Category: English

My husband, Ethan Stewart, hated me for six whole Christmases because of the death of his first love, Hailey Fields. I humbly tried to win back his heart, only to be met with his cold mockery: “Julia, if you really want to atone, then die.” Those words pierced my chest like a blade. But when flames engulfed the entire factory, he suddenly rushed in and pushed me away. He collapsed in my arms, blood quickly soaking my clothes, his breathing so faint it was barely noticeable. He said, “Julia, if there’s a next life, let’s not meet again.” Paul and Camila wept bitterly at the funeral, nearly fainting. They regretfully said, “If we hadn’t forced you to break up with her, if we hadn’t made you marry Julia, none of this would have happened.” “Julia, Ethan was held back by you time and again, and now he’s dead because of you. You should have been the one to die!” Amid endless blame and guilt, I eventually chose suicide, closing my eyes at his grave. When I opened my eyes again, I had returned to six Christmases ago. This time, I was determined to stay away from Ethan, for everyone’s sake. ***** “Julia, you think forcing me to marry you with our families’ engagement is enough? I’m being coerced! I will never like you!” I froze for a moment, looking up to meet those familiar eyes. It was Ethan, alive. But the Ethan before me was completely different from the mature, reserved, and profound man in my memory. Now he was more like the twenty-one-year-old Ethan, raw and straightforward. I really had returned to six Christmases ago. Just as tears were about to fall, I quickly lowered my head and softly asked, “You love Hailey, and that’s why you don’t want to marry me, right?” This was a fact I’d long known, but bringing it up again still sent a sharp pain through my heart. Ethan sneered, “So what if I do? Will you break off our engagement?” Fighting back the bitterness in my heart, I nodded. “Yes.” My parents were war comrades with Ethan’s parents before they passed away. After their death, they entrusted me to his family. The engagement was arranged then, solely to provide me with security. However, Ethan’s parents always respected my wishes. If I asked, this marriage could indeed be canceled. Ethan was stunned for a moment, then frowned, “Julia, what do you think marriage is? I’ve already submitted the application to my commander, Ivan Powell. Now you want to cancel?” I opened my mouth, but before I could answer, he cut me off, “I have matters to attend to at the base. If you want to break the engagement, tell my parents and Ivan yourself.” With that, he turned and left, his retreating figure resolute and without a trace of attachment. Watching him walk away, the tears I’d been holding back finally streamed down my face. My heart felt like it was being squeezed tightly, making it almost impossible to breathe. Ethan and I grew up in the same neighborhood. Because our parents were close, he always looked after me. He even got hurt multiple times protecting me. I thought he might have feelings for me too, so I secretly told my parents I liked him. My parents also admired Ethan and proposed the engagement to his parents. Later, after my parents passed away, I moved in with his family to fulfill the engagement. Everything seemed to go smoothly. Until I met his first love and realized he never loved me at all. My feelings for him were nothing but shackles holding him back. In my previous life, after I died, my soul lingered at his grave for a long time. Until a passing witch guided me, allowing me to be reborn to fulfill my obsession. And my obsession was to let Ethan go, to give him a life without complications. After coming to this realization, I went to find Ivan first. After hearing me out, he looked troubled. “Julia, have you discussed this with Mr. Stewart? You’ve been together for so long, don’t give up on marriage over something small.” I gave a bitter smile. “Mr. Powell, you misunderstand. We were never dating. He loves someone else, and I don’t want to hold him back anymore.” Ivan seemed to recall Ethan’s first love and sighed deeply, returning the marriage application to me. I carefully folded the document and tucked it into my coat. Next, I went to the military base to find Ethan. After waiting for a long time, I finally saw him come out. When he spotted me, his brows furrowed slightly. “What are you doing here?” I rubbed my arms and handed him the voided marriage application. He reached out to open it with a puzzled look, but I quickly stopped him. “Don’t rush, you can look at it later. Let’s go home first.”

Ethan said, “You’re still being mysterious. I don’t even want to look at it.” Despite his words, he carefully tucked the report into his pocket. I sighed with relief. Just as I turned around, a heavy coat was draped over my shoulders. From above my head came his cold snort. “You’re all grown up now, and you still don’t know to wear more clothes when it’s cold?” I touched the coat, a smile involuntarily spreading across my face. He asked, “What are you smiling about?” I answered, “I’m happy.” I was happy that Ethan was still alive. At the same time, I felt somewhat emotional. He was always so kind, which made me repeatedly misinterpret his goodwill as love. He would ultimately become someone else’s support; I shouldn’t take advantage of his kindness anymore. With this thought, I promptly removed the coat and returned it to him. “Let’s go home. Your parents are waiting for us.” Ethan’s expression darkened. He grabbed the coat and strode forward. I followed closely behind him, instinctively heading toward the back seat when we reached the car. In the past, I was thoughtless, always wanting to be near him in the passenger seat. Now, I was simply finding my proper place. Ethan glanced at me but said nothing, only tightening his grip on the steering wheel. Throughout the journey, no one broke the silence. Only when the bustling sounds of people reached us through the window did I peek outside. I immediately spotted Emmanuel Sanctuary. My thoughts drifted away, suddenly remembering my previous life. Back then, not knowing Ethan liked Hailey, I had dragged him here. Everyone said that couples who prayed here together would stay together for all eternity. Ethan didn’t believe it. He said, “This is all superstition. I should report this illegal structure and have it demolished.” His cold words cut like a blade, piercing deep into my heart, leaving scars that remain to this day. I silently rolled up the window and huddled in the corner. However, the car suddenly slowed down. Then, Ethan opened the back door and unexpectedly said, “Didn’t you want to come here?” I stared at his outstretched hand in front of me, stunned for quite a while. That’s just how Ethan was. He always made me feel inexplicably warm when I least expected it. Before, when I was harassed by thugs, he stepped in despite being on probation, which delayed his military entry by three months. Another time, when I had a high fever, he insisted on taking me to the hospital even after being in a car accident himself. The wound still aches occasionally. During that factory fire, he lost his life protecting me. In our previous life, we weren’t meant to be together. Even if fate has changed somewhat this time, we still won’t end up together. Suppressing the bitterness in my heart, I took his hand and said, “Sure.” Just as I got out of the car, I saw someone rushing over, whispering something in Ethan’s ear. I vaguely heard something about “Hailey not feeling well.” Ethan’s brow immediately furrowed. I instinctively wanted to reach out and smooth it, but then I heard him say, “Hailey didn’t go for her hospital check-up today and now she’s having an episode. She urgently needs a ride. I’ll take her there first. Wait for me here.” I lowered my eyes and softly replied, “Okay.” Ethan frowned and asked, “Aren’t you angry?” The next second, he scoffed, “I guess not. After all, now that you have my mom backing you up, you don’t even need to speak up.” With that, he drove away, completely missing the hurt and desolation in my eyes. When I first learned about Ethan and Hailey’s relationship, I did lose my temper with him. Because I knew Hailey wasn’t as pure as she appeared on the surface. I had seen her entering entertainment venues with numerous men. Through the haze of smoke, her body pressed tightly against theirs. I was just angry that someone as good as Ethan would fall for her. But I also feared he would be hurt if he knew the truth, so I desperately tried to keep them apart. Ethan’s resentment toward me skyrocketed because of this, turning into hatred after Hailey’s death. Since his feelings for Hailey run so deep, I can only support him. I can’t let him die in front of me like he did in my previous life.

I didn’t continue waiting there but went to the Education Board first. Recently, the volunteer program has been in full swing, urgently needing many people to go to the countryside for the “Educational Support” project. The director at the Education Board was extremely pleased to see me come to sign up and asked when I could depart. I said, “In the next day or two.” The marriage application had been withdrawn. Now the only thing left was to explain everything to Ethan’s parents. Soon, I would leave this place and never interfere in anyone’s life again. After getting the registration form, I returned to the Stuart mansion. As soon as I entered, Paul and Camila heard the noise and enthusiastically pulled me into the living room. They asked me a few concerned questions, then noticed Ethan wasn’t with me and asked, “Why did you come back alone? Wasn’t Ethan with you? Where is he?” “You’re about to become his wife. If he dares to mistreat you, we’ll definitely teach him a lesson!” “He had something urgent come up at work, so he left first,” I forced a smile. After my parents passed away, Paul and Camila were the kindest people to me. If there’s anything I find hard to let go of now, it’s them. I said, “There’s something else I want to tell you…” Taking a deep breath, I gathered my courage and said everything at once: “I’m not going to marry Ethan. I’ve signed up for the Educational Support program and will be leaving in the next couple of days.” Camila was clearly shocked by my words and quickly said, “Why have you suddenly decided not to get married? Getting married doesn’t conflict with you joining the program! You two can get your marriage certificate, have the wedding, and then Ethan can visit you whenever he’s free.” Paul chimed in, “That’s right. You’re a young woman—having him by your side looking after you would give us peace of mind.” I shook my head, my voice calm but firm: “Ethan never loved me. If we really got married, we wouldn’t be happy in the future. Let’s just end it.” Camila slammed her hand on the table and angrily demanded, “Is Hailey causing trouble for you again? They’ve already broken up, and she still won’t give up? I’m going to teach her a lesson today!” In my previous life, they stood by me without hesitation like this. Until Ethan lost his life trying to save me, and everyone was plunged into deep regret. The fact is, this marriage was a mistake from the beginning. Without hesitation, I knelt on the ground, my voice choked but clear and strong: “This has nothing to do with anyone else. I just don’t want to marry Ethan anymore. “After my parents died, you’ve been like parents to me. “So I’m begging you to let me go, and let Ethan marry the person he truly loves.” After saying this, I kowtowed several times. Even though my forehead was bleeding, I showed no intention of lessening the force. Tears welled in Camila’s eyes as she quickly helped me up: “Julia, please get up! This is all Ethan’s fault.” Paul sighed deeply and comforted me: “We originally arranged this engagement for your benefit. If you don’t want it, then let’s forget about it. “But wherever you go in the future, you must take good care of yourself. This will always be your home.” He then stuffed a thick wad of cash into my pocket. Just as I was about to refuse, a cold male voice came from outside: “Julia, didn’t I tell you to wait for me there? “You came back ahead of me just to complain to my parents, huh? I really underestimated you!” Ethan strode over and yanked me aside. The pain from hitting my head hadn’t subsided yet, and my head was spinning so much I could barely stand. His gaze swept over the bright red mark on my forehead. He paused briefly before coldly changing the subject. “Hailey says you had someone block her from going to the hospital?” “Do you realize that if I had arrived any later, she might have died?” Hearing this, I froze. Before I could defend myself, Paul suddenly raised his hand and slapped Ethan hard across the face. “What nonsense are you talking about? How could Julia possibly do something like that?” he said. “So you went to see Hailey again! Don’t you know…” Seeing that Paul was about to reveal what had just happened to me, I quickly interrupted him. But Ethan, as if enraged, grabbed me and dragged me outside. “You’re coming with me to the hospital right now,” he said. Paul roared, “You bastard, let go of Julia!” But Ethan pretended not to hear and walked straight toward the hospital. I couldn’t keep up with his pace and nearly fell. The pressure on my wrist made me wince in pain. “Do you really think I did it?” Without looking back, Ethan coldly replied, “We’ll find out when we get to the hospital.” As soon as we entered the hospital, a doctor rushed into Hailey’s room, loudly asking who had type O blood. Without hesitation, I raised my hand. “I do.” Ethan stared at me, seemingly surprised. In my previous life, Hailey had died from blood loss because the hospital’s blood bank had run out. And now, the same situation was happening again. Ethan hesitated. “You…” I gently shook my head and brushed past him. “Consider it me repaying a debt.” He had helped me countless times before. Now, it was my turn to repay him. Ethan pressed his lips together, helplessly watching as the doctor led me to the blood collection room. During the blood draw, I could clearly feel the warm blood being drawn from my body bit by bit, with no end in sight. I weakly asked, “Doctor, are we almost done?” The only response was cold silence and the needle being pushed in harder. As my consciousness began to fade, I vaguely saw Ethan rushing toward me. His figure overlapped with images of him rescuing me time and again in the past, like a surreal dream. “Julia, are you okay?” he called out anxiously. I managed to give him a weak smile. “Ethan, I wish you happiness and peace in this life. From now on, I won’t appear in your life anymore.” With that, I completely lost consciousness. Much later, when I woke up, I found myself lying in a hospital bed, completely alone. I struggled to get out of bed. Just as I stepped into the hallway, I overheard some nurses chatting. “I heard Emmanuel Sanctuary burned down last night. Such a shame—I never even got to take my boyfriend there to pray.” I thought, “Emmanuel Sanctuary was burned down? What a pity, I never got to visit.” An indescribable emptiness welled up inside me, gradually engulfing my entire body like a rising tide. I sighed, and as I happened to look up, I saw Ethan sitting by Hailey’s bedside, carefully tucking in her blanket. Only with Hailey did he show such unreserved tenderness. I watched him silently, not even noticing the tears sliding down my cheeks. Ethan seemed to sense something and looked up. I quickly crouched down, avoiding his gaze. Since they were getting along so well now, it was time for me to leave. That evening, after leaving Hailey’s room, Ethan hurried to Julia’s hospital room. All day, he’d felt an inexplicable sense of loss, as if something essential was missing from deep within him and gradually slipping away. When he pushed open the door, Julia wasn’t there—only a nurse making the bed. “Where did she go?” he asked, his voice hoarse. Without looking up, the nurse replied, “Oh, you mean Ms. Walker? She checked out hours ago, said she was catching a train somewhere. She’s probably at the station by now.”

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On my wedding day, five months pregnant, I was kidnapped and after a day and night of torture, cruelly thrown off a cliff. I lost my baby due to severe bleeding, my life hanging by a thread. Yet my fiancé, Ezra Garrett, publicly called off our engagement and married his first love, Luna Hicks, instead. It was Ezra’s brother, Colton Garrett, who frantically rushed me to the hospital and brought in top specialists to save me. He knelt by my hospital bed, softly promising he didn’t mind what happened to me and would take care of and protect me. Three years into our marriage, he showered me with affection, but by chance, I overheard a conversation between him and his friend Aiden Schmidt. Aiden said, “I heard your wife went to get medication again, but didn’t the doctor say her body was too damaged to ever get pregnant? That Christmas when you arranged for Adeline to be kidnapped to ensure Luna could marry Ezra. All these years, you’ve been secretly giving her contraceptives. Poor woman.” Colton’s voice was calm and cold. “Only when Adeline was ruined did Ezra have an excuse to break off the engagement. I had to do it for Luna’s happiness. “Besides, someone like her who’s been defiled doesn’t deserve to bear my children.” Tears streamed down my face as my heart shattered into pieces. So the supposed redemption was nothing but an elaborately woven lie, a false comfort. If that’s the case, I’ll leave. ***** The gossip in the office cut into my heart like sharp blades. I listened in shock. Inside, Aiden’s voice carried a hint of pity. “Adeline loves you deeply. Aren’t you afraid she’ll discover the truth…” Colton’s expression was cold as he rhythmically tapped his fingers on the desk, saying coldly, “What if she does find out? I’ve already sent the people I hired overseas. Where can she go now except depend on me?” Aiden frowned. “Colton, aren’t you afraid of karma?” Colton sneered, “Her baby died from hemorrhaging, and I haven’t faced any consequences, have I? She takes contraceptives in her daily medicine and still obediently calls me husband. She now lives in luxury with endless money—that’s my compensation to her.” Aiden put down his glass heavily, saying helplessly, “Don’t regret this later.” I covered my mouth tightly, fighting back tears. What I thought was true love and salvation was just a carefully calculated scheme. Hearing footsteps approaching, I hurriedly turned and stumbled out of the company. Rain poured down, mixing with my tears. I looked at the ring on my finger, yanked it off, and threw it into the drain. Five years ago, I was kidnapped before my wedding. The kidnappers, ignoring my pregnancy, raped me for a day and night, recording videos that spread across the internet. Ezra immediately canceled our engagement and married Luna instead. When I tried to jump from my hospital bed to end my life, Colton burst in and held me tight. He said, “Don’t be afraid, you have me. I’ll marry you and protect you for life.” He threw the kidnappers into the sea, deleted all videos to clear my name, canceled all his work, and stayed by my hospital bed daily. But in the end, the man who loved me so deeply was the true culprit behind my suffering. I walked to the hospital in a daze. The doctor looked startled when he saw me. “Mrs. Garrett, do you want the same medication as before?” I forced a smile and asked directly, “Is that medicine really for helping with pregnancy? Please tell me the truth. I won’t tell anyone.” After a long silence, the doctor’s cloudy eyes welled up with tears. “Actually, it’s contraceptive medication. Your body can’t handle it anymore, but Colton instructed me to…” Hearing this confirmation, all I felt was bone-chilling cold. For three years, Colton personally made sure I took the medicine daily, claiming it was for my health. He would say, “Adeline, I just want you healthy, always by my side.” When I returned home that evening, I was soaked. Seeing me drenched, Colton hurriedly approached with a towel. “Why are you so wet? When it rains, you should have your assistant pick up your medicine. I’ll be heartbroken if you catch a cold.” His eyes were full of tenderness, but to me, they felt like knives cutting into my heart. If I hadn’t heard those words, I might still believe he truly cared for me. I forced a smile. Colton thought I was upset about the baby. He pulled me into his arms, comforting me softly, “I don’t care if we have children or not, as long as I have you. “If you really want children, we can adopt from an orphanage. You can have as many as you want.” I clenched my fists, my nails digging painfully into my palms. Trying to stay calm, I said, “I asked the doctor today, and he said I don’t need to take the medicine anymore. I want to stop…” Colton’s body noticeably stiffened. He hesitated for just a second before putting on a concerned expression. “Adeline, you need to focus on your health. After you finish these pills, I’ll find you an even better doctor.” His tone left no room for argument. He smoothed my disheveled hair and kissed me lightly. “Go take a shower. I’ll get your medicine. Tomorrow we have a Garrett family dinner.” Colton took the medicine into the kitchen. I laughed bitterly at myself. One moment he said all he needed was me, the next he worried I’d ruin his plans, insisting on personally giving me the medicine. The husband I once took pride in, the blissful marriage—it was all fake. I don’t want this place full of lies anymore. And Colton, I don’t want you either.

The urge to leave grew stronger by the minute. I returned to my room and stared at the invitation from Doctors Without Borders that I’d received a month ago. At the time, I hadn’t wanted to accept it because of Colton. But now, I had nothing holding me back. I decisively replied accepting the offer and booked a flight for three days later. As I walked out of the bedroom, I ran into Colton coming toward me with medicine. He said, “Adeline, take your medicine, be good.” I suppressed the pain in my heart and drank the medicine in one gulp. Colton smiled with satisfaction. “I’ll cook dinner for you tonight.” Watching him walk into the kitchen, I quickly ran to the bathroom and threw up all the medicine I had just taken. Fighting through the cramping pain in my stomach, I had barely left the bathroom when I heard Colton’s phone chime with a message notification. I picked up his phone and unlocked it on the first try—the password was Luna’s birthday. Luna had sent a message: [Colton, thank you for the gift.] In the attached photo, Luna wore a sexy slip dress with a blue diamond necklace prominently displayed around her neck. It was the exact birthday gift I had wanted. At the time, Colton had apologetically told me the necklace had already been sold and promised to make it up to me. All along, he had secretly given it to Luna. I placed the phone back with a bitter smile, a wave of self-mockery washing over me. Early the next morning, Colton and I returned to the Garrett estate. As soon as we entered the living room, a plate came flying toward me, shattering at my feet. Phoebe’s sharp, disgusted voice rang out: “Alice! Scrub the floor tiles three times with disinfectant wherever that filth has stepped!” I bit my lower lip, desperately suppressing the pain inside, remaining silent. Colton held my hand and whispered reassuringly, “Mom’s just like that. Don’t take it personally.” I said nothing. Throughout our marriage, Phoebe had never liked me, and the incident at our wedding only intensified her disgust. Yet Colton had insisted on marrying me, so she had reluctantly accepted. Just then, two people came down the stairs—Ezra and Luna. Luna, with her pregnant belly, had a delicate face full of maternal gentleness. Phoebe rushed forward to support her, then shot me a cold glance: “Luna is so considerate, unlike some people who still can’t bear children.” Her words stabbed into my heart like a knife. Colton sighed softly, “Mom, Adeline is already working on improving her health.” But Phoebe wouldn’t let up, pointing at me in dissatisfaction: “Improving? If it weren’t for your insistence, someone like her who was raped wouldn’t be fit to marry into our family.” Luna then flashed a meaningful smile and said, “Mom, don’t be angry. Maybe Adeline will get pregnant soon. Let her and Colton spend some quality time together for now.” Phoebe’s expression darkened further as she coldly stated, “Adeline, if you’re not pregnant by next year, I’ll make Colton divorce you.” Hearing this, Colton gave me an apologetic look: “Mom, Adeline and I will try our best.” My heart felt like it was being torn apart. They knew better than anyone why I couldn’t get pregnant. After dinner, Luna said she wanted me to accompany her for a walk, affectionately linking her arm with mine as we left the living room. She smiled sweetly, though with obvious calculation: “Adeline, I’ve decided, if I have a boy, I’ll name him Charles, and if it’s a girl, Freya. What do you think?” I froze and stopped walking. These were clearly the names I had chosen for my unborn child. Back then, Luna was still my good friend, and I had eagerly shared this secret with her. Now, she was even stealing the last thing I had of my child. “Why?” I blurted out. Luna’s fake smile instantly vanished, her voice turning icy and harsh: “Adeline, after three years, you’re still useless. Even though Colton married you, he’s never neglected me. If we both fell in right now, who do you think he’d save—you or me?” Before I could react, she yanked me hard, and we both tumbled into the artificial lake beside us.

Cold water rushed into my mouth and nose as I helplessly sank deeper, without even a chance to call for help. The faint light above my head gradually dimmed. I don’t know how much time passed before someone pulled me from the water. As I lay on the ground coughing violently, I saw Colton rescuing Luna. She was wrapped in a soft towel, her eyes red as she looked at me. “Adeline, I was just trying to convince you to live happily with Colton and have a child soon. Why did you push me? You can hurt me if you want, but what about the baby in my womb?” Her voice trembled with tears. My throat felt like someone was squeezing it tightly. Before I could speak, Phoebe slapped me hard across the face. “You disaster! We should never have let you marry into our family. Luna is pregnant, how could you do this to her?” She glared at me coldly, her tone sharp as ice. “You worthless woman, how dare you cause trouble at the Garrett estate? If you don’t apologize to Luna right now, get out of this house and never come back.” Ezra held Luna protectively in his arms, glaring at me furiously. “Adeline, you’re just jealous that Luna is having a baby. A venomous woman like you deserved to be raped back then.” I trembled, the chill spreading from my bone marrow throughout my body. Colton looked at me too, his voice cold. “Adeline, you’re clearly in the wrong here. Apologize to Luna.” I stared at him in disbelief. Each of his words was like a dull knife, slowly cutting into my heart. Under everyone’s intense stares, I slowly fell to my knees and said with a shaking voice, “I’m sorry.” Luna displayed a sickening fake smile, making a show of helping me up. “It’s okay, I know you didn’t mean it.” Phoebe glared at me coldly. “Adeline, you can skip dinner today. Go back to your room, change your clothes, and think about what you’ve done!” I instinctively looked toward Colton, desperate for even a hint of comfort or understanding. However, he was only watching Luna with concern, as if worried she might have been harmed. My heart instantly turned cold. I turned away numbly, stumbling back to my room. I stayed in the bedroom for a long time, not taking another step outside even as the sun completely set beyond the window. But strange sounds came from the adjacent guest room. Due to poor soundproofing, I clearly heard Colton’s suppressed breathing. Through the partially open door, I saw him passionately kissing Luna. “Luna, I’ve missed you so much.” His voice was restrained, yet couldn’t hide the flames of desire. Past images of intimacy between Colton and me flashed through my mind. Each time, he would always finish quickly, even covering my eyes with his hand. I thought he was showing restraint, not knowing he was using this method to imagine I was his beloved Luna. Luna moaned softly, feigning weakness, “Colton, I know you love me, but unfortunately I’m married to Ezra. We can never be together in this life.” She deliberately paused, then unbuttoned Colton’s clothes. “You’ve done so much for me. Today, let me properly thank you, okay?” Colton interrupted her urgently, “Luna, you’re pregnant.” Luna responded seductively, “It’s fine, the doctor says it’s okay.” Soon, the room was filled with passionate breathing. My heart felt like it had been struck by a sledgehammer. Even though I’d long known Colton had no feelings for me, the pain of this moment still suffocated me. I clenched my hands, letting tears slide down my cheeks. I silently counted the time in my head. Soon, I would leave this place, saying goodbye forever to this world of pain and humiliation. The following evening, Colton’s company was hosting a charity dinner. I’ve never been fond of attending such social events, but this time, as Colton was selecting his tie, I said, “Take me with you.” I’d consider this our last time together. Colton paused, a flash of surprise crossing his eyes. Since our return from the Garrett Manor, he’d vaguely sensed something was off with me. However, I still acted as I normally would. So he merely assumed I was still upset about what happened at the Garrett Manor and didn’t press further. At the event, Luna and Ezra were also present. Colton mentioned he needed to socialize, and I nodded, turning to find a quiet corner to rest. However, at that moment, my dress was suddenly caught under someone’s heel. With a loud rip, my gown tore open. In an instant, the scars left on my body from the previous rape were completely exposed for everyone to see. People around immediately began to gossip. “Isn’t that Mr. Garrett’s wife? Are those scars from those kidnappers? How frightening.” “I saw that video too. When she was being raped, her expression seemed rather… enjoyable, not like she was being forced. Maybe she’s into that sort of thing.” Those sharp, piercing insults cut through me like blades, slowly tearing my heart apart. I instinctively wrapped my arms around myself, my body trembling uncontrollably. Just then, Luna appeared, feigning concern: “Adeline, are you alright?” But as soon as she finished speaking, she lowered her voice and sneered, “Do you like the gift I sent you?” Humiliation and anger surged within me, and I instinctively moved to push her away. But before I could touch Luna, she deliberately fell backward, clutching her stomach and crying out, “Ah! My baby!” Colton, hearing the commotion, rushed over immediately. He moved even faster than Ezra, anxiously helping Luna up. “Luna!” Luna curled up in Colton’s arms, sobbing, “I was trying to help Adeline leave, but she pushed me!” Colton’s forehead veins bulged, his voice low but filled with anger: “Adeline, what’s wrong with you now?!” His deliberately lowered voice pierced my soul like shards of ice. “I’ve clearly been too lenient with you these past Christmases. Luna is pregnant, and you dare lay hands on her!” Luna whimpered pitifully, “Colton, my stomach hurts so much.” The concern in Colton’s eyes was undisguised as he carried Luna away without even a glance in my direction. I felt as if all the blood in my body had frozen. The surrounding gossip nearly consumed me. “Look at how anxious Mr. Garrett is. Anyone who didn’t know better would think he was carrying his wife.” “Adeline always seemed so gentle and fragile, who knew she could be so vicious. Luna is pregnant, and she still attacked her.” “Mrs. Luna Garrett is pregnant, while Adeline still can’t conceive. She must be jealous, probably planned this all along.” The humiliation came in waves, and I was utterly devastated. I straightened my back, desperately trying to hold back tears as I walked step by step out of that place of shame. Back home, I quickly packed my bags. Then, I signed the divorce papers, placed them in a prominent spot in the living room, and left without looking back. At the airport, while waiting to board, my phone rang. Colton had sent a message: [Luna’s condition is very serious. If you realize your mistake, come to the hospital immediately and apologize to her!] Without hesitation, I replied: [I did nothing wrong, and I will not apologize to her!] After that, I silenced my phone and tucked it into my bag. Once on board, I found my seat and gazed out at New York growing smaller in the distance. My eyes were slightly red, but my heart felt incredibly free. “Goodbye, Colton. From now on, we have no connection whatsoever.”

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I was kidnapped for ten Christmases. When I finally returned home, I discovered my parents had adopted a new child. To avoid conflict between me and their “fake daughter” Janet White, they sent me to a popular reality show. Every day, I had to fight pigs for food, compete for sleeping space, and endure nightly brainwashing sessions where the crew made me chant a hundred times about how wonderful my parents and Janet were. One wrong move, and they would strip me naked, throw me into a well where I could easily drown, or leave me to suffer in some creepy old widower’s cabin. By the end of the show, I had finally become the “good child” and “big sister” my parents wanted. But on the day of the grand premiere, I walked off the edge of the TV station’s rooftop—my parents were completely devastated. ***** I knelt at the doorway, begging my father Richard White and mother Grace White. My voice was flat and mechanical as I recited the vows I had been forced to memorize. “I’m sorry, Mom, Dad. I know I messed up. I swear I’ll be good to Janet from now on. She always comes first. “Janet is the best. Janet is number one. Janet is more important than my life.” As soon as the words left my mouth, director Lucas Wright shouted, “Cut!” The reality show was finally over. Lucas announced we were done, but I remained kneeling, numb and unable to move. Meanwhile, Richard and Grace were all smiles, shaking Lucas’s hand as if he had just given them a miracle. “Thank you for training our Helena so well,” they gushed. “We’ll make sure every relative and friend watches when the show airs!” Lucas grinned and turned to me. “Helena, you need to maintain good relationships with your family now, understand?” He reached out to help me up, but I flinched, my eyes fixed on his extended hand. His arm froze midair as Richard snapped, “What kind of attitude is that?” I didn’t answer. Lucas just chuckled and ruffled my hair. “It’s no big deal. Girls get shy, right? She probably just going to miss us!” He patted my shoulder firmly, his eyes locking with mine. “Don’t forget how good we were to you.” My stomach churned, but I forced myself to nod, swallowing the tremor in my chest. After the crew left, Richard and Grace brought me inside. Just as I stepped through the door, I caught Janet rolling her eyes slightly, quick and secretive. But when Richard and Grace looked at her, she bounced over happily. “Helena! Oh my God, I missed you so much!” she said cheerfully. “You’ve been gone for so long—come on, let me show you your room!” Before I could respond, she grabbed my arm and dragged me toward the bedroom. The door clicked shut, and her facade instantly vanished. “You little bitch,” she hissed through gritted teeth, her features twisted with malice. “Why did you have to come back? It would’ve been better if you’d died out there.” I stared at her, unmoved. I’d seen this act before. Years ago, when the police first brought me back from the village where I’d been trafficked, she had cornered me behind Richard and Grace’s backs, telling me to get lost. And I was their biological daughter. Seeing no reaction from me, her lips twisted into a sneer. Then, quick as lightning, she slapped herself across the face and collapsed to the floor. “Dad! Mom! Help!” she cried out. Richard and Grace rushed in. The red mark on Janet’s face was enough. Richard’s face turned purple as he kicked me to the ground. “What the hell did they teach you there?” he roared. “She’s your sister, and this is how you treat her? We shouldn’t have brought you back!” Grace held Janet, her eyes full of disappointment. “Janet has always been so good to you, how could you do this?” Richard pulled out his phone. “I’m calling the crew right now. Maybe they can take you back.” His words made my head buzz. Sending me to that nightmarish reality show had been Janet’s idea in the first place. For weeks, they treated me like an animal. They made me sleep in a pigsty, forced me to compete with pigs for food, claiming it was “character building.” At night, I had to kneel at the crew’s feet, listening to them drone on about how perfect Richard, Grace, and Janet were. If I dared resist, they would strip me naked and throw me into a well, leaving me shivering in the freezing water, one slip away from drowning. Worse still, they would lock me in some creepy old widower’s shack in the village to torment me. As the memories flooded back, I fell to my knees, banging my head against the floor. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” “I shouldn’t have hurt Janet. I’m the worst. I don’t deserve to live!” I kept repeating it, even as blood seeped from my forehead.

Richard and Grace stood there, shocked. Finally, Grace stepped forward, her expression softening, ready to help me up. But Janet let out a dramatic sob. “Please, Mom, Dad, don’t be mad at Helena. It’s my fault she hates me so much that she’d hurt herself.” Richard’s face darkened further. “You didn’t do anything wrong. She started this!” He rushed over and yanked me up by my arm. “Enough. We still need to try on new clothes. Let’s go.” At the mall, I nervously scanned the clothing racks, not daring to touch anything. Richard glanced at my tattered clothes with disgust, then pointed at me and shouted at the clerk: “Find her something decent. For God’s sake, she’s a girl—looking like this, it’s absolutely humiliating!” The clerk brought out a size chart and asked, “What size does your daughter usually wear?” Richard and Grace both turned away, their faces tightening with embarrassment. I had only been home for a short time after being sent to that reality show makeover program, still wearing the same old ragged clothes. They had no idea what size I wore. The clerk approached me with a measuring tape. From the corner of my eye, I caught Janet raising her phone, her gaze filled with malice. Her lips moved silently, saying: “Filthy slut.” In an instant, the world around me distorted. I was no longer in the store—I was back in that hellish village. Those leering staff members, with their disgusting smiles, ropes in hand, slowly closing in on me. “Stay away from me!” I screamed. They couldn’t catch me again—never. I frantically pushed the clerk away, my vision blurring, stumbling like a trapped wild animal. The mannequins around the store flickered in and out of focus, their blank faces transforming into the villagers who had humiliated me, their sticky gazes locked onto me, eager to grab me, pin me down, and tear my clothes apart again. I swung my arms, knocking over mannequins that crashed to the floor. Richard and Grace, startled by my outburst, rushed to grab me, but in my eyes, they were just more monsters trying to drag me back into that nightmare. I had to escape. Clothes flew off the racks and were trampled under my feet as I careened through the store. The manager shouted about calling the police. Finally, they cornered me in a fitting room, and the chaos stopped. Richard slapped me hard across the face. “What the hell is wrong with you?” The slap snapped my head to the side, my cheek burning with pain. I slowly turned back, meeting the naked disgust on Richard and Grace’s faces. Outside, a crowd of onlookers gathered, some whispering: “What kind of lunatic is this?” “God, she’s terrifying. If she’s sick, she should be locked up in a hospital, not scaring people here!” As the crowd’s mockery grew louder, Richard and Grace hurriedly took me out of the mall. Back home, Richard shoved me into my room. “You little brat! You did that on purpose, didn’t you? To humiliate us? To get revenge on us?” “Kneel there and think about what you’ve done!” I knelt down, lowering my head and curling up, a movement that had become instinctive now. They didn’t know that kneeling was the easiest part. I’d rather kneel a thousand times than be violated. Hours passed—I didn’t know how many—when Janet’s voice came through the door crack. “Why give her food? She made us all look like fools. She doesn’t deserve to eat.” “No water either. One night without food won’t kill her.” I curled up tighter, my body aching. I hadn’t eaten in two days since the show ended. Sharp pains twisted in my stomach. I needed something—anything. My gaze swept across the room, landing on a notebook on the bookshelf. Without thinking, I grabbed it, tore out pages, crumpled them into balls, and stuffed them into my mouth. The paper scraped my throat raw, but I was too hungry to care. The next morning, the smell of food wafting through the house pulled me from sleep. Outside my room, Richard and Grace were talking with someone. “Your older daughter is back, right? Why isn’t she out for breakfast?” a voice asked. Grace sighed, her tone full of annoyance. “She’s probably still in bed. Kids these days, lazy and spoiled.” “Well, things were completely different when we were young… I’ll go call her.” The bedroom door was pushed open abruptly. “Helena, breakfast,” Richard called. I stumbled out on shaky legs, dragging my steps into a dining room packed with guests, the table loaded with steaming dishes. I glanced at Grace. “Am I allowed to eat now?” She frowned, confused. “Of course you can eat. What, like we’re starving you or something?” Before she finished speaking, I rushed to the kitchen, grabbed the trash can, and began stuffing its contents into my mouth. It was all food scraps—fish scales, wilted lettuce, eggshells. I didn’t care. The room fell silent. Everyone stared at me with horrified expressions as I shoved garbage into my mouth.

A hand grabbed my hair, yanking me upright. Richard’s face was purple with rage. “Who taught you to eat this garbage?” he roared. His palm cracked across my face. “Are you deliberately trying to embarrass me?” I didn’t flinch, just swallowed the food in my mouth, expressionless. Grace walked toward me but stopped when she smelled the fish stench on my clothes, gagging slightly. Her eyes softened with concern. “Helena, what’s wrong with you?” A shocked relative interrupted, “That’s Helena? What happened to her? Eating garbage… those traffickers are monsters!” Richard and Grace froze, their faces tense. They had always avoided the truth about my kidnapping. Many Christmases ago, during one of their heated arguments, they had threatened to “get rid of” a child, leaving me by the neighborhood dumpster. That’s when traffickers took me. Unable to face their mistake, they adopted Janet, pretending nothing had happened. Now, reality hit them hard. Richard’s grip on my hair loosened, and I collapsed to the floor. But I was still starving. I crawled back to the trash can, grabbing the unfinished scraps. Grace rushed over to stop me, but I mistook her for a crew member from the reality show. I bit down on her hand. She screamed, clutching her bleeding palm, her eyes filled with fear. “You bit me?” Janet rushed over, protecting Grace, glaring at me with pure hatred. “How could you do that to Mom?” The relative who had spoken earlier fell silent, staring at me like I was a monster. Richard’s temper exploded. He charged forward, kicking me away from the trash can. “You dare hurt your mother?” he bellowed, pointing at me on the ground. “I don’t have such an ungrateful daughter!” My throat was too dry to speak. I swallowed the apology I’d been trained to blurt out. The gathering dispersed, and to “teach me a lesson,” Richard locked me in the storage room. In the cramped, dark space, I instinctively wanted to curl up in a corner. My foot caught on a box, and I fell, knocking it over. Toys and clothes scattered everywhere. Panic swept over me. If Richard and Grace found out I’d messed up again, they would give up on me completely. I swallowed my fear and slowly moved to the door, turning on the light. The room brightened, and I saw my childhood toys and Christmas clothes scattered on the floor. At the bottom of the box was a photo of the three of us—Grace, Richard, and me—smiling carefree. On the back was Grace’s handwriting: [Forever love my precious daughter, Helena.] Tears slid down my face. I clutched the photo tightly, my knuckles white. I thought they had thrown all this away long ago. Maybe Richard and Grace hadn’t given up on me. Maybe they still loved me. A spark of hope ignited in my chest. If I told them what happened on the reality show, would they understand? Could they comprehend why I became like this? But then, I heard their voices outside the door. Richard’s tone was sharp, filled with frustration. “I just don’t know what to do with her. Why did we end up with such a useless child? I wish she had never come back!” “Don’t say that,” Grace whispered. “She’s still our daughter.” Her words warmed my heart, but only for a moment. Richard’s voice grew louder. “Compared to Janet? Please! Helena is a disaster. Who would want her?” “I wish we only had Janet,” he spat. “She’s sweet, considerate, always puts family first. But Helena? She only embarrasses us and causes trouble with her sister. This house hasn’t known peace for a moment!” Grace sighed heavily. “I’m thinking maybe we should send her away…” “Here’s the plan,” she continued. “Tomorrow, at the premiere event, we’ll talk to the director and see if they can take her back for more training. We’re willing to pay any price.” “And if that doesn’t work?” Richard growled. “We’ll dump her back in some remote garbage heap and be done with it for good.” Richard and Grace’s words completely extinguished what little hope I had left. I collapsed on the floor, staring blankly at the storage room door. I had been fooling myself all along. Richard and Grace had given up on me long ago, just like our family memories, carelessly tossed into boxes in this dust-covered room. The next morning, they let me out. Grace put a clean outfit on me. My eyes were vacant, my body unresponsive. Janet spoke up, her voice filled with fake concern: “Helena’s face is so dirty. Let me take her to wash up.” Her perfect daughter performance put Richard and Grace at ease. They allowed her to take me to the bathroom, but for safety—worried I might go berserk—they tied my wrists with rope. In the bathroom, Janet shoved my head into the toilet. “You piece of trash,” she snarled, “you think you deserve to wear the new clothes Mom and Dad bought?” “No matter how much you wash, you’ll never clean off the marks of all those men who used you.” The suffocation was nothing compared to the freezing well water I’d been forced to endure on the reality show. I didn’t fight back or say a word. Janet, bored with my silence, finally let me go. In the car, Grace hesitated, keeping her distance. “Helena, today is important. Can you behave?” I stared at the rope on my wrists, saying nothing. Richard snorted coldly. “Ungrateful little brat.” The car arrived at the TV station in the city, where director Lucas greeted us with a beaming smile. “Today’s the big premiere! I’m counting on you all to stir up some excitement!” Richard nodded. “Of course. But we still need your help. Our eldest daughter still has some bad habits. She needs more… correction.” Lucas’s smile deepened, his eyes scanning over me. “No problem. As long as you’re willing, we can keep helping her improve.” Before they could say more, Lucas’s assistant Noah rushed over. “It’s starting! Lucas, get the guests inside!” Facing the cameras waiting to film, Richard and Grace untied my wrists. Once inside, the flashing lights hit me, and I recognized familiar faces. The reality show crew—those who had treated me like livestock—sat in the “VIP” section. Richard and Grace, hearing these were people who had “taken care of me,” dragged me over to thank them. “Say it,” Richard hissed, “say thank you.” My stomach churned. When I didn’t move, he roughly pushed my head down. “Speak!” I opened my mouth, but all that came out was vomit, splattering all over the clean clothes they’d put on me. Richard’s face darkened, and he opened his mouth to yell, but the cameras made him hold back his anger. He swallowed his rage. Lucas quickly had someone take me to the bathroom to change clothes. This was just a small incident, and the premiere continued. From backstage, I heard Lucas’s confident, smooth voice: “Our show is dedicated to documenting the transformation of troubled teenagers. Our team works tirelessly to guide each young person toward a better path.” Then, Richard and Grace were invited on stage. “Thank you to Lucas and the entire team,” they said, “you’ve given our daughter a brand new start, a brand new life!” A brand new start? I laughed bitterly, turning toward the stairwell. ***** The host’s voice was loud and enthusiastic. “Now, let’s welcome the successfully transformed young lady—Helena!” Applause erupted, but the stage remained empty. Lucas’s face tightened as he began sending people to find me. Just then, his phone buzzed. He answered, and Noah’s panicked voice screamed through the phone: “Lucas! Helena jumped from the roof of the TV station!”

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For twenty years, I devoted myself completely to raising three abandoned children I found, sacrificing everything to give them a good life. I never married, never pursued my own dreams, just worked tirelessly to help them thrive. But when a twist of fate left me pregnant at forty, those children I loved as my own became strangers, tearing me apart with their words. It all started with my eldest daughter, Tina White, who had just earned her degree from a prestigious university overseas and was about to begin an enviable job at a hospital in the big city. On a stormy night, she locked me out of her clean, tidy apartment, leaving me soaked in the rain. “Get rid of that baby or don’t step foot in my home again!” she said coldly, her voice as icy as the pouring rain. “You’re not my real mother anyway, I don’t owe you anything.” Then there was my second son, Jason White, who had just gotten engaged to a wealthy businessman’s daughter and was planning the perfect wedding. He showed up at my door, not with love, but with a bottle of pills he tried to force me to swallow. “I’m starting a new life,” he roared, with anger that even he seemed ashamed of. “Why are you having a baby at your age? You’re embarrassing me!” And my youngest daughter, Judy White, who had recently found her birth mother and couldn’t wait to leave the country with her, didn’t hold back either. She sneered, her words sharp as knives. “You just had to interfere, didn’t you? Dragging me into your home, ruining my chance at a perfect love story. Now you’re pregnant with God knows whose child? This is what you get for meddling.” Twenty years of love, sweat, and tears, only to be rewarded with three ungrateful children who would rather spit in my face than call me mom. Well, if that’s how they feel, I’m done with them. I don’t need these heartless bastards in my life anymore. ***** “You old witch, getting knocked up at your age with some bastard child—have you no shame at all?” The moment Tina heard about my pregnancy, her voice filled with rage and her face contorted. She jumped to her feet and berated me as if I were nothing. Her anger hit me like a slap across the face, my heart tightening in my chest. I was shocked, but part of me understood. What 26-year-old wants to hear their mother is having another child? A sudden brother or sister? It’s certainly hard to accept. Fighting through her harsh words, I forced a smile and pleaded softly, “Tina, you’ve always been my rock, my capable daughter. Can you help me this time?” She let out a cold laugh, her words growing sharper: “Help you? You’re over forty, parading around with a belly for the whole world to see. You might not be embarrassed, but I’m mortified!” Her eyes flashed, “This isn’t up for discussion. You need to terminate the pregnancy.” I clenched my fists as a cold fear spread through me. For twenty years, I had given up love, comfort, even my health to raise Tina and her siblings, pouring everything I had into them. When I discovered I was pregnant, my first thought was to end it—I didn’t want the children to feel my love would be divided. But the doctor warned that medication abortion carried risks and recommended surgery. Knowing Tina was about to start working in obstetrics at a top hospital, I thought she would be the one to help me through this difficult time. Instead, she was ashamed of me. I pressed my lips together, my face hardening for the first time in front of her. “I’m not getting rid of it,” I said firmly. “I’m keeping this baby.” Tina’s face darkened, and before I could react, her hand struck my face hard. “You shameless woman!” she spat. My cheek burned with pain, but the shock of her hitting me broke my heart even more. The next second, she shoved me out the door. “You can die on the street for all I care, but that child cannot stay!” Outside, thunder and lightning crashed through the downpour. I stepped in a puddle and nearly fell. Instinctively, I twisted to protect my belly, landing hard on my back instead. A sharp pain shot through my tailbone, making me cry out in agony. Before I could catch my breath, Tina rushed over, her face contorted with rage. She kicked my stomach viciously. “You stupid old fool, still protecting that bastard child?” she roared. My stomach throbbed with pain, my breath caught in my chest. This was Tina, my first adopted child, the girl I had raised as my own. For her future, I had saved every penny, sold everything I owned, even mortgaged my only house to gather a million dollars to send her to university in Europe. When she needed money abroad, I worked myself to the bone, cutting every expense to ensure she never went without. And now, when I needed her most, she treated me like I had some contagious disease. The cold rain pelted my skin, but my heart felt colder. I swallowed the bitterness in my throat and struggled to my feet, my voice steady despite the pain. “Tina, I just wanted to ask for your help. If you don’t want to, that’s fine.” I turned to leave, but she grabbed my arm, her voice shrill. “You think you can just walk away? You really want to keep that child?” I met her gaze, seeing nothing but disgust and resentment in her eyes. My heart felt like it was breaking—twenty Christmases of motherly devotion, and this was what it came to. I had loved her like my own daughter, but I had been wrong about her. I didn’t answer, which only fueled her anger. “What, silence solves everything now?” she shouted. A passerby’s voice carried over, and embarrassment flashed across her face. She yanked me back inside, shoving me toward the corner of the table, ramming my stomach against it again and again. When she was little and bumped into that table, I had padded every sharp corner with foam to protect her. Now, she didn’t care at all, mercilessly using that same table against me. A tearing pain shot through my abdomen, and my face turned pale. I grabbed her hands, my voice trembling as I begged, “Tina, please, let me go. I’m your mother.” She wouldn’t listen. Her face was twisted like a wild animal’s, as if she wouldn’t stop until she broke me. Suddenly, the front door was pushed open. Jason and Judy’s voices rang out in unison. “Tina, what the hell are you doing?”

Tina grabbed my hair and refused to let go, each tug sending searing pain across my scalp. I reached out toward Jason and Judy, who stood frozen, seemingly unable to process the scene before them. “Judy, Jason, help me…” I gasped, my face pale. Jason suddenly snapped back to reality and rushed forward, shoving Tina away. “What the fuck are you doing to Mom?” he roared. “Do you have any conscience left?” I collapsed against him, his arms catching me. In that moment, I briefly felt a glimmer of family warmth. Judy frowned, hurled a few sharp words at Tina, then took off her jacket and draped it over my shoulders, her hand brushing against my cold palm. Tina’s lips twisted into a cold smile. “This old witch is pregnant and says she wants to keep it. If you two think that’s fine, take her to your place!” She folded her arms. “She’s not staying here. Do whatever you want—she’s not my real mom, and I don’t owe her a damn thing.” Her previous attack had already broken my heart, but hearing her coldly say she had no obligation to me sent a fresh wave of pain through my chest. I looked at her, my eyes filled with disappointment. Tina met my gaze, her eyes hard. “What? Am I wrong?” I lowered my eyes, feeling Jason’s body tense against mine. He exchanged a glance with Judy, then turned to me, his voice uncertain. “Mom, is what Tina saying true?” A flicker of doubt, perhaps judgment, passed through their eyes—my heart sank. Despite everything, I still clung to a shred of hope, forcing a weak smile. “It’s true,” I said. “I’m keeping this baby.” Jason’s face darkened, his expression turning to disgust, as if I were something filthy he’d scraped off his shoe. Judy yanked the jacket off my shoulders, threw it to the ground, and ground it with her heel. She even pulled out a bottle of hand sanitizer from her purse and sprayed it toward me, as if my pregnancy were some kind of plague. Jason’s voice was ice-cold. “Mom, this is ridiculous. You know I’m getting married soon. You’re pregnant now? It’s like you’re deliberately trying to embarrass me.” He shook his head. “Tina’s right, this baby can’t stay.” Judy chimed in, her tone full of contempt. “Exactly. What’s the point of having a baby now? You think we’ll help you raise it? Tina’s starting her career, Jason’s having a wedding, and I’m going to Europe with my birth mother. You’re just causing problems for us.” I gripped the table to steady myself, staring at all three of them—my children, now standing against me. Tina, I had already lost. But Jason and Judy? I raised them from nothing, through countless hardships. Jason was sickly as a child, and I cared for him like he was my own flesh and blood. At school, his wealthy classmates had everything, and when he wanted thousand-dollar sneakers, I didn’t hesitate. I delivered food until I could barely stand, slept only three hours a night, all so he wouldn’t feel inferior. When he couldn’t get into a tutoring program, I knelt outside the teacher’s door for five hours, begging them to accept him. In college, when he didn’t want his classmates to know about me, I quietly walked away without a word. Now he’s engaged to a rich girl, and I’ve become his burden. And Judy—I never shortchanged her. She got just as much as Tina and Jason. True, I was strict with her when she dated in high school, but when she found her birth mother and abandoned me, I let her go without saying a word. My expression hardened, all tenderness toward them gone. “This baby is mine, and you have no right to dictate my decisions. If anything happens to it, you’ll all pay a price you can’t imagine.” With that, I pushed past them and headed for the door. Judy screamed and rushed over, slamming it shut. “No way! This baby has to be dealt with today—you’re not ruining our lives!” I almost laughed. When I was a young single woman, I adopted these three children without ever thinking they’d ruin my life. But now, they stood there, convinced my pregnancy would destroy their futures. My mistake was letting these ungrateful brats into my heart. I’d had enough. I needed to leave. Before I could move, Jason’s arm swung toward me, a blunt force crashing against my head. Everything went black. When I woke up, I was tied to a chair, the ropes burning against my wrists.

The rope dug deep into my skin, binding me to the chair. My three beloved children sat across from me, staring as if I were their worst enemy. My head felt like it was about to split open, weak and heavy, fear gripping my heart. “What are you doing?” I asked softly. Tina lounged lazily on the sofa, legs crossed, her eyes cold as ice. “What do you think? We’re forcing you to get rid of that child.” She casually tossed a handful of pills onto the table, making my heart skip a beat. Jason stood up, grabbed a few pills and walked toward me. “Mom, don’t act like we’re the bad guys,” his voice was hard, “you’re the one who didn’t think about us. Getting pregnant at your age? Aren’t you ashamed? We’re completely humiliated.” He leaned in close, offering the pills. “Be good now, swallow these. It’s better for everyone.” His figure loomed over me, his eyes flashing with a cruelty I barely recognized. These past years, in his pursuit of marrying into wealth, he’d learned plenty of dirty tactics. Now, those tactics were all directed at me—the woman who raised him from nothing. My heart froze solid. “I won’t take them!” I clenched my lips, shouting, “Don’t you dare touch this baby. It’s the Howard Group CEO’s child!” Tina frowned, her patience exhausted. “Your stubbornness won’t help!” she yelled, “Pry her mouth open and force them in! I’d rather she choke to death than give birth to that bastard!” Jason took a deep breath, his hand clamping down on my jaw, trying to force the pills into my mouth. “You’re lying!” he roared, “Mr. Howard? A powerful man like him interested in a cleaner like you?” I shook my head desperately, my brain rattling inside my skull, using all my strength to keep the pills out. He lost patience and called Judy over to hold me down. Together they restrained me while Jason tried to push the pills into my mouth. I refused to let them succeed. I bit down hard on Jason’s hand. “Ah!” he cried out in pain, his face contorting. He slapped me across the face, making my cheek burn with pain. “You old witch, you dare bite me?” My face stung like fire as he called Tina over to help hold me down. I was just a rag doll now, firmly restrained by the three children I had raised. Jason’s face twisted with rage as he finally forced the pills down my throat, immediately following with a pot of scalding hot water. The hot water burned my throat painfully, leaving me gasping for air. “You all…,” I choked, my mouth blistering from the hot water, my voice hoarse and unrecognizable. The three of them stepped back, smug smiles spreading across their faces. They even hugged each other, celebrating as if they’d won some victory. Once, scenes like this had warmed my heart. When Tina got accepted to that prestigious overseas school, we hugged and cried in our 200-square-foot rental. When Jason recovered from his illness and got into college, we danced and laughed outside his high school. When Judy landed a job at a big company, we wept with joy at a roadside restaurant. Now, their celebration was about destroying me, burying me alive. I closed my eyes tight, hot tears sliding down my cheeks. I tried desperately to vomit, wanting to expel the pills. I couldn’t let them kill my unborn child—my own flesh and blood. Tina noticed my struggle and her expression darkened. She broke free from their embrace and rushed toward me. “You stubborn old fool, still fighting back?” She roared, raising her hand to strike. The door was suddenly smashed open with a tremendous crash. “What the fuck are you doing?” a voice thundered like lightning.

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On my birthday, I mistakenly used David Turner’s ex-wife’s rose-patterned dinnerware. Thirteen-year-old Tom Turner suddenly flipped the dishes, spilling scalding corn chowder on the back of my hand. He watched coldly as I screamed in pain. “This was my mom’s custom wedding dinnerware! I don’t allow anyone else to touch it!” he said. Tom then rushed to his room and smashed the last jeweled bracelet my mother had left me before she died. “If it weren’t for you, my mom wouldn’t have left me! When I grow up, I’ll kick you out of my house!” he shouted. I stood there quietly, feeling neither sad nor wronged, just sighing softly. “If that’s what you want, then so be it.” ***** I grabbed a nearby towel and cleaned the soup stains off myself. As I turned, I accidentally knocked the dishes to the floor. The dish broke in half upon impact. “You wicked woman! That was my mom’s favorite dinnerware!” Tom, who had been wearing a defiant expression, suddenly exploded. He stared at me intensely, his expression severe. I looked at the broken pieces and said, “Tom, you’re lying. Your mother hated roses. Why would she custom order dinnerware with that pattern?” Caught in his lie, Tom became flustered. He kicked over a chair and ran out the door clutching his worn-out backpack. This time, I didn’t follow him to the corner store to buy him cookies as I usually did. After cleaning up the mess, I quietly walked to the storage room. The urn that should have contained my mother’s ashes was completely empty. I heard the toilet flush. When I rushed into the bathroom, trembling as I scooped up the last traces of ashes, Tom gloated: “Serves you right! You broke my mom’s precious dinnerware! I made your most precious thing disappear too!” He made a face at me, then ran away. I stared at the grayish-white traces on the floor, feeling heartbroken. At Christmas, I had moved from my countryside farm to the factory housing complex with the canvas bag my mother had sewn. But the low walls of the housing complex completely cut off the free wind from the farm. They took away the college acceptance letters addressed to me and handed me a three-year-old boy who loved to bite. I spent my youth teaching him how to tie his shoelaces and solve math problems with a pencil. Yet it only took him the time to smash an urn to destroy all the love I had for him. I stood there in silence, catching the familiar scent of laundry detergent. Looking up, I saw David standing in front of my spaghetti. Like father, like son—Tom and David shared the same arrogance and the same dislike for me. David sat at the dinner table waiting for his meal after work. He examined me with a frown and said directly, “Why are you fighting with Tom again? He just started middle school. Why are you arguing with him?” Seeing that I remained silent, David grew impatient. His eyes fell on the urn I was holding, but ultimately he said nothing more. After a while, he said in a dismissive tone, “What’s past is past. The living are more important than the dead.” I felt as if I had been with them for ten Christmases yet never left even the slightest impression on their hearts. After dinner, David habitually pulled me toward the bed. I instinctively didn’t push him away. He unbuttoned my collar and slipped his hand inside my clothes. His warm breath fell on my face. David said, “It’s your birthday today, so I’ll allow you not to take birth control. If you can get pregnant, have the baby. Stop fighting with Tom.” His body grew warmer, but I felt cold. When we first married, I had loved this handsome factory manager in his Christmas prime. Three months after our wedding, I became pregnant. I remember telling David the news that day, and how his expression instantly turned cold. He coaxed me into taking abortion pills. David said, “Tom is my first and will be my only child. If you get pregnant and have your own child, you’ll surely neglect Tom.” Afterward, he became even more vigilant. Every time we had sex, he made sure to watch me take birth control. Ten Christmases had passed. The doctor said I might never be able to get pregnant again. Now David’s words seemed like a Christian offering to me. I thought, “What did I do wrong to make him treat me this way…” For the first time, I gathered the courage to push away the man lying on top of me. I said, “David, our ten-year Christmas term is up. It’s time for me to divorce you.”

The atmosphere grew tense. David said impatiently, “Tom is just a child.” “As his mother, it’s your fault for not raising him properly!” I lowered my head and smirked coldly. At Christmas, David, the factory manager, fell in love with my cousin Amanda Carter, an ordinary worker. The Carter family got several jobs at large chain supermarkets thanks to David’s connections and moved into a luxury apartment. Their marriage was happy. But Amanda’s health was poor, and she suffered from postpartum depression before passing away. The Carter family sent me to the Turner household overnight to be Tom’s stepmother. David initially refused, but his parents agreed. They thought hiring a nanny wasn’t as good as marrying a woman. Finally, the two families made a ten-Christmas agreement. Although David and I are legally married now, not a single person from either family acknowledges the legitimacy of our relationship. Tom has never called me “Mom.” This was the first time I didn’t avoid David when he was angry but looked straight into his eyes. I said, “I’m not angry, just that at Christmas, the agreement between our families will expire.” “I really should leave. Staying here only causes trouble for you and Tom.” Hearing my words, David’s expression softened somewhat. He looked at me suspiciously, but the tension eased. He compromised. “If you’re pregnant, I’ll talk to my mother. She might agree…” I said, “Don’t bother.” At Christmas, my father ran off with another woman, and my mother and I stayed at Amanda’s house. If I didn’t owe the Carter family a favor, I would have asked David for a divorce long ago. My father didn’t love me and left me nothing. David doesn’t love me, nor would he love my child. If I had a child, they would be unloved like me. I couldn’t bear to do that. I walked to the desk and wrote down Tom’s living habits and study progress over these Christmases. I said, “These days, I’ve written down everything Tom likes to eat and all his preferences in this notebook.” “He’s grown up now and can take care of himself. You can hire a housekeeper in the future. Just follow what’s in the notebook, and nothing will go wrong.” David took a deep breath and threw the notebook directly into the fireplace to burn. He pointed his index finger at my nose and said, “Lily, don’t push it.” “It’s your birthday today, so I won’t argue with you. Think it over carefully!” The door slammed shut. But a second later, the door opened a crack. Tom was still wearing the badge his teacher had awarded him. He threw his book hard at my temple and said viciously, “Bad woman! If you keep hanging around our house, I’ll hit you!” The book fell to the floor—it was one I had given him. Tom forgot that his academic achievements he’s now so proud of were all because of my help. Amanda and I were close. Before she died, she asked me to take care of Tom, saying he was a good kid and would surely be grateful to me someday. At that time, I looked at the adorable three-year-old Tom. He seemed to understand and smiled happily. In that moment, I fantasized about spending the rest of my life with David. But after ten Christmases, it’s time for me to wake up from my dream.

The next day, I packed my bags. To take care of Tom, all my clothes these past ten Christmases have been gray and black, colors that don’t easily show dirt—much like my gloomy life. But it doesn’t matter. I’m about to welcome my own freedom. I was heading to the station to buy tickets when I ran into my widowed neighbor. She showed her face at the door, and Tom laughed as he threw himself into her arms. “Good morning, Ella,” he said loudly. His voice was so loud that other neighbors looked our way. “Lily used some tricks to marry David shortly after his cousin died.” “Now Tom isn’t even close to her. What good has it done her?” Hearing these words, Tom seemed even happier and spoke even louder. “Ella, Dad loved the cake you made yesterday. Lily’s cooking is terrible.” When I first moved here, I wasn’t good at handling relationships and was ostracized by neighbors, so I stayed home experimenting with cooking. Back then, three-year-old Tom was very attached to me. He would eat every bit of the cakes and cookies I made. In his eyes then, I was like an angel sent from heaven. But now, though my cooking skills haven’t declined, Tom looks down on me. Ella smiled at Tom in her arms, then looked at me challengingly. “Children are the most innocent and adorable. They never lie,” she said. “David marrying you was the luckiest thing that could happen in your life.” Ella had a mole at the corner of her eye, just like Amanda’s. Because of this similarity, she—a widow—was assigned an apartment by the factory. Tom often ran to her place to play. When David came to pick him up, the three of them standing together looked like a family. “You’ve even bought tickets. Are you trying to threaten me?” I had come to Amanda’s home with my train ticket. Amanda’s mother, Kelly Edwards, clutched my train ticket with displeasure. “I’m just fulfilling our previous agreement,” I said. “I’ve been their nanny for ten Christmases, and now I want to live my own life.” She slapped me hard across the face and said, “You country girl, how ambitious you are! You and your mother lived in our house, and now that she’s dead, you want to leave?” She tried to slap me again, but I caught her hand and looked at her calmly. “My mother and I lived in your house for five Christmases, and I’ve worked at David’s for ten. We’re even now!” I said. “I’m not here to ask for your opinion. I’m just here to inform you.” These past ten Christmases, I’ve acted with a clear conscience. As a wife, I’ve taken meticulous care of David. While he went out to work, I handled all the household matters. Every day, I also had to endure his insatiable sexual desires. As a mother, I’ve raised Tom to become a known genius in the middle school. I gave him all my love. And he achieved excellent grades. I played every role well, except I failed myself. After saying goodbye to Kelly, I turned to see David’s cold, feminine energy-depleted gaze. David said, “Are you really leaving? You’re a Christmas-aged divorcee, no one will want you anymore. “I advise you to think carefully. If you don’t get along with Tom, just let him go to Ella’s place after school. You won’t have to worry about anything.” I smiled and said, “Thank you. That won’t be necessary.” David grew increasingly angry. According to his imagined scenario, I should have happily accepted his proposal and stayed out of gratitude. But I’d rather endure the pain than continue living this numb existence. Ella mocked me, “Lily, it’s too much how you despise me. “Mr. Turner has provided for you all these Christmases, and has never mistreated you. “Do you hate me that much?” As she spoke, Ella actually turned away with tears and nestled into David’s arms. David shouted at me angrily, “Lily, apologize to Ella right now!” Tom picked up a stone from the roadside and threw it at me, saying, “I don’t want you as my mom anymore! I want Ella to be my mom! “You bitch! You killed my mother, and now you want to hurt Ella!” The stone hit my temple, causing pain. I looked at Tom seriously and asked, “In your heart, am I the murderer who killed your mother?” “Aren’t you?” he furiously headbutted my stomach, knocking me to the ground. That’s when I suddenly realized he had grown to be as tall as me. Tom developed slower than other children his age, and I tried everything to provide him with proper nutrition. Through winter cold and summer heat, I considered everything thoroughly for him, from his studies to his friendships. These ten Christmases, the time spent with him has occupied a third of my life. Yet all my efforts couldn’t withstand Ella’s few provocative words. I just felt disappointed. David and Tom looked at me as if I were a beggar on the street coming to collect a debt. Perhaps I once did beg them for love, but now all misunderstandings could only end with this divorce agreement. I took the agreement out of my pocket, handed it to David, smiled at the three of them, turned around and went inside to get my luggage. David didn’t even glance at me, busy fussing over Ella. But I felt like he was waiting for me to say something. I knew that with David’s charm, there would always be new women in his life who would consider being his wife the highest honor. But none of that concerned me anymore. I hailed a taxi, wanting to leave this home as quickly as possible. However, after the car started, Tom suddenly appeared on the road, spreading his arms to block the car.

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On my birthday, I mistakenly used David Turner’s ex-wife’s rose-patterned dinnerware. Thirteen-year-old Tom Turner suddenly flipped the dishes, spilling scalding corn chowder on the back of my hand. He watched coldly as I screamed in pain. “This was my mom’s custom wedding dinnerware! I don’t allow anyone else to touch it!” he said. Tom then rushed to his room and smashed the last jeweled bracelet my mother had left me before she died. “If it weren’t for you, my mom wouldn’t have left me! When I grow up, I’ll kick you out of my house!” he shouted. I stood there quietly, feeling neither sad nor wronged, just sighing softly. “If that’s what you want, then so be it.” ***** I grabbed a nearby towel and cleaned the soup stains off myself. As I turned, I accidentally knocked the dishes to the floor. The dish broke in half upon impact. “You wicked woman! That was my mom’s favorite dinnerware!” Tom, who had been wearing a defiant expression, suddenly exploded. He stared at me intensely, his expression severe. I looked at the broken pieces and said, “Tom, you’re lying. Your mother hated roses. Why would she custom order dinnerware with that pattern?” Caught in his lie, Tom became flustered. He kicked over a chair and ran out the door clutching his worn-out backpack. This time, I didn’t follow him to the corner store to buy him cookies as I usually did. After cleaning up the mess, I quietly walked to the storage room. The urn that should have contained my mother’s ashes was completely empty. I heard the toilet flush. When I rushed into the bathroom, trembling as I scooped up the last traces of ashes, Tom gloated: “Serves you right! You broke my mom’s precious dinnerware! I made your most precious thing disappear too!” He made a face at me, then ran away. I stared at the grayish-white traces on the floor, feeling heartbroken. At Christmas, I had moved from my countryside farm to the factory housing complex with the canvas bag my mother had sewn. But the low walls of the housing complex completely cut off the free wind from the farm. They took away the college acceptance letters addressed to me and handed me a three-year-old boy who loved to bite. I spent my youth teaching him how to tie his shoelaces and solve math problems with a pencil. Yet it only took him the time to smash an urn to destroy all the love I had for him. I stood there in silence, catching the familiar scent of laundry detergent. Looking up, I saw David standing in front of my spaghetti. Like father, like son—Tom and David shared the same arrogance and the same dislike for me. David sat at the dinner table waiting for his meal after work. He examined me with a frown and said directly, “Why are you fighting with Tom again? He just started middle school. Why are you arguing with him?” Seeing that I remained silent, David grew impatient. His eyes fell on the urn I was holding, but ultimately he said nothing more. After a while, he said in a dismissive tone, “What’s past is past. The living are more important than the dead.” I felt as if I had been with them for ten Christmases yet never left even the slightest impression on their hearts. After dinner, David habitually pulled me toward the bed. I instinctively didn’t push him away. He unbuttoned my collar and slipped his hand inside my clothes. His warm breath fell on my face. David said, “It’s your birthday today, so I’ll allow you not to take birth control. If you can get pregnant, have the baby. Stop fighting with Tom.” His body grew warmer, but I felt cold. When we first married, I had loved this handsome factory manager in his Christmas prime. Three months after our wedding, I became pregnant. I remember telling David the news that day, and how his expression instantly turned cold. He coaxed me into taking abortion pills. David said, “Tom is my first and will be my only child. If you get pregnant and have your own child, you’ll surely neglect Tom.” Afterward, he became even more vigilant. Every time we had sex, he made sure to watch me take birth control. Ten Christmases had passed. The doctor said I might never be able to get pregnant again. Now David’s words seemed like a Christian offering to me. I thought, “What did I do wrong to make him treat me this way…” For the first time, I gathered the courage to push away the man lying on top of me. I said, “David, our ten-year Christmas term is up. It’s time for me to divorce you.”

The atmosphere grew tense. David said impatiently, “Tom is just a child.” “As his mother, it’s your fault for not raising him properly!” I lowered my head and smirked coldly. At Christmas, David, the factory manager, fell in love with my cousin Amanda Carter, an ordinary worker. The Carter family got several jobs at large chain supermarkets thanks to David’s connections and moved into a luxury apartment. Their marriage was happy. But Amanda’s health was poor, and she suffered from postpartum depression before passing away. The Carter family sent me to the Turner household overnight to be Tom’s stepmother. David initially refused, but his parents agreed. They thought hiring a nanny wasn’t as good as marrying a woman. Finally, the two families made a ten-Christmas agreement. Although David and I are legally married now, not a single person from either family acknowledges the legitimacy of our relationship. Tom has never called me “Mom.” This was the first time I didn’t avoid David when he was angry but looked straight into his eyes. I said, “I’m not angry, just that at Christmas, the agreement between our families will expire.” “I really should leave. Staying here only causes trouble for you and Tom.” Hearing my words, David’s expression softened somewhat. He looked at me suspiciously, but the tension eased. He compromised. “If you’re pregnant, I’ll talk to my mother. She might agree…” I said, “Don’t bother.” At Christmas, my father ran off with another woman, and my mother and I stayed at Amanda’s house. If I didn’t owe the Carter family a favor, I would have asked David for a divorce long ago. My father didn’t love me and left me nothing. David doesn’t love me, nor would he love my child. If I had a child, they would be unloved like me. I couldn’t bear to do that. I walked to the desk and wrote down Tom’s living habits and study progress over these Christmases. I said, “These days, I’ve written down everything Tom likes to eat and all his preferences in this notebook.” “He’s grown up now and can take care of himself. You can hire a housekeeper in the future. Just follow what’s in the notebook, and nothing will go wrong.” David took a deep breath and threw the notebook directly into the fireplace to burn. He pointed his index finger at my nose and said, “Lily, don’t push it.” “It’s your birthday today, so I won’t argue with you. Think it over carefully!” The door slammed shut. But a second later, the door opened a crack. Tom was still wearing the badge his teacher had awarded him. He threw his book hard at my temple and said viciously, “Bad woman! If you keep hanging around our house, I’ll hit you!” The book fell to the floor—it was one I had given him. Tom forgot that his academic achievements he’s now so proud of were all because of my help. Amanda and I were close. Before she died, she asked me to take care of Tom, saying he was a good kid and would surely be grateful to me someday. At that time, I looked at the adorable three-year-old Tom. He seemed to understand and smiled happily. In that moment, I fantasized about spending the rest of my life with David. But after ten Christmases, it’s time for me to wake up from my dream.

The next day, I packed my bags. To take care of Tom, all my clothes these past ten Christmases have been gray and black, colors that don’t easily show dirt—much like my gloomy life. But it doesn’t matter. I’m about to welcome my own freedom. I was heading to the station to buy tickets when I ran into my widowed neighbor. She showed her face at the door, and Tom laughed as he threw himself into her arms. “Good morning, Ella,” he said loudly. His voice was so loud that other neighbors looked our way. “Lily used some tricks to marry David shortly after his cousin died.” “Now Tom isn’t even close to her. What good has it done her?” Hearing these words, Tom seemed even happier and spoke even louder. “Ella, Dad loved the cake you made yesterday. Lily’s cooking is terrible.” When I first moved here, I wasn’t good at handling relationships and was ostracized by neighbors, so I stayed home experimenting with cooking. Back then, three-year-old Tom was very attached to me. He would eat every bit of the cakes and cookies I made. In his eyes then, I was like an angel sent from heaven. But now, though my cooking skills haven’t declined, Tom looks down on me. Ella smiled at Tom in her arms, then looked at me challengingly. “Children are the most innocent and adorable. They never lie,” she said. “David marrying you was the luckiest thing that could happen in your life.” Ella had a mole at the corner of her eye, just like Amanda’s. Because of this similarity, she—a widow—was assigned an apartment by the factory. Tom often ran to her place to play. When David came to pick him up, the three of them standing together looked like a family. “You’ve even bought tickets. Are you trying to threaten me?” I had come to Amanda’s home with my train ticket. Amanda’s mother, Kelly Edwards, clutched my train ticket with displeasure. “I’m just fulfilling our previous agreement,” I said. “I’ve been their nanny for ten Christmases, and now I want to live my own life.” She slapped me hard across the face and said, “You country girl, how ambitious you are! You and your mother lived in our house, and now that she’s dead, you want to leave?” She tried to slap me again, but I caught her hand and looked at her calmly. “My mother and I lived in your house for five Christmases, and I’ve worked at David’s for ten. We’re even now!” I said. “I’m not here to ask for your opinion. I’m just here to inform you.” These past ten Christmases, I’ve acted with a clear conscience. As a wife, I’ve taken meticulous care of David. While he went out to work, I handled all the household matters. Every day, I also had to endure his insatiable sexual desires. As a mother, I’ve raised Tom to become a known genius in the middle school. I gave him all my love. And he achieved excellent grades. I played every role well, except I failed myself. After saying goodbye to Kelly, I turned to see David’s cold, feminine energy-depleted gaze. David said, “Are you really leaving? You’re a Christmas-aged divorcee, no one will want you anymore. “I advise you to think carefully. If you don’t get along with Tom, just let him go to Ella’s place after school. You won’t have to worry about anything.” I smiled and said, “Thank you. That won’t be necessary.” David grew increasingly angry. According to his imagined scenario, I should have happily accepted his proposal and stayed out of gratitude. But I’d rather endure the pain than continue living this numb existence. Ella mocked me, “Lily, it’s too much how you despise me. “Mr. Turner has provided for you all these Christmases, and has never mistreated you. “Do you hate me that much?” As she spoke, Ella actually turned away with tears and nestled into David’s arms. David shouted at me angrily, “Lily, apologize to Ella right now!” Tom picked up a stone from the roadside and threw it at me, saying, “I don’t want you as my mom anymore! I want Ella to be my mom! “You bitch! You killed my mother, and now you want to hurt Ella!” The stone hit my temple, causing pain. I looked at Tom seriously and asked, “In your heart, am I the murderer who killed your mother?” “Aren’t you?” he furiously headbutted my stomach, knocking me to the ground. That’s when I suddenly realized he had grown to be as tall as me. Tom developed slower than other children his age, and I tried everything to provide him with proper nutrition. Through winter cold and summer heat, I considered everything thoroughly for him, from his studies to his friendships. These ten Christmases, the time spent with him has occupied a third of my life. Yet all my efforts couldn’t withstand Ella’s few provocative words. I just felt disappointed. David and Tom looked at me as if I were a beggar on the street coming to collect a debt. Perhaps I once did beg them for love, but now all misunderstandings could only end with this divorce agreement. I took the agreement out of my pocket, handed it to David, smiled at the three of them, turned around and went inside to get my luggage. David didn’t even glance at me, busy fussing over Ella. But I felt like he was waiting for me to say something. I knew that with David’s charm, there would always be new women in his life who would consider being his wife the highest honor. But none of that concerned me anymore. I hailed a taxi, wanting to leave this home as quickly as possible. However, after the car started, Tom suddenly appeared on the road, spreading his arms to block the car.

The engine’s roar suddenly stopped, and the sharp sound of brakes cut through the morning silence. The world seemed to freeze around me, with only the screeching of brakes echoing in my ears. The driver muttered a curse, but I didn’t hear it. In my world, there was only the small figure standing in front of the car, wearing a blue coat. That blue coat I had sewn for him with my own hands. He was blocking my way. My heart ached, making it almost impossible to breathe. I pushed open the car door, and the cold wind carrying fine rain made me shiver involuntarily. The icy raindrops hit my face and pounded heavily against my heart. “Tom, what are you doing?” My voice trembled, carrying a hint of fatigue that others could barely detect. This exhaustion came not only from physical tiredness but more from the torment of my soul. Tom looked up, staring at me defiantly. His eyes were full of hurt and accusation against me. “What gives you the right to leave?” His childish voice was sharp and piercing, stabbing into my heart like a small knife. “Because you and your father never loved me,” I forced a smile. Saying those words made my heart ache. “You’re lying!” Tom cried out, weakly pounding his fists against my legs. My heart was touched. Tom said, “You don’t love me or Dad!” I looked at him, feeling heartbroken. Once, I had genuinely loved them both. I thought that by taking Amanda’s place, I could earn their love. I believed that if I gave my heart, I would receive what I deserved in return. But I was terribly wrong. In their eyes, I was nothing more than a nanny, a disposable substitute. I bent down and forcefully pried Tom’s hands from my legs. His little hands were cold and weak. I picked Tom up and placed him in David’s arms inside the car. In that moment, my heart died completely. “Watch your son,” I said coldly. Then I turned and sat in the driver’s seat. The driver started the car, and we sped away. The scenery outside the window rapidly receded. My heart grew calmer. The cold rain beat against the windows, blurring my vision and my memories. I seemed to return to that sunny afternoon three Christmases ago. Amanda lay in her hospital bed, pale-faced but gripping my hand tightly. “Lily, please take care of Tom,” her voice was weak but pleading. Looking at the helpless infant in her arms, I nodded solemnly. At that moment, I truly intended to take good care of Tom and give him a complete home. I thought David and I would care for Tom together and provide him with a warm family. But I overestimated my place in their hearts and underestimated the complexity of human emotions. David never loved me; he had always loved Amanda. He resented me for taking his wife’s place. And Tom, influenced by those around him, began to resent me too, blaming me for stealing his mother’s love. I’m tired, truly tired. I don’t want to continue this life without love or hope. I took out the crumpled ticket and clutched it tightly in my hand. It was my only hope of escaping this city. New York, here I come.

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I, Sally Bloom, got cancer. When I was dying, my brother Rico Bloom was taking care of Elena Fisher, who had a cold. Days later, the whole family learned of my death. I thought they would be happy, after all, they often said, “Sally better die out there.” But what I didn’t expect was that Rico went crazy first. ***** Thunder rumbled outside the window. I struggled to look out, seeing that rain was coming. I lowered my gaze to this body, ravaged by cancer, feeling a wave of despair. It seemed I wouldn’t live to see Rico again. Realizing this, my last bit of desire to live faded away with those unanswered phone calls. I finally died on a rainy day, and my soul, weighed down by unresolved matters, drifted back home. At that moment, Rico was attentively caring for another girl who was his sister in name only. Elena had been caught in the rain and seemed to have caught a cold. She lay weakly in bed, looking pitifully at Rico. Seeing her like this, Rico’s eyes softened with tenderness as he gently coaxed her to sit up and take some medicine. After taking the medicine, Elena fell asleep. Rico sat by the bed, staring out at the pouring rain. Perhaps he thought of someone, as his expression darkened. My soul drifted closer, wanting to smooth his furrowed brow, but he gritted his teeth and spat out my name, startling me. I stared at him in shock. Unaware of my presence, he opened his phone, the screen showing more than a dozen missed calls from me. He glanced at it once, then turned away in disgust and shut off the screen. “I’ve told her so many times to come home early, but she never listens. Now what does she want, calling in the middle of the night?” Rico sighed deeply. “Sally, you’d be better off dead somewhere out there.” My heart jolted, a bitter ache spreading through me. Rico’s hatred for me had grown this deep. I floated in front of him, forcing a smile. “Rico, your wish came true. I’m gone now. When you hear the news, you’ll be happy, won’t you? That sister you despise is finally dead.” Rico still seemed uneasy. He clutched his phone tightly, lost in thought. Just as he stood up, Elena gently tugged at the hem of his shirt, looking up at him innocently. “Are you going to look for Sally, Rico?” When Rico didn’t respond, Elena smiled weakly. “It’s okay, you should go. It’s late and she’s not home yet—she might be in danger. I just have a little cold, I’ll be fine.” Rico sat back down and lit a cigarette. “What danger could she be in? Even if she is in trouble, it’s her own fault. She has no one to blame but herself.” I stared at Rico’s face for a long time. He was still the Rico I knew, yet he felt so foreign to me now. I shouldn’t have hoped for his concern. I knew better than anyone why Rico hated me—because I supposedly killed Mustard, the dog we grew up with. But I didn’t kill Mustard. Mustard was a puppy given to Rico by a neighbor. Rico watched him grow up. At first, when he just arrived, I quite liked him, but I never expected he would defecate in my room every day. Although Rico eventually cleaned my room, I still felt disgusted, and from then on, I couldn’t stand the dog. Later, my parents brought home a girl they’d found outside, saying they wanted to give me a sister. I objected, argued with my parents, had a huge fight with Rico, and ran away. When I returned home and opened the door, I found Mustard’s brutally murdered body. He lay silently in a pool of blood, lifeless, with the knife Rico had given me for my coming-of-age birthday still stuck in his belly. I was paralyzed with shock, standing there frozen until Rico pushed open the door, which finally snapped me back to reality.

Rico looked at me in disbelief and asked, “Why? Just because we didn’t go along with what you wanted, you killed it out of spite?” As soon as Rico finished speaking, my chest heaved violently with anger. He knew me better than anyone, yet he questioned me like this. My eyes reddened shamefully as I pointed at the dead body on the ground and shouted, “That’s right! I killed it! I’ve hated it for a long time, and it deserved to die! Because it was yours, because you argued with me! I killed it just to get back at you!” ***** A few days after Mustard’s death, Elena arrived. Elena had a gentle nature, spoke softly, and had an innocent face that quickly won the hearts of my parents and Rico. But I felt like I’d seen this new sister somewhere before. I thought her arrival would just mean one more person in the house, but what I didn’t expect was that the scales of love were gradually tipping in her favor. Despite my efforts to improve my grades at school, my mother, Daisy Bloom, seemed to no longer see me. When I brought my report card to her, she merely glanced at it before continuing her conversation with her sweet daughter Elena. My father, Kevin Bloom, was the same. After looking at my grades, he said nothing, only gesturing for me to help teach Elena. I lowered my eyes, feeling empty inside. I was no longer my parents’ beloved little baby. Their favorite little darling now was Elena. I didn’t understand why even parents could change their hearts so quickly. I wore a blue dress I had treasured for a long time, hoping Rico and my parents would notice the daughter they had long ignored. But Rico just slightly furrowed his brow and demanded, “Why are you wearing Elena’s dress?” With those words, everyone’s eyes immediately focused on me. I pressed my lips together, my eyes instantly reddening, and said resentfully, “This is clearly my own dress. How did it become hers?” Rico’s frown deepened. “I know this isn’t your dress. You don’t even have this in your closet.” Hearing Rico’s words, Daisy immediately approached me with a dark expression and began pulling at my blue dress while scolding, “Don’t you have your own clothes to wear? Why are you stealing your sister’s clothes?” I cried from frustration while struggling desperately. “This was mine to begin with, it’s my own dress. If you don’t believe me, ask her!” Elena, who had been hiding behind Rico, finally said, “Mom, this is indeed Sally’s dress. I’m sorry, I thought it was so pretty that I couldn’t resist secretly wearing it once.” I insisted firmly, “Did you hear that? This is my dress, and she’s the one who stole it!” Kevin snapped irritably, “Enough! It’s just a dress, you don’t need to make such a big deal out of it!” Then, looking at Elena with loving eyes, he said, “I’ll buy you an even prettier one later.” Elena flashed me a sly smile, while sweetly saying, “Thank you, Dad.” I stared at everything in shock, feeling heartbroken. Since Elena’s arrival, it seemed like she had stolen all my luck. I couldn’t win against Elena in anything, couldn’t compete with her for anything. My reminiscing ended. Elena, pretending to be in pain while feigning generosity, was trying to persuade Rico, “Rico, maybe you should go check on her.” “Even though Sally usually comes home this late, even though she often goes to hotels, even though she often hangs out with those troublemakers. But still, she called you so many times. What if she really needs you for something?” she continued. Momentary irritation flashed in Rico’s eyes, but he ultimately suppressed it. He said, “She killed Mustard, and she constantly bullies you and slanders you, yet you still speak up for her. If you ask me, it would be better if someone like that died out there.” He was right. I did die out there, and quite miserably at that. Rico said, “Alright, you go to sleep now. Let’s not talk about that mood killer anymore.” After Elena fell asleep, Rico quietly turned off the light and returned to his own room. He sat on the edge of his bed and lit another cigarette. The smoke swirled around his face, making it difficult for me to see his expression clearly. After a long while, he pulled out his phone from his pocket. The screen remained on the dialing page.

He was about to call me, but something stopped him. His finger hovered in midair, reluctant to make contact. Rico laughed mockingly at my name on his phone screen, muttering to himself, “You drove Elena to attempt suicide last time. How dare you call me now?” Rico’s mind drifted back to when Elena jumped into the river. In high school, Elena had transferred to my school with her parents’ support. Her first act at school was to corner me with boys who had previously pursued me, announcing, “Today, she’s all yours.” That night, I endured unprecedented humiliation, even contemplating suicide. For the first time in my life, I truly hated someone. I couldn’t understand why she targeted me. She already had the love of her parents and Rico, yet she still treated me this way. After hastily getting dressed, I rushed to Elena’s classroom, lunged at her, and we started fighting. When Daisy and Kevin were called to school, I expected them to comfort me and kick Elena out of the house. Instead, Elena claimed in front of everyone that she had attempted to drown herself because she couldn’t bear my bullying. Of course, she didn’t die—Rico saved her. In an instant, everything flipped. No one listened to my explanation or my side of the story. They all condemned me for bullying my sister to the point of attempting suicide. Daisy immediately started berating me. Kevin slapped me so hard I stumbled, splitting my lip. Rico looked utterly disappointed, refusing to even look at me, just apologetically embracing Elena. I, a child with living parents, was treated like an orphan, while Elena, who had no real family, was loved by everyone. Later, just after starting college, I was diagnosed with cancer. I stared at the critical condition notice for a long time, feeling both heartbroken and somehow relieved. I had nothing left to lose anyway, so I decided to drop out of college and spend whatever time I had left doing things I wanted to do. Just then, Travis Gray called, asking me to pick him up. Pushing aside my grief, I immediately took a taxi to the bar and pulled him out. By then, he was completely drunk, leaning heavily against me. “Sally, have you fallen this low? You’re actually Travis’s girlfriend now? Don’t you know he’s just a good-looking playboy who’s worthless? He’s had at least a hundred girlfriends!” I looked in disbelief at the person speaking. I never would have dreamed of running into Rico at a bar. He always hated such places. I glanced at Elena in Rico’s arms—of course, she was the reason he was there. With a self-mocking smile, I tried to explain, “Rico, you’ve got it wrong…” He cut me off: “Shut up and get your ass home now!” Elena broke free from Rico’s embrace, approached Travis, and said in a voice only the three of us could hear, “Sally has always been promiscuous, sleeping with several men…” Before she could finish, my fist connected with her face. “What the hell are you doing?” Rico roared, rushing over to grab my hair and slam me to the ground so quickly that even Travis couldn’t react. My scalp burned with pain. Since my cancer diagnosis, I’d already been losing hair, and now Rico had yanked out even more. “Why?” I asked, fighting back tears. Rico’s face contorted with rage. “Because you’re worthless and shameless! You deserve this! Bullies deserve to die.” I looked at Rico and laughed hysterically, tears streaming down my face. “Yes, bullies deserve to die.” The commotion sobered Travis completely. His face darkened with anger. “Sally, I can have them arrested right now. How would you like them to suffer?” Rico and Elena looked frightened at Travis’s words, knowing he had the power to make it happen. I shook my head. “No, let it go…” Suddenly, I coughed up blood, my face turning deathly pale. My condition was worsening. “Stop pretending! Sally, you’re using these pathetic tactics to make us feel sorry for you. You disgust me!” Rico spat. I thought to myself, “It’s not like that, Rico. Please believe me. Do you really hate me that much?” In the end, I fulfilled his wish and left you for good. I had been missing for five days. I thought my parents would be the first to learn of my death, but it was Elena.

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On Valentine’s Day, my husband Noah Wilson, a seasoned explorer, invited me to climb Mount Everest, but I unexpectedly fainted during the ascent. When I regained consciousness, I learned that Noah had stayed on the snowy mountain forever to save me. I wanted to search for him, but was stopped by a group of debt collectors. As it turned out, Noah’s company had accumulated massive debt due to poor management. I sold all my personal belongings and worked tirelessly to pay off the debt. Just as I was dumping slop at a high-end restaurant, I saw Noah—who was supposed to be dead—enjoying steak and wine with his ex-girlfriend Amber Roberts! I furiously confronted him, but he kicked me to death. When I opened my eyes again, I was back at the moment I had just regained consciousness. In this life, I decided to make sure Noah really dies on that snowy mountain! ***** A stinging slap across my face forced me to take a deep breath from the pain. “Jinx! You’re the one who killed my son!” Noah’s mother, Kelly Simmons, screamed at the top of her lungs. The hatred in her eyes nearly consumed me. “You bitch, it must have been you who insisted Noah take you climbing Mount Everest, which ultimately cost him his life trying to save you!” I lay helplessly on the hospital bed, my entire body wracked with pain. Amber stood beside Kelly, pretending to comfort her, “Kelly, please don’t be upset. Noah wouldn’t want to see you so heartbroken in heaven. I never thought Grace would become so jealous just because Noah took me climbing Mount Everest once.” Amber was Noah’s ex-girlfriend. I had no idea why she was here now. “I knew it was her jealousy that killed my son. I could kill her myself!” Kelly was still furious, making another move to hit me. I struggled to open my eyes, watching the scene unfold before me with shock. I thought, “I’ve been reborn? I’ve actually been reborn!” In my previous life, it was Noah who insisted on climbing Mount Everest to celebrate Valentine’s Day. He said he was a professional explorer and would protect me, and I believed him. But I suddenly fainted during the climb. When I woke up, I was told Noah had died saving me. Kelly called me a jinx. Amber also pretended to comfort me while implying, “If it weren’t for you, Noah would still be alive.” Devastated, I wanted to search for Noah on the mountain, but debt collectors blocked me at the hospital entrance. Only then did I learn that due to his poor management, his company had accumulated enormous debt. Kelly blamed me for Noah’s death, inherited all his assets, but left me with all his debts. Consumed by guilt, I sold all my personal belongings and worked desperately to pay off the debt. But while dumping slop at a high-end restaurant, I discovered Noah—who should have been dead—enjoying dinner with Amber! “Noah! What’s going on? Weren’t you dead?” I rushed forward to confront him. But Noah, with one arm around Amber and a wine glass in his other hand, calmly said, “Bitch, don’t curse me!” I lost my mind and tried to hit them. But Noah kicked me to death without hesitation. As I was dying, he revealed the whole truth. He had faked his death so I would pay off his company’s debts while he enjoyed life with his mistress. In the end, Noah dumped my body in the slop bucket I had brought. I deeply regretted not discovering everything sooner. In this life, I’m determined to make sure Noah really dies on that snowy mountain!

I suddenly snapped back to reality. Kelly’s sharp curses were still continuing. I grabbed the bed rail, struggling to get up. “I need to find Noah! I need to find him! I don’t believe any of this! I have to see him with my own eyes!” I screamed, desperately trying to get out of bed. “What are you doing? Stop being crazy!” Kelly was startled by my sudden movement, shrieking before immediately trying to stop me. “I’m going to the mountain. I need to find Noah. No matter what, I have to see him one last time!” I said firmly, my eyes filled with determination and grief. “Stop the act! My son is dead. Putting on this devoted wife routine won’t help now. Don’t move!” Kelly reached out to pull me back, but I pushed her away. “Grace, please calm down. Noah is already…” Amber also stepped forward to dissuade me. I cut her off, “I don’t need your interference! Noah is my husband. I must find him! I want to rest eternally with him on that snowy mountain!” I deliberately displayed overwhelming grief, while inwardly smirking. Of course they wouldn’t let me go, because they all knew Noah wasn’t actually on the mountain at all. Kelly was angered by my attitude. “Cut it out. Going there now won’t help anything. Noah gave his life to save you. I won’t let you throw that away!” “Yes, Grace. You can’t let Noah’s sacrifice be in vain!” Amber chimed in, unable to meet my eyes. “No! I’m going now! You can’t watch me every minute of every day. You can’t stop me! I must see my beloved Noah.” My determination was unwavering. By now, the other patients in the ward had been moved by my resolute attitude. “How touching. I’m sure she didn’t intentionally cause Noah’s death.” “Exactly. They must have been deeply in love. Such a tragedy.” “Stop holding her back!” Tears were streaming down my face. Listening to everyone’s comments, I found it all ironically amusing. “You…” Kelly wanted to say more, but I firmly interrupted her. “Enough! Why are you trying so hard to stop me? Is there something you’re hiding?” I asked, pretending to be casual. “Nonsense! Of course not,” Kelly hastily explained. “My mind is made up. No one can stop me!” I gave them a cold glance and staggered toward the door. Kelly still didn’t want to give up, but she couldn’t excessively restrain me anymore. Amber seemed somewhat flustered. After a moment, she regained her composure and came forward to support me. “If Grace is determined to go to the mountain to see Noah one last time, let’s grant her wish. I’ll accompany Grace!” Amber deliberately instructed Kelly, “The mountain is dangerous. Perhaps you should contact professionals to prepare and assist us?” Her words reminded Kelly, who quickly agreed. I knew they would certainly arrange for Noah to prepare in advance and put on a show for me. Their decision played right into my hands!

We had just left the hospital, and Amber was still trying to dissuade me. “Grace, are you sure about this? Mount Everest is extremely dangerous. If something happens to you, Noah—who sacrificed himself for you—would be heartbroken!” “Are you scared?” I stopped and looked her straight in the eyes. “Noah always told me he considered you his best friend. Now that he’s gone, don’t you want to bring him back for a proper burial?” Amber nervously explained, “Of course I do! But Noah was an explorer, and leaving himself on the snowy mountain was his final wish. As his loved ones, I think we should respect his choice!” “I’m his closest family! I know better than you what should be done!” I challenged her irritably. “Of course I’ll respect his final wishes, but don’t I deserve to see him one last time before that?” “Grace, don’t misunderstand. I’m just worried about you,” Amber hurriedly explained. “You’ve barely recovered from danger, and now you’re rushing to climb a mountain. What if—” “There is no ‘what if’!” I cut her off. “Noah saved me. I’d gladly die alongside him if it comes to that!” My tone was resolute and unyielding, leaving Amber silent. Throughout our journey, Amber kept trying to indirectly convince me to abandon my search for Noah on the mountain. One moment she’d mention the long journey ahead, the next she’d talk about the terrible weather—basically trying everything to stop me. I ignored her. By the time we reached the base of Mount Everest, heavy snow was falling from the sky. “Grace, look how heavily it’s snowing. It’s really dangerous. Let’s wait a bit longer. No need to rush!” Amber glanced at her phone before anxiously trying to stop me. I knew she must have received instructions from Kelly, deliberately trying to delay our ascent. But instead of exposing her intentions, I agreed. Because I knew they needed time to prepare their little performance. We found a place to rest. After a while, I suddenly spotted a group of people at another climbing entrance in the distance, hurriedly ascending the mountain despite the dangerous blizzard. Though far away, I immediately recognized Noah among them, and felt an uncontrollable surge of anger and hatred. I thought, “Noah, I never imagined you’d go this far just to deceive me!” I clenched my fists, my heart filled with nothing but hatred! Amber, seemingly receiving new instructions, deliberately started chatting with me to distract my attention. I pretended to know nothing and played along, though inside I grew even angrier. After a while, the snow stopped. Suddenly, Amber’s phone rang. After answering, she composed herself and said, “Grace, Kelly says she’s found some of Noah’s former expedition teammates to accompany us up the mountain. They’ll be here soon!” I knew the actors were ready to make their appearance. Soon Kelly and Noah’s former expedition teammates arrived. They all expressed deep sorrow over Noah’s fate and promised to help me find him. Watching their performance, I realized Noah’s teammates probably didn’t know the truth. Perfect—they could be my witnesses! Just as we were about to depart, Kelly tried to back out. “You go see Noah and come back down quickly. I’m not feeling well, so I won’t go up!” But I wasn’t about to let Kelly off the hook. I still wanted her to witness Noah “dying” on the mountain, so I persuaded her, “Kelly! You loved Noah so much, don’t you want to see him one last time?” Noah’s expedition teammates also encouraged her, “Kelly, don’t worry. We’re professionals—we’ll ensure your safety!” Kelly had no choice but to join us on the climb. After several hours of effort, we finally found Noah lying at the edge of a snowy cliff. “Noah! I’m so sorry! I’ve missed you so much!” Upon seeing Noah lying at the edge of the snowy cliff, I let out a heart-wrenching cry and immediately rushed toward him.

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My boyfriend loves me deeply. We got together in April. To commemorate this month, he changed all his social media usernames to “April,” and even named our puppy April. On our fourth anniversary, he proposed to me. But before our wedding, I met his ex-girlfriend who had just returned from abroad. She told me her name was Avril. Avril and April sound remarkably similar. That’s when I realized I might have been just a replacement from the beginning. While crying and saying I wanted to leave, I thought to myself, “Finally scared me enough. Avril, you’ve finally returned. I’ve made enough money now. If you hadn’t shown up, was I really going to marry him?” ***** Today is our pre-wedding party. I’m leaning against my boyfriend Arthur Wood’s chest when a surprise guest confidently raises her glass and says, “Hello everyone. I just returned from abroad yesterday specifically to attend Arthur’s wedding. Though we haven’t seen each other in four years, we grew up together, so I hope no one minds my sudden appearance?” The atmosphere instantly becomes awkward as everyone’s expressions change. I realize this woman must be someone significant. But Arthur’s friend Mark Mcgowan quickly breaks the tension. Mark says, “You’re finally back. Come sit down and join us for dinner. Chloe is here too.” Hearing this, she obediently sits at the farthest spot from us. However, I notice her eyes reddening when she looks at Arthur. My intuition tells me to observe her carefully. She asks, “When is Arthur’s wedding scheduled?” The question sounds casual, but strangely, no one answers. Everyone just focuses on their food and drinks. Finally, Arthur speaks up, “The wedding is in three days.” After saying this, Arthur turns and kisses the corner of my mouth. His behavior seems normal, which reassures me somewhat. She suddenly bursts into loud laughter, tears streaming from her eyes. She stands up, pours herself a drink, and says, “Arthur, congratulations on your marriage. I wish you both happiness, love, and children soon.” With each blessing, she downs another glass. She drinks so quickly that friends trying to stop her fail. Arthur continues holding me, motionless. But his grip is so tight I almost cry out in pain. The more she drinks, the worse Arthur’s expression becomes. Despite this, Arthur doesn’t make any move. She’s wearing a white dress. Her body looks fragile, swaying unsteadily beneath the fabric, having lost her initial composure. Crying, with tears falling like broken pearls, she speaks in a heartbreaking way. “Arthur, you’re getting married, but the bride isn’t me.” After these words, the air grows heavy. She promptly faints, and Mark rushes to support her, saying anxiously, “Chloe, she’s drunk and saying things she shouldn’t. Don’t take it to heart. You all continue, I’ll take her home.” Watching her leave, I cautiously ask Arthur beside me, “Arthur, what’s her name? I feel like she resembles me somewhat.” Indeed, there is a slight resemblance between us. This similarity has always made me worry she might suddenly appear. Though she was only present for a few minutes, she already caused Arthur’s demeanor to change dramatically. It’s worth noting that Arthur managed to take over the family business in just a few years because he’s always been good at hiding his emotions. His obvious change in expression and unconsciously hurting me with his grip already shows he’s losing control. Arthur’s expression becomes frightening, as if angry that I asked this question. After a moment, he calms down and answers, “She’s someone I used to know. You don’t need to worry about her name.” The party hasn’t ended yet when Arthur says he has an urgent matter at his company and must leave. Watching him hurry away, I fall into deep thought. A sense of unease suddenly fills my heart.

Arthur wasn’t there, and I had no interest in staying at the party any longer. I called my friend Lara Murphy and told her about the encounter with the strange woman, feeling uneasy. Lara comforted me from the other end of the line: “Don’t overthink it. Everyone knows Arthur loves you deeply. He even uses your anniversary date as his username on all social media accounts. You’re probably just experiencing pre-wedding jitters. Let me come over and we can walk the dog together!” She was right—Arthur truly did love me. After all, with his credentials, he was willing to commit to someone as ordinary as me. He had arguments with his family for my sake and even fought with his father, yet he still insisted on marrying me. I couldn’t think of any reason other than love. I thought to myself, “I shouldn’t doubt Arthur. That girl is probably just having a one-sided crush.” I felt reassured as I stroked April, our dog who had just run over to me. We had adopted this stray dog together a year ago. I felt sorry for it at the time and brought it home. I thought Arthur, with his germophobia, would object, but to my surprise, he not only agreed but also named the dog April. April was the month when Arthur and I officially started dating. Four years ago, I had just graduated from college and landed a job at Wood Group after several rounds of interviews. To my surprise, Arthur showed intense interest in me from our very first meeting. But today, April was acting strangely. Usually well-behaved, today she was chewing on things around the house. While I was on the phone with Lara, she suddenly darted into Arthur’s study, rummaged through a cabinet, and came out with something in her mouth. In four years, I had never entered Arthur’s study. Thinking, “That might be something important,” I quickly grabbed it from April’s mouth. It was a photo album with a chewed-up cover. Opening it, I found pictures from Arthur’s high school days—him playing basketball, sleeping with his head down, and confidently speaking at a debate competition. These photos looked like they had been taken secretly. The last photo in the album was a group shot with Arthur having his arm around a girl, smiling with a hint of shyness. I had never seen him with that expression before. And the girl standing beside him was the same person I had encountered at the party today. I turned the photo over and saw a message: “Arthur, I promise I’ll be with you after we both get our college acceptance letters! From Avril Grant.” I froze. “Wait, her name is Avril? Avril and April sound so similar…” Finally, everything that happened today and all those puzzling things from the past made sense. I started to recall why, although we developed feelings for each other in March, he waited until April to confess; why he named our dog April; why he refused to tell me that woman’s name today; why he always became emotional every April; why his mood would fluctuate so dramatically at night… My body turned cold, as if my blood was flowing backward. My hands trembled as I held the album. Instinctively, I called Arthur. The “beep, beep, beep” sound on the phone felt like a countdown to my judgment day. Arthur didn’t answer. I then called Mark, who picked up quickly. Mark said, “Hey, Chloe, what’s up?” I asked, “Where is Arthur right now?” He replied, “Huh? Arthur should be at the office. Didn’t he say he had work to finish?” Mark’s answer seemed airtight, but I wasn’t reassured. There was a hint of guilt in his voice. I lost control and demanded, “Tell me, what’s the name of that woman who suddenly appeared today? Is her name Avril Grant? Was she with Arthur before? What exactly is their relationship? Tell me clearly!” Mark was silent for a moment, then said, “Chloe, how did you find out? Don’t put me in a difficult position. Why don’t you wait for Arthur to come home and let him explain it to you himself?” I heard a phone dropping on the other end, but the call hadn’t disconnected. I could hear Avril crying emotionally: “Arthur, you once said you would marry me. Our breakup was my fault. I understand that you’ve been with someone else these four years to fill the void. But I came back to congratulate you because you’re getting married to make me return—is that wrong too?” Arthur’s voice was cold yet firm, possibly saddened by seeing someone he once deeply loved reappear: “I won’t allow you to wish me a happy marriage.” Mark hung up the phone. But those crucial words had already reached my ears clearly.

I started packing my bags. Now that Avril had returned, the wedding would surely be called off. There was no point in me staying any longer—I needed to leave as soon as possible. As I packed, I mockingly thought to myself, “No wonder Arthur didn’t send out invitations. No wonder he said he preferred things quiet and didn’t want too many people knowing about the wedding. No wonder he claimed his family disapproved and the wedding couldn’t be grand, that I would feel slighted because of it.” We had been together for four years, our lives completely intertwined. There were too many items in the room to pack everything. After organizing for a long time, I finally managed to fit the essentials into my suitcase. April came over and licked my face, making me realize my cheeks were wet with tears. My feelings for Arthur had been genuine, which made this all the more painful and heartbreaking. I opened the door to leave but found Arthur standing outside. He was supposed to be on the phone with Avril. He looked at my face, then at the luggage in my hand, and immediately frowned. “Where are you going?” The sudden encounter caught me off guard. I bit my lip as tears streamed down my face and said, “Arthur, I know everything now. You still love someone from your past, and I don’t blame you. Everyone has their history. But you shouldn’t have let her exist in every corner of our lives. From now on, every time I see April, I’ll be reminded of you two. Since Avril is back, I’ll step aside. I’m leaving now, going far away, and won’t disturb your lives anymore.” Arthur didn’t seem relieved as I had expected. Instead, he emotionally pulled me back into the room. I looked at him with my tear-reddened eyes. He sighed, sat across from me, and said, “Avril is a childhood friend and my ex-girlfriend. After four years together, she suddenly broke up with me and went abroad. We haven’t seen each other since.” I found his explanation ridiculous. “But you still have feelings for her, don’t you? You kept all those old photo albums. Your feelings for her have been hiding beneath our relationship all along. You even decided to get married just to provoke her into coming back. How is that fair to me? Arthur, what am I to you? What have these four years meant?” Arthur fell silent. His silence felt like an admission that he still had feelings for Avril. I thought, “Indeed, if he wasn’t still hung up on her, why would he go to such lengths?” He rubbed his forehead, his tone tinged with impatience. “Stop making a scene, Chloe. I admit the marriage wasn’t entirely sincere. But after four years together, I’m not completely without feelings for you. I hope you can calm down and stay with me. I’ll sort things out with Avril. We might still get married for real.” He waited a moment, then leaned back on the sofa, casually tossing a bank card my way, reverting to his typically arrogant demeanor. “If you really want to leave, take this card with you—consider it compensation for these four years. But if you take this card, we’re done for good. Think about it.” He looked at me with certainty, convinced I wouldn’t choose to leave. But he was wrong. Throughout these four years, he wasn’t the only one acting. Without hesitation, I picked up the card and headed for the door again. As I turned around, I accidentally let a smile slip. I thought to myself, “It’s a good thing Avril came back when she did. Otherwise, would I really have married Arthur? I don’t want to waste the best years of my youth on a marriage, especially with a difficult wealthy family.”

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I was lounging at home after winning a ten-million-dollar lottery when I accidentally overheard a conversation between my mother, Tracy Powell, and my brother, Eric Powell. “Don’t worry, Eric, all this money will be yours. She’s just a useless girl who’ll end up in someone else’s family sooner or later. Our Powell family lineage depends on you.” That night, Tracy snuck into my room and stole the ten-million-dollar lottery ticket. I pretended not to notice. I bought Tracy diamond jewelry and even paid the down payment on Eric’s wedding house. By the time my bank account was completely drained and I was buried in massive debt, Tracy pulled out a document terminating our mother-daughter relationship. “Your brother is our family’s treasure. You’re just a money pit, and I can’t count on you for my retirement. For old times’ sake, I’ll give you two dollars for bus fare. Pack your things and get out of my house now!” I took the bag she had already packed for me and smiled calmly. “Fine.” “Amanda, since you’ve won ten million dollars in the lottery, you should take some time to rest at home. By the way, you’ve kept the ticket safe, right?” Tracy sat by my bed with a concerned look, holding a plate of freshly cut fruit. I flashed a confident smile, deliberately patting my bed. “Don’t worry, I’ve kept it safe. I’ll go cash it in once things quiet down a bit.” Tracy nodded, unable to contain her smile. “Good, good. I always knew you’d amount to something. Your brother and I will be counting on you from now on.” Her kind, gentle expression was completely different from when she had pointed at me and called me a money pit. She left my bedroom with a smile, not forgetting to remind me to keep the ticket safe. She also took the fruit she had just cut with her. As Tracy closed the door, the smile vanished from my face, leaving only coldness. Soon, I could hear hushed discussions from the next room. I knew they were plotting how to get their hands on the easy ten million dollars and then kick me to the curb. I’d always known Tracy hated me. She preferred Eric because his birth was proof that she had continued the Powell family line, giving her a reason to hold her head high. When I was little, I wasn’t allowed to eat at the table, but Eric could climb onto it during meals, and Tracy would praise him for being so clever. The good food was for Eric, leftovers for me. New clothes and shoes were for Eric, while I got hand-me-downs from relatives that had to be altered. While Eric played in the snow wearing thick clothes, I would shiver despite wearing all my clothes layered together. Eric could join any extracurricular activities he wanted, but I couldn’t even attend tutoring sessions. When I got into a prestigious university, she refused to pay my tuition or living expenses. But when academically challenged Eric wanted to go to college, Tracy emptied her savings to get him into a community college. She paid tens of thousands for his tuition and thousands each month for his living expenses. Whenever Eric ran out of money, he’d come to me, still in college myself. If I refused, Tracy would show up at my school the next day, calling me unfilial and spreading rumors that I was being kept by men. I’d had enough of supporting these two bloodsucking parasites all these years. So when I discovered I’d won ten million dollars, I knew the opportunity I’d been waiting for had finally arrived. Listening to the occasional mentions of “lottery,” “ten million dollars,” and “mattress” from the next room, I just smiled faintly. My fingers traced the edge of the lottery ticket, and my heart was completely at peace. This ticket had already served its purpose. If Tracy wanted it so badly, she could have it.

Early the next morning, as I came out of my room, Eric was humming a tune and twirling his car keys as he returned from outside. “Did you get a new car?” My sudden question startled Eric. “Why are you standing there like a ghost? Trying to scare me on purpose?” Ignoring the disgust in his voice, I continued asking. “When did you buy a car? Why didn’t you tell me? I might have been able to chip in some money.” He clicked his tongue, his tone filled with disdain. “This car costs seven hundred thousand dollars! Your pathetic salary couldn’t even pay for one interior piece!” With that, he went straight to his room. Seven hundred thousand dollars? I remembered the demolition compensation for the hill behind our old house was about five hundred thousand dollars. I had asked about that compensation money before, and Tracy had always guardedly said she put it all in fixed deposits. She repeatedly warned me that all that money belonged to Eric and told me not to set my sights on it. Six months ago, Tracy had taken one hundred and twenty thousand dollars from me, claiming she needed surgery for an illness. That one hundred and twenty thousand was what I had barely managed to save over the years by living frugally. I lived in the worst apartment, cooked my own meals with discounted groceries, never ate at restaurants, and even worked part-time jobs after my regular shifts. When I heard she needed surgery, I transferred the money to her without hesitation. I even got an advance on my monthly salary from my boss and borrowed from friends to send her a total of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. I was planning to take time off to go back and care for her, but Tracy frantically stopped me when she found out. She said Eric would take care of her, and I should just focus on my job. At the time, I was touched, thinking Tracy had finally recognized my goodness and started to care about me. It turns out she was afraid I’d come back and discover she had used the money to buy Eric a car. Although I already knew what kind of person Tracy was, I still felt a chill in my heart. While I was so worried about her health that I couldn’t sleep at night, she was helping Eric shop for a new car. In this family, I’ve always been the odd one out. Ever since I won ten million dollars in the lottery, Tracy and her son have acted as if they had a legitimate excuse to ask me for money to buy things more and more frequently. Before, they would at least make up some excuses, but now they brazenly demand money. “The air conditioner at home isn’t working, Amanda, why don’t you buy a new one?” “Amanda, my friend has this beautiful diamond bracelet. Didn’t you win ten million in the lottery? Buy one for me.” “Your brother is getting married. As his sister, shouldn’t you show your support? Eric has already picked out a car, so just pay the down payment for him. When you cash in your lottery ticket, you can pay off the rest.” “Your brother’s wife is about to join the family. Mom, can you cover the wedding gift money for me first?” “I’ve found a house I like. Sis, can you help with the down payment? Better to spend the money on me than on others. When I get the house, you can stay there whenever you want!” From small appliances and jewelry to cars and houses. Time after time, I accepted their unreasonable demands. One by one, my bank cards were emptied, and when money wasn’t enough, I used credit cards. As long as they asked, I would definitely agree. I knew they wanted to completely drain me before I cashed in the lottery ticket, but I didn’t refuse any of their requests. I gradually cultivated their appetite, elevating their spending habits to another level. Watching them treat me like an ATM that only spits out money, mocking me as a fool behind my back, laughing heartily. I also laughed heartily. I sincerely hope they can still laugh this happily after they learn the truth.

Eric completely gave up working. The money he earned after a month of hard work wasn’t even enough for one of his meals now. Every day, he would casually ask me for money. I never complained and would give him tens of thousands of dollars each time. Since quitting his job, Eric spent all his time hanging out with his poker buddies, staying out all night, and occasionally disappearing for days. As for his upcoming wedding, Eric simply delegated everything to me. And I was determined to prepare this wedding properly for him. Tracy, meanwhile, helped me prepare for Eric’s wedding every day, spending money without any hesitation. She not only chose a five-star hotel for the wedding venue but also booked an entire floor of rooms to accommodate relatives. Several times, Tracy tried to probe me subtly. “Amanda, this hotel is so expensive. I wonder if your brother can afford it?” Ignoring the blatant testing in her expression, I replied calmly: “Mom, even though my savings are gone and my credit cards are maxed out, once I cash in my lottery ticket in a few days, there won’t be any problem. Besides, Eric is our only son. If I don’t spend money on him, who else would I spend it on?” Without hesitation, I maxed out another credit card to book the luxury wedding package at the five-star hotel. Seeing how readily I paid, Tracy was overjoyed and excitedly grabbed my hands. “Good, good! I knew you were the most sensible one! Eric is so lucky to have you as his sister!” Lucky? Of course he’s lucky, especially since I’ve prepared a special gift for him. The wedding day arrived quickly. When I reached the venue, I was stopped by the hotel security. “Ma’am, you cannot enter without an invitation.” I frowned, my voice sharp: “What do you mean I can’t enter? I’m the groom’s sister! I paid for this entire hotel booking!” My shrill voice quickly drew attention, and soon some relatives recognized me. They vouched for me to security, explaining I was indeed the groom’s sister, but the staff member looked troubled. “Ma’am, I’m just following protocol. Please don’t make this difficult for me—I’m just doing my job.” Familiar relatives pointed and whispered about me, with some even spreading rumors that I must have done something terrible to my family for them to exclude me from the wedding. Amid the commotion, Tracy and Eric appeared in their designer outfits. Seeing Tracy, I immediately rushed over to complain: “Mom, this security guard won’t let me in. I’m the groom’s sister! I spent so much money, and they won’t even let me enter!” Tracy glanced at me and said dismissively: “I told them not to let you in. And from now on, don’t call me ‘Mom’ anymore. We’re severing our mother-daughter relationship!” My angry expression froze as I stared at Tracy in disbelief. The relatives present erupted in shock. “What’s going on with Tracy? Amanda has always been so filial. Why suddenly cut ties?” “She must have done something shameful for her own mother to disown her!” As confused questions filled the hotel lobby, Tracy shouted: “Amanda, you’ve racked up hundreds of thousands in credit card debt and you’ve been sleeping around! Now that you see your brother won the lottery, you want to come crawling back and have us clean up your mess! I’m telling you, it’s not happening!” She threw down a document terminating our parent-child relationship. “Your brother is the backbone of our family. You’re just a financial burden, and we can’t count on you for our retirement. For the sake of our past relationship, here’s two dollars for your bus fare. Now get lost!” Two coins mockingly hit me as I picked up the document from the ground. I looked directly at Eric: “Eric, what about you? Do you want to cut ties with me too?” Eric looked at me smugly, his face full of disdain. “Amanda, we’ve been siblings for so many years, so let me say a few final words to you. You really messed up, owing so much money and sleeping around. Tell you what—since we’re siblings, I’ll help you a little. Get yourself a hotel room for the night.” With that, he pulled out two hundred dollars and tossed it over my head. Some relatives who knew how Tracy had treated me spoke up in my defense. Facing the relatives’ indignation, Tracy and Eric remained completely unfazed. I picked up the termination agreement, suppressing my trembling body. “Fine.” I quickly signed my name. Tracy and Eric hadn’t expected me to sign so easily. They checked the document several times before revealing their smug, victorious expressions. Seeing a group of people approaching from a distance, I also broke into a wide smile. “Today is my brother’s wedding, and I’ve prepared a special gift for him.”

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