Category: English

My mother always told me that every child only gets to say “Mommy” a thousand times. By the time I was six, I had already used nine hundred and ninety-nine. “If you say it one more time, Mommy will die, and you’ll be all alone.” I believed her. From that day on, I never said it again. Twenty years later, in the bridal suite before my wedding, she looked at me with terrified, hopeful eyes. “Chloe, honey… could you say it just one more time? Just once?” I looked at the chest of solid gold jewelry she was offering me and gently used that very last time. “Mommy.” Then, I looked her in the eye. “That was one thousand. When are you going to die?” …… 1 Chapter 1 The harsh vanity lights made the burn scars on her face look even more terrifying. The chest dropped from her hands with a heavy clang, scattering glittering gold jewelry all over the floor. The bridal suite went dead silent for a heartbeat before exploding into chaos. “Did… did I hear that right?” “Your mother drove all this way to give you a dowry, and you wish she was dead?” A crowd of relatives and friends swarmed in, their voices overlapping. “She’s clearly embarrassed to be seen with her mother looking like that.” “Unbelievable. A daughter shouldn’t care if her mother is ugly. Look at all this gold; she probably spent her life savings on this, and this is the thanks she gets!” “I bet the mother got those scars because of her. She’s subhuman!” My mother scrambled to pick up the gold jewelry, her hands shaking. Among the gold, a single silver bangle lay quietly near my foot. I bent down and picked it up. My mother looked up, her voice trembling. “Chloe, that bracelet… I had it fixed for you. All these years, Haley never wore it…” She finished gathering the gold and packed it back into the chest, offering it to me with both hands. “Chloe, I just want you to be happy.” I took the chest without expression. “I’ll take the stuff. As for the blessing, save it for your real daughter, Haley.” The room gasped again. “This is too much!” “Someone record this. I’m putting her on TikTok. The whole world needs to see this monster.” My best friend, Sarah, rushed in from outside, spreading her arms to shield me. “None of you know the truth! How dare you say that about Chloe?” I gave Sarah’s hand a grateful pat, then sat back down in front of the vanity mirror. I let the makeup artist continue applying foundation, trying to hide the scar on my forehead. I got that scar twenty years ago, fighting Haley for this very silver bangle. It’s been twenty years. Now the bracelet is back in my hand, but it’s too small to fit my wrist. Just like the word “Mommy,” I no longer crave it. I let out a soft, detached smile. “It seems today is a good day to settle old debts.” Under their judgmental stares, I began to tell the story of the past. 2 Chapter 2 When I was little, my mother was my entire world. My father died before I was born, but I never felt like I was missing anything because my mother gave me all her love. She gave me the center of the cinnamon rolls, the tips of the strawberries, and made me the prettiest dresses. I loved clinging to her, chasing her around the house all day, yelling “Mommy, Mommy.” She would always put down whatever she was doing, scoop me up, set me on her lap, and rub her nose against my forehead. “Mommy’s here. Mommy’s right here.” I thought we would be happy like this forever. Until I was six, and my stepfather moved in with his daughter, Haley. That day, my mother put on nice clothes and beautiful makeup, checking herself in the mirror over and over. I ran over and hugged her. “Mommy, you look so pretty.” She flinched as if I were made of fire, taking a sharp step back. She looked in terror at my stepfather and Haley standing in the doorway. She bent down, looking me straight in the eye. “Chloe, Mommy has to tell you something important.” “Every child only gets to call their mom ‘Mommy’ a thousand times in their whole life. You’ve already used nine hundred and ninety-nine.” I froze. “If you say it one more time, Mommy will die, and you won’t have a mommy anymore.” “Do you understand?” I fought back the tears in my eyes and nodded vigorously. From that day on, I never called her Mommy again. When I was happy and wanted to share something with her, that word would rush to my lips, only for me to desperately swallow it back down. When I woke up screaming from a nightmare at night, my first instinct was to clamp my hands tightly over my mouth. I was terrified that if I wasn’t careful, I would accidentally kill her. I lived my life with that kind of agonizing caution, like a poor child holding their very last match, afraid to strike it for light. I was no longer the cherished child who got the cinnamon roll centers and strawberry tips. 3 Chapter 3 After my stepfather and Haley moved in, my mother lectured me every single day. She said I was the older sister, so I had to make concessions for Haley. A happy home requires harmony, she said. If things were harmonious, life would be better for us all. One afternoon, my mother baked a fresh batch of chocolate chip cookies. I smelled the delicious scent and ran out of my room. But I saw Haley already sitting at the kitchen table. She was picking every single chocolate chip out of every cookie with her fingers, putting them into her own bowl. My stepfather watched the whole time but didn’t say a word. I looked to my mother for help. My mother subconsciously opened her mouth to speak, but then glanced at my stepfather’s face. My stepfather turned a page of his newspaper, not looking up. My mother shut her mouth. She picked up the tray and held out the plain, picked-over cookies to me. “Be a good girl. You eat these for now. I’ll bake you some more later.” My stomach was full of grievance, but I didn’t want to embarrass her, so I reached out and took one. Just as I took a bite, Haley screamed and charged at me. “That’s mine!” She snatched the cookie out of my hand and, along with the rest on the tray, threw them all into the trash can. “They’re all mine! I’d rather throw them away than let you have any!” I hadn’t planned on crying. But that piece of dry cookie was stuck in my throat; I couldn’t spit it out, and I couldn’t swallow it. I finally couldn’t hold it back and burst into tears. My mother walked over and reached out her hand. I thought she was going to hug me. But she just covered my mouth. “Stop crying.” Her voice was very low, harsh. “Why are you being so difficult? How many times have I told you how to behave?” I stifled the crying. My mother let go, put on a smile, picked Haley up in her arms, and began to soothe her gently. “Haley can have as many as she wants. Mommy will bake you more tomorrow.” I turned and ran back to my room. I don’t know how long I cried under the covers, but eventually, I fell asleep. When my mother woke me up by shaking me, it was late at night. She was sitting on the edge of my bed, holding a plate of freshly baked cookies, looking at me with heartache. “Haley’s asleep. Eat quickly.” My eyes were so swollen I could barely open them, my throat was raw from crying, and I was in a daze. I didn’t want to eat anything. Seeing me shake my head, her expression changed. She slammed the plate down on the nightstand, her eyes turning red. “You’re learning to be spiteful now?” “I know you were hurt today, but Mommy doesn’t have it easy either. Can’t you show me a little compassion?” “Just so you could eat these, I stayed up all night. I waited until Haley was sound asleep to sneak up and bake these for you, and you’re throwing a tantrum?!” I wanted to tell her I felt sick. I couldn’t eat. I wanted to tell her she hadn’t hugged me in a long time. I wanted to say that this was my home. This house belonged to my father. Why was I eating in secret in my own house, sneaking around in the middle of the night? But I looked at her unfamiliar face and, in the end, said nothing. I sat up and, under her intense gaze, finished that entire plate of overly sweet cookies. She smiled with satisfaction and patted my head. “That’s my good girl.” That night, I got a severe case of gastroenteritis, vomiting and having diarrhea for days. 4 Chapter 4 After that night, my mother stopped bringing me late-night snacks. Instead, she would slip me cash behind my stepfather and Haley’s backs, telling me to go buy whatever I liked to eat. I still didn’t understand why her own money, given to her own daughter, had to be handled like stolen goods. But I asked nothing. I stopped initiating eating any food at home, and I wouldn’t touch a single thing that belonged to Haley. But the tree craves peace, and the wind will not subside. That silver bangle was something my father had custom-made for me before I was born. It was beautiful, with enamel work and filigree forming a flowering dogwood. I had worn it since I was a baby; it had never come off my wrist. One day, I came home from school. Just as I pushed open the door, Haley charged at me. She grabbed my wrist, staring at the bracelet. “I want this.” As she spoke, she clamped her hand around it and began pulling violently. I suppressed my rage and tried to be reasonable. “This was my father’s… he left it to me…” Instead of letting go, she started screaming at the top of her lungs. “It’s mine! Mine!” The fury I had bottled up finally erupted. I gave her a hard shove. “Let go!” I was a few months older than her, and I knocked her right to the floor. She sat on the ground and started bawling. My mother ran out of the kitchen, looking terrified, as if she were the one who had done wrong. My stepfather also came out of his room at the noise, standing silently behind Haley. After hearing the reason, my mother actually turned an imploring gaze toward me. “Just give it to your sister… We’ll get you a new one later.” I looked at her in absolute disbelief. She had told me herself, with her own mouth, that my father had drawn the blueprint. To get the filigree just right, he had visited every jeweler in the city. “Your father said a daughter should be like a dogwood flower—beautiful, resilient, and full of life.” “Just like your name, Chloe.” Since they moved in, my mother had used my father’s house and money to support my stepfather and stepsister; I couldn’t stop that. But this bracelet was the single, solitary thing that belonged entirely to me. It was my final link to my true identity. A stubborn streak hit me, too. I looked my mother right in the eye. “I can give up anything else in this house to her.” “But I will die before I give up this bracelet.” When Haley heard that, she cried even harder, kicking her legs on the floor. My stepfather knelt down to soothe her. After a few failed attempts, he looked up at my mother. And suddenly, my mother snapped. “Then go die!” She screamed with all her might, then grabbed the bracelet and yanked it with brutal force. The metal warped, scraping skin as it was torn off my wrist. The momentum sent me flying. I smashed my forehead against the corner of the coffee table. Blood poured down my face. I heard my mother’s terrified scream. “Chloe! Chloe!” Her pale face appeared above me, her voice growing distant. “I’m sorry, Chloe, I’m so sorry… Don’t go, please don’t leave me.” She scooped me up and ran out the door. The long-forgotten warmth of her arms made me want to cry. After getting stitches at the hospital and returning home, my stepfather and Haley were gone. They said they went back to his hometown to visit relatives. For those few days, it was as if she had turned back into the mother who loved me. She made me chicken soup and baked me cookies. She held me close while we slept at night, gently patting my back and telling me stories. It felt like I was that little girl again, often held in her mother’s arms. Except for one thing: I still didn’t dare call her Mommy. 5 Chapter 5 That ridiculous lie was exposed a few days later. I went to Sarah’s house to play. She was lying on the couch, calling out to her mother over and over. Mommy, Mommy, look at this. Mommy, Mommy, come here. I watched Sarah’s bright smile and finally couldn’t hold back. I spoke up to warn her. “You should say that less.” “Every child only gets to call their mom ‘Mommy’ a thousand times. When you hit the limit, Mommy dies.” “I’ve already used nine hundred and ninety-nine times. I don’t dare say it anymore. You should ration yours.” She froze for a few seconds, then burst into tears. She ran into the kitchen and hugged her mom, sobbing, saying Mommy don’t die, I don’t want Mommy to die. Her mother listened to the explanation, caught between laughter and tears. “Silly child, how could Mommy be killed by being called ‘Mommy’?” “Even if you said it a hundred million times, Mommy wouldn’t die.” To prove it to us, she found a hand counter and had Sarah say “Mommy” a thousand times right then and there. One, two, three. I realized then that a thousand times was actually so little. If you said it continuously, it only took ten minutes. Her mother was still alive. She was still smiling. “See? Mommy didn’t die, did she?” She affectionately pinched her daughter’s nose, but the look she then directed at me contained something I didn’t understand at the time. I learned later that it was called pity. At that moment, I just ran home as fast as I could. I was going to tell my mother that I knew. Mommy wouldn’t die from being called “Mommy.” I could call her Mommy again. Ten thousand times, a hundred million times—she wouldn’t die. Just as I got to the door, I heard my mother’s voice from inside. She was crying, asking my stepfather. “When do you think Haley will finally call me ‘Mommy’?” My hand, ready to push the door, stopped in mid-air. “I truly treat Haley like my own daughter. Just because I was afraid she would feel uncomfortable hearing it, I made Chloe stop calling me Mommy…” My stepfather soothed her in a low voice, but I couldn’t hear what he said. I only heard my mother say: “Even just once, I’d be content.” Turns out, in the whole world, only my “Mommy” would cause my mother to die. But one “Mommy” from Haley was something she longed for so desperately. I stood in the cold hallway, my hands hanging at my sides. I had nothing. My hands were empty. After that, I became very well-behaved. I yielded everything to Haley. In that house, there was nothing left for me to care about. Calling her Mommy—how was that important? I didn’t lack for food or clothing or pocket money. Even if those things were obtained in secret, handled like stolen goods. How was that important? I had a room to live in, I went to school, nobody hit me or verbally abused me. My mother’s embrace—how was that important? Fighting Haley for that miserable scrap of affection—how was that important? From then on, I had only one goal: get into a good out-of-state university and get far, far away from here. I thought that as long as I didn’t care, no one could hurt me. But I was still too naive.

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On the third day after Nate Sterling was convicted and placed on federal death row, his mother offered me a fortune to be his surrogate. She wanted me to leave the Sterling family an heir before his execution. I visited him in that maximum-security holding cell, caring for him with everything I had for three months, until I finally got pregnant. He promised me that if he ever got out of there, he would give me a grand, high-society wedding and make me his legal wife. On the eve of his execution, a miracle happened. His legal team won an appeal, and his name was completely cleared. Mrs. Sterling wept tears of joy and immediately began planning our wedding. But no one expected that his childhood sweetheart—the woman who had ruthlessly abandoned him the moment he was arrested—would suddenly burst through the doors. Clutching a faded promise ring, her eyes red with tears, she cried, “The woman he is supposed to marry is me!” I gripped my handkerchief tight, watching as Nate Sterling dropped to his knees before his mother. “Victoria and I grew up together. We made a pact when we were young. The Sterlings honor their promises. I must marry her as my lawful wife.” “Clara Hayes comes from a lowly background, but considering she is carrying the Sterling bloodline, I will keep her as my mistress. We can set her up in the guest house. The wedding date remains the same, but Victoria will be the lady of the estate.” Mrs. Sterling looked at me in absolute shock. I, however, let out a quiet sigh of relief. Back then, Mrs. Sterling had promised me: if Nate’s name was cleared but he refused to marry me, I was free to decide my own fate. I had wanted to move to Charleston for a long time. The person who loved me most in this world, my adoptive brother, was recovering from an illness down there. I wanted to go be with him. Chapter 1 The moment Nate Sterling’s words hung in the air, the eyes of everyone in the grand foyer locked onto me. Faint whispers from the household staff drifted into my ears. “Poor Clara. Abandoned by her parents as a kid, and the adoptive brother who raised her got terribly sick at such a young age.” “I heard she only agreed to be the surrogate for the Sterling family to pay for her brother’s medical bills. She finally gets pregnant, Mr. Sterling gets exonerated, and we all thought she’d be set for life. Who would have thought…” Mrs. Sterling glared at Victoria, then turned a livid face toward her son. “The Sterling-Kensington alliance was voided the very day you were thrown in a federal cell! The Kensingtons backed out!” Back then, she had begged the Kensington family to use their political influence to help find the truth. Terrified of being implicated, they had literally slammed the door in her face. Thinking of this made Mrs. Sterling shake with rage. “You want to talk about promises?! You should honor the promise you made to Clara! You personally swore you would walk her down the aisle in a white gown!” “If it weren’t for her visiting you in that damp, freezing cell every single day, bringing you food and medicine, you would have died in there!” Hearing this, Nate looked up at me. His eyes flickered with a trace of guilt, but he still insisted, “The promise ring is still here, which means our vow isn’t void. I must marry Victoria!” “Even as my mistress, I will ensure Clara lives a life of luxury. Victoria is kind-hearted; she will definitely treat Clara’s child as her own.” Hearing his condescending, charitable tone, I furrowed my brow. I suddenly remembered the scenes of visiting him in prison. The air had reeked of mildew. His designer clothes were torn, his face haggard and hopeless. When he first learned of my purpose there, he gave a bitter laugh. “Even my fiancée canceled the wedding, yet you’re willing to have a baby for a dead man walking?” I had nodded firmly. He pushed me away at first. But I insisted on visiting him every day during visiting hours. He rarely spoke, so I would just ramble on, telling him the latest news and funny stories from New York City. Half a month later, he finally spoke, asking if the media frenzy outside had died down. I pursed my lips and stayed silent. He asked again, “Is my mother’s health getting better?” My eyes widened slightly. His voice was hoarse. “I’m not stupid. She hasn’t come to see me once in weeks. You’re always in a rush when you leave, and you’ve visibly lost weight.” I didn’t say anything. He added, “Taking care of my mother, managing the Sterling family’s chaotic affairs, and coming here to sit with me every day… it must be exhausting, right?” He looked into my eyes, and for the first time, there was a different kind of emotion in them. After our relationship thawed, Mrs. Sterling’s health slowly improved. What happened next between Nate and me—facilitated by the private family visitation rooms—felt natural. He was gentle and affectionate. Stripping away the smell of the prison, everything actually felt somewhat beautiful. His muffled groans carried an undeniable, genuine passion. After that first time, everything fell into place. Two months later, a blood test confirmed I was pregnant. “Mr. Sterling, I will still come to see you every day before your execution date, but we can’t… do those things anymore.” He stared at my flat stomach for a long time before letting out a soft chuckle. “Clara Hayes, if I ever get out of here alive, I promise to give you the grandest wedding this city has ever seen. I will make you my wife.” Hearing those words, my heart fluttered. In that moment, I truly, foolishly hoped for a beautiful future with him. Back then, when he went silent for a few moments, I thought he was mourning the fact that he wouldn’t be able to watch our child grow up. But today, I suddenly realized the truth. He was probably thinking about Victoria. Thinking about how it would feel if he could marry her, if they could have children together… He had never forgotten his first love. I looked at Nate, who was kneeling stubbornly on the marble floor. I bowed slightly to Mrs. Sterling. “Ma’am, I refuse to be a mistress…” Before I could finish, Nate frowned and cut me off. “Clara, don’t push your luck. You aren’t the only woman in the world capable of having a child.” My heart physically ached at his words. After he was released, he had been so good to me. He would always look gently at my growing belly, whispering about the future of our family of three. But it turned out, my child and I combined couldn’t even compare to a single hair on Victoria’s head. I took a deep breath, steadying my emotions. “You misunderstand, Mr. Sterling. I am just a hired surrogate. Towards the Sterling family, I only have one task: safely deliver this baby.” “Therefore, I beg Mrs. Sterling to honor our original contract. After I give birth, let me leave.” 2 Hearing my words, a flash of shock crossed Nate’s face. He was about to say something, but Mrs. Sterling furiously ordered him out of the room. Only the two of us were left. She looked at me, tears welling in her eyes. “Clara, do you truly want to leave? Nate is just confused right now.” “Besides, I will never let Victoria step foot in this house as his wife. Could you please…” I shook my head, maintaining my stance. I gave her a polite bow, turned, and walked out. I was three months away from my due date. I wanted to write a letter to my adoptive brother in advance. Thinking of him, I quickened my pace back to my room. Just as I entered my private courtyard, I heard a woman’s whining voice coming from inside my bedroom. “Nate, you’re going to marry me, why do you still have to keep Clara as a mistress?” Nate coaxed her gently. “She is pregnant with my child, after all. It would look bad if I threw her out. But I promise, she will never outrank you…” He stopped mid-sentence as he caught sight of me in his peripheral vision. Victoria frowned, glaring at me. “Didn’t Ms. Hayes say she refused to be a mistress? What, did you realize your little playing-hard-to-get trick didn’t work, so you came crawling back to beg Nate?” I shook my head. “No…” “Are you trying to use the baby in your belly to demand the title of legal wife?” Hearing this, Nate’s brow furrowed sharply. “Clara, learn to be content. Even as a mistress, the Sterling family will never let you want for anything. Stop playing these manipulative games. As long as you quietly give birth to the child, I will give you whatever you want.” Victoria’s eyes flashed with dissatisfaction at his generous promise. She quickly put on a pitiful tone. “Nate, isn’t it inappropriate for Ms. Hayes to live in the same courtyard as you, considering she’s just a mistress?” Nate paused. I was living here because Mrs. Sterling arranged it. While he was in prison, this was the master suite—the best, sunniest part of the estate, perfect for a pregnancy. Mrs. Sterling had said the family had suffered too much bad luck; she wanted to give the absolute best to the only continuation of the Sterling bloodline. Nate had nodded in agreement to this arrangement back then. I looked at the two of them acting like tragic, star-crossed lovers. I lost any desire to speak. Nate’s gaze dropped to my swollen stomach. He hesitated before saying, “Clara, historically, only a husband and wife share the master suite. Why don’t you move to the adjacent guest rooms? That courtyard is also…” Before he could finish, Victoria interrupted him. “Let her live in the old pool house at the north edge of the estate. It’s quiet and secluded. Perfect for resting during a pregnancy.” Nate frowned slightly. The old pool house was at the absolute farthest edge of the sprawling estate, damp and freezing cold. I watched his silence and found it hilarious. Was this his version of ensuring I lived a life of luxury and suffered no grievances? Probably annoyed that I wasn’t throwing a jealous fit, Victoria complained, “What’s with that look? Are you relying on that baby to show disrespect to the future lady of the house?” “Nate, if she’s this disrespectful to me now, how am I supposed to manage the household later? If that’s how it is, let’s just cancel the engagement. I’m leaving right now!” She turned to storm out. Nate hastily grabbed her arm, immediately barking an order to the staff: “Move all of Clara’s belongings to the old pool house. Right now.” With that, he didn’t even spare me another glance, focusing entirely on coaxing Victoria in a soft voice. “Princess, whatever you say goes, okay?” Victoria finally smiled. “Should I help Ms. Hayes pack?” Nate pulled her helplessly into his arms. “That’s heavy lifting. I can’t let you do that.” I supported my aching lower back, clumsily stuffing my clothes into a duffel bag. When I turned to walk out the door, my eyes met Nate’s. He paused, looking as if he wanted to step forward to help me. I immediately averted my eyes and left without looking back. Behind me, I heard Victoria’s sweet, whiny voice demanding his attention. Nate didn’t follow me. The old pool house was freezing. I had to put on an extra heavy sweater just to feel marginally okay. I slowly unpacked my things in the dusty room. When I emptied the bag, I realized the silver locket my adoptive brother had given me was missing. Holding my stomach, I walked all the way back to the master suite, only to be blocked at the door by Victoria’s maid. “Mr. Sterling and Miss Kensington are spending quality time together. Outsiders are not to disturb them!” 3 “Mr. Sterling,” I called out toward the closed door. “I have no intention of disturbing you. I just need to find something I left behind. Please let me in for a moment.” The door swung open. Nate adjusted his rumpled shirt collar. There was a bright red lipstick mark on his neck. “What are you making a scene for?” His eyes were filled with blatant annoyance. “Clara, you’ve gotten more than enough because of this child. Stop causing trouble.” Hearing this, I asked instinctively, “What exactly have I gotten?” Nate’s face turned icy. “Do you really think I don’t know that when my mother first hired you, she gave you a massive amount of gold and cash?” I froze. Yes, that had happened. But I hadn’t accepted any of it. I instinctively tried to explain. “I didn’t…” But the moment I opened my mouth, he cut me off harshly. “Enough!” His gaze was freezing. “If you still aren’t satisfied, then you can just stay here without any title at all. When the baby is born, it will be legally adopted under Victoria’s name!” “What did you say?” I knew he didn’t love me, but we had spent months together day and night. The intimacy we shared back then wasn’t fake. I stared at him in utter disbelief. Victoria strolled leisurely out of the bedroom, twirling my silver locket in her fingers. A wave of anxiety washed over me. “That’s mine.” Victoria smiled cryptically. “It has the name ‘Arthur’ engraved on the back. That’s a man’s name, isn’t it?” Nate’s already cold face turned even darker. I frowned deeply. “It’s a gift from my adoptive brother.” The moment the words left my mouth, Nate snatched the locket from Victoria’s hand and violently smashed it onto the marble floor. With a sharp crack, the silver casing dented and the glass face shattered into pieces. My pupils dilated in shock. That was a gift my adoptive brother gave me when I was eight years old, the day he brought me home from the orphanage. I had carried it with me for ten years. Nate knew exactly what it meant to me! Shaking with fury, I bent down to pick up the broken pieces, but Nate shoved my shoulder hard. “You are about to become a member of the Sterling household. Whether it’s an ‘adoptive brother’ or any other man, you need to erase them from your memory immediately!” Caught off guard, I fell hard backward, landing heavily on the marble floor. A sharp, piercing pain ripped through my abdomen. I curled into a ball in agony, but Nate just scoffed coldly. “Stop using the baby as a shield.” I looked up at him, my eyes filled with absolute disappointment. I never imagined that the bright, kind, and gentle young man of the Sterling family could turn into something so monstrous. Meeting my gaze, Nate faltered for a second, but quickly hardened his face again. “Today is a punishment you deserved. Go back to the pool house immediately and reflect on your behavior!” With that, he took Victoria’s hand and walked back into the bedroom without a backward glance. Soon, the sound of their playful laughter drifted out, followed by increasingly heavy, ragged breathing. The fall had severely impacted my pregnancy. It took me a long time to even manage to stand up. I stayed holed up in the freezing pool house for half a month before my body finally started to recover. During this time, I heard plenty of gossip from the maids about everything Nate was doing for Victoria. Dropping millions on diamond necklaces, renting out helicopters to write her name in the sky… But none of that had anything to do with me anymore. On a sunny afternoon, I went to a boutique stationery shop downtown to buy some high-quality ink and paper. My brother always loved the supplies from that specific store. When I returned, I entered through the side gate. As I walked past the decorative hedges, I heard Victoria’s scornful voice coming from a hidden corner. “Nate’s father is a powerful Senator, and he’s just a junior partner at a law firm. Sure, he has a bright future, and he’s obsessed with me, but why on earth would I marry you?” She didn’t see me. The man standing opposite her sounded aggressive. “Your engagement to him was voided months ago! When you were trying to prove your loyalty to me, you literally shredded the marriage contract with the Sterling family. Do you really think the Sterlings will ever let you marry him now?” I froze. The contract was shredded? Then the marriage contract Victoria had shown Nate on the day he was released… was fake? 4 But what did any of this have to do with me? I had no intention of getting involved. I turned to walk back to my quarters, but my dress caught on a jagged branch, making a loud, unmistakable riiiip. “Who’s there?!” Victoria shrieked in panic. I grabbed my dress and power-walked forward, but I was intercepted by Victoria near the estate’s large decorative koi pond. She narrowed her eyes at me, her gaze toxic. “You heard everything, didn’t you?” “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Seeing my face remain impassive, the malice in her eyes amplified. “People who know too much don’t live very long!” She lunged forward and grabbed my wrist. Before I could even react, she shoved me backward into the freezing, deep water of the pond. I was heavily pregnant and clumsy. I thrashed wildly as Victoria held me under the freezing water. In my desperate struggle, I saw Nate walking hurriedly toward us from a distance. When we were both pulled onto the bank, I weakly grabbed Nate’s soaked sleeve, gasping for air. “Get… a doctor… my stomach… the baby…” Victoria was coughing and sobbing pitifully next to him. “Clara pushed me into the water… she tried to drown me…” The veins on Nate’s forehead bulged with rage. “Clara Hayes, seeing you spew lies with every breath is genuinely sickening!” My stomach was cramping with blinding, excruciating pain. I lay on the grass, convulsing like a dying fish. “Nate… believe me just this once. Hurry… get a doctor… me and the baby… we’re going to die…” But he just scooped Victoria into his arms, not even sparing me a glance. The piercing pain in my abdomen was overwhelming. I passed out from the agony, only to be shocked awake by another wave of pain. The estate doctor thoroughly examined Victoria first before finally coming over to check on me. Watching him and the midwife exchange panicked, evasive looks, I smiled silently. This was fine. I had finally repaid the debt I owed him from all those years ago. It was time for me to go to Charleston and be with my brother.

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To escape late-night seminars and mandatory study halls, I forged a medical record claiming I had night blindness. Everyone believed that once the lights went down, I was effectively blind. Then, one night, a murder occurred in my dorm hallway. When the killer was dragging the body at the dark end of the corridor, I was standing right at the other end. He saw me, but he didn’t panic. Because he knew me, and he thought I couldn’t see him. Right before my eyes, he calmly dragged the body away and cleaned up the blood. I could only stand there, pretending to enjoy the evening breeze, pretending to be blind. But the truth was, I saw his face perfectly. 1 It took me a long time to stop shaking. I thought about going to the cops, but I had my doubts. First, the killer was my roommate, Toby. Second, when he was dragging the body toward the stairs, someone else was clearly there waiting for him. I had no idea who the accomplice was. I couldn’t even make a guess. School was out on break now. We were just a few stragglers left behind in the dorms. My dorm room only had Toby and me left. So, his partner in crime definitely wasn’t one of our roommates. There were barely any other students left in the entire building, which is probably why he felt brave enough to kill someone in the hallway. Killing me wouldn’t be much harder. So, rushing to the police right now felt way too dangerous. Plus, if the cops couldn’t find where they hid the body, I’d be screwed. I could leave campus immediately, but if the police never found the body… Would I even be able to come back next semester? I could watch out for Toby, but how could I watch out for an unknown accomplice? And Toby was absolutely convinced about my night blindness. He must have believed it, otherwise, he would have come over and dealt with me right then. I should be safe, at least for tonight. I had to survive the night and wait for the body to be discovered; then I could make my move. Thinking this through, I exhaled, preparing to go back inside. But just as I turned around, Toby’s face was inches from mine! 2 I jumped. He must have taken the other set of stairs and circled back around behind me. That was definitely not part of my plan. But my long-term training as a patient had perfected my acting skills, and I held it together. I quickly defocused my eyes, frowned, and forced a smile. 「Is someone there? Wh-who is it?」 Toby’s expression was still tense, but his tone was casual: 「It’s just me, T-man… Are your eyes that bad you can’t see me this close?」 I nodded, still smiling, and explained: 「It’s not total darkness. Up close, I can make out a blurry shape, that’s why I asked. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have asked, or come out here in the first place.」 Toby’s gaze was icy, a total mismatch with his casual tone: 「Heh… Good… It’s getting late, though. Ready to head in and crash?」 I nodded again, keeping up the harmless smile: 「Yeah, I am getting a bit tired. Let’s go.」 Then we walked into the room. My performance was relaxed and natural, exactly how I always was. I couldn’t let him see even a hint of suspicion. He, on the other hand, was still super tense—classic signs of someone who just did something monstrous. That meant my act had worked. He believed me. That’s why he wasn’t bothering to hide his own anxiety. Before climbing into my bunk, I turned around and casually asked him: 「By the way, where were you so late? Out partying?」 Even with my eyes unfocused and my voice relaxed, the question hit a nerve. He instantly got more tense, staring at me intently. He paused for two seconds before explaining: 「Yeah, out grabbing late-night snacks with some guys. Eating this late is normal, you know…」 I thought back; he actually did grab late-night snacks a lot. I think I’d even met those friends. The one he was tightest with was Kyle. So, as I climbed into my top bunk, I continued nonchalantly: 「With your boy Kyle? He’s still stuck here on campus too?」 Toby answered without hesitation: 「Yeah, that’s right. It was him. I was out with him.」 I felt a pang of disappointment. This meant the accomplice wasn’t Kyle. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have admitted it so directly. 3 「Tired, tired… sleep, sleep…」 I lay down on my bed. But sleep was out of the question tonight. I just didn’t realize that even if I could have slept, I wouldn’t have been allowed to. About an hour later, Toby slowly sat up. The dorm room was dark; I could only see his shadowy upper body like a ghost. He turned his head slowly, appearing to be staring directly at me. He was checking to see if I was asleep. I pretended I was. Even if I was awake, I should be seeing nothing… That thought made the night even more excruciating. Not long after, I realized Toby had climbed down from his bunk. We have lofts with desks underneath, so it was darker down there. I could slightly squint my eyes and peek. I saw Toby put on a face mask, probably to remind himself not to make any sound. I saw him open the dorm door. And then I saw another person outside dragging a body in! They hadn’t disposed of it yet. I tried to see the accomplice’s face, but he was wearing a mask too. That wasn’t a huge problem, though. Because they brought the body into the dorm room, it meant they planned to hide it here. Wherever they hid it, come morning, one phone call to the cops would end this entire nightmare. But their next move was a little confusing. They very carefully looped a rope over the ceiling fan. I was stunned. Because I slept on that end, I was relatively close to the fan. And yes— The two of them looped the rope around the body’s neck and slowly hoisted it up. I stood there, watching a head rise up, rising until it was almost level with my gaze. In that moment, my heart was hammering against my ribs. Especially when I saw the body’s face— I really lost it. 4 It was our third roommate, Chris. But he was supposed to have left campus ages ago, and he wasn’t from around here. Why was he back? Why did Toby strangle him? And it was obvious Toby and the accomplice were staging a suicide. Even though he wasn’t actually hung, the face of someone strangled to death is just as terrifying. Because it was so close, I saw everything. His face was ghostly pale, his eyes bulging out of their sockets as if they were about to fall out. His nostrils were flared to their absolute limit, the corners of his mouth pulled back painfully to the sides, revealing a few terrifyingly white teeth. You could see how desperately he wanted to gasp for air, or scream, before he died. But it was all useless, and he died with that expression of pure agony. The worst part was, I had to pretend I couldn’t see him. An actual dead guy was swinging right next to my head, and his eyes… it was like they were staring right at me. Even if I closed my eyes, I could still feel that non-existent gaze. I knew tonight would be bad, right from the start. But I never imagined it would be this bad. A short while later, they finally finished everything, including cleaning up the tracks. They were seriously talented—they didn’t make a single sound the entire time. It didn’t even give me a reason to “wake up.” Then, the accomplice opened the door and left, and Toby slowly climbed back into his bunk opposite mine. So now, the two of us and the hanging Chris formed an isosceles triangle with a top angle of over 150 degrees. As soon as I opened my eyes, Chris’s horrifying face was right there above me. I really wanted to turn toward the wall, but I knew I didn’t usually roll around much when I slept. Suddenly turning over now would just raise suspicion. If I got caught, I would definitely be killed. There was zero doubt about that. But on second thought, this situation actually brought me a tiny grain of comfort. The body would definitely be discovered tomorrow morning, and I could smoothly point the finger at Toby. Even if I didn’t, he wouldn’t escape the forensic team’s eyes. Because strangulation and hanging have very different marks. How could a crime scene investigator not see that? And right then, something creepy happened— Toby’s cell phone actually started ringing! The sudden sound sent a jolt through my entire body. It was an involuntary reflex action I couldn’t control. Immediately, Toby’s apology floated over: 「Sorry, sorry. Forgot to turn the ringer off and woke you up…」 I realized instantly— He did that on purpose. 5 Given how meticulous he was about cleaning up the body earlier, there was zero chance he “forgot to turn the ringer off.” And it was so loud—loud enough to scare me. So this was definitely intentional. He wanted something from me. Because night blindness has a specific feature— After dark, in poor light, patients can’t use their phones. Because the phone screen’s brightness will actually worsen the condition, potentially leading to total blindness. And the dorm room was incredibly dark, much darker than the hallway outside. So he was banking on the fact that I wouldn’t discover the hanging Chris. Thinking this through, I adjusted my mindset and replied in a drowsy voice: 「Scared the crap out of me… but it’s fine… go back to sleep…」 I was deliberately saying that, because that’s how someone waking up in the middle of the night should act. Sure enough, Toby used this opportunity to keep talking to me: 「Hey, by the way, do you know anything about Chris?」 I couldn’t not respond to this topic. Because Chris was swinging right there in the middle of the room, near the head of our beds. I lazily countered: 「What? I thought he went home… did something happen?」 Toby immediately followed up: 「He didn’t go home. He’s out there ghosting… and it sounds like he’s in trouble. He said he was coming back tonight, but at this rate, he’ll probably have to scale the wall.」 Hearing that, I got it instantly. Toby was setting the stage for “Chris’s return.” And he stressed “scaling the wall,” because the main dorm entrance has surveillance cameras. Scaling the wall meant there would be no record of when he returned… I got it. Total clarity. He was trying to play me, to fabricate evidence! He was misleading me into thinking Chris came back later in the deep, dark night after we were asleep. And after he came back, he silently hung himself in a suicide… That way, Toby would naturally be cleared of suspicion. I chuckled inwardly. Did he really think the cops were idiots? Strangulation versus hanging—how could a medical examiner possibly not know the difference? 6 Toby was still making casual conversation, pretending nothing was wrong: 「You probably didn’t know, but word is he got into a heap of trouble, owed a ton of money, practically ready to skipped town.」 I ignored him, but he kept talking: 「With that kind of pressure, who knows what kind of state he’s in right now…」 My eyes drifted again to the hanging Chris. Caught sight of his face, made even more horrifying by the hanging. This state, yeah, it really wasn’t great. But I also got that Toby was planting the seed of the idea that “Chris was in enough trouble to commit suicide” in my mind. That way, when the body was exposed tomorrow morning, I would “unconsciously” tell everyone, including the police, this exact idea. Thus indirectly confirming that Chris’s death was a suicide. If this was Toby’s goal, then as long as I bought it, he would let me go to sleep. So I obediently countered: 「No way? What kind of major trouble did he get into? Is it that serious?」 Toby immediately opened up like a dam, words flooding out: 「You have no idea. He hid it so well in the dorm, you probably couldn’t even tell.」 「I’m telling you, he got mixed up in gambling, owed a massive, massive amount to loan sharks!」 「That’s why he was afraid to go home. Right at the beginning of break, he said he was going to make some money to win it back…」 「My guess is he lost it all this week, didn’t even have a place to stay tonight, so that’s why he said he was coming back.」 「Anyway, when he comes back, if he’s in a bad mood, just try to ignore him. Don’t get into any arguments with him…」 「I’m afraid he might do something stupid… sigh, life is hard…」 He sounded genuinely concerned, but all I felt was a hair-raising sense of the absurd. Because Chris’s body was hanging right next to us, and he was even facing me. 「I had no idea…」 I sighed too, ready to end the conversation with Toby. As long as I agreed with him and let him know the seed was planted. I chuckled again inwardly, thinking his plan was genuinely stupid. They spent so much effort staging Chris as a “suicide,” even guiding me to back them up, but it really wouldn’t work. Suicide or not, it wasn’t about what we said; it was about what the police found. Just as I was about to say the thought “I know Chris has suicidal thoughts” out loud… I suddenly realized things weren’t right. Because they weren’t stupid. From the clean, efficient killing method to the silent body transport, even staging this suicide scene without making a single sound… They were far from stupid; they were actually a lot smarter than the average person! And they definitely did a ton of prep work! How could they possibly not know that the police would definitely tell the difference between “suicide” and “strangulation”? So since that was the case, why were they doing this? I just felt my scalp go numb. Because another possibility hit me— Could dragging Chris back to the dorm and hanging him up all just be a performance put on for me?

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I was in active labor, dilated to six centimeters, when my husband burst into the delivery room. “Hand over your credit card right now,” he demanded. “The hospital admission deposit is eight thousand dollars.” I forced my eyes open with great difficulty. “Where’s your card?” He took a sharp step backward. “Don’t tell me you’re trying to use having a baby as an excuse to touch my pre-marital assets!” Chapter 1 1 The delivery room went dead silent. Even the woman in the bed next to me seemed to forget her own contractions. I stared at Mark, utterly incredulous. “What did you just say?” “Cut the crap!” The man squatted down and aggressively started tearing through my pre-packed hospital bag. “My money is money I earned by busting my ass out there! Competing with colleagues, battling subordinates, outsmarting bosses, and enduring impossible clients!” “Aside from my parents, I have no obligation to share my money with anyone irrelevant!” “I told you when we were dating: a marriage has to be an equal partnership. If one person is just a charity case, it won’t last. Nobody gets to take what doesn’t belong to them just because of a marriage certificate!” Listening to his speech, my heart turned to ice, inch by inch. Just how blind did I have to be to choose a piece of trash like this? Right now, I was absolutely certain that if something went wrong during this delivery, he would not hesitate to pull the plug to save a dollar. I glanced at the clock on the wall. It was New Year’s Day. My parents had just boarded their flight; they were still two hours away from landing. Mrs. Gable, the nanny my parents hired for me, was still on holiday leave. My due date had jumped forward by a whole week. I had to stall until my parents arrived. Another wave of contractions hit me. I gripped the wall, barely holding myself up. Every nerve ending was strung to its absolute limit. Cold sweat soaked through my hospital gown. I hadn’t even had a chance to eat breakfast. The nurses had urged him several times to go buy some food for me to keep my energy up. So Mark brought back two packs of instant ramen. Setting aside whether it had any nutritional value, just figuring out how to eat it in this state was a problem. The expectant mother in the next bed breathed through her contraction, rummaged in her bag, and handed me a few Snickers bars. The young woman let out a soft sigh: “Whatever the outcome with him, you have to get through the hurdle right in front of you first. Hang in there!” Trembling, I took the hand extended to me by a fellow woman. My nose stung with overwhelming gratitude. After forcing down the first Snickers bar, I gained an unprecedented surge of strength. I looked at Mark, my tone resolute: “Stop looking.” “Go… go call Dave. Tell him to come pay the deposit.” “Dave?” Mark stopped what he was doing and slowly turned around: “Why the hell would he pay your deposit?” Dave was one of his buddies from his rec basketball league. A total, unadulterated scumbag. He’d gotten countless girls pregnant and vanished every time. Still single in his mid-thirties. Dragging him into this muddy water gave me no sense of guilt whatsoever. Since this marriage was definitely heading for divorce. I might as well give Mark a reason to file. The contraction eased slightly, and I met his furious glare: “Nobody gets to take what doesn’t belong to them just because of a marriage certificate! And nobody gets to claim a child that doesn’t belong to them just because of a marriage certificate either.” “Holy shit!” Someone gasped so loud their jaw nearly hit the floor. I looked over; it was the girl who had just given me the Snickers. “Honey, did you hear that?” she whispered to her husband. “I swear to God, the baby in my belly is absolutely yours, and your money is all mine.” Mark stood up abruptly, the veins on his hands bulging: “You have the balls to say that to me again! This child… is a bastard you made from screwing around with Dave?” A stroke of inspiration flashed in my mind. Wait. I missed one. “You might want to call Mike down here too.” The room took a collective, sharp intake of breath. Mike. Mark’s other best friend. A walking textbook of vices—drinking, gambling, whoring, you name it. He’d even given his own wife an STD, and they were currently in the middle of a nasty divorce. Since the pot was already boiling into chaos. What did one more or one less matter? Tom, Dick, or Harry, cheating is cheating. A woman, as long as she is willing to risk it all, cannot be bound by any chains in this world. Mark was completely petrified: “You were sleeping with Mike too? He’s diseased! Just how trashy are you to be that desperate?!” “And your dad,” Fighting through the intense pain, I unleashed the ultimate killing blow: “Call him here, too.” 2 Clatter. The sound of a metal medical tray hitting the floor rang out. Mark staggered back a step: “You’re joking, right? Just because I won’t pay your hospital deposit, you’re dumping a bucket of shit on your own head? It’s just eight thousand dollars, is it worth it? My dad is over sixty! You’re going to ruin him like this?” “Ruin him?” I looked at Mark, deadpan: “You’ve got it twisted. What’s wrong with a grandfather coming to pay a deposit for his grandson?” “Is it a son or a grandson?!” Mark’s eyes looked ready to pop out of their sockets. “Either works. Up to you.” Turns out what people say is true. When a person is in a state of extreme excitement, they really can’t feel pain. Every cell in my body was screaming right now. Destroy him! Destroy him! It was a feeling I had never experienced before. The onlookers awkwardly pulled their privacy curtains shut. Everyone was getting full on the drama today. It successfully diverted the attention of the mothers-to-be, making them temporarily forget their contractions. Even the nurses stayed in this room for an absurdly long time. Who says you shouldn’t air your dirty laundry in public? It wasn’t me who looked ugly anyway. The next second, I held my phone out to him: “Should I call them, or are you going to?” “Call your fucking mother!” Mark snatched the phone and smashed it violently onto the floor, then grabbed me forcefully by the collar: “What the hell were you doing behind my back with Dave and Mike? Whose bastard is this exactly?!” “Take a guess.” I tilted my face up, looking at him mockingly: “Aren’t we just ‘irrelevant people’ to you? What does it matter whose it is?” Mark’s lower lip began to tremble uncontrollably. His calculations were just too perfect. He expected me to be financially independent while bearing his children, and also demanded that I be a submissive, traditional, perfectly faithful wife. There is no logic in this world that allows for such a cheap deal. “Fine! Good! Very good! This is how you want to play it?” Mark poked my forehead repeatedly with his index finger: “This is marital infidelity. No matter whose bastard this is, you deserve to leave this marriage with absolutely nothing! You brought this upon yourself, you can’t blame me.” I slowly curled the corners of my lips: “Don’t worry. Whoever the father is, I’m sure he’ll be happy to pay you compensation for the adultery. We won’t default on our debts.” Pfft… A snort of laughter leaked through the gap in the curtain next door. The girl silently gave me a thumbs up. The next second, the door was pushed open violently, and a figure flashed in. I looked over in pleasant surprise, only to see— Mark’s mother? 3 “What is going on here?” The old woman frowned as she looked over: “I could hear you two squawking from a mile away. It’s been hours, why hasn’t she given birth yet? My bridge group is missing a fourth player.” Mark abruptly let go of my collar. Driven by inertia, I fell heavily back onto the bed. “There’s a bastard in her belly! Whoever wants to stay can stay, but I’m not staying!” Mark grabbed his jacket, ready to leave. Mrs. Vance looked at him in confusion: “What do you mean, bastard? Where are you going?” “She admitted it herself. She slept with Dave and Mike, and she doesn’t even know whose kid is in her belly.” “What?” The old woman grabbed Mark’s arm: “A bastard? Then you absolutely cannot leave. Wait until the child is born, quickly draw blood for a DNA test, and then make this bitch pay! The wedding costs, emotional distress compensation—if we don’t bleed her dry, I’ll change my last name!” Mark stopped in his tracks. He narrowed his eyes and turned his head: “You’re right. We definitely need to settle this score properly.” The contractions hit again, and suddenly a warm stream ran down my leg onto the floor. My water broke. The previous hostility vanished into thin air. I tightly grabbed the nurse’s hand: “What do I do?” The nurse instantly supported me: “Lie down quickly, you can’t stand up!” She slapped the payment slip onto Mark’s chest again: “Go pay the deposit right now! This is a matter of life and death! Whatever conflicts you have, deal with them after the baby is born!” The next second, I was wheeled into the delivery room. Tears slid down from the corners of my eyes. Until the crucial moment, you never know if you married a human or a ghost. Mark and I knew each other back in college. We were both poor then, so there was no opportunity to spend his money. After graduation, I found a good job, and still didn’t have the opportunity to spend his money. After getting married, the nanny my parents hired for my dowry stayed by my side, giving me even less reason to spend his money. Gradually, I got used to being self-sufficient. The education I received since childhood was to be reasonable, know right from wrong, and have correct moral values. After marriage, one should be empathetic and treat every family member with sincerity. But no one ever told me that not everyone deserves to be called family. I walked through the gates of hell, and eventually, my long labor resulted in an emergency C-section. The moment I was asked to sign the consent form, my parents finally arrived. Lying quietly at the door of the delivery room was that deposit slip. Eight thousand dollars had allowed me to see through the coldness of human nature. My mom held me and cried for a long time. My dad glanced back and forth between me and the baby: “Not bad, she looks like you. Let’s call her Rain.” I finally broke down in tears. Everyone in this world might betray me, but my parents never would. My mom placed the baby into my arms. I looked down and kissed the top of her head. In that very second, a massive shift occurred in my mindset— I was a mother now. Therefore, I had to protect everything my daughter deserved. Soon, Mrs. Gable, the nanny, arrived looking travel-worn. “Why did she come a week early? I was so scared I didn’t sleep a wink last night.” Looking at my neat and complete family, I finally understood what security felt like. Mrs. Gable was the last bit of dignity my parents had given me. I didn’t have any traditional dowry; accurately speaking, I only came with a dowry nanny. At the time, I didn’t understand my parents’ actions at all. Logically, I am an only child. My parents had worked their whole lives, and their financial foundation wasn’t weak. But my parents completely deviated from the norm. And it was in that moment that Mark’s usually gentle and refined expression cracked for the first time: “Chloe, your parents aren’t confused, are they? Other people’s dowries are either houses or cars, and your family is just giving a nanny?” 4 My mom quickly opened the nanny employment contract: “Mark, don’t worry, this dowry definitely won’t leave you at a disadvantage. Nowadays houses shrink in value, and cars depreciate, but Mrs. Gable is different. She has lived with us for years, knows Chloe’s dietary habits perfectly, and can take good care of her for us. You don’t need to worry about the contract; treat it as Chloe’s dowry. You two living a good life together is better than anything.” Now, my mom took out the contract again and softly comforted me: “Don’t worry, no one can use a piece of paper like a marriage certificate to take what doesn’t belong to them!” Following that, Mrs. Gable handed me a card. I looked closely. It was my credit card. The one my parents strongly insisted I apply for before I got married. “These past two years, Mrs. Gable’s salary and most of your daily expenses have come from this card. After you maxed it out, your dad and I have been paying the minimum balance for you every month. We originally thought that if your marriage was happy, we would just cover this money. But looking at it now, this Mark is absolutely not worth trusting.” I suddenly understood everything. It turned out my parents had seen through the truth of this marriage two years ago, but at the time, I firmly believed that dedication always brings returns. As long as I worked hard to be myself after marriage and didn’t rely on anyone, I would never be looked down upon. And precisely because of this, in Mark’s eyes, it confirmed that I was just a fool who only knew how to talk about love. He took all the benefits I brought for granted. But when it came to an eight-thousand-dollar hospital deposit, it was like cutting his flesh, directly negating all my contributions over the past two years. As we were talking, the girl from the next bed was wheeled back in. She had given birth to a son. Her recovery was going relatively smoothly; she would be able to walk soon. The girl handed me her phone: “Hey girl, I recorded the part where you guys were arguing earlier. Could you use it later?” My family and I exchanged a glance: “Absolutely! Thank you so much!” It turns out there are still more good people in this world. After a night of rest, Mark and his mother came storming back in. As soon as he entered, he threw a divorce agreement at me: “I have nothing left to say. I don’t want to see a shameless woman like you for another day! Sign it.” My dad picked up the agreement and skimmed it: “Mark, after two years of marriage, our Chloe just went through the hardship of giving birth, and you’re forcing a divorce and demanding a massive compensation? What kind of logic is this?” Mark shot a cold glance at the baby: “Let her tell you herself, whose bastard is this exactly?” “Yours,” I raised my eyes and looked at him: “I was just saying that to piss you off before, so I spoke without thinking.” “Bullshit!” The old hag lunged forward: “If you say it is, it is? Now we are taking the baby for a DNA test, and the results will be final. Otherwise, you are definitely paying back the $20,000 wedding costs and $60,000 in emotional damages!” I pulled the baby closer into my arms: “I’m sorry, but absolutely no one is randomly testing my child’s DNA. I say the child belongs to whoever I say it belongs to. I accept no rebuttals.” After speaking, I curled the corners of my lips and pushed the credit card toward him: “From now on, all of the baby’s expenses will come out of this card, including Mrs. Gable’s salary, the baby’s formula, early education, insurance, and all living expenses. Since I won’t be able to work for the next two years because I have to take care of the child, I’ll trouble you to transfer $30,000 first. That should be about enough.” Mark looked like his eyes were about to tear open: “Chloe, you’ve gone fucking crazy from being poor! $30,000? Why don’t you just go rob someone?” I looked up at him, the smile reaching my eyes: “Robbing people is illegal. Robbing the child’s father is perfectly justified.” Chapter 2 5 Mark froze for two seconds: “Showing your true colors now, are we? Is this your real face?” I brushed my bangs aside: “That’s right, I’m done pretending. Oh right, for the past two years of marriage, Mrs. Gable’s nanny fees and our joint living expenses total $25,000. You might as well pay that off, too.” “In your fucking dreams!” Mark dropped a harsh threat: “That money was all a voluntary gift from your parents. I will absolutely not pay for your family’s extravagant behavior!” With that, he grabbed his mother’s arm and stormed out the door. The loud slam of the door made my daughter flinch, and I quickly patted her gently. Since I could see the end of this road, there was no need to leave any room for negotiation. “How about you come home with us after you’re discharged? I won’t feel at ease leaving you here,” my mom tentatively suggested while coaxing the baby. I shook my head: “Although I’ve been away from home for two years, with Mrs. Gable taking care of me, I haven’t suffered the slightest grievance. That’s the confidence you and Dad gave me. Furthermore, I haven’t collected the debts owed to me yet. I absolutely cannot just let this go.” A week later, I was finally discharged. During this time, Mark and his mother never visited. And Mark used these few days to scour through dashcams and home security footage, hoping to find evidence of my infidelity. He even stormed over to his two buddies’ houses and caused a huge scene. The two men were completely bewildered. In the end, he found absolutely nothing. Meaning, he had no grounds to file a lawsuit. Meanwhile, using the excuse of my husband abandoning me, verbally abusing me, and refusing to pay the hospital deposit during childbirth, I simply rented a three-bedroom apartment in another neighborhood. I also arranged a room for my parents. Then, I sent a screenshot of the $6,000 rent payment to Mark: “This is the rent for me and the baby for the next year. Remember to transfer the money. After all, it’s joint marital debt, you can’t dodge it.” At this point, he finally went crazy. Looking at the hundreds of missed calls on my phone, I let out a long, stale breath. “What exactly are you trying to do?” Good question. “I want you to be left with absolutely nothing!” 6 Many people know that only daughters like us are reasonable, know right from wrong, and hold proper moral values. But what they don’t know is that we also fiercely despise evil and tolerate no injustice. I am not lacking in love, so when I pull away, I never drag my feet. Eight thousand dollars might seem like a lot to him, but in my eyes, it’s just the price of a dog’s life. So, in the following days, I didn’t reply to a single one of the reconciliation messages Mark sent. I knew he was waiting for an opportunity. An opportunity to successfully get my daughter’s DNA. How could I let him get what he wanted so easily? After all, it would be much more fun to let the judge personally reveal this opportunity. Three days later, my phone rang. It was Mike’s wife, Nora. I thought she was calling to interrogate me, but her first sentence caught me completely off guard. “I know you and Mike are clean. Who would want that scumbag anyway? But I have something to tell you: Mark has someone else on the side.” I sharply inhaled— “Someone on the side?” “Yes, he would hide this from you, but not from his drinking buddies. I accidentally heard them talking about it when they were drunk. She’s a VIP bottle girl at a club. She’s been with him for almost a year. They hooked up right around the time you got pregnant.” “What?” A buzzing sound filled my ears. My memory flashed through all the signs he’d shown over the past year. Excuses to sleep in separate rooms, suddenly changing his phone password, working overtime more and more frequently, coming home later and later. It turns out this scumbag was only stingy with his own wife. Yet incredibly generous to outsiders. “So what are you planning to do next?” The voice on the phone pulled me back to reality. I rubbed my temples hard: “I don’t know, I need to sort this out properly. If the mistress charge sticks, it’ll count as evidence of major fault during the marriage. What about you? How far along is your situation?” The other party sighed deeply: “I lost. Even though he gave me an STD, it can’t be used as evidence of his infidelity. The first instance dismissed the divorce petition. I have to wait six months to file again. Why are women’s lives so bitter?” “So you have no leads on a mistress?” “I do, but I have no evidence to prove they are having an affair. The mistress works at a massage parlor, and Mike likes to get massages. On the surface, all the transactions look normal; it can’t count as evidence of maliciously transferring marital assets.” My mind raced: “Then how about this: you scrape together some money and buy that massage parlor, or buy shares in it. Once you’re the boss, won’t you be able to check the store’s books? When he comes for a massage, arrange a few extra girls for him. It’s just moving money from the left hand to the right.” The woman fell silent for a long time… “Buy the shop? I’ve never run a business before. What if… what if I lose money?” I scoffed: “If you lose money, you lose money! You aren’t divorced yet, are you? You were forced to invest and run a business in order to maintain family stability. Men have their schemes, and we women have our strategies.” “If you make money, you control the cash flow. If you lose money, naturally someone has to cover the losses for you. This is the greatest protection the law gives us primary wives! Doesn’t he want to avoid divorce? Doesn’t he want to drag this out and stall? Let him.” The woman took a sharp breath: “Holy shit, I never even considered this angle! I’ve been playing defense the whole time and couldn’t defend against anything. I didn’t realize I could go on the offensive! Okay, I’m going to figure out a way to get the money tomorrow!” Hanging up the phone, I began to formulate my own counter-kill strategy. A club girl? Alright, you’ve upped the difficulty for me.

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On the eve of Valentine’s Day, my fiancé, who works at a classified government agency, sent me a text. [Baby, I’m so sorry. The team got called out on an emergency mission, and my wedding leave has been canceled again.] The moment I received this message… I was standing less than thirty feet from the main gate of his agency. With my own eyes, I watched his female “bro,” Mia, slip inside his winter coat. He laughed and ruffled her hair. “Just to satisfy your sick sense of humor, I’ve stood Chloe up six times now.” “This is the absolute last time. Next year, no matter what, I’m marrying her.” Mia laughed and offered him a sip of the boba tea she had been drinking. “Didn’t you guys just buy a new mattress for the wedding? I’m going to help her ‘test it out.’” “No need to thank me, just consider it an early wedding gift.” Hearing this, I dug my fingernails so hard into my palms that they almost bled. I dialed Liam’s parents’ number. [Mr. and Mrs. Hayes, let’s get everyone together and decorate the new house tonight.] [Yeah, I mostly just want to give Liam a huge surprise.] Since he wanted to be shameless. He couldn’t blame me for burning everything to the ground. 1 [Let’s keep the fact that we’re all in Seattle a secret from Liam for now.] [Okay, I’ll wait for you guys downstairs at the apartment complex.] After hanging up the phone. I opened the app for the security cameras I had just installed yesterday. On the screen, they were tangled together, stumbling all the way from the entryway into the master bedroom. I saw the lucky charm I had once prayed so hard to get for him… Now lying discarded, broken in half amidst a pile of scattered clothes. My body went stiff, letting the freezing wind bite into me. It didn’t take long for both sets of parents and our relatives to arrive. Before they even got close, my parents hurried over, full of anticipation. “How is it, Chloe? Did you see Liam yet?” “Don’t worry, your grandpa just called his agency director.” “Even if the sky falls tomorrow, his team won’t be calling him out on any emergency missions.” I fought back the overwhelming urge to break down. I forced a smile for them. “Okay.” “Chloe, didn’t you say you wanted to surprise Liam?” “What are we waiting for? Let’s head up and start decorating.” Seeing the bright red balloons and streamers in my family’s hands. My nose stung, and I let the tears spill from my eyes. I’ve known Liam for ten years, we’ve been dating for eight, and we agreed to get married six years ago. Six years ago, exactly one month before our wedding… He said he wanted to run for team leader, so I agreed to postpone the wedding for a year. Three years ago, exactly one week before our wedding… He said he had to go on a classified mission. I agreed to postpone the wedding for another year. Until this year, when both sets of parents finally lost their patience. Three days ago, we brought all our relatives and friends… Arriving early in the city where his agency is located to prepare for the wedding. But I never, ever would have guessed. The home I spent six years carefully designing and furnishing. Every piece of furniture, every inch of the floorboards… Had been claimed by his female “bro,” Mia, first. The thought made my stomach churn. I rushed to a nearby trash can and threw up for a long time. I wanted to tell them. I wanted to tell everyone. Just half an hour ago. Liam personally texted me to say… The wedding scheduled for tomorrow was being postponed for another year. I wanted to tell my parents that Liam had betrayed me. For six years, every time he lied about his wedding leave being canceled… He was actually messing around with his female “bro,” Mia. But I found my throat felt like it was being squeezed by an invisible hand. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t squeeze out a single word, couldn’t make a single sound. As I walked into the apartment building, I chugged a bottle of freezing cold water. “Liam, it’s time you got a taste of what it’s like to be played for a fool.” As soon as everyone stepped off the elevator. They saw a pair of women’s shoes and a coat scattered in the hallway. Seeing me awkwardly kicking the clothes toward the wall… Liam’s mother covered her nose and chuckled knowingly. She unlocked the door with a knowing smile. At the exact same moment, heavy, indescribable panting came from the master bedroom. “Liam… this bed is pretty comfortable.” “When you’re doing it with Chloe here in the future, are you going to think of me?” “We should change the sofa to leather; the fabric one scratches my skin when we’re on it.” Hearing this, everyone’s expressions froze. It was as if someone had cast a freezing spell on them. No one stepped closer to see what was happening. And no one made a sound. I forced my legs, which felt like they weighed a thousand pounds, to move. I picked up the lucky charm, shattered in two, from the pile of scattered lingerie and shirts. Even though I had prepared myself mentally for this… Actually being in the moment, I still acted as cowardly as a child who had done something wrong. 2 “Liam Hayes, get your ass out here right now.” “Liam, did you hear me?” “How dare you betray my daughter! You must have a death wish.” My dad charged toward the master bedroom, ignoring everything else. He slammed both fists heavily against the wooden door. Just as he was furious enough to kick the door down… Liam, wrapped in a bathrobe, slipped out through a crack in the door. “Mr. Davis, Dad, Mom, Mrs. Davis…” “W-why are you all here?” “Why didn’t anyone tell…” Before he could finish, my dad kicked him hard. “You heartless animal, you have the nerve to ask us?” “Chloe waited for you for six whole years, counting the days and the stars.” “Was it just so she could wait and see how you betrayed her?” Before Liam could recover from his shock. My mom had already rushed into the kitchen and grabbed a meat cleaver. “Where is that little tramp? How dare she ruin my daughter’s marriage!” “I’m going to kill her!” Just as she raised the cleaver, ready to storm the master bedroom… Liam snatched the cleaver from her hand and threw it on the floor. “Mr. and Mrs. Davis, are you misunderstanding something?” “My original plan was to leave the base and come home at 7 AM tomorrow.” “I wanted to give Chloe a surprise, so I came home early.” “I just finished showering and was about to change when you guys showed up.” While he was talking, my cousin had already charged into the bedroom. “Liam, if you really cheated on my cousin, I’m going to end you.” The moment he pushed the door open… The wedding bed was made impeccably. He scanned the entire room, but couldn’t find a second person besides Liam. Seeing this, Liam’s mother immediately chimed in to change the subject. “See, I told you. How could my Liam do something like that?” “Looks like we all misunderstood him.” “Chloe, really, you should have just waited upstairs with Liam for us.” “What, were you afraid we wouldn’t be able to find the way with so many people?” She grumpily picked up the coat from the floor and handed it to her son. “Honestly, Liam. Showering is one thing, but why were you watching porn?” “Now look what happened. Everyone misunderstood.” Liam’s cousin chimed in from the side. “Honestly, you and Chloe totally just had a passionate moment, didn’t you?” “You didn’t even clean up the ‘battlefield’ before having everyone come decorate the house.” “Yeah, you’re really treating us like family, not holding back at all.” Having quickly thrown on some clothes, Liam immediately played along with the excuse. “See, this is just my luck.” “Who else watches a little video in their own home and gets treated like they’re being caught cheating in public?” He faked an awkward cough. “Since everyone is here, why don’t we go out to eat?” “Chloe, what do you think?” Seeing that I remained completely unmoved. He walked right up, took my arm, and leaned in close to my ear. “Let’s just take everyone out to eat first. I’ll explain the video thing to you later.” “Things aren’t what they seem, trust me.” “Say something, hurry up. Everyone is waiting.” Hah. Is he afraid everyone is waiting? Or is he afraid the person hiding in the master bedroom is waiting? After ten years together, Liam knew exactly how to manipulate me better than anyone. He knew that every time he and Mia crossed the line under the guise of being “bros”… I would patiently believe his excuses, time and time again. But what he didn’t know was… when I found out that he had been lying about his wedding leave being canceled for six years, all for this so-called “bro”… I didn’t want to marry him anymore. At all. But I didn’t want to just rip the band-aid off right now. I wanted to see with my own eyes how they would reap what they sowed and suffer the consequences of their own actions. 3 I sneered and pulled my arm free from his grasp. “What just happened really was a misunderstanding.” “It’s our fault for not being careful and making a fool of ourselves in front of everyone.” “Mom, Dad, Mr. and Mrs. Hayes, since it’s so rare for us all to be together…” “How about we just order some hot pot delivery and eat here? It can be a housewarming party for us.” “No!” As soon as I said that, the three members of the Hayes family objected almost simultaneously. Seeing my confused expression… Liam’s mother was the first to explain. “There are no ingredients in the new house. Eating hot pot here would be poor hosting.” “Besides, it’s getting late. There’s no time to go grocery shopping and cook now.” “Liam’s mom is right. Let’s just go out to eat.” “My parents are right, Chloe. Mr. and Mrs. Davis, let’s just go out to eat.” In the entire room… Only me and the three members of the Hayes family knew. There was a master bathroom behind a hidden door. Did they want to use dinner as an excuse to get me and everyone else out of the apartment? So Mia could use the opportunity to sneak out? Keep dreaming! I ignored the Hayes family’s attempts to look calm. I pulled my parents and relatives to sit down on the sofa. “Oh, everyone has had a long day. Let’s not make things more complicated.” “I just ordered delivery on DoorDash. It’ll be here in twenty minutes.” “Does everyone want cilantro and green onions? I remember Tim doesn’t eat spicy food, right?” “Okay, I’ve added a note for the restaurant.” Although they looked incredibly reluctant. The Hayes family still had to bite the bullet and sit down. While I was in the pantry making tea for everyone. Liam looked embarrassed as he whispered an explanation to me. “Chloe, did you get my text? I wanted to surprise you, but I didn’t expect to mess it up like this.” I pretended like nothing happened, asking him casually. “What text? Did you just text me?” “Sorry, I was so focused on decorating the house, I haven’t had time to look at my phone.” I was about to pull out my phone when he raised his hand to stop me. “It’s good you didn’t see it. The wedding is going ahead as planned. After tomorrow, you will officially be my wife.” I sneered and pushed him away. I went back to the living room and warmly entertained my family and friends. While waiting for the hot pot. People were putting up wedding decals. People were blowing up balloons. And the task of decorating the master bedroom… Was given to the two of us, the engaged couple. I was just about to lift the blanket to scatter dried red dates and longans on the bed. When Liam yanked the fitted sheet and the duvet off the bed in one swift motion, throwing them on the floor. Seeing my confused look. He explained with an awkward expression. “No one has slept in it for a long time. I was afraid it was dusty.” He pulled out a brand-new set of sheets from the closet. “You sit down and rest for a bit. I’ll change them.” “Chloe, I know it’s been hard on you planning the wedding all by yourself these past few years.” “Don’t worry, once I get promoted in a little while, I’ll request a transfer.” “Then, we can live the normal, 9-to-5, everyday life you’ve always wanted.” I couldn’t be bothered to listen to his lies. I was just about to reach out and push open the hidden door to the bathroom. When he grabbed me from behind, hugging me tightly around my waist. “Wait!” 4 I looked furious and demanded loudly. “What are you doing? I need to use the bathroom.” The moment I broke free from his embrace. I acted completely enraged and demanded loudly. “Liam, what the hell are you hiding?” I rushed into the bathroom behind the hidden door like a madwoman. Even though I practically tore up the floorboards… I couldn’t find a single trace of Mia. Liam visibly breathed a sigh of relief. “Alright, stop being so paranoid.” “Let’s get back to the living room. The hot pot is almost ready.” As the steam from the hot pot filled the air. I felt my eyes misting over too. This moment was exactly what I used to dream of the most. Parents, my fiancé, relatives, and friends, all by my side. Everyone eating hot pot together, having a few drinks. The elders talking business and family gossip. The younger generation talking about dreams, the collision of reality and the soul. “Chloe, what are you spacing out for?” “Eat up. After we eat, I have to take everyone back to the hotel.” It wasn’t until Liam started frantically throwing food into the pot, trying to rush the process. That I finally woke up from the illusion in front of me. “What’s the rush? Who finishes a hot pot dinner in an hour?” “Since everyone is here today, whatever else you guys want to eat, I’ll order more.” “Two orders of sliced beef, two orders of tripe, two orders of shrimp paste…” I completely ignored the anxious eyes of the three members of the Hayes family. If she wasn’t hiding inside the room. And the bathroom window happened to face the external AC unit. Then there was only one possibility left. Mia was currently hiding on the AC unit outside the window. At this point, I just wanted to see. Would Mia be frozen to the point where she had to beg us for help while stark naked? Admitting that she was the other woman destroying someone else’s relationship. Or would she, for the sake of her so-called dignity… Bite the bullet and endure the sub-zero temperatures? Social death or actual freezing death. Let’s see which one she chooses! As the second delivery order arrived. No one showed any intention of getting up to leave. Liam finally started to visibly panic. He was practically begging as he urged me. “Chloe, let’s head back to the hotel after we finish eating. If we stay any longer, something bad is going to happen.” “If you like eating hot pot, after the wedding tomorrow, we can eat it every day, okay?” I used the alcohol as an excuse to act belligerent and grabbed him by the collar. “What could possibly happen? What bad thing could happen?” “Liam, don’t tell me you actually hid someone in our new home?” “Where would you hide them? Outside the window? No, I have to go check.” As I stumbled drunkenly toward the master bedroom. Liam’s parents hurriedly followed behind me. “Chloe, are you drunk? How could someone hide outside the window?” “Exactly. Does this person have superpowers or something?” “In this freezing weather, wouldn’t someone freeze to death hiding outside?” At that moment, Liam scooped me up and carried me back to the sofa. “Chloe, your family is here. You can’t be acting like a crazy drunk.” “Mr. and Mrs. Davis, it’s getting late. I’ll take everyone back to the hotel first.” “Yeah, the in-laws should head back to the hotel quickly. We have the wedding ceremony tomorrow…” Before they could finish their sentence, the doorbell rang frantically. The moment the door opened, a group of firefighters and paramedics rushed in carrying a stretcher. 5 “Unit 1203, right? Someone called and reported that someone in your apartment is trying to jump off the building.” “Which room is the AC unit outside of? Take us there immediately.” Hearing this, everyone froze in shock. It was my dad who stepped forward and asked. “Officers, are you sure you didn’t make a mistake?” “These are the only people in our apartment, and no one is trying to jump.” A few relatives and friends also stepped forward to testify. “Yeah, you must have made a mistake.” “We came over today to celebrate the new couple’s home, and everyone is right here.” “Is it the neighbors who are trying to jump? Did you go to the wrong door?” While they were talking, a frantic voice came through the firefighter’s radio. “Team, they’re about to fall! The person is about to fall!” “Hurry up and save them, or it’ll be too late!” Seeing the incredibly embarrassed faces of the three Hayes family members. I rushed to the master bathroom, ignoring everything else. “Let’s stop arguing. Whether someone is trying to jump or not, we’ll know as soon as we look.” As I opened the window. I saw a naked female body hanging onto the AC unit below. At this moment, Mia was desperately clinging to the AC unit with both hands. Seeing everyone appear, she screamed desperately at Liam, who was behind me. “Liam, tell them to save me right now!” “I can’t hold on much longer! Hurry!” After seeing with their own eyes that Liam really had cheated and hidden a woman. My relatives behind me tackled him to the ground almost simultaneously. The firefighters also quickly climbed out the window to try and pull Mia up. Just as the entire scene descended into chaos. With a blood-curdling scream… Mia’s fingers slipped, and she fell backward. By the time everyone looked out the window again. She was sprawled spread-eagle, having crashed into a large, dead tree. “Help! Help me! Help me!” “Liam, you bastard! I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die!” “Chloe, I was wrong! I shouldn’t have messed around with your fiancé. Please, tell them to save me!” As she cried and begged for help, everyone finally noticed. Her entire face was a bloody, mangled mess. A thick tree branch had pierced right through her cheek. At this point, a firefighter had already repelled down to the tree using a harness. He shouted to ask Mia. “Are you okay? Where does it hurt?” “Don’t be afraid. Hold on to me.” “Don’t worry, saving you is our duty.” It wasn’t until the ambulance sirens wailed through the apartment complex… That everyone finally snapped out of the chaos. By this time, Liam looked like a pathetic, beaten dog. My dad, along with a few of my cousins… Had beaten him until his face was bruised and swollen, and his head was bleeding. “Liam, what do you have to say for yourself now?” I looked at everyone in the Hayes family, enunciating every word clearly. “I’m sorry for making everyone travel all this way.” “Tomorrow’s wedding is canceled.” After saying that, we turned and left without looking back. After Chloe and her family left. Liam suddenly realized in hindsight. She seemed different than before. In the past, when he and Mia wildly crossed the line… Her eyes held jealousy and disappointment. But today, her eyes held only a bottomless, icy indifference. Today, she had become so unfamiliar, so alien. So unfamiliar that it felt like she was a completely different person. Slap! Liam’s mother slapped her son, furious at his stupidity. “This is all your fault!” “I warned you a long time ago to stay away from that tramp, but you refused to listen.” Liam’s father also kicked his son in exasperation. “If she was going to hide on the AC unit, why didn’t she hide properly?” “Didn’t you see all the neighbors recording our apartment just now?” “If this gets out, your promotion is ruined.” “Hurry up and go find Chloe and coax her back!” “If she refuses to marry you, we’re disowning you.”

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My twin sister was born autistic and seemingly simple-minded. By the time she was seven, she still hadn’t spoken a single word. My father planned to marry her off as soon as she turned sixteen. I, on the other hand, carried the weight of high expectations and was meticulously groomed for success. Pitying my sister’s situation, I would sneak around to play with her, enduring my father’s scoldings and beatings, secretly vowing to save her. But when I turned eight, my sister suddenly got better. Not only could she speak fluently, but she also casually solved a math problem I had been agonizing over for a long time. My father, astounded, declared her a prodigy and decided to devote all his resources to her. And I fell into a state even more miserable than my sister’s had been. “The family’s resources must go entirely to the most gifted child. Chloe is just too average; marrying early and having kids is her true calling.” “After the holidays, we’ll send her off as a child bride.” My father and mother had decided my fate. I was consumed with anxiety. The night before, my sister came to say goodbye. “Sister, I’m leaving. Please try to be happy.” She said she was running away from home. In that instant, memories of a past life flooded my mind. After my sister left home alone, she met a tragic end. My parents treated me as a sinner, and my life became a living hell. “They all abandoned me. Are you going to throw me away too?” This time, I decided to make my sister stay, and I would be the one to leave. 1 “Mia, how did you solve this math problem?” I stared in shock at my expressionless sister, Mia. A minute ago, I had been holding my scratch paper, calculating the problem my father had assigned for the umpteenth time. I had agonized over it from early afternoon until dusk, but that crucial step always eluded me. Just as I was about to set it aside, Mia sneaked in to find me. “Sister, I want to play catch. Play with me.” My naturally slow sister had recently started speaking. As her older sister, I was relieved and happy. Even at the risk of being scolded by my father, I promised to make time to play with her every day. I glanced outside; it was well past our usual agreed time. “But Mia, the most important thing right now is, how on earth did you solve this math problem?” My father favored smart children. Since I could remember, he made me memorize math formulas daily, saying only straight A’s made me worthy of being his child and earning the right to inherit the family business. To avoid being discarded and to protect my sister, I studied like my life depended on it. While other kids goofed off and climbed trees, I recited textbooks. While Mia cuddled and acted spoiled in Mom’s arms, I solved equations. Maybe I was just too stupid. I often couldn’t get perfect scores on the assignments my father gave, and the extra-credit problems took me ages to solve. My father was never fully satisfied. Yet my sister, who had always been considered simple-minded, easily achieved what I found so difficult. “I looked at your textbook. I knew how to do these the second I saw them. Are they supposed to be hard?” Mia looked up, confused. I wanted to press her further, but she said, bored, “Sister, I’d rather play games with you than do math problems. Can we go outside now?” I was speechless. With complex feelings, I put down the paper and fulfilled my promise to play with Mia. As it got dark, we headed home. My father was waiting under the porch light, waving us over. “I made some custard. Come eat it before it gets cold.” I was just about to thank him and ask if I could share half with Mia, but my father acted as if he didn’t see me. He turned to Mia and said warmly: “Mia, I heard you solved the math problem I assigned in under a minute. You’re so smart. You’ll definitely bring honor to the family in the future.” “I made this custard for you. Eat it while it’s hot.” Mia hesitated for a moment, then slowly stepped forward. Everything shifted into slow motion. My eyes widened as I watched my father shower my sister with boundless praise, and then look at me with… disgust. “Why are you still standing there? Do you want to eat your sister’s food?” “You greedy, useless thing, get out!” My father’s tone was impatient, as if my very presence was polluting his sight. Terrified of his anger, I quickly retreated and closed the door. Just before it shut completely, the sight of my father preparing to spoon-feed my sister made my limbs go stiff. Before, he only knew how to discipline me with a belt and rarely gave me a pleasant look, let alone such an intimate gesture. It seemed I had been discarded. 2 In the days that followed, my father grew visibly colder towards me. He no longer demanded I complete daily tasks, nor did he take time to test my knowledge. I had an abundance of time to just stare into space. At first, escaping the heavy burden of studying felt somewhat relaxing. But as time went on, the feeling of being completely ignored gnawed at my bones, making me restless. What truly drove me to despair was a conversation I overheard. “Chloe has such a strong personality. What will happen to her in the future?” My mother’s timid voice was laced with worry. “The family’s resources are limited. Funneling everything into the most gifted child is the optimal solution. Mia is exceptional and deserves our undivided attention. As for Chloe…” My father’s tone was dismissive. “Does a normal kid like her really think she can compete with a genius? Marrying her off early so she can start a family is her true calling. If she can’t measure up, she needs to accept her fate.” “The mayor of the neighboring town quite likes her. Next year, we’ll send her over as a child bride. We can use the dowry to hire another tutor for Mia.” My father constantly spouted rhetoric about how the useless should make way. In the past, because of her condition, my sister was almost drowned at birth. After my mother barely saved her, it was decided she had to be married off as quickly as possible. Now that it was my turn, it seemed natural that I should accept the same fate. But. Why did it hurt so much? I had exhausted myself trying to gain his approval, sacrificing all my dignity, yet I was broken so easily. After reading all those books, my only destiny was to be cast out. “Mom, I don’t want to leave you.” The night I heard that conversation, I knocked on my mother’s door. It took a long time before she let me in. Looking at my frail mother, who was forcing herself to maintain composure in front of me, I spoke dryly. She was silent for a good while. She seemed to be looking at me, but at the same time, looking right through me. “Your sister’s talent is incredible. You must have seen it.” I pursed my lips, a wave of panic washing over me. “Mom, I know I can’t compare to Mia. Not in academics, and definitely not in being lovable.” My father believed a doting mother raised a spoiled child, so he rarely let me near my sickly mother. Mia was the only one allowed by her side. I hadn’t fulfilled my duty as a daughter. And now, I couldn’t even beat Mia in solving equations. In every comparison with my sister, I felt like a defective product. “But Mom, even if I can’t compete with Mia, I don’t want to leave you. I don’t want to be someone’s child bride.” I wanted to keep studying. The air in the room seemed to freeze. My mother’s rigid posture slumped. She awkwardly wrapped an arm around me. “Chloe, I have no choice. Please don’t make this harder for me. You’ve always been such an understanding child. I can’t change your father’s mind, and I can’t alter his decisions. Don’t make this difficult for me, please.” My mother cried. Tears streamed down her pale chin, making my heart tremble. “Okay, I understand.” I nodded, defeated. My mother’s wrists were so thin. The doctor said she was very weak. I needed to be a good, trouble-free child. “Then Mom, could you give me a pendant just like the one Mia wears? The one you prayed for and got for her?” I thought, at the very least, I should take something meaningful with me. “I’m sorry.” My mother cried again, apologizing through her tears. “It’s all my fault for being useless. My health is too poor to go pray for another pendant for you. The one your sister wears, I got it a few years ago when I was feeling better, by kneeling on every single step up the mountain. I can’t do that now…” I fell silent. In the end, I had lost both my mother’s love and my father’s expectations. My sister. The sister I had sworn to save, had acquired these things so effortlessly. It made me look ridiculous. “Okay, I understand.” Complex emotions took root in my heart, and I started dreading seeing my sister. I was afraid she would be frightened by my ugly jealousy. 3 “Sister, I’m leaving.” The next evening, my sister had a small knapsack on her back, looking like she was ready to say goodbye. “You’re leaving? Why?” I repeated, confused. Suddenly, a splitting headache hit me, and images flashed before my eyes. My sister’s battered, scarred body covered with a white sheet. My father’s cold, dead eyes and my mother’s face, pale without a drop of blood. And then, curses sharp enough to pierce the heart. “If only it were Mia who stayed, why did it have to be you? Why wasn’t it you who died!” “I should have known you were rotten inside. Mia is so sweet; you must have instigated her to run away. Such a vicious heart at such a young age! Go die and give me my Mia back!” Those were my mother’s screams, filled with extreme hatred. “It’s a pity. A smart kid like Mia could have led this family back to its former glory. Why are we left with an average nobody like Chloe?” Those were my father’s sighs of infinite regret. The woman propped up her sick body and slapped me hard across the face. Pain exploded on my cheek, but I stayed silent, letting myself be beaten to the ground in an act of atonement. Finally, the chaos ended the moment my mother suddenly collapsed. “Mia, you don’t have to leave.” “I’m the one who should go.” I looked at my trembling hands. In my previous life, it was these hands that had cowardly clenched into fists, failing to stop my sister from running away. If I made her stay this time, would my father and mother not be disappointed? “No, I have to go.” Mia, who usually had a blank expression, now showed a rare look of determination. She glanced at me. “Sister, you’ve been unhappy these past few days. Is it because of me?” “Dad has been acting so strange lately, talking about grooming me. His face looks scary. I don’t like being controlled by him. Anyway, one of us has to leave. Let me go instead of you.” I stared at Mia, my feelings complicated. With things developing as they had, it wasn’t that I didn’t have dark thoughts. In the agonizing pain of the night, vicious ideas would sometimes take over my mind, making me wonder—if I had been the only child born, without my sister, would I have been happier? Since I exist in this world, why does Mia have to exist too? Those unspeakable resentments suddenly vanished into thin air in the face of Mia’s smiling farewell. I lowered my eyes, a wave of self-loathing washing over me. Actually, the one who truly shouldn’t have been born was me. “They all don’t want me, they all despise me, and now even you are going to abandon me and leave?” I stepped forward, grabbed her sleeve, and shook it. “Stay with me, okay? If you leave, I don’t know how I’ll survive in this house. Please.” Mia looked up in surprise. Her usually empty eyes reflected my image as she whispered, “Sister, do you really not want to be apart from me?” “I thought you’d be happy if I left.” I nodded firmly. In this life, Mia absolutely could not leave. Ultimately, the total failure who had no right to stay here was me. “Mia, have you thought about this? What will you encounter if you run away alone? There are a lot of bad people out there, and they don’t have a conscience. You’re only eight; your thigh isn’t even as thick as an adult’s arm. What will you do if you run into them?” “If something happened to you, how could I ever be happy!” I initially meant to just act a little to make her stay, but I didn’t expect that when I actually spoke the words, they were mixed with genuine feeling. I really, really didn’t want to see Mia get hurt again. “Don’t cry, Sister. I won’t go. I promise I won’t go. I’ll stay with you!” Mia frantically tried to wipe away my tears. I… was crying? Could someone like me, who was willing to watch her own twin sister walk away for her own selfish gain, actually cry? 4 Regardless, Mia stayed home this time. Having a genius child, my father walked with a newfound spring in his step every day. Even my mother, freed from the fate of being a discarded piece because of her favored child, seemed to have gained some vitality. My father assigned Mia study tasks, and my mother, afraid she would get tired, forced herself to cut fruit and bring it to her. Worried she would overwork herself, she uncharacteristically argued with my father, fighting fiercely for Mia to have break times. These were things she had never done for me. I hid in the corner, like a cockroach in the shadows, peeking at a happiness that didn’t belong to me. “Don’t worry, Sister. I won’t let Father send you away. We sisters have to stick together.” During her lunch break, Mia sneaked over to see me and made a solemn promise. I looked at her. Her slightly frail body had filled out quite a bit after a period of careful feeding. Her cheeks were plump and glowing, and her exposed skin had no bruises or redness. That’s wonderful. …In the past, whenever my father was displeased with me, he would punish me. But as expected, with Mia being such a genius, even a strict man like my father became much more lenient. “Okay, I’ll wait for you to protect me.” The roles of protector and protected had been completely reversed. I suppressed my sorrow and agreed, though I didn’t think she could persuade our father. My father was my father. Having been the head of the household for years, male chauvinism was carved into his very breathing. Even if Mia was incredibly smart and capable, how could she possibly resist his deep-seated stubbornness? Just as I expected. The day Mia brought it up with my father, I was hiding behind the door, nervously realizing his voice had darkened. “I allowed you to study as a woman, take the college entrance exams, and find a live-in son-in-law—isn’t that enough? What other family’s daughter isn’t married off for money after a few years? Mia! I have been merciful enough to you!” “The law of the jungle! Survival of the fittest! Since that useless Chloe couldn’t beat you, she should obediently accept her fate! It’s not like I told her to go die!” Mia’s pure voice interrupted him. “Sister wants to keep studying. She’s going to be the world’s best scientist.” “You dare talk back!” My father grew even more enraged. “What dreams! Bullshit! Oh, I get it now. She put you up to this, didn’t she? I knew she wouldn’t behave. A piece of trash who doesn’t want to fulfill her last bit of value and actually dares to instigate you to make trouble.” “Where is she? I’ll personally convince her to accept her fate.” The chilling malice in my father’s words made my scalp tingle. Terrified, I nearly dropped to my knees and immediately turned to run. Unfortunately, before I could run more than a few steps, my father kicked the door open and quickly grabbed me. Like an experienced hunter pinning down a weak lamb. The only fate left for it was to be cooked and eaten. One slap after another fell. Looking at Mia, who watched me getting beaten in a daze, and my mother not far away, covering her mouth and sobbing bitterly but not daring to take a step forward, My heart was filled with numbness. I touched my face, and my hand came away wet with tears. 5 Because I “wouldn’t behave,” my father decided to send me away early. “I’m sorry, Sister. I’m too weak right now. I can’t fight Father.” “Will you wait for me? When I get into college and have some say, I’ll come get you immediately. You know I’m very smart. It won’t take long for me to finish the high school curriculum. I can skip grades!” For some reason, listening to Mia’s earnest words made me feel a bit nauseous. Frowning through her vows and promises, I gave a faint smile. “Okay, I’ll wait for you.” I was lying. Every second I was tied to this family disgusted me. I never wanted to see any of them again. The day my future mother-in-law came to settle things, Mia hugged me and refused to let go. “Sister, I don’t want to be apart from you.” “Sister, I will protect you.” “Sister, wait for me.” “Sister…” Even as I was taken away by the strange woman, my sister’s longing calls kept echoing behind me. Ah. I really wanted to tear off my mask and tell Mia that I hated her, that every word and expression of hers made me sick. I wanted her to realize how despicable her sister really was, and warn her to stop foolishly offering up her sincere heart! I didn’t care for it! But I was so useless. I couldn’t even manage to show her a mean face. From the time I could remember, my mother begged me to protect my sister. She said my sister was slow and easily bullied, so she needed me to take care of her. She said my sister couldn’t speak and was pitiful and helpless, so as her older sister, I had to cherish her. I suppressed the nausea and waved at Mia, who was looking back at me from a distance. “Goodbye!” Goodbye forever! An hour later. On the way to my mother-in-law’s house. I created a distraction and, while she wasn’t looking, ran away with the small amount of money I had secretly saved up and hidden in my shoe. 6 The years after leaving home were gray and bleak. The money I brought wasn’t enough, and because I was too young, there weren’t many legitimate jobs available. I couldn’t save anything, and whatever baby fat I had was worn away, leaving my bones protruding. On top of that, in those days, human traffickers were everywhere. If I wasn’t careful, I’d be targeted. If I hadn’t read a lot of books and had a bit of street smarts, I would have been done for long ago. By the time I finally settled down in a city hundreds of miles away from Mia, eight years had passed. “Hey Chloe, want to catch a movie tonight?” The factory manager’s son, young Mr. Davis, invited me with a smile. I pulled my thoughts away from the math problems running through my head and expertly declined. “Sorry, Mr. Davis, I have plans tonight. I can’t go with you.” Ignoring his attempts to persuade me, I packed my things and went home when my shift ended. On the way, I remembered I had left something at the factory and decided to turn back to get it. “What’s her deal? I’ve been pursuing her for months, the gifts I give aren’t cheap, and my old man is the factory manager. Yet she rejects my gifts and gives me attitude. Who does she think she is?” Young Mr. Davis complained. Auntie Wang, a coworker I got along with, eagerly agreed. “What kind of lady is she? Just a poor girl. The other day she was fighting with me over discarded vegetable scraps at the market. Don’t be discouraged, Mr. Davis. She’s just read too many books and gotten stupid, thinking she’s so great. She dreams every day of getting into Crestwood University like that talented Lin girl.” “It cracks me up. I sneaked a peek, and she still keeps newspaper clippings about that talented Lin girl in her drawer. She’s just a country bumpkin. Does she really think a big-shot genius would even know she exists?” Young Mr. Davis looked mocking. “Are you serious? How does she have the nerve to compare herself to Mia Lin? My cousin, who goes to Crestwood, says Mia Lin is amazing. So many men can’t even compete with her. That Chloe girl thinks way too highly of herself.” I hadn’t offended them, and I had even helped Auntie Wang before, yet the malice they harbored towards me was intense. While I felt uncomfortable, I had to admit one thing. They were right about one thing. For someone like me to vainly hope to be compared to a genius like Mia, it was truly overestimating my own abilities. I should have realized years ago that Mia was favored by the heavens, while I was an inconspicuous, ordinary person. No matter where I ran, I couldn’t escape the blinding glare of her brilliance. “So this is how you see me.” Releasing my tight grip on the doorframe, I interrupted them coldly. “Gossiping behind backs—are you two that exceptional yourselves? What right do you have to comment on my business?” Young Mr. Davis shot me a guilty look, and my expression turned to disgust. “Gossiping about a female colleague behind her back—how do you expect to ever get a girlfriend? Just wait. The next time you try to hook up with someone, I’ll tell her exactly how low your character is. You can look forward to being single for the rest of your life!” Young Mr. Davis flared up. “Who do you think you are to threaten me? This factory belongs to my dad! I can have you thrown out with one word! Stop acting so high and mighty!” After cursing, he swaggeringly eyed my face and body, then said with mock kindness, “I know it’s not easy for you, being an orphan working in the big city. You don’t want to lose your job, do you? Behave, apologize, or agree to be my girlfriend, and I’ll reluctantly forgive you.” I clenched my fists and considered it. If I hit him, would I lose my job? Manager Davis was fairly upright. He originally invited me to join the factory because he appreciated my skills. He probably wouldn’t fire a key technical worker just for his son. Of course, even if I was fired, it wouldn’t be the end of the world. At my lowest, I had eaten weeds by the side of the road and filled my stomach with snow to stave off hunger. No matter how hard it got, it wouldn’t be that bad. Since that was the case, I threw a punch right into young Mr. Davis’s eye socket. Phew, that felt much better.

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I didn’t speak a single word until I was eight years old. Everyone in the Sterling family called me a retard. My mother would wipe her tears in secret, convinced she had given birth to an autistic daughter. My father’s eyes were always filled with disappointment when he looked at me. Yet, out of sheer pride and concern for his image, he never sent me to a special needs school. Then came the day a Wall Street shark marched into our headquarters to force a hostile takeover. He was so arrogant that he verbally slaughtered the entire boardroom, leaving a room full of elite executives shivering in silence. No one dared to breathe. I stood in the corner, bored to tears. I was annoyed. So, I took a step forward. And spoke the very first words of my life. Chapter 1 My name is Eleanor Sterling. The eldest granddaughter of the Sterling family, and the sole direct heir to Sterling Enterprises. By all accounts, this was a life born with a diamond-encrusted silver spoon. But I was eight years old, and I still hadn’t said a word. Everyone in the Sterling empire knew the truth: the eldest heiress was a dimwit. My mother, Grace, came from an old-money Boston academic family. She was gentle, cultured, and poured every ounce of her love into me. She would hold me, teaching me with endless patience. “Eleanor, say it with Mommy. Mom… my…” I would just look at her, silent. The light in her eyes would slowly dim. Then she would turn her back, secretly dabbing at the corners of her eyes with a tissue. She thought I couldn’t see. But I knew everything. It wasn’t that I couldn’t speak; I just didn’t want to. I had been reincarnated with my memories intact. In my previous life, I was an exhausted, fast-talking financial analyst. I had spent thirty years talking until my throat bled, and I was utterly burnt out. In this life, I just wanted to be a quiet, useless rich kid and enjoy the ride. But I underestimated the weight of the title “Sterling Heiress.” It wasn’t just a symbol of wealth; it was a shackle. My father, Arthur Sterling, the CEO of Sterling Enterprises, was a cutthroat businessman. Every time he looked at me, there was a glimmer of hope. “Eleanor, do you know what this is?” He’d point to the numbers on a quarterly financial report. I would nod. “Can you tell Daddy what our net profit is for this quarter?” I would reach out my little hand and accurately tap the exact figure. The hope in his eyes would flare brighter. And then, he would ask the question he wanted the answer to most. “Eleanor, call me Daddy. Just once. Let me hear it.” I would look at him, remaining completely mute. The light in his eyes would extinguish instantly, like a bucket of ice water over an open flame. All that was left was disappointment. A thick, suffocating disappointment. He would sit in silence for a long time, then stand up and storm out. Sigh. That heavy sigh felt like it could shatter the glass walls of the entire executive floor. I knew that if I wasn’t the only direct granddaughter, and if my mother’s family wasn’t so influential, my position as the heir would have been stripped away years ago. The looks my cousins gave me had also morphed from initial intimidation to undisguised mockery. “Eleanor, did you understand a single thing the French tutor said today?” The one speaking was my Uncle Robert’s daughter, Chloe. She was only a year younger than me, but she was sharp-tongued, articulate, and deeply favored by my father. I glanced at her, too lazy to engage. That only made her smile wider. “Oh, my bad. I forgot Eleanor is a natural-born genius. She knows everything without having to speak, unlike us ordinary mortals who actually have to study.” “Chloe, don’t be mean,” chimed in Harper, my other cousin, putting on a sickeningly sweet display of fake sympathy. “Eleanor just thinks we’re beneath her. It’s called being a late bloomer. Understand?” They played off each other flawlessly. The nannies and maids standing nearby kept their heads bowed, but their shoulders were shaking slightly. They were laughing. Laughing at the mute idiot. I walked past them, my face expressionless. It was like watching two grasshoppers jumping around in front of me. Boring. And childish. My mother saw all of this, and her heart broke for me. That night, she held me again, her tears soaking the shoulder of my pajamas. “My sweet Eleanor, why won’t you speak?” “Even if it’s just one word. Just one word, and Mommy could die happy.” I could feel her body trembling. It was the raw despair of a mother. My heart wasn’t made of stone. In that moment, my resolve wavered. Maybe… maybe it was time to open my mouth. Just as I parted my lips, trying to force out a rusty syllable. Rapid footsteps echoed outside the study. Mr. Carson, our veteran butler, practically stumbled into the room. “Mrs. Sterling! It’s bad!” “The team from New York is here!” “That Wall Street shark, Marcus Thorne—he’s already in the building!” My mother’s face went pale. Marcus Thorne. That name was a dark cloud hanging over Sterling Enterprises. He was Wall Street’s most vicious vulture, specializing in aggressively shorting and acquiring legacy family corporations. In the past few years, he had already swallowed up three companies the size of ours. “What is he doing here?” my mother asked. Mr. Carson’s voice was trembling. “He… he says he’s here to negotiate a buyout. He was incredibly disrespectful. He said he’s here to give the Sterling family a ‘dignified exit from the stage of history’!” My mother staggered back, gripping the edge of the mahogany desk for support. A “negotiated buyout” was just corporate speak for a hostile takeover. A massive storm was about to hit. I looked up at the gray sky outside the window. Well then. It looked like my dream of being a quiet, useless rich kid was officially over. Fine. There are always some blind flies that insist on forcing a sleeping lion—no, a lioness—to open her eyes. My father called an emergency meeting of all family members and core executives in the top-floor boardroom. I was dragged along and placed in the corner. It was tradition; the eldest heir was required to audit major family decisions. Normally, I would just find a corner, stand there all morning, and zone out. But today, the atmosphere was toxic. You could hear a pin drop in the boardroom. The faces of the executives were ashen with humiliation. My father sat at the head of the table, his face dark as thunder. Standing opposite him was a tall man in a bespoke suit. Behind a pair of gold-rimmed glasses were eyes as sharp as a falcon’s. This was Marcus Thorne. A ruthless predator raised in the concrete jungle of Wall Street. “Mr. Sterling, is this your company’s idea of hospitality?” Marcus spoke, his voice dripping with condescension. “I flew in from New York on a private jet for this, and this is what you show me?” He pointed a long, manicured finger at the terrified executives shrinking in their seats. “A room full of glorified bean-counters!” “I talk capital, and you talk about sentiment.” “I talk market trends, and you talk about your century-old legacy.” “Pathetic!” “Utterly pathetic!” He let out a brazen, arrogant laugh. The sound echoed painfully through the solemn boardroom. “Mr. Thorne!” The Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Henderson, stood up, shaking with rage. “This is the board of Sterling Enterprises! You will not speak to us this way!” Marcus shot him a sideways glance, sneering. “Henderson. I remember you.” “You’re the one who kept rambling yesterday about how ‘family businesses have a soul.’” “Let me tell you how Wall Street works. A soul without profit is just a corpse!” “Only the weak use sentiment to mask their incompetence!” Mr. Henderson’s face turned purple. He pointed a trembling finger at Marcus. “You… you…” He couldn’t catch his breath, and suddenly, he collapsed backward. “Mr. Henderson!” The people next to him scrambled to catch him. The boardroom erupted into chaos. My father slammed his hand on the table and roared, “Enough!” Marcus dialed it back slightly, but the contempt on his face remained. He gave my father a mock salute, totally dismissive. “Mr. Sterling, I won’t waste your time.” “The investment committee at my hedge fund has made its decision. Your stock won’t survive the next fiscal year.” “Sell it now, and we’ll give you three billion.” “If you wait for us to start shorting you, you’ll be lucky to walk away with a billion.” “Also, that prime real estate you own on the Southside? We’re taking it for luxury condo development.” “Oh, and I hear your R&D team is decent. We plan to poach the entire department…” Before he could even finish. The boardroom exploded. A lowball buyout, stealing their prime real estate, and gutting their core tech team! Was this a negotiation? This was a butchering! “This is extortion!” “Get the hell out of our building!” “Arthur, we have to fight him!” On Uncle Robert’s side of the table, several hot-tempered shareholders couldn’t hold back anymore. Marcus sneered. “Fight?” “Be my guest.” He looked directly at Uncle Robert. “I know you. You’re Robert, the second brother, right? Three years ago, how much did you lose on that commercial real estate venture you spearheaded? Two hundred million? Three hundred million?”內 Uncle Robert’s face flushed crimson, like he had just been slapped. The veins in his neck popped, but he couldn’t form a single word of defense. Marcus turned his gaze to another executive. “And you, the CMO? How much did you burn on ad spend during Cyber Monday last year? What was your conversion rate? Did that pathetic bump in sales even cover the marketing budget?” The CMO lowered his head in utter shame. Marcus’s eyes swept the room, and every single person who had been shouting just seconds ago fell dead silent. The boardroom descended into silence once more. A humiliating, powerless silence. I stood in the corner, watching it all. These were the so-called elites of Sterling Enterprises. The CFO couldn’t handle the heat, and the CMO had his worst failures weaponized against him. A room full of powerful executives was being verbally slaughtered by a Wall Street vulture, and not one of them had the backbone to fight back. I was getting sleepy. Honestly. This scene was even more pathetic than I had anticipated. It was like watching a group of grown men getting cornered in an alley by a street thug, getting slapped one by one, and none of them even daring to squeak. My father’s chest was heaving. I knew he was on the verge of exploding. But he couldn’t. Because everything Marcus had said was true. Sterling Enterprises’ profits were dropping. This was the tragedy of the weak. Marcus was highly satisfied with the effect he’d created. He cleared his throat, ready to lay out even more outrageous demands. “Since no one has any objections, I’ll assume we’re all in agreement.” “Our fund also requires…” His incessant talking sounded like a fly buzzing endlessly in my ear. I really had intended to just be a quiet spectator. But this fly was just too loud. I was annoyed. I was genuinely annoyed. In this deathly quiet room, where everyone had their heads bowed, no one noticed me in the corner. I moved. I took a step forward. Just one step. Out of the shadows of the corner, and into the harsh overhead light. Chapter 2 That step was light. But in the dead silence of the boardroom, it landed like a thunderclap. Everyone’s eyes instinctively snapped toward me. They saw me. An eight-year-old girl in a custom-tailored dress, looking like a porcelain doll. Their eyes were blank at first, then filled with shock. Eleanor Sterling? The mute? What was she doing? My mother, sitting beside my father, saw me too. Her eyes widened with panic and worry. She reached out a hand, as if trying to call me back, but didn’t dare make a sound. My father frowned deeply, his eyes flashing with confusion and a hint of displeasure. My cousins, Chloe and Harper, exchanged a look of pure anticipation. Their expressions practically screamed: Is the idiot about to humiliate herself in front of everyone? Marcus noticed me too. He looked down at me from his towering height, a cruel, mocking smile spreading across his face. “Oh? Whose kid is this?” “Is Sterling Enterprises out of capable men? You’re sending a child to the front lines?” He intentionally raised his voice. “Little girl, are you here to talk to me about sentiment, too?” “Or is your daddy offering you up as my goddaughter to sweeten the deal?” He threw his head back and laughed loudly. The shareholders let out collective, suppressed gasps, their faces burning with humiliation and rage. Insulting a child was insulting the entire bloodline. Yet, they still didn’t dare speak up. I ignored every single one of them. My eyes were locked solely on Marcus, who was yapping away like a circus clown. I looked at him, and then, I opened my mouth. And spoke the very first words of my life in this world. “Are you done?” My voice was youthful, but my enunciation was razor-sharp, the tone absolutely freezing, devoid of a single drop of emotion. The entire boardroom instantly plunged into a bizarre silence, even more profound than before. Everyone froze. Because they understood. Every single person in that room understood. The mute heiress had spoken. And her English was flawless, carrying the crisp, aggressive cadence of the East Coast elite. The smile on Marcus’s face instantly crystallized. His sharp eyes blew wide open with sheer, unadulterated shock. It was as if he had just seen a ghost in broad daylight. He stared at me, his mouth opening and closing. A strangled, choking sound came from his throat, like an invisible hand was crushing his windpipe. “You…” He barely managed to force out a single word. I stared at him, my expression blank. And I continued. “If you’re finished, get out.” Those six words slammed into Marcus’s chest like a sledgehammer. His body violently swayed. The color drained from his face entirely, leaving him a sickening shade of gray. If my first sentence caused shock. This sentence caused terror. A bone-chilling, soul-crushing terror. Because in the inner circles of Wall Street, “If you’re finished, get out,” wasn’t just a casual insult. It was legendary. It was the exact phrase George Soros had supposedly delivered to his rivals decades ago after breaking the Bank of England. It was lore. It was a myth. It was a historic quote that only the most cutthroat, top-tier financial predators knew about! He looked at me, this eight-year-old girl, and his eyes completely changed. He wasn’t looking at a mute child anymore. He was looking at a monster wearing human skin. “Who… who the hell are you?” He asked, his voice shaking uncontrollably. The other people in the boardroom were completely dumbfounded. They understood the words, but they couldn’t comprehend the scene unfolding before them. The Wall Street Wolf who, just seconds ago, had been arrogantly trampling a room full of corporate elites, was now trembling like a frightened rabbit in front of an eight-year-old girl. What… what on earth was happening? My father shot up from his leather chair. His eyes were wide, staring at me with a terrifying intensity. His face was a mix of shock, ecstasy, and endless confusion. My mother slapped both hands over her mouth, tears flooding her eyes as she desperately held back her sobs. I didn’t answer Marcus’s question. I just kept speaking, my voice eerily calm. “That hedge fund you claim to represent? It’s just a marginalized spin-off from Goldman Sachs. The real whales pulled their capital years ago. All you’re managing now is a pool of stale pension funds.” “Three years ago, when you shorted that Silicon Valley tech startup, you didn’t rely on brilliant market analysis. You bribed their CFO to get your hands on their unreleased earnings reports.” “Last year, when you acquired that software company, your so-called proprietary valuation model was ripped straight from a five-year-old McKinsey template. You got taken for a three-hundred-million-dollar ride, and you actually thought you won. Right?” “And now.” I offered a small smile. In Marcus’s eyes, that smile was more terrifying than the devil himself. “You came here to acquire Sterling Enterprises with a hard bottom line of two billion. If my father played hardball, you were authorized to go up to two point five billion.” “Because your cash flow is dangerously tight. If you don’t close a major deal right now, you won’t even be able to pay out year-end bonuses.” “You don’t even have the capital stomach to swallow Sterling Enterprises. You just want to close a flashy deal before Q4 earnings to appease your panicked investors.” “Tell me. Am I right, or am I right?” I finished speaking and looked at him quietly. Thud! Marcus couldn’t hold himself up any longer. His knees buckled, and right in front of the entire executive board, he collapsed onto the floor. He stared at me, pressing his hands against the carpet, cold sweat pouring down his forehead. His voice was laced with a whimper. “My God… My God…” The room was dead silent. Everyone was utterly paralyzed by the surreal, magical scene playing out. I didn’t look at him anymore. I turned around, facing my father, who was standing at the head of the table, equally shell-shocked. I switched from my aggressive Wall Street tone to perfectly calm English. My voice was youthful, but impossibly clear. “Dad.” “I have something to say.” My single “Dad” was like a boulder dropped into a stagnant pond. It triggered a tidal wave. The boardroom transitioned from deathly silence into an uncontrollable, erupting uproar. “Eleanor spoke!” “Thank God! She isn’t a mute!” “She can talk! She can actually talk!” One of the older shareholders was so emotional he was weeping. He stood up, pointing a trembling finger at Marcus. “Do you see this?! This is the eldest granddaughter of the Sterling family! The future heir!” The rest of the room looked at me like they were witnessing a divine miracle. Shock. Awe. Unbelievable disbelief. A child who hadn’t uttered a sound in eight years. The moment she opened her mouth, she spoke flawless, ruthless English. In a few short sentences, she had brought the arrogant Wall Street elite to his knees, shivering in fear. This couldn’t be explained away as “being a late bloomer.” This was a miracle. A living, breathing miracle! My mother couldn’t support her own weight anymore and slumped softly into her chair. The nanny next to her quickly caught her. I could hear her muffled, suppressed sobs of pure joy. The expressions on my cousins’ faces were absolutely priceless. The mockery and schadenfreude were completely wiped away. Replaced by the same terrified, ghost-seeing shock as everyone else. And a deep, poorly concealed layer of… fear. They were no longer looking at an idiot. They were looking at a terrifying, incomprehensible entity. My father. He stood at the head of the conference table, his towering frame trembling slightly. Not from anger. But from extreme, overwhelming excitement. His eyes, hardened by decades of corporate warfare, were shining brighter than they ever had before. Inside them was ecstasy, awe, and the thrill of recovering a lost treasure. But also, just like my cousins… confusion. He walked around the heavy conference table, step by step, until he stopped right in front of me. This corporate titan who controlled a multi-billion-dollar empire, the man who was my father by blood. He looked down at me with a complex, intense gaze I had never seen before. His lips moved, as if he wanted to ask a million questions, but didn’t know where to start. Finally, he slowly reached out a trembling hand and gently rested it on the top of my head. His palm was warm. And large. It carried the weight of a powerful CEO, and the rare, tender warmth of a father. “Eleanor…” His voice was incredibly hoarse. “What you… what you just said. Is it true?” He was, of course, asking about the internal secrets I had exposed about Marcus’s fund. I looked up, met his gaze, and nodded calmly. “Every single word.” My voice wasn’t loud, but it echoed clearly across the room. The shouting and murmurs died down instantly. Everyone held their breath, straining their ears. My father took a deep breath, trying to steady his racing heart. “How… how do you know all this?” That was the million-dollar question. The biggest mystery in everyone’s mind. How could an eight-year-old possibly know the highly classified internal struggles of a New York hedge fund? I looked into my father’s eyes. I knew that my answer right now would dictate the rest of my life. If I told him I had the memories of a past life? He would think I was a demon and lock me in a psychiatric ward to be studied. I had to give him an answer he could comprehend, accept, and be willing to believe. So, I spoke. “I don’t know.” “Ever since I can remember, strange numbers and images have constantly flashed through my mind.” “It’s like a dream. There’s a voice that constantly teaches me about finance, economics, and corporate case studies.” “I thought they were just dreams, so I never told anyone.” “The English… the voice taught me that in my dreams, too.” “As for Marcus’s secrets…” I paused for a second, allowing a perfectly calculated look of childlike confusion to cross my face. “Just now, while he was talking, all that information just naturally appeared in my head.” “It’s almost like… I was just born knowing it.” I finished speaking and looked at him quietly. A divine dream. Born with innate knowledge. Those concepts struck everyone like lightning bolts. It was incredibly mystical, yet… somehow entirely convincing! There was literally no other explanation for what had just happened to an eight-year-old girl! My father’s body jolted again. He looked at me, the confusion in his eyes fading, replaced by a fervent, burning light. He threw his head back and laughed loudly. It was a booming, triumphant laugh, filled with years of repressed frustration finally breaking free. “Hahahaha!” “Good! A divine dream! Born a genius!” “My daughter is no idiot!” “Arthur Sterling’s daughter is a natural-born business prodigy!” He reached down and scooped me up into his arms. I was small, and he easily hoisted me high into the air. He turned to face the room full of executives, his voice ringing like a bell, radiating unprecedented pride and authority. “Listen to me, all of you!” “As of today, Eleanor Sterling officially joins the core executive committee of Sterling Enterprises!” “Every major decision must have her approval!” The room gasped in collective shock. An eight-year-old on the core executive committee? Every major decision needing her approval? That was an astronomical level of importance and trust! He was practically handing over half of the Sterling empire to me on the spot! Uncle Robert’s face instantly drained of color. He knew his chances of ever taking over were officially dead. I looked down from my father’s arms at the faces below—some ecstatic, some reverent, some jealous, some terrified. But my heart remained perfectly calm. I knew. From today on. My dream of being a useless rich kid was permanently, irreversibly dead. And my very first executive decision involved the Wall Street wolf still shivering on the carpet. I looked down at him from my father’s arms and spoke casually. “Dad, regarding this buyout.” “I think we reject the three billion.” “We keep the Southside real estate.” “And there is absolutely no way they are touching our tech team.” “Instead.” I paused, my voice turning icy. “We should send an aggressive legal team, armed with our terms, to fly back to New York with this man.” My father looked at me, highly amused. “Oh? Our terms? What terms?” I smiled. “Simple.” “Their fund will issue a formal, public apology to Sterling Enterprises.” “They will pay fifty million dollars in damages for the brand injury caused by their malicious shorting rumors.” “And they will license the proprietary tech from that software company they acquired to us at a heavily discounted rate.” “Otherwise.” “When their cash flow officially breaks, we’ll be the ones acquiring them.”

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Twenty-eight-year-old Liam held me tight in his arms, his voice a low, coaxing whisper. “Hazel, let’s have a baby. Please?” Thirty-five-year-old Liam, while I was fighting for my life in the hospital, was caught by paparazzi hooking up with his young secretary in the hospital’s underground parking garage. Afterward, Liam sat in silence for a long time. He lit a cigarette, and through the swirling smoke, his voice was chillingly calm. “Hazel, don’t go making trouble for her. She’s young. She doesn’t know any better.” “I’ll compensate you.” I looked at the miscarriage report on my phone, a numb, broken smile forming on my lips. “That won’t be necessary, Liam.” “We’re getting a divorce.” The hand holding his cigarette paused. “Hazel, you’re not a child anymore.” “You need to think very clearly about the consequences of everything you do.” Consequences? I had already thought about them. Very, very clearly. Chapter 1 1. I slapped the divorce papers down on the coffee table. I didn’t want to waste another breath on Liam. I turned to leave. Liam crushed his cigarette out in the ashtray and grabbed my wrist. “Hazel, it was just a baby.” “If you want one, we can just have another one later.” “Don’t throw the word ‘divorce’ around over every little thing.” My nose stung. I blinked hard, fighting back the tears that threatened to fall. “Liam, he was eight months old! He was fully formed!” Liam let out an exasperated sigh. “If it hasn’t been born yet, it’s just an embryo. Can you please stop being so emotional?” I swallowed the bile rising in my throat, forcing down the tidal wave of grief. “So, is that what you thought when you cheated on me with Chloe? Liam?” His grip on my wrist tightened like a vice. His brow darkened. “What man doesn’t slip up?” “It was one time. It means absolutely nothing. I promise you, Chloe will never appear in front of you again.” “Hazel, there is absolutely no reason for us to take this to a divorce.” Staring at Liam’s self-righteous, entitled face, I closed my eyes. A bitter, suffocating pain twisted in my chest. One time? Liam thought he had hidden it so well. The truth is, I had known for a long time. When Liam told me he was going on a “business trip,” he was actually taking Chloe to see the sunset in Hawaii—a trip she had always dreamed of. The girl was young, bold, and reckless. She sent me a photo directly to taunt me. She wrote: “Mrs. Vance, the sunset is gorgeous. But Mr. Vance is a little too fierce.” In that photo, under a blazing, passionate sunset, Liam was kissing her deeply, the golden hour light spilling over them like a blessing. The pain was so intense I couldn’t breathe. I called Liam. He answered almost immediately. His voice was husky, thick with lust. “What’s wrong, Hazel?” I fought to keep my voice steady. “What are you doing?” Liam let out a muffled, suppressed groan, followed immediately by the faint, unmistakable, wet sound of flesh slapping together. My hand gripping the phone shook violently. I was silently begging Liam to tell me Chloe was lying. “I’m working out.” “Be a good girl. I’m busy. I’ll call you back when I’m done.” The call ended abruptly. My heart turned to absolute ice. Liam’s actions proved it. He really was cheating on me with Chloe. I started hyperventilating. My hands cramped together, my entire body going numb. I was rushed to the ER. At the hospital, the doctor told me I was pregnant. I clutched the ultrasound printout and cried for hours. When Liam finally came home, I didn’t even have the courage to confront him. A tear slipped from the corner of my eye. Liam used his thumb to wipe it away. “Hazel, just turn a blind eye to this. Can you do that for me?” I was trembling with rage. “Besides divorce, there is zero other possibility for us!” Liam’s chest heaved. He took a few deep breaths, visibly suppressing his own temper. “I am not divorcing you, Hazel.” “You better drop that idea right now.” “Take some time and calm down.” Liam threw the divorce papers into the trash can and slammed the study door so hard the walls shook. 2. It was snowing heavily on my drive. Liam’s words kept echoing in my head, impossible to shake. He said, “It was just an embryo.” He said, “Hazel, are you saying you’re completely without fault here?” Waves of dull pain radiated from my lower abdomen. Tears blurred my vision and dripped onto the steering wheel. I couldn’t tell if I was more heartbroken, or more consumed by pure hatred. Once upon a time, I was the most precious thing in the world to Liam. Back then, if I just texted him that I missed him. He would drop whatever million-dollar deal he was working on, fly halfway across the country, and knock on my door at 2 AM holding my favorite flowers. During our second year together, I fell severely ill. Liam, the arrogant, untouchable heir who never believed in God, climbed the 999 steps of a famous cathedral on his knees, tearing his skin to bloody shreds, just to pray for my recovery. From extravagant diamonds to the quietest moments of companionship, Liam gave me everything. He truly spoiled me to the bone. During our first year of marriage, the high-society wives in our circle looked down on me because I was young and came from a normal, middle-class family. They gossiped behind my back, calling me a cheap gold-digger who didn’t belong in their world. I refused to attend any more galas or charity balls with him. When Liam found out why. He ruthlessly retaliated against every single family whose wife had gossiped about me. Liam, a man who never showed emotion publicly, called a massive press conference solely to defend me and put the entire city on notice. After that, no one ever dared to show me an ounce of disrespect. Everyone in our circle envied me for marrying a man who loved me that fiercely. I felt incredibly lucky, too. Until Chloe appeared. She was an intern from his alma mater. Just a sophomore in college. At first, Liam just started mentioning her name more often. I got jealous and asked him. Do you like Chloe? Liam would kiss me, laughing softly. “Baby, why are you so jealous?” “She’s just a kid, and she has a terrible temper. Why would I ever like her?” Perhaps, even then, Liam’s heart had already begun tilting toward Chloe. He just hadn’t realized it yet. Our arguments over Chloe became more and more frequent. Our love was slowly eroded, argument by argument. Liam stopped holding me tenderly. Instead, he looked at me with exasperation. “Hazel, she’s practically a child. Why are you picking fights with her?” “I’m exhausted. Can you please act like an adult?” And then came Chloe’s increasingly blatant, audacious provocations. The man who once loved me so deeply was now allowing another woman he loved to hurt me however she pleased. 3. I returned to our empty mansion. In the nursery I had set up months ago, the little crib swayed gently with a slight push. I stared at it for a long time before my emotions finally broke. An eight-month-old baby… what’s the difference between that and a born child? The doctor said my due date was next month. I had planned everything perfectly. I had read every parenting book in the house cover to cover. I bought him a silver rattle, I hand-sewed a baby blanket, and I even spent weeks working with a custom designer to build that crib perfectly… I was so full of joy, waiting for this baby. I wanted to give him all the love I had. I wanted him to be happy for his entire life. We were so close. Just a little bit more… 4. Chloe came to find me because Liam tried to cut her off. He told her. “Chloe, I’ll give you a lump sum. After that, leave New York and don’t ever come back.” Chloe refused. She cried and asked him if he had ever actually loved her. Liam kissed away her tears. “Chloe, if I had met you first, I would have loved you. But I already have Hazel.” “Chloe, please don’t cry. It breaks my heart.” After that, Liam refused to see her again. Pushed to the brink, Chloe somehow found out where I lived. The moment she barged in, she pointed straight at my swollen stomach. “Do you think having a baby means you can trap Liam?!” “Let me tell you something! You’re dreaming!” “The person Liam loves is ME! ME!” I backed away, shielding my stomach, trying to get her to calm down. But Chloe, blinded by rage, was incapable of calming down. I called for the housekeeper, asking her to escort Chloe out. Chloe violently shoved the older woman to the floor and lunged at me. “Hazel Evans! Why don’t you just die?!” “If you’re dead, Liam will be all mine!” I couldn’t dodge in time. Chloe tackled me to the hardwood floor, and my stomach slammed brutally against the sharp corner of the marble coffee table. A cold sweat broke out over my entire body from the agonizing pain. Like a woman possessed, Chloe used her stiletto heels to kick my stomach, over and over again. She screamed at me to die. I felt warm blood pooling down my thighs. Absolute, primal terror consumed me. The housekeeper scrambled up, shoved Chloe away, called 911, and then the police. As my consciousness faded, I dreamt of a little boy waving at me. No matter how hard I reached, I couldn’t catch his hand. When I woke up, the doctor looked at me, hesitating to speak. I opened my mouth, clinging to a final, desperate thread of hope. “Doctor, my baby…” The doctor sighed heavily. “I’m so sorry, Mrs. Vance. We couldn’t save the baby.” I knew it was coming. But hearing the words out loud still shattered me completely. My tears soaked the hospital pillow. The doctor told me to stay strong. The very next day, paparazzi released the video of Liam and Chloe hooking up in the hospital’s underground parking garage. 5. Like a masochist, I played their video on loop. I watched Liam, his eyes full of adoration, smile and pull her into his lap. I watched Chloe, wearing nothing but a silk slip dress, straddle him. A few seconds of teasing, and Liam’s breathing grew ragged. The desperate, frantic kissing was like a tidal wave. The Liam I knew was always restrained and gentle. Even when I had deliberately tried to spice things up by wearing lingerie in the past, he would just look at me clinically and tell me it didn’t suit me. My heart felt like it had been hollowed out. I tasted copper in the back of my throat. Even breathing was agony. I remembered our first time. I was terrified, my movements clumsy and awkward. Liam wasn’t impatient. He coaxed me softly, his voice as steady as if he were comforting a child. No burning lust, no loss of control. I thought it was because he cherished me. But looking at this now… it was because he didn’t want to invest any passion. It was because, to him, I lacked any fundamental, raw attraction. Scene after scene of our past tore at my mind. I realized with crystal clarity: Liam Vance had never actually loved me. The doorbell rang incessantly. The moment I opened the door. A sharp slap landed squarely on my face. “Where is Liam?!” Chloe demanded furiously. If you didn’t know the context, you’d think she was the wife catching a cheater. I laughed coldly. “How the hell should I know?” Chloe was furious. She shoved past me and marched into the house. “Liam!” She yelled as she searched. I told her to get out. Chloe ignored me completely, until she pushed open the door to the nursery. She froze for a second, then doubled over, laughing hysterically. “Hazel, do you know how much of a clown you look like?” “A pathetic, dancing clown!” “Hahahahaha.” Chloe laughed until she was out of breath. When she finished, she crossed her arms, leaned against the wall, and stared at me. “Hazel, let me tell you something. Even though I killed your baby, Liam doesn’t blame me at all.” “Do you want to know how we ended up hooking up while you were bleeding out on an operating table?” Chloe took a step toward me. “I called him. At first, he actually blamed me.” “He said if anything happened to your baby, he’d kill me.” “I was so heartbroken. How could he treat me like that?” “So I cried. I cried and crawled onto his lap, and I said, ‘Then kill me!’” “I cried and teased him at the same time. Tell me, doesn’t he just love me too much? You were hovering between life and death, and he still kissed me.” “He said, ‘Chloe, you are a literal demon!’” “I pulled him down with me. He didn’t even go up to sign your surgical consent forms, did he?” Chloe’s eyes burned with triumph. My blood ran completely cold. “Get out, Chloe.” “And if I don’t, what are you gonna do about it? Hazel.” Chloe swayed her hips and sat down on my sofa. “Oh, right. Forgot to tell you. I’m pregnant.” “Liam found out that day too. He asked if he had hurt me, and told me not to tell anyone, just in case you couldn’t handle the shock and tried to hurt me.” A loud ringing filled my ears. “What did you say?” “I’m pregnant. Hazel, don’t you see? This is destiny. You lost your child, and mine arrived.” Chloe poured herself a cup of tea. “I used to think God was unfair. I fell for Liam the second I saw him. I’m obviously so much prettier than you, and you’re just an orphan nobody wanted. But somehow, you got to have a perfect husband like him.” “Hazel, I admit it. I was jealous of you.” “But it’s all good now. Your baby is dead, I’m pregnant, and everything is exactly how it should be.” The hatred almost buried me alive. My baby was dead. Chloe was pregnant. No wonder… No wonder Liam protected her from start to finish. No wonder he did absolutely nothing when she murdered our child. It turned out, from beginning to end, I was the only one mourning that baby. They should die! They both deserved to die! Go to hell! I grabbed a paring knife from the kitchen counter and lunged at Chloe. Just as the blade was about to strike her, a hand grabbed it bare-handed. It was Liam, who had just rushed in. Blood dripped from the edge of the blade, drop by drop. I tried to yank it back. Liam gripped it fiercely, refusing to let go. “Hazel, have you lost your mind?!” Chloe was terrifyingly pale. She violently shoved me to the floor. “Liam…” Liam let go, and the knife clattered to the floor. Chloe stared at Liam’s bleeding hand, crying tears of heartache. She viciously stomped on my hand with her heel. I couldn’t speak through the blinding pain. “Hazel, why don’t you just die!” Liam pulled her back. “Enough, Chloe.” “After what she tried to do to you…” Liam frowned, looking slightly impatient. “Stop it. Let’s go to the hospital first.” Liam shot me a look of pity and profound disappointment. “Hazel, right now, you’re acting like an absolute lunatic.” “You’ve disappointed me.” Throwing down those words, Liam turned and walked out with Chloe. I watched their retreating backs, then looked at the knife on the floor. “Liam.” I called out to him softly. Liam and Chloe turned around at the same time. The next second, the knife plunged into Chloe’s stomach. Chloe crumpled to the floor. Liam reacted instantly, instinctively kicking me away. My lower back slammed into the edge of a cabinet. My vision went black from the agony. Ignoring his own bleeding hand, Liam frantically gathered Chloe into his arms, his hands shaking as he dialed 911. I smiled silently. Seeing me smile, Liam’s eyes turned red with fury. “Hazel Evans! If anything happens to Chloe or the baby, you will spend the rest of your miserable life in a federal prison!” I found the threat hilarious. When my eight-month-old baby was murdered by Chloe, and I wanted to press charges. Liam preemptively wiped the security footage from the penthouse and told me. “Hazel, destroying a young girl’s entire future over an embryo… it’s too cruel.” “Besides, you don’t even have proof. How are you going to sue her?” He held me gently, sighing. “Hazel, there’s no need. We can always have another baby.” “I’ll make it up to you, okay?” And now, for another woman, he was panicked enough to threaten me. Saying he wanted me locked away forever. Tears slid down my cheeks. Liam, I hate you.

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Chapter 1 In the ER, the doctor urgently asked us: “What kind of venomous snake bit him? We need to know exactly so we can call in the right antivenom!” I was just about to speak when my roommate, looking panicked, blurted out first: “It was a banded krait! A-a banded krait!” Everyone’s faces turned deathly pale. When we came back to the dorms after winter break, he had secretly started keeping exotic pets. One of his venomous snakes slipped out and bit my buddy who slept in the bottom bunk. We ran like crazy to get him to the hospital. A minute later and he might not have made it. The doctor was desperate to confirm the species so they could use the antivenom to save his life. But my roommate always loved playing pranks. We were dying of anxiety, yet he kept changing his story, refusing to tell the truth. Watching him dramatically rub his temples, pretending he couldn’t remember, I was shaking with anger. Jason was notorious for his practical jokes. No matter what the situation was, he had to mess with people, never stopping until he had someone on the verge of tears. When people got angry, he’d just brush it off with a breezy: “I was just messing with you, do you have to be so sensitive?” But right now, a life was on the line. This was no time for jokes. Tyler had fallen into a coma after being bitten by his venomous snake. They had to confirm the species to administer the antivenom. Every passing second could cost him his life. Sure enough, hearing Jason’s words, the doctor’s expression instantly grew grim. “I need you to confirm again. What exact species of venomous snake bit him?” Jason furrowed his brow tightly, then shook his head and crouched on the floor. I was frantic. I grabbed him by the collar. “Stop messing around! Tell the doctor what kind of snake it is right now! Are you trying to kill Tyler?!” Tears welled up in his eyes, and he said through gritted teeth: “It’s a cobra! Definitely a cobra!” My other roommate and I exchanged a look and let out a long sigh of relief. The doctor also looked relieved and immediately told the nurse to prepare the corresponding antivenom. Just as the nurse was about to leave, Jason suddenly spoke up. “Wait!” “I think I remembered wrong… is it really a cobra…” Holding the unconscious Tyler, our faces drained of color from the sheer panic. “Jason! Stop with the pranks! We’re trying to save his life!” “The doctor has to know the exact species to give him the meds. If you delay this any longer, it really will be too late!” Hearing this, Jason actually smiled nonchalantly. “What prank? I’m just worried that if I remember wrong, it’ll hurt him instead!” “Let me think… nope, it’s definitely a cobra!” People around us started looking over, whispering among themselves. “Secretly keeping a venomous snake and then talking nonsense, isn’t he trying to get someone killed?” “Still messing around at a time like this, that’s too far.” My fingertips were trembling. Not from fear, but from absolute rage. Jason kept flip-flopping, changing his story back and forth, entirely playing games with Tyler’s life. If we delayed any further, once the venom spread, it would be too late for everything. Seeing the doctor about to prepare the medication based on his word, I caught the glint of excitement in his eyes and felt a chill run down my spine. I rushed forward to stop the doctor who was about to write the order. “Doctor, he’s pulling a prank on purpose! Everything he’s saying is a lie!” “I’m begging you, ask him one more time. You have to make him tell the truth!” My eyes were red with desperation. Tyler, in my arms, was ice cold. His breathing was so weak it was barely perceptible. The doctor frowned deeply, his gaze shifting back and forth between me and Jason. The nurse also immediately sensed something was wrong and glared sharply at Jason. “I’m asking you one last time! What kind of venomous snake is it? If you play games with someone’s life again, we’re calling the cops right now!” Over the years, because Jason loved playing pranks, we always accommodated him. A few times it escalated to the RA, but he always smoothed things over: “He just likes to joke around, he doesn’t mean any harm.” For the sake of dorm harmony, I endured it time and time again. Until we came back from winter break, and he secretly started keeping a highly venomous reptile in the dorm. The venomous snake got out and bit Tyler. By the time we noticed, he was already slipping into a coma. We didn’t have time to be angry. We carried him and sprinted like madmen to the hospital. We finally made it to the ER, and Jason was actually still pulling a prank at a critical moment like this. With red eyes, my voice trembled uncontrollably: “Please, Tyler can’t hold on much longer. Can you just stop messing around?” “As long as we can save him, I don’t care what kind of pranks you pull after this.” The people around us also started chiming in. “Kid, a life is on the line. Stop joking around.” “Saving the boy is the priority. If you delay any more, it really will be too late.” Listening to everyone’s accusations, Jason curled his lip, completely unbothered. “What’s the big deal? I was just playing a little prank. Do you have to make such a big fuss out of it?” Seeing the doctor’s face turn ashen, looking like he was genuinely going to notify the university and the police… Jason finally dropped the smirk and reluctantly gave in. “Alright, alright, I’ll stop messing around!” I just breathed a sigh of relief. But Jason looked around at the crowd, finally locking eyes with us, and slowly added one more sentence. “The one that bit him is a banded krait. Highly venomous. I just remembered.” The doctor’s face instantly changed. Before I could react, he immediately stopped the nurse, grabbing the antivenom she was preparing to inject. Watching Tyler’s face turn purple, Jason then drawled out. “Oh wow, why do you guys look so grim?” “I mean, the lights were out in the dorm last night, it was so dark, I didn’t get a good look… I was just worried that if I said the wrong thing, it would make things worse!” “I’m just being cautious. I have to think about it carefully…” “No, no, it doesn’t seem like a banded krait. It’s a cobra.” After saying that, he clutched his chest and let out a sigh of relief, as if he had truly confirmed it. I almost lost my breath. 2 Holding Tyler, I couldn’t hold back anymore and roared, losing all control: “Jason! Is this something you can joke about? If we delay any longer, Tyler is going to die!” But hearing this, Jason not only showed no remorse, he actually looked wronged. “How can you say that to me? Aren’t we roommates? I didn’t do it on purpose, did I?” “What, you only care about him, you don’t care about my feelings, is that it?” “I knew it, you guys are ganging up to bully me! I knew you were collectively bullying me!” “I can’t believe you treat me like this! If I had known, I wouldn’t have bothered coming!” With that, he started to storm out of the hospital. My face fell. I frantically shoved Tyler into my other roommate’s arms, rushed forward, and grabbed Jason tight. “Jason! That’s not what I meant. Tyler is dying, I was just too anxious. I didn’t mean to yell at you.” “The hospital has all the antivenom. As long as you confirm with the doctor what kind of snake it is, we can save him right now, okay?” Jason turned his head away, pointed at me, and cursed: “It’s all your fault!” “If you hadn’t made a huge fuss and turned the dorm upside down, why would I have been startled and not noticed what kind of snake bit him?” “It’s just a snake bite, what’s the big deal? The snakes I keep are usually very well-behaved…” “I think you’re targeting me on purpose. You must have secretly let the snake out to bite someone, and now you’re framing me!” My eyes widened drastically, staring at Jason in disbelief. When the semester first started, I saw him being picked on by others, so I intentionally went out of my way to talk to him and look out for him. But ever since Jason got obsessed with exotic reptiles… Every day he messed with various venomous snakes in the dorm, completely ignoring our objections and fear. He’d be messing with their enclosures in the middle of the night, never once considering anyone else’s feelings. For the sake of dorm harmony, I endured it. Until a few days ago, he secretly brought back a venomous snake, hid it in a box, and said it was his new favorite. We went to the RA more than once, but he just tried to smooth things over and never actually handled it. We had no choice but to live in fear every day, reminding him to keep the enclosure locked. But he never took it seriously. Until tonight, shortly after lights out, a scream suddenly came from the bottom bunk. Tyler was crying in terror, saying he was bitten by a snake. Jason didn’t panic at all; instead, he stood to the side, clapping his hands and laughing. “Look, isn’t my little baby beautiful?” Tyler was shaking with pain, his face instantly turning deathly pale. In the end, we had to use all our strength to carry him to the hospital. Tyler had always had a weak constitution; he couldn’t withstand the highly toxic venom at all. On the way to the hospital, he lost consciousness. After arriving at the hospital, my initial thought was to just call the cops. It was the other roommate who repeatedly urged me, saying we should contact the university first. Because we were rushing to contact Tyler’s parents, I had to swallow my anger and call the RA first. But I never expected that our silent endurance would result in him escalating his behavior. Even now, he still wanted to mess with us on purpose, refusing to state the breed of the venomous snake. Watching Tyler’s breathing grow weaker and weaker, tears streamed down my face. The nurse looked sympathetic, but resuscitation required confirming the snake species; there could be no mistakes. I held Tyler, crying and begging Jason: “Jason, please stop pulling pranks, okay? If we delay any longer, something is going to happen to Tyler. He’s your roommate!” The roommate beside me also had red eyes and urged him in a low voice: “Consider us begging you.” But Jason still had a flippant smile on his face: “Oh man, stop rushing me. The more you rush me, the more scared I get, and the more I can’t remember…” After saying that, he even turned to look at me, “David, I know you’re anxious, but just chill for a sec.” After saying that line, he seemed to find it very amusing and even giggled. I stared at him, suppressing my rage. “Jason, if you insist on falsely reporting the venomous snake species, you are delaying resuscitation, and you will be held responsible.” Hearing this, Jason shut his mouth. But his eyes were full of the resentment of having his ego bruised. He didn’t think he was wrong at all. Seeing this, the doctor immediately understood and said in a low voice: “Since we’re not sure, we’ll do emergency treatment first. Don’t block the ER entrance…” I breathed a sigh of relief, nodded gratefully at the doctor, and was about to bring Tyler inside. Just as we were about to wheel him in, Jason suddenly yelled: “Wait a minute! I remember now!” “It’s the new snake that arrived today. It accidentally got out of its box!” He held up his phone, his eyes darting nervously but trying to act calm: “I’ll open the order history right now. One look and you’ll know what kind of snake it is!” At the entrance to the ER, Jason stood there holding his phone, swiping the screen, pretending to scroll through his history. He complained the app was lagging, then that his cell service was bad. He dragged it out for nearly ten minutes before finally holding the phone up to us. “Here, found it… Told you guys not to rush me…” It was indeed an order page for an exotic reptile. The people around couldn’t help but crane their necks to look, expressions of shock appearing on their faces. “Oh my god! It really is a highly venomous snake. That’s way too dangerous!” “And we actually felt sorry for him! This is clearly a disaster of his own making!” Jason showed a look of dissatisfaction on his face. “I’m a reptile enthusiast, so what if I keep venomous snakes? Is it getting in your way?” “Doctor, look, the order is right here. Now you can confirm what kind of snake it is!” The doctor’s face darkened, and he said sharply: “Don’t move it! Let me see the order clearly, prepare the corresponding antivenom immediately!” I stared hard at the screen, sensing something was wrong. 3 Sure enough, the next second he put the phone away. I was just about to snatch the phone when Jason suddenly slapped his forehead, looking full of remorse. “Oh man, I forgot. I bought three snakes at once. Which one was it that got out?” I was shaking with anger, my suppressed temper finally erupting. “Are you done?! Your pranks have to have a limit! Would it kill you to just shut up?” “You’re clearly just messing with people on purpose. Do you have to cause trouble at a time like this?” “If Tyler gets hurt because of this delay, I swear I will never let you get away with it!” Jason seemed to finally realize that I was truly furious. A flash of panic crossed his face. “No… David, man, I was just messing with you guys a little. Why are you getting so mad?” At this point, the roommate next to me couldn’t help but roar at Jason too. “Jason! If you don’t know how to speak, just shut your mouth, okay?!” “Is this the time for jokes? Tyler got bit by a snake! If we wait any longer, he’s going to die!” “I… I didn’t mean to…” Jason lowered his head after being yelled at. But I could clearly see the resentment in his eyes. He fundamentally didn’t think he had done anything wrong. But Tyler’s body in my arms was gradually growing cold. I didn’t have time to humor him anymore. I turned around, looked at the doctor beside me, and pleaded with a hoarse voice. “I know your rigorous protocols are for the patient’s own good. I won’t make things difficult for you.” “If there’s no way to confirm it, is there any other way? Please save my roommate first. His breathing is getting weaker and weaker; he really can’t hold on much longer.” After saying that, I bowed deeply. The doctor and nurse exchanged a look, and finally nodded. As the nurse prepared to push the gurney, Jason was still muttering on the side. “What are you doing… It’s just a bite. Just get the antivenom, what’s the big deal? It’s not like nobody’s ever been bitten by a snake before…” I pretended not to hear him. I just held onto Tyler tightly, praying over and over in my heart that he would be okay. Jason muttered a few more sentences, and seeing that no one was paying attention to him, finally quieted down. But right at that moment, Tyler’s heart suddenly stopped. I watched as Tyler was lifted onto a stretcher. Several medical staff rushed over, fighting against the clock to resuscitate him. While I stayed on the side, cooperating with the doctor to verify the snake species information over and over again. While waiting for news from the resuscitation, my heart suddenly started racing wildly. A strong wave of unease washed over me. I stared intensely at the light above the ER doors, terrified that the next second would bring bad news. In a daze, I suddenly remembered. Right before going into the ER, Jason was still muttering: “I just couldn’t remember clearly, it’s not like I did it on purpose.” I couldn’t help but feel a chill run through my entire body. Did he really not know that deliberately being vague at a time like this was killing someone? No! He knew perfectly well. Just like back then, he knew perfectly well that the dorm strictly prohibited highly venomous exotic pets, yet he secretly hid them in a box, ignoring everyone’s safety. He also knew that after Tyler was bitten, every passing minute and second was a race against death, yet he still deliberately concealed the venomous snake’s species. Thinking of this, my heart violently contracted. From a distance, I could hear Jason’s shrill complaints. “Stop trying to scare people! You hospitals only know how to fearmonger!” “It’s just a snake bite. Do you have to make it sound so serious?” “We’re not doing this anymore. Bring him out here!” My heart instantly sank to the bottom. I pushed through the crowd and rushed in, only to see Jason, who had volunteered to go pay the bill, causing a scene. The young nurse at the billing counter looked incredibly distressed. I rushed forward and grabbed her hand: “Nurse! I’m his roommate. What exactly happened? Aren’t they resuscitating him?” The nurse recognized me and quickly spoke up: “Student, your roommate’s snake venom spread too quickly. We have to use the specific antivenom immediately, but your roommate here refuses to cooperate, and he’s delayed the optimal window…” Before she even finished speaking, I could barely stand. The grievances and anger that had been building up for so long completely exploded in this moment. I glared at Jason with red eyes: “Jason! If something happens to Tyler, can you bear the responsibility?!” After saying that, ignoring his objections, I immediately rushed to the billing counter to swipe my card. But I scoured my phone; my balance wasn’t nearly enough. Just then, Jason caught up to me, looking entirely justified: “I knew you were making a mountain out of a molehill. It’s obviously not this complicated.” “Listen to me, just take him back to the dorm to rest. There’s no need to waste money and suffer here.” I was shaking with anger, just about to argue with him. The doctor in charge of the resuscitation walked out with a heavy expression. “I’m sorry, we did everything we could.” My legs gave out, and I collapsed directly onto the floor. At that moment, the RA rushed over, looking anxious. Seeing Tyler covered with a white sheet, he roared, his voice trembling: “What happened?! Didn’t you have the antivenom? Why did he die!”

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I picked up a handsome amnesiac, and he was intense and strong, going seven times a night. The day I found out I was pregnant, the man suddenly dropped his usual clinginess, becoming abstinent and composed, and even said— “My memory has returned. I am the CEO of the Vance Corporation. Although you are just a lowly small-business owner, you have won my heart. Come back to the city with me, and I can make an exception and make you one of my top mistresses.” I didn’t want to be trapped in a gilded cage, so I faked my death and ran away with his baby. … Five years later, the Sterling family found me. I was the long-lost only daughter of General Sterling. On my first day back in Washington D.C., my dad told me that my ex-husband, the current President of the Vance Corporation, Arthur Vance, had arranged for me to marry his adopted son, the heir apparent. This heir was tall and handsome, just reaching his early twenties. But whether he was good or bad, I didn’t want to marry him. If I had been willing to enter their elite circle, I wouldn’t have faked my death five years ago. Holding the formal engagement document, I was hesitating whether to fake my death again, when I heard my nanny report— “Oh no, Miss, the little miss is missing!” “The rash on your face has just healed, you shouldn’t be exposed to the wind. Put on a veil before you come out with me to look for the child.” I hurriedly put on a veil and followed the nanny out of the Sterling estate to look for my daughter, Chloe. Not long after leaving the estate, I saw my daughter sitting on the ground on the street. She was surrounded by two squads of menacing security guards, and standing right in front of her was a familiar figure in a bespoke suit. It was my ex-husband, Arthur Vance. I stopped in my tracks, thankful as I touched the veil on my face. Good, it covered me completely. Faking my death five years ago was essentially fraud. Unless absolutely necessary, I couldn’t expose my past identity. It seemed I would have to wear this veil all the time. Arthur exuded a terrifyingly noble aura. He leaned forward slightly, staring at Chloe, and asked: “Whose child are you, daring to block my path?” Five years had passed, and he had completely transformed into a stranger to me. Chloe was trembling, frightened by his imposing manner. I quickly stepped forward, picked up Chloe, and greeted Arthur. I deliberately lowered my head and bowed to plead for mercy: “Mia Sterling of the Sterling family greets you, Mr. Vance.” “My daughter didn’t mean to cross your path, please forgive her.” I intentionally lowered my voice. Arthur stood up straight, his hands behind his back, staring at me. “So you are General Sterling’s only daughter? Since you’ve entered D.C., you should get rid of your vulgar and reckless country habits.” “I won’t hold this against you this time, but don’t let it happen again.” He really didn’t recognize me, and his words were very callous. I felt a bit unaccustomed to it. I tightened my grip slightly, telling myself that he was no longer the husband who clung to me and spoiled me. After lecturing me, Arthur moved his fingertips and gave a cold order. “Let’s go back.” The two squads of security guards followed closely behind him. Arthur was the top boss in the business world. Unless there was an accident, it would be very difficult for a regular person like me to meet him. Thinking of that engagement document binding me to his heir, I absolutely could not marry into that family… I gathered my courage, stepped forward, blocked Arthur’s path, and knelt before him. Arthur frowned, looking down at me. As our eyes met, I quickly lowered mine, took the engagement document from my sleeve, and handed it to him. “I implore you, Mr. Vance, to revoke the engagement between me and your son!” “As you can see, I am unrefined, a widow with a child. I am not worthy of the noble heir. If he marries me, he will inevitably be mocked…” Before I could finish, Arthur cut me off. “I arranged this marriage. Who dares to mock my son?” He glared down at me coldly. I could hear his impatience, and my palms began to sweat. “Mr. Vance…” “Enough.” Arthur waved his hand dismissively and had a guard pull me up. “My word is final. No matter what your reasons are, the engagement is set and absolutely cannot be changed. From now on, what you should be thinking about is how to be a good wife and assist my son.” After Arthur finished speaking, he turned and strode away, not even sparing me a second glance. I stared at his tall, imposing back, rubbing my temples, feeling a headache coming on. The engagement is set and cannot be changed? But I’ve never heard of anything as absurd as a father giving his own wife to his son. Not only did Arthur arrange the marriage between me and his heir, but he also ordered a welcome banquet to be held for me. For a time, my name was on everyone’s lips. On the day of the banquet, an assistant from his mansion brought me a gold phoenix hairpin, saying it was a welcome gift from the heir. Having been in business for years, what kind of precious items hadn’t I seen? I could tell at a glance that this hairpin was just wood painted yellow. The heir clearly didn’t want to marry me either. He deliberately tricked me into wearing it to make a fool of myself, hoping to use the opportunity to break off our engagement. Since I didn’t want to marry him either, I reluctantly played along. I put on my veil, deliberately wore the fake gold hairpin, and walked around the banquet. Sure enough, people started making snide remarks. “This is hilarious. Mia Sterling is actually walking around wearing a fake gold hairpin painted yellow. She really is a country bumpkin who hasn’t seen the world!” “And wearing a veil, she must be hiding an ugly face!” “The heir didn’t even show up to her welcome banquet. He clearly doesn’t want to marry this widow. Besides, everyone knows the heir and his cousin, Olivia Chen, are deeply in love.” “Olivia is the daughter of the Mayor and a prominent Senator. She is the role model for young ladies in D.C., and she is the only one worthy of being the heir’s wife!” I listened to the chatter, the face under my veil perfectly calm. But the young maid beside me was indignant on my behalf: “Miss, you are the only daughter of the Sterling family, the officially appointed future wife. How dare they discuss you like this! Should I go reprimand them?” I shook my head and raised a hand to stop her: “No need. I’ve been running a business alone with a child all these years; what kind of nasty things haven’t I heard?” “Besides, I also want to ruin this marriage.” However, just as I finished speaking, Arthur’s cold reprimand sounded from behind me. “Mia Sterling, you have quite some nerve.” I turned my head in shock and saw Arthur walking slowly towards me. The coldness in his eyes made me quickly lower my head and pretend to step back in fear. Even with the veil on, I was still worried he would recognize me. I needed to stay as far away from him as possible. Arthur gave me a warning look but didn’t notice anything unusual about me. I watched him bypass me, walk into the courtyard, and reprimand them in a deep voice. “The gold hairpin on Mia Sterling’s head was given by my son, and it came from my private vault. Who dares to say this gold hairpin is fake?” When the big boss was angry, everyone panicked and backed down. “Good evening, Mr. Vance! Please forgive us!” I was about to follow suit, but Arthur raised his hand, gently supported me, and signaled me to stand. His icy gaze swept over the young ladies, his voice cold as iron. “Those who recklessly gossip about my son’s marriage are showing contempt for our family’s dignity. Go back and copy the code of conduct a hundred times to reflect on your actions!” After giving the warning, Arthur signaled me to follow him. We walked out of the banquet hall one after the other and got into a limousine. Only after sitting down did Arthur look at me squarely. “Giving a fake gold hairpin was my son’s fault. I’m taking you to see him so he can apologize to you personally.” “But I’ve said it before, this marriage has been officially set and cannot be changed. Even if you don’t want to, you have to hold it in. You must understand that whether it’s thunder or rain, it’s all a blessing from me.” “Pour me some tea.” After saying that, Arthur closed his eyes, completely disregarding my wishes. Five years ago, the reason I refused to go back to the city with him was that his attitude after regaining his memory was too arrogant. I am a human being, but in his eyes, I was no different from a cat or a dog. I poured tea for him in silence, lowering my eyes to secretly observe the limousine interior. The teapot was a simple clay pot, the coaster was an old piece of silk from five years ago, and a plate of peach blossom pastries was placed on the small table. These things looked very familiar. I love eating peach blossom pastries, and during the year I lived with the amnesiac Arthur, he often used a clay pot to brew tea for me. I didn’t expect Arthur to still be using these items of ordinary people; it was surprisingly rustic. A sense of unease inexplicably rose in my heart. I put down the teapot just as Arthur opened his eyes. He raised his hand, picked up the teacup, and spoke slowly. “When you see my son later, don’t be nervous.” “He values relationships and has been spoiled by me into being a bit impulsive. I heard from your father that you are five years older than him; it’s perfect for you to help me manage him.” I clenched my palms and smiled slightly. “I will obey your orders.” Seeing his son was fine too. If he was smart, maybe I could cooperate with him to find a way to break the engagement. But I didn’t expect that as soon as Arthur and I walked into the heir’s private suite, we would bump into the heir holding a woman on his lap, feeding her pastries. “Insolent!” Arthur shouted angrily, scaring the embracing couple so much they jumped up. Arthur strode forward and kicked the heir. “Liam, I ordered you to host a welcome banquet for your future wife, but not only did you not go, you’re here in your suite acting all lovey-dovey with your cousin.” “Do you still respect me at all?” The cousin, Olivia Chen, rushed to help Liam, her eyes shimmering with tears as she pleaded: “Uncle Arthur, it’s all my fault!” “I saw Liam was in a bad mood, so I personally made osmanthus pastries to comfort him…” “You have no right to speak here.” Arthur didn’t even spare Olivia a glance, warningly staring at Liam, who was kicked half to the ground. “Liam, listen to me—” “You can choose not to be the heir, but Mia Sterling will definitely be your wife!” Liam’s face turned deathly pale. His lips moved, but he couldn’t say a word. Olivia’s face was even paler, not daring to interrupt again. Under my veil, my expression wasn’t good either. After this incident, it would be even harder for me to reject the marriage. Arthur had people take Olivia away, then looked down at Liam from a superior position. “I’ll give you one more chance. Apologize properly to your future wife, and don’t make me angry again.” After saying that, Arthur flicked his sleeves and left. As soon as Arthur left, Liam endured the pain to stand up and walked towards me, pointing his finger. “Mia Sterling, did you deliberately call my father here!” “You country bumpkin, is tattling all you know how to do?” As he spoke, his finger accidentally snagged my veil. Seeing my face clearly, Liam suddenly froze, a look of amazement appearing in his eyes. He muttered in surprise: “No wonder my father insists on giving you to me as my wife, you look so much like his late wife…” I frowned, bent down, picked up the veil, and put it back on. Only then did Liam regain his previous resentment. He clutched his stomach and glared at me. “Mia Sterling, don’t think that just because you’re pretty and look like his late wife, I’ll fall for you. I only have my cousin Olivia in my heart!” I took a step back and said coldly: “I don’t know the late wife you’re talking about, and I’m not interested in her.” “If you don’t want to marry me, then figure out a way to make your father revoke the engagement.” “I sincerely wish you and your cousin a happy life together.” After saying that, I walked out of his suite. Unexpectedly, I ran into Arthur again at the estate gates. I frowned and clenched my hands. Was he taking this marriage between me and his son a bit too seriously? He carelessly rubbed a jade ring on his thumb, looking at me sideways, and asked: “How did the chat with Liam go?” I bowed to him and shook my head. “I am just a country businesswoman who has been making a living with my daughter these past few years. My temper is fiery. I don’t have the gentle and virtuous nature of high-society ladies, nor have I learned how to please men. I can’t control Liam.” “Since Liam has someone he loves, why don’t you let them be together?” Arthur’s hand, which was rubbing the jade ring, suddenly stopped. His cold, sharp eyes swept over me, clearly dissatisfied with my answer. “Mommy!” A childish voice suddenly broke the tense atmosphere. My daughter, Chloe, jumped off the carriage and ran towards me. I quickly caught her. Just as I steadied myself, Arthur suddenly strode over and snatched the scented sachet from Chloe’s waist. “Where did you get this sachet?” His slender hands gripped the sachet tightly. His majestic and cold face was rarely agitated; he had lost his usual composure. But this sachet wasn’t very precious. I embroidered it myself, and the stitching was even crooked and ugly. I didn’t know what Arthur was doing. I hugged the frightened Chloe tightly and lied casually. “My daughter picked this up in the woods outside the city when we returned to D.C. I saw she liked it, so I let her play with it.” “If you want it, Mr. Vance, I can just give it to you.” Who knew that after hearing this, Arthur immediately ordered the guards behind him. “Send people to the woods outside the city immediately. Dig three feet into the ground if you have to. Search for traces of my late wife, Mia!” Mia was the name I used when Arthur and I got married. I was his late wife? I froze completely, pinching my palms. Feigning calmness, I hugged my daughter and got into the carriage heading back to the estate. When Arthur regained his memory back then, didn’t he act all high and mighty and say I was just a lowly small-business owner? Could it be that now that I’m “dead,” I’m no longer lowly, and I can be honored as his wife? Pressing the veil against my face, I felt that things were getting increasingly complicated. After taking my daughter back to the General’s estate, I told my dad about Arthur looking for me. My dad patted my head comfortingly: “Don’t worry, before you returned to D.C., I already erased the traces of your business activities over these past few years in advance. He won’t be able to find you for now.” “Take this time to think carefully about your future. If you insist on not entering that family, I will risk the 300,000 troops in my hands to protect you.” “I lost you for so many years, I’ve let down your deceased mother. I can’t let you down again…” I gripped the handkerchief in my hand tightly, my eyes uncontrollably moistening. “Thank you, Dad, but you don’t need to worry about me.” “A cat has a cat’s way, a rat has a rat’s way. I’ve made some capable friends in the business world over these years. If the big boss insists on forcing me into his family in the end, I’ll just fake my death again.” I took out a bone whistle, blew it to summon a carrier pigeon, and issued a million-dollar bounty for a faked death operation. In the afternoon, someone accepted the request. We agreed to use a bone flute as a signal; whenever I needed it, I could call them directly to my door to help me fake my death. My tense heart finally settled down a bit today. But I hadn’t been happy for long before an etiquette instructor from Arthur’s mansion suddenly arrived at the General’s estate in the evening. She kept a straight face, standing straighter than a ruler. “Mr. Vance specifically sent me here to teach the future daughter-in-law the etiquette of noble ladies and the arts of the boudoir, to learn how to please a man.” “He said he wants to see results within three days and hopes you will cooperate.” Using the excuse that my rash hadn’t healed, I kept my veil on. The instructor was very strict. If I deviated even slightly, the ruler came down. Three days later, I felt like my legs and waist no longer belonged to me. But Arthur came to the General’s estate in person. He stood by the moon gate where I was practicing, his hands behind his back, looking indifferently at me wearing the veil. “How is your learning going? Have you changed your fiery temper?” “Let me see the results today.” I secretly moved my aching thighs and touched the veil on my face. I always felt a bit uneasy; Arthur paid too much attention to me, this ‘future daughter-in-law’. I had shared a bed with him for a year. Given his sharpness, the longer we interacted, the more likely he was to recognize me. I had to find a way to send him away and minimize contact with him. So, I looked at Arthur, deliberately put on a frivolous posture, and said bluntly— “As for the arts of the boudoir, how do you want to see the results? Shall we take off our clothes and go to bed?” “Insolent!” Arthur was so angry his face turned pale. He ordered the instructor to drag me out of the General’s estate. “Mia Sterling, talking back to me won’t do you any good.” “I’m taking you to my son’s place. If you don’t want to be punished, use what you’ve learned these past few days on Liam to change his opinion of you.” Saying that, Arthur got into the limousine. After lifting the curtain, he turned around, frowned, and said with disgust: “You ride in the car behind.” After saying that, he sat inside and closed the curtain. I was actually relieved. If he was disgusted by me, he wouldn’t pay too much attention to me. That was for the best. I obediently went to the car behind. When we arrived, his son’s attendants frantically tried to stop us, saying Liam was taking a nap. But Arthur coldly pushed open Liam’s bedroom door, went in, and bumped into another colorful scene— Liam was holding Olivia in his arms, the two of them disheveled and kissing intimately. I immediately looked away and lowered my head. Arthur instantly called for people in a dark voice. “Somebody! Take Olivia away and give her poisoned wine!” Olivia was so scared her face turned deadly pale. Liam panicked too. He knelt down, shielding Olivia behind him, and spoke incoherently in his anxiety— “Dad, Olivia and I truly love each other! You loved your late wife deeply, which is why your position beside you is still vacant, but now you’re forcing me to marry someone I don’t love.” “Even if I’m not your biological flesh and blood, you shouldn’t play favorites. Since you value the General’s estate so much, why don’t you marry her yourself?” “Shut up!” Arthur kicked Liam hard. “You two are having an illicit affair, without shame, and you think you’re in the right?” Liam was kicked so hard his mouth bled. But maybe he truly loved Olivia; he actually got up and kowtowed repeatedly. “If you refuse to bless Olivia and me, and insist on putting her to death, why not kill me along with her!” Olivia collapsed beside Liam, also kowtowing. “Uncle Arthur, Liam and I are deeply in love. I beg you to bless us.” “I swear, I will never covet the position of his official wife. As long as I can stay by Liam’s side, I’m willing to be a servant…” The two of them kowtowed over and over again, their foreheads bleeding. Arthur neither agreed nor refused. Instead, he turned around and asked me word by word. “Mia Sterling, you are the future daughter-in-law. What do you think?” If Arthur was determined to kill these two, he wouldn’t have asked me. I pretended to sigh: “Since Liam and Miss Chen are so deeply in love, why not help them achieve their wish?” Liam seemed useless, but Olivia was the daughter of the Mayor and the Senator; they would definitely want their biological daughter to be the official wife. If they made a move against me, I could take the opportunity to leave D.C. After I spoke, Arthur ordered someone to take Liam down and lock him up, and sent someone to escort me back to the estate. After returning to the estate, I discussed the fake death plan with my dad. My dad agreed and even assigned a squad of personal guards to cooperate with me. And as I expected, the next day I received a formal invitation from the Senator, specifically asking me to bring my daughter to her garden party.

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