My billionaire husband, Finley Anderson, spent tens of millions on an art graduation exhibition for the college student he’d been sponsoring for two years, yet refused to pay twenty thousand dollars for our son’s medical treatment.
After our son died of severe diarrhea and dehydration right before my eyes, I handed him divorce papers with a heart full of despair.
When he saw the death certificate attached to the papers, Finley couldn’t help but let out a laugh:
“Sorry, I never thought diarrhea could actually kill someone.”
“I know you’re upset, but it’s okay. Lily’s due in three days.”
“After sponsoring her all this time, she’s very understanding and grateful. I’ve already discussed it with her—once the baby’s born, we’ll bring it over for you to raise. You can just focus on being Mrs. Anderson. But there’s one condition: you have to let Lily visit the child regularly.”
“No need,” I said with a self-deprecating smile. “I only want a divorce.”
After failing to get money from Finley, I sold the engagement ring he’d once paid a fortune to create for me—sold it for next to nothing.
Clutching the cash, I rushed back to the hospital. Through the long corridor, I could hear the sharp, piercing sound of medical equipment from the room at the far end.
Then, seconds later, the world went silent, as if someone had pressed pause.
“I’m sorry, Ms. Lane. Please accept our condolences…”
“Actually, if you’d been able to pay the medical fees a few days earlier so we could administer medication, this wouldn’t have happened.”
“Hospital policy states that without timely payment from the patient or their family, we cannot provide medication. I’m truly sorry, Ms. Lane. We did everything we could. Please accept our condolences…”
I opened my mouth, but my throat felt like it was stuffed with cotton-wrapped razor blades—choking and painful.
I dragged my heavy legs to the bedside. I didn’t know how to face my son’s death.
Just this morning, the child lying in this bed had managed to smile and call me “Mom.”
The TV on the white wall flickered for a moment. When the signal returned, Finley’s face appeared on the screen.
He was smiling. The man who was usually so cold to outsiders now stood behind his sponsored college student, warmly greeting every guest at the exhibition.
Some bold person didn’t hesitate to gossip about their relationship right in front of the media bloggers’ cameras:
“With my years of experience as a matchmaker, I’d say Mr. Anderson and our painter Ms. Dixon aren’t just sponsor and sponsored, are they?”
“Come on, spill it! Are you two tying the knot soon?”
Lily Dixon blushed shyly under everyone’s teasing, her eyes constantly falling on Finley with a gaze full of love and bashfulness.
He didn’t refute these comments. From the smile at the corner of his mouth, you could tell he was happy.
“But isn’t Mr. Anderson married? His kid’s already five years old. Has Mr. Anderson divorced and just not announced it?”
Everyone present fell silent for a few seconds. The person who’d asked shrank back into the crowd, not daring to speak again.
Lily’s eyes reddened with embarrassment in front of the camera. She turned to ask the man timidly:
“Finley, why didn’t your wife come to the exhibition? Is she still angry about what happened at the auction?”
“Should I… go apologize to her again?”
Without any hesitation, Finley refused.
“No need.”
“I’ve spoiled her so much she’s become petty. It was just a set of rare jewelry, yet she actually attacked you over it. Since she’s become so obsessed with money and material things, I won’t give her a single penny to spend. Can’t let that slap you took go unpunished.”
“Seeing her take out her frustrations on you just irritates me.”
This protective tone made everyone certain of the marital troubles between Finley and me, and also led most people to believe I was the one at fault for the relationship going bad.
“Mrs. Anderson must be such a petty person. Being with someone like that must be exhausting. No wonder Mr. Anderson’s affections shifted.”
“Let’s set that aside for now—don’t they have a child? If they really divorce, what about the kid? If Mr. Anderson and Ms. Dixon continue to develop their relationship, they’ll definitely get married eventually. Being a stepmother in a wealthy family won’t be easy.”
My heart felt like it was being fried in oil, flipped over and over thousands of times.
I could no longer tell if there was more sadness or more anger in my chest.
The air conditioning in the hospital room was set very low. Countless threads of cold air drilled relentlessly into my body. I shivered and couldn’t help but remind the family member at the next bed:
“Could you please turn up the temperature? My child has severe diarrhea and can’t catch a chill.”
I don’t know how much time passed, but that cold air kept drilling into the depths of my heart. I looked up somewhat impatiently, only to meet the horrified eyes of a nurse.
“Ms… Ms. Lane, normally family members can’t stay in the morgue for more than fifteen minutes, but you’ve been here for half the afternoon. Please leave now. The director has been urging you to sign the medical death certificate. And what about the child’s father? He’s never shown up. Now that the child is gone, he should at least make an appearance. You should contact him as soon as possible.”
My head exploded. I finally came to my senses and stumbled to my feet, heading out.
The process of handling the death certificate was quick.
In less than two hours, I stood in the cold wind, hands trembling as I called the funeral home.
After that, I called Finley over thirty times. As expected, all went unanswered.
Leaning against the cold tiles, I kept laughing at myself in my heart.
The funeral home staff came to collect our son before the hospital director got off work. Along the way, I lost count of how many times I cried myself unconscious.
After arriving at the funeral home, the staff immediately took our son to the cold storage room, then gently instructed me to go home and bring his favorite clothes for him to change into.
To leave this world clean and neat.
That’s right.
Our son was just like Finley—both had obsessive cleanliness.
“After the deceased’s body arrives at the funeral home, it usually must be cremated within 72 hours. But if the family requests, we can extend the cremation time—three days, five days, or seven days. Do you need that?”
I reached out to touch our son’s face, which had no warmth left. “Three days.”
……
It was already late at night when I made it home in a daze.
Seeing me, the smile in Finley’s eyes faded.
“Why are you back so late? Is Asher feeling better? Lily heard he’s been having diarrhea and was so worried. She specifically asked me to bring back two boxes of anti-diarrheal medicine.”
I dodged to avoid the medicine he handed me. After seeing the date on the box clearly, I let out a cold laugh, and tears flowed uncontrollably again.
“Expired medicine. Who’s she trying to poison?”
Finley’s expression froze on his face. The side showing the production date turned over, and then a flash of impatience crossed his face.
“Lily just didn’t notice, that’s all. Can’t you speak without being so sarcastic? You know pregnant women need to be careful with medication. She’s just a girl in her twenties—how can she keep track of everything?”
“And why didn’t you come to Lily’s art exhibition today? I told you days ago how important this exhibition was. Did you have to cause trouble on this particular day?”
He instinctively defended Lily by scolding me. I don’t know when he started being able to completely ignore my red-rimmed eyes.
“Do you still remember your original intention for sponsoring Lily?”
Finley froze. The scolding words were all swallowed back.
“You’ve forgotten, haven’t you?”
“Do you still remember when your relationship with her started to change?”
I looked at him calmly. “Do you remember what you said to me after I caught you two after your reckless night together?”
The living room fell silent. The faint scent of vetiver in the air pulled both Finley’s and my thoughts back to the past.
Lily was a college student Finley brought back from a business trip to a remote area two years ago. At that time, she was angry about her family wanting to marry her off to the neighboring village chief’s son and resenting her fate.
She tearfully complained about how difficult it had been to stay in school and accused her parents of favoritism. The determination in her expression moved Finley.
The billionaire CEO decided to sponsor her, so he brought her back and arranged for her to attend a prestigious university not far from the Anderson estate.
He bought her a house, a luxury car for transportation, and gave her a black card as spending money.
Gradually, Finley grew closer to her and more distant from me. He even became completely indifferent to our son.
Finally, one night when he was working late, Finley came home to the wrong place.
After I discovered them, he knelt on the ground, constantly pulling my hand to hit his face.
“I’m sorry, Alana. It’s my fault. I had too much to drink at the business dinner. She was forced by me…”
“I promise this is the only time. I won’t see her anymore. After she graduates, I’ll stop sponsoring her.”
Then Lily got pregnant.
A mocking smile tugged at my lips. “Finley, can you tell me—you slept with her once a year ago, so why is she eight months pregnant now? Has there been some new medical research showing that ovarian fertilization can be delayed by two to four months?”
“Enough!”
Faced with my questioning, Finley’s expression darkened.
“I’ll explain all this to you later.”
“Where’s Asher? Why didn’t you bring him back? It’s just diarrhea. Does he really need to stay at the hospital this long?”
Thinking of our son, my heart felt like it was being pounded by thousands of iron hammers.
I pulled out the death certificate and divorce papers from my bag, folded neatly. All strength left my body as I sat in the entryway, my face full of despair.
“Three days from now, cremation.”
“Find time to come see him with me, and let’s get the divorce finalized.”
Taking the certificate and papers, Finley’s scrutinizing gaze fell on me.
Suddenly, he couldn’t help but laugh.
“What a coincidence with the timing, huh?”
He let go, and the certificate and papers fell at my feet.
“Sorry, I never thought diarrhea could actually kill someone.”
“I know you’re upset, but it’s okay. Lily’s due in three days.”
“After sponsoring her all this time, she’s very understanding and grateful. I’ve already discussed it with her—once the baby’s born, we’ll bring it over for you to raise. You can just focus on being Mrs. Anderson. But there’s one condition: you have to let Lily visit the child regularly.”
I froze, turning to look at him in disbelief.
“Finley Anderson! Saying something like that—are you even human?!”
My voice was loud enough to wake Lily, who’d been sleeping in the bedroom.
Finley glanced at me, his eyes full of disapproval.
“Keep it down. Lily’s taking an afternoon nap with the baby.”
A crisp slap rang out.
Finley’s face turned to the side. He turned back, his eyes full of coldness.
“Feel better now?”
“Don’t make jokes like that again. Who ever died from diarrhea? Making jokes about Asher like this—aren’t you afraid he’ll learn bad habits from you?”
So he didn’t believe the death certificate.
A wave of exhaustion washed over me. I picked up the divorce papers and signed my name.
🌟 Continue the story here
👉🏻 📲 Download the “NovelMaster” app
🔍 search for “377510”, and watch the full series ✨!
#NovelMaster
On April Fool’s Day, my supervisor suddenly posted an announcement in the company group chat.
“Our new intern, Hazel Matthews, is treating us all to dinner at the new restaurant!”
I was too busy to notice the messages in the group chat.
It wasn’t until a bunch of people frantically tagged me to pay the bill that I realized they had racked up fifty thousand dollars at the restaurant.
After I sent back a question mark, the supervisor replied dismissively.
“It’s April Fool’s Day. I was just joking around. Who knew everyone would take it seriously?”
“Besides, you’re just a little intern. Isn’t it normal for someone new to treat everyone to a meal? Everyone else has done it. Why should you be any different?”
What she didn’t know was that I wasn’t an intern, but a top-level developer that Mr. Wilson had earnestly invited to join the company.
Looking at her message, I didn’t bother arguing.
Instead, I replied directly.
“Since the supervisor said this was an April Fool’s joke, I won’t take it seriously.”
“I won’t be going to tonight’s gathering. Have fun, everyone.”
After sending that, I ignored the supervisor’s bombardment of phone calls and turned off my phone.
The next day, Lily Cooper came over to my desk and slammed her hand down so hard the whole thing shook.
“Who gave you the nerve to turn off your phone? You said you’d treat everyone to dinner. What’s the meaning of this?”
“Everyone treated people when they were interns. Are you trying to be special?”
“Or do you want us seniors to pay?”
The surrounding colleagues became restless when they heard this.
Splitting fifty thousand dollars wasn’t as simple as a few hundred bucks each.
“Hazel, what do you mean by this? Coming in on your first day trying to shake up the workplace and intimidate us?”
“That’s right. Everyone else treated people, so why shouldn’t you? With this attitude, you still want to become a full-time employee?”
“Today you’re paying no matter what, or you can pack up and get out!”
I calmly turned on my computer and poured myself some water.
“Lily, you were the one who said you’d treat everyone to dinner, not me.”
“Besides, you said yourself it was an April Fool’s joke. Of course jokes shouldn’t be taken seriously.”
“And when did I ever say I was an intern?”
When the others heard this, they all burst out laughing.
“You’re pretty confident, aren’t you? One day here and you already think you’re a full-time employee?”
“If you’re not an intern, what are you? Don’t tell me you think you’re that tech expert the company hired.”
“That person doesn’t arrive for another week. You should’ve drafted your lies better before bluffing.”
Everyone laughed uproariously.
I didn’t continue to engage with them but turned and went into the break room.
Ten minutes later, a message came through SnapChat.
“You have been removed from the Cloud Technology Department group.”
Shortly after, I saw a post on Lily’s timeline.
“Some people at this company are really something. Just got here and already acting like they own the place, trying to pull that Gen Z workplace revolution nonsense.
Too bad you ran into me. Don’t expect any good days at this company from now on.”
All the surrounding colleagues were cheering her on in the comments.
I gave her post a like and left the break room.
When I tried to return to my desk, I froze.
My original workspace was piled high with junk, and my belongings had all been thrown by the bathroom door like garbage.
Next to it sat a wobbly wooden table without even a chair.
Seeing me standing there dazed, Lily laughed smugly.
“Hazel, we have too much stuff with nowhere to put it, so we’re borrowing your spot for a bit.”
“You’ll be leaving soon anyway, so you don’t mind, right?”
I shrugged indifferently and walked forward, sweeping all the junk they had piled onto my desk onto the floor.
Various items clattered to the ground.
Lily’s eyes went wide, her face flushing red with anger.
She tried to push me, but I grabbed her wrist firmly.
“How long I stay here is my business. Mind your own.”
After saying that, I acted as if nothing had happened and reorganized my belongings.
After settling back down, Mr. Wilson sent me a message.
“Ms. Matthews, you arrived early without telling me. I’m still abroad, but I’m heading back now.”
“Please forgive the poor reception. I’ll have someone arrange a private office for you right away.”
Looking at Lily’s resentful gaze, I messaged back.
“You’re too kind, Mr. Wilson. Let’s discuss the office later.”
“I’m fine out here. It’s a good chance to get to know my new colleagues better.”
At noon when I returned to the office, everyone in the tech department was missing except me.
I didn’t bother wondering what they were doing but plugged in my USB drive and started working on the project.
It wasn’t until nearly quitting time that they all shuffled back in, pushing and shoving each other.
Lily walked over to my desk nonchalantly and tapped on it.
“Hazel, you finished what I assigned you, right?”
Before I could answer, she looked at me with exaggerated surprise.
“You didn’t spend the whole afternoon doing nothing, did you?”
“What’s this on your computer screen? This isn’t one of our company’s projects at all.”
Before I could respond, she reached forward and yanked out my USB drive.
“Doing other work on company time, and who knows which company it’s even for.”
“I think you’re a spy sent by another company.”
“If you want your USB drive back and don’t want others to know about this, hand over that fifty thousand.”
Watching her smooth sequence of actions, I understood.
She had intended to deliberately ignore me, then threaten me under the pretense that I wasn’t working during office hours.
She just hadn’t expected to stumble upon my project content.
I said coldly, “Return the USB drive to me now, and there’s still room to salvage this.”
Lily burst into laughter after hearing this, her face full of disdain.
“Now you’re threatening me?”
“I’m giving you three days to pay up, or pack your things and leave.”
After saying this, without waiting for my reaction, she pressed the shutdown button on my computer.
All the data I hadn’t saved yet vanished.
My chest heated with anger.
I stood up and looked directly into her eyes.
“First, I have no obligation to pay that money. Second, you made me lose this afternoon’s work data.
If anyone should be compensating anyone, it’s you compensating me.”
Lily’s eyes looked like they were about to shoot fire.
She immediately called HR.
“This intern is completely out of control! Not only does she owe me fifty thousand and refuse to pay, she keeps talking back in front of everyone.”
“Fire this intern immediately!”
The person on the other end was silent for a moment, then spoke with some confusion.
“Intern? We haven’t had any interns join the company recently.”
The call was on speakerphone, and everyone present froze in place.
Someone nearby seemed to suddenly realize something and grabbed Lily in panic.
“She’s not that tech expert the company invited, is she…”
Lily’s face instantly went pale, her lips trembling slightly.
The person on the other end of the line continued.
“Probably not. If it were that expert, they would’ve already told me to open the door to that office.”
Hearing this, the group slowly relaxed.
“So she’s just some useless person who got in through connections. Just delete this Hazel Matthews’s information from the system. If there’s a problem, it’s on me.”
“In all my years as supervisor, what I hate most are people who use backdoor connections.”
What they didn’t know was that to keep me, Mr. Wilson had already entered my information into the system early on.
That was why HR didn’t know about it.
Lily looked at me, her expression somewhat twisted.
“This is what happens when you go against me. I’m giving you two choices now.
Either give me the fifty thousand and I can pretend none of this happened.
Or tomorrow I’ll make sure you can’t even get through the company doors.”
As the clock hand pointed to six, I picked up my bag and stood up.
“I won’t be giving you that fifty thousand.”
“But I’m warning you, don’t lose that USB drive, or the consequences will be serious.”
After saying that, ignoring her curses, I walked out the door.
The next morning when I tried to scan my face at the entrance, the turnstile didn’t open.
I tried again, and the turnstile’s alarm blared throughout the entire lobby.
It wasn’t until I called her for the third time that she finally answered leisurely.
“I told you yesterday, you’ve been fired.”
“The stuff from your desk is at the entrance.”
Only then did I notice that the pile of garbage at the entrance was my personal belongings.
My cup, desk ornaments, picture frames—all smashed to pieces.
Even my laptop screen was cracked beyond recognition.
But I didn’t care about any of that.
I kept searching frantically.
“Where’s the USB drive?”
I called her again.
“You still have the nerve to ask me for the USB drive? Secretly doing another company’s project during work hours—this proves you’re a spy!”
“I’ve already published the project from your USB drive. This is a warning to you and the company behind you. Next time won’t be this simple!”
Before I could speak, she hung up.
Three minutes later, she sent me a video.
In the video, my USB drive was crushed to pieces under her high heels.
“That’s what you get for using connections to be a corporate spy. Just wait to be fired by your company.”
I didn’t bother explaining anymore.
The project was already published.
No amount of explanation would help now.
I cleaned up the debris on the ground and went home.
As soon as I got home, I saw a post.
“Our department got a spy from another company. I caught her secretly writing projects for another company.
Don’t let me find out which company it is!”
The post already had high engagement, with comments continuously increasing.
“Wow, the underlying code is directly published. The whole project is leaked.”
“This concept is pretty good. Anyone who wants to do it should hurry!”
“This loss is no small matter. This spy is probably screwed.”
Seeing the comments, Lily was extremely smug.
She kept clamoring.
“That’s right, I had to teach her a lesson!”
I exited the app and sighed.
Looking at Mr. Wilson’s concerned message from ten minutes ago, I replied.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Wilson. I’ve been fired by your employee.”
“The project you assigned me will probably have to be put on hold.”
“Please decide how to handle this.”
Mr. Wilson’s response came instantly, and he even anxiously called me.
“Ms. Matthews, I’m truly sorry. I’m already on my way back. Can you tell me what happened?”
“Please give me a chance, give Cloud Technology a chance.
I will definitely give you a satisfactory resolution to this matter. Would that be acceptable?”
Hearing his sincere tone, I could only agree.
“Mr. Wilson, let’s talk when you arrive. Don’t disappoint me.”
As soon as Mr. Wilson got off the plane, he immediately messaged me.
After I briefly replied, I went to the company to wait for him.
Mr. Wilson worked quickly.
The company system had already re-entered my information.
Seeing me return, everyone looked shocked.
Lily blocked my path.
“What, you’ve come to pay back the money?”
Seeing I didn’t speak, she gritted her teeth.
“Fine, if you don’t want to pay, I have plenty of ways to make you pay!”
She pulled out her phone and started a live stream.
“Come, let everyone see. This is the privileged princess who got into our company through connections. She’s probably some little executive’s mistress!”
“First thing she does is scam me out of fifty thousand, then she openly does other companies’ projects during work hours! Disrupting the whole company!”
“This person is named Hazel Matthews. Everyone remember that. All companies, avoid her like the plague!”
Before this, I had always used an alias in my team.
Very few people knew my real name.
They were no exception.
The number of viewers in the live stream grew rapidly.
Comments kept scrolling.
“Mistresses these days are so shameless? Not ashamed but proud?”
“Hilarious. One look at her face tells you she has no real skills, just used that face to sleep her way into the company.”
“All HR departments, remember this person’s name and face, so you don’t accidentally hire her!”
Seeing the comments’ direction, Lily got carried away and shoved the phone in my face.
“Lily, making false accusations carries legal consequences.”
“Everything I said is true, right?” She looked at the other people in the office.
Everyone nodded in agreement.
I lost my patience and called Mr. Wilson.
“Mr. Wilson, when will you arrive?”
Lily stepped forward and knocked my phone to the ground.
“Still putting on an act? Who are you trying to scare?”
As she spoke, she stomped hard on my phone.
“Today I’m going to see justice done. So tell me, whose mistress are you?”
Just then, the office door was kicked open.
Mr. Wilson, covered in sweat, rushed in.
Lily smiled and sidled up to him.
“Mr. Wilson, perfect timing. Our company doesn’t allow backdoor connections. Look, I caught someone red-handed for you!”
But Mr. Wilson was furious.
He stepped forward and roughly shoved her aside.
“You blind fool!”
Then Mr. Wilson turned around, smiling apologetically as he extended his hand to me.
“Ms. Matthews, I’m truly sorry. We’ve wronged you.”
🌟 Continue the story here
👉🏻 📲 Download the “NovelMaster” app
🔍 search for “377511”, and watch the full series ✨!
#NovelMaster
I married into the Miller family in my third year when my husband, Ethan Miller, got into a car accident.
His life was saved, but the doctor said he injured his lower body and could no longer have children.
When I heard the news, my mind went blank.
But Ethan held my hand, his eyes red-rimmed, and comforted me.
“Charlotte, it’s okay. At least we already have a daughter. That’s enough.”
I nodded.
Back then, I thought as long as we were united as a couple, we could get through this hurdle.
I never expected that Miranda would start talking behind my back.
During the time Ethan came home from the hospital to recuperate, Miranda came over every other day.
On the surface, she was visiting her brother, but in reality, she constantly picked at everything I did.
While I was cooking in the kitchen, she would pull Ethan into the bedroom and whisper away.
“Ethan, now that your body’s like this, you need to watch out for yourself.
Look at Charlotte—she walks around with that cold face all day.
She’s not caring at all. Does she look like someone taking care of a patient?”
Ethan said nothing.
Miranda continued, “And who’s managing the money in this house? Don’t be stupid and hand it all over to her. She’s got money but won’t spend it on you, and you’ve still got the rest of your life ahead of you.”
The walls were thin. I heard everything.
Ethan had been in the hospital after his car accident, and I’d been taking care of him day and night without rest. I paid for all the medical expenses and supplements. How dare she spin it like this?
After Miranda left, I couldn’t hold back. I confronted Ethan.
“What did Miranda just say to you?”
Ethan’s eyes darted away. He wouldn’t look at me.
“Nothing… nothing really. Miranda’s just concerned about me. She was asking casually.”
“Asking casually? She’s guarding against me like I’m some kind of thief!”
“Don’t overthink it. She’s my sister. Would she really harm me?”
He refused to explain further.
That weekend when I went back to my parents’ house, I told them about it.
My mom tried to calm me down.
“Charlotte, sweetie, sisters-in-law have always been natural enemies. Ethan’s been through something so terrible.
She’s anxious, so it’s normal for her to say some harsh things.”
My dad chimed in too.
“That’s right. As long as she doesn’t actually do anything bad, just turn a blind eye and pretend you don’t know.
You’re living your life with Ethan, not her. Don’t let outsiders damage your marriage.”
After hearing my parents’ advice, I sighed.
Fine. I’d endure it.
As long as she didn’t do anything truly harmful, I’d pretend I hadn’t heard anything.
But Miranda only grew bolder.
After Ethan came home from the hospital, Miranda visited even more frequently.
Before, she came once a week. Now it was three times a week.
She used to at least bring something—fruit, milk—nothing expensive, but it was a gesture.
Now?
She showed up empty-handed. The moment she walked in, she’d open the fridge, grab a couple of drinks, a handful of snacks, and stuff them into the big canvas bag she brought.
When she left, the bag would be bulging.
Once, I’d bought a new dress for Emma and left it on the sofa before I could put it away. Miranda picked it up, looked it over twice, and stuffed it straight into her bag.
“Emma will outgrow this dress in two months anyway. I’ll take it back for my neighbor’s daughter. No point wasting it.”
I opened my mouth to object, but Ethan said softly, “It’s just one dress. Don’t make a fuss.”
I swallowed my words.
That night after Emma fell asleep, I mentioned it to Ethan.
“Miranda’s coming over way too often now. Every time she comes, she takes things from our house. This isn’t a supermarket.”
Ethan sighed.
“My sister practically raised me from childhood.
She dropped out of middle school to work and put me through college.
She sacrificed a lot for this family. Now that I’m doing well, she takes a few things—don’t be so petty about it.”
I looked at him and said nothing more.
For the sake of family harmony, I endured it.
Until one afternoon, I was hanging laundry on the balcony when I heard Miranda whispering with Ethan again.
“Ethan, how much money do you actually have on hand right now?”
“Miranda, why are you asking?”
“Who else should I ask? Leo’s old enough now. He needs to start preschool. You know that experimental kindergarten—you can’t get in without connections. Just the bribes alone will cost tens of thousands.”
Ethan said nothing.
Miranda continued, “And I ride my bicycle to pick up Leo every day.
The kindergarten is so far from home. When it’s windy or rainy, the kid suffers.
I want to buy a car. Nothing fancy—just a ten-thousand-dollar commuter car.”
“Miranda, I can’t come up with that kind of money. Most of the accident compensation went to medical treatment.”
Miranda lowered her voice.
“You don’t have money, but your wife does. Her family’s better off than ours. Her parents even paid the down payment when you got married. You two are husband and wife—one unit. What’s wrong with using some of her money? She’s not a stranger.”
I deliberately coughed—loud enough to carry into the bedroom but not too loud.
Miranda immediately went silent.
After a few seconds, she came out of the bedroom and walked toward the balcony. She saw me standing by the drying rack.
I stared at her.
She rolled her eyes, said nothing, turned around, grabbed her canvas bag, and left.
That night after Emma fell asleep, I sat on the edge of the bed and asked Ethan.
“What did Miranda say to you this afternoon? Something about connections and buying a car—where exactly are you planning to get that money?”
Ethan rubbed his hands together. It took him a long time to speak.
“Her husband’s been losing money in business lately. She’s tight on cash, so she wanted to borrow some from me.”
“Borrow? What she’s asking for isn’t a small amount. Tens of thousands for kindergarten bribes, ten thousand for a car—you call that borrowing?”
“She was just talking…”
“She said you should spend my money. Was that ‘just talking’ too?”
Ethan fell silent.
I looked at him.
“Ethan, our daughter will start preschool soon too. And then elementary school, middle school—everything costs money. We need to save for our child.”
He still said nothing. He turned over and faced away from me.
I lay in bed staring at the ceiling, thinking for a long time.
Miranda’s appetite was growing bigger and bigger. From taking snacks and dresses to asking for tens of thousands.
What exactly did she want?
From that day on, I started paying attention to Miranda’s every move.
I never imagined Miranda could be so shameless.
On May Day, I was at home playing with Emma when my phone suddenly buzzed.
It was a text from the bank.
The supplementary card I’d set up for Ethan—one transaction, one hundred thousand dollars.
Recipient: National Life Insurance Company.
I stared at the screen for several seconds.
One hundred thousand? Insurance?
Ethan had left that morning saying he was going to visit Miranda. He hadn’t mentioned anything to me.
My first thought was that after his car accident, he might be feeling anxious and wanted more protection for himself and the family.
Buying insurance wasn’t a bad thing, but one hundred thousand wasn’t a small amount. How could he not even discuss it with me first?
I called the insurance company’s customer service.
“Hello, I’d like to inquire about a policy purchased this morning. The policyholder is Ethan Miller.”
After verifying my identity, the representative told me:
“This policy is an accident insurance policy. Policyholder: Ethan Miller. Insured: Ethan Miller. Coverage amount: five hundred thousand dollars.”
“Who’s the beneficiary?”
“The beneficiary listed is Leo Jackson.”
Leo Jackson.
Leo.
Miranda’s son.
My grip on the phone tightened instantly.
“Who came in person to process the policy?”
“The system shows the policyholder came in person. One accompanying person was registered—Ms. Miranda Miller.”
I hung up and sat motionless on the sofa.
Emma came over with her toys.
“Mommy, look—a castle.”
I absentmindedly patted her head. “That’s great, sweetie.”
Around four o’clock that afternoon, Ethan came home.
I handed him my phone with the bank text displayed.
“One hundred thousand dollars. Insurance company. Explain.”
His face stiffened. He took the phone, glanced at it, and put it down.
“I was just helping my brother-in-law meet his quota. He’s been selling insurance part-time lately.
His company has performance targets.
If he doesn’t bring in enough business, they dock his pay. I was just helping him out.”
“Helping him out costs one hundred thousand?”
“It’s a dividend policy. It’s not wasted money. When I reach retirement age, I can get all the principal back, plus annual dividends.”
He spoke haltingly, his eyes constantly drifting to the side.
“Then why is Leo listed as the beneficiary?”
“Well, it’s accident insurance. It only pays out if something happens. I’m not unlucky enough to keep having accidents, am I?
The beneficiary doesn’t really matter—I’ll never need to use it.
My brother-in-law said putting Leo’s name makes it easier to process through the system.”
“Why not Emma? Why not me? Why does it have to be your nephew?”
He opened his mouth but couldn’t answer.
I stared at him for a long moment.
He turned his head away.
I didn’t press further.
Even if I kept asking, he’d just keep using the same excuses.
I remembered what Miranda had said in the bedroom last time, lowering her voice: “You don’t have money, but your wife does.”
One hundred thousand dollars—spent just like that.
Spent on a policy with his nephew listed as the beneficiary.
Before Ethan’s car accident, Miranda wasn’t warm to me, but she’d never done anything too outrageous either.
From the moment Ethan had his accident, she completely changed.
She became entitled. She became insatiable.
Now I understood why she’d changed.
Because of money.
Ethan could no longer have children. He only had Emma, a daughter.
In Miranda’s eyes, this family would eventually have no male heir. Eventually, this money would have no one to spend it.
Rather than let it go to outsiders, why not take it herself?
She wasn’t targeting me personally—she was targeting our family’s money.
Since she was after our family’s money, I couldn’t keep turning a blind eye.
I decided to go to Miranda’s neighborhood and ask around.
Miranda lived in the Maplewood Estates complex on the east side of town.
An old complex where residents ran into each other constantly. Nothing stayed secret.
I went on a weekday morning and sat near the entrance for a while.
Several elderly ladies were sunbathing outside, chatting animatedly.
I struck up a conversation, saying I was Miranda’s cousin.
“Miranda? She’s not home. Probably out shopping again.”
A woman with permed hair was very friendly. “Are you looking for her?”
“Nothing urgent. I just heard she’s been doing well lately. Thought I’d come see her.”
“Doing well? That’s an understatement!”
A plump woman nearby jumped in. “She’s been living large lately.
A while back, she bought a gold necklace—thick one too—and parades around the complex with it.
Last month she bought several new outfits. Said they were some brand name. Not cheap, anyway.”
Another woman joined in:
“And that’s not all. Just the other day she told me she’s planning to buy three properties all at once. Said Ethan’s paying for them.”
My heart dropped.
Three properties?
“Her brother’s that rich?” a short-haired woman asked.
“She said her brother got into a car accident and received a huge settlement, plus what he’d saved over the years. It’s quite a lot.”
I gripped my bag tighter, trying to keep my voice calm.
“Doesn’t her sister-in-law have a say in buying properties?”
“Sister-in-law?”
The short-haired woman curled her lip, lowering her voice with a gossipy expression.
“Miranda said her sister-in-law isn’t clean. She’s been cheating.”
My blood ran cold.
“She said her brother only has one daughter—just a worthless little girl.
The kid looks less and less like her father as she grows.
Right now she’s young enough to fool people, but when she gets older, anyone with eyes will see she’s not his biological child.”
The woman next to her added fuel to the fire:
“That’s right, that’s right. Miranda also said that once her brother figures it out, he’ll kick that woman out sooner or later.
Then the family assets will go to her son, and her brother won’t be deceived anymore.”
My nails dug into my palms.
I circled the complex again, asking several groups of people.
The convenience store owner, the vegetable seller at the market—everyone said roughly the same thing.
Miranda was spreading rumors all over that I was cheating.
That my daughter was illegitimate.
That I should leave with nothing.
That her son Leo would inherit all our family assets.
She painted me as promiscuous and my daughter as worthless.
And these rumors spread through the complex like wildfire, known by everyone.
When I walked out of the complex gates, I was so angry my legs felt weak.
I sat on a bench by the roadside for a long time, my heart pounding, my chest tight.
I’d endured for so long, given in again and again, and she just kept pushing, bullying me to death.
I pulled out my phone and scrolled through my contacts to find a name—Sarah Collins, a college classmate who worked as a family law attorney at a local firm.
When she answered, I didn’t bother with pleasantries.
“Sarah, I want to consult about divorce.”
There was a pause on the other end.
“Are you serious?”
“I’m serious.”
“Alright. Tell me the situation.”
I took a deep breath and told her everything from start to finish.
After hearing it all, Sarah told me to first get clear on the property situation—insurance policies, savings, real estate—go through everything.
Regarding whether Emma was Ethan’s biological child, Sarah told me the most powerful evidence would be a paternity test.
🌟 Continue the story here
👉🏻 📲 Download the “NovelMaster” app
🔍 search for “377512”, and watch the full series ✨!
#NovelMaster
When I was 18, I caught my sister lifting Carter’s shirt, her hands trailing over his abs.
The boy’s shirt hung loose, and he simply let her do whatever she wanted.
At 22, Carter listened to his family and married me.
But everyone knew that even though we were married, he still couldn’t let go of the sister he loved so fiercely.
Later, I asked for a divorce.
He stayed silent for a long time before finally signing the divorce papers.
“If you ever need any help in the future, just ask.”
At 28, I came back to attend his wedding to my sister.
He glared darkly at the man standing beside me.
“You couldn’t wait to divorce me back then. Was it all just for him?”
01
“I heard Maya Hayes is back.”
“I remember she was the one who asked for the divorce, right?”
“Carter Vance is the CEO of the Vance family now. I bet she’s regretting it.”
“What’s there to regret? She stole her sister’s marriage in the first place. This is just returning things to their rightful owner.”
…
The moment I stepped toward the VIP room, I heard them talking about me.
Over the past three years, the rumors about me hadn’t died down.
They all said I was just playing hard to get.
Even my own parents thought so.
On the day of my divorce, my mother specifically warned me:
“Since you two are divorced, you are not to contact him anymore.”
“Your sister injured her leg, and she needs Carter right now. Don’t do anything to upset her.”
Seeing me look down in silence, she added:
“This marriage belonged to your sister in the first place. If she hadn’t gone abroad to further her career, it never would have been your turn.”
My sister, Serena Hayes, and Carter Vance had been the envy of our social circle.
But on the eve of their wedding, Serena ran away.
By then, the news of the two families merging had already been announced to the press.
Under immense public pressure, the Vance family elders decided to swap the bride and have him marry me instead.
I don’t know how they convinced him, but Carter eventually agreed to marry me.
For three years, we lived like a perfectly normal married couple.
But everyone knew that despite marrying me, he had never let go of Serena.
He never let me into his home office.
One day, he forgot to lock the door. I peeked through the crack and instantly felt like I had been plunged into an ice bath.
The walls of his study were covered in his and Serena’s pre-wedding photos.
I had never seen Carter look like that.
So vibrant, so doting, so utterly focused.
His eyes were entirely filled with Serena.
That was the moment the thought of divorce first crossed my mind.
On the day I finally made up my mind, I accidentally overheard him on the phone.
He was speaking in a gentle, coaxing voice to the person on the other end:
“Yeah, don’t be scared. I’ll be there in ten minutes… Don’t try to walk, just wait for me. Be a good girl.”
The moment he turned around, he saw me.
I spoke calmly, “Dinner is ready. Have some before you leave.”
He paused for a brief second, then continued walking toward the door.
“You eat. Don’t wait up for me.”
Just as he was about to step out, I called his name again.
A flash of impatience crossed his face. “What is it?”
“Carter,” I said. “Let’s get a divorce.”
02
By the time the news of our divorce reached my parents, we had already signed the papers.
Carter didn’t mistreat me. He gave me half of his assets.
My parents summoned me home in the middle of the night.
They interrogated me like a criminal, demanding to know how I could be so cruel as to take half of Carter’s fortune.
“Maya, is this how we raised you? Did you only marry him for the Vance family’s money?”
Serena stood to the side on her crutches, shedding tears.
“Maya, are you blaming me? Are you mad that I came back and took Carter away from you…”
Before she could finish, my parents cut her off.
“Carter was supposed to be your husband anyway! If you hadn’t been so stubborn about running away, you and Carter would have kids running around by now.”
Serena loved Carter, but she loved ballet more.
Shortly after accepting Carter’s proposal, she received an offer from a world-renowned ballet company in Europe.
She dumped Carter without hesitation and flew across the world.
For three years, she practically cut all contact with him.
Until that one night, when Carter received an international call.
He had been leaning against my shoulder, trying to catch his breath.
He answered the phone right in front of me.
Because we were so close, I clearly heard the tearful female voice on the other end.
Carter froze.
One second… five seconds… ten seconds…
It took a full thirty seconds for Carter to react. He quickly grabbed a robe and hurried out of the room.
Carter didn’t come back that night.
The next day, I found out from my parents that Serena had been in an accident during a performance and shattered her leg.
Carter personally flew out to bring her back.
Even though she was staying at my parents’ house, Carter handled everything related to her personally.
Because of this, my parents even sat me down to “counsel” me.
“Don’t take it to heart. Your sister can never dance again. She’s devastated, and Carter is the only one who can comfort her right now.”
My parents had favored Serena since we were little.
She was beautiful, had great grades, and was incredibly talented at singing and dancing.
I, on the other hand, was just a bookworm—boring, and terrible at sweet-talking.
Everyone revolved around the injured Serena.
Including my husband.
He gradually lost all patience with me.
One evening, he promised to pick me up, but left me waiting in the pouring rain for two hours.
I got soaked and came down with a high fever.
Carter had no choice but to leave Serena and come to the hospital to take care of me.
But my mother believed it was just a manipulative trick to force Carter to come home.
She screamed at me hysterically: “Because you dragged Carter away, your sister almost did something unthinkable last night!”
“You are a perfectly healthy person! Why do you have to compete with a disabled woman?”
I looked at her in disbelief. “But… Carter is my husband.”
“So what? This marriage belonged to her in the first place! You stole her husband!”
But back then, she was the one who begged me to marry him.
Before Serena went abroad, she came to me, trying to convince me to marry Carter.
“Maya, I know you like him. Isn’t this a great opportunity?”
“Let’s keep the wealth in the family. You don’t want Carter ending up with some other woman, do you?”
I kept my head down, staying silent.
Serena got anxious. “Are you really just going to watch our family go bankrupt?”
“I’m begging you, Maya. Or… are you worried I’ll come back and fight you for him?”
My expression shifted slightly.
She breathed a sigh of relief. “Don’t worry. Once I go abroad, I won’t ever contact him again. I swear!”
For the first three years, she actually kept her word.
But in the end, she forgot the vow she had made.
03
After getting the divorce certificate, I moved out West by myself.
I didn’t contact my family for three years.
A little while ago, they reached out to tell me that Carter and Serena were getting married.
Serena was the one who called.
“Maya, you have to come back for my wedding. I’ll only feel like I haven’t wronged you if you’re there.”
I stayed silent for a long time before saying, “Fine.”
The day I arrived home, the weather was beautiful.
As soon as I pulled my suitcase through the front door, Serena came running out of her room.
“Maya!”
Her steps were light and quick.
It was late autumn, but she was only wearing a thin slip dress.
Behind her, Carter strode quickly, holding a coat.
“Why can you never remember to put your slippers on? If you do this again, I’m going to…”
His voice suddenly stopped.
He saw me.
This was the first time we had seen each other since the divorce.
Common courtesy dictated I should say hello.
I turned and gave him a faint nod.
After three years, Carter looked exactly as I remembered.
Only, the coldness in his eyes had been replaced by a lingering tenderness.
He nodded back, shifted his gaze, and draped the coat over Serena’s shoulders.
“You two catch up. I need to go handle some work.”
Serena stepped up to me and affectionately linked her arm through mine.
“I was so worried you wouldn’t come. I’m going for my dress fitting tomorrow, will you come with me?”
I pulled my arm away with a blank expression. “I’m busy tomorrow.”
Serena looked disappointed. “Is it really important?”
“Yes. Very important.”
She thought for a moment. “Then let’s reschedule for the day after tomorrow. Come home early tomorrow after you’re done…”
“I’m not staying here,” I interrupted. “Tell Mom and Dad I’ll be pretty busy the next few days, so I won’t be staying at the house.”
With that, I grabbed my suitcase and walked away without looking back.
I hadn’t walked far when a car slowly pulled up beside me.
The window rolled down, revealing Carter’s handsome face.
“Get in. I’ll drop you off.”
I politely refused. “No thanks. I’m fine.”
He was stubborn. Since I wouldn’t get in, he just drove slowly alongside me.
“It’s hard to get an Uber around here. Get in.”
Looking at the endless road ahead, I finally compromised.
I got in the car and gave him an address.
His brow furrowed slightly. “Why aren’t you staying at The Belvedere?”
“I don’t like it.”
The condo at The Belvedere was the one given to me in the divorce settlement.
But what he didn’t know was that I had already sold it.
Carter’s eyes darkened, but he didn’t ask any more questions.
When we arrived at my apartment building, I got out, and Carter followed.
He grabbed my suitcase, showing no intention of handing it over. “Let’s go.”
“I can take it up myself.”
I tried to pull the suitcase back, but it wouldn’t budge.
He scanned the surroundings. “Are you having financial troubles?”
This place was more than a few steps down from The Belvedere.
“No.”
He simply dragged the suitcase toward the entrance. “Which building? What floor?”
Carter was a persistent man. When he wanted to do something, no one could change his mind.
I stopped fighting it and led the way in silence.
We got in the elevator and went up.
Standing at my front door, I took the suitcase from him. “Thank you. It’s not a good time today, so I won’t invite you in.”
“Wait.”
I looked back.
“These past few years… have you been doing okay?”
Looking into his sincere eyes, I felt a wave of dizziness.
In my memory, he had never spoken to me with that tone of voice.
Just as I was about to answer, the door suddenly opened from the inside.
A tall, strikingly handsome man appeared in front of us without warning.
Broad shoulders, narrow waist, tall and lean—he looked like walking pheromones.
He reached out a long arm and pulled me into his embrace. “What took you so long, hm?”
He leaned in to kiss me.
The moment his lips touched mine, Carter’s furious voice rang out from behind:
“What are you doing?!”
But the man had no intention of stopping. He laid a deep kiss on me before slowly turning his head to look at Carter, still holding me tight.
But his words were meant for me: “I’ve only been gone a little while, and you’ve already found your next target? You really know how to keep a guy on his toes~”
I shoved him lightly, but he didn’t budge an inch.
I had no choice but to look at Carter. “Whatever it is, we’ll talk next time.”
Carter’s hands balled into fists at his sides, his lips pressed into a thin line.
It was the precursor to his rage.
But before he could explode, I was pulled inside.
The door clicked shut.
The man in front of me leaned in dangerously close.
“If I recall correctly, your flight landed at 11 AM. It’s currently 2 PM. Three hours, and you’re already meeting up with your ex-husband?”
I lightly poked his firm waist.
“Liam…”
He immediately caught my hand. His voice dropped low. “Don’t try to brush this off.”
I gripped the edge of his shirt, looking down in silence.
A large hand gently lifted my chin. The second our eyes met, Liam let out an exasperated laugh.
“I haven’t even started punishing you yet, why are you crying?”
I sniffled. “I missed you so much…”
04
After the divorce, I moved out West and opened a cozy little B&B in a mountain town in Colorado.
The town had perfect weather year-round, and the locals were incredibly warm and genuine.
Spending time with them did wonders for my mental health.
Within a year, the reputation of my little inn grew, and business was no longer as bleak as when I first started.
Liam Sterling was the most reclusive guest I had ever hosted.
Most of the time, he stayed locked in his room, never stepping outside.
He only appeared on the terrace when there were very few people around.
At first, I was worried something might happen to him, so I unconsciously kept an eye on his movements.
Until one day, while I was sunbathing in the courtyard, he walked over to me with a half-smile and asked:
“Do I really look like someone who’s about to end it all?”
I looked up in shock.
He lay down on the lounge chair next to mine, looking completely relaxed and careless.
“I heard you on the phone.”
I was instantly mortified.
The night before, I had called my best friend and mentioned Liam.
I had said, “That guy is really good-looking. It’d be a real shame if he just dropped dead.”
I never expected Liam to overhear it.
While I was dying of embarrassment, Liam suddenly asked, “You don’t look like a local. What made you want to open a B&B here?”
I made up some nonsense: “Too much money, too much free time.”
A low, incredibly pleasant laugh rumbled in his throat.
I couldn’t help but look over at him, and I was met with a breathtaking sight—
The man was resting his head on his arm, staring out at the horizon.
His jawline was sharp and clean, his side profile sculpted to perfection.
Carter was already incredibly good-looking, but Liam was on a completely different level.
He must have felt my stare, because he turned his head, and our eyes locked.
I don’t remember who looked away first, but from that day on, the atmosphere between us changed subtly.
The day we finally crossed the line, Liam and I had gone hiking in the mountains.
On our way down, the weather suddenly turned, and a massive thunderstorm broke out.
By the time we got back to the inn, we were completely soaked.
That night, I developed a high fever. While trying to get up to take some medicine, I shattered a glass on the floor.
Liam literally broke the door down to get to me.
I don’t know if it was an illusion or my fever-addled brain, but I distinctly saw sheer terror on his face the moment he burst in.
And the second he saw me, he visibly let out a massive sigh of relief.
The sickness hit me like a truck. I was bedridden for five days, and Liam took care of me for all five.
He moved his instruments into my room, which was how I found out he was a musician.
“So, are you just ready to pack up and leave at any moment?” I asked, clutching a mug of hot water.
He didn’t answer, instead asking, “Do you want me to leave?”
I stayed silent.
He took the mug from my hands and suddenly leaned in to kiss me.
His burning breath seared every cell in my body. I gripped his shirt, my heart pounding so hard I thought it would burst from my chest.
After that day, Liam essentially became the new co-owner of the B&B.
Changing lightbulbs, fixing broken chairs—it all became his job.
The guests at the inn loved to tease him: “You’re such a good househusband! You should make the beautiful boss marry you already.”
Whenever they said that, he would turn to me and ask:
“When are you planning to marry me?”
I would always just laugh it off.
On the surface, he didn’t seem to mind, but the second we were alone, he would find every way possible to torment me in bed.
Even when I begged for mercy, he showed absolutely no restraint.
I thought those days would last forever. But one day, Liam vanished.
I asked the other guests at the inn, and they gossiped:
“Where else could he have gone? With a face like that, and being in the music industry? I bet a sugar mama came and scooped him up.”
05
And today, after his sudden disappearance, I finally saw him again.
The more I thought about it, the more it hurt, and my tears fell even harder.
Liam stared down at me, waiting for me to finish my sentence.
But I didn’t say a word. I just kept crying.
After a long moment, the man who had looked furious just seconds ago resignedly cupped my face. “I am so fucking hopelessly wrapped around your finger.”
“Are you still going to leave?”
“Leave? You’re a mess, how could I possibly leave you?”
I still didn’t quite believe him.
Exhausted from crying, I wrapped my arms around his neck and refused to let go.
Helpless, he had no choice but to lie down with me.
I slept incredibly soundly that time.
When I opened my eyes, Liam was no longer beside me.
My phone had been switched to silent at some point, and I had 99+ missed calls—more than half of them from Carter.
Aside from that, the long-dead college alumni group chat had suddenly exploded.
It was Carter sending a message, saying he wanted to organize a reunion.
[If Carter is hosting, we absolutely have to go!]
[I heard Liam Sterling is back in town too. Someone invite him!]
[Liam? Liam Sterling? When did he get back?!]
[It’s really him! I’m a massive fan, I track all his movements. Word is, he came back this time to propose to the girl he’s been secretly in love with for ten years.]
Just as I read that, my hand felt empty. My phone had been snatched away.
Liam’s handsome face zoomed in close.
He ruffled my messy hair. “Sleep well?”
I shook my head and slowly shuffled over to rest my head on his lap.
“I thought you weren’t going to come.”
Before I flew back, I had sent him an email giving him my address.
He never replied.
I assumed he was too busy to even check his emails. I never expected to see him the moment I got back.
To say I was surprised would be an understatement.
But behind the surprise was also a bit of a shock.
He scooped me up into his arms. “Are you mad?”
I wrapped my arms around his waist, buried my face in his chest, and refused to make a sound.
His voice softened. “I left in such a rush that day, and I lost my phone, so I couldn’t contact you right away. But I reached out as soon as I could, didn’t I?”
“Don’t be mad, okay?”
After he left, I had fallen into a deep emotional abyss for a long time.
When they said a sugar mama had taken him away, I actually believed it.
His phone was disconnected, he didn’t reply to texts—it was like he had vanished off the face of the earth.
If he hadn’t finally managed to get a hold of me later, I would have gone to the police.
I rolled over in his arms and kept interrogating him:
“Then why didn’t you reply to my email?”
“The second I saw the email, I bought a plane ticket. I wanted to give you a surprise. Instead, you gave me a heart attack.”
Thinking back to how he must have felt seeing me show up with Carter, the impact definitely wasn’t small.
I smiled faintly. “But I still haven’t forgiven you.”
He lowered his head, a dangerous aura instantly enveloping me.
“Then I’ll just have to use that method.”
My instinct was to run, but he grabbed my ankle and pulled me right back.
Don’t let Liam’s polished exterior fool you—he was a completely different beast behind closed doors.
I pressed my hands against his chest. “Liam, I just got off a plane…”
“It’s fine. I’ll do all the work, you just lie there.”
By the time he was done tossing me around, it was the middle of the night.
I was starving and exhausted, pouting in his arms.
He seemed to be in a fantastic mood and brought up the alumni reunion.
“I’m meeting up with a good buddy of mine. Do you want to go to the reunion together later?”
I purposely tried to get a rise out of him: “Carter’s going to be there. Aren’t you worried something might happen between us?”
His hand slowly trailed down the curve of my waist, his smile so handsome it made the hairs on my arms stand up.
“You’re welcome to try.”
What a petty, jealous man!
🌟 Continue the story here
👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app
🔍 search for “403328”, and watch the full series ✨!
#MotoNovel
I am a princess of the Manhattan elite.
After being married to the city’s newest tech billionaire for barely a year, he went bankrupt.
Following our divorce, I experienced a horrifying vision of my ultimate, tragic fate. Desperate, I went to find him to demand we get back together.
He just frowned, his thin lips forming a cruel, icy line: “I’m sorry, Miss Sinclair.”
“The Sterling family has fallen. We are no longer worthy of a deity like you.”
Standing right beside him was his childhood best friend, her smile blindingly smug.
I touched my flat stomach and let out an awkward laugh: “Alright, then should I just find a new dad for the baby?”
His pupils violently contracted, a massive storm surging in the depths of his eyes:
“What. Did. You. Just. Say?”
01
I was wheeled into the operating room for an abortion.
The freezing cold of the surgical table stimulated every single one of my senses.
Suddenly—
Strange, unfamiliar images flashed through my mind.
In these visions, following my parents’ arrangements, I entered into a second marriage with a man who basically married into our wealth.
Less than six months later, my parents died in a tragic car accident, and this new husband immediately threw me out onto the streets.
Penniless and homeless, I was starving to the point where I had to dig through dumpsters for food.
The stench of rot and sour decay, the sticky, filthy textures—it was a suffocating, absolute despair.
Finally, a passing vagrant snatched the spoiled food right out of my hands and shoved me to the ground.
Under a sky full of swirling snow, my body withered and frail, I lay completely motionless.
Until I was entirely buried by the snow.
The vision permanently froze on that image.
Right at that moment, the harsh, surgical spotlight snapped on above me.
“Hello, please relax your legs.” The nurse’s voice seemed to echo from far away.
I shot up from the table like a coiled spring, my throat choking with sobs. “I’m… I’m sorry. I don’t want to do this anymore.”
Walking out of the operating room, my mom immediately grabbed my arm. “Mia? Are you finished already?”
“No…”
I shook my head, lingering terror gripping my heart as tears rolled uncontrollably down my face.
“Mom, I don’t want to go through with it.”
If I got rid of this baby, I was going to die a miserable, horrific death.
I needed to find Elias Sterling!
I needed to remarry him!
02
I headed straight for the rundown, walk-up apartment complex the Sterling family had just moved into.
The rusted, peeling metal of the main entrance door reflected my panicked, unsettled face.
It seemed to overlap with that dark purple, frostbitten, shriveled face from my vision.
I shuddered in sheer terror.
Just then, the sound of voices and laughter drifted from nearby.
I panicked and ducked into the dark space beneath the stairwell.
Peeking out, I saw Elias walking in from outside with another woman.
He was carrying a bag of groceries.
He looked completely focused as he listened to her speak.
“I’ll keep an eye on that project for you. I won’t let you treat me to this meal for nothing.”
“How are your parents adjusting since the move?”
“If you need anything, I can come over whenever. I actually got really good at cooking while I was living abroad these past few years. You can try my food today.”
…
The woman’s clear, elegant voice was laced with a light, natural laugh.
And Elias, who was usually so cold and aloof, actually responded to her.
I bit my lip, feeling an uncontrollable surge of suffocating frustration.
The ink on our divorce papers wasn’t even dry yet, and he already had a new woman in his life.
But if we didn’t remarry… I was going to lose everything and die a miserable death on the streets!
Those horrific images flashed through my mind again, “swish, swish,” like a computer virus spamming pop-up windows.
A string of rainbow-colored text wiggled across my vision like a caterpillar: [Uh-oh~ This is what happens when you get a divorce~]
My entire body violently trembled.
The fear was like a massive, suffocating black shroud pressing down on my head, making it impossible to breathe.
Ugh!
It was too terrifying!
The instinct to survive overpowered everything else.
I gritted my teeth and bolted out of the shadows. I had just opened my mouth to shout: “Eli—”
CLICK!
The apartment door shut.
I stared at the closed door in absolute defeat.
Suddenly, the door opened again!!
A pair of long, straight legs stepped out.
I froze in complete shock.
03
Elias stood in the hallway. His gaze, entirely devoid of warmth, landed on my face, carrying the distant annoyance of someone whose peace had been disturbed.
“What are you doing here?” His tone was absolute ice.
He had always possessed a cold, aloof personality and kept people at a distance.
But during the nearly twelve months we were married, whenever it was just the two of us, his demeanor was always warm and gentle.
This was the very first time he had ever used such a freezing, hostile tone with me.
My heart involuntarily tightened, and my voice trembled: “I… I came to see you.”
“I want… to rem…”
“What? I can’t hear you.”
“I said I want to remarry! I want to remarry you!” I gathered every ounce of courage I had, squeezed my eyes shut, and shouted it out.
The lighting in the stairwell was dim.
The flash of pure shock in Elias’s eyes disappeared as quickly as it came, so fast it felt like a hallucination.
He didn’t say a word.
The air stagnated, leaving only the drafty, suffocating silence of the hallway and the thunderous pounding of my own heart.
He glanced at the half-open door behind him, then raised a hand and pulled it shut.
His long legs stepped forward, descending the stairs one by one.
His movements were deliberate and unhurried, carrying a silent, crushing pressure.
Like a low-pressure system rapidly building before a massive hurricane.
I held my breath, my fingernails digging deeply into the soft flesh of my palms.
The flashing images of my tragic death were still actively stimulating my nerves.
Elias stopped right in front of me, barely an arm’s length away.
His gaze locked onto me again, his eyes as dark and cold as a deep abyss.
“I’m sorry, Miss Sinclair.”
His tone was perfectly flat, every syllable razor-sharp.
He paused, devoid of any emotion, offering only a freezing, objective statement: “The Sterling family has fallen. We are no longer worthy of a deity like you.”
04
He said, no longer worthy…
Those three words hit my heart like massive blocks of ice.
Humiliation instantly swallowed me whole.
My face burned with a searing heat.
When the Sterling family filed for bankruptcy, right when Elias needed me the absolute most, I listened to my parents’ arrangements and demanded a divorce.
And now, barely a week after receiving the official divorce decree, I was shamelessly showing up to beg for a “remarriage.”
It was incredibly abrupt, and deeply offensive.
It was entirely natural for him to assume I was just playing some sick game with him.
But…
“I’m sorry, that’s not what I meant. I’m here because…” I frantically tried to explain, but the words died on my lips.
What was I supposed to say?
Say that I foresaw the future?
Say that if I left him, I would die a gruesome death?
He wouldn’t just think I was playing with him; he’d think I belonged in a psychiatric ward!
I was so anxious that tears welled up in my eyes. One blink, and they spilled over without warning.
“Why are you crying?” His brow furrowed slightly, a hint of impatience leaking into his voice. “Isn’t a divorce exactly what you wanted?”
His Adam’s apple bobbed. He seemed like he wanted to say something else, but ultimately just pressed his lips into a tight line.
“We are finished.”
“Go home. The princess of the Manhattan elite shouldn’t be in a place like this.”
He gave a slight nod, assuming the posture of a formal farewell.
Just as he turned to leave, I practically threw myself at him, wrapping my arms tightly around his waist, crying out with a trembling voice: “Don’t go!”
“I… I really need you!”
“Ever since we got the divorce papers, I’ve actually been thinking about you every single day. I think about what it was like when we were together. I… I realized I can’t live without you. Can we please get back together? I can’t do this without you!”
Through the thin fabric of his shirt, the muscles in his waist instantly went rigid, radiating an aura of intense, suppressed power.
He lowered his eyes, his gaze falling onto my hands wrapped around him.
His eyes held scrutiny, probing curiosity, and a sliver of dark, turbulent emotion buried deep beneath the ice.
After a moment, he raised his hands and, inch by inch, pried my fingers apart.
My heart jumped into my throat.
He turned his head to look back at me, his dark eyes bottomless.
“On what grounds?” His thin lips barely moved.
His voice was as cold as a knife plunged into freezing water, piercing with agonizing precision into the deepest, most vulnerable part of my heart.
He paused, and every word was devastatingly clear as he delivered his cold-blooded interrogation: “What does marriage mean to you?”
“A tool you can summon and discard at your convenience?” He didn’t speak quickly, but every word was a blade.
“Or do you think that just because I, Elias Sterling, am down on my luck, I have to allow Miss Sinclair to manipulate me however she pleases?”
“…”
Dead silence surrounded us.
I opened my mouth several times, but I couldn’t force a single sound out.
He was right…
On what grounds?
Seeing me completely speechless, the last microscopic trace of emotion in Elias’s eyes completely vanished, leaving only a profound, abyss-like stillness and… utter exhaustion.
“Nothing to say?”
He curled his lip in a mocking sneer. “Then, regarding remarriage—”
“Ab. So. Lutely. Not.”
Four words. Ironclad. Leaving absolutely zero room for negotiation.
05
The atmosphere was frozen solid.
The words hanging on the edge of my lips were completely shattered by the sheer exhaustion and disgust in his eyes.
Right at that moment, a faint noise came from upstairs.
That tightly closed door was pushed open a crack once again.
The voices inside were a bit distant, but they filtered clearly into my eardrums:
“…You’re cooking tonight yourself. What is that boy doing running out into the hallway? Let me go find him.”
“It’s fine, Mrs. Sterling. I’ll go.”
A clear, elegant, and gentle female voice drifted closer.
I went completely rigid.
It felt like all the blood had instantly drained from my body. My fingertips turned to ice.
For some inexplicable reason, my heart violently clenched.
I stared intently at that crack in the door, where a sliver of light spilled out.
In my peripheral vision, Elias remained turned sideways, perfectly still.
His cold, almost clinical, scrutinizing gaze remained heavily fixed on my face, as if he were trying to dissect something from my expression.
But what was he looking at?
Looking at the humiliation of my rejection? Or… something else?
I subconsciously bit my dry lips, my gaze uncontrollably drifting back upstairs.
The door was pushed open a bit wider, and a slender, pale hand rested on the doorframe.
That female voice sounded again, carrying a hint of intimacy and inquiry: “Elias? Are you out here?”
Elias finally stopped looking at me.
He turned his body fully away, his jawline tight, his tone absolute: “Go back. And from now on, don’t ever come looking for me again.”
Before he even finished the sentence, he had already lifted his foot to leave.
But the moment his foot hit the first step, I couldn’t stop a sharp, pathetic sniffle from escaping my nose.
His footsteps faltered. His tall, broad back stiffened for a fraction of a second. Then, with a look that seemed like a mix of exasperation and impatience, he turned back around.
I looked up at him with pathetic, pleading eyes, meeting his gaze, and whispered timidly: “I… I don’t know how to get back…”
“Where is your driver?” His brow furrowed deeply.
I shook my head, my voice getting quieter and quieter: “I took the bus here by myself…”
Elias turned completely around to face me.
He stared at me intently, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “…Why?”
His voice was dry, carrying its usual coldness, but it also seemed layered with another, entirely different emotion.
I kept my head down, wringing my hands, feeling an inexplicable sense of guilt, answering like a child who had been caught doing something wrong: “I wanted to try it.”
“Try what?”
“Try… if we get remarried, and I don’t have a driver or a car anymore, and I can only take the bus or the subway… try to see if I can actually handle it.” I explained honestly, shooting him a quick, nervous glance. “I just… wanted to adapt ahead of time!”
The air went dead silent for a second.
Elias stared at me, his eyes as deep as a dark pool.
Something seemed to flash rapidly across the depths of his eyes, like a pebble tossed into a deep well, sending out microscopic ripples.
But in the blink of an eye, it was covered by ice again.
I couldn’t read his expression. I only felt that his jaw was clenched as tight as a drawn bowstring.
Tight, but still incredibly handsome.
That thought made even me pause in shock.
Upstairs, the light in the crack of the door shifted.
That clear female voice drifted down again, tinged with confusion: “Elias? Are you not done yet?”
That voice was like a kill switch.
Whatever microscopic emotion I couldn’t understand in Elias’s eyes instantly froze over, leaving nothing but pure, unadulterated coldness.
He pulled at the corner of his mouth, the icy curve laced with an indescribable, mocking bitterness:
“You probably couldn’t even recognize half the bus routes if you tried. What are you talking about ‘adapting’?”
“Stop being naive. We are no longer people who walk the same path.”
“Go back. Go live the life you’re supposed to live.”
With that, he didn’t spare me another glance.
He turned and took long, purposeful strides up the stairs.
His back was resolute. He didn’t hesitate for a single second.
06
I stood frozen in place.
The door upstairs had already clicked shut.
The soundproofing in this walk-up building was terrible.
In the stairwell, I could still hear the muffled, indistinct sounds of their conversation from inside.
The July wind was supposed to be sweltering.
So why did I feel so incredibly cold?
My chest felt tight and suffocating, and my nose stung painfully.
He seemed… even angrier now?
But I was just telling the truth…
Amidst the suffocating feeling, those pop-up-like visions flashed through my mind again.
But what was different this time was that I wasn’t entering a second marriage.
Instead, I was heavily pregnant, being shoved down a flight of stairs by the man who was supposed to be my second husband.
Bright red blood rapidly pooled beneath me. I died with my eyes wide open, as my devastated parents came running from a distance…
This scene was infinitely more terrifying than freezing to death on the streets!
I instinctively clutched my lower abdomen.
Go back and live the life I’m “supposed” to live?
No, no, no!
I don’t have a life I’m supposed to live!
If we don’t remarry, I’m just going to die in a variety of gruesome ways.
His refusal to remarry must just mean he thinks I’m not showing enough sincerity.
I have to prove it to him!
If he rejects me once, I’ll go back twice.
If he rejects me twice, I’ll go back four times!
I’ll overwhelm him with sheer volume until it causes a qualitative change!
07
And so, I went back time and time again.
Everyone in the building, and even half the neighborhood, knew that Elias Sterling’s ex-wife was begging for a remarriage.
But when Elias faced me, he continued to reject me with a cold, stony expression.
It was only occasionally, when I clumsily tried to help out, that his deeply furrowed brow would ease, and his gaze would linger on me for a moment.
Carrying a complex, scrutinizing weight.
As if I was the one who bankrupted his family, rather than the business partner who had embezzled the funds and was currently on the run.
Elias’s parents still treated me with the same warmth and affection as always, but even they tried to dissuade me: “You grew up in the lap of luxury. Your parents couldn’t bear to see you suffer, and we equally can’t bear to see you come back and suffer with us!”
“Look at your hands. You just peeled some garlic, and your manicured nails are already chipping.”
“Mia, be a good girl. Don’t come back starting tomorrow.”
I completely disagreed, smiling as I said: “But I don’t feel like I’m suffering at all! Everyone has to experience a lot of ‘firsts’ in life.”
“I’m going to work hard and get better at this!”
That’s what I said out loud.
But the reality was, the person navigating the kitchen with expert ease was Audrey Jenkins.
While I could only stand outside the kitchen, watching helplessly.
There was no helping it. Lately, if I smelled even the slightest hint of cooking odors, my stomach would violently churn.
Watching Elias’s mom and Audrey interact like family, a thick, indescribable wave of envy and bitterness washed over me.
When no one was looking, I quietly slipped out the door.
Just as I pulled the door shut, I looked up and ran right into Elias, who was just returning home.
His eyes were cold, and his tone was even colder. “What’s wrong?”
I shook my head in utter defeat.
I couldn’t exactly tell him that I was feeling incredibly frustrated and useless, could I?
He stepped up the last two stairs, stopping just inches away from me.
“If you can’t handle it, just go back,” his low, raspy voice seemed to carry a hint of a sigh.
I was stunned. I looked up at him, defiant. “I am not unable to handle the hardship! This doesn’t even count as hardship, okay?! I’m just…”
“Just… feeling like I can’t really help with anything…”
My voice trailed off, laced with a subtle, hard-to-hide despair.
I couldn’t accept the fact that, compared to Audrey Jenkins, I was so incredibly useless.
Audrey’s family used to be neighbors with the Sterlings.
She and Elias had practically grown up together as childhood sweethearts.
After high school graduation, the Jenkins family immigrated to Europe. She must have heard about the Sterling family’s bankruptcy and specifically flown back.
That kind of deep, supportive loyalty in a time of crisis was infinitely better than me, the ex-wife who demanded a divorce the second he went bankrupt.
“Anyway!” I paused, biting out the words with emphasis. “I’m not leaving! Unless you agree to remarry me!”
Having delivered my ultimatum, I immediately looked away.
Tears were pooling in my eyes, and I bit down hard on my jaw to keep them from falling.
His gaze swept over my eyes, and he remained silent.
After a long time, he finally spoke. “Understood.”
Understood?
What did he understand?
The reason I couldn’t go into the kitchen wasn’t because I lacked the ability; it was because I was carrying a tiny human life in my belly, okay?!
You don’t understand anything at all!
08
My morning sickness was getting progressively worse.
Seeing my misery, my mom couldn’t stand it anymore and suggested I just use the pregnancy to force Elias into remarrying me.
I refused.
What if he was truly ruthless and didn’t even want the baby?
I couldn’t risk the baby’s life.
09
Elias had been working like a maniac lately.
The only time I ever saw him was when I brought him food.
In his sparse, rundown office, his profile as he bent over his desk under the harsh fluorescent lights looked incredibly focused and lonely.
The interplay of light and shadow highlighted his sharp, deep features, his straight nose, and his tightly pressed, thin lips.
I suddenly remembered that in the past, late at night, he used to sit in his home office, focused on his documents just like this.
And I would curl up in a rocking chair nearby, hugging a throw pillow, just watching him.
I would watch him until I fell asleep, and when I woke up, I was always in his arms.
Thinking about that, my heart gave an inexplicable, phantom flutter.
The past and the present overlapped, creating the illusion that we had never actually gotten divorced.
He was always so cold and distant with the outside world.
I was the only one who had ever seen him lose all control.
Those indescribable days and nights were seared into my bones, making me blush and my heart race just thinking about them.
“What are you standing there for?” He looked up, noticing me, and stood up to walk over.
As he took the insulated lunch box from me, his fingertips casually brushed against mine.
He frowned. “Are you feeling sick?”
“Huh? No, I’m fine…” I shook my head, totally oblivious.
His cool hand rested on my burning cheek. He looked suspicious, his eyes searching. “Your face is really red.”
“Uh… I’m really fine…” I looked away in embarrassment, but the heat spread from my cheeks all the way to the tips of my ears.
He stared at me, his gaze growing darker and deeper, like a predator gathering its strength.
That kind of surging, highly aggressive gaze was incredibly familiar.
So familiar that my heart almost beat out of my chest.
After a moment, his Adam’s apple bobbed, and his voice was slightly hoarse. “It’s late. You should head back.”
“What about you? Are you still working?”
“Yeah.”
He turned to walk back to his desk, and I followed right behind him.
I clasped my hands behind my back, shaking my head back and forth, and said, “Then I’m not leaving either.”
“It’s too dark outside. I’m scared. I need you to walk me home.”
Under the harsh spotlight, our two shadows, one tall and one short, intersected and overlapped.
After a long pause, I finally heard his response:
“…Suit yourself.”
10
With his tacit approval, delivering food became my excuse to linger and refuse to leave.
After eating, he went back to burying himself in his work.
I rested my face in my hands, staring at him for hours, inevitably becoming completely mesmerized.
Beneath his thick, long eyelashes, his eyes held a glimmer of starlight. I loved seeing my own reflection in his eyes, as if I were the only person in his entire world.
And those thin, warm lips. Whenever he kissed me, he always liked to start with a tentative, gentle taste.
Sometimes, unable to withstand my pleading, this seemingly cold man would actually whisper a few incredibly romantic, dirty things to me.
My thoughts drifted from those memories back to the present, and as if possessed, I called out his name:
“Elias…”
“Hmm?”
“Elias,” I called again.
“Yeah.”
“E…li…as?”
He looked up from his documents, looking at me with helpless exasperation. “What is it?”
I leaned closer, asking with absolute, profound sincerity: “The way things are between us right now… isn’t it nice?”
“Why won’t you just remarry me?”
“If you remarry me, my family will help you. Everything will become so much easier, and…”
“Mia.” He cut me off, his gaze as heavy and impenetrable as fog. “Have you ever thought about what would happen if… your family fell, too?”
My heart plummeted instantly.
The horrific images that had flashed before my eyes surged into my mind.
“There is no such thing as a permanent safety net,” his voice was cold and hard. “Relying on yourself is the only reliable thing.”
After saying that, his expression softened slightly, his tone becoming gentler, laced with a hint of apology. “I’m sorry, I can’t.”
“Your safety net will always be there,” he added, his eyes carrying a heavy, unspoken weight.
Looking at the absolute sincerity in his eyes, a warm current seemed to flood my heart.
See? This is the Elias Sterling I married.
He had always treated me with such tender warmth.
His coldness was nothing but a shell he presented to the outside world.
I shook my head, pretending not to care, and smiled encouragingly. “Then I’ll cheer you on! I’ll wait for you to make your comeback, and I’ll wait for you to become someone else’s safety net!”
He let out a sudden, faint laugh. It was very subtle, but blindingly beautiful.
“I have no intention of being anyone else’s safety net.”
“You have the Sinclair family now, and in the future, you’ll have…”
The rest of the sentence was incredibly soft, as light as a sigh. I didn’t catch it.
When I looked up again, he was already focused back on his documents.
As if the tenderness and the unfinished sentence from a moment ago were entirely a figment of my imagination.
I stared at his handsome profile, entirely unable to tear my eyes away.
It felt as if a voice was secretly whispering in my ear: Just looking at him like this… is actually pretty wonderful…
🌟 Continue the story here
👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app
🔍 search for “403344”, and watch the full series ✨!
#MotoNovel
A female employee from our external vendor made a massive error on a project proposal in our shared Slack channel. I planned to send her a direct message to kindly give her a heads-up.
I sent her a message request, but she ignored it twice.
She even changed her profile picture to a matching couple’s photo.
My assistant showed me the chat logs from their private company channel. She was bragging to everyone that I was aggressively pursuing her.
“I’ve dropped enough hints, but he just won’t let it go. He really needs to look in the mirror and see what a creep he is.”
“I literally have a boyfriend. How can he be this desperate? It’s so gross.”
“That toad probably had a breakdown last night and didn’t dare reply. He must feel so insecure now, right?”
1.
Our company was working on a major project, an eighty-million-dollar deal.
Although Manager Hayes was the lead, I was also in the main project Slack channel keeping an eye on things.
There were over a hundred people in that channel, an absolute chaotic mess.
The vendor was a young creative agency called Vanguard Creatives.
A woman named Jessica from their project team dropped a file into the channel.
I opened it and gave it a quick scan. The units for the material data were completely wrong.
She had written “kilograms” instead of “tons.” The decimal point needed to be moved over three places. It was an easy fix.
But if nobody noticed, and the procurement, construction, and cost accounting teams proceeded with those incorrect numbers downstream, it would be an absolute disaster.
Vanguard generally had a good reputation and was usually quite responsible.
Everyone makes a slip of the finger sometimes. I felt a bit of sympathy.
I found Jessica’s profile in the project channel, clicked on it, and sent a direct message request.
A day passed. My request vanished into the void.
Manager Hayes was the public-facing lead for this project. I didn’t want to step on his toes or seem disrespectful to his authority.
So, I hadn’t revealed my actual title in the channel. My display name was just my real name: Michael Thorne.
I clicked on Jessica’s profile again and sent another message request.
This time, I specifically added a note: “Work-related communication. Need to verify some data in the file.”
That should be clear enough, right?
Another day passed. Still nothing.
I tapped on her profile again. Her profile picture had changed.
Yesterday, it was a cartoon girl holding a coffee cup.
Today, it had been swapped out for a matching couple’s avatar.
It was a little boy and girl, wearing matching goofy striped shirts, with a giant red heart in the background.
My heart skipped a beat. Could it be…
Does this person think I’m messaging her on a professional app to hit on her?
And she specifically rushed to change her profile picture to a couple’s photo just to mark her territory?
I shook my head, throwing the thought out of my mind.
No way. A normal person’s brain doesn’t work in such a bizarre way.
It must be a coincidence. She just happened to change her picture.
My assistant, Sam, knocked on my door and walked in. He had a weird look on his face. “Mr. Thorne…”
Sam held his phone screen out to me. It was a screenshot of a Slack channel.
Looking at the channel name, “#Vanguard-Watercooler,” I guessed it was a private channel set up by the vendor’s employees just to spill tea.
The chat was blowing up.
An ID named “Jessica (Design Dept Demon Boss),” whose avatar was the exact same matching couple’s photo, was extremely active in the chat.
“LMAO, that Michael guy from the client’s side tried to message me again. This time he pretended it was for ‘work-related communication’.”
“Ugh, men are so transparent. I can smell his desperation through the screen.”
“I think I dropped enough hints, right? I literally put up a couple’s profile pic, and he still won’t let it go. How obsessed with me is he?”
“I have a boyfriend, and he’s still acting this desperate. Total creepy, entitled male behavior!”
2.
Below her message was a pile of people chiming in.
“Hahaha, Jessica’s charm is irresistible!”
“Seriously. He needs to take a good look in the mirror.”
“A toad trying to punch way above his weight.”
Sam scrolled his finger quickly down the screen. There was more.
“Jessica’s boyfriend is so hot. He leaves that toad in the dust.”
“Right, right?! Handsome and so sweet!”
“Of course! My man just bought me the newest designer bag yesterday!”
It was that “Jessica (Design Dept Demon Boss)” again.
“Some people can probably only drool over my profile picture, hehe.”
Sam coughed awkwardly.
“Mr. Thorne, I think she really doesn’t know who you are and totally misunderstood.”
I looked at the blindingly arrogant words on the screen and spoke.
“Tomorrow afternoon, set up a meeting with CEO Mercer from Vanguard. Manager Hayes and I are going.”
Sam nodded quickly. “Understood, Mr. Thorne. I’ll arrange it immediately.”
He practically sprinted out of my office, phone in hand.
I leaned back in my chair, my fingers unconsciously tapping the desk.
Interesting. I’ve lived this long, and nobody has ever laughed at me for being a “toad” before.
Not long after Sam left, my phone screen lit up on my desk.
A notification popped up: “Jessica (Design Dept) has accepted your message request.”
Now she accepts it?
I looked at that matching couple’s profile picture and let out a cold laugh.
I didn’t send a message. I didn’t want to say a single word to her.
Talking to someone whose brain operated on such a bizarre frequency was a waste of breath. If I wasn’t careful, it would just become new material for her “harassment” claims.
My phone buzzed again. It was a message from her.
“Mr. Thorne, hello. First of all, thank you for your admiration.”
“But I must formally state: Between us, aside from necessary project-related communication, there will be absolutely nothing else.”
“Please ensure you keep your distance from me. This is not only a matter of basic respect for me as a person, but also respect for my boyfriend.”
“Emotional boundaries are necessary. I hope you understand and act accordingly.”
“Secondly, I am officially being promoted to Project Lead in the Design Department tomorrow.”
“I love my work and will be pouring all my energy into it.”
“I simply do not have the extra time or energy to deal with unnecessary personal entanglements.”
“I’ve said all I need to say. I hope you have some self-respect. – Jessica.”
I stared at this massive, righteous, logic-defying “declaration.” My finger hovered over the keyboard. I typed something, deleted it, typed something else, deleted it again.
In the end, I didn’t reply with a single word.
Reason with her?
That would just be asking for a headache.
I simply put my phone face down on the desk. Out of sight, out of mind.
3.
The next afternoon, Manager Hayes and I arrived right on time outside the Vanguard Creatives building.
The vendor’s CEO, Robert Mercer, was indeed waiting by the main lobby entrance with several of his people.
As soon as the car stopped, Robert jogged over, his face plastered with an enthusiastic yet slightly nervous smile.
“Ah, Mr. Thorne! Manager Hayes! Welcome, welcome! It’s an honor to have you here. You grace our humble office!”
He personally opened the car door for me, his posture incredibly deferential.
After exchanging a few pleasantries, Robert led us toward the elevators.
“The conference room is all set up. Right this way, gentlemen.”
The elevator took us straight to the fifth floor.
As soon as the elevator doors opened, I could faintly hear a burst of giggling and chatting. It was a group of women’s voices coming from the large conference room at the end of the hall.
Chirping away.
Robert’s face changed slightly, and he quickened his pace.
“These guys. I told them we had important clients coming today.”
He muttered under his breath, turning back to give us an apologetic smile. “I’ll have them quiet down immediately.”
We reached the conference room. The heavy frosted glass door was closed.
The laughter inside was even clearer now. Completely unrestrained.
“Haha, Jessica, what happened next? Did that Michael guy reply to you?”
An excited female voice asked.
My heart sank a little.
It was Jessica’s voice next, carrying an undisguised tone of mockery.
“Reply? Do you think he’d dare?”
“He probably saw my message and completely broke down.”
“From last night until now, not a single peep out of him.”
“Tsk, I’ve seen so many guys like him. Once I called out his dirty little thoughts, he probably felt so ashamed of himself.”
“What a coward!”
The room erupted in laughter.
“Hahaha, a coward! Jessica, that description is too perfect!”
“Right, right?! He doesn’t even know his place, and he dares to hit on Jessica?”
“Our Jessica is about to become a Project Lead!”
“Exactly, our Jessica is so capable.”
“Beautiful, capable, and her boyfriend is so handsome and spoils her so much.”
“Some toad could never even compare to one of her boyfriend’s fingers!”
Jessica’s voice carried a hint of smug “humility.”
“Oh, stop it. My boyfriend is just okay, I guess.”
“Yesterday he insisted on taking me to that Michelin-star French place that costs two grand a head. It was so overwhelming.”
“I told him we could just eat anywhere, but he wouldn’t listen.”
“Oh, right. He also said that once I officially get promoted to Lead, he’s taking me on a trip to Europe to celebrate.”
“It’s so annoying. Who has the time? Ugh, he’s such a pain!”
Robert Mercer’s face was completely black. His forehead was covered in sweat.
He raised his hand to push the door open.
I stopped him, signaling him to stay quiet.
Manager Hayes stood next to me, his expression also looking a bit stiff.
Robert looked at my ice-cold profile. His Adam’s apple bobbed. He didn’t dare breathe too loudly.
4.
I gave Robert a slight nod, signaling him to go ahead.
Robert looked like he had just received a royal pardon. He took a sharp breath and violently shoved open the heavy glass conference room door.
BANG. The door slammed against the wall, making a massive racket.
The conference room instantly went dead silent.
Inside sat three or four young women, gathered around the conference table. Several half-empty iced coffees were scattered across the table.
Jessica was sitting next to the head seat, legs crossed, holding a Starbucks cup.
She was wearing fairly heavy makeup today and a rather form-fitting dress.
The smug, animated look on her face instantly switched to a standard, sycophantic corporate fake smile the moment she saw Robert.
“Mr. Mercer!”
She was the first to stand up, her voice sickeningly sweet.
The other women also scrambled to stand up, plastering smiles on their faces.
“Hello, Mr. Mercer.”
“Mr. Mercer, you’re here.”
Robert’s face was livid. He glared fiercely at Jessica and the others, then stepped aside.
“Mr. Thorne, Manager Hayes. Please come in, please.”
He forced a smile, gesturing for us to enter.
Manager Hayes and I walked in.
Jessica’s gaze swept over Manager Hayes, carrying a familiar respect. Then her eyes landed on my face, and the warmth in her eyes visibly plummeted.
Manager Hayes coughed, trying to ease the tension. “Mr. Mercer, this is?”
I cut him off directly, looking calmly at Jessica.
“Hello. I’m Michael Thorne.”
I stated my name, my voice not loud.
But in the excessively quiet conference room, it was exceptionally clear.
The smile on Jessica’s face froze for a second. A flash of shock quickly darted across her eyes.
She seemed to think the name sounded familiar.
But that brief shock was quickly replaced by a much stronger sense of impatience and disdain.
She looked me up and down. Her gaze was like she was evaluating a cheap, defective product. The corners of her mouth curled into a mocking sneer.
“Oh?”
She dragged out the syllable.
“So it’s you, Mr. Michael Thorne.”
“Tsk, tsk. You really don’t know when to quit, do you? Are you that desperate?”
“You actually chased me all the way to my company, right behind our CEO?”
“What, did I bruise your ego when I called you out last night? So you came here today to corner me?”
She let out a scoff.
“Was my message yesterday not clear enough? Do I really have to repeat it in front of all these people to get it through your thick skull?”
“I told you to keep your distance!”
“Do you not understand English?”
The air was dead silent.
The other women’s eyes darted back and forth between me and Jessica, filled with the excitement of watching a trainwreck.
Robert’s lips were trembling. “Jessica, shut your damn mouth!”
“Mr. Mercer!”
Jessica suddenly raised her voice, cutting Robert off, wearing an expression of someone who had suffered the world’s greatest injustice.
She pointed her finger at me, almost jabbing it into my face.
“Look at him! I was trying to be nice yesterday. I gave him enough face on Slack, hoping he’d take the hint and back off.”
“But what does he do? He actually follows me to the office today to harass me.”
“Is there no law? Is there no justice?”
“Mr. Mercer, you have to do something about this, otherwise I can’t work in peace!”
Her voice carried a dramatic sob. Her acting skills were practically Oscar-worthy.
5.
Robert’s face was now as white as a sheet. Cold sweat was pouring down his face.
I raised my hand and gently batted away the finger that was about to poke me in the eye.
“Everyone out.”
I glanced at the other women.
Robert immediately acted like he had received a divine command, roaring at the women who were watching the show.
“Did you hear him?! Get out, immediately! Right now!”
The women flinched in terror. They quickly grabbed their drinks and phones, kept their heads down, and scurried out, hugging the walls.
As they passed me, their eyes were filled with undisguised disdain and schadenfreude.
They definitely thought I was sending everyone away to create an opportunity to be “alone” with Jessica so I could “pursue” her.
Truly incredibly stupid.
Jessica stood her ground. Watching her coworkers scurry away, the fake grievance on her face vanished instantly, replaced by a smug “I knew it” expression.
She even shot a look toward the door, her lips pouting high, and mouthed the words:
“See? I told you this toad wouldn’t give up. I yelled at him, and he still wants to be alone with me.”
Manager Hayes coughed awkwardly. “Mr. Mercer, Mr. Thorne is…”
Robert let out a ragged, heavy breath. “Jessica, shut your f*cking mouth! Do you have any idea who you are talking to?!”
Jessica stiffened her neck, looking completely defiant.
“Mr. Mercer, how could I not know? He’s the Michael who’s been harassing me!”
“I made it very clear to him last night. I told him I have a boyfriend. Even if you’re trying to play matchmaker for him, I’m not going to agree.”
“Work is work, and private life is private life. Even if you are the boss, you can’t interfere in your employees’ personal matters.”
She turned to look at me. “If you keep doing this, I’m going to expose your disgusting behavior right in the main project channel. Let everyone from both companies judge who’s right!”
I was completely speechless. What the hell was she talking about? Her imagination was running wild.
What disgusting behavior? Was it just a direct message request?
Robert almost roared, cutting her off.
“Are your eyes glued to the ceiling?! This is Mr. Thorne from the client’s corporate headquarters! CEO Michael Thorne!”
“The biggest boss of our entire project! The eighty-million-dollar deal depends on Mr. Thorne’s approval! Who the hell do you think you are, talking to Mr. Thorne like that?”
“His net worth is in the hundreds of millions. He’s the most sought-after eligible bachelor in the city. How many socialites and celebrities are lining up for him? You think he’d look at you?!”
“And you dare falsely accuse Mr. Thorne of harassing you? I think you’ve lost your damn mind!”
6.
Robert roared until his voice was hoarse, spit flying everywhere.
He really couldn’t hold it in anymore. If he let this idiot keep talking, Vanguard Creatives would be shutting its doors tomorrow.
“Mr. Thorne from the client’s corporate headquarters?”
Jessica’s eyes—which just a moment ago were filled with disdain and impatience—suddenly went wide. Her pupils practically dilated in shock.
She stared at me, her mouth slightly open, as if trying to confirm whether Robert was talking crazy.
Manager Hayes appropriately chimed in with a low voice. “That’s right, Jessica. This is CEO Michael Thorne from the corporate group. He is responsible for the final review of this project. The project proposal was personally reviewed and vetted by Mr. Thorne.”
“The project proposal?”
Jessica muttered, repeating the words. Her face started turning from white to red, and then back from red to white.
Beneath that shock and disbelief, did I actually catch a hint of secret delight?
Her eyes flickered rapidly, and her posture seemed to unconsciously straighten a bit.
That shrew-like, aggressive stance she had just a second ago instantly vanished. Her entire aura changed.
Hah.
I couldn’t be bothered to watch her rapidly changing expressions. I walked straight over and sat in the head seat of the conference table.
Manager Hayes and Robert quickly stood on either side behind me.
“Sit.”
I pointed to the chair across from me.
Jessica forced out what she probably thought was her most graceful, even slightly shy smile.
“Mr. Thorne, it really was a misunderstanding just now. I didn’t purposely ignore your message request. I just really didn’t expect you to be so young.”
“Since you are so sincere, I will definitely give you some serious consideration.”
I couldn’t believe it. Even at this point, she still thought I was trying to hit on her. Was her brain broken?
I didn’t listen to her nonsense at all. I simply threw the manila envelope in my hand onto the conference table.
The sound wasn’t loud, but it was enough to make her jump.
I pulled out a printed document from inside. It was the exact file she had uploaded to the main project channel.
I flipped to the critical page and tapped my finger heavily on the glaringly incorrect unit.
“Jessica. Project Lead Jessica.”
My voice was ice-cold. “Is this how Vanguard Creatives works?”
“The most basic material data unit possible. You wrote ‘kilograms’ instead of ‘tons’? Moving the decimal point three places?”
“Do you know what this means?”
“If we procured materials based on this incorrect data, how much would the cost accounting be off on an eighty-million-dollar project?”
“How massive of a disaster would the construction materials be?”
“The entire project’s timeline, quality, and even safety could have landmines planted in them because of this incredibly stupid mistake!”
“Is this the work you ‘love’? Is this the professional competence you are ‘proud of’? Is this the level of someone who is about to become a Project Lead?”
I pushed the document forward. “This is why I tried to message you. I wanted to tell you privately, to save you some face.”
“But instead of appreciating that, you go full drama queen and imagine this whole theatrical plot.”
“And you go around telling everyone I’m harassing you? Desperate? Creepy entitled male? A toad trying to eat swan meat?”
“Jessica, tell me. What exactly is inside that head of yours?”
My voice wasn’t loud, but every word was a kill shot.
Robert’s face turned green listening to this. He violently slammed his hand on the table.
“Jessica, you incompetent, blundering idiot! You almost killed the company! You almost ruined all of us!”
“And you dare to slander Mr. Thorne? Accuse him of harassing you? Who the f*ck do you think you are! You think Mr. Thorne would look at you? I spit on that!”
“Apologize! Apologize to Mr. Thorne immediately!”
🌟 Continue the story here
👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app
🔍 search for “403329”, and watch the full series ✨!
#MotoNovel
1
On the drive back from picking my daughter up from her dad’s house, she suddenly spoke up.
“Mom, you’re actually pretty calculating. You dump me there as soon as break starts, and then drag me back the second school begins.”
I shot her a bewildered look, not understanding why she’d say something like that.
My daughter continued, “It’s just like when I was a toddler and the hardest to deal with—you bailed. Then, when I got older and easier to manage, you fought tooth and nail to take me back. You always make sure you get the best end of the deal.”
When I was pregnant with her, my ex-husband, David, cheated on me. Barely a month after I gave birth, he took my daughter away from me.
It was only years later, when his new wife got pregnant, that he finally allowed us to be reunited.
I never imagined that, all these years, this was how she saw it.
My heart turned to ice.
Without a word, I spun the steering wheel around and drove her right back to her dad’s house.
2
As my car pulled up to his gated community, I saw David’s SUV pulling out.
My daughter excitedly rolled down the window and yelled, “Dad! Dad!”
She signaled for me to stop, then hopped out and jogged over to his car.
A moment later, she came back.
I watched David’s SUV drive away. His current wife and their young son were in the car with him.
“What did he say?” I asked.
My daughter rolled her eyes at me, her tone laced with annoyance.
“Dad and Ashley are taking Liam to the community center for a class. I told him you agreed to let me keep staying with him.”
“Just drop me off here. I can go in by myself.”
I watched her skip away, dragging her suitcase behind her, feeling like I was in an alternate reality.
When David finally returned her to me, she was already four years old.
A tiny little thing, she clung to Ashley, refusing to let go.
When I forced myself to pick her up and take her away, she cried so hard she could barely breathe.
She kept screaming, “Mommy, Daddy, save me!” as if I were some evil kidnapper tearing her away from her real family.
For the first few days, she cried herself to sleep and woke up crying.
Every single second, she begged to go back to that house.
Thankfully, kids are resilient. Their grief comes and goes quickly.
Under my meticulous, round-the-clock care, my daughter finally started calling me “Mom.”
As she grew older, she started to understand the complicated dynamics of our family.
She stopped calling Ashley “Mom” and switched to “Aunt Ashley.”
All these years, terrified of leaving her with any psychological trauma…
I never said a single bad word about her father in front of her. I even made sure to drop her off to spend holidays with them.
I never expected that in her heart, all of that was just proof of my “calculating” nature.
3
I drove back home alone.
Looking at the steak and lobster I had specifically bought to celebrate her coming home, I let out a heavy sigh.
Over the years, to make up for the broken home, I never skimped on her clothing, food, or housing.
Knowing David had his own new family to worry about, I shouldered 100% of the financial burden of raising her.
Thankfully, I had managed to build a relatively successful career for myself.
I could afford to spoil my daughter.
Realizing I couldn’t possibly eat all this food alone, I called my best friend, Sarah.
Then, I buried myself in the kitchen, trying to use the physical labor to fend off the crushing depression in my chest.
By the time Sarah arrived, I had already whipped up five dishes and a soup.
Staring at the mouth-watering steak and lobster bisque on the table, Sarah clicked her tongue in amazement.
“I’m telling you, Claire, with your cooking skills, Chloe is one spoiled kid.”
“Why couldn’t you have been my mom? Can I be your daughter instead?”
I offered a bitter smile and told her how Chloe would rather stay at David’s than come home to me.
Hearing this, Sarah slammed her hand hard on the table.
“That little brat! Does she really think her dad actually gives a damn about her?”
Then, her eyes welled up with tears.
“Claire, I’ve watched how much you’ve sacrificed for that kid all these years.”
“Please don’t think this is your fault. She’s probably just hitting her rebellious teenage phase.”
I let out a long, heavy sigh.
Over the years, how many incredible career opportunities or great guys had I let slip through my fingers?
It wasn’t that I didn’t want to grab them, but as a single mom, I had to prioritize her stability.
Eight years ago, I was almost engaged to my boyfriend at the time.
But when I read a line in Chloe’s diary that said, “If Mom gets remarried, I will never forgive her for the rest of my life,”
I resolutely broke things off with him.
When it came to Chloe, my conscience was absolutely clear.
4
After seeing Sarah out, I collapsed onto the sofa alone.
I had grown so used to having my daughter around; the days without her felt incredibly lonely.
I had originally thought I’d be happily bringing her home today. I never expected to have a bucket of ice water dumped over my head instead.
I opened Chloe’s social media and, unsurprisingly, saw a blank grey line across her profile.
She had blocked me from seeing her posts since she was 15. I couldn’t see a single thing she shared.
It was as if I were some kind of terrifying monster.
After thinking about it, I sent her a picture of the steak and lobster.
[Hey sweetie, did Dad cook for you? What did you have for dinner tonight?]
A little while later, she sent a picture back.
I clicked on it. It was a pile of pizza and fried food.
[Dad brought me back some leftover pizza. It was good.]
Even though I could tell at a glance from the size of the takeout box that it was likely just leftovers from their dinner out.
But seeing that she seemed to be in a good mood, I played along.
[As long as it’s good, eat up. Mom will make it for you next time.]
She didn’t reply again.
Feeling melancholic, I locked my phone and got up to take out the trash.
Walking through the apartment complex, I ran into an old coworker, Brenda.
She had witnessed David’s affair and the messy divorce that followed firsthand.
She knew all my dirty laundry inside and out.
After a few minutes of small talk, she suddenly asked:
“Hey, isn’t your daughter back yet?”
I answered automatically, “No, she’s spending the summer at her dad’s.”
“Really? I actually ran into your ex-husband and his family at Six Flags today, but I didn’t see your daughter.”
Six Flags? Weren’t they taking the kid to a class at the community center?
I forced a dry laugh. “Kids get older, they probably don’t want to hang out with the family as much.”
Brenda nodded knowingly, her eyes filling with a deeper sense of pity.
“It’s just a shame you’ve wasted so many years. If you meet someone decent, you really should put yourself out there.”
Normally, I would have politely but firmly declined.
But today, driven by some inexplicable impulse, I actually nodded.
“Okay. If you know anyone suitable, feel free to introduce us.”
5
I didn’t expect Brenda to move so fast.
The very next day, she sent me an address.
“It’s a distant nephew of mine, just moved back from the States. You guys should meet.”
Afraid I wouldn’t go, she quickly added:
“He’s a great catch. He’s been so focused on his career all these years that he never got married. Just treat it like making a new friend.”
Even though I was already regretting what I’d agreed to yesterday…
Since things were already in motion, I went to the restaurant at the agreed-upon time.
When I saw the silhouette of the man waiting for me, I almost didn’t process it.
“Claire?”
“Mark?”
Looking at the surprised face of the man in front of me, I let out a surprised laugh.
Years ago, because Chloe had thrown a massive fit and refused to let me marry Mark.
I had initiated a harsh, clean break with him.
At the time, he had desperately begged to know why, but I only apologized and refused to see him again.
Later, I heard he had moved overseas, and I locked that relationship away deep in my heart.
I never imagined that our reunion today would be a blind date.
Was it just a massive coincidence, or was it fate?
“If I had known it was you, I would have come even if I had to crawl,” he joked with a smile.
I laughed along. “I can’t believe after all these years, you still aren’t married.”
A shy, bashful smile spread across Mark’s face.
Just like eight years ago, when our relationship was at its best.
We had a wonderful dinner.
Before we left, Mark looked at me and spoke with genuine sincerity.
“Actually, all these years, I never forgot you. We…”
“It’s not possible anymore,” I cut him off cleanly.
“My daughter is taking her SATs next year. I don’t want to hold you back.”
“Alright,” he shrugged with a hint of regret.
“But I still wish you happiness.”
6
When I turned on the lights in my apartment, I realized my daughter was already home.
“Sweetie? Why didn’t you tell Mom you were coming back?”
Pleasantly surprised, I swapped my heels for slippers and moved to hug her.
Chloe sat on the sofa, arms crossed, glaring at me coldly.
“Where were you? Why are you back so late? Have you been drinking?”
I sniffed my clothes. I didn’t smell anything.
“I just had dinner with a friend and a glass of wine. What’s wrong?”
“A friend?”
Chloe sneered, tossing her phone onto the coffee table.
“Are you sure about that ‘friend’?”
On the screen was a clear photo of Mark and me having dinner together.
“If a classmate hadn’t run into you and asked me why my mom was out on a date…”
“I wouldn’t have even known you were still talking to this random guy.”
Looking at my daughter’s mocking expression, I forced myself to be patient and explain.
“Mom only found out it was Mark when I got to the restaurant. We just caught up as old friends.”
“Please. You just can’t survive without a man, can you?”
My daughter’s words hit me like a physical blow. I stood frozen in place.
“Did you think I didn’t know about you secretly meeting up with my math teacher?”
“And Mr. Davis? You guys text every single day. Isn’t that disgusting?”
“You preach to me every day about not dating in high school, but your own personal life is filthier than anyone’s.”
“You really think nobody knows the disgusting things you do? Having a mother like you is humiliating.”
My daughter screamed at me as if she were venting a deep-seated hatred.
When she finished, she grabbed her bag, slammed the door, and stormed out.
Leaving me standing alone in the living room, trying to digest the vile character assassination delivered by the person I loved most in the world.
7
Chloe had always struggled with math, so I frequently communicated with her teacher, hoping to find ways to boost her grades.
Since she was a sickly child, I was constantly in touch with Dr. Davis, her pediatrician, to manage her health.
And Mark? Today was the first time I had seen him in 8 years, and I had no intention of seeing him again.
I never, ever imagined that in my daughter’s heart, this was the kind of person I was.
Selfish, calculating, promiscuous, desperate for male attention.
I sat on the sofa with a bitter smile, feeling a pain in my chest that was even sharper than the day I caught David cheating.
That day, he had shielded Ashley behind him and told me:
“Claire, if you’re angry, take it out on me. Don’t hurt an innocent person.”
They were the innocent ones. I was the villain.
I don’t know how long I sat in the dark.
My phone chimed.
I opened it. Sarah had sent me a screenshot.
[What is Ashley trying to pull? She’s really treating your daughter like her own.]
I tapped on the image. It was a selfie of Ashley with her arm around Chloe.
The caption read: [My poor, misunderstood girl.]
Chloe’s eyes were still red from crying, but she was leaning into Ashley’s embrace.
A perfect picture of mother-daughter bonding.
I clicked over to Chloe’s profile. Surprisingly, I could see a new post.
It was the exact same photo, but with a different caption.
[Heart-to-heart with Mom.]
I hadn’t been granted access to her posts in almost two years.
So in this moment, I was absolutely certain she had unblocked me just so I could see this.
She wanted me to see their “mother-daughter” bond. She wanted me to see her leaning on another woman.
She knew perfectly well that Ashley was the woman her father cheated with, yet she still chose to call her “Mom.”
Maybe only the people closest to you know exactly where to twist the knife so it hurts the most.
But she wasn’t a child anymore. She needed to take responsibility for her own choices.
And I was going to support her decision.
This daughter… I didn’t want her anymore.
8
For the next few weeks, I poured all my energy back into my career.
I proactively took on several massive, complex projects, working until my head spun every single day.
Naturally, I didn’t have the time or energy to obsess over what Chloe was doing.
I didn’t send five or six texts a day, desperately trying to prove my love.
I imagine she was quite happy to be rid of me.
During this time, Ashley only contacted me once.
Her voice was still that soft, gentle purr that seemed to captivate both men and women.
“Claire, when are you going to come pick Chloe up?”
At the time, I was busy finalizing the final draft of a major design project.
I replied with genuine confusion: “She has arms and legs. She can come back whenever she wants.”
All these years, I had strictly adhered to a “no contact unless absolutely necessary” policy with David, communicating only through Ashley when needed.
When it came to that cheating bastard and his mistress, my stance was always: ‘I hope you two are locked together forever.’
Ashley didn’t say much else, only trying to excuse Chloe’s behavior by saying she was in her rebellious teenage phase.
She asked me to be a little more understanding if she had done anything to upset me.
I almost laughed out loud.
The mistress who usurped my marriage was now trying to lecture me on maternal patience.
“She can do whatever she wants. You don’t need to tell me that.”
To my surprise, Chloe actually did come home on her own.
That day, my department had finally closed a massive deal, and as the Director, I treated my team to dinner.
I drank a little too much out of sheer excitement, and one of the junior girls on my team had to drive me home.
As soon as I walked through the door, I saw Chloe storming out of her bedroom, looking pissed.
“You really are going wild, aren’t you? What kind of mother acts like this?”
My junior, Maya, who was just about to say hello, froze in her tracks.
She shot me an awkward glance, then forced a polite smile.
“This must be Chloe! Director Li talks about you all the time. You’re so pretty.”
Chloe glared at her and scoffed.
Then she turned, slammed her bedroom door shut, and went back inside.
Tipsy and exhausted, I told Maya to drive safe, and then I fell into a heavy, dreamless sleep.
9
The reason Chloe came back was that the new school year was starting.
Previously, to accommodate the intense schedule of her junior year,
I had meticulously planned out her schedule for the entire year, optimizing every single second.
This meant I had to wake up at 4:30 AM every day to make breakfast, and drive her to school at 5:30 AM sharp.
I’d rush home at 6:00 PM to cook dinner, then drive back to work at 8:00 PM.
I’d sneak out of the office early at 11:30 AM just to deliver a hot lunch to her school.
And the evenings were a whole new battleground…
But back then, I felt incredibly fulfilled.
It felt like we were fighting the battle of high school together.
But now, looking at that meticulously color-coded schedule, I just felt like the old me was completely insane.
I had a perfectly good life, and I chose to torture myself.
I wasn’t expecting it, but on the very first day of school, Chloe was late.
She barged into my bedroom, furious, screaming at me to drive her to school.
“It’s 8:00 AM, do you realize that?! Morning homeroom is already over!”
“Why didn’t you wake me up?! WHY!!!”
I was groggily jolted awake by her screaming, her voice piercing my eardrums.
“The allowance I gave you yesterday included Uber money.”
“If you think the commute is too inconvenient, you can apply to live in the dorms.”
“I am not obligated to drive you to school every morning. I’ll pick you up in the evenings since it’s late.”
Seeing she was about to argue, I glanced at my phone.
“It’s almost 8:30 now. Are you sure you want to keep throwing a tantrum here?”
Chloe stormed out, slamming the door so hard the walls shook.
I actually knew exactly why she had overslept.
At 2:00 AM last night, I could still hear the sound of video games coming from her room.
In the past, I would have gone in and scolded her, telling her to go to sleep immediately.
But now, what did any of that have to do with me?
🌟 Continue the story here
👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app
🔍 search for “403345”, and watch the full series ✨!
#MotoNovel
So, when he turned 28, I was already 33.
He used to tell me that age would never be an issue between us.
But later, he told his childhood best friend: “I don’t know what it is, man. But once Sarah crossed 30, I just felt she was… kind of dirty.”
Then, he found a mistress. She looked a bit like me.
He gave me his love, and gave her his sex.
He thought he had the perfect, flawless setup.
Until I handed him the divorce papers.
I smiled and told him, “Actually, there’s one huge perk to dating and marrying an older woman. And that is, an older woman knows how to play the game—and she knows how to take a loss!”
01
A woman’s sixth sense is terrifyingly sharp when it needs to be.
While Caleb Wright was taking a shower, a call came through on his phone.
It was a local number, no caller ID.
I answered it.
I said “Hello” twice, and asked “Who is this?”
The person on the other end didn’t make a sound and hung up immediately.
Those few seconds of silence felt like a mutual understanding.
The other person knew who I was.
And I realized that something was very wrong.
So, I unlocked Caleb’s phone.
Using that phone number, I tracked down her profile on his social media apps.
It was a young girl with a soft, cute anime profile picture. Her nickname was “Sweetheart,” there was no saved contact name, and her notifications were set to mute.
Their chat history was completely clean.
Except for one unread message: [I miss you.]
Just those three words made my heart violently clench.
I figured, there was a massive chance Caleb was cheating on me.
My hand holding the phone suddenly felt weak and shaky.
I clicked into the girl’s feed.
Her cover photo was a selfie—messy bun, duck lips, radiating youthful energy. She was undeniably pretty.
I didn’t look too closely. I just pulled out my own phone and took a picture of the screen.
She didn’t have many posts.
I scrolled through quickly and froze on one of them.
She wrote: [I told you I only wanted $143! Not a penny more!]
Below it was a screenshot.
A screenshot of her Venmo history with Caleb.
Her note for him: Princess Feeder.
She asked Caleb: [Where’s my $143?]
Caleb transferred her $2,000.
She didn’t accept it. She sent it right back.
[I only want $143!]
Caleb replied with a string of ellipses, but eventually sent her the exact amount she asked for.
She replied: [Do you know what 143 means? It means ‘I love you’—I want to be with you forever!]
My face was totally blank. I took a picture of it all for my records.
After exiting the girl’s feed, I opened Caleb’s bank and Venmo apps.
I checked every single transaction between them.
One after another, scrolling down, there was seemingly no end to it.
The most consistent ones were the massive $5,000 transfers at the beginning of every month.
That had been going on for three months.
Besides that, there were hundreds of random transfers. A thousand here, two thousand there, a hundred, two hundred. Countless.
Including the special numbers: $143, $520, $1314.
I photographed every single transaction.
Throughout the entire process, I was dead calm.
I was even calm enough to mark their chat as “unread” before I put the phone down.
02
“What’s wrong? Why are you zoning out?”
Caleb walked out of the bathroom, drying his hair with a towel, looking at me with confusion.
I snapped back to reality.
I looked up at him.
He was only wearing a towel. Broad shoulders, narrow waist, eight-pack abs.
Caleb had always kept himself in incredible shape.
People used to envy me: “With a guy who looks like that, as long as he isn’t out committing murder or arson, what can’t you forgive? Plus, he’s so devoted to you!”
I used to think Caleb was devoted to me, too.
But looking at it now, that was just my own delusion.
“Nothing. Someone just called your phone, didn’t say a word, and hung up. Do you want to check it?”
“Probably just a spam call. Ignore it.”
Caleb’s expression was completely natural as he took the phone.
He threw his damp towel into the hamper and grabbed his pack of cigarettes from the nightstand.
“I’m gonna go smoke on the balcony.”
Because I hated the smell of smoke, Caleb always went out to the balcony.
Turns out, he wasn’t really going out there to smoke.
A moment later, he walked back in.
He started changing his clothes while talking to me.
“Babe, I gotta head out for a bit. It’s an emergency, don’t wait up for me.”
“What happened?”
“The machines over at Greg’s shop are acting up. I don’t know if the guy’s just cursed or what. They were totally fine during calibration, but the screens keep glitching out on him. I need to go take a look. If it gets too late, I’ll just crash there.”
“Is Liam going with you?”
“Yeah!”
It sounded so real.
He had facts, he had a timeline, he even had a witness.
I nodded.
“Drive safe.”
03
Caleb left in a hurry.
I stared at our framed wedding photo on the wall for a long time.
I just couldn’t understand.
Why?
Why would Caleb cheat?
And that girl.
Who was she?
Her face, her financial dynamic with Caleb, her social media posts…
Everything flashed through my mind, piece by piece.
Suddenly, I caught something.
I scrambled for my phone.
That girl. I had seen her before.
04
It was about six months ago.
Caleb had been taken to the police precinct for getting into a bar brawl.
I went to bail him out.
He was mostly fine, just a scrape on his cheekbone.
But his mood was awful. His eyes were vicious, his whole body radiating hostility.
Aside from his teenage years, I hadn’t seen Caleb like that in a very long time.
He had beaten the other guy to a bloody pulp. He clearly hadn’t held back.
The other guy was screaming for an apology and compensation.
Caleb just sneered.
If I hadn’t been holding him back, he would have lunged at the guy again.
After the paperwork was finally sorted, I led him out.
A girl wearing an apron from a local diner rushed up to us.
She thanked Caleb profusely: “Sir, if I hadn’t run into you today, I really don’t know what would have happened. Seriously, thank you so much!”
I paused and looked at Caleb.
He looked completely impatient.
“I suggest you get a new job.”
The girl looked distressed.
“If I had any other choice, I wouldn’t be…”
Caleb’s expression grew even more irritated. He cut her off roughly.
“Not my problem. Do whatever you want!”
Maya Davis had come with me that day.
As Caleb shook the girl off and stormed ahead, Maya pulled my arm: “Don’t you think that girl looks a little bit like you?”
I laughed it off, thinking she was overthinking it.
But I couldn’t help glancing back at the girl one more time.
The image in my memory merged perfectly with the photo on the phone.
It was her.
05
Caleb didn’t come home that night.
He finally walked in the following evening.
He brought me takeout from my favorite Mexican spot.
“It’s from that place you love. I waited in line forever. You eat first, I’m gonna hit the shower!”
“Okay!”
Caleb went into the bathroom.
I grabbed my spare keys, carried the takeout bag, and headed straight to the underground garage.
His car had been washed. It was spotless.
The passenger seat was adjusted to the position I usually kept it in.
There seemed to be absolutely nothing out of the ordinary.
But none of that was what I was there for. I wanted the dashcam footage.
I pulled the memory card and reviewed all the footage from yesterday to today.
Caleb drove to the south side of the city.
He called the girl and said two words: “Come down!”
The girl practically skipped as she hopped into the passenger seat.
The sound of kissing. Heavy breathing.
“Did you touch that old woman?”
“Shut up!”
“Did you or not?”
Caleb’s voice was hoarse, thick with lust.
“What do you think?”
The girl sounded smug: “You’re all mine!”
“Don’t go begging for mercy later!”
The speed of the car perfectly illustrated the driver’s urgency.
The car finally parked at an apartment complex near the local college.
The next time the camera recorded video, it was 10:00 AM the following day.
Only Caleb was in the car.
The video played quietly.
I sat in the car, my entire body stiff.
My muscles were so tense they ached.
I reached out to turn off the screen, but a phone rang through the audio.
It was Liam Carter, Caleb’s best friend.
“Where are you man? Why aren’t you here yet?”
“On my way!”
“Tsk. Being this late isn’t your style. Don’t tell me you were with your little Sweetheart again.”
Caleb just hummed in agreement.
Liam sounded somewhat speechless: “No way, man. The frequency of this is way too high. Are you falling for her?”
Caleb chuckled lightly.
“What’s real? What’s fake?”
“Cut the crap! I thought you were just playing around. How did this turn into a long-term thing? Weren’t you so madly in love with Sarah you’d die for her? Why the sudden cheating?”
That question seemed to stump Caleb.
After a long pause, he finally spoke: “Sarah is 33.”
“And?”
“I don’t know why, man. But once she crossed thirty, I just felt she was… kind of dirty.”
06
How long had it been since Caleb touched me?
I smoked a cigarette while thinking about it.
It felt like it started right around six months ago.
During that time, work had gotten crazy.
I was pushing for a promotion, pulling all-nighters, working back-to-back shifts.
Every day I came home, all I wanted to do was sleep.
Caleb would wrap his arms around me, trying to kiss me.
I pushed him away.
“Stop, I’m too exhausted. Next time!”
The first time, Caleb didn’t mind. He even felt bad for me.
The second time, he wasn’t happy, but he kept his temper in check.
The third time, he got mad and slammed the door as he left.
I had to track him down at a bar later that night.
I realized I was handling things poorly.
So I wrapped my arms around his neck and accepted his aggressive kisses.
That time wasn’t beautiful. It actually hurt.
Caleb noticed, and finished quickly.
That night, he turned his back to me. It was the first time he hadn’t rolled over to hold me.
I felt helpless. I didn’t know how to fix it, and I didn’t know how to coax him back into a good mood.
But he managed to fix his own mood before I could.
He said it was his fault. He said he was being too impatient.
“Don’t overthink it, and don’t take it to heart. Once you’re done with this busy period, let’s take a vacation!”
I thought the issue was resolved.
He was still good to me.
Even though he no longer held me when we slept, even though we hadn’t been intimate in six months.
He was still good to me.
But now he was saying that he thought I was dirty.
That word. From the moment I heard it until now, just thinking about it sent chills deep into my bones.
My hand holding the cigarette hadn’t stopped shaking.
The ash fell onto my hand, burning my skin.
But it was nothing compared to the damage that one word had done to me.
07
Caleb called me, asking where I was and why I wasn’t back yet.
I told him I went downstairs to throw out the trash and would be right up.
He just said, “Okay.”
“I’m gonna go to sleep then!”
By the time I got upstairs, Caleb was already fast asleep. He was facing the left, clinging to the edge of the bed, leaving more than half the mattress empty for me.
I didn’t get under the covers. I just sat on the edge of the bed.
I stared at his back all night.
The year I met him, he was eighteen. He had just been accepted to a college in this city.
The rebellious teenager had applied to a school behind his parents’ backs, grabbed his acceptance letter, and ran. He didn’t even pack luggage, just a backpack.
His older brother, Ethan Wright, was worried about him. Ethan asked for a favor and had me pick him up at the bus station.
“He has no money on him, and the dorms aren’t open yet. Let him crash at your place for a bit. The kid is stubborn as hell. If he says or does anything to piss you off, just smack him!”
I thought Ethan was insane.
Even if he was just a kid, there was no way I was letting him live with me.
I was fully prepared to just rent him a hotel room.
But he looked so pathetic. And so obedient.
When I got to the station, he was squatting under a big tree, hugging his backpack like an abandoned puppy.
He quietly followed me back to my apartment.
Before I could even tell him he needed to stay somewhere else, he grabbed my sleeve and started playing the pity card.
“Sarah, I’ll be so good. I’ll cook for you, I’ll clean the apartment. Please don’t kick me out!”
I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. I thought he was just sweet-talking me.
But he actually cooked for me every single day. He even rode his little electric scooter to pick me up from work.
Because of him, my lonely, quiet apartment finally felt alive.
The daily grind suddenly didn’t feel so exhausting anymore.
We lived under the same roof for a month.
Eventually, I helped him buy his dorm supplies and moved him onto campus.
At first, I thought it was just a fleeting moment in time.
But later he told me, he only applied to that university because of me.
He said he saw me once when he was sixteen.
And from then on, I was the only thing he looked forward to.
This man—back when he was still just a boy—offered me his entire, unblemished heart.
I fell for it.
But now, he wanted it back.
So I had to pull myself out of the mud, as fast as I could.
🌟 Continue the story here
👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app
🔍 search for “403330”, and watch the full series ✨!
#MotoNovel
At my family’s reality TV show appearance, the host asked us to share a funny story about our brother.
My older sister laughed, “To help me collect this rare set of blind box figures I wanted, he bought out the entire store’s inventory.”
My younger sister chimed in, “He meant to send a picture of his dog to our family group chat, but accidentally sent a shirtless selfie instead!”
My brother’s ears turned red. “Shut up!”
The studio audience erupted in laughter.
The host then turned to me. “Did you happen to save that photo, middle sister?”
I held my hands up. “No. Because I wasn’t in that group chat.”
The atmosphere instantly froze.
The host hurriedly tried to smooth things over. “Well, I’m sure he’s bought you plenty of blind boxes too, right?”
I offered a shy, timid smile. “No. But he did give me a four-leaf clover necklace once.”
The audience let out a collective “Aww,” marveling at the wealth and generosity.
I blinked innocently.
“He originally bought it for my older sister. But to get me to agree to move out of the house and live in the school dorms, he used it to bribe me.”
“When my sister saw the necklace on me later, she called me a thief.”
“My dad threw me into the swimming pool so I could ‘sober up’ and realize my place. They only found out it was a misunderstanding later. Funny, right?”
“Huh? Why isn’t anyone laughing?”
1
The show was broadcasting live.
The massive screen in front of us was scrolling with real-time viewer comments:
[Oh my god, I smell drama.]
[Rich family secrets? Shocking insider info?]
[Grab your popcorn, people!]
[Wait, didn’t the superstar brother previously say he only had ONE older sister and ONE younger sister? Where did this middle sister pop up from?]
[I just checked his Wiki page. The family section literally doesn’t list a middle sister. What’s going on?]
[She doesn’t look adopted either. She clearly looks like the mom.]
The netizens were spot on.
I was indeed a biological daughter of the Sterling family.
It’s just that while we shared blood, we shared absolutely no affection.
My parents had four children in total: one boy and three girls.
I was the second youngest.
Our family originally lived in a small, coastal working-class town.
When my uncle made it big out of state, he offered to bring my parents into his business.
However, he could only secure spots in the local elite schools for three children.
After a brief discussion, my parents decided to leave me behind in our small town.
They asked my dad’s former coworker to take care of me, promising to send him $100 a month for my living expenses.
I finished middle school in that small town before finally being brought to the Sterling family.
By that time, they were already living in a massive, sprawling mansion.
I only lived in that house for one semester during my sophomore year of high school.
After transferring to a new school, I chose to live in the dorms.
I rarely went home, maybe once a month at most.
I was almost never seen in the same frame as my parents or siblings.
It made perfect sense that the internet didn’t know I existed.
In fact, when the producers of this reality show came knocking, I just happened to be visiting the house.
Before that day, no outsider knew the Sterling family had a hidden daughter.
2
[Ahhh! This girl is from my high school! She was the absolute valedictorian of the district. She just graduated college this year. We all knew she was a genius, but we had NO idea she was a billionaire heiress!]
[Wait, public high school?? A Sterling kid went to a public high school? Are you joking?]
[It’s true! She transferred there from the elite prep academy.]
[What? Why would you give up a mansion to go live in a crappy dorm room? That’s insane.]
Watching the live comments dig deeper and deeper, I smiled sweetly at the camera.
“Please don’t misunderstand. After I explained the situation, my family apologized to me.”
“Our family values discipline. My dad is very strict about moral character, so he only acted harshly out of tough love.”
“He holds himself to high standards, which is why he runs his business so successfully.”
“My brother told me to live in the dorms to foster my independence. He was doing it for my own good.”
“And after the misunderstanding was cleared up, my dad even wired me a generous compensation fund.”
The host immediately seized the opportunity. “Care to share the exact number? Let us peasants experience the high life!”
I turned to look at my dad. “Dad, how much was it again?”
My dad kept his face perfectly straight. “$30,000.”
“Wow!” The studio audience gasped in envy.
My dad continued, his tone authoritative, “Our family operates on a clear system of rewards and punishments. If you do well, you’re rewarded; if you mess up, you’re penalized. No beating around the bush. That’s exactly how I run my company…”
The skepticism in the comments instantly morphed into praise:
[That’s a true businessman for you. Principled.]
[Papa Sterling, please kick me into a pool and give me $30,000!]
[Crying, I want a good brother like him too!]
Amidst the chorus of flattery, the taping concluded successfully.
My dad, looking incredibly smug and self-satisfied, actually offered to let me ride home in his car.
I glanced at my younger sister, Chloe, who was pouting heavily.
“No thanks. Let Snowball ride in my spot. He doesn’t like it when I get too close.”
Snowball was Chloe’s Doberman. He was incredibly vicious.
I still have a scar on my calf from where he bit a chunk out of me.
My mom shot Chloe a look of fake, affectionate exasperation. “You child, you’re so spoiled. Make the dog give up his seat for your sister.”
Chloe affectionately pressed her face against the dog’s head, shooting me a provocative glare.
“I’ll give up the seat, but that depends on whether my sister is brave enough to sit in it.”
“Oh, you,” my mom sighed, as if she were totally helpless against her youngest daughter’s antics. She turned back to me. “Well, Maya, why don’t you just take an Uber to The Grand Bistro?”
Before filming started, they had planned to go out for a late-night celebratory dinner afterward.
Except, at the time, I wasn’t included in that headcount.
I looked at the darkening expressions of my older sister, Mia, and Chloe, and smiled. “I’m a little tired. I think I’ll skip it.”
My mom let out a barely concealed sigh of relief, though she made sure to complain verbally:
“You really are ungrateful. You never participate in family activities, and then you’ll turn around and say I play favorites.”
“Mom, that’s enough,” my brother, Liam, interrupted, walking over and grabbing my arm. “Come on. I’ll drive you home.”
3
Unlike the cold shoulder she gave me, Chloe leaned on Liam’s car window, repeatedly urging him:
“Liam, hurry up and come back! We’ll wait for you.”
I tried to pull my arm free. “I can just call an Uber. You don’t have to go out of your way.”
Liam wouldn’t let go. “You’re my sister. How is it going out of my way?”
I raised an eyebrow in surprise.
Well, this was new. Liam, actually saying something nice to me.
Then I glanced at the fans secretly filming us with their phones from the parking lot perimeter.
Ah. Got it.
Once the car pulled onto the street, I stared blankly out the window.
While waiting at a red light, Liam suddenly spoke:
“I didn’t expect you to still remember that incident.”
I smiled, still looking out the window.
He sighed. “Regardless of what happened, I have to thank you for today.”
Well, this was truly a rare occasion.
The arrogant, privileged superstar young master was actually thanking me.
Just as I was about to drop a sarcastic remark, my phone dinged with a text alert.
[Dad has transferred $30,000 to your account]
[You performed well today. This is your reward.]
I accepted the transfer and showed the text thread to Liam.
“Bro, how about some actual, tangible gratitude?”
Liam agreed without hesitation. “I already ordered the newest four-leaf clover necklace for you. It’ll be delivered tomorrow.”
I smiled brightly. “Thanks, bro.”
Liam’s expression turned slightly unnatural. “You don’t have to thank me. I should have given it to you a long time ago.”
He wasn’t lying.
During my sophomore year, he used a necklace to bribe me into moving out of the house and into the school dorms.
But he didn’t tell Mia beforehand.
When Mia saw the necklace in my hands, she immediately accused me of being a thief.
The entire family took her side.
I couldn’t swim at the time. My dad kicked me into the deep end of the pool, and I swallowed lungfuls of water.
I thrashed and choked in absolute terror.
They just stood on the edge of the pool, watching me with cold, indifferent eyes.
It was only because Liam came home just in time that I was pulled out before I drowned.
Mia clutched that necklace, her expression haughty and arrogant.
“I don’t care. If he gave it to me first, it’s mine.”
My dad casually shoved a few crumpled bills into my hand. “It’s just a necklace. If your sister likes it, let her have it. Go buy yourself another one.”
The money he handed me amounted to exactly $150.
That was also the very first bit of “pocket money” I received after returning to the Sterling family.
The streetlights blurred past the car window. I narrowed my eyes.
“It’s fine. Better late than never, right?”
4
During the short drive to drop me off, Chloe called Liam at least three times.
He dropped me off at my apartment building and sped off in a massive hurry.
I took a hot bath and had just comfortably settled into bed when my phone chimed with a rapid succession of notifications.
I checked it. Mia had added me to the family group chat.
[Mia: Welcome Maya to the group! This was my oversight, I completely forgot to add you before.]
[Chloe: (Yawn emoji) Honestly, we barely talk in this group anyway, so it doesn’t really matter if she’s in it or not. (Doge emoji)]
[Mia: (Smile) (Smile) (Smile)]
[Liam: Maya, is there anything you want to eat? I can bring you some takeout. (Image) (Image) (Image)]
A barrage of mouth-watering food photos flooded the screen, pushing Mia and Chloe’s conversation out of view.
I originally intended to decline, but changed my mind at the last second:
[Anything is fine, thanks bro.]
Liam replied with an “OK” emoji. After that, no one spoke in the group again.
I opened a different, private chat thread and transferred the $30,000 over.
[Uncle Miller, I’ve already arranged everything with the hospital in Boston. Next week, you and Auntie take Ryan down there for his prosthetic eye surgery first. I’ll meet you guys there afterward.]
The “typing…” indicator at the top of the chat box flashed for a long time.
Finally, the response came through: [Please be careful with everything you do. We are waiting for you.]
My nose stung, and tears rolled down my cheeks.
Soon.
It will all be over soon.
5
The next morning, Mom called me down for breakfast.
Chloe blinked at me innocently. “Maya, it’s such a shame you didn’t come eat with us last night. The king crab was so fresh.”
Mia nudged a groggy-looking Liam. “Liam, didn’t you say you were going to bring Maya some takeout?”
Liam froze, a look of genuine guilt washing over his face. “I’m so sorry, Maya. I completely forgot.”
Before I could even respond, my mom set her bowl down with a sharp clack.
“What is there to apologize for? You told her to come, and she refused. Who made the rule that you must bring her food? We don’t tolerate princess syndrome in this house.”
I let out a helpless sigh. “Mom, you’re overthinking it. I didn’t expect him to.”
“Whether you expected it or not, I can’t guarantee you won’t throw a fit later. I’m just educating you now. You just need to tell me if you heard me or not.”
“This nasty habit of always talking back must be something you picked up from that Miller family. You’ve been back for almost three years and still haven’t fixed it. How am I supposed to show you off in public acting like this?”
“I was actually planning to set you up on a date with the Harrison boy, so you two could get to know each other…”
“Mom!” Liam cut her off sharply. “Maya just graduated college. She still needs to go to grad school. Why are you setting her up on blind dates?”
“Oh, right,” my mom said, as if she had suddenly remembered. She stared at me intently. “What score did you get on the entrance exams? Which school did you apply to?”
I kept my expression perfectly neutral. “It’s not great. Nowhere near as good as Mia’s. I only scored a 650. I applied to Western State.”
My mom seemed to let out a massive sigh of relief. She asked again to double-check, “Really?”
“The acceptance letter is on my desk. The maid should have seen it when she was cleaning.”
My mom turned to look at the maid, Maria.
Maria nodded confirming it.
The tension in my mom’s face instantly vanished, and her tone softened considerably:
“650 isn’t terrible, even though it can’t compare to your sister’s score. Western State is a decent school, it’s just a bit far from home.”
“But transportation is so convenient these days, you can come back whenever you want.”
I murmured an agreement, and my mom finally broke into a full smile. “Eat up, before the food gets cold.”
Chloe snatched a piece of sausage I was just about to grab with my fork, and tossed it to her Doberman.
“I could never bear to move away from home. Next year, when I take my exams, I’m going to get into the same Ivy League school as Mia.”
Mia smiled smugly. “Great! When you get here, you can take over my spot as Student Body President.”
The conversation seamlessly shifted back to revolving around Mia and Chloe.
Only then did I realize that my back was covered in a layer of cold sweat.
If I hadn’t realized early on that my mother despised the idea of me outshining my sisters, and deliberately tanked my exam scores…
Then right now, I would be facing that disastrous blind date.
The Harrison boy she mentioned was a notorious, wealthy playboy in our city.
He had publicly bragged that he intended to have a wife and a dozen mistresses, funding them all with his trust fund.
Any family with a shred of decency refused to marry their daughters to him.
But my own mother wanted to set me up with him.
A metallic taste rose in the back of my throat.
I forced it down by taking a large gulp of my oatmeal.
Liam picked up a piece of sausage and placed it in my bowl.
“When your freshman orientation starts, I’ll drive you.”
“Okay, thanks bro.”
Mia smiled and asked, “What are your plans for today, Maya? Do you want to come to the spa with us?”
I rubbed my hands together awkwardly. “Ah, I would really love to, but I already made plans with Ryan today. I can’t stand him up.”
Mia raised an eyebrow, a meaningful, mocking smirk on her lips. “Oh. Well, have fun with that.”
Liam shot me a look. He seemed like he wanted to say something, but frowned and swallowed his words.
6
Ryan and I are both cycling enthusiasts.
We rode our bikes along the coastal boardwalk, completing a full loop before finally stopping under the shade of some palm trees.
“Here.”
Ryan handed me a boba tea.
It was my absolute favorite: Jasmine Green Tea with extra boba.
It was hilariously tragic that my entire biological family had no idea what I liked.
But the neighbor boy knew every single detail.
“Thanks.”
I took it, sipping the tea while gazing out at the vast ocean.
He followed my gaze, his voice soft. “You like the ocean?”
“Yeah. I grew up by the sea. Even though my small hometown isn’t as glamorous as this city, I loved it there.”
Because over there, I had people who truly loved me.
Uncle Miller, Auntie Miller.
And my “brother,” Ryan’s older brother, Leo.
Ryan smiled, but then his expression quickly darkened. He looked at me seriously:
“Maya, there’s something I don’t think I should hide from you.”
He pulled out his phone and opened a group chat titled [The Garden (No Maya Allowed)].
“Yesterday, before your sister added you to the main family chat, she created a new, secret group. Look for yourself.”
He thoughtfully scrolled back to yesterday’s chat history for me.
[Chloe: Moving operations over here. We’ll chat in this group from now on.]
[Mia: Copy that.]
[Dad: 1.]
[Mom: 1.]
[Liam: …]
[Mia: But we can’t completely ignore the main chat, otherwise she’ll get suspicious.]
[Chloe: That’s easy. Mom, just forward those random cooking tutorial videos into the main chat. She’ll have to watch them before she can reply and try to start a conversation, right?]
[Mom: No, what if she actually tries to talk to me about them? I won’t know how to respond.]
[Chloe: @Dad, Dad, just forward those dense financial articles into the chat. She won’t understand a word of them.]
[Dad: Not necessary. She behaved well today, clearly trying to suck up to us. I gave her a taste of the sweet life with that transfer. If we give her too much attention, she’ll start getting arrogant again.]
[Liam: Fine, fine. I’ll be the one to talk to her in the main chat.]
[Mia: Thanks, big bro.]
[Chloe: Thanks, big bro.]
…
I didn’t even finish reading before handing the phone back to him.
“So, showing me this… what exactly are you trying to achieve?”
Ryan was taken aback for a second, then quickly explained:
“I just think it’s wrong for them to deceive you like this, and even worse to mock you behind your back. You’re a member of the Sterling family too; you deserve the same love as the rest of them.”
I squeezed my boba cup, letting out a soft laugh:
“Ryan, you knew showing me this would make me sad. Why didn’t you just keep it a secret?”
“Even if you never told me, it wouldn’t have mattered, right?”
“Why are you telling me now?”
I turned to look at the stunned, handsome boy beside me.
“Just like before my college entrance exams, when my brother got into that car accident and injured his eyes. He intentionally hid it from me because he was terrified it would ruin my focus for the exams.”
“But you just ‘coincidentally’ insisted I accompany you to the hospital for a check-up the day before my exams, and we just ‘coincidentally’ ran into Uncle and Auntie Miller there.”
“You wanted to see me in pain. You wanted to see me panic. But why? Aren’t you supposed to be my friend?”
Ryan’s expression became incredibly complex. “Maya…”
“Haha, why do you look so serious?”
I suddenly burst out laughing. “I’m just joking! You didn’t actually take me seriously, did you? You are my one and only friend in this city. Why would I ever doubt you? Right?”
Ryan opened his mouth in a daze, but eventually managed to force a warm, gentle smile. “Right. I am your one and only friend.”
7
Ryan didn’t know.
I had actually, genuinely fallen for him once.
The day after I moved back into the Sterling mansion, I was supposed to report to my new elite high school.
My mom told me to ride with my sisters.
But Chloe refused to let me in the car.
“No way! She smells like fish! Snowball hates the smell of fish.”
She let her massive Doberman hog more than half the backseat, declaring self-righteously:
“Besides, there’s no room left in the car anyway.”
Mia and my mom took the front seats. Not a single one of them paid any attention to my humiliation.
It was Ryan who drove up and invited me to ride in his family’s car to school.
He even comforted me, saying, “Love from others is just icing on the cake. If you don’t have it, don’t force it. Loving yourself is what’s most important.”
I wrote that quote on the very first page of my diary.
After that, he insisted I ride with him to and from school every day.
I felt bad constantly inconveniencing him, so I bought myself a cheap bicycle.
When he saw it, he went out and bought a bicycle too, becoming my daily riding partner.
He was willing to listen to my problems, offered me advice, and even confronted the classmates who were bullying me.
He took me hiking, took me to see the ocean, and told me that my future was as boundless as my vision.
I felt so incredibly lucky to have met someone so wonderful during my darkest, loneliest days.
I was completely, blissfully ignorant.
Until the winter break of my sophomore year.
Because my final exam scores were dramatically higher than everyone else’s, the teachers praised me as a “genius.”
I naïvely thought my parents would be proud to hear this.
But my dad never cared about my grades.
When my mom found out, her face darkened, and she made a snide, sarcastic remark:
“Oh. I guess that Miller guy actually knows how to teach.”
Without a second thought, she transferred me to a notoriously rough, underfunded public high school.
It was from that moment I realized: I was not allowed to be better than Mia or Chloe.
I had to be painfully average just to survive in that house.
So, I started intentionally bombing my tests.
I had to score higher than Chloe, but not so high that I threatened Mia’s status or embarrassed the Sterling family.
It was a deeply exhausting, soul-crushing psychological balancing act.
There was one time I truly couldn’t handle the pressure anymore. I decided to tell Ryan my secret.
I called to ask him to meet up, but he apologized, saying he was busy and couldn’t get away.
I decided to wait until he was free to tell him.
I wandered aimlessly through the neighborhood park.
And that’s where I overheard his conversation with Mia:
“Maya’s scores plummeted this semester. I have a feeling she’s doing it on purpose. Did she tell you any insider info?”
“No. I think it’s pretty normal. After all, her new public school doesn’t have great teachers.”
“I’m still not convinced. Keep an eye on her for me. Don’t let her have too much time to study. If necessary, arrange for some people to cause trouble for her.”
“Understood.”
“And listen to me—if you dare catch real feelings for her while playing this game, I will make sure you never see me again.”
“Mia, even if you don’t trust me, you should trust yourself. Maya… she isn’t worth a thousandth of you.”
I hid behind a tree, watching them embrace and kiss.
The blue sky, the setting sun, the handsome boy, the beautiful girl.
What a picture-perfect scene.
But in my eyes, the play had ended.
The sun was dead.
8
Slurp.
I tossed the empty boba cup into the trash can.
“It’s getting late. We should head back.”
Ryan suddenly grabbed my wrist.
“Maya, about your brother Leo… do you need me to help you contact a top specialist?”
My fingertips trembled slightly.
I forced out a bitter, resigned smile.
“It’s no use.”
“When Leo was first injured, Dr. Evans at the city hospital said he had an eighty percent chance of saving his eye.”
“But just as he was about to go into surgery, some psycho burst into the hospital and slashed Dr. Evans’s hands.”
“The backup surgeon they brought in at the last minute… directly removed Leo’s eyeball.”
“Ryan, it seems like anyone who gets close to me ends up ruined. You should really stay away from me.”
I shook off his hand and rode off on my bike without looking back.
When I got home, everyone except my dad was in the living room.
They were gathered around, excitedly discussing something.
As soon as I walked in, the laughter and chatter abruptly stopped.
Liam rubbed his nose, looking slightly awkward. “Uh, Maya, do you have a passport?”
Chloe didn’t give me a chance to answer. She gleefully answered for me:
“Stupid! She grew up in a tiny fishing village, of course she doesn’t have one! And she probably didn’t think to get one after she came back, right?”
She glared at me, her eyes flashing with a silent threat.
I lowered my head. “Yeah, I don’t have one.”
Mia frowned. “Ah, that’s such a shame. Liam just got a reality travel show, and they want him to bring his family. Since you don’t have a passport, you can’t go.”
I kept my hands clasped tightly. “It’s fine. You guys go have fun. I’ll stay here and watch the house.”
Chloe burst into harsh laughter. “Then you’ll be in the exact same social class as my dog, Snowball!”
She patted the Doberman’s head. “Snowball, be polite to your second sister from now on. Don’t bite her again, understand?”
The Doberman bared its sharp teeth, staring at me viciously.
I shrank back, pretending to be terrified.
“Chloe!” Liam glared at her, then turned to me with a fawning expression. “Don’t listen to her. She’s young and doesn’t know what she’s saying.”
I shook my head, signaling that I didn’t mind.
My mom smiled and comforted me: “Since you can’t go this time, there’s always a next time. Go apply for a passport first. When we get back, we’ll pick a nice place and take you with us.”
I nodded obediently. “Okay. You guys keep planning. I’m going to my room.”
“Maya…”
Liam tried to follow me.
Chloe violently yanked him back to their circle.
Within moments, they were back to their passionate discussion.
Photos Chloe was uploading constantly popped up in the family group chat.
[Chloe: @Maya, Second sister, here are some pics from the internet so you can at least look at the view, hehe (Smile) (Smile) (Smile).]
She sent three smiley faces in a row.
I replied cooperatively: [Wow, I’m so jealous.]
Chloe responded with a meme of a Doberman baring its fangs.
I stared at those sharp, white teeth and slowly curled my lips into a smile.
9
After dinner, Chloe put on a full face of dramatic makeup and took Snowball out to party.
Mia went to her high-end yoga class.
Liam had a late-night recording session at the TV studio.
My mom was out playing bridge with the other wealthy socialites.
My dad was at a business dinner, undoubtedly bragging about his wealth.
I hid in my room, quietly reading a book.
10:00 PM.
My phone started ringing loudly.
[Maya, get to the city hospital right now! Chloe’s been in a terrible accident!]
Liam’s voice was frantic and breathless. He sounded like he was sprinting.
I pinched my thigh hard to fake a panicked tone. “What happened?”
[Her dog suddenly went rabid… it ripped her eyes out…]
[Ah, just don’t ask! Get here as fast as you can! You guys have the same blood type, and she needs a massive transfusion right now!]
I said, my voice trembling, “Okay, I’m on my way.”
I hung up the phone, leaned back in my chair, and let out a long, deep sigh of relief.
Everything was going exactly according to plan.
My book was only half-read. I picked up my pen and drew a thick red line under a specific sentence:
All things in the universe operate in cycles; every cause has its effect, and every debt must be paid.
🌟 Continue the story here
👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app
🔍 search for “403346”, and watch the full series ✨!
#MotoNovel
I had been Adrian Vance’s executive assistant for three years when he got engaged.
His fiancée made him fire all his female staff who worked in close proximity to him.
I was on that list.
As compensation, Adrian offered to set me up with his older brother.
“He’s richer than me, better at everything that matters, and he just has one kid,” Adrian told me.
“If you don’t mind a ready-made family, want me to set it up?”
I didn’t mind.
Because I was the one who gave birth to that kid.
01
Julian Sterling and I had a past.
It was a secret. Adrian had no idea.
If he did, he wouldn’t be so clueless as to treat me like his personal errand girl.
I was twenty-two when I was with Julian.
Fresh out of college, green, and clumsy.
I met him at one of Sterling Group’s port facilities. I thought he was just another struggling job seeker like me, fresh out of a failed interview.
He looked a mess that day.
Suit rumpled, face smudged with dust.
He was sitting on a curb, eating a cheap takeout box.
A thick stack of documents was sitting next to him.
He looked completely down on his luck.
I had just been rejected for a position and was running on pure emotional impulse.
I had bought two massive, double-meat pork belly bowls from a food truck, and I handed him one.
“Here, eat this,” I said.
“Yours looks too pathetic. It won’t fill you up.”
His box was mostly just rice and withered greens.
I sat down five feet away from him, feeling sorry for myself.
I was busy fantasizing about how miserable my life would be if I didn’t find a job soon.
Would I end up sitting on a curb, getting fed by strangers?
I was so lost in my pity party that I missed Julian’s expression.
It went from bewildered to incredulous, and finally, to genuinely amused.
Over that lunch, we briefly talked about our “struggles.”
We exchanged names.
It was the beginning of a massive mistake.
I had assumed his background was as ordinary as mine.
And Julian was perfectly happy to play the role of an ordinary guy.
I started running into him everywhere after that.
Every time, it felt like a coincidence.
Even when he asked me out, I thought it was fate.
Until the cliché, melodramatic plot twist happened.
I was at a high-end luxury mall, picking out a corporate gift for a major client on behalf of my boss.
I saw Julian. He was dropping thousands without blinking.
Hands casually in his pockets.
Shoulders leaning back with lazy arrogance.
Tapping his foot.
He looked impatient, but he was still forcing himself to play along, offering opinions to the girl next to him.
When she finally picked a style she liked, he gave a relieved wave to the clerk to put it on his tab.
Only the night before, he had been wrapped around me in my tiny rented apartment, asking me to give him a head rub.
Listening to me complain about Adrian’s demands and work stress.
I thought about it for a long time.
I weighed my options: continue the charade of our relationship, or demand a massive payoff to disappear.
I didn’t choose either.
I chose the stupidest option.
I confronted him, and I didn’t ask for a dime.
He wasn’t surprised.
He admitted who he was, cleanly and efficiently.
Then he opened his mouth and said he wanted to take me home to meet his family.
To his estate.
That place was worth more than I could earn in fifty lifetimes.
I saw tons of files in his study.
As it turned out, he took his role as the Sterling heir very seriously.
That day we met at the port, he wasn’t looking for a job. He was inspecting a Sterling key project that was having major issues.
In the blistering summer heat, he had gone to the site with a team of engineers, blueprints in hand.
He was there to personally diagnose the problem.
Change plans, coordinate resources.
A recording secretary had written that thick stack of “documents”—meeting minutes.
Nobody expected the CEO to actually show up on the dusty ground.
So, nobody had arranged a fancy lunch for him.
When lunchtime hit, he just grabbed the minutes, sat on the curb, and reviewed them while eating a generic lunchbox, waiting for a final report from a subordinate.
And that’s when I ran into him.
I could have kicked myself for being so blind.
How did I not notice the price tag on his watch, or how perfectly tailored his suit was?
He asked me if we absolutely had to break up.
He said loving someone was all the same; the most important things were shared interests and assets.
I was twenty-four, far too young.
Young enough to believe that love couldn’t tolerate a grain of sand, let alone a lie that big.
“It’s not the same,” I told him.
“We are not the same.”
I didn’t cry, and I didn’t make a grand exit.
I got in a cab and left, feeling as numb as someone who had just been laid off.
But life never goes as planned.
Only a month later, I realized just how important money was.
A month later, my period didn’t show up.
I was pregnant.
And my company was doing a massive round of layoffs, targeting pregnant women specifically.
The boss made it clear:
Pay them the severance and get them out.
Let those pregnant women go home and tend to their babies.
If this kept up, he wouldn’t be hiring women anymore.
Before my belly started to show, I immediately pledged my undying loyalty to the company.
I promised I wouldn’t let my “health issues” affect the project.
Then, I requested three days off for the procedure.
The boss was satisfied and held me up as a model employee.
Looking in the mirror, I felt like a corporate slave, not a human being.
My colleagues whispered behind my back, and I had no defense.
I scheduled the abortion and went to the hospital.
But I was stopped in the parking lot by Julian’s security team.
Julian was out of the country.
He took a private jet back that night, landing in six hours.
He told me to keep the baby.
The terms he offered were generous.
I agreed.
To prevent developing a maternal bond, I never looked at the baby girl once after she was born.
Julian took her away and named her Cora.
Cora, the maiden. A precious pearl.
I figured Julian must love her.
Which meant I didn’t need to worry about her.
I left Seattle and moved south to Atlanta.
02
Turns out, I couldn’t escape the Sterling family.
Julian’s younger brother, Adrian, was running the southern branch of the company.
I was mass-applying for jobs.
I didn’t even realize I had applied to be Adrian Sterling’s assistant.
The interview process was suspiciously smooth.
Before I knew it, I was Adrian Vance’s executive assistant.
I was responsible for scheduling and day-to-day logistics.
Occasionally getting him coffee.
When the chief of staff was away, I would handle heavy-hitter clients.
For the most part, I didn’t have to travel with him.
Overall, the work was administrative but not too grueling.
The pay was excellent.
Combined with the money Julian had given me, I had already bought a nice condo.
With this job, I could have had a stable, peaceful life.
But that was shattered by Adrian’s fiancée.
“Elena? Elena?”
Adrian tapped his desk.
“Surely it doesn’t take this long to think about it. Why the hesitation? You don’t like the sound of him?”
He was smiling, but there was a hint of irritation in his voice.
I finished organizing his schedule and pushed the planner toward him.
“From eleven to eleven-thirty, you have a briefing. At noon, you have lunch with Junior Li. His family just had some good news, so I’ve prepared a gift for you to take. From two to four PM,靳Mr. Jin wants to golf, but Mr. Kent wants to go riding at the same time. Schedules conflict; you need to decide which to cancel. At five, a client tour of the R&D center, then signing the contract, followed by dinner at the Estate. The menu is set—Cantonese style. It is currently ten-forty-three. Junior Li mentioned several VPs want to brief you early, so you can talk to them now.”
I paused for a few seconds, then spoke again.
“As for the blind date with your brother, I’m going to have to pass.”
Adrian leaned back in his executive chair.
He tapped his foot, spinning the chair slightly.
He stared at me for a long moment, looking thoughtful.
“Hmm.”
He had a half-smile on his face. “Elena, are you hiding something from me?”
I said, “I know your brother.”
To say we “dated” felt too heavy.
No family or friends knew; it didn’t feel like a real relationship.
“Oh, you know him?”
He nodded.
His foot suddenly stopped tapping.
He studied my expression, took a breath, and spoke with certainty.
“No way. No way. You were with my brother, weren’t you?”
Even though I was used to the casual contempt of the upper class.
Hearing him use the phrase “were with” still stung.
I managed to say, “Yes.”
He immediately jumped up, smiling as he ushered me over to the sofa.
He was suddenly all attention, even pouring me a cup of tea.
“Come on, you have to know who gave birth to his daughter, right?”
“None of us brothers could ever get it out of him.”
“He hates kids, so he must have really loved that woman to keep the baby.”
“Since you guys were together, spill. Who was the one he spoiled the most?”
Who was it?
Was it that girl he was willing to take shopping?
Or maybe, that was just another woman in his life.
I tightened my lips.
“I don’t know who he liked the most, but it wasn’t me.”
Adrian let out a laugh.
“A lot of resentment there, huh? My brother shouldn’t be stingy, though.”
“Maybe he is stingy with some people. When I was with him, I lived in a crappy rented apartment.”
Adrian’s expression froze for a few seconds.
His jaw literally dropped in disbelief.
“You lived where?”
He repeated.
“You lived in a crappy rented apartment? He let you live in a place like that?”
I gave a silent, bitter smile.
“Not really. I rented it myself. He didn’t live with me.”
“Holy shit. He wouldn’t even cover your rent? That’s low.”
Adrian smoothed his jacket, got up, and started pacing.
He kept glancing at me.
“I wouldn’t have pegged you for the romantic type, Elena… with your looks, asking for a condo wouldn’t have been too much. Why didn’t you think to take him for all he was worth?”
He was appraising me, calculating my value.
If this had been the old me, I would have cursed him out.
I adjusted my expression, lowering my posture.
“I was young and naive.”
I cracked a weak joke.
“Considering that, maybe increase my severance package a bit?”
There was a knock on the door.
An employee poked their head in.
“Mr. Sterling, the meeting is starting.”
Adrian nodded, adjusting his collar.
I stepped forward quickly to hold the door for him.
He grabbed his folder, ignoring me as he walked past.
“You’re not being fired. Go back to work.”
03
Too bad.
I was hoping to cash out and leave.
Now I’d have to resign.
Adrian’s fiancée was quite famous around the office lately.
Word was she was the granddaughter of a very prominent DC politician, and her parents were loaded, too.
She had a serious pedigree, and a serious temper to match.
After the engagement, she demanded Adrian fire all his close female staffers.
Adrian had two chief secretaries.
One male, one female—his right-hand people.
The female chief was highly capable, so Adrian protected her job.
But someone like me, the base-level executive assistant, wasn’t so lucky.
Even if I wasn’t fired, staying wouldn’t be pretty.
Who knew when the wife would start suspecting me.
I went back to my office.
I ran into colleagues from other departments coming to the assistant’s pool for stamps.
When they saw me return, they all shot me sympathetic looks.
“Elena, when are you leaving? Let’s get dinner before you go.”
I pulled out my chair and slumped over my desk.
“Earliest next month. The HR process takes time.”
“HR process? For a firing, you don’t need to wait, do you?”
“I’m resigning,” I said. “Mr. Sterling doesn’t plan on firing me. Does anyone have a resignation letter template I can borrow?”
Thank you for the opportunity to grow with the company…
Due to personal reasons…
I have decided to resign.
I clicked ‘send’ on the resignation email.
I pushed back from my keyboard and exhaled deeply.
Then I remembered Adrian’s offhand comment.
He must have really loved that woman to keep the baby.
I didn’t know what Julian’s feelings for me actually were.
Back when I worked in DC.
I lived in a standard entry-level apartment complex for young professionals.
It was crowded, a real mix of people.
I experienced my first stalker there.
And then, my first attempted break-in.
I was a light sleeper that night.
My phone buzzing woke me up.
The peephole camera app was alerting me.
Someone was loitering outside my door.
The man in the video was masked, wearing a hat and gloves.
I couldn’t see his face, and his bulky work clothes hid his build.
He was professional and efficient at picking locks.
Every now and then, he’d glance back and murmur something to an accomplice behind him.
I froze in the living room for a few seconds, then instinctively ran to the kitchen for a knife.
I hid back in my bedroom, staring at the camera feed, trembling as I finally called 911.
Then I called Julian.
His voice was raspy, heavy with sleep.
“What is it?”
I said, “Someone is picking my lock.”
There was a dead silence on the other end for one second.
Then I heard the rustle of him sitting up and grabbing clothes.
He sounded completely awake now.
He asked me, “How many are outside? Are they armed?”
“I only saw two… I didn’t see any knives. I don’t know if they have anything on them.”
His voice calmed down. “Don’t cry. Get in your room and lock the door.”
The camera feed suddenly went black.
The front door clicked open.
Footsteps entered the living room, getting closer.
The thief started pushing against the bedroom door.
I gripped the knife, wondering if I should rush out and attack first.
The adrenaline made it hard to stand.
I was gripping the handle so hard my hand felt numb, like I wouldn’t be able to swing it.
Suddenly, things got chaotic outside the door.
A few muffled thuds.
Cursing mixed with screams of pain.
The sound of shattering glass, things hitting the floor. Crashes.
“Julian?”
“It’s me,” he said, his voice muffled and slightly winded. “Don’t come out yet. It’ll just be a minute.”
I was wiping sweat off my face.
My legs gave out, and I slumped onto the edge of the bed.
Until there was a knock on the door.
I dragged the heavy furniture I used to block the door away.
The living room was a wreck.
The thieves were barely alive on the floor.
Someone was dragging one of them by the ankle, like a dead animal, out of the apartment.
Julian wiped blood off his knuckles and pulled me close.
His overcoat was freezing, but a warm scent of rich tobacco radiated from his skin, warmed by his body.
He held me very tightly.
He looked down and kissed the top of my head.
The men with Julian coughed politely.
“Mr. Sterling… what do we do with them?”
“Check if they have priors. Send them away for a long time.”
Julian was running his hand over the back of my head, his voice calm.
Buried in his shoulder, I murmured.
“Are they your friends? It’s so late… I should treat them to dinner sometime.”
“It’s fine,” he said. “Go rest. I’m staying with you tonight.”
The police arrived.
Julian lit a cigarette, ushering me back to the bedroom.
The low murmur of conversation didn’t last long.
He climbed into bed, pulling me securely into his arms from behind.
I was still shaking.
“Don’t be afraid,” he said. “It won’t happen again.”
I turned around, kissing him frantically.
Julian froze for a moment.
He was usually very direct in bed.
I was used to him unbuckling his belt, pressing the back of my neck, and getting straight to it.
That night, he was surprisingly gentle.
He just caught my hands and wrapped them around his neck.
He rolled on top of me, kissing me back.
The late autumn wind was howling outside.
His body was burning hot.
When he cupped my face with his palms, I truly felt loved.
But past events are like sugarcane pulp that’s been chewed too many times.
Back at the Sterling estate, talking about “interests,” I realized I couldn’t delude myself with that tiny bit of sweetness anymore.
He loved me the way one loves a pretty pet.
He might not be paying attention to it, but he wouldn’t let anyone else touch it.
That was all.
Work was done.
It was Friday.
My resignation email had been sent.
Earliest I’d get a reply would be Monday.
I packed up my desk, slowly erasing my presence.
I didn’t expect it.
Julian called me on Sunday night.
He must have just gotten off a plane; the background noise was a bit loud.
“Elena, what’s the ‘personal reasons’ you cited in your resignation?”
“Mr. Sterling, I’m twenty-nine. It’s time I started a family.”
He was silent for a few seconds.
“You’re not quitting just because you’re afraid I’ll set you up with my brother, are you? Don’t overthink it.”
“No,” I said. “I found a good match on a dating app. I was planning to quit around this time anyway.”
“What’s his background?”
“Ordinary. Professor at a local college.”
“I see. Fine. Work hard for the next thirty days. I’ll give you a bonus as a wedding gift.”
“Thank you, Mr. Sterling.”
“One more thing.”
He said.
“Pick out some gifts that a little girl would like. Next Friday, you’re coming with me to DC.”
A little girl.
I was stunned for a moment.
“…Yes, Mr. Sterling.”
🌟 Continue the story here
👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app
🔍 search for “403331”, and watch the full series ✨!
#MotoNovel
