It was my wedding day. Liam and I were exchanging rings when a small, ragged boy suddenly burst into the ballroom. He ran straight to me, crying his eyes out, “Mommy, I promise I’ll be good! Please don’t throw me away again, okay?” I stared at him, utterly stunned. The little boy actually bore a striking resemblance to me. The entire room erupted in whispers. Mr. and Mrs. Hayes, Liam’s parents, looked like they were about to faint from anger. “We thought you were a decent, respectable woman! We never imagined you already had a child with someone else! This is marriage fraud!” Liam’s eyes were red-rimmed. “Anya, I was completely devoted to you. How could you do this to me?” Panic surged through me. I was about to defend myself. Then, a childish voice echoed in my mind. “Grandpa, Grandma, Dad, their acting is really good! This way, I won’t just get rid of the bastard label, I’ll also make sure this bad woman gets a terrible reputation!” I spun around in shock. The little boy was still wailing, wiping tears with his sleeve. He hadn’t said a word out loud. Was I hallucinating? But then, I heard his voice again. “Mommy told me to act as pathetic as possible, the more pathetic the better. For Mommy to have a good life, I have to make this bad woman’s reputation absolutely awful.” The chilling malice in his thoughts sent an involuntary shiver down my spine. A terrifying possibility flashed through my mind. Could it be… I was hearing his thoughts? At that moment, the little boy sniffled, stopping his cries. “Mommy used to say I was her favorite child…” “But then, she started dating.” “Every time she went out with an uncle, she’d lock me alone in the house. Several times I was so hungry I fainted. Luckily, a kind neighbor, Mrs. Thompson, gave me food.” The boy’s gaunt and sickly appearance drew pity from many in the crowd. They dabbed their eyes and began to scold me. “You’re a monster of a mother! You abandoned your own son just to date!” “Liam, you’re also to blame! You’ve been dating her for over a year, you must have gone to her place at least once, right? Didn’t you notice how pitiful this little boy was?” The boy shook his head timidly. “This uncle never came to our house… Mommy brought one… four…” He held up his fingers to count. “Mommy brought a lot of different guys over.” “But not this Uncle Liam, so it’s not Uncle Liam’s fault.” Those few words sent shockwaves through the room, like pouring cold water into a hot oil pan! The entire venue erupted. Stunned, disgusted, and hateful gazes swarmed me. Voices filled with malice bombarded my ears. “I can’t believe it! The bride’s dress is so conservative, but she’s secretly messing around like this.” “I thought Liam had found a good wife, but she’s a total slut!” Liam clutched his chest in anguish, repeatedly pounding it. “Anya! I cherished you, I indulged your every whim! You were hungry late at night for noodles, I drove an hour to get them for you. When you had period cramps, I left my clients and rushed home to bring you medicine.” “Why would you do this to me?” Everyone shook their heads. “Such a good man like Liam, he really got stuck with a rotten apple.” Eleanor Hayes, Liam’s mother, sobbed uncontrollably. “Anya Reed, you demanded an eight hundred eighty thousand wedding fund, and our family scraped together every penny without a second thought. “Tell us, what have we ever done to you that was wrong? How are we supposed to show our faces in public now?” Nasty remarks flooded the air. “Don’t marry a woman like that! Make her return all the wedding fund!” “Each table at this banquet costs thousands. I say, cancel the wedding, and Anya Reed should bear all the losses for the banquet!” Suddenly, I became the target of everyone’s scorn. The little boy peeked at me through the gaps in his fingers. His mouth was tightly shut. But his arrogant voice rang crystal clear in my head. “The bad woman’s reputation is stinking now, I’m truly Mommy’s good boy!” “We’ll be living in this bad woman’s big house soon!”
I was absolutely certain now; I could indeed hear his thoughts. So, he was actually Liam Hayes’s secret son?! This realization was like a knife gouging into my heart, twisting the flesh until it was a bloody mess. The fury of being deceived and manipulated overwhelmed me. My blood ran cold. I almost collapsed! At that critical moment, my best friend and bridesmaid, Chloe Davis, steadied me. She gently rubbed my back, her voice full of concern. “Anya, don’t be afraid. I believe you.” I squeezed her hand, tears welling in my eyes. Having moved thousands of miles away to marry, none of my parents, relatives, or friends were here. They had never approved of Liam. Only Chloe, my friend of just over a year, had said, “Anya, whatever you do, I’ll support you unconditionally. Don’t worry about marrying far away; I’ll find a job here and stay with you.” Now, surrounded by hostility, she was the only one standing by me. My throat tightened. “Thank goodness for you.” Chloe stepped forward, took the microphone from the MC, Mark, and declared loudly: “Everyone, don’t be fooled by a random little boy! He claims to be Anya’s child, but what proof does he have?” “I think he must have mistaken her for someone else.” The little boy’s lip quivered, and he started crying again. Through his sobs, he cried out: “How could I mistake my own mommy?” “I… I have a photo with Mommy!” He pulled a photograph from his backpack. In it, a woman was holding him, smiling at the camera. My pupils constricted. The woman looked almost exactly like me! Before I could speak, Chloe quickly interjected, “Composite technology is so advanced these days, this must be an AI-generated image!” I looked at her gratefully. I remembered when we first met, my parents, with their traditional views, had judged her heavy makeup and wild, brightly colored hair, saying she didn’t look like a “good influence.” But now, everyone else was against me, and she believed me without hesitation. Just then, a man in a plaid shirt at one of the tables raised his hand. “I’ve been in computer-related work for over a decade, and I’m also a professional photographer. I can tell if it’s a composite at a glance.” The guests instinctively parted, clearing a path for him. Mr. Davies took the photo from the little boy, carefully examined it against the light, and then gave a definitive answer. “This photo is real!” I instinctively held my breath, trying to listen for the little boy’s thoughts. But this time, he said nothing. He just furiously suppressed the triumphant smirk on his lips. I clenched my fists, forcing myself to stay calm, and shook my head, denying, “No… that’s not me at all!” “It is you!” A strong, clear voice rang out from the entrance. It was a distinguished-looking middle-aged woman. The little boy turned and, seeing her, sprinted over. “Ms. Jenkins!” The woman stroked his hair, her voice full of sympathy. “Good boy, you’ve been through so much. Don’t be afraid, I’ll vouch for you.” She walked towards the stage microphone. “I live right across from them. I have a security camera installed at my front door. I can prove that Leo’s mother is Ms. Anya Reed, right there on stage.” “I can also prove that Leo’s claims of abuse and her promiscuous behavior are all true!” Someone in the crowd recognized her. “That’s Ms. Jenkins, the Dean of Students from Northwood High! She’s an upright woman who hates lies!” “I know her too! If Dean Jenkins says it, it must be true!” My heart sank. My pulse quickened. As Ms. Jenkins projected the security footage from her phone onto the large screen. The entire hotel ballroom erupted once again.
“They were kissing right at the entrance! How desperate can you be?” “And those men she’s kissing, they’re not even the same person!” “She picked up a mop and started hitting the little boy! She was really laying into him!” “How can a mother be like this? My heart aches for that little boy. He was crying and apologizing, but that woman hit him even harder!” In the video, the little boy cried out, “Mommy… Mommy, I’m sorry, it’s my fault! I was just so hungry that I ate the bread Mrs. Jenkins gave me. I won’t do it again, please forgive me!” “Mommy, it hurts so much, please don’t hit me anymore, Mommy, I beg you!” … The surveillance video hit me like a sledgehammer, leaving my mind almost blank. Just then, I heard the little boy’s thoughts again. “The bad woman would never guess that my mommy just happens to look exactly like her!” “And my mommy is here at the wedding too today!” Like a drowning person clutching at a lifeline, I grabbed onto the only hope I had. Without thinking, I blurted out. “It’s his mother who looks exactly like me, and she’s here in the room!” Silence fell over the hall for a moment. A fleeting look of panic crossed the little boy’s face. But he recovered quickly, his eyes quickly welling up with tears. “Mommy, I’m sorry, it’s my fault. I shouldn’t have come today… I just missed you so much…” “I’ll leave right now… I won’t ruin your wedding with Uncle Liam…” “Mommy… I hope you’ll be happy.” My eyes were practically spitting fire. If I weren’t the one involved, if I couldn’t hear his thoughts. With the little boy’s brilliant acting, I would have been fooled and cursed the person who abandoned him! *Bang!* Among the guests, someone, in a fit of rage, threw a soda can at me. The metal cut my forehead, a burning, stinging pain. “You’re such a liar! Where is she? This person who looks exactly like you, find her! Show her to us!” I covered my forehead, blood seeping through my fingers. With that person taking the lead, many guests began grabbing bottles from the tables and throwing them at me. In a desperate move, I opened an umbrella from the side of the stage, barely deflecting some of the attacks. I was utterly humiliated. Listening to the indignant guests below. “Abuse, abandonment, and cheating on Liam! Damn, this woman is trash!” “Liam, if you’re a real man, call off this wedding, or none of us brothers will ever respect you again!” “That’s right, call it off!” Hiding behind the umbrella, I spoke into the microphone with a cold voice: “This little boy is around six years old. Six years ago, I was still attending university in this city. There are many of my alumni here today. As the student council president, I hosted events almost every week.” “Tell me, has any of you ever seen me pregnant?” The hall fell silent. Someone raised a hand. “I was Anya Reed’s classmate. I can confirm she never took extended leave from school.” Another person stood up. “Yes, Anya was active in various campus activities almost every day, except for the winter and summer breaks.” I felt a slight sense of relief. Then, a familiar voice rang out from behind me. “So, what you’re saying is, Anya had the baby during a break?!” I spun around abruptly. A chill spread from my feet upwards. I looked at Chloe, my best friend, a smile plastered on her face as she continued, “If she gave birth in winter, Anya is so thin, a heavy coat would have easily hidden it. If she had a baby during winter break, and then returned to school after her confinement period…” At that point, Chloe gasped, “Anya, could this possibly be the child you had out of wedlock during college?”
She acted as if she’d just realized her mistake, immediately covering her mouth and giving me an apologetic look. “I’m so sorry, Anya… I absolutely believe you…” All eyes fell on me again. In an instant, I felt like I was stranded on a desert island. And then, an even more shocking revelation echoed in my mind. “Mommy is so smart! She pretended to be the bad woman’s best friend, just to deliver a crushing blow today!” “To make sure Ms. Jenkins’ security camera captured the evidence, Mommy deliberately got the same blonde curly hair as the bad woman and put on that act with me.” “And all those heavy makeups and brightly colored wigs, just so the bad woman wouldn’t recognize her… Poor Mommy.” This news hit me like a massive boulder thrown into water, stirring up a storm in my heart. I blinked my dry eyes, slowly surveying the room. “Since you’re all so convinced this little boy is my child, fine. I demand a live DNA test.” “At the same time, I also demand that Liam and this child undergo a DNA test!” My words rang out, clear and firm. “If he truly is my child, I will get on my knees and apologize to everyone! The wedding banquet will be canceled, and I will bear all expenses myself!” To my surprise, Liam and his parents agreed without hesitation. “Good, I don’t want to wrongly accuse you either. Anya,” Liam looked at me steadily, “if the child isn’t yours, then for the rest of my life, all my assets, even my very life, are yours.” “Consider it my compensation to you.” For a fleeting moment, I wondered if the thoughts I’d heard were just my imagination. But the little boy’s malicious voice quickly pulled me back to reality. “I can’t wait! Once this woman leaves, humiliated, the money Dad and she put into the pre-marital loyalty fund will all be ours!” It was like a beam of light cutting through a thick fog. I finally understood the real reason behind the Hayes family’s elaborate scheme at the wedding! My teeth gnashed audibly. A six-year-old secret son, framing me at my wedding, and trying to steal all my savings and my house! And Chloe, my supposed best friend, her approach from the very beginning had been full of ulterior motives! A surging wave of anger threatened to drown me. I took a deep breath, struggling to remain calm. My hand trembled as I pointed at Chloe. “Furthermore, I also demand that Chloe undergo a paternity test with this boy!” “Because,” I strode over, grabbing a handful of Chloe’s hair, revealing the same hairstyle and color as mine underneath. Then I grabbed a bucket of water, prepared for a wedding game, and splashed it onto her face. “She looks exactly like me. I suspect she is the boy’s real mother!” When Chloe’s true face appeared before everyone, Many gasped sharply. “Aren’t they twins? They look so alike!”
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