On our fifth wedding anniversary, I once again received a family photo of my husband, my son, and her. I looked at the radiant smiles of that family of three in the picture. At that moment, I suddenly let go of the obsession I’d held for five years. “Mrs. Harrison, the five-year term is up. Can I leave now?” On the other end of the line was my mother-in-law in name only, who was also my employer. “Are you sure about this? If you leave now, you won’t get the child or the money. Why can’t you hold on a bit longer?” “No, school starts soon. Divorce is complicated enough as it is!” “Fine. Give me ten days. I’ll help you handle all the paperwork. You’ll get every penny of what the contract promised!” With Mrs. Harrison’s words, a bitter smile crossed my face. As the clock struck twelve, I blew out the candles on my cake. Late that night, I sat on the couch binge-watching shows. Ever since I’d had Ethan as my son, I’d been working like a nanny, exhausted day after day. I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d watched a series. I never imagined that in just a few short years, my favorite actor had filmed so many TV shows. I really wanted to catch up on all of them during this time. But even such a small wish was hard to fulfill. My phone rang, piercing the silence. “Sophia, get to the hospital right now. Our son is sick and getting an IV. He’s crying for you!” Zachary didn’t say which hospital the child was at, and when I called back, no one answered. Thinking that he was my biological son after all, I searched hospital after hospital through the night. I searched all night long, and only found out through Autumn’s social media that my son was actually at the Harrison family’s private hospital. I didn’t dare delay and rushed to the hospital immediately. Last night while looking for the child, the first place I’d thought of was the Harrison family’s private hospital. I’d run over to ask, but they said they’d never seen Ethan. And today was the same. “That’s impossible. My son is right here. How could you not know him? Let me in!” The hospital nurses kept blocking me, and finally they called security. Three or four large men pinned me firmly to the ground. A young, pretty nurse frowned with disgust in her eyes. “We already told you he’s not here. Can you please stop disturbing their family of three? You’re so annoying!” As I was being dragged out, I happened to see Zachary and Autumn walking out of a hospital room, carrying Ethan. The three of them really did look more like a family. Just like the countless times they’d appeared together on public websites participating in variety shows. And that young nurse was apparently a fan of this family of three. Just like that, I was thrown out of Harrison Hospital. The last thing I saw was my biological son in Zachary’s arms, planting a kiss on Autumn’s face and calling her “Mom.” The rough concrete scraped my knees and wrists raw, leaving me disheveled. When I limped home, I was greeted by yet another picture-perfect family scene. “Autumn’s cooking is still the best. Even ordinary scrambled eggs taste better than what that woman makes. She tricks me with fake eggs every day. I’m so sick of it!” “If you like it, have some more. Whenever you want it in the future, Mom will make it for you!” “Okay!” My son, whom I’d carried for ten months and given birth to, was clinging to someone else and calling her Mom. And my husband sat nearby, his usually stern face showing a rare gentle expression. The man who was normally ice-cold to me was now so tender. If this had been before, seeing this scene would have made me frantic with worry. Because Ethan would get diarrhea from eating eggs, yet he insisted on seeing eggs at every breakfast. I would use other ingredients to substitute for eggs. But suddenly I realized that my heart wasn’t anxious at all. It was filled only with bitter relief. I let out a rueful laugh. At least in ten more days, it would all be over.
Though my laugh was very soft, it still startled the family of three inside. When Autumn saw it was me, she immediately assumed the demeanor of the lady of the house. “You’re finally back. Where have you been all night? Don’t you know how pitiful little Ethan was, crying because he couldn’t find you?” “Hurry up and make him some porridge. He’s been craving it all night and kept praising it to me!” Before I could open my mouth to speak, Ethan threw an apple at me. The apple hit my injured leg, making me gasp in pain. “I don’t want her porridge! Who knows where she was last night, not even caring about her own son!” Beside him, Zachary’s face darkened. Seeing my disheveled appearance, anger flashed across his face. “Where the hell did you run off to yesterday? The child was seriously ill in the hospital. I called you and said he wanted porridge. How could you have no reaction at all? Do you even deserve to be called a mother?” I didn’t respond to their accusations, only asked coldly in return, “Which hospital was the child at yesterday?” Zachary sneered and raised an eyebrow at me, as if looking at an idiot, his tone full of self-righteousness. “Don’t tell me you didn’t know which hospital your son was in. I clearly sent you a message yesterday!” Zachary had indeed sent me a message, but he quickly recalled it. I had no idea where the child was. I held up my phone. Our chat window was filled with glaring green screens, each message followed by a conspicuous red exclamation mark. Zachary looked confused and instinctively pulled out his own phone, but couldn’t find our chat. Just as he was frowning in puzzlement, Autumn beside him suddenly burst into tears. “I’m so sorry, Zachary. I didn’t know this would happen. Last night while I was helping Ethan fall asleep, your phone kept going off.” “I was afraid it would disturb you two, so I blocked her. I’m the one who recalled that message, because Ethan said he didn’t want to see his mom!” Zachary’s frown deepened. He seemed somewhat displeased with Autumn. But Ethan wouldn’t allow Autumn to be scolded by his father. He jumped up from the couch like a hero, standing in front of Autumn. “Dad, what are you trying to do? Don’t yell at Autumn! Mom isn’t completely innocent either.” “Even if she couldn’t reach you, I was only at our family’s private hospital. Was it really that hard to come and check?”
Zachary found this reasonable and turned to glare at me, but I cut him off first. “No need to say all that. I went to no less than thirty hospitals looking for you last night. Every hospital has a record of my inquiries. You can go check for yourselves.” “And the first place I went was Harrison Private Hospital. But your father once gave an order that anyone or anything related to me is absolutely forbidden from entering Harrison Private Hospital!” “I went there this morning too. I was dragged away right in front of your family of three. Ethan, you don’t need to pretend you don’t know anything. I saw you!” Zachary frowned slightly, turning to look at Ethan with some confusion. Ethan’s expression turned panicked. When their family of three had left, he had turned his head and seen me. He had watched with his own eyes as his biological mother was beaten bloody by a group of security guards and dragged out like a dog, yet he hadn’t made a sound. He’d even kissed Autumn right in front of me. When I was thrown out earlier, I’d still been thinking that maybe it was just my imagination, that the child hadn’t seen me. But seeing this scene now, I was completely heartbroken. Perhaps I really shouldn’t have appeared here at all. Zachary was very displeased about this. He wouldn’t allow a child raised by his family to be labeled as someone who abused his biological mother. After all, this was his designated heir. “Ethan, did you see your mother?” Ethan had always been most afraid of Zachary, but he had a solution. Using Autumn’s usual trick. “Oh no, Dad, my stomach is starting to hurt again. I feel terrible!” He clutched his stomach, hunching over, though being so young, he couldn’t help but steal glances at his father while putting on the act. Such crude acting, yet these two adults both believed it. Autumn cried inconsolably beside them. Anyone who didn’t know better would think I was bullying their family of three. “Zachary, stop it. The child is so young and he’s sick. It’s perfectly normal that his eyes were blurry and he didn’t see Sophia clearly!” “Besides, the child was calling for his mom all night. Have you forgotten how pitiful he was?” Hearing this, Zachary sighed and picked up the child to leave. Autumn, following close behind, shot me a challenging look before smiling and catching up with the father and son. I let out a bitter laugh and returned to my room, gritting my teeth as I peeled off the clothes stuck to my wounds. The instant the fabric tore away, the barely clotted wounds began bleeding again. The pain was bone-deep and piercing, yet I couldn’t help but laugh out loud. Because on my way home, I’d received a message from Mrs. Harrison asking me to fill out various application forms. After simply treating my wounds, I immediately filled out the application forms and sent them to Mrs. Harrison, then let out a breath. It would finally be over soon. Since I hadn’t slept all last night, I was now completely exhausted. I collapsed on the bed and fell into a deep sleep. Perhaps because I was about to leave, I actually dreamed of the year I first met Zachary. Everyone thought I was the one who had broken up Zachary and Autumn. In truth, Zachary and I had known each other since we were twelve years old.
I was born in a remote area. My parents didn’t want me to go to school and wanted me to drop out and work to support my younger brother. I refused, so my parents forcibly dragged me back home. It just so happened that Zachary’s parents were conducting a charitable outreach activity and came to our mountain village. Zachary got lost and accidentally saw me chained up in my family’s cattle shed. In a moment of kindness, he saved me. From that moment on, my heart was completely occupied by Zachary. My life seemed to have light, a direction to move forward. From then on, I became everyone’s known lapdog for Zachary. Later, I received sponsorship from the Harrison family. I successfully left the mountains and carved out a world of my own. When I learned that Zachary had fallen into a life crisis after a breakup, I came to his side without hesitation. Mrs. Harrison knew my background and identity, which was why she signed a five-year agreement with me. As long as I could help her son regain control of the company and drive out the Harrison family’s illegitimate child. Mrs. Harrison would give me fifty million dollars and send me abroad to study. I agreed to these terms, not only for my own future, but also for the hero who had appeared in my life as a child. Later, although I never officially married Zachary, I did have a child with him. And Mrs. Harrison seemed to care more and more about me, as if I really were the daughter-in-law of the Harrison family. Mrs. Harrison even began to think I would marry Zachary and then carefully nurture their family’s future heir. Zachary also gradually changed from being cold to me at first to becoming doting. I thought we would continue like this for a long, long time. Until Autumn returned to the country. Everything seemed to change. Zachary gave all his care to Autumn. Even the child I’d carried for ten months and given birth to began calling Autumn “Mom.” And I seemed out of place in this family, like an outsider. Actually, the contract had long since expired. I was just clinging to that unrealistic beautiful dream in my heart. Now the dream was over, and I should return to my own world. In the evening, the father and son came home for once. But the house was unusually cold and quiet today. Zachary had always hated having too many strangers around, so the household chores were usually my responsibility. No matter how late the father and son came home, there would always be a light left on for them, and the table would have a late-night meal prepared. But today the house was pitch dark, and there were no sumptuous dishes on the table. Seeing this scene, Zachary’s heart suddenly seized. For some reason, a feeling of panic welled up in his chest. Ethan pouted. “Dad, why isn’t there any food today?” Hearing this, Zachary frowned, patted Ethan’s little head, and said gently, “It’s okay. I’ll have your mom make some right away.” “Sophia!” Zachary called out, but the room answered him only with dead silence. He strode quickly to my bedroom and raised his hand, pounding heavily on the door. Seeing that the door was locked from inside, he seemed to relax and let out a sigh of relief. “Sophia, are you in there?!” Zachary’s voice had clearly softened a few degrees.
Zachary had a bad stomach, so I always made light, bland meals for him. Our son Ethan was very sensitive to food and would have allergic reactions easily, so I was always extra careful when cooking. Seeing that I wasn’t responding from inside the room, Zachary seemed to get anxious. “Can you stop making a scene? I called you all day today and you didn’t answer. I sent someone to the house to find you, and you wouldn’t open the door. What exactly do you mean by this?” Ever since this house had only me left in it, I’d always had trouble sleeping at night. I would wear headphones and listen to music to fall asleep. I truly hadn’t heard the commotion when this father-son duo came home. Never having been ignored before, Zachary was completely angry. He found the spare house key to unlock the door, then kicked it open with one foot. The violent noise made the nightstand in the room shake. The medical books piled high on top fell all over the floor. One book happened to land by the headboard, and only then did I slowly wake up a bit, sitting up with drowsy eyes. Ever since I’d given birth to the child years ago, Zachary had been unwilling to stay in the same bedroom as me. What was going on today? Why had he suddenly come here? “Do you need something?” I asked softly. Hearing such a calm question, Zachary was instantly speechless. Hearing his son still crying and making a fuss outside, he said irritably, “Our son is hungry. Aren’t you going to come out and make food?” “I don’t think so. It’s too late and I’m very tired. If you want to eat, restaurants outside serve food twenty-four hours a day.” Zachary froze. If this had been before, if I’d heard that he and the child wanted to eat, I would have been overjoyed. But today I’d just refused them so bluntly? “Our son is sick, and you want him to eat outside fast food? What kind of mother are you?” Hearing this, I couldn’t help but laugh mockingly. “Didn’t you say I’m not fit to be the child’s mother? That I give him the wrong medicine, make a big fuss over small things, and that even the food I make might be poisoned!” “Besides, Ethan also said today that my cooking tastes terrible. Since you all don’t like my food, why should I exhaust myself making it?” Zachary stood frozen in place. These words did sound very familiar. Before, Autumn had fed Ethan fried chicken, which gave him diarrhea. I’d urgently made him throw it up and brought him medicine to take. But Ethan had knocked it to the floor, saying I wasn’t a doctor and shouldn’t randomly give him medicine. Zachary was silent for a long time before speaking. “Enough. I’m the child’s father, and I also run a pharmaceutical company. Medicine has side effects. How can you just give it to a child casually?” “I think you’ve gone crazy with wanting to do medical research, haven’t you? Using your own son as a lab rat for experiments. I’m warning you, stop bringing your food in front of our son!” “Making a big deal out of nothing. Ethan is a boy. You’ll ruin him acting like this!” That was the first time Zachary had blamed me.
Zachary stood by my bed, frozen for a long time. “Do you have to be so passive-aggressive? We’re family. Is it necessary to be so petty about everything?” “I’m not family with you people. In all those family reality shows and family gathering photos, the woman by your side has never been me!” “Even in your spouse column, my name has never appeared. What kind of family is this? At most, I’m just a nanny!” Zachary looked somewhat bewildered, a flash of panic in his eyes. Then, as if he’d figured something out, he said: “Sophia, I already told you that Autumn and I have no relationship. We’re just friends. Do you have to be so petty?” “Besides, we haven’t even gotten our marriage certificate yet. What right do you have to restrict my freedom!” “If you want to marry me, you can just say so. There’s no need to talk in circles. And I never said I wouldn’t marry you. Do you really need to put on such a show?” Hearing these words, I wanted to laugh, but today I really didn’t want to argue with this man anymore about these things. “Who you marry has nothing to do with me, as long as you don’t marry me. I never thought about restricting you. After all, I have no right to. Now can you leave? I need to rest!” Zachary listened to me using his own words against him and stood frozen in place. For the first time, I, who had always been obedient to him, was being so sharp-tongued. It stuck in his throat. Although he’d never said he would marry me, he did want to give his son a family. And over all these years, I had always stayed within bounds. Zachary had been thinking that in another two years, he’d go get the marriage certificate. But my words today seemed to turn Zachary’s plan into wishful thinking. For a moment, he flew into a rage from embarrassment. “Fine! This is what you said. Don’t come begging me to marry you later!” With that, Zachary slammed the door hard. Outside, Ethan had cried himself hoarse. Zachary thought that since I had taken care of this child for so many years, I couldn’t possibly ignore him completely. So Zachary left his son on the couch and went back to his own room to sleep. Before long, Ethan’s voice gradually weakened. The next day, when I went out. I happened to run into Zachary anxiously carrying Ethan in his arms. His eyes were bloodshot as he glared at me. “You didn’t check on Ethan at all last night?!” I was somewhat speechless. “Didn’t I already tell you that?” Zachary gritted his teeth. Not having time to think much, he carried the child and left without another word. The child’s gastroenteritis hadn’t been effectively relieved and had instead caused a fever. But the company needed Zachary to rush over to handle things, so he had no choice but to call me. I didn’t want to answer, so Zachary just kept calling relentlessly. I simply blocked his number.
I had been out handling my affairs for going abroad, but there was one thing I still couldn’t let go of. After getting into graduate school, I met a very good mentor. This mentor had dedicated his life to researching medicine for children with cerebral palsy. I followed this mentor down the same path, but after getting together with Zachary, I gradually abandoned this experiment. And this experiment was directly declared dead in the water after my professor passed away. But even so, the rough prototype of this new drug had still been developed by my professor. And this experimental result ultimately remained in my hands with the help of my professor’s son. Before passing away, my professor had always hoped I could return to this experiment, but unfortunately, I let him down. Now that I’d decided to study abroad, I wanted to restart this project. But when I tried to restart the project, I discovered that someone had beaten me to it. I spent three full days running around before learning that this project had somehow fallen into Zachary’s hands not long ago. The development of this new drug was my professor’s life’s work. Thinking of this, I didn’t dare delay and immediately ran to the company, wanting to ask Zachary about it. Who knew that right at the entrance of Harrison Group, I would run into a group of reporters interviewing Zachary and Autumn. “This special medicine specifically for children with cerebral palsy is the result of five years of persistence I maintained abroad. I’ve brought it back this time hoping to benefit newborns everywhere.” “Harrison Group is very honored to welcome back this top student in pharmaceutical research to continue benefiting newborns.” Autumn stood before numerous media outlets with a brilliant smile, brazenly claiming this project as her own. And Zachary beside her was helping to coordinate, the two of them interacting with such intimacy that no one would believe they had no relationship. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I was clearly the lead on this project. Without my signature, who could have taken it away? Unless Zachary had schemed against me. There was a period when Zachary had me sign various agreements, saying he wanted to plan ahead for marriage and needed to sort out finances in advance. I wasn’t with Zachary for money to begin with, so of course I wouldn’t refuse to sign. But while reviewing the contracts, Ethan had been shouting and making a fuss beside me, insisting on going out to play. In my flustered state, I’d hastily signed those documents. At this moment, I couldn’t think about anything else. I just wanted to reclaim my professor’s project. But before I could take two steps, I was grabbed by the bodyguards beside Zachary. Clearly Zachary had already guessed I would come looking for him and had prepared for it in advance. After everything below was mostly resolved, Zachary finally saw me, restrained, in his office. “So you finally came. I really didn’t expect that worthless project to be more important to you than your biological son. Your son was so sick, yet you didn’t come to the hospital even once!” “Now this broken project appears and you show up immediately. Didn’t you say you had such backbone? Didn’t you dare to block me? If you’re so capable, don’t come back!”
I glared at Zachary through gritted teeth. I never imagined this man would take the project and rush to launch it, all just to force me to show up. “Zachary, have you lost your mind? That new drug hasn’t undergone clinical trials yet. And many of the ingredients and dosages are still uncertain. Rushing it to market like this could kill people!” “Enough!” Zachary’s face was full of impatient reproach. “Don’t think you’re the only top student from medical school. I already had Autumn look at that drug!” “Autumn also had people test it. That drug has absolutely no problems. It just needs clinical trials. And we’ve already had people conduct clinical testing without any issues!” “I really didn’t expect you to be so selfish. When my company was on the brink of collapse, I never saw you bring out this drug!” “You just watched me struggling there. All these years you’ve said you love me, but you’ve never once considered my needs!” “Now you go to the hospital right away and take good care of our son. That’s the only use you have left. If you can’t even take care of him properly, get the hell out of here!” I struggled to move forward, but the two bodyguards behind me gripped my arms tightly. I used so much force that I even heard the sound of bones grinding together. “Zachary, that drug can’t go to market. It can’t undergo clinical testing. That drug has problems. It will kill people!” “Autumn’s credentials are fake. She made it all up while she was abroad!” “Shut up!” When Zachary heard me talk about Autumn this way, he became furious. Without a word, he stepped forward and slapped me across the face. “You have no right to slander Autumn. When I was at my most difficult, Autumn knew to introduce me to domestic pharmaceutical experts. But what about you?” “You clearly had such a good project in your hands, yet you weren’t willing to think of me at all. Now you even dare to slander Autumn. Who gave you the nerve?” After taking that slap, I couldn’t help but laugh. Back when the company had problems, I had no choice but to seek out my professor, who was seriously ill, hoping the professor could help Harrison Group get through the crisis. At that time, my professor was gravely ill and couldn’t appear in person. That credit was brazenly stolen by Autumn. After my professor passed away, the matter was completely swept under the rug. Even though I’d explained many times, he never believed me. As for Autumn’s fake credentials, a simple investigation would reveal the truth. When Autumn first entered the company, I was a bit worried and asked a former classmate to help investigate, which was how I discovered the truth. I had reminded Zachary about it many times, but he refused to believe me. He attributed all my actions to jealousy and insisted on bringing Autumn into the company’s core despite everyone’s opposition. For all these days, I’d been keeping a close eye on Autumn, afraid she would bring trouble to the company. But this slap had finally woken me up completely. “You’re right. You’re not worthy of my love at all. Since you’re so eager to die, suit yourself!” With that, I completely stopped resisting. The bodyguards on either side, seeing I was no longer struggling, slowly released their grip. At this moment, Zachary felt somewhat panicked. He had a feeling something was about to leave him completely, but his control over me made him dismiss the thought.
“Enough, stop making a scene. You’ve been away from the lab for so many years. Just because you can’t do something doesn’t mean Autumn can’t.” “This project can immediately establish Autumn’s reputation domestically and take the company to the next level. I don’t want to hear any negative comments about Autumn from the outside world.” “Otherwise, you can forget about ever seeing our son again.” I smiled, my eyes and tone full of mockery. “No need. Starting today, I don’t want to see either you or that son of yours. You three enjoy your family life together!” After speaking, I staggered out of the office. Behind me, Zachary flew into a rage, scattering everything on his desk across the floor. “Fine, Sophia Reed! If you’ve got the guts, don’t come back! Even if you kneel before me like a dog in the future, I won’t spare you a glance!” “Go put up a sign outside the company: No dogs or Sophia allowed!” Hearing this, I only smiled lightly. When I walked out of the company, I happened to see someone putting up a sign. Even more ridiculous, the sign had my photo on it. Looking at those nearly humiliating words, I pulled out my phone and decisively chose to report it. Good thing the paperwork would be ready today, and I could leave for good. Zachary, we’ll never see each other again. Not wanting to be entangled with Zachary anymore, I packed my things and went to a nearby hotel. I still needed to explain to my former fellow students about my professor’s research being stolen. But by unfortunate coincidence, the place where they’d arranged to meet was where I ran into Zachary again. I’d chosen a high-end teahouse, and coincidentally, Zachary was there today to discuss business for producing the new drug. By sheer bad luck, the three of us ran right into each other. Seeing me, Zachary instinctively wanted to step forward, but was held tightly by Autumn at his side. “Sophia, are you here looking for Zachary?” “I’m not trying to lecture you, Sophia. I know this project means a lot to you. But you should also care more about Zachary.” “The company’s projects haven’t been doing well lately. You should at least consider your husband. And you moved out without a word. Ethan hasn’t had anyone to take care of him these past two days!” “That poor child is still in the hospital. As his mother, how can you not go visit him?” “If I weren’t still going over regularly to bring him food, who knows how thin the child would have gotten?” “Autumn regularly going to bring Ethan food. I knew about that.” Ever since I’d moved out, Zachary had been deliberately showing off, sending me photos of the three of them living in harmony every time. But with just one glance at those meals, I could tell Ethan absolutely couldn’t eat them. Although Ethan’s stomach was weak, after so many years of careful management it had recovered. If he weren’t constantly eating these things, how could he still be in the hospital now? “Is that so? Well, you’d better put in the extra effort, since you’re about to marry into the family!” Hearing me say this, Zachary became even more furious. “Sophia Reed, you’re something else. When we get engaged, you’d better not forget to come celebrate with us!” “No need. We’re not that close!” After speaking, I left without looking back. But afterward, I took note of their business partners and sent them a report on the drug testing anomalies. After doing all this, Mrs. Harrison’s call finally came. “Sophia, are you really unwilling to stay?” I shook my head. “Mrs. Harrison, there’s no need. This place never belonged to me anyway.” Mrs. Harrison was silent on the other end of the phone for a long time, then let out a long sigh. “Have a safe journey.” My fifty million dollars and plane ticket finally arrived. Standing at the airport, I let out a long breath and received another call from Zachary. “Did you contact my business partners behind my back? Does seeing me do well make you so uncomfortable? You don’t care about our son or our home anymore?” “I don’t want them anymore. I’m giving you everything. The project, you, the child. They all belong to someone else now. You got what you wanted!” With that, a relaxed smile crossed my face. I pulled my suitcase and boarded the plane.
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