On our fifth wedding anniversary, Julian finally gave me a bouquet of roses for the first time. The moment their fragrance hit my nose, I nearly collapsed from the allergy. When I got home after getting my allergy shot, I found Seraphina, wearing my nightgown, curled up in Julian’s arms. Their faces were unnaturally flushed, a clear sign of what I’d interrupted, and they just looked at me with disdain. “My sister didn’t know you were allergic to pollen. She was being sweet, trying to surprise you. Shouldn’t you be grateful?” “Let’s get a divorce.” The words hung in the air. I threw the drafted divorce papers at Julian. “Just because of a bouquet of roses?” His eyes were filled with disbelief. I nodded coldly: “Yes, just because of a single rose.” “I’m hungry, go make some food.” Julian came home a month later. I thought the first thing he’d do after I suggested divorce was to actually go through with it. Instead, he placed a set of skincare products in front of me: “A gift for you. I picked them out myself.” I’d already seen those so-called gifts all over Seraphina’s SnapChat story. After all, he’d spent the entire month traveling and living it up with Seraphina. I even noticed Julian had carved Seraphina’s name into some of the gifts. They were just the leftovers Seraphina didn’t want. Just like me, I was merely what Julian had left over. Julian and I had been happily married for five years, until his father married Seraphina’s mother. Step-siblings with no blood relation, they gradually developed a bond that everyone mistook for a romantic relationship. Julian always insisted they were just family. And because they were “just family,” he’d abandon me in the middle of the night to go to Seraphina. I sat on the sofa, giving him a lazy glance. I didn’t rush towards him with a delighted cry, like I used to, nor did I immediately scramble to the kitchen to cook him a meal. Julian frowned when I didn’t move for a long time. “I said I’m hungry, didn’t you hear me?” “I’m not your chef. What do you expect me to do if you’re hungry?” My voice was steady, devoid of any emotional upheaval after so long apart. Julian’s face instantly stiffened. “Are you still being ridiculous? It’s just because Seraphina caused your allergy, isn’t it? I even bought you a gift while I was away on a business trip. Haven’t you calmed down at all in the past month?” Clearly, he didn’t understand why I was truly upset. He thought that a month was enough time for me to endure his coldness, then toss aside my dignity and resume catering to him like a desperate doormat. After all, Julian was a master of the cold shoulder. If he’d truly been on a business trip, neglecting me for work, why wouldn’t I try to win him back? But he didn’t know that Seraphina had shared their entire month’s itinerary on social media. She’d even personally sent me her social media account details from an unknown number. While they were living it up, I was alone in the hospital, suffering through my illness. I suddenly remembered that in those photos, Julian wasn’t wearing his wedding ring. Instead, he had a matching couple’s ring with Seraphina. My gaze fell on Julian’s finger. There was still a faint mark on his middle finger. He must have taken it off not long ago. “I’m not angry.” Julian looked at me twice, realizing I was genuinely calm, without any resentment. He pulled me into his embrace with his long arm. “Alright, go make dinner. We’ll just have a proper anniversary next year.” As he leaned close, the faint scent of Seraphina’s perfume on him made my breathing difficult. It was her favorite. I covered my nose and slowly said, “If you’re hungry, figure it out yourself.” Julian, who had been kneading my waist, stopped.
Julian released me and turned to throw the skincare products from the table onto the floor. Bottles shattered on the hard surface, fragments scattering everywhere. Just like our fragile marriage. He looked down at me, then asked coldly, “Last chance. Are you sure you’re not going to make dinner?” He was giving me an easy out, a chance to back down. Normally, I would never have pushed him this far. I was known in his circle as his little doormat, always ready to serve. I used to accept that incredibly sarcastic and insulting title. Julian and I were once so in love, and I honestly didn’t care about those labels back then. But now, I refused to throw away my self-respect. I glanced at Julian, who was on the verge of exploding, and quickly shook my head. “You can ask Seraphina to cook for you.” That remark lit the fuse. Julian grabbed the iced tea from the coffee table and aggressively splashed it on me. “Audrey, I think you need a wake-up call.” The cold liquid dripped down my chest, and my soaked sleeves felt extremely uncomfortable. As I rolled up my sleeves, Julian’s face froze for a moment, then erupted in fury. “Are you sick in the head? You even put scar makeup on your arm? My son’s birthday is in two days. Are you trying to use such cheap tactics to gain sympathy?” So that was it. He hadn’t come home because he was tired of Seraphina; he remembered he had a son whose mother he didn’t even know. His harsh voice made my eardrums throb, almost bursting. Or perhaps it was my heart aching, making my whole body hurt. The man who once cradled me and worried over a tiny red burn mark from cooking for him was gone. His love for me had vanished along with him. I calmly picked up a tissue and gently wiped the water from my body, wincing and drawing a sharp breath as my fingers brushed against the wound. “I don’t need anyone’s sympathy, especially not yours.” My flat statement landed in Julian’s ears like sarcastic venom. “Fine, Audrey. You want to make a scene, do you? Then you won’t be attending Leo’s birthday party.” He always did this, using our son to threaten me after a few harsh words. Leo and I had a deep bond. His cheap tricks wouldn’t work on us. “I raised that boy myself; you don’t get to make decisions for him!” It didn’t matter if Julian didn’t love me anymore. I knew Leo would want to celebrate his birthday with me. A mother’s tender affection involuntarily softened my face. Perhaps my smile was too triumphant, because Julian poured a bucket of cold water over my head. “Did you forget, Leo has nothing to do with you!” Years ago, he was set up, drugged and taken to a hotel, then extorted for a huge sum of money. He had just taken over the company and dared not investigate. A year later, an anonymous sender dropped off a baby. A paternity test confirmed it was his child. The scandal caused his company’s stock to plummet, and he lost everything. He was on the rooftop, contemplating jumping, when he ran into me taking a breather. I confessed my feelings for him, gathering the courage to hold his hand and face the public storm together. Even after we married, I poured my love for him into Leo, treating him as my own biological child. But my love and acceptance for him and Leo had now become the very weapon he used to hurt me! Was he mocking me for being so desperate to be a stepmom? “You’re right. Since we’re getting divorced anyway, why don’t you find Leo a new mom? Or better yet, find his biological mother!”
Perhaps he hadn’t expected such a fierce, sarcastic outburst from me, leaving Julian stunned. If he was going to stab at my heart, I would make him squirm. That incident from years ago was a dark stain on his past! All these years, I had carefully protected him, nurtured him with love, and never once brought it up. Now that I’d hit him where it hurt, he would surely be furious enough to divorce me on the spot. I had already imagined the storm that was coming, but Julian just bit his lip, motionless. I pointed to the divorce papers on the table, hopefully offering him a pen. He didn’t take it. He just walked towards the kitchen, annoyed. After ransacking the fridge and finding no food, Julian’s anger finally spilled over. “Audrey! What have you been doing for the past month? The fridge is completely empty! Are you deliberately trying to sabotage this marriage?” I found it a little funny. Did he still think we had a marriage to salvage? “I’ve been waiting for you to come back and finalize our divorce!” To ensure he always had food despite his busy work schedule, I used to keep the fridge fully stocked every day. Just now, when I hit a raw nerve, he didn’t divorce me. But now the fridge is empty—simply because I withdrew a tiny bit of my love—and he’s furious and disappointed. My words echoed in the silent living room. Surely, his arrogance would lead him to sign the papers now, right? Under my expectant gaze, he angrily grabbed the pen, but then hovered over the signature line for a long time. I even felt like joking, “Once we’re divorced, you can get even closer to your sister.” Julian abruptly tore the divorce papers to shreds. “So, you want a divorce because you’re jealous, huh? I’ve told you countless times, Seraphina and I are just family with no blood relation!” Just as I regretted opening my mouth, Julian’s FaceTime started ringing. “Daddy, I want a birthday present!” Hearing Leo’s sweet, soft voice, my heart instantly melted into a puddle. I craned my neck, eagerly trying to see Julian’s phone screen, but he shot me a glare and turned the phone completely away from me. During the month I was sick, I was afraid of scaring Leo, so I hadn’t dared to video call him. Now, just hearing his voice, I couldn’t resist the urge to go pick him up immediately. “Anything you want, sweetheart, Daddy will get for you!” “Daddy, I want Aunt Seraphina to be my mommy! She’s way more fun than Mom!” My soft heart instantly hardened. I almost forgot that Seraphina was the daughter of Julian’s father’s new wife. Technically, Seraphina and Julian were family. And my son was currently being raised at the Sterling mansion. Not only was Seraphina stealing my husband, now she was trying to steal my son too! “Sweetheart, you can’t just pick any mommy! In a couple of days, your real mommy and I will celebrate your birthday with you, okay?” Hearing Julian mention me as his mommy, my already wounded heart came back to life. I eagerly anticipated Leo’s joyful shout. But Leo yelled back, “No! I don’t like Mom anymore! Grandma Sterling said Mom doesn’t love me anymore, that’s why she left me with her.” I had only let the Sterling family take care of Leo while I was in the hospital for surgery, making up an excuse so I wouldn’t scare him. Now, after just one month, he didn’t even recognize me. “So, I want Aunt Seraphina to be my mommy!” Innocent words from a child, yet they froze me to the core. Sure enough, blood is thicker than water, after all. No matter how much you raise a child that isn’t yours by blood, they’ll never truly become ‘yours’. What stung even more was Julian’s smiling agreement to Leo’s request: “Since sweetheart likes Aunt Seraphina so much, then we’ll let her be Leo’s godmother!” My emotions were on a rollercoaster. And at that moment, I felt like I had crashed and burned. Julian’s peripheral glance at me was full of defiance.
After hanging up the phone, Julian crossed his arms and began to interrogate me. “Did you hear that? Even a child knows Seraphina treats him better!” “Confess, what were you doing for the past month? Why did you make Leo feel like you abandoned him?” I frowned, looking at him. For the first time, the man I’d loved for years felt so utterly unfamiliar! “Can’t you tell I had surgery?” I lifted my shirt, allowing Julian to see every scar. I wasn’t doing this to make him feel guilty, but to make him understand that I wasn’t like him. I wouldn’t abandon Leo just to go have fun. When I looked up, Julian’s hand was already reaching for my head. “I… I thought you were faking it.” “I actually received a message about your surgery from the hospital, but I thought you were just being dramatic to get attention…” I coldly pushed his hand away. Faced with my coldness, Julian suddenly changed his tone. “Does it hurt?” I nodded, then shook my head. When the doctor asked me to call family to sign the consent form, I couldn’t reach Julian no matter how hard I tried. Yet, I saw photos of him and Seraphina eating barbecue on her social media. Barbecue was something Julian always disdained as “dirty.” In the past, he’d only given me a disgusted look if I suggested it. But he could eat and drink heartily with Seraphina. He was too busy, of course, to sign my papers. He didn’t know that the reason I needed surgery was because an old wound, suffered when I saved Leo from drowning years ago, had flared up again, pressing on a nerve. “I don’t have any family. Can I sign it myself?” At that time, my head ached, but my heart ached more. My signature on the surgery consent form was like an illegible scrawl. “Audrey, do you want anything to eat?” “No, I’m not hungry.” My stomach suddenly rumbled, and Julian chuckled. I couldn’t bring myself to smile. Because at that moment, his phone rang. Julian glanced at it and hung up immediately. That simple action told me exactly who was calling. The phone kept ringing, relentlessly. Julian’s face finally changed. “You should take it.” He looked at my expressionless face, unable to discern any emotion. Finally, he hesitated, then nodded and answered the phone. He sounded a little flustered, but he took the call right in front of me, not giving Seraphina a chance to speak. “Why do you keep calling? Even if the sky is falling, it can wait until I’m free! I’m with Audrey right now!” After saying that, Julian hung up before Seraphina could say anything else. “Audrey, would you like some chicken soup?” It was the first time in almost a year that he had offered to cook for me. In the past, I would have happily dragged him into the kitchen to mess around together. Now, those cherished memories were distant, unreachable. Seeing that I wasn’t acting as intimately as usual, Julian took my hand, a gesture of great familiarity. But Seraphina was relentless, her phone still ringing persistently. His eyes were glued to the vibrating phone. Even his hand unconsciously started rubbing mine. He was rubbing the back of my hand, causing me sharp pain, yet he didn’t notice at all. This was his subconscious habit when he was anxious. He was worried about Seraphina! I pulled my reddened hand from his grasp and considerately answered the phone for him. “Julian, I’m at the hospital, I’m so…” “Hospital? What happened? I’m coming right now!” Julian’s concern was written all over his face. After hanging up, he grabbed his car keys and hesitantly asked me, “Audrey, why don’t you come with me?” I vaguely heard “OB/GYN department” from the phone. Julian was bold enough to want me to personally care for his mistress. “I won’t go. Just sign the papers before you leave. It’ll only take two seconds.” I wasn’t so pathetic as to fawn over my rival. “Audrey, can’t you be more understanding? Technically, Seraphina is your sister-in-law.” “Are you really that heartless? You’re getting angry at me and threatening divorce over your sister-in-law?” Sister-in-law? Was he referring to the “sister-in-law” who shared his bed? Did he really think I didn’t know that he and Seraphina had been staying in the same suite for the past month? Under the barrage of Seraphina’s intimate photos, my heart had died. I clearly realized that Julian and I could never go back. Julian didn’t look at me again, storming out and slamming the door behind him.
Two days later was Leo’s birthday. No matter what he thought of me as a mom, I still considered him my own. Even if we divorced, I didn’t want to hurt the child. Unexpectedly, when I went to pick Leo up for his birthday, the Sterling house was filled with laughter and joy. Seraphina was holding Leo, playing games with Julian, who was gently wiping sweat from Seraphina’s face. Leo hugged Seraphina and planted a kiss on her cheek. To anyone watching, the three of them looked more like a family. The two elder Sterlings were lounging in rocking chairs, smilingly watching the scene unfold. I felt like a voyeur peeking into someone else’s happiness, standing under the scorching sun for half an hour. Julian had already noticed me, but he pretended not to see me. Looking at the carefully chosen gift in my hand, I hesitated, then pushed the door open and walked in. “Leo! Look what Mom bought you!” Hearing my voice, Leo remained nestled in Seraphina’s arms, showing no intention of running to me. When he saw the superhero action figure set I’d bought, something he used to covet, he pouted. “Mommy Seraphina already bought me something much better.” Then, he turned away from me with a pout. Like father, like son. Their attitudes towards me were exactly the same. Even a dog you raise for years develops a deep attachment. Not to mention pouring my heart and soul into raising a baby from infancy. In that moment, Leo’s betrayal hurt more than Julian’s lack of love. For Julian and Leo, I pretended to be pregnant for ten whole months, never leaving the house during that time. Even later, when my own mother offered to help me with Leo, I politely refused, saying it was common for young parents nowadays to raise their own children. Every time I think of it, I feel guilty towards her. It seemed Grandma Margaret’s wish would be dashed today. Leo wouldn’t be coming home with me to see her. I put down the gift, attempting one last try. “Leo, Grandma Margaret misses you. Do you want Mom to take you home?” “No! Grandma Margaret’s house is so shabby! I want to stay with Mommy Seraphina!” Julian’s face was a mix of embarrassment and anger. He whispered something to Seraphina, then came over to me. “Leo is just a child, don’t hold a grudge against him.” “Seraphina even prepared an apology gift for you. When we go inside, don’t be angry and refuse to speak, or my father will be uncomfortable.” I didn’t expose the truth: that Leo not recognizing me as his mother after just a month was because someone was deliberately manipulating him. I didn’t believe Julian couldn’t see through it. He was just playing dumb. This was probably the last birthday I’d spend with Leo. At the dinner table, I felt completely like an outsider. Seraphina even held Leo, constantly interacting with him to provoke me. Several times, as they played, Leo spilled hot soup on me.
After dinner, I endured the burning on the back of my reddened hand and tried again. “Leo, come home with Mom, okay?” Leo, engrossed in his superhero play with Seraphina, didn’t even hear me. A bitter taste spread through my mouth. “Leo, give Mom a hug, okay?” Seraphina raised her chin, her eyes filled with a hidden triumph as she looked at me. “Audrey, what are you doing? Leo doesn’t seem to want to go with you. Don’t make it hard on the child.” “Some people are such failures as mothers!” Mr. Sterling had appeared beside me at some point, his words chilling. He always believed I was the one who set up Julian years ago, thinking Julian was forced to marry me because of his illegitimate child. Later, he resented me for making Julian a disgrace in his social circle. In that moment, I no longer wanted to keep Julian’s secret. “Dad, actually, I’m not Leo’s…” “Audrey! We’re going home!” Julian’s face was filled with panic. His panicked gaze wasn’t on me, but on Seraphina. How laughable. Was he afraid Seraphina would find out Leo was an illegitimate child with an unknown mother? But had he considered other possibilities? Julian held my hand until I stepped out the front door. But only I knew his grip was so tight it felt like he was crushing my hand, terrified I’d say another word about the past. As soon as we were in the car, Julian dropped the pretense of being loving. “Audrey, what were you about to say?” “What do you think?” My direct gaze made Julian’s chin retract inch by inch. “Didn’t we agree back then that we’d pretend it was your scheme?” “What good would it do to expose it now?” “Expose it, and I can divorce you!” My all-or-nothing attitude towards divorce made Julian heartbroken, as if he’d been betrayed. “I was wrong, okay? I swear nothing happened between me and Seraphina! If you really don’t like it, I’ll bring Leo back immediately. You’re his mother, and that will never change!” Yes, besides me, no one else would be willing to shoulder this burden! Except for his biological mother! “If you don’t want me to expose it, then just sign the divorce papers!” “Audrey! I’ve already apologized to you, what else do you want? Why are you escalating a small matter to divorce?” “Leo isn’t your biological child anyway. I know you’re upset that he’s suddenly not close to you, but shouldn’t you reflect on your own issues?” I pointed at myself, incredulous. “I’m a stepmom. I raised him as my own from birth, doted on him. If you hadn’t indulged Seraphina and her mother in filling his head with bad ideas, would he not recognize me?” I questioned myself. My conscience was clear when it came to Leo. Julian, on the other hand, had always been somewhat distant from Leo because of his parentage. The more he avoided Leo, the more I doted on him. And in the end, I was the fool who got stabbed in the back. “Don’t wrongly accuse innocent people! Kids are smart; do they really need us to tell them what to think?” After saying that, Julian caught himself and covered his mouth. “Audrey, that’s not what I meant. I’m not blaming you, I just… don’t want to divorce you…” “Thanks for the reminder. Otherwise, I might forget that there’s such a thing as family bond! Blood is thicker than water, after all. No matter how much you raise a child that isn’t yours by blood, they’ll never truly become ‘yours’.” With that, I opened the car door and got out, hailing a taxi. “Where are you going! I said I was wrong, okay?” Julian’s shouts echoed behind me, but I didn’t look back.
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