I saw today felt like a complete stranger. Yet, from the moment this whole thing started until now, it had only been a year. How quickly things change. How entirely the world can flip upside down! Chloe’s late husband was named Mark. He and Liam grew up together. A year ago, he passed away. It was incredibly sudden, with zero warning signs. That day, like any other, Mark and Liam went to play basketball after work. Liam, remembering he promised to bring me my favorite roast duck, left early. Mark stayed, still full of energy. But just half an hour after Liam left, Mark suffered a fatal heart attack. This plunged Liam into a state of extreme guilt and self-loathing. “Just half a minute. If I had just stayed and fought for him for half a minute, maybe he wouldn’t have died!” Liam was a doctor. He believed he could have saved Mark. But he had chosen to leave early that day. The agony practically drowned him. I honestly couldn’t bear to see him like that. So, when Chloe didn’t know what to do about a clogged sink, I agreed to let Liam go help her. That was the first time. It was the third month after Mark’s death. 4 Chloe was true to her word. She sent me a zipped file of dozens of photos. Photos of Liam carrying Lily, holding Lily’s hand, peeling shrimp for Lily. In the pictures, Liam’s face was soft. His eyes were full of indulgence and adoration when he looked at Lily. I zoomed in on one specific photo. It was one of the few where Chloe was actually in the frame. She and Liam flanked Lily. All three wore blissful smiles. It didn’t look out of place at all. They truly looked like a family of three! Liam didn’t get home until 10 PM. Looking exhausted, he walked in and immediately said, “I’m so tired! Lily has endless energy. I’m wiped out, and she was still bouncing off the walls. Don’t let the fact that she’s a little girl fool you, she’s as wild as any boy! Oh, right, something hilarious happened today…” Liam eagerly recounted every moment with Lily, acting exactly like a proud father eager to show off his daughter. I just watched him in silence. After receiving no response for a long while, Liam finally realized something was wrong. “What is it? Are you angry?” I asked him, “Don’t you have anything else to say to me?” Liam frowned, his deep exhaustion unable to mask his irritation. If he had a thought bubble, it would probably say: What is it now? “If you have something to say, just say it!” My already sour mood darkened further. “Liam, why is Lily calling you ‘Daddy’?” Liam rubbed his temples in frustration. “She misses her dad. She asked if she could call me ‘Daddy’ just for today. Tell me, how was I supposed to say no to that?” No explanation. No comfort. No guilt. He threw the problem back at me, just like he had so many times before. Liam and I ended the night in a fight. I banished him to the guest bedroom. Halfway through the night, he tried to come in to talk, but I refused. Eventually, he lost his temper, his face turning cold as he turned and went back to the guest room. 5 When Mark was alive, he worshipped Chloe. Everyone knew he was entirely devoted to his wife. After they had their daughter, he became a doting father as well. Of course, Chloe had the capital to be spoiled. She was stunningly beautiful and highly educated. To be with Mark, she gave up a very promising career to become a stay-at-home mom. Mark used to say, “I have to spend the rest of my life making this up to her!” He meant it, and he did it. Just like that, he pampered Chloe until she was essentially helpless. Chloe didn’t know how to pay the utility bills. Liam taught her. But she complained, “It’s too complicated!” Liam sighed in resignation. “Fine, I’ll pay them for you from now on!” Chloe couldn’t cook, and once almost burned her kitchen down. Liam had to drop everything at work and rush over. Later, he started ordering takeout for her. “Can’t she order it herself?” “It takes two seconds. It’s not a big deal!” When a lightbulb burned out, Chloe had no idea what to do. “She can hire a handyman.” “She’s a single mother living alone. It’s not safe to let a strange man into the house.” Once, Liam and I were making out on the couch. Things were getting heated, and Chloe called. “Lily is throwing up! What do I do? Liam, please help me!” Without a second thought, Liam threw his clothes on and rushed out, not even taking a second to pull a blanket over me. Later, I found out Chloe had fed Lily incredibly spicy noodles. The young child was in so much pain she ended up in the ER. Chloe couldn’t handle taking her child out alone, whether it was for a fun outing or a hospital visit. Liam was always on call. He took on Mark’s responsibilities. This seemed to bring him a sense of peace. I knew he was trying to make amends. But his process of making amends was becoming increasingly agonizing for me. I felt like I was reaching my absolute limit. 6 I was going to sit down and talk to Liam. But when I woke up, he was already gone. Breakfast was on the table, packed neatly in a thermos. There was oatmeal, steamed buns, and eggs. Next to it was a sticky note: [Maya, I’m sorry. I was in a bad mood yesterday and shouldn’t have spoken to you like that. I know you’ve always been understanding and indulgent with me. Can you please give me a little more time?] After a long silence, I quietly ate the breakfast. Liam really was incredibly busy. When I called his phone, a nurse answered. She told me Liam had gone into surgery. He had one operation in the morning and two in the afternoon. There was zero chance he was getting off work on time. Since I wasn’t busy today, I decided to cook some food and bring it to him. It had been a long time since I brought Liam lunch. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to, but the conflicts between us had been piling up recently. When I arrived at his department, I said hello to the nurses. They stared at me with wide eyes, practically stuttering when they spoke. At first, I didn’t think much of it, but when I pushed open the door to Liam’s office, I finally understood. Turns out, they thought I was there to catch him in an affair. Inside, Chloe had her shoes off and was curled up in Liam’s desk chair. She was playing a game on her phone, with Liam’s coat draped over her legs. A small cake sat on the desk, half-eaten. How did I feel? Not really surprised, nor particularly shocked. Just… a heavy, sinking feeling in my chest that kept dropping lower and lower. “Maya, you’re here! Have a seat, make yourself at home. Want some cake? Liam bought it for me. He was worried I’d be hungry!” 7 “Chloe has been in a bad place lately. She gets caught up in her own head when she’s alone at home. She just wanted someone to keep her company while she ate. I couldn’t say no!” This was the explanation I got after waiting for an hour. I felt like I was losing sight of where Liam’s boundaries were. “Today you bring her to your office. Tomorrow, are you going to bring her to our house? The day after that, should we just give her half our bed?” Liam frowned deeply. “What nonsense are you spewing?” I sighed. Sometimes, the misery we endure is entirely self-inflicted. “This morning, you asked if I could give you a little more time. My answer is: Absolutely not!” With that, I stood up to leave. Liam grabbed my arm. “What do you mean?” “Liam, either you cut Chloe out of our lives, or I cut you out of mine. You choose!” His eyes blazed, glaring at me intensely. “Are you really forcing me to choose?” I gritted my teeth. “I’m forcing you? When you said you wanted to give them twenty thousand dollars, I agreed without blinking. Over the past six months, because of Chloe, I’ve basically been living a widow’s marriage. What more do you want from me? “Liam, I’ve endured enough. It’s time for you to make a choice!” “I don’t understand!” Liam growled. “Mark is gone. I just want to help him. Why is that so intolerable for you? Chloe and I have a completely platonic relationship. Why do you have to blow everything out of proportion?” I looked at Liam with pure disappointment. I never knew he could play dumb so flawlessly. “Let go of me!” Liam’s face was cold, and his grip on my arm tightened. A wave of nausea washed over me. “I said let go!” During my struggle, I finally turned my head and threw up. Liam frantically held me. “What’s wrong? Are you not feeling well?” I gasped for air, struggling through the discomfort, and said venomously, “I feel fine. It’s just the things coming out of your mouth that make me sick!” Liam’s hands tightened abruptly, gripping my shoulders until they ached. 8 Liam and I fell into a cold war. But he did seem to change. He continued to leave early and come home late. I didn’t know what he was doing at the hospital, but at home, at least, he didn’t run out in the middle of the night anymore, and there wasn’t a constant stream of phone calls. But I didn’t feel any better. It felt like a stone was pressing on my chest. Sometimes, it was so heavy I couldn’t even catch my breath. I didn’t know what was wrong with me. I never considered myself an overly sensitive person. If I was, I wouldn’t have indulged Liam time and time again. But Chloe had actually managed to push me to this breaking point. She definitely had a talent for it. One day, I was lying in bed, feeling overwhelmingly irritated. In a half-asleep haze, the bedroom door opened, and Liam walked in. A moment later, the mattress dipped beside me, and Liam wrapped his arms around me over the blanket. I opened my eyes. He buried his face in my back. Muffled, he said, “Stop being mad at me. I’ll change!” He promised he wouldn’t let Chloe come to his office anymore. He wouldn’t order food for her anymore. He wouldn’t go to her house alone anymore. If he absolutely had to go, he’d take me with him. He promised he would make Chloe fade out of our lives. So, when Chloe called again, saying a pipe had burst in her apartment and she didn’t know what to do, I went with Liam. Chloe answered the door quickly. She was soaking wet, wearing a fire-engine red silk slip dress. It clung to her body, making the outline of her chest painfully obvious. Before I could even react, she wrapped her arms around herself and started screaming. As if I were the strange man she needed to protect herself from. My face went cold. I grabbed Liam’s hand, turned, and walked away. “How many times has this happened?” “What do you mean?” “Her appearing half-naked in front of you. How many times has this happened?” Liam went silent. “I was just going over to help. Why do you have to make it sound so dirty?” So I’m the dirty one now. “Liam, let’s get a divorce!” “What?” “I suddenly realize you’re a little dirty. And I don’t even know when you got dirty. It’s too disgusting!” 9 Liam didn’t go back upstairs, but he did call building maintenance. See? It’s that easy! We drove home in silence. Liam said, “Maya, let’s talk!” I shook my head. I was too tired. A bone-deep exhaustion was washing over me. “Tomorrow!” I slept fitfully that night. In the middle of the night, I was awakened by a sharp, piercing pain in my stomach. It hurt so much. The pain had me breaking out in a cold sweat. “Liam. Liam!” I murmured his name, not even sure if I was saying it loud enough. Just then, Liam pushed the bedroom door open and walked in. Through the intense pain, I didn’t notice that Liam was already fully dressed. I grabbed his hand. “Liam, my stomach hurts. Take me to the hospital!” But Liam cut me off. “Your stomach hurts? Maya, just endure it for a bit. I’ll take you when I get back! Chloe’s neighborhood lost power. Lily is crying hysterically. She might be having a panic attack. I have to go check on them!” “Liam, take me to the hospital!” At that moment, I had no idea how serious my condition was. I just knew instinctively that I had to get to a hospital. But Liam pushed my hand away. “Be reasonable. Lily is Mark’s only child left in this world. Do you really have to compete with her?” With that, he left without looking back. He ignored my ghost-white face. He ignored my pleading. My heart plummeted into the abyss. “Ah!” I cried out in agony. I threw back the blanket. A pool of bright red. In the end, I called an Uber. The driver and his wife, ignoring the fact that I was staining their car seats, rushed me to the hospital. I miscarried. My first child, coming into existence silently, leaving silently. I asked the doctor why. The doctor comforted me. “This is your body making a decision for you. You aren’t in the right condition to carry a child right now. Your body is protecting you!” Oh. So that was it. The only one who could truly protect me… was me. I drifted in and out of a feverish sleep. Waking up occasionally, I mindlessly sent a text back to Chloe. When I opened my eyes again, Liam was standing by my bed. He looked haggard, his eyes bloodshot. I wasn’t surprised he was there. This was his hospital. Plenty of doctors knew me. Someone was bound to tell him. Liam grabbed my hand, trembling. “Maya, it’s okay. We can have another baby!” I coldly pulled my hand away. “Liam, let’s get a divorce!” His face twitched. “Maya, it’s my fault. I was wrong. I didn’t know. I didn’t know it was that serious. Maya, I’m begging you, give me one more chance!” “Liam, let’s get a divorce!” Liam refused to agree to the divorce. After I was discharged, he brought me home. He took meticulous care of me, even using his annual leave to do so. I calmly accepted his care. It was his child I lost. This was his obligation. Plus, he was a doctor. He knew exactly how to nurse someone back to health. It was during this recovery period that I discovered Liam actually knew how to cook. But he didn’t learn for me. And the first time he cooked wasn’t for me, either. He talked to me a lot. He begged for my forgiveness. He said he would change. He said he would never help Chloe again. He said he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me. But I had completely extinguished that fire. Human nature is funny. We refuse to admit defeat until the final straw crushes us. Why, when I clearly knew he would be like this, didn’t I leave earlier? Because there were feelings! How could I willingly walk away before those feelings were ground down to absolutely nothing? Now, there was nothing left. The only thing I had to say to Liam was: “Let’s get a divorce!” He was devastated. He was in agony. He was out of options. That was when Chloe came looking for me. She said she wanted to talk. So, taking advantage of the time Liam was out grocery shopping, I invited her into the apartment. Chloe had always been beautiful. A tweed designer dress, perfectly styled hair, immaculate makeup, even a fresh manicure. She said, “I’m so sorry you lost your baby!” I burst out laughing. “If you really mean that, I should probably call the cops!” Chloe’s face stiffened. “Just say what you came to say. You don’t have much time.” After a long silence, Chloe spoke. “Let me have Liam. I can’t survive without him. I’m not like you. You have a career, you’re capable. But I’ve lost touch with the professional world. I have a child. Only Liam can take care of us!” Honestly, I didn’t understand Chloe. She graduated from a top university. She used to work for a Fortune 500 company. Why had she reduced herself to a clinging vine? Of course, that wasn’t my problem. I looked her up and down. “I’ve already asked Liam for a divorce. He’s the one refusing. It seems if you want to attach yourself to him, you’ll have to try a little harder.” Chloe left. When Liam returned, I brought up the divorce again. He looked at me silently, pretending he didn’t hear a word. He turned and went into the kitchen. 10 Divorce isn’t an easy process. If we couldn’t reach a settlement, I’d have to file a lawsuit. But lawsuits are a hassle. Time-consuming, exhausting. Might as well wait for a third party to intervene. Thinking like this, I stopped rushing. Liam must have felt pushed to the brink. He, who had been guarding me 24/7, asked me for a day off. “Matt is having a housewarming party. He invited us. Do you want to go?” I turned the page of my book. “No!” “Then I’ll just go grab a bite and come right back!” “Mhm!” And I went back to my book. But after I finished the page, the man standing nearby still hadn’t moved. I looked up, confused. “Is there something else?” Liam looked pale. He forced a smile and shook his head. “Do you want anything to eat? I’ll bring it back for you!” “No need!” “Then I’m leaving. I’ll be back soon!” Once he left the apartment, I put the book down. I closed my eyes, exhausted, and sighed. I knew what Liam had been waiting for. He wanted me to nag him a little, to tell him what I used to tell him: don’t drink, drive carefully, come home early. But he hadn’t noticed that, after the countless times he left early and came home late for Chloe, I had stopped saying those things. At the time, it wasn’t that I was so ready to let go. Mostly, it was out of spite. If I don’t reach out to you, will you reach out to me? If I don’t call you, do you know I’m angry? If I act like I’m magnanimous and understanding, do you know I want you to see how petty I’m actually feeling? I would say, “It’s fine, go ahead!” Hoping he would say, “Never mind, I’ll stay home with you!” But Liam never gave me what I wanted, not even once. Disappointment. Sadness. Suffocation! He held my hand and walked forward, but his eyes were drawn to something else. I let go of his hand, trying to get his attention, but he didn’t even look back once. I watched him walk further and further away, disappearing into the crowd. Finally, having amassed enough disappointment, I turned to leave. Only then did he suddenly turn around and start looking for me. What is this called? A timing error in love? Am I sad? Very sad! But more than that, I feel a profound sense of loss! Liam came back very late. I heard him open the door, and I heard the door to the guest room open and close. I thought he had gone to his room. I went out to get a glass of water. But I saw Liam sitting quietly on the sofa. I froze. He looked up at me, immediately hiding the vulnerability on his face. He smiled and asked, “What is it? Are you hungry?” I said, “Thirsty!” I opened the fridge, about to grab a water, but Liam stood up. “Don’t drink cold water. I’ll boil some!” “Don’t bother!” “It’s okay. Very quick. Two minutes.” “No need!” “Really, it’s fine. Just wait…” “Liam!” I stopped him. “I’m not drinking it!” With that, I turned to go back to my room. Liam stumbled toward me, bumping into the table with a muffled groan. He grabbed my hand. “Maya, I don’t understand. Why did things get to this point?” Liam smelled strongly of alcohol. His voice was hoarse, his hands trembling. “Maya, am I really that unforgivable?” My nose stung. I looked up and sighed. “On the day… I miscarried. When you were at Chloe’s, making breakfast for her and Lily, Chloe told you that you’d be a great dad someday. Do you know what I was thinking in that moment? “I felt a wave of relief. Thank god I lost the baby!” A sob escaped Liam’s throat. Since the miscarriage, I had never talked to Liam about the baby. There was no way to talk about it. It was gone before we even knew it existed. Maybe it just felt we weren’t fit to be parents! “Liam, have you ever thought about what would have happened if I hadn’t lost the baby?” Liam remained silent. I continued, “I probably would have forgiven you. You didn’t commit a cardinal sin. You didn’t actively pursue another woman. Even though you cared for her, at the end of the day, you were just ‘helping out.’ Especially since we had a child on the way. I would have convinced myself that things would get better. “And that would have been the beginning of a bottomless abyss!” “No, it wouldn’t! No! We would have had a great life! A happy, beautiful life! It’s all my fault. It’s my mistake. Maya, it’s all my fault! I failed you, I failed the baby. It’s all my fault!” Liam insisted stubbornly. “Liam, if our baby had been born, and Chloe’s child and our child got sick at the exact same time, who would you take to the hospital first?” “I would definitely…” Liam desperately wanted to give me an answer. I cut him off. “You would take Chloe’s child. Because she doesn’t know how to do anything. She doesn’t know where to register, she doesn’t know where the pharmacy is. A hospital would confuse her completely. At first, you might feel guilty towards your own child, but you’d think, ‘This is my child. I have my whole life to make it up to them.’ “And slowly, even that initial guilt would fade. Everything would become an expected obligation. “You have a father. She doesn’t. Why can’t you just yield to her? “She’s already so pitiful. How can you compete with her? “You’re already so happy. Why do you have to be so selfish?” A child with a father would end up feeling like they didn’t have one at all. Just like me. I had a husband, but it felt like I didn’t. “I wouldn’t. How could I ever do that?” Liam shook his head helplessly, his words pale and hollow. I looked at him. “You wouldn’t? Then why have you constantly treated me exactly like that?” Liam looked completely defeated. “I’ll change. Maya, I’ll change!” I nodded. “I believe you. But I don’t dare take that bet!” How long would the memory of a miscarried child keep him on the straight and narrow? A month? Two months? A year? Half a year? He definitely would change. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t even be human. But Chloe is still there. Her child is still there. All the core issues are still there. Could he really harden his heart, ignore them completely, and never ask about them again? When that day comes, it’ll just be the start of another cycle! Compared to a sudden, miraculous epiphany, I’m much more confident he’d just repeat the same mistakes.

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “436708”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

In the fifth year of our marriage, I asked Liam for a divorce. The reason was that I found potato chip crumbs in his passenger seat. And he had never, ever allowed me to eat in his car. He looked at me with sheer disdain. “Just because of this?” This time, I didn’t back down and apologize like I usually did. I just looked at him, completely serious. “Yes. Just because of this.” 1 At the car wash, the attendant frowned and asked me: “Ma’am, there are snack crumbs deep in the passenger seat crevices. Do you want to add a premium interior detailing?” I froze, instinctively refuting, “That’s impossible.” Liam couldn’t stand anyone eating in his car. We’d argued about it several times. How could there be snack crumbs in his car? The attendant pointed. I leaned into the car, and there they were—bright yellow potato chip crumbs scattered in the corner of the passenger seat. They even had seasoning powder on them. … When I drove back, I sat in the underground garage for a long time. Finally, I pulled the memory card from the dashcam. After clicking through, I quickly found the recording from yesterday afternoon after work. After a brief silence, there was the sound of a car door closing, followed by a familiar, cheerful female voice: “You’re right on time today!” The voice was sweet, carrying the distinct softness of a young girl. But my heart instantly went ice cold. Liam sounded upbeat: “How’d you get out so early? Didn’t your supervisor say anything?” Maya laughed: “They all know about my relationship with you. Who would dare stop me?” If a mature woman like me said that, it would sound manipulative and vain. But coming from a young girl fresh out of college, it just sounded bold and somewhat endearing. Sure enough, Liam let out a soft chuckle and didn’t say anything else. I suddenly remembered when we first got married. I was still working at his company. Once, I ran into him in the hallway and wanted to say hi, but he walked right past me like I was a stranger. When I brought it up at home, he just frowned: “I don’t want people at the company knowing about our relationship. What would they say about me? That I’m mixing personal and professional business by bringing my wife in?” After that, his parents pressured me to stay home and take care of his daily life, so I just quit and became a housewife. It turned out, it wasn’t that he minded people knowing his relationship status. He just minded people knowing his relationship with me. A rustling sound of a snack bag tearing pulled me back to reality. Maya was munching loudly on potato chips. Liam didn’t say a word. “Oops,” Maya said. “I dropped crumbs on the seat. Sorry.” “It’s fine.” Liam sounded completely unbothered. “I’ll just get it washed later.” He paused, then added, “Don’t eat too much junk food. I’m taking you to a nice French place in a bit.” There wasn’t much after that. In the dim garage, I sat in the car in utter silence. I tried to stop myself from dwelling on the past, but I couldn’t help remembering a morning two years ago. I was rushing to work, hadn’t eaten breakfast, and brought a breakfast sandwich into his car. He yelled at me to get out: “Get out! Don’t eat in my car!” I frantically explained: “I won’t drop crumbs, and it doesn’t smell.” But he just gave me a look of absolute disgust, stepped on the gas, and sped off. Leaving me standing alone in the garage holding my sandwich. It was raining that day, and I couldn’t get an Uber. The heel of my shoe broke while I was running. By the time I got to work, I was a soaking, pathetic mess, and my manager chewed me out. I already had low blood sugar, and without breakfast, I nearly blacked out standing there. I only made it through because a coworker slipped me a packet of crackers. But now, he allowed someone to eat in his car. It turned out his principles weren’t unbreakable. He just hadn’t met the “special” person to break them for yet. I closed my eyes for a long time, then pulled the divorce papers from my purse. I had printed this agreement six months ago, but I could never find the right moment to bring it out. Honestly, it was because I couldn’t bear to let go. I had loved him for so long. He had consumed my entire youth. From the first day I liked him, I waited. I waited for him to see me. Then I waited as he fell in love with the campus queen. He got together with her. His mother disapproved of their relationship, and they broke up. Devastated and under family pressure, he haphazardly chose to be with me. But after waiting all these years, I never waited long enough for him to love me. Actually, the first time I saw Maya, my woman’s intuition set off alarm bells. She looked so much like Liam’s first love. Bright features, passionate personality, fiery and cute. I noticed his gaze linger on her during the interview, and then he approved her resume. Even though her degree didn’t match the company’s requirements at all. The first real red flag was a phone call from Maya. They were talking about business, but an intern directly calling the CEO was highly unusual. We were having dinner, and Liam suddenly put down his fork and scrambled to answer the phone. His voice was tight, almost nervous: “Don’t worry, I’ll call your department head in a bit. He won’t blame you.” After hanging up, he stared into space for a moment, the corners of his mouth uncontrollably curling up. That night, he was in such a good mood he even hummed a song in the shower. While I felt like I had plunged into an icy abyss. At first, Liam probably didn’t intend to cross any lines. They didn’t interact much, and their calls were strictly professional. But you can’t hide a crush. Even if you cover your mouth, it slips out through your eyes. He started coming home later and later, spending whole nights texting on his phone, acting like a lovestruck teenager. No matter how much I cried or argued, he always shut me down with one sentence: “If you can’t handle it, we can get a divorce.” And then I would back down. Looking back, what defeated me wasn’t him, but my own love. But now, I didn’t want to love him anymore. Divorcing over a few potato chip crumbs sounds ridiculous. But it was the final straw that broke the camel’s back. 2 When I handed Liam the divorce papers, he was typing on his laptop. He took them impatiently and tossed them aside. “What’s this? You want to buy a house again? “I’ve told you a million times, the housing market right now—” I cut him off: “It’s a divorce agreement. You should read it. “There are some asset division details I want to discuss.” Liam froze, then casually picked up the document, flipped through it, and sneered: “Claire, since when did you learn how to throw tantrums like this? “I provide for you, give you a great life, and now I have to play along in your little melodrama?” I looked at him calmly. “If you don’t have dementia, you’d remember I had a great job. You and your parents forced me to quit to take care of you. “Right now, a live-in housekeeper in this city costs at least $8,000 a month. That’s more than enough to support myself. You aren’t ‘providing’ for me; I’m taking care of you. Don’t act like you’re some savior.” Liam looked up in surprise. He clearly didn’t expect me to talk to him like this. Then, flustered and angry, he slammed the papers down: “What the hell has gotten into you?!” I said calmly, “I saw the potato chip crumbs in your passenger seat.” Liam furrowed his brow: “Just because of that?!” I nodded. “Yes, just because of that. “It doesn’t matter if you refuse. I’ll just file a contested divorce. Once this blows up, it won’t look good for you.” Liam stared at me dead in the eye. After a long moment, he snatched the papers back, signed his name furiously, and threw them at me. He sneered: “Are you happy now?! “Claire, let me tell you, don’t come crying back begging me like you used to.” He added disdainfully, “Like a dog.” My heart instantly cramped with pain. In the past, whenever I reached my breaking point and brought up divorce, I was always the one who surrendered and shamelessly begged for reconciliation. He knew exactly where my weak spots were. And he knew exactly how to hurt me. But not anymore. I grabbed my coat. “Let’s go. We can submit the paperwork today.” Liam didn’t mock me this time. His expression gradually turned serious. He stood up and stared at me: “Claire, are you serious? “You realize the house you live in, the car you drive, your entire quality of life is because of me. “Think carefully. Without me, you are nothing.” I glanced at him. “Stop stalling. The courthouse closes at five. If we wait any longer, we won’t make it.” “Fine!” Liam frowned. “Claire, don’t regret this.” … Filing for divorce was much more complicated than getting married. There was a mandatory thirty-day waiting period. When we walked out, Liam didn’t even look at me. He just got in his car and drove off, leaving me standing alone in front of the courthouse. I took an Uber back to pack my things. Under his livid glare, I only packed some clothes and left. Over the years, most of the things I bought were for him. Now I realized how little I actually owned. One large suitcase was enough for everything. Since I didn’t have time to rent an apartment, I checked into a hotel. Lying on the hotel bed, I finally realized that leaving Liam wasn’t as hard as I thought. Before, I didn’t dare to imagine leaving him. I thought I would die of heartbreak. But now, it didn’t hurt as much as I imagined. Instead, I felt a sense of liberation, as if a massive boulder had finally been lifted off my chest. Perhaps I never loved him as much as I thought I did. I was just used to loving him, completely unaware that in this messy, chaotic marriage, my love had been drained away bit by bit. 3 The next day, I wanted to sleep in and enjoy my hard-earned relaxation. But I was woken up bright and early by a phone call. I groggily grabbed my phone and saw it was Susan, Liam’s mother. I answered, and her voice immediately rang out: “Sorry to bother you, Claire.” Before I could respond, she fired off like a machine gun: “Make sure you remind Liam that it’s his uncle’s birthday next Wednesday. Don’t let him forget to come home. “Oh right, make sure you don’t drink. You’ll need to drive him back.” I rubbed my temples. “Susan, why don’t you just call Liam directly?” She said naturally, “Oh, I didn’t want to wake him. He works so hard every day. It’s not like you, just relaxing at home—” This was her favorite line. In her eyes, Liam sitting in an office all day was exhausting. Me staying home cooking, doing laundry, cleaning, and taking care of all his meals was “relaxing.” When she told me to quit my job, she made it sound so nice, saying we’d hire a maid. But the moment I quit, Liam told me he didn’t like strangers in the house and told me to do it myself since I had so much free time. I gripped the phone tightly, forcing down my anger: “Sorry, Susan, but you might not know. “Liam and I are getting a divorce.” I hung up before she could start screaming on the other end. But my peace didn’t last until evening before Liam called. I answered. His voice revealed no emotion: “Come home for a bit. My parents are here.” I knew it. Given his mother’s personality, she was definitely coming to lecture me. I bluntly refused: “Handle your own family issues. I’m an outsider now. I’m not getting involved.” “Your parents are here too.” He hung up. Looking at the dark screen, I sighed. Since things had escalated, I couldn’t hide from it. Fine. There were things I had wanted to say for a long time anyway. … When I got to the house, Susan took one look at me and smiled: “You’re back? “Oh, it’s normal for young couples to fight. Claire was probably just bored at home and wanted some fresh air. “But Claire, fighting every now and then is fine, but Liam has to work to support the family. Plus, your parents are getting older. Making them fly all the way out here is just too much hassle, isn’t it?” I frowned slightly. This was what Susan loved to do. She always spoke politely on the surface, but she was a wolf in sheep’s clothing, hiding needles in her words. Liam sat on the sofa, acting like he hadn’t heard a thing. Just like always. I pushed down the disappointment in my heart, mocking myself: What did you expect? Did you think he’d stand up for you? How could he? Susan was incredibly controlling. She thought Liam’s first love was too headstrong, so she threatened suicide to force them apart. Then she picked me—my parents were professors, I had a good background, and a soft personality. I still remember when we got married. She gave me a long lecture on how I needed to properly serve Liam. She talked about how hard it was for him to work, completely ignoring the fact that I had left my hometown and moved to a city where I knew absolutely no one, just to be with him. Later on, she visited frequently. I always thought it was weird how much she hated seeing Liam and me be affectionate. We actually had a good period right after we got married. Liam seemed to want to make it work, and we planned a honeymoon to Tahiti. When she found out, she insisted on coming with us. We didn’t want to bring her, but she started crying whenever Liam was around, making him feel guilty. We had no choice but to agree. Those days should have been the happiest of my life, but I still hate thinking about them. It was a complete disaster. She felt I should be Liam’s servant, that I didn’t need romance, just needed to take care of his basic needs. And the worst part was that she would smile at me while secretly tormenting me. For example, I hated celery. I thought it tasted weird, so I never cooked it. But she said she wanted to cook so I could rest, and then made celery for every single meal. When I said I didn’t like it, she’d act incredibly guilty and say she was getting old and forgot. Then she would smilingly put celery on my plate: “Claire, just try it. It’s not like the celery outside, it’s really good.” It made me sick, but refusing felt wrong. I secretly complained to Liam a few times, but he just impatiently said: “My mom is cooking for you at her age, and instead of being grateful, you complain? Claire, do you think you’re being reasonable?!” Or during the peak of summer, when Liam went to work, she would hide the AC remote so I couldn’t turn it on. The moment Liam got home, the remote magically reappeared. I told her multiple times not to touch my underwear, that I’d wash it myself. But whenever I put it in the laundry basket, she’d immediately toss it in the washing machine with dirty socks. But Liam’s clothes were always washed separately. She never mixed his with socks. They weren’t massive issues, but they piled up and slowly suffocated me. I became increasingly depressed. Liam noticed, but when he was a kid, his town flooded. His mom carried him on her shoulders so he could survive. She almost drowned and was left with lifelong joint pain that flared up every rainy day. Liam always felt he owed her his life, so he could never criticize her. So he just avoided it. He’d make excuses to work overtime or just sit in his car in the garage, running away from the conflict. That was when the last trace of warmth between us vanished. Our relationship got worse and worse until it was unfixable. This time, I wasn’t going to swallow my anger. I looked straight at his mother: “You called my parents here, what does that have to do with me?” She froze: “Claire, you—” I took a step forward: “And stop talking about Liam ‘supporting the family.’ I had a great job. He asked me to quit and join his company because he needed an accountant he could trust. “When the company stabilized, you two tossed me aside and made me quit to take care of him? “Forget the fact that I was making over a hundred grand a year. Do you know how much it costs to hire a private chef and a maid in this city? How is he ‘supporting’ me? “You make it sound like if I don’t marry him, he’ll just stop working.” Liam stood up: “Claire, how are you speaking to my mom?!” My anger exploded. I marched right up to him and yelled: “That’s YOUR mom, not MY mom! Cut the crap!! “She didn’t give birth to me, and she never raised me! I only called her ‘Mom’ out of respect for you. Now I’m divorcing you, I don’t need to play nice!” Liam frowned and tried to speak, but I cut him off: “Now you know how to raise your voice at me?! Where were you when your mom forced me to eat celery?! “Where were you when she turned off the AC in the middle of summer to torture me?! “Where were you when she forced herself on our honeymoon?! “You useless coward, you just hid in the garage and didn’t say a damn word! “Liam, how do you have the nerve to say that to me? What kind of a man are you?!” I screamed and yelled, unleashing years of suppressed grievances. By the end, my eyes were bloodshot, my rationality had burned away, and I felt almost manic! Everyone was stunned! Liam’s eyes widened, all his words caught in his throat. After a moment, his expression grew complex. I don’t know if it was an illusion, but I thought I saw a flash of… guilt in his eyes. My dad’s face was livid with anger, while my mom hugged me and started crying. “Oh, sweetheart—” she sobbed. I buried my face in her shoulder and wept silently. I finally realized who I had wronged the most. It was my parents, who had disapproved of Liam but gave in because of my stubbornness. And myself, who had suffered so much! “Look at this girl, crying over such trivial things.” Susan quickly recovered, plastering on a fake smile: “We’re all family here. I see you have a lot of resentment toward me. “Maybe I’m just getting old and my memory isn’t what it used to be. But Claire, I’ve always treated you like my own daughter—” She could fool the old, hopelessly romantic version of me, but my mom, at her age, just turned her head and spat: “I’m not dead yet, she doesn’t need you to be her mother!” Susan looked embarrassed: “Mrs. Bennett, what are you saying? The kids are young and don’t know any better, why are you joining in on the drama?” My mom sneered, grabbing my arm: “Before, you cried and begged to marry him. We couldn’t stop you. Now that you’re finally awake, that’s all that matters. “Let’s go, Mom is taking you home!” The three of us turned to leave. Liam hurried over to block us: “Mr. and Mrs. Bennett, Claire is just misunderstanding things today. Please don’t—” My dad shoved his arm away and said coldly: “I didn’t approve when she wanted to marry you, but she loved you, so we had no choice. “We didn’t ask for a dowry, didn’t ask for a house or a car, and even gave her a wedding gift of fifty grand, just so your family would treat her well. “What did you promise me back then?!” Liam was speechless under my dad’s interrogation. My dad suppressed his fury: “You said you’d treat her well. And look at this now!” My dad was usually a jovial man, always greeting Liam warmly. Even when Liam skipped holiday visits, my dad didn’t mind, telling me not to argue with Liam because he was busy with his career. This was the first time I had ever seen him so stern. Liam stepped back in shame: “Dad, I—” “Don’t call me Dad, I don’t have a son like you!” Susan tried to speak again, but my mom turned around fiercely: “Get out of the way! “Before I slap you!” My mom was the gentlest woman, always speaking softly. This was the first time I realized how fiercely she could protect her child. I didn’t end up going back to my home state right away. Mainly because there was still the mandatory 30-day waiting period, and I needed to handle the asset division. My parents had to get back to work, so they left me some money and flew back, reminding me: “Don’t let them bully you. Take this month to relax. If anything happens, call us immediately.” That night, lying in the hotel bed, I had my first good night’s sleep in years. In the fourth year of our marriage, whether tortured by his mother or his relationship with Maya, I developed severe insomnia. I would lie awake all night, staring at the ceiling until dawn. For a while, I didn’t want to do anything. I just felt exhausted and thought life was pointless. I went to the hospital and was diagnosed with moderate depression. The medication didn’t help much. I still couldn’t sleep. But now, I closed my eyes and felt completely relieved. I could finally have sweet dreams again. 4 I started sending out resumes and looking for jobs. Even though my parents told me they’d support me and I should take a longer break, I didn’t want to be disconnected from society anymore. Actually, I graduated from a better university than Liam. Back then, I had job offers from the Big Four accounting firms. But not long after I started, Liam asked me to quit. His accountant had left, and he needed someone he trusted to take over immediately. Later, when they found a suitable replacement, he told me to quit again. So for these past few years, I was just a housewife. Sometimes, seeing my college classmates’ posts on social media—working on Wall Street, starting their own businesses, or finding great jobs back in their hometowns—I felt incredibly inadequate. It felt like I was the only one who had nothing to show for the years except a messy, failed marriage. Thankfully, I was still young. I could start over. … When I got back to the hotel that night, I got a notification on my phone. It was the smart doorbell camera from the house, notifying me someone was at the door. I was about to swipe it away, but my finger accidentally clicked on it. In the video, Liam and Maya were walking in together. I froze and didn’t close the feed. I had barely moved out, and he couldn’t wait to bring her home. Makes sense. He probably couldn’t wait. He was probably thrilled that I asked for a divorce. Liam looked drunk, his eyes half-closed as he stumbled. Maya struggled to hold him up and help him onto the sofa. Then she poured him a glass of water. Liam took a sip and spat it right out, frowning: “Cold water? “Where’s my hangover soup?!” Maya said helplessly: “What hangover soup? I don’t know how to make that. Just drink some water for now.” Liam threw the glass on the floor and stumbled to his feet. Maya smirked and tried to lead him toward the bedroom. Absolutely disgusting. Thinking about them doing that on the bed I used to sleep in made me nauseous. But surprisingly, a minute later, Liam ran out of the bedroom with his shirt unbuttoned. Maya, wearing only a tiny camisole, chased after him and tried to grab him. He violently shook her off and slurred: “You’re not my wife, you’re not!—” Maya bit her lip: “I’m Maya. Aren’t you divorcing your wife?” “No I’m not!” Liam waved his arms, mumbling incoherently: “I’m not divorced, I’m not divorcing her! “You’re not my wife, who are you? Get out!—” Maya, furious and humiliated, hurriedly put her clothes back on and stormed out, slamming the door. Liam tripped and fell onto the floor, groaning in pain: “Claire, I fell.” The living room was dead silent. He muttered again: “Claire, my head hurts. Come rub it for me.” No response. He just lay there pathetically and fell asleep on the living room floor. I put my phone down, not knowing how to feel. Before the divorce, I thought Liam would immediately get together with Maya. I thought he really liked her. Liam was a man with strict principles. At least, toward me. He wouldn’t let me tell the company about us. He wouldn’t let me eat in his car. He had so many rules for me. But all those rules went out the window for Maya. He had no principles when it came to her. I hated him so much back then. If I hadn’t seen his blatant favoritism toward her, I wouldn’t have felt so pitiful. And pathetic. I sneered. He only wanted me back so I could serve him. Every time he came home drunk, I would make him soup, rub his temples until he fell asleep, and prepare a light, soothing breakfast the next morning. He was probably so used to being taken care of. At 2 AM, I woke up thirsty. After getting some water, I couldn’t fall back asleep. I opened the camera feed again. Liam was awake. In the pitch-black night, he sat alone on the sofa, staring blankly into space. I didn’t know what he was thinking. He seemed to have sobered up a bit. After a long while, he clutched his stomach and rasped: “Claire, my stomach hurts. Where’s my stomach medicine?” A few days ago, Liam had been drinking too much at business dinners and ruined his stomach. Even though I had helped him nurse it back to health over the years, it still hurt whenever he drank. I used to sort his medications into boxes, labeling them with sticky notes detailing the dosage and expiration dates. He had taken that medicine so many times, yet he still didn’t know where it was kept. The camera had two-way audio, but I didn’t say a word. I just watched coldly. Liam hunched over and yelled: “Claire, Claire!—” His only answer was the ticking of the grandfather clock in the night. So he painfully stood up and started rummaging for the medicine. He tore through the neatly organized cabinets, throwing things on the floor. When he checked under the TV stand, he finally found the medicine box I had prepared. He picked it up but didn’t take any pills. He just stared blankly at the sticky note on top. Even with my eyes closed, I could remember exactly what it said. “Prescription antacid chewables. 1-2 tablets, 3 times a day. Take 1-2 hours after meals or before bed.” I had written that stroke by stroke. I had been so full of naive, foolish love, thinking that sincerity would be met with sincerity. Only at the end did I realize that my desperate devotion was nothing but worthless trash in his eyes. Something to be kicked aside at will. Liam was still crouching there, staring dead at the medicine box, completely motionless. After an unknown amount of time, he slowly buried his face in his knees and remained silent. He didn’t take the medicine that night. Instead, he smoked alone in the living room. He just sat there in silence all night.

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “436707”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

At a college reunion, Caleb Thorne’s ex-girlfriend “accidentally” spilled red wine all over my new dress. She panicked, apologizing profusely: “I’m so sorry, I’ll pay for it.” “My wife’s dress is a vintage collector’s item from last year’s auction. The hammer price was one million dollars.” Caleb smiled, his reply light and airy. 1 Serena immediately collapsed onto the floor, her face draining of all color. “Holy shit, a million dollars for a dress. Mr. Thorne is a baller. I bet some people are regretting their life choices right now.” “Didn’t she marry some rich kid back then? Does she really not have a million bucks?” “More like a broke kid. Honestly, she probably couldn’t scrape that together even if she sold herself.” The crowd erupted into exaggerated, cruel laughter. I looked at her with complicated feelings—the ex who had abandoned Caleb all those years ago. She happened to look up, and our eyes met. Her eyes were a swirling mess of profound humiliation and bitter resentment. Just moments ago, in the restroom, she had cornered me. With a slow, arrogant smirk, she said: “Believe it or not, if I wanted to, I could snap my fingers and he’d come crawling back to me like an obedient dog.” And now, just to get close to Caleb, she intentionally spilled wine on me, creating this exact scenario. Honestly, I wasn’t surprised by her behavior. After all, Caleb was currently the darling of financial magazines, a tech billionaire with a net worth in the ten figures. If Serena hadn’t married someone else back then, she would be Mrs. Thorne today. It was just that her words in the restroom made me feel a little defensive on Caleb’s behalf. Caleb took off his suit jacket and draped it over my shoulders. He looked down at Serena, his gaze cold and imposing. “If you’re having financial difficulties, perhaps you could ask your imprisoned ex-husband for a loan.” She clenched her fists, her lips trembling with stubborn pride. “I’ll pay you back.” Caleb just laughed. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.” “Serena, you really haven’t changed a bit.” His tone was completely indifferent, yet it made me feel strangely disoriented. I had been with Caleb since he had nothing. I had fought by his side as he built his empire from the ground up. I had seen him at his absolute lowest, and I had seen him at his most triumphant. But I had never seen him act like this—humiliating a woman so viciously, so publicly. As a result, the crowd’s laughter grew even louder and more unrestrained. I was the only one who noticed that, although he appeared to be mocking her, his eyes never actually left her face. 2 In the five years we’d been together, Caleb rarely spoke about his past. That was, until a month ago. We went back to his hometown to retrieve some things, and I accidentally found a worn-out wallet in his closet. Inside was a photo of a woman. She had a bright, beautiful smile. Caleb was usually so composed, but that day, he zoned out for a long time. A deep, melancholic shadow settled in his eyes. I fought back the sour feeling in my chest and asked, trying to sound casual, “Your ex?” “Yeah.” I watched him tear the photo to pieces, his face completely blank, and throw it into the trash can. A cold, irritable feeling spread through my chest. I left immediately. That was our first cold war in five years. That night, after I showered, Caleb hugged me from behind and sighed softly. “Back when I was just starting the company and things were at their absolute worst, she took our core technology and defected to a rival company. She ended up becoming the owner’s wife.” “On the day of her wedding, my mother went to find her and got into a car accident on the way. She barely survived. The very next day, Serena left the country with her new husband.” “Chloe, I truly hated her back then.” … I stared silently at his calm expression in the bathroom mirror. What Caleb didn’t know was that later that day, I had gone back to the room. I saw him digging through the trash can, picking out the torn pieces of Serena’s photo. His eyes were red as he meticulously, painstakingly glued them back together. 3 The reunion was winding down. Someone suddenly yelled out: “We’re all old classmates! We should help each other out in times of need. Why don’t we start a GoFundMe for Serena!” The moment those words hung in the air, Serena’s face changed completely. She looked up at Caleb with a helpless, desperate gaze. And the hand Caleb had wrapped around mine suddenly tightened, squeezing so hard it felt like he might crush my fingers. “Caleb…” It wasn’t until I gasped out his name that he snapped back to reality and let go of my hand. I looked at the deep red marks left on my skin, feeling like I had just been plunged into a freezing lake. A chill spread through my entire body. The guy who started the commotion laughed, sneaking glances at Caleb’s reaction. Seeing that Caleb had no intention of stopping him, he quickly started the “bidding.” “Five bucks!” “Come on, this is the former campus queen we’re talking about! The dream girl of half the guys here! Be a little more generous! I pledge twenty!” … One by one, people started throwing out numbers. The atmosphere became raucous and chaotic. It was as if they were treating Serena like an item up for auction, or a piece of meat on a chopping block. Serena’s face was as pale as paper, her eyes red and swollen, but she didn’t say a single word. Caleb stared silently at her dead, defeated expression. By the end, when the crowd jokingly handed Serena the hundred-odd dollars in loose change they had “raised,” she just stared blankly and said, “Thank you.” The crowd was in disbelief. “She actually took it?” “Hahaha. From the proud, untouchable goddess to acting like a literal beggar.” Serena ignored them completely. Holding the crumpled bills in her hands, she walked up to Caleb. Her posture was so low she was practically groveling in the dust. “Here is a hundred dollars. Mr. Thorne, could you please give me a little more time for the rest?” Her humble, broken demeanor was a stark contrast to the radiant, proud girl I had seen in the photograph. A sudden, heavy silence fell over the crowd. People exchanged awkward glances. “…Did we take that a little too far?” “She is still a woman, after all…” Caleb didn’t speak. He just kept staring at her. My chest suddenly ached with a dull, throbbing pain. It was so easy to see through the coldness in his eyes to the underlying frustration. He wanted Serena to fall into the mud; he wanted to trample her dignity underfoot. But when the moment actually arrived, when she lost her pride and accepted the charity with such numb resignation, it made him uncomfortable. Was it discomfort, or was it heartache? 4 In that brief moment of distraction, someone suddenly screamed at us in horror: “Watch out! The chandelier is falling!” I instinctively looked up. The massive chandelier above us was swaying precariously, looking like it would detach at any second. —And the three of us were standing directly underneath it. “Caleb—” I reached out to grab him, but before I could, I saw Caleb lunge toward Serena, shielding her body with his as they dove out of the way. My brain went numb with a deafening ringing sound. Then, someone grabbed my wrist and yanked me hard. I stumbled and fell in the opposite direction. A split second later, the chandelier crashed to the floor with a terrifying explosion of sound. Shards of glass and crystal sprayed everywhere. A sharp, blunt pain shot up my lower leg. A thin, deep gash had been sliced into the skin near my ankle by a flying shard, and blood was seeping out. But I felt like I couldn’t even process the pain. I just sat on the floor, staring blankly at the two people holding each other a few feet away. Whispers erupted all around us. The moonlight filtering through the windows, combined with the subtle, knowing glances of the crowd, washed over me like a freezing frost. It wasn’t until the man who saved me asked with concern, “Mrs. Thorne, are you alright?” I saw Caleb’s body violently stiffen. He shoved Serena away instantly and rushed over to me, grabbing my ankle to carefully inspect the wound. His deep voice was laced with intense remorse and apology. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know you were right behind me.” Serena walked over as well. Her voice was very soft, carrying a strange, complex emotion. “Thank you for saving me just now.” Caleb didn’t acknowledge her. He just stared at me intently. “Chloe, I really didn’t know you were under the chandelier too.” I silently pulled my leg out of his grasp. Caleb watched me for a moment, then simply scooped me up into his arms and started walking toward the exit. I struggled slightly, but his grip on my waist was ironclad. His voice was terrifyingly low. “Don’t move.” “Caleb…” Serena chased after us. Caleb’s face was stone cold, his tone indicating he had no desire to speak with her any further. “Three months. The one million must be wired to my wife’s account.” But Serena suddenly smiled. She shot me a provocative look. “Thank you for the extension. I will make sure to pay you back within the designated timeframe.” 5 As soon as we got home, Caleb semi-forcibly cleaned and bandaged my wound. Then, he locked the bedroom door, cupped my jaw, and kissed me. The resentment that had been building up in my chest all night suddenly exploded. I fought with everything I had to push him away. “Cancel the wedding next Saturday. We’re breaking up.” Caleb restrained me with one hand. “Why?” My mind was flooded with what his old classmates had whispered after the accident: “You know what they say. When disaster strikes, your first reaction is always the most honest. Caleb chose to save Serena first. Does it really need to be spelled out any clearer?” Exactly. The coldness and cruel words were just revenge. The instinctive, protective dive was subconscious love. It felt like a thousand needles were piercing my heart, a dense, suffocating pain spreading through my veins. I asked Caleb, “You still love her, don’t you?” “You chose to save her first. Because compared to me, you care about her more.” “I saw it last time. I saw you meticulously glue her photo back together.” “Since you never forgot her, why did you even bother getting together with me?” “I didn’t.” He stared at me, his brows slightly furrowed, his tone absolute. “She betrayed me back then, and my mother’s mental decline was indirectly her fault. I have hated her every single second of every day since.” “The moment the accident happened, whether it was her standing next to me, or any other classmate, my instinct would have been to save them.” “Hating her is one thing; a life-or-death situation is another.” “But I truly didn’t know you were behind me. If I had known, I never would have let you get hurt.” “I gave her a three-month extension because I saw someone pull out their phone and start recording.” “As for the photo… the doctor called me that day and said revisiting past memories might stimulate my mother’s brain activity. I wanted to use that photo to try and help her.” Caleb took my hands. “Chloe, you know me, don’t you?” When I didn’t say anything, he let out a helpless sigh and slowly kissed me. “Chloe, the person I love now is you.” His tone was so candid, hiding absolutely nothing. “Don’t ever say things like ‘breaking up’ out of anger again, Chloe. It hurts me too.” In the dim light, Caleb was wearing a tailored black shirt. A few buttons were undone, revealing a glimpse of his collarbone. His eyes were pitch black, without a trace of distraction. He gently rubbed my flushed earlobe and asked in a low voice, “Can we?” The AC in the room was set very low, but I was sweating profusely. The atmosphere was perfect. Bang. The bedroom door was suddenly shoved open. “Caleb…” A gasp cut through the air, yanking me out of my hazy, confused thoughts. I instinctively looked over. Serena stood in the doorway, her face pale as a ghost, staring blankly at us. I sat up almost immediately, scrambling to pull the blanket over my body, feeling deeply ashamed. It was absurd. I was Caleb’s fiancée, yet under Serena’s accusing stare, I felt like the other woman caught in an affair. 6 When we were all fully dressed and standing in the living room, Caleb glared at Serena. “What are you doing here?” Serena stared back at him, biting her lip, her eyes filled with intense disbelief and hurt: “I walked into the wrong room. I’m sorry.” “Get out,” he ordered coldly. Mia, Caleb’s younger sister, rushed over and pulled Serena behind her, shielding her. “Caleb, I brought Serena here. There are people harassing her at her apartment for debts. I was afraid she wasn’t safe, so I brought her here to stay for a while.” Caleb’s face turned icy. “Mia, do you have any idea what you’re doing?” Mia’s eyes darted away defensively. “This is my home too. Do I not even have the right to take in a friend?” “Serena, don’t worry. Starting today, you’re staying here. Nobody can kick you out.” “In my heart, you’re my only sister-in-law.” Saying that, she shot me a defiant, challenging look. I found the whole situation laughable. The frustration that had been building inside me flared up again. I ignored her entirely and looked directly at Serena. “You’re afraid of debt collectors showing up at your door, but did you forget you owe me a million dollars too?” “Or did you come here today specifically to pay me back?” I pulled up the QR code on my banking app. “Alright then. Pay up right now.” “That’s enough.” Mia swatted my hand away. My phone hit the floor with a loud crack. Mia turned to Caleb, her expression complicated. “Caleb, I know you hate Serena, but there’s a reason for everything.” “Do you even know what happened back then—” Serena, as if finally snapping out of a daze, violently grabbed Mia’s arm. Her eyes were red and pleading. “Don’t say it.” For a moment, no one spoke. Until Caleb suddenly broke the silence. “Back then, what?” 7 But before Mia could say anything, Serena suddenly fainted. “Caleb! Serena’s hypoglycemia is acting up. Just let her stay here tonight.” I couldn’t read Caleb’s expression. He just frowned. He didn’t agree, but he didn’t refuse either. In the end, I just gave a self-deprecating laugh, turned around, and walked away. Half an hour later, Caleb finally came back to the bedroom. He grabbed my hand as I packed my suitcase. “What are you doing?” “Since there’s a new lady of the house here, I’m making room.” “Chloe, I explained this. Serena and I are absolutely impossible—” I cut him off. “But you wavered just now, didn’t you?” “If she really had a compelling reason back then, can you guarantee you won’t be affected by her?” Caleb, however, remained firm. “Even if she had a reason, her abandoning me for someone else is a fact. My mother becoming like this because of her is a fact.” “The damage is already done. She has no right to beg for my forgiveness.” “Serena just woke up. I told her she has to leave first thing tomorrow morning. Mia, too.” “This is our home. If she can’t accept you as her sister-in-law, she can pack up and leave with Serena.” “I’m sorry, honey.” Caleb knelt down. His slightly cool fingertips gently, tenderly wiped away my tears. “Making you sad and insecure… that’s my fault.” … In the middle of the night, I was startled awake by a clap of thunder. I groggily rolled over and realized the spot next to me was empty. Caleb was gone. I practically searched the entire house but couldn’t find him. I called him several times, but he didn’t answer. The rain was pouring down outside. I sat on the sofa like an idiot, staring blankly ahead. Suddenly, I remembered one place I hadn’t checked. I ran to the guest room where Serena was staying. From inside, I could hear a woman’s faint, muffled groans. My brain exploded. I shakily tried the handle, only to find the door was locked from the outside. “My brother and Serena are in there.” “I slipped them both something in their drinks, and I locked the door.” Mia padded over in her slippers. “They missed out on so many years. I’m just trying to secure my brother’s happiness and correct a terrible mistake.” My blood boiled instantly. “Mia, if anything actually happens in there, I will call the cops.” I frantically searched for the spare key and finally heard a click. The moment the door opened, my heart was lodged in my throat. 8 I didn’t know whether to be relieved or devastated. The scene before me wasn’t the graphic nightmare I had imagined— Serena was curled up under the covers, one wrist tied to the headboard with a sheet. Her face was flushed dark red, her hair completely disheveled. “Caleb, you… you don’t have to save me. I know you haven’t forgiven me yet. I don’t want you to do something you’ll regret.” She looked like she was in excruciating agony. Her tearful expression was undeniably pitiful, inspiring a strong urge to protect her. Caleb stood with his back to the door, rigid and straight beside the bed. I couldn’t see his face. “Caleb.” When he heard my voice and turned around, he froze for a second. I ran to his side and saw that he was fully dressed and seemed completely normal. Trembling, I asked, “Are you okay?” Caleb shook his head. As if remembering something, he stared at me, earnestly trying to explain: “Mia tricked me into coming in here, and then locked me in with Serena. But I didn’t drink the spiked wine. Nothing happened between us.” So, Serena was the only one who had been drugged. My mind was a chaotic mess. Just as I was about to speak, someone grabbed my arm violently. “This is all your fault. If it wasn’t for you, they would have made up a long time ago—” Mia lunged at me, trying to hit me. I had reached my absolute limit. I backhanded her hard across the face. “Are you out of your damn mind?” Mia looked at me in disbelief and immediately turned to Caleb to complain. “Caleb, she hit me! I’m your biological sister!” Seeing that Caleb only stared at her coldly, a flash of panic crossed Mia’s eyes. “Chloe, my brother doesn’t even love you! How can you be so shameless, clinging to him and refusing to let go?!” I laughed out of sheer fury. “You drugged your own brother and the ex-girlfriend who almost killed your mother, locked them in a room together, and you think I’m the shameless one?” Mia’s eyes darted nervously. “Serena didn’t mean to do that! She…” “Enough.” Caleb suddenly spoke. His expression and tone were absolute ice. “No matter what her reason is, I never want to hear it.” Mia went pale. “Caleb, you’re going to regret this.” Caleb remained unmoved. “Chloe and I are getting married next Saturday. It would be best if you didn’t attend. You are not welcome.” Finally, an ambulance came and took Serena away. As she was leaving, she said in a very quiet voice, “Caleb, whether you believe it or not, I never wanted to hurt you back then.” Caleb held my hand. His face showed not a single trace of emotion. 9 I told Caleb I needed more time to think about the wedding. He didn’t refuse forcefully. He just looked at me earnestly and said, “Chloe, no matter what happens, promise me you’ll never leave me.” I muted everyone’s messages and went on a solo trip to clear my head. I never expected a sudden earthquake to strike the area. And I certainly never expected Caleb to ignore the danger of aftershocks and rush all the way there to find me. I wasn’t really hurt, but he was. A falling sign hit his arm, and he needed six stitches. Seeing me on the verge of tears, he endured the pain and tried to comfort me. “Good thing it was my arm. If it hit my face, I wouldn’t look as handsome on our wedding day.” He said it like a joke, but his expression when mentioning the wedding was incredibly serious and resolute. I looked at him for a long time, then took a deep breath. “Then you better heal fast, or you’ll be wearing a sling on our wedding day.” He froze. His eyes lit up. The light in them was entirely for me. “Okay.” … As the wedding date approached, I was overwhelmed with preparations. On the day I went to try on my dress, Serena called me. “I knew Mia spiked the drink that night. I drank it on purpose.” She went on a long rant, finally threatening that if I didn’t give Caleb back to her, she would kill herself. I honestly thought she was clinically insane. I replied coldly, “Then go die.” After that, she never called me again. Until the day of the wedding, someone sent me an anonymous text: “Care to make a bet? You won’t get married today.” The confident tone felt like a simple statement of fact. It was obvious it was from Serena. An inexplicable wave of irritation washed over me. It wasn’t just because of the text. It was because I realized Caleb was acting very strange today. “…Groom, do you take this woman?” When the officiant asked for the fourth time, I saw Caleb finally snap out of his distracted daze. After another blank silence, he muttered softly, “I do.” I felt a little dizzy. Was he regretting this? Caleb’s phone suddenly rang, loud and intrusive. His expression shifted slightly. He seemed to know who it was, but he didn’t answer. The phone kept ringing relentlessly. He finally just turned it off. The wedding proceeded to the montage of our sweet memories. But the photos and music we had prepared inexplicably vanished, and a familiar face suddenly filled the giant screen. Mia. A sudden, terrible premonition hit me. The next second, Mia’s panicked voice echoed through the entire venue. “Caleb, Serena is missing.” The crowd gasped in shock. “Who’s Serena?” “Ugh, Mr. Thorne’s ex-girlfriend.” I saw Caleb visibly freeze. Mia seemed to be walking and running at the same time, her voice slightly breathless. “Earlier today, she was acting really weird. She said she had to get your wedding present ready, and then she just vanished.” “Caleb, I know I promised Serena I wouldn’t tell, but I really can’t keep it a secret anymore today.” “You weren’t answering your phone, so this was the only way I could let you know the truth.” Caleb stopped breathing, his expression growing tense. “She never betrayed you. She didn’t steal the core technology; another employee in your company did. She deliberately took the blame for it.” “Because—” “Serena was diagnosed with leukemia back then.” Caleb stood paralyzed, glued to the floor. “Her ex-husband threatened her. If she didn’t marry him, he was going to completely destroy your company.” “She didn’t live in luxury for those five years. She was abroad getting treatment the entire time.” Caleb looked like he’d been struck by lightning. His face was a portrait of pure, unadulterated shock. “Caleb, she really sacrificed so much for you. That venomous snake Chloe is completely unworthy of you.” “Do you know what she said to Serena?” A burst of static, and Mia hit play on a voice recorder. My cold, malicious voice echoed from the speakers— “Then go die.” Caleb snapped his head around and stared at me. He had never looked at me with such sharp, suspicious, accusing eyes. “I see Serena.” “She’s… on the roof.” “Caleb…” Mia’s voice trembled. “She’s going to jump!” Caleb looked like he could barely stand. “Caleb, that audio recording—” I grabbed his arm, desperately trying to explain myself. Caleb violently shoved me off. I stumbled, completely caught off guard, and crashed heavily onto the floor. “Caleb…” He only looked back at me once. His eyes were a chaotic mess of emotions. Then, without a second glance, he walked away. Ignoring the pitying, mocking stares of everyone in the room, I stood up, gathered my massive dress, and chased after him. A muffled clap of thunder rolled across the sky. The bright, sunny day had suddenly turned into a torrential downpour. I stumbled and slipped, following Caleb all the way to the roof of the hotel. Just in time to see him and Serena locked in a desperate struggle. In the pouring rain, Serena kept fighting to break free, while Caleb, his eyes bloodshot, hugged her fiercely from behind. They were both soaking wet. “Aren’t you supposed to be getting married?! Why did you come find me?!” “In your heart, I’m just a gold-digging villain!” “Caleb, since you hate me so much, I’ll just die right here in front of you—” Before she could finish screaming, Caleb forcefully spun her around, buried one hand in her hair, and kissed her with crushing intensity.

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “436706”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

In the highest echelons of New York’s elite, he was known as the untouchable young master. After a single night of absurd mistakes, he, a man famous for his strict adherence to propriety, took the initiative to propose marriage and take responsibility. But he didn’t love me. After we married, no matter how hard I tried, he kept me at arm’s length. He was as cold and detached as a monk. Until a woman appeared who perfectly matched all his criteria for a partner. He became completely captivated by her, losing sleep over her. It turned out he wasn’t devoid of human desires and emotions after all. He just didn’t have them for me. 1 At 1:00 AM, Julian Sterling came home. He seemed surprised that I was still awake. “I told you, you don’t need to wait up for me.” “But I want to,” I smiled and leaned against him. “It’s only natural for a wife to wait for her husband to come home.” He paused in the middle of taking off his watch. “Suit yourself.” The living room was lit by only a single small lamp. In the dim light, the man’s features were so perfect he hardly looked human. Every time I looked at him closely, my heart swelled with a heavy sigh. “I missed you a lot today—” My words were cut off. Julian frowned and looked at me. “What are you wearing?” I said, “It’s a new nightgown. Do you like it?” “Don’t do this kind of thing again.” He turned and walked toward the guest bedroom. “Julian,” I called out to stop him. “Today is my birthday. Can’t you just spend some time with me?” He paused. “Happy birthday. I’m pretty tired today. We’ll talk later.” He walked into the room and locked the door behind him. Leaving me standing alone in the living room in a semi-transparent nightgown, feeling like an absolute fool. We had been married for six months, and Julian had consistently kept me at arm’s length. No matter how I tried to seduce him, he remained entirely unmoved. Like a monk devoid of all worldly desires. The media always said Julian Sterling was different from the other playboy heirs. The Sterling family was notoriously strict, raising the most principled and proper young master in New York high society. But I had seen his other side. The crazy, unhinged side. Having seen it once, I was desperate to see it again. But Julian’s actions told me that that night was nothing more than an accident. My phone buzzed. It was a message from my best friend, Chloe. “Have you seen Twitter?… If you haven’t, promise me you won’t get mad.” What happened? I logged onto Twitter, and a glaring headline immediately caught my eye. #JulianSterlingLateNightRendezvousWithBeauty Oh, I knew this beauty. She was Julian’s new secretary. 2 The comment section was a flood of people enjoying the drama. [Congratulations to Mr. Sterling on finding true love!] [Bring the divorce papers! Hurry up and divorce that manipulative bitch Scarlett Hayes!!] [Scarlett Hayes even posted a PDA tweet today. Bet her face stings now.] [Is there anyone left who doesn’t know how Scarlett Hayes set up a one-night stand to force a marriage?…] So, Julian was with his new secretary tonight. I had seen that girl before. Twenty-two years old, fresh out of college. Very young, very pretty, and full of vibrant energy. Most importantly, she perfectly matched Julian’s criteria for a partner. They met at a college recruiting event. Julian had gone to give a speech personally, and that girl, full of nerve, was the first to raise her hand to ask a question. After the event, Julian specifically pulled her resume and stared at it for a long time. To everyone’s surprise, this girl went straight into the position of Executive Secretary. It’s worth noting that Julian’s secretarial team wielded immense power. Even the HR department had no authority over them; only he could appoint them personally. Following the clues provided by netizens, I found the girl’s social media account. An hour ago, she posted an update. [Can’t hold my liquor well, thanks to my kind boss for driving me home, hehe.] In the photo, she was sitting in the passenger seat, capturing Julian’s hand resting on the steering wheel. 3 Early the next morning. As soon as Julian walked out of his room, he saw me. “Do you have a shoot today?” “No.” “Then why are you up so early?” “What were you doing last night?” “The executive office had a team-building dinner.” “A team-building dinner for a group of people, or a team-building dinner for two?” “What do you mean?” I pulled up the trending topic and threw my phone at him. Julian glanced at it and said dismissively, “The media takes things out of context. There were six people at that dinner.” “Is that so? Should I believe you?” “Scarlett, don’t be unreasonable. You know better than anyone how the media twists things.” He was right. After all, looking across the entire entertainment industry right now, there probably wasn’t an actress more hated than me. The media played a huge role in that. But those were two entirely different things. I cut straight to the point: “Do you like her? That secretary fresh out of college.” “No.” Faced with my direct question, Julian remained as calm and composed as ever. “Furthermore, I also don’t appreciate your wild accusations. If you have too much free time, I’ll have your agency book you more jobs.” He spoke as if addressing a subordinate. Not a wife. I said, “I remember your ideal type. Under 5’7″, long straight black hair, a clean aura, energetic and smiley. She fits every single one.” And I fit none of them. I was known for being cold, glamorous, and sharp. Julian was getting annoyed. “Are you done? If you’re done, I’m going to the office.” “Fine, go. Today I will tell the media that Lily Carter is a homewrecker who sleeps with married men—” Julian stopped dead in his tracks. When he looked back at me, there was actual anger in his eyes. “Lily Carter is only twenty-two. She’s just a kid. Are you really trying to ruin her life with rumors?” God knows how long it had been since I last saw Julian angry. The wrath of a king for a beauty—it’s just a shame the beauty wasn’t me. I said, “Julian, do you even remember how old I am? “Yesterday, I just turned twenty-five. “I am only three years older than her. “When I was being dragged through the mud by the entire internet, did your heart ever ache for me?” 4 My feelings for Julian started when I was eighteen. I grew up in a single-parent household. During my senior year of high school, my mom fell severely ill. I didn’t go to college. After graduation, I went to work at a high-end club to raise money for her medical bills. I worked a legitimate job—strictly serving drinks, nothing else. But because of my looks, I occasionally faced verbal harassment from male customers. The manager always said the customer is god. If I didn’t want to get fired, I just had to endure it. One day, I ran into a particularly difficult customer. “How old are you, little girl? Oh, eighteen? So young. You’re a waitress here? Aside from serving drinks, do you offer any other services?” A group of men burst into sleazy laughter. “You don’t? Stop pretending. Your uncle here isn’t just rich, I’m very capable too. Come home with me tonight and you’ll see. I guarantee I’ll make you feel so good you’ll be screaming.” It was disgusting. He wanted to continue harassing me, but before he could finish his sentence, a glass of liquor suddenly rained down from above, soaking him completely. “Who the fuck—” Seeing the man who threw it, the customer froze. “Mr… Mr. Sterling, what is the meaning of this?” “Apologize to her.” 5 That was the first time I heard Julian’s voice. Cool and crisp, like pearls snapping off a string and falling onto a porcelain plate. He was there to negotiate a business deal. I figured if it weren’t for work, he would never set foot in a place like this. Because he was completely incongruous with his surroundings. Julian carried no scent of smoke or alcohol on him. He was as cold and untouchable as a deity. After the man slinked away in shame, Julian told me, “People like that aren’t fit to do business with me.” “Thank you, sir.” “You don’t have to endure it either. Next time, remember to fight back and protect yourself.” “I’ll lose my job.” He looked down at me. “Are you in desperate need of money?” “Yes. My mom is sick and needs money for medical bills.” “What about school?” I shook my head. “Where would I get the money to study?” “Understood.” Unexpectedly, Julian didn’t show a trace of pity. That was good. I didn’t like people pitying me. He handed me a business card with a number on it. “This is my subordinate’s contact info. You can reach out to him. Our company has a charity program to help impoverished students. As long as your situation is verified, you can apply for a grant.” He paused, then said his final sentence. “If you have the chance, you must study.” Later, I really did receive the grant. After paying for my mom’s medical bills, there was a little left over. I repeated my senior year and successfully got into a good university. It was only then that I learned he was the famous Julian Sterling. The Sterling family was a behemoth in the entertainment industry, frighteningly wealthy. And Julian was the sole heir. During my sophomore year of college, I met him for the second time. I mustered up my courage and walked up to him. “Mr. Sterling, thank you.” He looked confused. “And you are?” He didn’t remember me. The lighting that night had been dim, and he hadn’t really looked at me closely anyway. Helping me was just a casual effort on his part. But it didn’t matter. I would work hard. Sooner or later, I would stand right beside him. A year later, I became a signed actress under Julian’s agency. I was finally able to confidently extend my hand to him. “Mr. Sterling, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” He would never know how many years I worked just for that one day. I didn’t harbor any extravagant hopes for the future; just this was enough to satisfy me. But six months ago, an accident happened that completely altered our relationship. —Julian and I had a wildly absurd one-night stand. 6 Regarding that night, I only remember the hazy outlines. The agency was hosting a gala, and many VIP guests attended. I drank too much, and so did Julian. My hotel room was 606. I am certain the room I walked into was 606. But Julian was lying inside. I can’t even remember how we started kissing. I was completely intoxicated, and so was he. There were many rumors about Julian in the outside world. He kept women at a distance, was strictly disciplined, and some even speculated about his sexual orientation. Others said he had some sort of hidden condition. But that night, I experienced firsthand that it was all fake! When Julian lost control, it was fatal. … Early the next morning, someone rang the doorbell. My legs were still weak as I went to open it. Because of the hangover, my mind was still foggy, and I thought it was housekeeping. In reality, it was a swarm of reporters. Countless cameras were pointed right at me. While I stood there in shock, Julian walked over too. “Who is it?” He entered the frame before he even had time to fully put on his shirt. 7 The scandal between Julian and me exploded. The Sterling family was incredibly strict and would never allow something this scandalous to happen. Julian found me and proposed marriage. I, of course, agreed immediately. The happiness came so suddenly it completely clouded my judgment. It made me ignore the scrutinizing and cold detachment in his eyes at that moment. He asked me, “Wasn’t the room number 909?” I said, “No, it was 606. You misread it.” He remained silent for a moment, then spat out three words: “As you wish.” It wasn’t until after we were married that I understood the deep meaning behind those three words. It turned out that after that night, Julian went to the hospital for a checkup. They found traces of drugs in his system. The kind of illicit drug that makes a person lose their reason and become controlled by desire. While illegal, it wasn’t exactly rare in certain circles. Who drugged him? At the same time, that morning, I had opened the door for the reporters. Who called the reporters? How did they manage to gather right outside that specific door so perfectly? Everything seemed flawlessly orchestrated. And I was the prime suspect. Julian originally never intended to solve this with marriage. But ruining the family’s reputation and causing the stock to plummet made the elders in his family furious. He had no choice but to take responsibility for the incident. I tried to defend myself. I said “It wasn’t me” countless times. But the coincidences were too perfect. Julian said it was very hard for him to believe me. During these six months of marriage, we slept in separate rooms. If he accidentally brushed my hand, he would pull away as if he’d been electrocuted. I didn’t give up. I believed that one day, he would let go of his misunderstandings and the walls between us. But it seems I won’t be able to wait for that day. Because of Lily Carter’s appearance. 8 I had seen Julian scrutinizing her resume word by word. As if he was trying to catch up on her past between the lines. He was so gentle, but not toward me. After fighting with Julian, I packed my things and left the house. We gave each other the silent treatment for days, and he never reached out. A week later, I went to film a talk show. Julian came too, bringing his new secretary. We hadn’t seen each other in days, and when he saw me, he only offered a distant nod from afar. Completely aloof. Lily stayed close to his side, curious about everything, constantly asking him questions. I remembered Julian hated stupid people at work. But right now, facing Lily, he was incredibly patient, answering every single question. After a while, he walked over to me. “Scarlett,” he said. “I gave you the status you wanted. Don’t drag innocent people into this.” “We haven’t seen each other in a week, and this is what you want to say?” “Just a reminder.” I smiled. “So even now, Mr. Sterling, you still think I drugged you and called the reporters?” “Otherwise what?” I didn’t say anything else, nor did I need to. Disappointment flooded my heart and brain, snapping me completely awake. Julian treated his little secretary wonderfully. Even though she hadn’t passed her probation period yet, he let her take his place to show her face on the program. She was very talkative, bursting with energy. Until the host asked her about me. “Lily, you’ve only been at the company for a short while, and now you’re on a show with the boss’s wife. Are you nervous?” Lily glanced at me and said, “What’s there to be nervous about? I know there are some nasty rumors out there, saying Scarlett used to work as a hostess at a club, and that she’s super manipulative and stuff. But I want to say, Scarlett is actually a very nice person, you shouldn’t be prejudiced against her!” The entire studio went dead silent. She basically just broadcasted all my darkest rumors on live television! Even the seasoned host was struck speechless by the sheer awkwardness of the moment. The host had no choice but to awkwardly change the subject. “Ahem, moving on, let’s ask Scarlett. Do you have any major plans coming up? Give your fans watching at home a little teaser.” “I actually do.” I smiled calmly— “I. Am. Getting. A. Divorce.” I enunciated every word clearly, loud and clear. Off-stage, Julian’s head snapped up violently. His eyes were wide with shock and utter disbelief. 9 Inside the studio, it was quieter than it had ever been. The host looked like she wanted to die. This was probably the most excruciating moment of her entire professional career. “Why… why would you make such a decision…” “You should ask Miss Carter that.” I tossed the ball back to Lily. The young girl was caught completely off guard. Did she think she was the only one who knew how to play passive-aggressive mind games? Sorry, but I prefer the direct approach. “I’m sure everyone has seen the recent news. My husband is acting ambiguously with his subordinate. Let me ask you, why would I keep a husband like that around for the holidays?” I faced the camera, a smile curling my lips. “I don’t like fighting other women over men. I have a lot of things to do, I have movies to film, shows to record. Even without love, I can still live a brilliant life. “As for men, if they don’t behave, just swap them out.” The moment the words left my mouth, Julian seemed to finally snap out of it and forcefully demanded the cameras stop rolling. He dragged me backstage. “Scarlett, what nonsense are you spouting?” “I’m not spouting nonsense.” I pried his fingers open, one by one. It was hilarious. The man who usually dodged my touch was now refusing to let go. “Julian, listen carefully. “Starting today, I, Scarlett Hayes, am officially asking you for a divorce.” It was as if all the blood had been drained from Julian’s body. He turned deathly pale. “You’re just picking a fight with me, right? You think if you bring up divorce, I’ll have to grovel.” He nodded to himself. “Fine, I’ll grovel. I ignored you for a few days, I was wrong, and I apologize. As for everything that happened on the show just now, I’ll have PR handle it. I won’t let higher-ups say a single harsh word to you. If you don’t like Lily, I’ll transfer her out of the executive office—” “That’s not necessary.” I cut him off. “Wake up. I’m not throwing a tantrum.” I pulled a piece of paper from my pocket. It was a fully prepared divorce agreement. “Take a look. If you don’t have any objections, sign it right now.” 10 The show was broadcast live. Even though it was cut off midway, everything I said was broadcasted loud and clear. I instantly became the number one trending topic. Surprisingly, the comment section was very supportive. [I’m totally on Scarlett’s side for this. That Lily whatever-her-name-is, the way she speaks is so passive-aggressive and manipulative. Disgusting.] [I’ve been wanting to say this for days. Regardless of how Scarlett got her position, she is the legal, rightful wife right now. Those people praising the mistress as ‘true love’—what kind of garbage morals do you have?] [Supporting the wifey getting a divorce! Throw the whole man away.] [Off-topic, but Scarlett’s face card is insane. Watching the live stream today, I was stunned by her beauty… Is Julian blind?] There were also people discussing exactly what Lily’s deal was. Because the day after the scandal broke, Julian, while fighting with me, swiftly issued a clarifying statement. The executives who attended the dinner that night also posted group photos. The rumors were immediately dispelled. But my interview seemed to re-confirm their ambiguous relationship. Would someone as strictly disciplined and rigid as Julian really cheat? Speculation ran wild on the internet. Soon, the company’s disciplinary actions were announced. Because of her inappropriate remarks, Lily Carter was severely reprimanded and transferred to another department. Everyone said this was Julian’s way of trying to win me back. But was it really? I understood Julian’s temper too well. If any other employee had made a mistake like that, they wouldn’t just be transferred; they would be fired immediately. Lily was merely “transferred.” It proved he was still protecting her. 11 Thinking back to the day of the recording, when I pulled out the divorce papers. Julian refused to sign. I couldn’t guess what he was thinking either. I decided to send a text to rush him. “Mr. Sterling, once you’ve filled out the divorce agreement, please send it to me so we can pick a date to finalize the paperwork.” Julian called me directly. “Letty, haven’t you caused enough of a scene?” Letty was my childhood nickname. When I was little and my speech was still clumsy, I used to mispronounce “Scarlett” as “Scary-Letty”, so my mom gave me the nickname Letty. Julian had always known this nickname. But this was the first time he ever used it. “I am very firm on the divorce. Please hurry up, Mr. Sterling. Don’t delay me from finding my next partner.” “Next partner?” Julian practically laughed in anger. “The status and resources you dreamed of, I gave them all to you. Who else are you looking for? Letty, you are my first, and you will be my last. I’ve never been good at sweet-talking girls, but I can guarantee that as long as you want it, the position of Mrs. Sterling is yours forever. No one can take it away!” I said, “But what I dreamed of was never those things.” Julian seemed to freeze. “Even now, you still don’t know what I truly wanted… But it doesn’t matter. I don’t want it anymore.” With that, I hung up. My best friend, Chloe, also worked at the agency. She told me Julian had been radiating a very dark aura the past few days and was constantly spacing out during meetings. Chloe said, “Everyone is whispering privately, saying you can’t bear to leave Mr. Sterling and that you’ll come crawling back sooner or later. It seems… Mr. Sterling believes it too.” No wonder. Since I asked for a divorce, Julian had been contacting me proactively every day. But for the last three days, he had gone back to being aloof and cold. So he was waiting for me to yield and beg. Then I’d just have to give him exactly what he wanted. That Friday, I voluntarily showed up at the company. When Julian saw me, his eyes lit up. “Letty, have you thought it through?” “I have.” I slammed a stack of documents onto his desk. “I don’t just want a divorce. I also want to terminate my contract.” 12 I had signed a five-year contract with the agency. This year marked exactly the fifth year. I chose not to renew. Julian looked at me in disbelief. He asked through gritted teeth, “Are you sure about this?” “Yes.” “Have you already found a new agency?” I didn’t know which new agency he was talking about. But I still replied with a “Yes.” My attitude infuriated him. He hesitated no longer, picking up his pen and signing both documents. Except, he pressed so hard he nearly tore through the paper. With the divorce agreement signed, the rest of the process was very simple. The day I got my divorce certificate, I felt incredibly relieved. This one-sided love I had clung to for seven years was finally over. I was admiring the red booklet when I heard Julian say: “Remember, today is the day you gave up everything the Sterling family has to offer.” “Oh, don’t worry. I won’t regret it.” “I hope so.” His tone was as cold as ice, but when he looked up, I noticed. The rims of his eyes were red. 13 Whether his eyes were red or not had nothing to do with me anymore. I threw myself into my new life without stopping to breathe. Of course, saying I wasn’t sad at all would be a lie. After all, I had liked him so much, tried so hard to get close to him. But waking up only takes a single moment. My sadness was only because I felt I hadn’t valued my own worth. The Sterling family had sponsored me once, but considering the money I made for them over the years, I had more than repaid that debt. A few days later, Chloe told me she had quit too. “Letty, if you’re leaving, I’m leaving. Men are unreliable. Your best friend is here for you!” I was so touched I almost cried. Chloe had worked behind the scenes for years and was highly capable. We decided to set up our own independent studio. Setting up a studio takes time. In the meantime, I participated in a variety show recording. It was a nostalgic, sentimental talk show. The guests had to bring a few old items and reminisce about the past. After agonizing over it, I decided to bring my old backpack. It was the backpack I carried during the year I repeated my senior year. It held a lot of memories. On the day of filming, Julian showed up. It wasn’t that surprising. I had accepted this job while still under my old agency, and besides me, a rookie groomed by his company was also on the show. Julian liked to oversee things personally and had come to smooth things over with the production crew. He stood behind the camera crew, his eyes fixed on me. I just acted like I didn’t see him. Halfway through filming, it was my turn to present. I opened my backpack and pulled things out one by one. “This is a gel pen. You know how senior year is—doing endless practice tests, I’d go through a pen every two or three days. “Oh, and this. The Princeton Review SAT prep book. I’m sure everyone has done these? I call it a nightmare. “This is my mistake notebook. I have piles of notebooks just like this.” “And this—” I suddenly stopped. The last item was a yellowed, slightly worn diary. It used to be my most loyal listener. During the hardest and most exhausting times of senior year, writing in my diary was my only way to de-stress. My long silence sparked the curiosity of the guest sitting next to me. “Are there secrets in this thick notebook? You have to play by the rules, no hiding things!” She took my diary and flipped it open. [September 2016. The teacher said the intensity of the repeat class is very high, and many students can’t handle it. But I have to endure it, because I need to go see Julian Sterling.] She froze. The entire studio fell silent. 14 [November 2016. The monthly exams are over. My grades were bad. I feel terrible. But Julian said I absolutely must study. Let me go do a few more practice problems.] [December 2016. Saw an article about Julian. I cut it out. He’s so amazing, I need to work even harder.] [February 2017. In New York for my acting audition. It snowed. I sat downstairs at Julian’s company for a while, then got up and went to the exam. After I got up, the snow covered the bench where I sat, as if I had never been there at all.] [June 2017. Tomorrow is the SATs. Julian, wait for me!] [June 2017. I got accepted!!! I’m so happy! I left a comment under Julian’s post, but he probably doesn’t read his comments.] [August 2017. Let me dream a little. If, I’m just saying if, I can actually be with Julian in the future, I will definitely tell him every single day right in his ear that I like him!] … The paper was mottled, every stroke and line revealing the most sincere secrets of a young girl’s heart. All the guests looked at me. I explained briefly about my one-sided encounter with Julian when I was eighteen. Then I smiled and said, “Having a crush on someone when you’re young is just like that, you know.” A female guest sighed. “Then after you married Mr. Sterling, did you really tell him how you felt every single day?” “I really did. “I told him every single day that I liked him, it’s just—” It’s just that he thought my confession was just fake affection aimed at securing my status. It’s just that, after hearing it, he would reply coldly: “Are you trying to convince yourself of that lie too?” I lowered my eyes. All the past events, everything we went through, had finally dissolved into relief. I opened my lips and smiled softly: “It’s just that, he never believed it.” Behind the stage lights. Julian stared at me in absolute disbelief.

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “436705”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

On the day of our family gathering, the naive, innocent-looking female protagonist arrived at the Sterling estate, clutching a DNA paternity test. She declared she was the true heiress and demanded I be thrown out. But what she didn’t know was that a powerful, old-money family never casually abandons the heir they’ve spent years grooming for an outsider who just showed up out of nowhere. 1. When Serena showed up at the door with the DNA report, the Sterlings were having their monthly family gathering. Tearfully, she accused me of being a cuckoo in the nest, claiming she was the real daughter of the Sterling family and I was just an imposter who had stolen her place. Everyone was silent. The atmosphere was nothing like the warm, tearful reunion she had clearly imagined. “This is the proof. I really am the Sterling family’s daughter,” Serena said, a hint of panic creeping into her voice. She placed the DNA report on the coffee table, but no one reached for it. Grandpa, the highly respected patriarch of the family, didn’t say a word. Naturally, none of the other Sterlings spoke up either. Finally, just as she was about to crack under the oppressive silence, Grandpa deigned to glance at the document on the table and nodded slightly. Only then did the others begin to speak. “Serena, is it? It’s good you’re back.” Serena’s feigned expression of being moved froze on her face. This development was completely different from what she had anticipated. No one asked about the hardships she had suffered while living outside the family. There was no comfort, not even any extra pleasantries. And certainly no mention of disposing of me, the imposter heiress. 2. “Grandpa, she’s the one who stole my identity and caused me to live out there, suffering all those hardships!” Serena stood up abruptly, pointing at me with a hateful glare. That was the confidence being a biological Sterling gave her. Grandpa didn’t respond; he didn’t even bother to lift his eyes. The rest of the Sterling family certainly wasn’t going to chime in and agree. Serena hadn’t seemed to realize how isolated she was. Even her biological parents just looked at her with detached indifference, showing neither joy nor sorrow. “Take Miss Serena away,” my older brother suddenly spoke up beside me. He clearly had no interest in watching this boring farce play out. Soon, someone stepped forward to escort her out. “Why! She’s the one who should be leaving this place!” Hearing no response, Serena was incredulous. It was only then she realized that not a single person was speaking up for her. Her gaze swept around the room. Everyone was calm and composed, exuding an aristocratic grace completely different from hers, even me—the fake heiress. She wanted to say more, but a light, chilling glance from me silenced her. A girl raised in wealth and privilege is fundamentally different from her. Moreover, for this scene today, she had deliberately made herself look particularly disheveled. Her intention was to make her blood relatives pity her, but standing here now, she just looked incredibly out of place. I watched the rapidly changing expressions on her face, guessing her inner thoughts. Suddenly, I felt a nudge on my arm. It was Lucas, the one who had just ordered Serena to be taken away. 3. I turned to look at him. “She’s an idiot. Don’t let it bother you.” His expression was cold, as if he weren’t talking about his own biological sister. “Of course not.” I had enough confidence to say those words. The Sterling family wouldn’t abandon me—the heir they had spent years grooming—for a biological daughter who appeared halfway through. “Maya, come with me.” Grandpa stood up from the sofa, pushing away the person trying to help him, and turned to look at me. “Yes, Grandpa,” I nodded, stepping forward to assist him. That night, the lights in the study stayed on for a long time. Everyone knew that the family’s hierarchy wouldn’t be undergoing any major changes. Serena’s appearance didn’t cause much of a ripple. Although the Sterlings acknowledged her identity, it had no impact on me whatsoever. I remained the most highly regarded heir of the Sterling family, the golden child. However, she did have some tricks up her sleeve. The Sterlings are generally very emotionally detached, valuing profit and usefulness above all else. Emotions are just a leisure activity to them. Yet, since her return, she frequently managed to bring a smile to Mrs. Sterling’s face. Acting sweet and spoiled in front of family members—she was certainly much better at making people like her than I was. It seemed that after the initial conflict on her first day back, she behaved very properly. Because of her docility, the Sterling family treated her much more kindly. Until one early morning, a commotion in the stairwell woke everyone up. The girl in the white dress lay on the broken pieces of a vase at the bottom of the stairs, looking in pain, blood seeping from beneath her. I stood at the top of the stairs, looking down at her expressionlessly… 4. “Mom, it hurts so much.” She didn’t immediately try to frame me. Instead, she looked at the people rushing out at the noise, teary-eyed and pitiful. Only then did everyone snap back to reality and hurriedly call for a doctor. “A setup?” Lucas stood beside me, yawning, and asked with a raised eyebrow. The scene just now would seem suspicious to anyone. I pressed my lips together, watching Serena lying there covered in injuries, and shook my head. At least she hadn’t directly framed me or condemned me. She just “accidentally” fell down the stairs as I walked past. There are security cameras here; she wouldn’t be stupid enough to say I pushed her. “What’s going on? How is it this serious?” Mrs. Sterling, Eleanor, rushed to her side, frowning. She didn’t know where to start—there were broken vase pieces everywhere, some embedded in Serena’s skin, and blood was staining the carpet. Serena’s face was growing paler by the second. Eleanor didn’t know where she was hurt or how serious it was, so she didn’t dare move her before the doctor arrived. But Serena didn’t care. Now was the best time to elicit sympathy. She struggled to lift her hand to grasp Eleanor’s hem. Eleanor frowned slightly, almost imperceptibly. “Mom…” “Don’t speak. The doctor will be here in a minute,” Eleanor stopped her, forcing Serena to swallow her unspoken words. “Should we go take a look?” Lucas, who had been watching, suggested. I nodded. “Don’t come over!” “Don’t come over.” Two simultaneous voices rang out. One from Serena, the other from Eleanor. Serena’s tone was agitated, clearly showing her extreme wariness of me. My footsteps halted. Lucas, however, walked over fearlessly. “Tsk, I’m over here now. What’s the problem?” He bent down slightly, his mocking gaze meeting Serena’s eyes. Finally, just as Serena was about to break, the ambulance arrived. 5. “Be careful of the glass shards. Wait for the housekeeper to clean it up before you come down.” Before Eleanor left, she suddenly turned and added this. It felt like an explanation for why she had stopped me earlier. I was a little stunned, unsure of how to react. Despite being mother and daughter for so many years, there hadn’t really been much warmth between us. I was raised by Grandpa, personally trained as his heir. The Sterlings were always emotionally distant; we only gathered for routine family dinners or major decisions. I rarely spent time with them, and there was no deep emotional bond. Our interactions were mostly just polite formalities. “What’s wrong? Are you dumbfounded?” Lucas bumped my shoulder, leaning over. “You’re very loud,” I said, looking up at him, my tone extremely serious. The smile froze on Lucas’s face, and he coughed awkwardly. He composed himself, then suddenly patted my shoulder, acting very mature: “Maya, this family is going to have to rely on you from now on.” I shot him a slightly disgusted look but didn’t contradict him. 6. After Serena got hurt, Eleanor stayed at the hospital to take care of her. It was only then that the rest of the Sterling family began to feel the reality of the situation. The Sterling family had an extra biological daughter, and she clearly wasn’t here with good intentions. The accidental injury, although inconclusive, raised a question: regardless of whether I hurt Serena out of jealousy, or she framed me out of resentment, it was clear we couldn’t get along. How would the Sterling family balance the relationship between the adopted daughter and the biological daughter? Although my position seemed unchanged for now, when it came to bloodlines versus capability, who could truly guess the intentions of those in power? For a time, there was a lot of hidden tension. Some were waiting for an opportunity, anticipating a major conflict. 7. “What are you doing here?” Serena sat up in her hospital bed, scoffing dismissively as she saw me walk in alone. I pulled up a chair and sat down, completely unfazed by her cold reception. “You must be feeling pretty proud of yourself, stealing everything that was mine, and still having the nerve to show your face here,” she said, her eyes filled with malice. “I didn’t steal anything from anyone. At least what I have now, I’ve earned,” I said, meeting her gaze. She was incredibly dismissive. “Earned? The identity of a Sterling daughter? The position of the heir? Maya, have you no shame?! Those things belong to me! You have no Sterling blood in you, how can you claim you earned them?!” She grabbed an apple from the bedside table and threw it at me. I dodged it, stood up, and looked at her for a long time. “You will always owe me! I will never let you have it easy, Maya!” Her face was contorted with intense bitterness. 8. The atmosphere was tense. Suddenly, there was a noise at the door; someone had arrived. Serena’s demeanor changed instantly. Her aggrieved, cautious voice filled the room: “Sister, I just wanted an apple. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked you to help me.” Eleanor pushed the door open just then. She glanced at Serena, who was biting her lip with tears in her eyes, then at the apple on the floor, and finally turned her gaze to me. “Your grandfather is looking for you. You should go back,” Eleanor said calmly, acting as if she hadn’t heard Serena. “Okay,” I nodded, turning to leave. Serena tightened her grip on the blanket, struggling to maintain her composure. “What else would you like to eat?” Before I left, I heard Eleanor’s soft, gentle inquiry. 9. In the Sterling estate’s garden, Serena was happily swinging on the swing set. Ever since she was discharged from the hospital, she had undergone a massive shift, at least in front of others, hiding her hostility toward me. I watched her through the window, an aura of freedom about her, and felt a pang of inexplicable envy. “Maya, it’s your turn.” With the click of a piece on the board, Grandpa’s deep voice sounded from across the table. I looked at the chessboard before me; my hand holding the white piece hovered, unable to make a move. There was nowhere to place it. It was a dead end. “Grandpa, I’ve lost,” I said, my voice hoarse. Under his gaze, all my emotions were laid bare. “Maya, you are different from the others. You should have known that from the day I took you in.” My mind wasn’t in the game, and he lost interest in starting another round. “…” I remained silent, offering no response. “The heir I choose will only ever be you. You carry the honor of the entire Sterling family.” He delivered this statement casually, settling the uncertain future. “But I don’t have Sterling blood, as you well know.” I looked up, confusion and bewilderment in my expression. Although I always answered confidently when facing others’ doubts, that deep-seated insecurity had always been suppressed at the very bottom of my heart. “I used to think bloodlines were the most important thing too. But Maya, I found out I was wrong.” He was looking right at me, yet his gaze felt distant, as if he were recalling something through me. The conversation ended there. Grandpa had long since left, but I sat there for a long time. At the time, I didn’t understand why he said that. 10. Actually, I had known for a long time that I wasn’t a Sterling. Or rather, Grandpa knew before I did. He told me himself when I was still too young to understand. He even took me to meet my biological parents and the little girl who was swapped with me—Serena. Unlike a typical baby swap scenario, my biological parents were also from a wealthy, established family, and they doted on Serena. To me, the biological daughter who suddenly appeared out of nowhere, they seemed a bit awkward. Aside from the biological connection, we were practically strangers. Love is built through time spent together. They favored the girl they had watched grow up, the one they saw every day. I didn’t know what kind of deal Grandpa made with them. My identity and Serena’s weren’t swapped back. But this secret was only known to Grandpa and me. No one else in the Sterling family knew. Back then, Grandpa frequently took me to visit the other family in secret. When I was young, Serena and I knew each other. Whenever I was with her, Grandpa would always watch us with a complex, hard-to-read expression. Until one time, I overheard him murmuring “Unfit for great things” while looking at Serena in the distance. I think I knew why Grandpa chose me. It was because I was smarter and more valuable, capable of becoming the qualified assistant he was grooming. I stayed smart because my biological parents didn’t choose me, and I couldn’t afford to lose Grandpa too. Later, Grandpa fell seriously ill. We didn’t go to that other family’s house for a long time. The next time I heard about them was from the rest of the Sterling family. 11. “The other company collapsed. Fate is truly unpredictable.” At a family gathering, they were discussing the fate of that other family. The parents had died in a sudden accident, and the opportunistic predators swarmed in. The empire crumbled overnight. I stood up abruptly from my seat, startling them. However, meeting Grandpa’s authoritative gaze, I swallowed the words I was about to say. I went to their funeral. They were my biological parents, yet I attended as a guest to pay my respects. “Grandpa, I don’t have a mom and dad anymore,” I said, staring blankly at the black-and-white photos, using a title I hadn’t been permitted to use. “You still have Grandpa.” He patted my head, his expression more affectionate than usual. I looked at him numbly, feeling an emptiness inside. Serena disappeared after the funeral. Grandpa changed his mind and didn’t bring her back to the Sterling family. He never brought up this biological granddaughter who was wandering the world again. Until many years later, a strange girl showed up at our door with a DNA report. This time, she seemed to have a completely different personality. 12. “Sister, look at the swing I just built!” I had just walked downstairs when Serena ran over, her face brimming with joy. Before she could take my arm, Lucas suddenly appeared. He blocked her path and sneered, “Do you have a split personality?” The sarcasm was ruthless. “No, I don’t. I just want to play with my sister.” Serena paled slightly. She was a little afraid of Lucas. “Our family doesn’t buy that act, understand? “If you have a problem with Maya, be upfront about it. Put it out in the open, and I can respect that. Stop playing these little games in the dark, pretending to be loving sisters. You’re not that close.” Lucas didn’t necessarily hate Serena; it was just his personality. He had always despised people who were devious and manipulative. The Sterling family had already acknowledged Serena’s bloodline. If she had maintained her firm stance from when she first returned and openly opposed me, he wouldn’t have taken sides later on. But she was always so fickle—one minute full of suspicion and deep resentment, the next, incredibly docile and sisterly. “I didn’t…” Her eyes suddenly turned red, and tears fell like pearls off a broken string. “You!” Seeing her cry on command, Lucas was about to say more but I tugged his arm to stop him. “What’s going on with you two?” It was Eleanor’s voice. 13. It turned out a maid had noticed the tension. Fearing she wouldn’t be able to explain if the young master and misses got into a fight, she had called Eleanor over. “N-nothing,” Serena said, wiping the tears from her cheeks. Her eyes were slightly red, and she offered a faint smile. She looked so carefully fragile it made your heart ache. “Lucas, behave yourself,” Eleanor said, rubbing her temples. They were all her children, whether biological or adopted. She didn’t demand they get along perfectly. But she also didn’t want to see a minor spat every three days and a major blowout every five. “I am behaving. Mom, don’t be biased. If she doesn’t get in my face, I won’t go looking for trouble with her,” Lucas said dismissively. “Alright, that’s enough. If you don’t get along, try to avoid each other. Serena, pack your things this afternoon; we’re leaving.” Eleanor came up with the best solution. They didn’t always live at the main estate; it was only because of the recent succession of events that they had stayed longer than usual. “Mom, do you not want me anymore? I’ll be good. I’m sorry, Sister. I won’t bother you anymore.” Serena misinterpreted her meaning, thinking this was an eviction. A flash of irritation crossed her eyes, but her face looked incredibly pitiful, terrified of being abandoned by her family. 14. “That’s not what I meant. We don’t usually live at the main estate. If you want to stay here, Maya can come back with us.” Eleanor frowned, observing her reaction. In the end, Serena left with Eleanor. Grandpa clearly didn’t value this granddaughter, and her staying wouldn’t change much. On the other hand, the rest of the Sterling family’s stance wasn’t as firm. Shortly after Serena went back with Eleanor, the news that the Sterling heir was an imposter, a cuckoo in the nest, began to circulate among the elite circles. Those who believed it hid in the shadows, waiting to see me fail, while those who didn’t treated it as a joke. At Grandpa’s birthday banquet, guests gathered in droves. The usually haughty heiresses gathered together to gossip about the true and fake heiress drama. “What? Is it true? Maya is just a stray bird?” “She’s always so arrogant. Turns out she’s a fake. That’s hilarious.” “You couldn’t tell before. She hid it well. Her methods must be ruthless. My parents were always praising her, and now her true colors are about to be exposed.” “I heard the real heiress suffered a lot wandering out there, but the Sterlings are refusing to acknowledge her to protect Maya.” “No way! Who would choose an outsider over their own blood to hand the family business to? Is old man Sterling losing his mind?” “You have to admit, Maya is capable. Even if you’re not biologically related, your parents would probably be willing to leave the business to you.” … That last sentence cut through the malicious speculations. A capable adopted daughter is far more reliable than a useless trust-fund baby. Moreover, this adopted daughter had been raised by his side since childhood. Aside from blood, there was no difference between her and a biological child. 15. The crowd’s expressions stiffened upon hearing this. Indeed, even for an only child, if they had no capability, parents wouldn’t hand over their hard-earned empire for them to ruin. “Julian, you’re engaged to the Sterling family’s biological daughter. It doesn’t look good for you to be defending Maya like this,” someone sneered at him, clearly displeased. “Mind your own business.” Julian gently swirled the red wine in his glass, his demeanor lazy, barely sparing them a glance. I leaned against the railing, watching the scene unfold. Whether it was slander, mockery, or defense, none of it stirred any emotion in me. “So here you are,” a familiar voice chimed in. Serena was dressed like a princess today, beautiful and innocent. Her dress had been custom-made by Eleanor herself. So, standing before me, she once again possessed the superiority of being the favored one. “That’s the heir of the Vance family, right? Do you like him? But I heard… he’s supposed to be my fiancé.” She glanced in Julian’s direction. She spoke with feigned distress. “Serena, you don’t need to come here and provoke me. What’s yours is yours; I can’t take it. What’s mine is mine, and the same applies to you.” I was long accustomed to her sudden shifts in demeanor. “Tsk, I hope you still have this much confidence when everyone abandons you.” She scoffed and turned away. When I looked back, I caught Julian’s eye from afar. He gave a slight smirk and raised his glass to me. I calmly looked away.

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “436704”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

On the day the college acceptance letters arrived, my mom made three phone calls in a row. The first was to my grandmother: “Did the Carter family tombstone explode yet? …Ah, it didn’t? Then it must be emitting holy light! Go check it out right now!” The second was to my dad: “My daughter got into Columbia University! Near perfect SATs! Did your son even graduate? Oh, I almost forgot, your son couldn’t even get into a decent high school, he’s graduating from some trade school this year, right? Found a job yet? Ahahahaha.” The third was to the town mayor, asking him to hang 100 banners across Main Street and broadcast the news over the town’s radio system for three days and three nights. She also told him we were coming back to our hometown in a few days to throw a massive block party for everyone. Right now, I’m watching the town dogs feast on the leftovers from the party. I take a photo, post it on Facebook, and tag my half-brother. “Who says girls are worse than boys?” 1 My dad and mom came from the same small, rural town in the Midwest. They didn’t have much education. First, they worked on an assembly line in a factory for two years—he was screwing in bolts, she was welding parts. Later, they started working on construction sites, installing aluminum windows. They had to find their own clients. Whether it was the scorching heat of July or the freezing cold of January, my mom and dad were always out on construction sites. It was exhausting. But those were the years they loved each other the most. They had goals. They had a shared future. They agreed that once they opened their own shop, they would start a family. A few years later, they saved up some money, opened a shop in a booming commercial district, and finally owned something of their own. My mom didn’t care about skincare. She thought carrying an umbrella was a hassle, and she was too frugal to buy sunscreen. You know how it is. UV rays severely damage the skin. When other people look 19 at 24, my mom looked 30 at 24. When her skin looked 31 at the age of 24, she had me. The whole family was thrilled. My grandpa and grandma even came up with over 100 names for my parents to choose from. Unfortunately, they were all boys’ names. My dad’s favorite name was Hunter. Hunter Carter. He said he didn’t have an education, so he wanted a son who would be an educated man. Nine months later, my mom gave birth to me. My grandpa and grandma’s faces fell lower than a mule’s. They stayed at the hospital for less than half a day before leaving. Before they left, they even took the roast chicken they had brought as a gift. My dad sighed heavily and stood on the hospital balcony, chain-smoking. When my mom told me this part of the story, she choked up several times. She said she suggested giving me the name Hunter anyway, that a girl could use that name too. My dad refused. 2 When did my mom realize my dad had a problem? Maybe it was when he started coming home very late, or not coming home at all. Maybe it was when he brought his buddies over, and every single one of them brought a mistress, but none of them brought their wives. Maybe it was when the wives of other construction bosses hinted, “That group of guys, not a single one is decent.” In my memory, from a very young age, my mom was always depressed. She was a shrewd businesswoman, knowing exactly what to say to different people, always keeping clients happy. But when it came to her marriage, she was insecure yet fierce. The only times she and my dad could have a normal conversation were when they were doing the books and making money. At all other times, they couldn’t stand the sight of each other. My dad complained that my mom wasn’t feminine enough, her voice was too loud, she wasn’t gentle, she liked making her own decisions, and she had an “old” face. My mom called my dad a cheating bastard who messed around outside and would eventually get what was coming to him. The conflict finally erupted when I was 5. One night, I suddenly ran a high fever, burning up until I started convulsing. My dad wasn’t home, and he had taken the car. My mom called him, wanting him to come back and take me to the hospital, but he didn’t pick up. Back then, Uber didn’t exist. To get around at night, you had to rely on cabs. But the area we lived in was an undeveloped suburb; it was desolate at night, and you couldn’t flag down a cab to save your life. Eventually, my mom had to call her friend. The friend and her husband drove over and took me to the ER. My mom didn’t give up. She stayed by my hospital bed, calling my dad off and on all night. It was as if my dad was dead. Every call disappeared into the void. The next morning, my mom finally gave up. She put her phone down, grabbed her purse, and went to buy breakfast. Coincidentally, as soon as she left, her phone rang. The caller ID showed my dad. I answered the phone. Before I could even say “Dad,” a female voice on the other end unleashed a torrent of rage: “Over a hundred calls in one night!” “Mary, will you die without a man?! What the hell are you calling for?” “Your husband didn’t even answer your calls, don’t you get the message? Let go already, honey. Forcing it won’t make you happy!” I frowned, considering my words: “Ma’am, I’m sick.” The other side froze for a second, then continued the barrage: “Oh, it’s the money-losing mistake! Where’s your mom? Did she jump off a building because your dad didn’t answer her calls?” “Let me tell you something! Your dad stopped loving your mom a long time ago, and he doesn’t love you either!” “Right now, he only loves me and your little brother. All the money, the houses, the cars in your family—they all belong to me and your brother now.” I was young, I didn’t fully understand, and I spoke with the unfiltered innocence of a child. “So, Ma’am, are you a robber?” “Only robbers steal other people’s things, and robbers get beaten up by superheroes!” She sneered: “Where in the world are there superheroes?” I cried: “But there are police officers! You’re a bad lady, the police will lock you up!” … Later, my mom came back. Seeing me sulking, and noticing the call log showing my dad’s number had called back, she asked me several times what happened. I burst out crying. “There’s a bad lady who said Daddy doesn’t love us anymore!” “She said Daddy only loves her and my little brother, and she said everything in our family belongs to her!” I cried so hard I couldn’t catch my breath. My mom hugged me, patting my back, and stayed silent for a long time. “Mommy is going to divorce Daddy. Sweetie, will you stay with Mommy?” “Yes.” 3 During the few days I was in the hospital, my dad didn’t come to see me once. My mom called him often. Although she deliberately avoided me, when she couldn’t suppress her temper, phrases like “bastard,” “I’m taking two-thirds of the assets or I’ll drag this out until you die,” and “you’re worse than a dog, go to hell” still reached my ears. I secretly cried. How could a child my age understand a mother’s pain? I was terrified of not having a father anymore. This was the first time I experienced loss, but I didn’t tell my mom, and I certainly didn’t cry in front of her. I vaguely knew what divorce meant, knew that between my dad and mom, I could only choose one, and knew that my mom loved me more. I don’t know what my mom and dad discussed, but she was always fuming. Seven days later. My mom discharged me from the hospital. She marched out proudly, like a warrior… but we could never return to our old home. My grandma was standing on the balcony. Seeing us walking up to the building, she threw open the window. “Sarah, come here quick!” My mom froze and looked up. A few seconds later, a familiar woman appeared in our line of sight. It was my mom’s cousin! She smirked triumphantly at my mom, then joined my grandma to haul two unzipped duffel bags and throw them down. Toothbrushes, slippers, clothes, bras, sanitary pads… Clattering and fluttering down, scattering everywhere. I saw my mom’s jaw clench tight, her face flushed with embarrassment. A moment later— Her anger overpowered her embarrassment. She put her hands on her hips and screamed up at the balcony: “Sarah, are you even human? Are all the men in the world dead? You actually stole your own cousin’s husband!” “Robert and I haven’t even signed the divorce papers yet! And you just couldn’t wait! Shameless! Spit!” “When I go back, I’m telling your mother! I’m telling the whole town! You homewrecker!”… Sarah and my grandma tag-teamed their response: “Ugly bitch, look at your face! Robert says he wants to puke just looking at you!” “You useless cow who can’t even produce a son! Get the hell out! If it weren’t for Sarah, our Carter family bloodline would have ended with a jinx like you!” “Someone like you still has the nerve to talk about going back to the town?! Go back and ask around, if you can’t have a son, shouldn’t you be dumped?!”… Amidst the screaming match, a little boy about my age ran out of the living room. Holding a toy submachine gun, he stood on a small stool and fired a barrage of pellets right at us. Back then, the bullets in toy guns weren’t water beads; they were hard plastic BBs that hurt like hell when they hit you. My arms and neck were hit several times. My mom shielded me and we ducked under a low tree. “Where are they? Where did they go?” “Over there!” “I see them! Old hag! Money-losing mistake! I’m gonna shoot you dead!”… With the leaves buffering the impact, the bullets didn’t hurt as much. The leaves rustled and fell. My mom ground her teeth in rage. “You little bastard, if you’ve got the guts, get a real gun and shoot us!” The toy gun could only hold so many bullets. When the magazine was empty, it had to be reloaded. My mom took advantage of the reloading time upstairs, grabbed a rock from the ground, and charged upstairs like a hurricane. I copied her, picking up a rock and following right on her heels. 4 The front door was a heavy security door. Made of steel. That bastard of a dad had actually changed the locks. My mom couldn’t open the door with her key. She dropped the rock, hitched up her skirt, and delivered a vicious kick right at the lock. The steel door let out a deafening “CLANG.” Then came the second kick, the third… The clanging echoed endlessly, feeling like an earthquake. My grandma and Sarah were cursing from inside; my mom was kicking from outside. Neighbors upstairs and downstairs kept opening their doors, asking loudly, “What’s going on? What’s going on? Are you going to let people live in peace?” “Nobody’s living in peace today! The older cousin stole the younger cousin’s husband and brought him right into the house! They even changed the locks! Have they no shame?” “That is shameless,” someone upstairs agreed. Eventually, the local police arrived. My mom tearfully complained to the officers. After calming her down and ensuring she was stable, the police knocked on the door. My mom was fierce. The moment the door cracked open, she bolted inside, grabbed a stool, and smashed it right at Sarah. “BANG!” The plastic stool shattered, and a jagged gash appeared on Sarah’s arm. Blood dripped down onto the floor. Everyone froze. A second later, Sarah bent down, snatched up a heavy glass ashtray, and charged at my mom, screaming “Go to hell!” My mom swung the stool again. The police officers quickly split up—half restraining my mom, half holding back Sarah. I took advantage of the chaos, grabbed the rock I had picked up, and charged at the little boy. That little brat had just shot me, and it still hurt! I was covered in welts! Desperate to protect her grandson, my grandma shoved the boy aside, snatched his toy gun, grabbed me with one hand, and swung the heavy plastic gun down hard on my arm with the other. “Smack! Smack! Smack!” The violent impact on my arm knocked the magazine loose, sending BBs scattering all over the floor. My arm felt like it was broken. My grandma struck me three times in the exact same spot. It hurt so much I could only inhale, forgetting how to exhale. My face spasmed, and it took a long time before I could finally cry out. I don’t know where my mom found the strength, but she broke free from the cops, shoved my grandma aside, rushed over, grabbed me, and carefully checked my arm. “Sweetie, are you okay? Can you move it? How about this? How about this?” “It hurts…” I burst out crying, “Mommy, it hurts so much!” The police told my mom to stop moving my arm. Without professional training, she might make the injury worse. Getting to the hospital immediately was the priority. My mom’s eyes were like daggers, violently glaring at my grandma. “Martha! She’s your own granddaughter! If there’s any permanent damage, I’ll kill you!” My grandma had never seen my mom like this. She involuntarily shivered, then stiffened her neck: “She deserved it! She started it! She was trying to hit my precious baby!” “A grandson is a precious baby, and a daughter is just weeds?! Martha, you’re a woman yourself, why don’t you go jump off a bridge?! You better pray she’s okay, otherwise…” Before my mom could finish her threat, the police urged, “Enough talking. Get to the hospital first. We’ll give you a ride!” 5 In just one day, I had left the hospital only to return to it. My bone wasn’t completely broken, but it was fractured. The doctor put a cast on my arm and told me to rest. My dad still hadn’t shown up. My mom was furious, crying and cursing over the phone. I kept hearing the word “animal.” My mom couldn’t understand how a man could be so ruthless. His own biological daughter had suffered such a severe injury, and he completely ignored it, refusing to even come take a look. “Mommy, our clothes and shoes are still downstairs at the apartment. Should we go get them?” “Yes,” my mom said. “If we don’t, people will scavenge them or throw them away as trash.” As she spoke, her eyes reddened. A mix of stubbornness and grievance wove into suppressed anger. “We’re poor now. We don’t have extra money to buy everything new. You stay here in the hospital and be good. I’ll get our things and come right back.” I nodded, telling her not to worry. My mom was gone for a long time that day. Or maybe it just felt like a long time because I was alone in the hospital. I was terrified… Terrified she would go looking for my grandma for revenge, terrified she couldn’t fight them all off alone, terrified she’d be at a disadvantage, terrified she’d get hurt. I was also terrified she didn’t want me anymore… If I hadn’t tried to hit that little boy, my arm wouldn’t have been fractured, we wouldn’t have had to spend money. I was afraid she’d think I was a burden and just leave me in the hospital alone. The massive anxiety made my whole body tense up. Like a frightened quail, my eyes stayed glued to the hospital room door. If only I were a boy. Then my grandparents wouldn’t despise me, my dad wouldn’t find another woman to have kids with, my mom wouldn’t be abandoned… We’d be like the happy families on TV. Thankfully, my mom finally returned, carrying two large duffel bags. The bags were filthy, and the things inside were dirty too. My mom said we lost some things, but it didn’t matter. Being able to salvage most of it was lucky enough. I noticed my mom’s eyes were much redder than when she left. I guessed she had cried outside. “Mommy, I’ll be good.” I said it out of nowhere, but my mom understood. She walked over to the bed and hugged me. “Things will get better.” “We won’t live like stray dogs forever!” From that day on, my mom changed. She stopped calling my dad, stopped screaming hysterically. She took a pen and paper and calmly calculated all of our family’s assets. She started smoking. In the dark, I often saw her standing on the hospital balcony, her hair blowing in the night breeze, the ember of her cigarette glowing and fading between her fingers. Her loneliness was just like the cigarette in her hand. 6 In those days, in the eyes of rural country folk, divorce was a disgraceful thing. “Don’t wash your dirty linen in public.” If someone had to divorce, the best option was to do it quietly. The couple would quietly sign the papers, and no one besides their parents would know. My mom insisted on suing for a contested divorce. She demanded that the husband leave with nothing, and she gets full custody of the daughter. My dad completely lost his mind. Previously, he wouldn’t call for weeks; now, he called several times a day. He played the good cop, talking about the bond they shared over the years, telling my mom not to go too far, that everything was negotiable. He even said he wanted to come see us and asked where my mom was staying. My grandma played the bad cop. She called my mom a shameless bitch, saying she couldn’t give birth to a son, couldn’t keep her man, and was useless! She asked if my mom was trying to take my dad’s money to find another man. She said all the money in the family was earned by my dad, implying my mom would do anything for cash… My mom unleashed her fury: “Son, son, all you care about is a son! Are you running a royal dynasty?” “Your ancestors worked the dirt for generations, your family is dirt poor, and you still want multiple wives and a male heir! Let me tell you, the 1800s are over!” “The government has been saying for decades that boys and girls are equal. Are you deaf? Monogamy is written into the law! Are you trying to break the law?” “Every cent Robert Carter owns is marital property! Every cent he spent on Sarah is also marital property!” “Robert is the at-fault party in this marriage, and he deserves to be punished! The money, the house, they’re all mine! If you dare harass me again, don’t blame me for going after every single dime he spent on Sarah!” My mom used to act very submissive in the Carter family. Though she had stood up for herself once, it always seemed forced. This time was different. With the law backing her up, my mom spoke on the phone with incredible confidence. I was young and barely understood, but I thought my mom was shining brightly. My grandma was probably terrified by my mom. She stopped calling and instead reached out to my great-uncle and great-aunt. Sarah’s parents. They kept emphasizing that we were all relatives, telling my mom not to be so ruthless! They said my maternal grandparents still lived in the same town, and everyone saw everyone else eventually, their words carrying a veiled threat. My mom sat on a folding stool on the balcony, took a drag from her cigarette, and slowly exhaled the smoke: “Sure. Have Sarah write a 10,000-word apology detailing exactly how she seduced her cousin’s husband, how she got pregnant with a married man’s child, and how she used her status as a mistress to kick the legal wife out of her own home…” “When she’s done, show it to me. If I’m satisfied, have her go to the town’s radio station and read it ten times a day for a whole month. If she does that, I won’t go after the money Robert spent on her!” My great-uncle and his wife had no idea that “reclaiming marital assets” was a legal possibility. On the other end of the line, they screamed in panic: “What?!” “You want the money Robert already spent? You love money so much, why don’t you just go rob a bank?” “Sarah is the hero who gave the Carter family an heir! All the Carter family’s money belongs to her! We earn our living with honest work, why should we do whatever you say?” “You can’t even keep your own man, and you have the nerve to fight for the assets? How did our family produce such a disgrace like you?” My mom laughed coldly: “Exactly. How did our family produce disgraces like you? You act like thieves and homewreckers, and you’re proud of it!” “Let me tell you, I won’t give up a single cent that belongs to me! Your daughter and grandson can prepare to sleep under a bridge!” 7 To win this lawsuit, my mom hired a lawyer and prepared meticulously. This included recording their phone calls over the past few weeks, gathering evidence of my dad’s long-term infidelity, and documenting my grandma assaulting me and kicking us out of the house… On my dad’s side, whether it was overconfidence or just no lawyer wanting to take their case, they represented themselves the entire time. Their core argument was singular: Everyone in the country town does this. Assets should go to the son. Continuing the family line is more important than anything else. They caused a huge scene in the courtroom. One minute they were calling my mom a jinx, saying she didn’t dress up or look pretty, ruining my dad’s luck, so she deserved to be thrown out. The next minute, they called me a money-losing mistake, demanding to know why I should get any of the money my dad earned. My dad was legally the at-fault party to begin with, their arguments were completely absurd, and on top of that, the judge that day was female, and the court clerk was also female. The outcome of the lawsuit was obvious. Whether it was the business, the real estate, or the savings, it was all awarded to my mom. My grandma refused to accept it. She threw herself onto the floor, kicked her legs out, and rolled around like a dying bug. “This is an outrage! The judge was bribed! Where can an old woman like me find justice?” “My son worked hard his whole life, and now he doesn’t get a single penny. Aren’t you trying to kill us?” “Waaah, if you don’t change the verdict, I’ll never get up! I’m going to stay right here!”… The judge stopped, gave her a long look, and walked right out. A few moments later, the bailiffs “escorted” my grandma out. She howled the whole way, vowing to protest outside the courthouse every single day. My mom and her lawyer were talking nearby, looking at my grandma like she was an absolute idiot. “You jinx! Don’t think just because you won the lawsuit that the house is yours! If you want that house, you’ll have to step over my dead body!” My mom smiled and said she wouldn’t dare. My grandma felt triumphant again and threw another tantrum right outside the courthouse doors. After the bailiffs gave her another stern lecture on the law, she stopped causing a scene, dragged my dad over, puffed out her cheeks, and sat right in the middle of the main entrance in silent protest. “What do you plan to do?” the lawyer asked my mom. “Help her out, of course,” my mom said, still smiling, her eyes filled with an emotion I couldn’t read. “The old lady has it tough.”

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “436703”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

I was the eldest child in my family, but the third born. The first two were girls. Because they were the “wrong” gender, my parents got rid of them before they were even born. The shady clinic doctor swore up and down that I was a boy. Unfortunately for them, when I came crying into the world, I was still a girl. 1 I was a girl. My parents were bitterly disappointed. But they didn’t give up. Hiding like fugitives from the authorities, when I was five years old, my mother finally gave birth to my little brother. Because they had exceeded the legal child limit, my father lost his job. The authorities came and emptied our house of anything valuable to pay the fines. My mother lay on a makeshift bed of two wooden doors pushed together, looking at my baby brother in his swaddling clothes and laughing. “At least I don’t have to get pregnant ever again.” My grandmother held my brother, beaming from ear to ear. “Another son! Now when our little Precious grows up, he’ll have brothers to back him up.” “Precious” was the name they picked out while I was still in the womb. Now, they finally got to use it. Overjoyed at finally having a grandson, my grandmother carried him all around the village to show him off. After showing him off, she dumped him back with my mother. She had bullied my parents into having a son, but she refused to help raise him. With my father out of work, money was incredibly tight. During my mother’s postpartum recovery, my father snuck into my grandmother’s chicken coop to steal two eggs for her to eat. My grandmother chased him around the yard, screaming at him all day. “You think she’s some delicate princess?! When I had you, I was back in the fields working three days later! I lived on watery porridge every day, and I turned out just fine…” My father sheepishly put the eggs back. My mother cried as she nursed my brother. I walked over to wipe her tears, but she just stared at me blankly and muttered, “If only you had been a boy. I wouldn’t have had to suffer through this.” The next day, I went to the barber shop at the edge of the village and had my long hair shaved into a buzz cut. I ran home happily and told my mother, “Look, I’m a boy now.” My mother and grandmother took turns screaming at me. “Your hair was so long! I could have sold it for twenty bucks! Are you stupid?!” “Even if you shave your head bald, you’ll never be a boy.” After cursing me out, my grandmother stormed off to the barber shop to demand the hair I had cut off. After a loud argument with the barber, half the village knew what happened. The kids my age mocked me: “Not a boy, not a girl. Maya Miller is a little freak.” After the New Year, my brother turned six months old. My parents decided to move to California for work, leaving me behind with my grandmother. Right before they left, my mother held my hand, looking guilty. “I can’t let your dad go out there alone, I’d worry. And your brother is too young; I don’t trust your grandmother to take care of him.” “You be a good girl at home. When I come back, I’ll buy you candy.” 2 I cried and begged her to let me come, promising I would never eat candy again if she just didn’t leave me alone with my cruel, vicious grandmother. She grew impatient, frowning deeply as she shook off my hand. “Why are you being so disobedient!” “There’s no time, I have to go.” I ran after the old, beat-up Greyhound bus for as long as I could. In the thick cloud of dust kicked up by the tires, I lost sight of my parents. There were a lot of “left-behind” kids in our village whose parents worked out of state. But I was probably the most miserable one. I took over all the household chores. Cooking, washing clothes, feeding the pigs and chickens, cutting grass for fodder… I even had to wash my grandmother’s underwear. I walked on eggshells, terrified of provoking her. But if she lost at bingo with the neighbor ladies, she’d still take it out on me. She poured scalding hot water from the kettle over my head. She stripped me naked, shoved me out into the yard, and beat me viciously with a bamboo broom. On freezing winter days, she made me wash her feet with ice-cold water scooped straight from the outdoor rain barrel. … After she finished torturing me, she’d go back out to play bingo. I slept alone in that massive, drafty brick house. The night wind howled through the trees on the hill behind us, sounding like a low moan. I wrapped myself tightly in two heavy quilts. Curled up into a tiny ball. Fighting against the pain, the loneliness, and the fear. At first, my mother would call the neighbor’s landline every Saturday night around 7:00 PM. I would finish my dinner by 5:00 and go wait at Mrs. Davis’s house. I could never get out more than a few words before I started crying, asking when she was coming back. She always said, “Be sweet and work hard. Don’t make your grandmother angry.” Maybe she found me annoying. Gradually, the calls went from once a week to once every two weeks. When the weather turned cold, it became once a month. But she still promised that she’d come back for Christmas and buy me new clothes. She also promised to bring me the best candy from California. I counted the days and nights until Christmas Eve arrived. My mother finally called. My heart was bursting with hope. “Uncle Tommy and Uncle Dave already came back! When are you coming home, Mom?” “Maya, tickets were too expensive and sold out too fast. We couldn’t get any. We’ll come see you after the holidays.” The freezing winter wind outside seemed to travel through the phone line, drilling straight into my ear and freezing my heart. I couldn’t control myself anymore. I yelled, “You promised! You said you would…” My mother offered some half-hearted comfort. In the background, my brother started crying and fussing, slurring, “Milk, want milk…” I heard my mother’s voice instantly soften. “Be a good boy, sweetie, don’t cry. Mommy will buy it for you in a second.” I called out, “Mom…” She was already impatient. “If we can’t get tickets, we can’t go back! Your dad and I have no choice! Do you think we want to spend Christmas away from home? “Can’t you just grow up and be a little understanding! “Alright, your brother is hungry. I have to hang up.” Mom, I actually wanted to say: It’s okay if you don’t buy candy or clothes. You and Dad work so hard. But. You didn’t care at all. After Christmas, when tickets were easy to get, they still didn’t come back. Since the holidays were over, coming back probably seemed pointless to them. I wasn’t a priority they kept in their hearts. My grandmother lost money at bingo every day during the holidays and cursed me for being a jinx. She hit me hard over the head with an iron spatula. The lump on my head took over ten days to go down. The swallows returned in the spring and built a nest under my window. While cutting grass for the pigs, I found an abandoned black puppy. I fed him scraps and leftovers, and he slept faithfully by my bed every night. In the mornings, he would wag his tail and walk me to the school bus stop. After school, he’d be waiting for me exactly on time at the edge of the village. My life was full of sadness and misery, but there were also these small, fragmented moments of warmth and discovery. But. I no longer looked forward to sharing them with my mother. Two more years passed. They finally managed to get tickets home. Everyone in the village asked me. “Your mom, dad, and little brother are coming back! You must be so happy, right?” 3 No. Perhaps my hopes and joy had been ground down to dust a long time ago. A few days before Christmas, my parents arrived lugging huge bags and suitcases. She bought me a bag of candy. I had just opened it and taken one piece when my brother ran over and tried to snatch the bag. I gripped it tightly and refused to let go. My mother said, “You’re the older sister. Let your brother have it.” “He won’t even eat yours; he’s sick of candy anyway.” Sure enough, after he snatched it, he ate one piece and threw the rest on the floor. The reward I had waited years for was just garbage to my brother; something he wouldn’t even look twice at. I also saw a photo album in my mother’s suitcase. I thought it was a book she had bought for me. When I opened the cover, inside was a photo of my parents and my brother, smiling happily and leaning against each other. Oh. It was a family portrait. A family portrait without me. My mother bought me a red winter coat and couldn’t wait for me to try it on. It was huge. The hem went down to my ankles, and the sleeves hung past my hands like a costume. My mother looked a little embarrassed. “Mary’s daughter is eight too, and it fits her perfectly. Why haven’t you grown at all?” My grandmother happily tried on her own new clothes and shot me a dirty look. “It’s good to buy kids’ clothes big. They can wear them for a few more years.” On New Year’s Eve, wearing my new coat with the sleeves rolled all the way up my arms, I tripped over the raised threshold. I busted my lip open, bleeding everywhere. My grandmother immediately started screaming: “Are you blind?! Tripping and bleeding on New Year’s Eve is terrible luck! Are you hoping I die early?!” My brother jumped up and down, laughing hysterically. “You’re so stupid…” He stepped over the threshold, squatted in front of me, pointed at the blood on my face, and kept laughing. “Stupid, stupid…” My mother looked at him affectionately. “No one even taught you that. Where did you learn to curse at people?” My dog, Shadow, had been sleeping quietly in the corner. Suddenly, he charged out, baring his teeth and barking furiously at my brother. My brother was terrified. He jerked backward, hitting the back of his head hard on the wooden threshold. He started bawling, snot and tears running down his face. My parents panicked, rushing over to comfort him, calling him their precious baby. My brother pointed at Shadow, crying hysterically. “Kill it! Kill it!” Terrified, I quickly locked Shadow in the woodshed. He didn’t understand what he had done wrong and kept barking confusedly. A few days later, several uncles and cousins came over to drink with my dad. Shadow smelled strangers and started barking again. My brother got scared and hid in my mother’s arms, crying. My dad pointed at the woodshed and laughed. “That dog is too annoying. Let’s catch it and make dog stew today!” 4 The men laughed and started walking toward the woodshed. The blood rushed straight to my head. Where the cowardly me found the courage, I don’t know, but I flew out of the house and pressed my back tightly against the woodshed door. “Dad, please don’t kill Shadow.” “Please don’t kill him!” Shadow sensed my panic and barked louder: “Woof! Woof! Woof!” My dad got impatient. “Move out of the way. Stop being annoying.” “Dog stew is the best thing to eat in the winter. I’ll save you a leg later!” He reached out to shove me aside. Tears streamed down my face uncontrollably as I screamed at my dad: “For the last few years, you bought my brother milk, candy, and clothes, and took him to take family portraits. “But you left me alone at home. Shadow is the only one who kept me company.” I grabbed an axe resting nearby and shoved it into my dad’s hands. “You might as well kill me too! You and Mom don’t want me anyway!” The uncles looked awkward. “Forget it, forget it…” My dad’s face turned beet red. He raised his hand and slapped me hard across the face. “What kind of nonsense are you talking about? Who doesn’t want you?” “If it weren’t for you and your brother, do you think your mother and I would willingly go so far away to work?!” Hearing the commotion, my mother came over to break it up. My grandmother spat out sunflower seed shells. “This daughter of yours has a terrible temper. If I hadn’t beaten it out of her normally, she’d think she owns the place…” She rambled on and on. My dad looked at me with pure disgust. My mother also muttered, “It’s just a dog. It scares your brother every day. Why are you defending it so hard…” The winter wind cut to the bone. No one supported me. No one cared about me. I pressed my back tightly against the woodshed door. I felt a furry paw reaching through the crack in the wood, pawing at my palm. It was Shadow. Through the old wooden door, he let out a low whimper. I held his paw, feeling like I was holding the only warmth left in the world. Shadow survived for the time being. But in my parents’ eyes, I became the disobedient child. My mother scolded me. “Is a dog’s life really more important than your brother’s? How can you be so cold-blooded?” My dad was disgusted. “No one to discipline you every day, you’ve gone wild.” … But why did I have no one to discipline me? I thought Shadow was safe. But a month later, on the day of the Lantern Festival, I went to the village square to watch the parade. When I came back, I saw the local dog catcher dragging Shadow away on a three-wheeled cart. His legs and paws were bound, and he howled in despair. I chased the cart for as long as I could. But eventually, his cries were drowned out by the deafening sound of drums and firecrackers. I went home crying, screaming, and demanding answers. My dad said lightly, “It’s just a dog. Next time we’ll get you a more obedient one!” My grandmother rolled her eyes. “Should have killed it a long time ago. It was so annoying. Good thing we still got twenty bucks for it. At least we didn’t lose money.” It was in that exact moment. I finally woke up. They didn’t love me. No matter how docile and obedient I was, no matter how well I did. They would never love me the way they loved my brother. So… Why was I still hoping? Why was I still trying to please them? The next day, my parents took my brother back to California. They wanted him to attend an expensive private preschool there. Before they left, my mother gave me money for school fees and living expenses. She counted out fifty dollars, thought for a second, then pulled a ten-dollar bill back and handed me the rest. “Your dad and I work hard for this money. You need to be careful how you spend it…” As soon as they left, my grandmother showed her true colors. Over the slightest disagreement, she grabbed the fire tongs to hit me. 5 This time, I didn’t just stand there and take it. I fought back, wrestling her to the ground. I grabbed the fire tongs and, imitating what I’d seen on TV, pressed them hard against her neck. I glared at her fiercely: “I will never let you bully me again. “I’m going to keep growing, and you’re only going to get older. “If you hit me once, I’ll hit you three times. If you strip my clothes off, I’ll tear yours off too! “When you’re old and bedridden, I’ll feed you shit and piss!” … The old hag was terrified. She let out a wail and started crying. She went around the entire village broadcasting my evil deeds. The older women and grandmothers lectured me from their high horses: “She’s your grandmother. Being this disrespectful will bring down the wrath of God.” I remained expressionless. “Well, I haven’t been struck by lightning yet. Doesn’t that mean God thinks I’m right?” They were speechless. That summer, there was a huge celebration in the village. Mr. Smith’s daughter, Dawn, got into a very prestigious university. She had a younger brother, and her father favored him, refusing to pay for her education. She had fought tooth and nail just to be allowed to go to high school. The day her acceptance letter arrived, Mr. Smith paraded around the village showing it off. Us kids went to see the commotion too. I touched the gold-foiled envelope. The university buildings printed on it looked ancient and grand, making my heart yearn for it. I asked foolishly, “If you go to college, does that mean you’ll make lots and lots of money?” Dawn patted my head. “Not necessarily, but if you go to college, you won’t have to be like a lot of girls in the village, getting married and having kids super early.” She crouched down and looked gently into my eyes. “Maya, you’re only in fourth grade. If you start working hard now, it’s not too late.” She planted a seed of hope in my heart. I stopped zoning out in class and started listening attentively. After school, I stopped running around playing and started reading properly. The old hag laughed at me. “With your pig brain, you think reading is gonna make you bloom into a flower? Once you finish middle school, hurry up and go find a job in a factory. “Getting married early and collecting a dowry is the only proper path. A girl reading too many books is just a waste of money for her future in-laws!” … I snapped back at her. “The more books I read and words I know, the better I’ll be able to personally carve your name onto your tombstone when you die.” The old hag almost had a heart attack. Back then, for kids in the village, studying mostly relied on natural talent. Not many worked as hard on their own initiative as I did. Most just drifted along, graduating in a daze. When I took the middle school entrance exam, I ranked first in my class. By that time, the population was already migrating toward bigger cities. The middle school in our township had been merged with the one in the larger town. Because it was far, boarding was mandatory. While other kids cried about it, I couldn’t have been happier. The old hag cursed and swore, saying I shouldn’t go at all, that I should just go work and earn money now. 6 She got chewed out by the town mayor. “The state requires nine years of compulsory education. If you stop her from going to school, you could go to jail. Do you want to go to jail?” The old hag instantly caved. My parents didn’t care about my grades; they barely ever asked. But they specifically paid to get my brother into a good elementary school in California. They had to pull strings and pay bribes to get him in. “Precious is so smart, we have to nurture his potential!” I entered middle school with excellent grades, thinking I could really show what I was capable of. But the midterm exams in seventh grade dealt me a heavy blow. I only ranked fifteenth in my class, and over a hundredth in the grade. It was from that moment on. I realized that studying really did involve a degree of natural talent. My desk-mate slept through class every day and played basketball after school. But no matter what math problem he looked at, he only needed to see it once to grasp the underlying concept. I needed to recite an ancient poem fifty or a hundred times to memorize it, while he could basically repeat it after reading it three times. For a kid with no money, focusing on studying was exceptionally difficult. My mother gave me very little for living expenses. She was even more unwilling to spend money on study guides or prep books. I could only save money by cutting back on my meals. I bought fifty-cent packets of pickled vegetables and three one-dollar steamed buns from the cafeteria. A dollar fifty was enough to survive a whole day. Sometimes at night, I was so hungry I just guzzled tap water. Water was free. I bought a pair of fake designer shoes at the flea market for ten dollars and wore them every single day. When the soles cracked, I bought superglue to stick them back together. I glued them repeatedly until one day, during gym class, the entire sole completely fell off. My toes and the holes in my socks were exposed to the air. I finally had to throw those shoes away. I was already going through puberty. But my mother refused to buy me a bra. “Little girls wearing grown-up clothes, looking like sluts.” So I could only sew and re-sew cheap, two-for-five-dollar camisoles, making them tight enough to bind my chest so nothing would bounce when I moved. Compared to the embarrassment in my daily life, the struggle with my studies made me even more desperate. Maybe I just wasn’t born to be a scholar. I just couldn’t grasp concepts quickly like other people. I couldn’t memorize a text after reading it seven or eight times. Even though I never slacked off for a second, my grades were stagnant. I frequently dreamed I was in an exam hall. Unable to solve the problems. And then I would wake up, drenched in sweat. By the time I reached eighth grade, some classmates were already coming back to the village pregnant. The outside world was too big, and the temptations too many. They had never been deeply loved by their parents, so when they suddenly stepped out into society, they were easily seduced by a few sweet words from boys. They had kids and got married in a haze. Living out their lives in a daze. I was so terrified. So afraid that I would turn out like that too. I went to my homeroom teacher, Mr. Harrison. I shamefully admitted my struggles, unable to lift my head. But he didn’t scold me. He just asked, “Do you have any extra money for living expenses?” I waved my hands frantically. “I still have twenty dollars. It’s enough for next month.” Mr. Harrison’s hand paused, his gaze turning serious. “You only spent twenty dollars last month? Less than a dollar a day?” “So you’ve never eaten meat? Never been full? Never had a snack? Never bought any clothes or shoes?” “It… it doesn’t matter. I’ve lived like this for three years.” “Of course it matters!” Mr. Harrison’s voice rose. “You’re growing. Studying burns a massive amount of calories. If you don’t have enough nutrition, your brain can’t keep up. “Saving this tiny bit of money now is destroying your future. “Starting next month, you must have meat for at least one meal a day. You have to eat an egg and drink a glass of milk every day. “And you need to buy the clothes you need to buy.” He gently patted my back, lowering his voice: “Like bras. If you don’t take care of it now, you won’t be able to fix it later in life. “Don’t feel guilty about spending money now. Because this is an investment in your future. “You deserve it, and you should spend it.” After winter break, I went back to school. I went to buy milk. After comparing prices, I ended up buying powdered milk. It was cheaper than cartons. Every morning, I ate a meat bun and a hard-boiled egg. Sometimes I had soy milk. For lunch and dinner, I had one meat dish and one vegetable dish. Before bed, I drank a glass of milk. Every weekend, I went to the bakery to buy the leftover crusts—they were very cheap—so I could fill my stomach if I got hungry between meals. My body was no longer in a constant state of starvation like before. About half a month later, I felt my mental energy was much better. I was originally one of the shortest kids in the class. Barely five feet tall. But during that time, I felt like bamboo, shooting up section by section. My pants were visibly getting shorter. Perhaps because my nutrition was keeping up, my mind was also clearer than before. Wearing clothes that fit properly, I no longer had to hunch over and slouch like I used to. I gathered my courage and started asking teachers and classmates how to solve problems. I tried my hardest to find patterns between different types of questions. I stopped sacrificing sleep to study. I told myself not to be anxious. You can’t become a genius overnight. By the final exams of my sophomore year, I ranked six hundredth in the grade. There were over eight hundred students in our grade. Even though it was still a below-average score, at least it wasn’t at the very bottom. I was pretty happy. But when my brother found out, he scoffed. “Six hundredth? That’s garbage! “Is your brain full of shit?” My parents also frowned. “You’re really not cut out for studying. Maybe you should just quit.”

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “436702”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

After my husband’s first love returned, I saw his answer to a question on Reddit: “What is it like to marry someone you don’t love?” He wrote that he didn’t love his wife. Even though she gave him her whole heart and took perfect care of their home, his mind was still constantly on his ex-girlfriend. He knew it wasn’t right, but he couldn’t help it. Someone in the comments asked: “You didn’t even use a throwaway account. Aren’t you afraid your wife will see this and divorce you?” He replied: “No, she can’t live without me.” What he didn’t expect was that the very next day, I left the divorce papers on his nightstand and quietly walked out of his life. 1 After Sarah Davis came back, I discovered Liam’s answer on Reddit. What is it like to marry someone you don’t love? He didn’t use a throwaway account, and his profile picture was still a photo of Sarah’s back. “I guess it feels like life is just a pool of stagnant water.” “I don’t love my wife. After my first love and I broke up, my family pressured me to get married quickly. I was heartbroken then, and I felt like as long as it wasn’t her, marrying anyone else would be exactly the same.” “It just so happened that my wife had always liked me. We’d known each other for a long time, we knew each other’s backgrounds well, so I proposed to her.” “I still remember how she cried tears of joy that day, constantly asking me if she was dreaming. Honestly, I felt pretty guilty. All these years, she’s been completely devoted to me, taking perfect care of everything at home, big or small.” My fingers trembled slightly as I continued to scroll down. He wrote: “But I don’t love her. All these years, I’ve always had my first love in my heart.” “I know it makes me a jerk, and I’ve tried to love her, but I really just can’t.” Someone commented below: “You didn’t even use a throwaway. Aren’t you afraid your wife will see this and divorce you?” His tone was as confident as ever: “She won’t. She can’t live without me.” It felt like a thorn that had been buried in my heart for years. Its sharp edges had been worn smooth by my own flesh and blood, so it didn’t pierce me with that sharp, stabbing pain like it used to. But there was still a constant, dull ache that I couldn’t ignore. I let out a bitter laugh. Look how well he knows me. Even at this point, he knew I couldn’t live without him. 2 That night, Liam acted exactly the same as always. We were like a couple strictly adhering to the formalities of marriage. He praised the dinner I made with the enthusiasm of completing a routine task, then got into bed, turned his back to me, and started looking at his phone. A king-size bed isn’t that big, but with our backs to each other, it felt like there was a vast, uncrossable chasm between us. I suddenly remembered the day he proposed to me. He thought I was crying tears of joy, but he didn’t know that at that moment, my heart was filled with nothing but sorrow. He and Sarah Davis were together for a full seven years, from seventeen to twenty-four. They shared the best years of their lives, watching each other grow from awkward teenagers into adults. After graduating from college, Sarah wanted to pursue a master’s degree abroad and got an offer from her dream university in London. But Liam’s father was severely ill at the time, and he was required to take over the family business and stay in the US. Long-distance relationships rarely have good endings. They tried to make it work at first, but the distance and time difference bred countless problems, leaving them with less and less time to communicate. Coupled with the fact that Liam had just taken over the company and was working himself to the bone every day, Sarah, alone in a foreign country, realized that whenever she needed him, he was never there. The arguments grew more frequent. Finally, during a fight a year later, the conflict completely exploded, and Sarah impulsively broke up with him. Things could have been salvaged then. But both of them were used to being the best in their circles, proud and stubborn, and neither was willing to bow their head. Liam’s father had just passed away, and he was consumed by grief, unable to deal with the breakup properly. In the end, they drifted further and further apart. But I knew he never let go of Sarah in his heart. Actually, when he proposed to me, I knew he didn’t love me. He was just overwhelmed and confused, wanting to find someone to get the whole marriage thing over with. I happened to be the best candidate on paper, so he carelessly chose me. I understood all of this. But the saddest part was that even knowing all this, when he casually presented a ring his secretary had bought to propose, I still couldn’t resist saying yes. I cried so much that day I couldn’t even wipe the tears away fast enough. He thought I was crying from happiness, but in reality, I was just heartbroken. Heartbroken because I knew he didn’t love me. But I could only love him. 3 I don’t know if it was intentional or a coincidence, but right after Sarah returned, the class president organized a college reunion. After three years, Sarah was even more beautiful than before. Wearing a Morandi-colored long dress, her long hair cascading down like seaweed, she looked effortless and elegant. But from the moment he walked through the door, Liam didn’t spare her a single glance. Instead, he attentively sat next to me and served me food. At home, he had never peeled a shrimp for me, but now he thoughtfully placed a peeled shrimp in my bowl, smiling gently: “Eat some more.” Across the table, Sarah paused, the smile slowly fading from her face. I suddenly found it all a bit ridiculous. In this play that seemed to feature three people, they were the lead actors pouring their hearts into the performance, while I was just the ugly clown, unqualified to even be on stage, watching coldly from the sidelines. After a few rounds of drinks, a balding male classmate who had had a bit too much laughed drunkenly at Sarah: “Sarah, how come you’re even prettier than before? Do you have a boyfriend now? If not, would you consider me?” In my peripheral vision, I saw Liam stiffen. Sarah smiled: “I don’t, but I don’t think we’re a good match.” “Why aren’t we a good match?” The balding guy, feeling humiliated by the rejection, started spouting nonsense. “Are you still thinking about Liam, planning to save yourself for him?” “He’s already married! Let me tell you, it’s not easy for a woman to find a guy after twenty-five. Do you still think you’re some fairy princess?” Sarah’s smile faltered: “You’ve had too much to drink.” Another female classmate, who clearly loved drama, pulled out her phone: “Who knows, maybe the feeling is mutual. When I was scrolling through Reddit the other day, I saw Liam answered a question about what it’s like to marry someone you don’t love.” “Sarah, the photo he used is of you and Liam, right? You still have that photo on your Instagram!” Hearing there was drama, all the classmates pulled out their phones. “Where is it?” Even Sarah, when she saw the answer, looked at Liam with a complex expression, her eyes welling up slightly. Liam stared back at her. My whole body went cold, and I started trembling almost uncontrollably. Under the watchful eyes of everyone, they all knew that the woman my husband loved was actually someone else. In that instant, I felt as if I had been stripped naked and paraded through the streets. I desperately wanted to stand up and run away! After a long time, Liam finally spoke. His voice sounded normal, but if you listened closely, you could detect a slight tremor: “I was just writing nonsense. My wife and I are doing great. Let’s eat.” The classmates nodded and put their phones away, but for the rest of the meal, I could feel countless eyes resting on me. The only things directed at me were pity and mockery. That was probably the most difficult meal I’ve ever eaten in my life. As the gathering was winding down, Liam threw out a quick “I’m going to the restroom” and stood up to leave. Not long after, Sarah also went out. Quite a few people looked at me, intentionally or not. I didn’t know what I was feeling anymore. I could only pretend nothing had happened and mechanically continue to eat with my head down. After the dinner, all the classmates left. I waited for a long time, but Liam didn’t return, so I got up to leave. But as I walked through the hallway, I suddenly heard Sarah’s tearful voice. I looked over from the shadows. I saw Sarah hugging Liam from behind, crying: “But you clearly still have me in your heart!” Liam frowned: “You’re overthinking it. I’m already married.” Sarah, in tears, said: “Then why don’t you dare look back at me?” “What did your answer say? Liam, you clearly don’t love her!” She sobbed softly: “I know it’s not right, but we were together first.” “If it weren’t for her, maybe we would have made up a long time ago… Liam, I came back just for you. I was immature before, let’s start over, okay?” Liam’s body was rigid, his expression obscured by the shadows. After a long time, he turned around inch by inch and pulled Sarah into a tight embrace. The two of them kissed almost frantically in the deserted hallway, as if trying to release all the suppressed emotions of the past few years! And I just watched silently from the side, letting the blade tear my heart to shreds. I don’t know why, but even though they were the ones being intimate, I was the one who fled in a panic. When I finally ran under a dim streetlamp and touched my face, I realized that at some point, my face had become covered in a damp, icy wetness. 4 That night, Liam came home very late. He seemed to want to explain something to me. He opened his mouth, then closed it, not knowing what to say. I smiled like I usually did: “Get some rest first, we can talk later.” He relaxed his furrowed brow, as if relieved of a heavy burden. When I grabbed a blanket and headed to the guest bedroom, he only paused for a moment and didn’t try to stop me. Late at night, I opened Reddit. There were a lot more comments under Liam’s answer, probably all from the classmates who were at the dinner tonight. And his reply remained that same sentence: “She won’t. She can’t live without me.” The night sky outside the window cast shifting shadows through the fog, and the sheer curtains billowed in the wind. I sat up and pulled a divorce agreement from the drawer. Over the years, even though Liam didn’t love me, he could still be considered a good husband. He handed over all his salary and dividends to me. Actually, over the past year, he had started to change slowly. He would kiss me before leaving the house, and he would nuzzle against me during intimate moments before bed, softly calling my nickname. When I couldn’t sleep because of cramps, he would rub his hands together to warm them and then massage my stomach. There were several times I woke up in the middle of the night and found him nodding off from exhaustion, but his hands never stopped moving. At those times, I thought he was going to fall in love with me. But when Sarah came back, I realized that it was all just an illusion. I divided the money I had saved over the years into two equal halves, signed the divorce agreement, quietly placed it on the coffee table, and then, dragging my suitcase, I gently closed the door and left. Then, I left a reply under Liam’s answer: “No, she will leave too.” 5 Liam didn’t call me until the afternoon of the next day. He had probably been busy tangled up with Sarah and only just saw the divorce agreement I left behind. “What is the meaning of this?” Liam demanded, suppressing his anger. “Mia, are you asking me for a divorce?” I stayed silent for a moment, then said softly, “Yes. Sign the agreement, and let me know when you have time so we can go finalize the paperwork.” “Don’t worry, I didn’t take any more than what’s mine. The house and the car are yours, but—” I didn’t get to finish before Liam angrily cut me off: “That’s enough! Is it really necessary to go this far just because of what happened last night?” His voice carried a hint of mockery: “Aren’t you just mad that I wrote that answer? Yes, I wrote it, and it was wrong of me, but haven’t I told you that I hate being threatened? If you think this will—” “I know,” I interrupted him, not waiting for him to finish. “That’s why I’m serious.” “Liam,” I fought back the stinging sensation in my nose, “I saw you two in the hallway last night.” Liam choked, completely speechless. He grew anxious and tried to explain: “No, it’s not like that, listen to me—” My voice broke: “Liam, what exactly was going through your mind when you wrote that answer? When you were trampling on my feelings, were you standing on the sidelines watching me like a joke, thinking I was an absolute idiot?” “Is loving you really that worthless in your eyes?” For once, Liam actually panicked. He stammered out a few sentences: “I didn’t mean it like that. I was just drunk that day and wrote some nonsense. Mia, please don’t overthink this!” Overthink? I pulled a bitter smile. He had already spelled it out so clearly, what room was there left for me to “overthink”? I tilted my head up to stop the tears from falling. “Liam, let’s get a divorce!” … During that phone call, Liam stubbornly refused to divorce me. He just told me to think about it some more. I didn’t care. If it came down to it, I would just file a lawsuit. The worst-case scenario was living apart for the required time before the court would grant it. It just meant enduring a bit longer. I could tolerate him not loving me, but I couldn’t tolerate him trampling on my feelings so callously. Perhaps it was a case of “when it rains, it pours.” A few days later, while I was leaving work, a sudden torrential downpour started. Visibility was terrible, the car in front of me suddenly braked, and the Uber I was in rear-ended it hard. My lower abdomen slammed violently into the metal corner of the laptop I was holding, and my forehead hit the window. The pain was so intense my vision went black, and my ears instantly started ringing! After being rushed to the hospital and examined, the doctor frowned slightly: “Why weren’t you more careful when you’re pregnant? You already had signs of a threatened miscarriage, and you almost lost the baby!” I was stunned. A baby? Seeing my reaction, the doctor looked puzzled: “Don’t tell me you didn’t know you were pregnant?” I nodded, dazedly touching my lower abdomen. It was flat, with no sign of movement. I couldn’t imagine that a tiny life, connected to me by blood, was already growing in there. My mind was a tangled mess, and I bit my lip. What a… twisted fate. In all the years I was with Liam, I had wanted a child so badly. Back then, I always felt a child could tie his heart to me. Because I pestered him about it constantly, he even scolded me: “Do you have no shame at all?!” Even so, I never managed to get pregnant. I couldn’t help but laugh bitterly. Now that we were getting a divorce, it had shown up at the most inopportune time. The wound on my head was throbbing, and I felt a bit nauseous. The doctor checked again and said, “We can’t rule out a concussion. You need to be admitted for observation. By the way, in your condition, you still need someone to look after you. Have your family member go pay the bill when they arrive.” I pursed my lips. After some thought, I sent a text to Liam. When he didn’t reply, I called him. It was pretty embarrassing. I had just boldly declared I wanted a divorce, and now I was calling him right away. But I had moved far away to marry him. I didn’t have any relatives or close friends in this city. He was the only one I could call. The phone rang for a long time before it connected. I could hear faint music and voices in the background. I fought through the headache and said hoarsely: “Liam, can you come be with me? I’m at the hospital. I was in a car accident.” Liam mocked me coldly: “Mia, can’t you make up a decent excuse?” “I didn’t—” He cut me off: “Weren’t you acting all tough yesterday, screaming about getting a divorce? What, regretting it already?” I heard Sarah’s voice from his end: “Liam, come here!” Before hanging up, Liam left me with a sneer: “Mia, I really look down on you.” Then came the cold, electronic dial tone. I stared blankly at my phone, feeling like my heart had stopped beating. The headache and stomach pain slowly faded away. The only thing I could feel was the delayed, dull ache in my heart. The doctor continued: “You’ll need a progesterone shot soon. The pregnancy wasn’t very stable to begin with, and if this continues, it’ll be hard to keep the baby. You—” I looked up and said numbly, “There’s no need. This baby… I don’t want it.” “You want to abort it?” After a moment’s pause, I nodded. The tip of my tongue felt bitter and numb, but I still managed to force the words out: “Yes, I want to abort this baby.” 6 Because my condition wasn’t good on the first day, the doctor scheduled the procedure for the next day. Before the surgery, I opened my phone and saw a post Sarah had made on Instagram. In the revolving restaurant at the top of the TV tower, she was making a wish in front of a cake. Liam was looking at her tenderly from the side, his face full of smiles. The caption read: “May you be by my side every year from now on.” A sharp cramp shot through my lower abdomen, and the pain quickly spread through my entire body. I couldn’t help but curl up slightly, gripping the railing of the hospital bed. No wonder he refused to come see me. It turned out he was busy celebrating Sarah’s birthday. The birthday of the woman he loved was, of course, far more important than his unloved wife. The doctor walked over: “You still need to sign the consent form. Is your family member not here yet?” My eyes felt dry. They stung terribly, but I couldn’t shed a single tear. I suppose I had already cried all my tears. I opened my mouth: “I don’t have any family.” “Doctor, I’ll sign it myself.” … An abortion isn’t considered major surgery. Under anesthesia, I didn’t feel a thing. Even after getting off the operating table, I didn’t feel much discomfort. I just felt incredibly empty, as if a part of my body had vanished. Between the car accident and the miscarriage, I took half a month off work to recover at home. Once I was feeling a bit better, I went downstairs to buy some food I liked and cooked for myself at home to pass the time. I had to find things to do, otherwise the emptiness would swallow me whole. I went to a supermarket I used to frequent, but while I was picking out beef, I heard a grating voice from behind me: “Isn’t that Mia? You’re actually grocery shopping?” I turned around. Sarah was holding onto Liam’s arm, smirking and asking a question she already knew the answer to. “Why are you alone?” I didn’t want to say a single word to her. I turned and prepared to leave. But my wrist was grabbed tightly. Liam looked at the bandage on my leg, his brow furrowed deeply: “You’re injured?” I mocked him: “It’s only been a few days and you already forgot? Mr. Sterling, you’re quite young to be suffering from dementia, aren’t you?” “That day—” Liam seemed momentarily stunned, “I thought you were lying to me.” I laughed: “Mr. Sterling was too busy celebrating someone else’s birthday, of course you didn’t have time to come over. But since we’re getting a divorce anyway, you’re free to be with whoever you want. It’s none of my business.” Liam’s brow tightened, and he looked at me in astonishment. I had never spoken to him like this before. However, perhaps feeling guilty, he patiently tried to explain: “No, that day—” I watched him grab my hand, and violently shook him off! “Get lost!” I said coldly. “Liam, just hearing you speak makes me sick!” I didn’t want to look at his face anymore, which only caused me pain, and I turned to leave. Liam stared at me in shock from behind, the words he was about to say ultimately left unspoken. When I got home that evening, I received a WeChat message from Liam. He hadn’t messaged me in a very long time. Scrolling up, the chat history was almost entirely messages I had sent. “Are you coming home for dinner tonight? I made your favorite sweet and sour pork~” “I saw a really pretty stray cat on the street today, its eyes look a bit like yours, hahahaha [Image].” … The very last message was the one I sent from the hospital that day: “I was in a car accident, can you come be with me?” He never replied. Leaving me alone, foolishly performing a one-woman show. Today, he had broken his usual pattern and messaged me. Liam explained: “Sarah said she didn’t have anyone to celebrate her birthday with since she just got back to the country, so she asked me to go. There’s nothing going on between us, don’t misunderstand.” I don’t know what got into him, but for the first time, he actually yielded to me. “It was my fault I didn’t go to the hospital to be with you that day. It won’t happen again.” I suddenly found it utterly laughable. Being with Liam, it seemed everything I did was wrong. I wasn’t the right person, the timing was wrong, everything was wrong. When I desperately wanted a baby, I couldn’t get pregnant. But when we were about to divorce, it arrived, and the only option was to abort it. I waited so long for his explanation, and when it never came, I no longer needed it. Yet now, he was throwing himself at me. How absurd. It seems we were never meant to be. Before, I forced it, and now I was finally tasting the bitter fruit of my own stubbornness.

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “436701”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

After I was brought back to the Sterling family, the fake heiress, Serena, constantly set traps for me. She had a sharp tongue and master-level manipulation skills. I couldn’t out-argue her, and I was literally driven to an early grave by pure, unadulterated stress. After being reborn, I decided to play dumb. Literally. No matter what she said, I just responded with “Ah-bah-ah-bah.” I never expected that, from then on, she would become the target of everyone’s condemnation. Everyone thought she was malicious for bullying a mute. From then on, Serena was forced onto the moral low ground; whatever she did, she faced intense moral backlash. I honestly almost died laughing, ah-bah-ah-bah. 1 The fake heiress framed me, and I argued with her. She threw out lines like, “Everyone, please don’t blame Sister, she didn’t mean to push me,” and “Sister already has Mom and Dad’s love, I just wanted to be close to her.” With just a few words, she successfully pinned a baseless accusation on me. Before I could even get a word in, my mother, whose bias was already off the charts, shoved me, crying that she didn’t have such a malicious daughter. I was stunned by the shove, missed a step, and tumbled down the stairs. The back of my head hit the edge of a step, and I died on the spot. I was so pissed. I was already annoyed, and then I just instantly died. Right before I died, I tried to recall the last words my family said to me. It was my mom, holding the fake heiress, pointing at my nose and scolding: “Say something! Did you hurt Serena or not? Explain yourself! Are you mute?!” …Wait, mute! If I could live this life again, I would definitely choose to be a mute. 2 When I opened my eyes again, I was back to the eve of being recognized by the Sterling family. I was about to start my senior year of high school. To save up for next year’s college tuition, I was scrubbing dishes in the back kitchen of a diner. And Serena already knew of my existence. Just today, she purposely sent a few thugs to cause trouble at the diner and “greet” me along the way. So, inexplicably, I had water thrown all over me by a few blonde-haired punks who barged into the kitchen, and my head was shoved into a sink and held there for a good while. The me from my past life had nothing, just a belly full of fire. I finally broke free, grabbed two meat cleavers, and chased the thugs all the way into the front dining area. And bumped right into the Sterling parents, who had come to recognize me. So, their very first impression of me was a crazy woman with disheveled hair, messy clothes, running around with meat cleavers. At the time, I didn’t know they were my biological parents. Seeing them blocking my way, I yelled gruffly: “Move!” That single shout scared Mrs. Sterling so much she fainted on the spot. After returning to the Sterling family, she favored the soft-spoken, gentle, and polite fake daughter to an extreme degree. From then on, whenever Serena and I had a conflict, she assumed I was just going crazy for no reason. And her precious Serena was suffering all the injustice. This time, since I’ve been reborn, I must turn the tables. 3 Hearing the growing commotion from the front dining area, I quickly locked the door to the back kitchen. Then, I grabbed a large bottle of dish soap and poured three thick layers of it back and forth on the tiled floor near the door, and sprinkled some water on top. After that, I hid behind the door. Just in time, the sound of the thugs looking for trouble was getting closer. Their target was me, and they wanted to come in and mess with me, but found the kitchen door wouldn’t open. Furious, they kicked and cursed outside. The head chef, who had already shrunk under a table, gave me a thumbs up. However, before he could utter his words of praise, he saw me put my hand on the door lock and gently slide it open. The door opened. The three thugs outside had been kicking the door. One couldn’t stop his momentum and the three of them slid right in, crashing heavily onto the floor. I took the opportunity to grab a large aluminum washing basin nearby, slammed it over their heads, and started banging on it wildly with a large ladle. After a few deafening bangs, I lifted the basin. The three punks were already rolling their eyes and foaming at the mouth. I looked at the scene with deep satisfaction, turned around, and said to the head chef: “Ah, youth. So energetic, yet they fall asleep so fast.” 4 The head chef’s mouth twitched, clearly wanting to force a smile at me, but failed. The thugs who were acting as lookouts outside realized something was wrong. They rushed into the kitchen, saw the three on the floor, and immediately flared up. They grabbed their clubs and came at me to teach me a lesson. I guessed it was about time, so I suddenly picked up a basin of water nearby. The thugs thought I was going to throw it at them and all took a step back. I gritted my teeth and poured it all over myself. Then, I pulled at my hair and gave myself two hard slaps across the face. Red, swollen handprints instantly appeared on my pale cheeks. The thugs were bewildered by my actions. The next second, my face contorted, I dropped to the floor, and began a dark, rapid crawl. I rushed right up to the thug in the front, stuck out my finger, and aimed straight for his belly button. “Oh my god, help!” That thug completely broke down, threw his club, and ran out. The other thugs followed him, running away. I chased after them, tongue lolling out, on all fours. They were too busy running for their lives to notice that as soon as I reached the front dining area, I returned to normal. My hair was wet and plastered softly against my face. My small face was bruised, my eyes were red and teary, and I wrapped my arms around myself, shivering slightly. This was the image I presented when I bumped into the Sterling parents, who had come to recognize me. I jogged with my head down, soft whimpers escaping my throat. When the Sterlings stopped me, before they could even ask a single question, I rolled my eyes back and fainted directly. 5 When I woke up, I was in the hospital. As soon as I opened my eyes, I saw Mrs. Sterling sitting by my bed. She was holding my hand, her eyes still red, as if she had just been crying. She said, “Maya, you’ve suffered so much. From now on, you are our daughter, and you’ll never have to go to a dangerous place like that again.” I looked up, met her eager gaze, opened my mouth, and seemed to want to say something. But after a long while, all that came out were a few unintelligible “Ah”s. Mrs. Sterling’s eyes instantly filled with panic, and she hurriedly called the doctor to examine me. Of course, the doctor couldn’t find anything wrong, because I was faking it. In the end, he could only say that experiencing severe trauma might have caused a functional speech impairment. With a period of good rest, and avoiding further stimulation, I should recover. Hearing this, Mrs. Sterling was filled with heartache again. She hugged me and cried bitterly, filled with remorse: “If only I had found you sooner! It’s all our fault!” Mr. Sterling, standing beside her, also quietly wiped his eyes, his heartache clearly genuine. In a place they couldn’t see, I curled the corners of my lips. It turns out, sometimes, not speaking is truly more effective than speaking. You just need to play the role of a silent victim, and leave the rest to others’ imaginations. I was looking forward to seeing Serena again in this life. I wondered if she could still easily stir up resentment against me with just a few words, leaving me defenseless. 6 On the day I returned to the Sterling family, Serena had prepared everything at home early on. She wore a princess dress, and any random accessory on her cost more than my entire expenses over the past seventeen years. As soon as she saw me, she enthusiastically came up to me, opening her arms to give me a hug. But I stepped back two paces to avoid it. Serena’s hands paused mid-air, and her delicate little face instantly filled with sadness and hurt. But looking closely, there was deep surprise hidden in her eyes. Right, encountering an opponent like me who aggressively handed her experience points right off the bat, how could she not be happy? Especially when, after stepping back, I lowered my head and started playing with my phone. Serena’s “hurt” intensified. She looked up at the Sterling parents with red eyes, her voice already choked with emotion as she spoke. “Does Maya not like me? She won’t even talk to me. If she feels I’ve taken her place at home, I can leave you, Mom and Dad. It’s okay with me.” After she finished, she sniffled, turning her head away in a show of forced strength. But because of this, she didn’t see Mr. Sterling’s suddenly darkened face. Just then, the phone screen I handed to the Sterling parents showed a typed message: I haven’t recovered from my fever yet, I’m afraid of passing it to Serena. Besides, her clothes are so expensive, and she’s so pretty, I’m afraid I’ll get her dirty… That’s right, since my reunion with the Sterling parents until now, too much had happened. They were in such a hurry to bring me back for the official recognition that they hadn’t even had time to get me clean clothes. I was wearing a hospital gown underneath, and on top was still that dirty jacket covered in grease stains from my time washing dishes in the back kitchen. And right now, me, who had become mute because the Sterling parents arrived too late, was standing next to the glamorous Serena. Serena could feel hurt because she suspected I didn’t accept her, while I didn’t even dare to get close because I was afraid of getting someone else’s expensive clothes dirty. Mrs. Sterling couldn’t hold it in any longer, burying her face in her hands and sobbing out loud. 7 The Sterling parents’ guilt was triggered once again. My goal was achieved, and I turned around to grab Serena. Although Serena found Mrs. Sterling’s reaction today strange—why was she crying there instead of getting angry at me?—she didn’t have time to think much. I had already reached out to grab her. In my anxiousness, accidentally leaving a red mark on her wrist with my grip was totally reasonable, right? Serena let out a gasp and finally started crying: “Maya, I know you hate me, I know you hate me for taking your place. I’ll leave right now, don’t blame Mom and Dad…” She performed her own monologue, catching a glimpse of Mr. Sterling’s increasingly dark face in her peripheral vision. The excitement in her eyes was almost impossible to hide. “Enough!” Mr. Sterling finally couldn’t help but yell, walking briskly toward us. Based on my understanding of Serena, at this moment, she must be excitedly counting down the seconds, waiting for Mr. Sterling to scold me. However, the next second, Mr. Sterling reached out and pulled Serena away. He yelled at her with displeasure: “She can’t speak, she’s so anxious, and you’re just standing there misunderstanding her on purpose!” Serena was stunned. And I cooperatively made up some sign language gestures, hiding behind Mr. Sterling and going “ah-bah-ah-bah” at Serena. In a place only she could see, I flashed her a smug smile. What are you going to do now, Serena? The parents who raised you for seventeen years seem to no longer unconditionally take your side. 8 In this life, Serena’s first encounter with me ended in her utter defeat. That evening, when I was returning to my room, Serena suddenly twisted my arm. She whispered in my ear: “Maya, you’re just a country bumpkin from the slums, and a mute. What gives you the right to stay in the Sterling family? If I were you, I would have slunk away a long time ago.” I rolled my eyes at her, mimicking her tone: “Ah-bah-bah-ah-bah-ah-bah (If I were you, I would have slunk away a long time ago).” And so, Serena experienced the very first instance of being sarcastically mocked by a mute. She clenched and unclenched her fists by her side, but ultimately, considering the loss she suffered at my hands during the day, she did nothing. The next day, my brother, Lucas Sterling, who had been studying abroad, suddenly returned. He was the only person in the Sterling family who was close to me in my past life. Thinking of him, I couldn’t help but feel a little excited. The moment Lucas walked through the door, a black bear lunged at him. “Holy crap, what is that?!” Lucas was so scared he dropped his suitcase and started sprinting around the living room. I crawled on my hands and knees, chasing him fiercely. I didn’t stop until I pinned Lucas to the floor. He locked eyes with me and blurted out: “Holy shit! Maya Sterling!” In that instant, I was certain. Lucas had also been reborn. Lucas asked why I was mute. I dropped my smile, lowered my head, and thought about how to explain it to him. His fists immediately clenched tight, and he said, “Did that scheming bitch Serena do this? Just wait, I’m going to teach her a lesson!” Lucas had disliked Serena for a long time. Ever since they were kids, because Lucas was older, he was always told to accommodate his sister. When Serena wanted to play princess, Lucas had to be her prince. But Lucas only wanted to be a superhero. If he refused, Serena would cry, and Lucas would get beaten. The more Serena cried, the more stubborn Lucas got while being beaten. Eventually, Lucas hated even hearing Serena’s name. From that time on, he suspected Serena wasn’t a biological Sterling child. As he put it: “The Sterling family’s genes can’t produce someone with so many scheming tricks.” When I was framed by Serena in my past life, only Lucas stood up for me. However, the Sterling parents knew that Lucas had disliked Serena since childhood, so they didn’t care about his accusations and felt even more sorry for Serena’s position in the family. In my past life, both Lucas and I had a problem with expressing ourselves well, and together, we couldn’t out-manipulate a Serena. Luckily, the situation is different now. Neither I nor Lucas is the same person we used to be. Lucas told me that he had been putting himself through “argument training,” and now he’s Lucas version 2.0. 9 At dinner that night, Serena routinely tried to squeeze in next to Mrs. Sterling, bumping me out of the way, and shooting me a smug look. Before she could even say anything, Lucas slammed his chopsticks down: “Grabbing seats, grabbing positions, grabbing parents. Do you have any manners at all?” “Lucas, how can you talk to Serena like that? We’re having a nice family dinner, why are you losing your temper at your sister?” Mrs. Sterling was a little unhappy hearing this. Lucas pouted, pulled me from across the table, and pressed me against his chest: “My poor sister, you’ve already been harmed so much you can’t even speak, and now someone’s stealing your seat at dinner. I saw it all, you wanted to sit next to Mom so badly your eyes got red.” Serena also felt wronged: “But Brother, I’ve always sat next to Mom.” “Brother, brother, who’s your brother? I’m not playing ‘brother’ to some ill-mannered girl with no blood relation,” Lucas said, pinching my arm hard. I immediately buried my face in his chest and started wailing “Ah-woo-woo-woo-woo.” Mrs. Sterling hadn’t reacted at first, but seeing this, she quickly patted the empty seat on her other side and gently called me over to sit. I was just about to get up when Lucas yanked me back: “We’re not taking this disrespect, little sis. Listen to me, we’re not taking it. You’re already a lost little puppy in the rain, you’re option E, you’re the fifth row, the sixth person, you’re the spare button on a suit. We’re not going to be someone’s Plan B.” These words made Mrs. Sterling feel even more guilty, and Serena felt like she was sitting on pins and needles. Seeing the situation turning in our favor, Lucas wanted to press his advantage. Mr. Sterling slammed his hand on the table at the right moment: “Enough! Let’s just eat!” Although we were eating, Lucas and I were determined to make things uncomfortable for everyone. It was a very tense meal. Whenever Serena tried to suck up to Mr. or Mrs. Sterling by putting food on their plates, Lucas would shove food into my bowl. At the same time, he would sigh heavily: “My poor sister, you suffered so much for someone else before. Now that you’re finally home, eat something good.” Halfway through the meal, Serena’s face was green. Finally, she put down her bowl and chopsticks, looked timidly at Lucas, and asked: “Brother, are you targeting me because of Maya?” After saying that, she lowered her head, her emotions perfectly primed. The sound of sobbing had already begun. But it wasn’t her crying; it was me. Under everyone’s surprised gazes, I wiped my tears while typing: Every extra bite of food I ate in the past, my foster father would beat me. It turns out, having real family feels so good. “Oh, my god! My sister, a true heiress of the Sterling family, didn’t even get to eat good food in the past. You even got beaten up. Look, the daughter of the person who beat you is being raised plump and fair in our house, while you don’t even have an ounce of fat on you!” Lucas hugged me and started wailing again. Serena’s cries caught in her throat, unable to come out. But Mrs. Sterling’s tears started falling again. Seeing that the meal was about to be ruined, Mr. Sterling finally stepped in to smooth things over. The palms and the backs of his hands were both flesh, so he directed his ire at Lucas: “You’re talking too much today. How were you taught before? No talking while eating or sleeping.” “So what if I talk more?!” The reborn Lucas was no longer meek. He stiffened his neck and spoke up to Mr. Sterling, “Maya can’t speak anymore, are we supposed to let her continue suffering in silence? Is it a problem if I express her thoughts for her?” Mr. Sterling was stunned by his words, and only then did he belatedly observe my face. He didn’t seem quite used to the fact that I was mute, always assuming my silence meant default obedience. “Maya, these past few days at home, have your mother and I made you feel wronged?” For the first time, he asked such a question. In my past life, Lucas and I, with our two mouths, couldn’t compete with Serena crying and playing the victim. In this life, with me playing mute, they are actually willing to respect my opinions. I found the scene so absurd I couldn’t help but want to grin, but Lucas whacked me on the head with his chopsticks. I quickly went back to keeping my head down and crying “Woo-woo-woo.” After a long while, Mr. Sterling sighed. I knew he was wavering. 10 Mr. Sterling was different from Mrs. Sterling. In his heart, blood ties were always more important. In my past life, his attitude towards me was ultimately better than towards Serena. It’s just that Serena was, after all, raised and spoiled by him. He couldn’t make decisions easily on some matters, but now Serena’s existence made me—someone who was already owed a debt—feel wronged. In his heart, Mr. Sterling would reconsider whether Serena should stay or go. Serena naturally knew this too, and she couldn’t sit still anymore. Early the next morning, she knocked on my door carrying a pile of designer clothes and bags. She said to me: “Sister, I’m returning everything that took your place. Please don’t take away the love Mom and Dad have for me, okay?” Seeing I didn’t react, Serena got a bit anxious. She took a step closer, lowered her voice, and whispered in my ear: “Maya Sterling, don’t think that just because Lucas is helping you, you’re safe. I can still make it impossible for you to stay in this house.” After saying that, she looked me up and down with a sidelong glance: “Looking so slutty, I wonder if you were ever slept with by that foster father of yours… Ah!” That scream was because she realized my hand was violently digging into her belly button. I’m a mute now; I can’t argue with her verbally. I can only use psychotic behavior to stop her psychotic words. Serena couldn’t handle this kind of crazy. She raised her hand to slap me, but I caught her hand and danced a little circle dance with her. The next second, I grinned and gave her a “hehe” smile. Talk trash, and you’re going to suffer. I messed up my hair, rolled my eyes back, stepped back, jumped up, did a dark crawl on the floor, screamed, shrieked like a monkey, drank some crazy monkey juice, and pounced on her on all fours, violently pulling her hair. I used to fight with my foster father all the time, so I’m pretty muscular. With just a light tug at Serena’s bangs, I ripped out a chunk of hair, exposing a thumb-sized patch of scalp. Tears of pain instantly sprang from Serena’s eyes. She stared at me, still acting like a monkey, with sheer terror. She didn’t even care about framing me; she turned and ran out of the room. When she reached the top of the stairs, I made a flying leap onto her back. Hearing the commotion, Serena turned around and instinctively pushed me. I tumbled down the stairs. And was caught perfectly by Lucas, who was pulling our parents along. I took the opportunity to bury my face in his chest, whimpering a couple of times, and when I looked up, I was once again the picture of weakness, helplessness, and pitifulness. “Serena!” Lucas roared at her, shielding me in his arms. “You are too vicious! Maya has already let you have everything, why won’t you let her go!” Serena stood frozen in place. These were the lines she had originally prepared for herself, but now it was Lucas questioning her. “No… it’s not like that…” Serena stared blankly, trying to defend herself. When her eyes met mine, she became agitated. “It’s her, as soon as I went in, she went crazy on me. Maya is a psycho! She…” “Serena, apologize to your sister!” This time, it wasn’t just Lucas who was angry. Mr. Sterling’s furious roar brought Serena’s almost collapsed sanity back to reality. She really is something, calling someone else’s biological daughter a psycho in their own house. She’s so bold, doesn’t she value her life? Serena trembled violently, and after meeting the disappointed gazes of the Sterling parents, her face turned ashen. That day, Serena didn’t leave the house. She knelt at the top of the stairs all day. In my past life, the person kneeling there was me, who hadn’t been able to hold back from slapping her after being provoked. Late that night, after finishing my homework, I went to the kitchen to heat some milk. Passing by the Sterling parents’ bedroom, I heard them discussing inside. “Serena is not our biological child after all. We provided for her all these years, yet she harbors such hostility towards Maya. It’s really not fair to Maya if this continues.” That was Mr. Sterling’s voice. “Let’s wait a bit longer. She just can’t accept it right now. It’s not her fault she was switched at birth. We watched this child grow up, and my heart aches at the thought of sending her away.” Mrs. Sterling’s voice was a bit choked. I turned around, took my milk, and went straight back to my room. When passing Serena, who was already dozing off by the stairs, I couldn’t resist giving her a swift kick to wake her up. When Serena opened her sleepy eyes and started looking for who kicked her, I was already lying in bed, staring at the ceiling, feeling exasperated, and began to roll my eyes. I rolled one, then another, then another… I rolled them all night long! 11 The next morning, my eyelids were twitching when I looked at anyone. Lucas saw this, his heart ached endlessly, and he grabbed me to start crying: “Oh god, my poor sister, you must have felt so wronged yesterday to cry all night long! Look, your eyelids are twitching from crying. Oh my lord! Who will help this helpless ‘all right’! It’s okay, Mom and Dad won’t avenge you, but your brother’s chest is always here for you.” The Sterling parents’ scalps went numb from his crying, and they quickly finished their breakfast and fled out the door. As soon as they left, Lucas let go. He scarfed down his breakfast in a few bites, scratched the back of my hand, gave me a look, and I understood, sneaking back into the room with him. Lucas asked me what my plans were for the future. I thought about it seriously and told him: “For my 80th birthday, I’m planning to go big, hire fifty male models to do a striptease.” “Who asked you about that far in the future… wait a minute, Maya Sterling, you can speak!” Lucas suddenly got excited. I just remembered I played mute during the day and forgot to tell Lucas. I didn’t expect Lucas to give me a thumbs up the next moment: “Good job, you’re smart now. You’ve grown a brain, even acting in front of your own brother.” After saying that, he placed both hands on my shoulders and said solemnly: “Listen, we have to get Serena out of here, otherwise you’ll be dead.” After that, he sighed deeply, “It’s not easy to get this chance, Maya, don’t get harmed by others again in this life…” In that moment, I saw tears faintly glisten in his eyes. When I took my last breath in my past life, Lucas was still studying abroad. He didn’t make it back in time to see me one last time. I don’t know what happened to him after that. I only know that regardless of the past life or this one, he is the only person in the Sterling family who accepts me without any conditions. I am willing to trust him unconditionally. Even if I go crazy, I’ll take him with me. 12 Lucas said he came back specifically for me this time. For this, he took a half-year leave of absence from his school abroad, determined to guard me at home. When Mr. Sterling found out, he almost beat him to death with the family disciplinary cane. I told Lucas to go back. I am capable of protecting myself now, and his future shouldn’t be delayed because of me. But Lucas said my ability to protect myself is one thing, and his duty as an older brother to protect his younger sister is another. He asked me: “Maya, do you believe in karma?” I was stunned by this question, and before I could answer, he had already changed the subject. “You definitely don’t know this,” Lucas said, rubbing my head vigorously, “The first time I saw you, I knew you were my real sister. I decided to protect you right then and there. The blood connection is just that magical.” At that moment, I had the urge to cry. I thought fate still favored me; despite the hardships, God gave me such a wonderful brother. With Lucas at home, it was really hard for Serena to act like a monster. She couldn’t out-cry Lucas, and she couldn’t play the victim better than me. If she wanted to frame me, Lucas installed twelve cameras outside my door, making it absolutely foolproof. So she could only wait, just like in my past life, for the opportunity that would push me completely into hell. 13 The day before my senior year of high school started, the Sterling parents held a recognition banquet for me. Almost all the wealthy families in South City were invited to the banquet. This meant that Serena’s wealthy second-generation friends would also be there. They grew up together and later attended the same high school. The Sterling parents’ original intention was to let me use this opportunity to familiarize myself with my new classmates. Once I officially transferred to South City No. 1 High School, I could be looked after by them. But these second-generation rich kids, under the guise of building a relationship with me, took me aside and mocked me. Later, I was pushed into the swimming pool by them. My white dress was soaked. When I went upstairs to change clothes, I was dragged into a room and recorded by the second-generation kids ambushing there under Serena’s leadership. Afterward, I reported it to the police, but it was suppressed by the power of these second-generation kids’ parents. The Sterling family’s business was affected by this, and the Sterling parents became increasingly displeased with me. This life’s recognition banquet went on as scheduled. When Serena brought her group of spoiled friends in, I still couldn’t help but hold my breath. Lucas walked over at that moment, put his arm around my shoulder, brought me in front of them, and introduced me. “Lucas, what brings you back?” The leading boy with blond hair greeted casually upon seeing Lucas. His name was Tyler, the sports committee member of Serena’s class. Tyler styled himself as an envoy of justice. Whenever Serena went to complain about me to him, he couldn’t wait to stand up for her. In my past life, he was the one who blackmailed me with the video. After I transferred to South City No. 1 High School, he bullied me time and time again. Verbal isolation, malicious pranks, punches, and kicks. The more fiercely I resisted, the worse they bullied me. It continued until the end, when I secretly brought a knife to school and held it against Tyler’s neck, intending to die with him. They finally stopped. But by that time, my academic record had already been almost completely ruined. Serena ultimately got into a top domestic university and became the pride of the Sterling family. While I could only repeat the year, despised by my parents and teachers. The most ridiculous part was that Tyler later achieved success in his career and actually wrote me an apology letter. He said he was young and ignorant, impulsive, and did things to hurt me, hoping for my forgiveness. I read that letter over and over again. I didn’t see the sincere repentance of an abuser towards a victim. I only felt the urgency of a successful person wanting to erase the only stain on his life. 14 Lucas brought us to the outdoor pool and left. As soon as he was gone, these second-generation kids completely let loose. Tyler stared at me intensely and whistled: “I heard you used to wash dishes for people in the Xin’an district. If us bros forget our wallets when we go out in the future, can we just leave you to wash dishes to pay off the debt?” As his words fell, the group of second-generation kids immediately burst into laughter. They wanted to say more, but under their gaze, I slowly walked up to Tyler. I took off my chunky heels in front of them, the excitement making me unable to hold back from rolling my eyes, my nostrils flaring. I counted down in my head: Three, two, one… Uh-ah… Let the crazy begin! The noise from the main venue isolated the screams from the pool area. By the time Lucas arrived, pulling Serena along, I was straddling Tyler, raising my shoe heel, and fiercely knocking on his head. The other rich second-generation kids were scattered, soaking in the pool. When they saw Lucas, it was like seeing a savior, immediately starting to cry for their parents, their eyes filled with tears of fright. “Serena!” Tyler roared, lying on the floor, “You didn’t say your sister was a monster!” Lucas made too much noise. Before the adults arrived, I threw away the shoe in my hand, whimpered a couple of times, and hid behind Lucas, sobbing. When the rich second-generation kids climbing out of the pool saw my pitiful, weak, and helpless appearance, they couldn’t help but twitch their mouths violently. “Lucas, what are you doing? Let go of your sister quickly!” Mrs. Sterling rushed over from the side, anxiously slapping Lucas’s hand holding Serena. “Let her go?” Lucas surveyed the crowd, speaking coldly, “You want me to let go of this imposter who stole the nest, so she can continue harming my sister?” Upon hearing this, Serena’s face suddenly went pale. Whispering voices erupted in the surrounding crowd. The Sterling family had always claimed to the outside world that Serena and I were twins, but I was accidentally lost when I was young. Serena probably never expected that her fake heiress identity would be exposed in such a way. “What are you talking about?” Mrs. Sterling was slightly taken aback upon hearing this, but still worried about Serena, asking Lucas to let go first. Amidst their pulling and tugging, Mr. Sterling walked straight towards Lucas from the crowd, raised his palm without a word. Seeing that this slap was about to fall on Lucas’s face. The next moment, I stood out from behind Lucas, opening my arms to block in front of him. “Maya, move aside.” Mr. Sterling ordered me in a low voice. “Listen to his explanation.” I mouthed to Mr. Sterling, confronting him silently. In the end, it was still Mr. Sterling who compromised. He took a step back, let someone guide the onlookers back to the main venue, before asking somewhat tiredly: “Tell me, what happened.”

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “436700”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel