It was the day before Christmas Eve, and Grant had finally agreed to file the marriage license. But on the way to City Hall, he suddenly slammed on the brakes. I looked at him, my brow furrowed in confusion. He calmly lit a cigarette, the smoke curling between us. “We can’t do this, Ainsley,” he said, his voice flat. “My ex-wife is back, and she brought the kid. I quietly remarried her yesterday to get Zane’s health insurance and custody situation sorted.” My face went white, but Grant simply flicked the ash off his cigarette, his tone radiating self-justification. “It’s a paper marriage, Ainsley. It’s only for Zane. You’ve always been so mature and reasonable; I know you understand.” “The wedding is still on, you’ll wear the ring, and nothing between us has changed—except for that piece of paper.” Looking at the arrogant, utterly unfamiliar man sitting next to me, my stomach lurched. It was a dizzying, sickening roll. I had been about to tell him we were having the child we’d both longed for. But now, he didn’t deserve to know. And this marriage, the sham of it, was over before it began. … I took a deep, shaky breath, fighting down the wave of nausea. My voice was a dry rasp. “So, Grant…” “When you walked into that courthouse yesterday, did you think, even for one second, that you were supposed to be walking into the same place with me today?” Grant put out the cigarette, his expression tight, as if genuinely surprised by my question. “Ainsley, don’t make this complicated.” “Camille and I were a business merger, nothing more. We divorced because the feeling wasn’t there. This quick remarriage was the fastest way to handle Zane’s complicated legal issues. You’re the one who always said you hate unnecessary drama.” I used to go out of my way to keep him from worrying about work—always focused on the positive. He called me understanding; he called me low-maintenance. Now, my kindness was the knife he was twisting into me. I laughed, a sharp, bitter sound. “So, to avoid ‘unnecessary drama,’ I’m supposed to simply accept that my fiancé is now, legally, someone else’s husband, days before our wedding?” “Grant, what am I to you?” Grant reached for me, but I pulled away. His hand hung awkwardly in the air. He sighed, pulling his hand back to his side. “Ainsley, five years. Are you really going to let five years of love crumble over a technicality?” “You know how I’ve been with you. I love you. I want to build a life with you. That hasn’t changed.” I remembered a year ago, when we’d passed an upscale baby boutique. He’d pulled me inside and held a tiny pair of pink leather shoes, completely captivated. “Ainsley, as soon as we get married, we have to try for a baby right away.” “I can’t wait to see a little version of you calling me Dad.” The hope then had been real. The betrayal now was just as real. I took a breath, my hand instinctively resting on my still-flat belly. I asked, my voice barely a whisper, “And the child? Once the papers are done, then what? You’re just going to keep this legal arrangement indefinitely?” Seeing a glimmer of softening in my tone, Grant relaxed. He spoke with the easy confidence of a man who knows he’s winning. “Zane’s immune system is fragile, and Camille can’t manage his specialist care alone.” “I’ll set them up in the Brooklyn brownstone, hire a full-time caregiver, and I’ll go over once or twice a week.” “Ainsley, you have my word: the majority of my time will be with you, and with our home.” Our home? I chewed on those words, the taste of them metallic and sharp. How does a married man offer another woman a home? His phone rang then. It was his mother. Grant answered, his voice instantly warm. “Yes, Mom, we’re on the way. I’m bringing Ainsley over for dinner later.” He hung up, turned the car around without asking my permission, and started driving. “My mother’s health isn’t great, and you’re her favorite. Everyone knows about the wedding. You don’t want to disappoint her, do you?” I looked at his familiar profile, and a chill settled deep in my bones. For his mother’s sake, for his son’s sake, for the sake of keeping his life neatly compartmentalized. I was, yet again, left with only one acceptable option: to be the reasonable, accommodating one. The knot of acid in my stomach twisted violently. I bit down hard on my lip to stop myself from gagging. Grant’s family estate. The moment we walked in, Mrs. Sterling pulled me close, beaming. “Ainsley, darling, you’re here! Quick, Maria just finished a special batch of that imported organic tonic. Drink it while it’s warm, sweetie.” She was completely oblivious. In her mind, tomorrow was her son’s glorious day. At the dinner table, Grant played the role of the perfect husband-to-be. He peeled the shrimp, carved the roast, and poured the wine. Every action was smooth, practiced, and attentive. “Ainsley, the garlic prawns are your favorite. Have some more.” Mrs. Sterling placed a generous serving onto my plate. I forced down the rising nausea and managed a strained smile. “Thank you, Mrs. Sterling.” “Mrs. Sterling? Tomorrow you call me Mom!” she teased. Grant’s hand paused on the table, then he quickly smiled and chimed in, “That’s right, you’ll finally have to change that.” He looked at me, his eyes carrying both a warning and a desperate plea. He was betting on my kindness, betting that I wouldn’t dare break his mother’s fragile heart. After dinner, Mrs. Sterling pulled me into her study with a secretive air. She opened a heavy safe and took out a red velvet box. Inside, nestled on the satin, was a heavy, vintage platinum-and-diamond bangle—the kind that held immeasurable generational value. “Ainsley, this is the Sterling family heirloom, passed down to the wife.” She didn’t wait for my response, sliding the cold, heavy band onto my wrist. “I can see that Grant truly loves you.” “He was such a restless soul before you. You settled him, made him into a man.” Mrs. Sterling patted my hand, her eyes glistening. “Now, you two promise me you’ll make me a grandmother soon. My heart, I don’t know how long it will last…” I stared at the blinding sparkle on my wrist, my throat constricting as if plugged with cotton. The word no burned on my tongue, but I swallowed it, choking it down. My secret, the knowledge of the baby in my womb, felt impossibly heavy. The grandchild she wished for was already here. Too bad her son had, just yesterday, personally ensured that child would be born a technical bastard. Later that night, back in our penthouse, Grant was slightly tipsy. He came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist, his liquor-scented kisses landing on my neck. “Baby…” I went rigid, a wave of pure, physical revulsion washing over me. The acid rush returned to my throat. I pushed him away hard and ran to the bathroom, dry-heaving into the toilet. Grant followed, rubbing my back awkwardly. “What’s wrong? Did the prawns not agree with you?” I splashed cold water on my face, looking at my pale, drawn reflection in the mirror. “Grant, don’t touch me.” He froze, his face hardening. “Still making a scene? Ainsley, I thought you’d come around.” I turned, backing up against the vanity, putting as much distance between us as possible. “Grant, I need to know: in your plan, what exactly am I?” “A trophy wife you can show off but can’t legally claim? Or just a convenient accessory to help you smooth over your life?” He lit a cigarette, his expression one of mounting irritation. “I told you, I can give you everything but that paper. Company shares, properties, all my liquid assets—they’re yours.” “Camille is just a responsibility.” Always responsibility. “And what is your responsibility to me?” “What I feel for you is love!” He roared the word, sounding like a deeply aggrieved man. “Ainsley, don’t push me.” “You know how much my mother loves you. Her heart condition is real.” “If you leave me and something happens to her because of the shock… do you really want that responsibility? You’re a good woman; you care about her like a mother, right?” “And let’s not forget your father. His specialist kidney care, the exclusive palliative wing—I handle all of that. Without me, can you guarantee that level of care for him?” The veneer of love fell away, leaving behind only the cold, hard mechanics of threat and calculation. He knew my weaknesses. My kindness, my empathy, my reluctance to create a scene. These qualities he’d once praised were now the sharpest tools in his arsenal. Each word was a cut, leaving me bloody and raw. I looked at the man standing before me. Suddenly, I realized I hadn’t known him at all for the last five years. “Fine,” I heard myself say, the word flat and lifeless. “I won’t make a scene.” Grant let out a huge sigh of relief, moving toward me to hug me. “I knew it. You’re the best, Ainsley.” I stepped aside, avoiding his touch, and pointed toward the guest suite. “But I can’t look at you right now. Sleep in the guest room.” His face tightened again, but to placate me, he nodded. “Okay, fine. Get some rest.” The moment the door closed, I slid down the wall, sinking to the floor. I looked at the heavy diamond bangle on my wrist. The tears finally came, an unstoppable torrent. To reassure me and, perhaps, himself that our situation was now manageable, Grant actually suggested I meet Camille. He took me to the Brooklyn brownstone—the place where we had lived during the lean, exciting days of building his company. Now, it housed his legal wife and his child. He opened the door. The once familiar, minimalist space was now decorated in a cozy, hygge style. Camille was administering an inhaler to a little boy. She wore simple cotton loungewear, makeup-free, her hair pulled back in a casual bun. She looked up, saw me, and gave a calm, measured nod. “Come in, Ainsley. It’s a bit of a mess, but don’t worry about it.” The boy was small, maybe five or six, and he looked exactly like Grant. He hid shyly behind Camille’s legs and whispered, “Daddy.” Grant walked over naturally. He knelt to check Zane’s breathing, then got a glass of water, which he skillfully helped the boy drink, wiping the corner of his mouth. It was the practiced, ingrained familiarity of a father. I stood in the doorway, feeling like a clumsy intruder. I watched their picture of quiet domesticity. Was this the “responsibility” he claimed had no emotion attached? While Grant took Zane into the bedroom to look for a toy, Camille offered me a glass of warm water and sat across from me in the living room. “Honestly, I told Grant that this was unfair to you.” “But once he makes up his mind, there’s no changing it.” She sighed, playing the role of the world-weary sage. “Men at a certain level always want it all. They want their unshakable foundation and their exciting distraction.” “What can we do but wait for him to figure out what he actually needs?” Her words held no malice, no fire. But they subtly pushed me into the category of ‘distraction’—the fleeting, temporary thrill. She, however, was the ‘responsibility,’ the one who was always there to catch him. She picked up a framed photo—a family portrait of her, Grant, and Zane. She wiped a speck of dust off the glass. “Even when we were divorced, he never let me throw this away.” “Some things are just in the bones, Ainsley.” I looked at the piercing sight of that family photo. Then I looked at the cold, heavy bangle on my wrist. The absurdity of it all was overwhelming. I said nothing, simply standing up to leave. Camille didn’t try to stop me. She only said, her voice light and airy behind me, “Don’t blame him, Ainsley. And don’t break yourself. Give it a few years. You’ll get used to it.” Get used to it? Get used to this disgusting triad? The wedding preparations continued, and Grant seemed to truly believe I had surrendered. He was gentle, attentive, and even a little desperate to please. “Ainsley, what about this main gown? It’s a bespoke piece flown in from Paris.” “And this ring, I had them add another carat.” He was desperately trying to fill the black hole of his lie with material goods. He thought enough money could purchase dignity. He took me to the studio to pick up our massive wedding portrait. In the photo, we were kissing by the ocean. I’d thought I was the happiest woman alive. Now, that smile felt like a grotesque mask. Grant pointed at the photo, his eyes shining with false pride. “Ainsley, look how perfect we are.” “I’ll devote my life to you. I’ll put the world at your feet.” I looked at his earnest, lying face, and the nausea returned with full force. “I need the ladies’ room.” I rushed into the back, dry-heaving over the porcelain. Nothing came up but burning bile. The ultrasound image in my wallet—the one I’d memorized—was a reminder that my pregnancy was nearly three months along. When I came out, I saw Grant with his back to me, speaking quietly on the phone. My hearing was always sharp. “…Stop, Camille, I can’t talk right now.” “Zane has a fever again? Did you give him the medication?” “Fine, fine, I’m coming over. Don’t cry. I’ll pick up the cupcakes from that bakery he loves.” It was Camille. Even at this critical moment—as we stood in front of our wedding portrait—she could use her child as a lever to pull him away. He hung up and turned, his eyes flicking with panic when he saw me. He quickly masked it, rushing over with an apologetic expression. “Urgent company crisis, Ainsley. A major client just landed unexpectedly. I have to go smooth things over.” I didn’t call him out. I simply looked at him. “Grant, do you remember what day it is?” He paused, clearly blank, a slight panic in his eyes. I prompted him gently. “It’s my birthday.” His face crumpled with instant guilt. He scrambled to salvage the moment. “Oh, Ainsley, I am so sorry. I’ve been completely swamped with work.” “What do you want? We’ll go buy it right now.” He reached for my hand again. I stepped back, shaking my head. “It’s fine. You have an urgent crisis, don’t you? Go.” He thought I was being the understanding Ainsley he’d come to rely on. He breathed a sigh of relief, leaned in, and kissed my forehead, his voice falsely bright. “I’ll make it up to you tonight. Be a good girl, wait for me.” Then he snatched his keys and hurried out the door. His retreating back held not a single shred of hesitation. The studio was empty, save for me and the giant wedding portrait, which stood mockingly in the center. I walked over to the corner, where the workers had left a small sledgehammer. I picked it up, testing the weight. It was heavy. Just like the stone that had been pressing down on my heart for the last five years. I looked at the woman in the photo—the one who believed he loved her—and whispered, “Happy Birthday, Ainsley Hayes.” The next second. I lifted the hammer and brought it down with every ounce of strength I had. The sound of shattering glass was a high-pitched scream in the empty room. Shards flew everywhere, cutting my legs, but I felt nothing. Grant’s face in the photo was a jagged mess. My own smiling face was splintered into a thousand pieces. I wrenched the heirloom bangle off my wrist. I dropped it into the pile of broken glass. Then, I took the crumpled ultrasound from my bag—the one with creases from where my fingers had worried it for weeks—and calmly placed it, face-down, on top of the bracelet. Finally, I pulled out my phone and dialed a number. “Faye, I need you to schedule the earliest D&C appointment for me tomorrow morning.” “As soon as possible.”

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For twenty years, I had been a single mother to three children, and I thought the hard part was finally over. The kids were grown. We were finally breathing. I was wrong. My youngest, Daisy, had just been diagnosed with a serious illness, and my eldest, Chelsea, was planning her wedding. That’s when she hit me with the demand. “Mom, Brent’s family is giving us thirty thousand for the bride price. I just need you to match it, maybe a little more, say thirty-two thousand for my moving allowance,” Chelsea said, her tone perfectly reasonable, as if asking for thirty-two thousand dollars was the same as asking for a ride to the grocery store. “You don’t want me to look cheap in front of his family, do you?” I kept my voice calm, though my chest felt tight. “Chelsea, I’m not touching your fiancé’s money. Your brother, Noah, is still in college, and your sister, Daisy, is sick. I simply don’t have thirty-two thousand dollars to give you for a car or whatever you’re planning to use it for.” Her pleasant expression immediately soured. “Daisy isn’t on her deathbed, is she? Can’t her treatment wait?” she argued. The sheer audacity of the question stole my breath. “And Noah? Can’t he take out student loans? Why do you always play favorites? What kind of mother doesn’t provide a nest egg for her daughter’s wedding? Honestly, what is the difference between this and just selling me off?” Ignoring the sudden, icy dread in my stomach, she kept going, her voice rising in pitch. “If you couldn’t afford us, you shouldn’t have had so many children! Not having kids is a kindness when you’re poor, but having them just to make them suffer—that’s cruel, Mom! That’s just being awful.” She stared me down, her gaze flinty. “If you don’t come up with that money, consider this the end. You won’t have a daughter in me anymore.” I felt a monumental weight lift off my shoulders, immediately replaced by a terrible, empty ache. I let out a slow, heavy exhale. “Fine. Then from today forward, I don’t have an eldest daughter.” 1 Chelsea froze, then her eyes welled up with performative, angry tears. “I knew it! You never loved me, not once, my whole life!” she shrieked, the sound cracking with manufactured indignation. “If this were Daisy getting married, you wouldn’t just cough up thirty-two thousand, you’d sell a kidney for sixty! I bet I was found in a dumpster!” Her outburst grew louder and more hysterical, drawing the attention of our elderly neighbors in the hallway. My chest was pounding; a heavy, suffocating sense of failure and exhaustion clogged my throat. Never in a million years did I think the child I risked my life to bring into this world would, twenty-five years later, feel like a bullet tearing through my heart. She saw none of it. She saw none of the years of agonizing work, the constant state of near-poverty, the humbling and dirty jobs I took just to keep a roof over their heads. She saw only an evil, withholding mother who refused her a cash prize for getting married. In a white-hot flash of pure, reactive fury, I pointed toward the apartment door. “That’s right! I did find you in a dumpster! Now get out! Get the hell out of my house!” The neighbors started to intervene, telling me not to say such wounding things, while also trying to reason with Chelsea. “Chelsea, your mother has raised three kids on her own for decades, got you all into college—that’s a miracle in itself,” Mrs. Henderson said gently. “With Daisy’s medical bills right now, you have to be understanding. It’s not that she doesn’twant to give you the money, it’s that she simply can’t.” Chelsea didn’t listen. She sniffled dramatically, shoved the neighbor aside, and slammed the door hard enough to shake the old plaster. Hollowed out, I let myself cry a few silent, ice-cold tears, then quickly wiped them away. I had to get Daisy’s dinner ready and take it to the hospital. On the bus, my son Noah texted me. “Mom, I found a part-time job. You don’t need to send me my allowance anymore.” “It won’t affect my classes, I promise. Don’t worry about me.” Right after the text, a thousand dollars popped into my account, with instructions to use it on good food or supplements for his sister. The contrast struck me like a physical blow. They were both my children, conceived and raised in the same house, but separated by a staggering, cruel gulf. When I arrived at the hospital, Daisy wasn’t resting. She was sitting up in bed, an IV drip attached to her arm, working on her laptop. She was only in her first year of college, but she had already picked up some freelance work online. Two weeks ago, they found the benign tumor. The doctors were clear: an immediate operation was necessary, or it would quickly turn malignant, and no amount of money could buy back a life then. To get her the surgery as fast as possible, I had negotiated with my employer, taking a three-year advance on my salary—a flat twenty thousand dollars—the very week Chelsea made her demand. I had no choice. Daisy’s life, not Chelsea’s wedding, came first. Suddenly, Daisy’s phone rang—a video call from Chelsea. I heard the instant, wailing accusation before Daisy could even say hello. “Daisy, you won’t believe how Mom is acting. Every other mother is throwing parties and setting up their daughters with trust funds. She’s giving me nothing, and she told me to get lost! It’s all about Noah. She’s keeping the money for him. She doesn’t care if we sink or swim.” 2 Daisy saw me enter the room and quickly tried to play mediator, looking embarrassed and frail. “Sis, you’ve got it all wrong. Mom treats all three of us exactly the same.” “The hell she does! If she treated us the same, would she send me off with nothing? She’s setting me up to be completely humiliated by Brent’s family!” Chelsea shouted, cutting her off midsentence. “Look, I don’t care what Mom says, she will give me the money,” Chelsea insisted, her voice now hard and demanding. “I’m not an idiot. I’m not letting her off the hook that easily. This is her responsibility to me as a mother.” I snatched the phone from Daisy’s hand. I was shaking with fury. “You drop this right now, Chelsea! You stop this vicious selfishness!” I spat into the phone. “You are a black hole of need! If you had a shred of decency, you wouldn’t be putting your sister through this right now!” I hung up before she could respond and turned to Daisy. “Don’t believe a word your sister says. You focus on getting better. The house and everything else is my problem.” Tears welled up in Daisy’s eyes. She held my hand, guilt radiating off her small frame. “If I wasn’t sick, you’d have the money for her. I’m so sorry, Mom.” It took a while for me to soothe her. After that horrible argument, Chelsea went silent for a few days, and honestly, I was too busy with work and the hospital to care. But the day before Daisy’s surgery, I caught something on her screen. She was transferring money. The amount stopped me dead. $32,000. “Where did you get that money? Why are you sending your sister thirty-two thousand dollars?” I demanded, my voice raw with disbelief. She couldn’t hide it anymore. “I took out a student loan—a campus-based private loan, Mom. I know I can pay it back once I graduate. I just… I didn’t want the wedding money to be the thing that tears us apart forever. We’re already a struggling family; I don’t want us to stop being a family completely.” I wanted to hug her for her kindness and shake her for her stupidity. “You sweet, foolish child. That’s a predatory loan. The interest will eat you alive!” Without another word, I found Chelsea’s chat history with Daisy. Chelsea had been feeding her a constant stream of self-pity, complaints about being the family’s neglected elder sister who raised the younger kids, and accusations about my failure as a mother. She had explicitly goaded Daisy into taking the loan. The coldness I felt was absolute. I thought Chelsea was just angry, saying hurtful things in the heat of the moment. Now I realized her heart was simply stone cold—a heart I had spent twenty-seven years trying, and failing, to warm. I immediately contacted the loan company and reversed the transaction. In less than 24 hours, the predatory fees had already cost us two thousand dollars. When Chelsea realized the money was gone, and that I was the reason, she showed up at my apartment the next morning, bringing Brent, and, worse, his parents. 3 Brent’s mother spoke first, her voice dripping with venomous sweetness. “Joanna, dear, Chelsea is the oldest. She must have helped you carry a lot of responsibility over the years, isn’t that right? Where I come from, even when parents give away an adopted daughter, they send her off with a new car and a down payment on a house.” She was implying I was worse than a stranger. My face darkened, but before I could respond, Brent’s father cut in with a horrifying bombshell. “Frankly, since Chelsea is already three months along, we’re mostly just doing a quick ceremony now. But we gave her thirty thousand dollars. It’s traditional for her family to show equal support. Without the matching fund, it’s just not right.” Chelsea, meanwhile, started sobbing, playing the victim. “You don’t want to help me, fine. But Daisy loves me and tried to get the money for me! Why would you ruin that for me? How am I supposed to hold my head up in my new family now?” The pent-up rage of the last few weeks erupted. I lunged forward and slapped her hard across the cheek. “You can’t hold your head up because you have no shame, Chelsea! Are you even listening to yourself? You forced your own sister—your sick, struggling sister—to take out a high-interest loan to fund your wedding ego trip!” Brent’s parents and Brent started screaming at me, pointing fingers. Chelsea shrieked back at me, her eyes manic. “You’re just hoarding the money for Daisy’s non-essential surgery and your precious son! I’m getting married! I’ve never asked you for anything big! This is my right!” I felt a cardiac event coming on. There was no reasoning with this bottomless pit of entitlement. “Get out! I am done with you! I do not have a daughter in you!” I yelled, clutching my chest. “I raised three kids on my own! You cannot be considerate of me for one second, yet you attack and demand like this? Even if I did have the money, I wouldn’t give a single cent to a selfish monster like you!” Chelsea continued to weep, still claiming I was playing favorites. “I won’t leave! This apartment was Dad’s! I have a share in it!” she insisted, her tears drying up fast. “You’re giving all the cash to Daisy, so give me the house instead! I’m not an idiot to walk away with nothing.” I stared at her, utterly cold. She wanted to strip me of everything. Driven beyond reason, I hit her again. “Are you trying to kill me?! Are you trying to destroy every single one of us?” I had rarely raised my voice to her, never struck her, always thinking of her fatherless upbringing. In that moment, I hated that I hadn’t been stricter. Chelsea glared at me, her eyes filled with wounded astonishment. “I just wanted my mother to give me something for my wedding. What is so wrong about that?” She pointed to the dilapidated room, the cracked walls, the patches of mold. “You won’t even give me this rat trap that no one would buy! You truly do not care about your eldest daughter!” She was right; the house was a wreck, scheduled for demolition years ago. Only people like us, barely making rent, were still living in the condemned building. But it was the only shelter we had left. The final insult came when Chelsea pulled out her phone, still crying, and dialed 911. “I’m three months pregnant and getting married,” she sobbed into the phone. “My mother just physically assaulted me because I asked her for a wedding gift.” 4 She showed the police officer the red marks on her face. I explained the medical emergency, the advanced loan, and the financial situation. Chelsea stood there, head held high, fully unrepentant. “I looked it up online. Daisy’s tumor is benign. It doesn’t have to be removed right now. Mom is making her suffer and cutting me out just to make a point!” I wanted to tear her apart. The police officer was holding me back. “Listen to yourself! What kind of human being says that about her own sister? It’s benign now! If it turns malignant, she dies! I don’t care if you love your sister or not, but I love her, and I will save her life! If it were you with this tumor, I would move heaven and earth to save you, too!” She just whined that I was cursing her. The officer tried to mediate: “Ma’am, marriage is a celebration, and hitting your daughter is wrong. The money for the wedding is negotiable, based on family income, not a right.” Chelsea couldn’t accept the officer’s impartial advice. “You need to take my mother in for a couple of days,” she demanded. “She needs to cool off and reflect on how she’s treating her daughter.” She claimed dizziness, emotional distress, and potential harm to the fetus due to my slap. The police took me to a holding cell. My first time detained. Because of my daughter. I spent fifteen agonizing days there. I pleaded with the officers to call Chelsea, to tell her about Daisy’s critical surgery. But she was unmoved. She even told the officer, when I compromised and offered her the dilapidated apartment: “I changed my mind. I don’t want that piece of junk. I want the thirty-two thousand dollars in cash.” I knew she was still only after the money I’d already given the hospital. When I was finally released fifteen days later, the worst possible news awaited me. Daisy wasn’t in surgery. She was discharged. Chelsea had secretly gone to the hospital and canceled the procedure, taking the entire surgery fund as a refund. I rushed to Daisy’s university. Her eyes were red and swollen. “Mom, just let it go,” she begged, holding my hands. “Let Chelsea have the money. If you don’t, she’ll never stop. I don’t want you to be miserable because of her. The doctor said since it’s benign, I’m safe for now. I’ll keep working and save up.” Looking at my sweet, self-sacrificing daughter, I felt a fresh flood of tears, but this time they were hot with fury. Though Daisy begged me to forget it, my heart was a frozen block of ice. I went to find Chelsea. She refused to return the money. In fact, she was smug. “I have my marriage certificate now. All the money is legally ours, a gift from my family to my husband and me. It can’t go back to the ‘family’ side,” she stated, totally brazen. “In fact, Brent and I are using the cash—yours and his—to buy him a luxury SUV tomorrow. He’s in sales; the car is part of his image. I need to support him.” I laughed—a sharp, cold sound that held no humor. I didn’t argue. I just told her, “Fine. I hope you never regret this.” The next day, I followed her to the dealership. I approached her and handed her a small stack of papers. The moment she saw them, her face went white with panic. She instantly collapsed. “Mom, I’ll give you the money back. All of it. I’m your daughter, please don’t do this to me!”

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New Year’s Eve. I was pushing my beat-up delivery scooter through a blizzard when my phone vibrated. “Rory.” Just two syllables, cutting through the static and the roar of the wind, landing like a thunderbolt on my skull. But I’d signed the non-disclosure agreement. I’d taken the money and vanished a decade ago. I couldn’t fathom why my younger brother, the one who’d taken my college spot and my name, was contacting me now. “I’m outside the complex where you’re delivering.” “Mom and Dad are dying. They want to see you one last time.” Outside the complex? … I slammed on the brakes. My tire skidded, carving a black scar into the snow-covered asphalt. A stretch Cadillac idled by the security gate. A window rolled halfway down, revealing a face I knew too well—handsome, chiseled, and perfectly maintained. Staring at that face—a mirror image of my own, yet a world away in fortune—my frozen hands tightened on the scooter’s handlebar. They’d bled me dry to pave his golden path. What else could they possibly want? I exhaled a cloud of white steam, ignored the car, and twisted the throttle, speeding past the massive luxury vehicle. I didn’t even glance in the rearview mirror. Behind me, a car door opened and closed with a heavy thud. Jasper hadn’t chased me. Of course not. How could a man in a fifty-thousand-dollar bespoke suit, wearing pristine Italian leather shoes, sully himself with this kind of sludge and snow? Ten minutes later, I parked the scooter outside the dilapidated building slated for demolition. My hands were numb, practically welded to the grips. I wrestled the thermal bag free. My phone buzzed again—an unknown number. I didn’t need to check the caller ID. I hung up instantly. Then came the barrage of texts: “Rory Miller, how much longer are you going to play the martyr?” “Dad has end-stage renal failure. He needs a kidney, immediately.” “If you have an ounce of conscience left, stop pretending you’re dead.” At the words “renal failure,” I wanted to laugh. I truly, bitterly wanted to laugh. Ten years ago, they’d used the same tactic. They’d claimed Grandpa Robert had a massive brain tumor and needed the money—the supposed “blood money” from selling my future. And the result? I shoved the phone into my pocket, rubbing the back of my hands. The chapped skin on my knuckles, cracked open by the cold, wept fresh blood. I climbed the six flights of stairs. Before reaching the landing, I heard a racking cough from inside. I pushed the door open. A wave of damp, mildewed air slapped me in the face. The one-room apartment, maybe three hundred square feet, was cluttered with stacks of salvaged cardboard boxes. “Honey, you’re back?” Hannah heard the noise and walked toward me, leaning on the wall. An old injury left her with a pronounced limp. She held out a steaming cup of plain hot water. “Come, warm your hands.” I looked at her faded cotton dress and the leg that had never fully healed after the accident. The ice in my chest thawed just a little. “Daddy!” Our son, Caleb, scooted out from behind her, clutching a handful of plastic blocks. A smear of red paint covered his cheek. He grinned, showing off his tiny white teeth. “Look, Daddy! I built a huge house! We’re going to live here!” It was a lopsided construction of primary-colored blocks, with a little courtyard. My nose stung. I squatted down, ready to pull him into a hug, when the door was brutally pounded. BANG. BANG. BANG. The force was immense, the rhythm urgent, and it reeked of entitled arrogance. No neighbor in this broken-down building would ever knock like that. Hannah’s face paled. She looked instinctively at the door. “Who is it?” She barely cracked it open before a foot in a black leather shoe violently kicked it inward. Hannah, unsteady on her injured leg, stumbled backward, narrowly avoiding the small gas heater. Two black-suited bodyguards strode in, followed by a blast of expensive cologne. Jasper Miller stepped into my “pigsty,” pinching his nose with a look of disgust. He surveyed the mold-speckled wallpaper, his eyes finally settling on Hannah and me. The condescending pity in his gaze was a physical sting. “Brother, you’re actually living here?” He kicked aside a stack of newspaper. “Come home with me. Save Dad’s life. I’ll give you half a million.” Half a million dollars for my kidney. Just like ten years ago: three million dollars to buy out my entire life. The air in the room seemed to solidify. Caleb, terrified, buried his face in my shirt, whimpering softly. Despite her limp, Hannah positioned herself between us, a protective lioness. “Get out!” She snatched up the small pair of embroidery scissors she used for mending clothes. One of the bodyguards took a step forward, raising a hand to shove her. “Don’t touch her!” I screamed the words. My hand closed around the utility knife I kept on the table for cutting open cardboard boxes. I leveled the razor-sharp tip at Jasper’s handsome face. “Tell your men to back off, or I won’t guarantee this face will ever play a violin on stage again.” Jasper flinched, instinctively shielding his face, and took two steps back. “Rory, are you insane?!” “I’m here to help you!” His eyes were wide with incomprehension. “Look at that cripple you married, and look at this little brat you fathered.” “Don’t you want a better life?” I gave a cold laugh. “Help me?” “In what capacity? The one who stole my name, Jasper Miller, or the one who stole my life, ‘Rory’?” Hearing that, Jasper’s face went white. It was his only stain, the wound he feared most being exposed. He gritted his teeth, pulled a checkbook from his limited-edition briefcase, and tossed the flimsy paper to the floor. It landed on the cold, cracked cement. “Mom and Dad worked hard to raise you, even if the methods were a little intense back then. But you took the money.” “You squandered three million, ended up like this, and you blame who? Not me. I was diligent. I was successful. I deserved that spot.” He grew more self-righteous with every word, as if I was the one who had taken a fortune to live a life of decadence, and he was the diligent, struggling genius. I felt a surge of pure absurdity. Rage detonated in my chest, burning through my insides. But I couldn’t lose control. For Caleb, I couldn’t risk getting arrested. I took a deep breath, bent down, and picked up the check. A smug smirk played on Jasper’s lips. “That’s right—” SSSKKKKK— The sound of tearing paper. I shredded the half-million-dollar check right in front of him. I tossed the pieces high, letting the paper snowflakes drift down onto his expensive cashmere coat. Then, I grabbed the mug of lukewarm, bitter tea from the table—old, dark tea leaves still floating at the bottom. “WHOOSH—” The brown liquid streamed down his meticulously styled hair, ran across his perfect face, and dripped onto the pristine white cashmere. Jasper’s shriek nearly lifted the ceiling. “AAHH!! Rory Miller! You dare to splash me?!” The bodyguards moved. I pointed at the old, dusty security camera mounted in the corner. “This room is wired. It’s synced to the cloud.” “Touch me, and I release the story of how you bought a college spot and impersonated a student ten years ago. I’ll send it to every media outlet.” “We all go down together.” Jasper froze. He was a celebrated concert violinist, a public figure. He had everything to lose. “Fine. Very well.” Jasper wiped the tea from his face. His makeup was smudged; he looked like a pathetic clown. “Rory, you will regret this.” He scrambled away with his bodyguards. I heard the frantic tap-tap-tap of their dress shoes echoing down the stairwell. Only when the sound was completely gone did the tension leave me. I was shaking, and the utility knife clattered to the floor. Hannah came over, asked nothing, and simply wrapped me in her arms. Her embrace smelled faintly of cheap laundry detergent, but it was the safest place in the world. “It’s okay, Rory. It’s okay.” But was it, really? At three in the morning, Hannah’s phone rang. It was the owner of the garment factory where she worked. “Hannah, we have a clear complaint. Someone says you deliberately ruined a shipment of high-end silk.” “Don’t bother coming in tomorrow. Prepare the compensation payment.” I listened to the dial tone, my hands gripping the sheets. The retaliation was swift. Hannah hung up. In the dark, she didn’t say a word. She just walked to the window, staring out at the distant city lights, as if counting down our remaining time. The next morning, Hannah put on her faded work uniform, pretending everything was fine. “I’m heading out. I’ll bring home some caramel apples tonight.” Her smile was gentle, but the fine lines around her eyes were etched with exhaustion. I knew she wasn’t going to work. She was going to beg for her job back or try to find day labor somewhere else. With her leg, good jobs were impossible. After she left, I dropped Caleb off at his daycare and boarded the bus bound for downtown. I needed to end this. Outside the window, the scenery flew by. As we passed the famous Eastwood School of Music, a sharp, familiar pain seized my chest. Ten years ago, I looked out a window like this. Back then, I clutched a gold-embossed acceptance letter. I was the state violin champion, the so-called “prodigy.” My future was limitless. Until that night. My parents suddenly knelt before me. That single, desperate act broke something deep inside me. “Rory, sweetie, Grandpa Robert is dying from the tumor. We need a million dollars for the surgery.” “We don’t have it! Even selling the house won’t cover it!” “But someone is offering the money… if you… if you just give up your acceptance.” Give it up? It wasn’t just giving up a college spot. It was erasing me from existence. It was letting Jasper take my name, my life, and my university seat. I refused. I was human. I had dreams. But then my father pulled out a small bottle of antifreeze. He stood by Grandpa Robert’s hospital bed, threatening to force the poison down the old man’s throat. “If we can’t afford treatment, then we’ll all just die!” My mother, Susan, was sobbing, her face streaked with blood from hitting the floor. “Rory, he’s your brother! He’s delicate. He can’t do hard labor! If you don’t help him, his life is ruined!” “You have your health. You can survive without a degree!” What utterly ridiculous logic. To save Grandpa, and for the sake of the family, I signed. I signed the legal document severing our relationship. I signed the non-disclosure agreement. That same night, my ID was confiscated, and I was put on a bus bound for a factory in the South. I pressed my face to the window, watching Jasper, wearing my favorite white button-down shirt, standing under a streetlamp, smiling. He took everything. The memory was a rusty saw, scraping back and forth in my skull, the pain almost suffocating. The bus pulled up to the City General Hospital. I stepped off, inhaling deeply. The cold air rushed into my lungs, making me cough violently. I followed the information Jasper had given me, finding the VIP suite. Through the glass window, I saw my vampire parents. Robert was lying in bed, sallow, hooked up to an IV. Susan was peeling an apple for him. Jasper sat on a nearby sofa, polishing his expensive Stradivarius violin. The scene was sickeningly cozy. I pushed the door open. BANG! It hit the wall, the noise echoing through the sterile room. The three of them looked over at once. When Robert saw me, his clouded eyes didn’t show surprise, but calculation—like a hungry wolf sighting prey. “Rory? You came?” Susan dropped the apple, instantly putting on her ‘doting mother’ mask, and rushed toward me. “My son! Your father is fading, he just wanted to see you one last time.” She tried to take my hand. I sidestepped, avoiding her touch. Her hand hung in the air, a moment of awkwardness, which she quickly covered by dabbing her eyes. “Still mad at Mom and Dad, sweetie? But we gave you the three million, didn’t we?” I stood in the center of the room, looking coldly at the trio of actors. “Was it your doing? Hannah losing her job?” I didn’t bother with small talk. “Get her reinstated. Pay her damages. Otherwise, we have nothing to discuss.” Jasper rose. He was wearing a different suit today—Armani—still impeccably tailored. “As long as you agree to the matching procedure and donate a kidney to Dad.” “Forget the job; I’ll give you a million dollars.” “A million. That’s enough for a bottom feeder like you to live on for the rest of your life.” His tone was dismissive, as if he were shooing a beggar. I fixed my gaze on his eyes and walked toward him, step by slow step. “You thought I spent all those years living well, squandering that so-called blood money?” Jasper frowned, playing innocent. “Weren’t you? “Mom and Dad gave you three million. You said you wanted to travel the world, that studying was too much work. I reluctantly agreed to step in.” “You must have blown through the money by now, right?” “Why else would you be delivering food?” I paused, then a massive wave of pure, cold absurdity washed over me. I started to laugh. I couldn’t stop. I doubled over, tears streaming down my face. “Ha ha ha ha ha…” “Three million? Travel the world?” I snapped the laughter off. I grabbed Jasper’s wrist in a death grip. It was a musician’s hand: pale, slender, without a single callus. Then, I shoved my own hand right up to his face. “Open your damn eyes and look!” “Does this look like a hand that traveled the world?!” My hands were covered in rough calluses, the knuckles thick and misshapen, the skin red and weeping from frostbite. They were the hands that had tightened screws for ten years, delivered food for three, scrubbed dishes in winter, and hauled cement in summer! Jasper recoiled in panic, trying to pull away. “Get off me! You’re… you’re filthy!” “Filthy?” I held fast. “It gets worse.” I turned to the father, Robert, feigning illness in the bed, and the mother, Susan, looking utterly guilty. “Jasper, ask your wonderful parents.” “Where did the three million dollars really go?”

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The apocalypse didn’t turn my fake sister into a survivor, but it certainly turned her into a leech, clinging to me for every dangerous supply run. She was useless, a burden, but my parents—Robert and Joyce Sinclair—loved her so blindly they insisted she accompany the most powerful operative in the sector: me, Delilah Sinclair. I froze mid-step, my grocery basket clattering against a derelict checkout counter. My fiancé, Garrett Caldwell, and the leech, Dahlia Parrish, were gone. “Dahlia is just so much softer, so much more delicate than that savage woman.” The voice, Garrett’s voice, hit my mind like a low-frequency hum. I pressed my lips together, a razor-sharp edge of shock slicing through the bitter familiarity of his betrayal. “Why is she walking toward us? Did she spot me?” “Good thing I managed to yank Dahlia into the industrial freezer right away.” My eyes fixed on the massive, double-door freezer unit near the back wall, a knot of pure, cold rage tightening in my chest. If they thought they could humiliate me and get away with it, they were wrong. If they wanted to play house, I would make sure their love nest became their tomb. I walked over to a damaged leather sofa near the main entrance, brushed off the dust, and sank onto it, announcing to the team, “We’re setting up camp here for the night.” Don’t worry. They would get to savor every minute of their last night alive. 1 The silence that followed was heavy, punctuated only by the distant, wind-whipped groan of the ruined supermarket. Every eye turned to me in disbelief. Mitch Doherty, one of Garrett’s loyal subordinates, was the first to object. “Dee! Are you serious? You know that’s suicide!” he barked, his face red with panic. “Camping out in the open is insane! The infected are getting more aggressive. We can’t gamble with everyone’s lives!” Garrett’s mental voice spiked with panic and fury. “What the hell is this idiot doing? Setting up camp? Has a zombie taken a bite out of her brain? Get your people and leave, you psycho!” “Damn it, she can’t hear me screaming at her. This is driving me insane! Dahlia is going to suffocate in here!” The more he cursed, the deeper the smile settled on my face. Before the fall, I was the Sinclair family’s long-lost true daughter, found and brought home, only to be treated like an unwelcome guest, a glorified housemaid. Everyone in the Sinclair compound—my parents, my supposed fiancé—adored the fragile, doe-eyed Dahlia. Then the apocalypse hit. I woke up with the rarest of gifts: S-class electrical power. I became the strongest asset in the Sector, the lightning in the storm. Yet, my parents and Garrett still only had eyes for Dahlia, the fragile woman with no power at all. If they wanted to prioritize her life over the safety of the entire camp, then I wouldn’t bother with mercy anymore. Ignoring Mitch, I flashed a grin at my team. “We’ve been on our feet all day, and there are enough supplies here to outfit an entire small base. We can’t move it all tonight. We might as well use some of it up, rest up, and hit it hard again tomorrow.” It was a perfectly rational plan for a sane world, and my loyal team members immediately nodded in weary agreement. “No! We absolutely cannot stay here!” Mitch persisted, his face a mask of frantic desperation. He was practically roaring. “We’ll draw every infected within five miles! Captain Sinclair, you are throwing our lives away for a whim!” Garrett’s thought was a wave of approval. “Well said! Mitch, keep pushing! Get this maniac out of here before Cora freezes over!” The smile finally dropped from my face. My eyes turned to granite. “Mitch Doherty.” My voice was deceptively low, but the authority in it was absolute. “Who the hell do you think you are, questioning my command?” Snap! A cluster of silver-blue electrical energy sparked at my fingertip, letting out a sharp, tiny crackle. The air in the store seemed to grow instantly taut and charged. Mitch recoiled, his face pale and eyes wide with terror. He wisely backed down, not uttering another word. I turned away from the coward and walked straight to the supermarket’s main electrical panel. I pressed my palm against the dust-caked metal. The sheer volume of my lightning power surged from my center, a sleeping dragon awakening. It slammed into the ancient wiring, instantly revitalizing the long-dead system. “Zzzzt—” The massive, overhead fluorescent lights flickered violently and then blazed to life, bathing the entire store in harsh, artificial white light. Even the dual-compressor motor on the industrial freezer unit Garrett was hiding in whirred to life. In that dead, silent world, I had single-handedly resurrected the light and life of the pre-apocalypse world. I turned back, standing in the sudden, blinding light, and gazed at the gleaming stainless-steel freezer. My heart was a frozen block. They liked hiding in the refrigerator, did they? Today, I would let them find out what it felt like to be frozen to death. 2 “You’re insane! You are completely out of your mind!” Mitch shot up as if I’d zapped him, instantly rallying Garrett’s men. “Look around, people! You see this? The Captain has decided to light up the entire store! In the middle of the night! She wants to make us a giant, moving target for every stray infected! She has no right to lead us! Let’s get out of here and head back to the Sector!” The crowd instantly erupted into a panicked murmur. “Oh God… Mitch is right. That light, the noise—we’re basically sending up a flare! Everything for miles will swarm us!” “We’re going to be overrun! We’re dead!” “Captain, you can’t do this! Turn it off! Please, we don’t want to die!” The loyalty of the men from Garrett’s team, who had respected me just moments ago, crumbled under the raw fear of death, turning into outright terror and accusation. Even a few of my newer recruits looked uncertain. Fear always stripped away a person’s humanity and loyalty in the end. “Delilah Sinclair is a fool. Lighting up the store? She might as well ring a dinner bell for the undead.” “Mitch, hurry! Dahlia is barely hanging on. Keep them busy!” Garrett’s mental voice was now frantic. But before Mitch could continue his toxic campaign, a roar cut through the noise. “Shut up, all of you!” My second-in-command, Justine “Jus” Reyes, a powerful Strength-type, stomped forward. The impact of her heavy boot hitting the floor was enough to shatter the cracked tile into a fine spiderweb pattern. A ferocious aura of pure power burst from her, instantly silencing the chaotic crowd. Justine’s icy gaze swept over the most vocal of the complainers. Her voice was steady and loud enough to carry through the massive space. “Since the Fall, how many missions has the Captain led us on?” she demanded. “Which one wasn’t a complete success? Which one didn’t leave us better supplied and safer than before? The Sinclair Sector’s fatality rate is the lowest in the region, and that’s her doing!” She paused, pointing a finger at my shamed-looking recruits. Her tone grew sharper. “You’ve forgotten, haven’t you? Who arrived like an avenging angel to save your lives when you were cornered by a horde? Who found the supply caches when you were out of food and ammo?” “And now, because of a couple of fear-mongering traitors, you question the Captain’s judgment? Is your loyalty that cheap?” Her words were like heavy stones. My own team members quickly looked down in shame. Mitch, however, was not done. He huddled in the back of the group and muttered under his breath, “That’s different. We’re talking about basic survival now! Lighting the place up is a death wish. It’s common sense!” “Yes! That’s right! Say it again! This stupid woman doesn’t understand the rules of the new world!” Garrett’s thoughts were a mix of desperation and hope. My eyes narrowed. In the next instant, a strand of silver-blue electricity condensed in my hand, morphing into a long, crackling whip. I snapped it forward, and it slammed across Mitch’s body with terrifying speed and precision. “CRACK—!” The crisp explosion was followed by Mitch’s pig-like scream. He was hurled backward, smashing into a wall of canned goods. His body convulsed, and the sickening scent of burnt flesh filled the air. I walked slowly toward him, looking down at his twitching form. My voice was utterly devoid of warmth. “You are nothing. And let me be perfectly clear: your master, Garrett Caldwell, is equally unqualified to question any decision I make.” The entire supermarket fell utterly silent. Everyone was paralyzed by the ruthlessness of my power. No one dared to challenge me again. The assertion of my authority was complete. Now, for the final setup. I retracted the lightning whip and spoke to the group in a softer, more reassuring tone. “No one needs to panic. I wouldn’t have done this without backup.” I let the words hang in the air for a moment before continuing. “I’ve recently awakened a secondary power. I can mask our presence from the infected for a substantial radius.” “It covers the entire store. So, rest easy, eat your fill, and enjoy the light.” A cheer erupted around me. “Really? That’s amazing!” “I knew the Captain had a plan!” “What? Did Delilah actually awaken some kind of broken stealth ability? Why didn’t I know about this?!” “Why is Dahlia so hot? I almost forgot she’s a baseline human, her immune system is shot. Her lips are blue… She’s shaking so badly.” The forced pity in Garrett’s internal voice only made the cruel smile in my heart deepen. This was just the appetizer. The main course was still ahead. 3 Garrett’s thoughts continued to trickle, weak and frantic, into my mind. “It’s so cold… Why is this stupid box so cold…” “Dahlia, stop shaking. Put my coat back on.” “That damn Delilah. When I get out of here, when I marry her and take over the Sector, I will strip her of everything and make her pay for this.” The final part was drowned out by a suppressed sound of chattering teeth and ragged breathing. I could picture the scene: the tiny, confined space, the temperature dropping rapidly. Dahlia was just a baseline. My overly-doting parents had sheltered her her entire life, making her even weaker than the average survivor. Garrett, though an elemental, had a combat-focused power that did little for his own physical endurance. The situation inside the freezer was rapidly deteriorating. “Stop it—don’t wrap your limbs around me! Can’t you keep your arms and legs to yourself?” “This is annoying! You’re freezing! Stop clinging to me!” “S-stop touching me!” It seemed Dahlia was desperately seeking warmth from her lover. The cold smirk on my face grew wider. There it was. The true nature of a man. When the romance faded, when the danger got too close, the lover became a burden, a repulsive dead weight. This was merely the introduction. I set down my glass of scavenged wine and rose to my feet. The noisy crowd immediately quieted, their attention snapping to me. “Justine.” I addressed my second-in-command. “Yes, Captain.” Justine stepped forward instantly. “Take two men and drive back to the Caldwell compound immediately,” I instructed. “Tell them that Delilah Sinclair has located an immense cache of supplies and is willing to share it with them. Ask Mr. and Mrs. Caldwell to send their heavy retrieval teams to help us move it.” I leaned in slightly, my voice dropping just enough to convey the gravity of the request. “And make sure you emphasize that I would like them to come personally to oversee the split.” Alistair and Camille Caldwell. Garrett’s parents. The true power players in their Sector. The muddier the water, the easier it was for me to fish. “What?! That stupid Delilah is calling my parents here?” Garrett’s thoughts were pure terror. “No! They can’t come! If they see me and Dahlia… everything is over! My engagement, the merger, everything!” Mitch, sensing the true danger to his leader, started thrashing against his restraints, letting out muffled, desperate sounds, his eyes pleading with Garrett’s remaining team. This time, however, Garrett’s men turned on their own. The man who seemed to be their new leader kicked Mitch in the ribs. “What the hell is your problem?” he snarled. “Captain Sinclair is showing unprecedented generosity, sharing a major haul with our Sector! And you keep trying to mess things up? What are you, some kind of spy trying to steal it all?” “Yeah! Gag him! Don’t let him cause any more trouble!” “Captain, please ignore him. We’ll follow your lead.” I gave them a small, satisfied nod before turning to Justine. “Speed is key. Get back here before dawn.” “Yes, Captain.” Justine acknowledged the order, gathered her two men, and sped off into the night in an armored SUV. I settled back onto the sofa, closing my eyes, pretending to rest while focusing every ounce of my attention on the freezer unit. Garrett was spiraling into full-blown panic. “What do I do, what do I do? My parents will be here any minute!” “Dahlia! This is all your fault! If you hadn’t found that skimpy lace lingerie and insisted on wearing it to seduce me, I never would have lost control!” “Wait, Dahlia is really fading fast… Her breathing is shallow. Hot and cold. She’s babbling nonsense!” “Damn it, she’s trying to push the freezer door open!” 4 A dull thud echoed faintly through the store. “She’s lost it! The woman’s completely lost her mind! She’s trying to open the door! Thank God I reacted fast enough!” “I snapped her hand! I had to! If she’d gotten that door open and Delilah had seen us, my engagement and the Caldwell merger would have been ruined forever!” I clenched my fists until my nails dug into my palms, completely ignoring the pain. My engagement to Garrett was initially a political maneuver to solidify my position against my parents. But when Garrett first saw me, he claimed it was love at first sight. He brought me a flower every day—a clumsy gesture, but in an apocalypse, where life was fragile, a flower was the most precious thing in the world. I, the girl raised in the foster system, the orphan, wanted nothing more than a real family. I let down my guard. I let him in. And what did I get in return? An illicit affair with Dahlia and a vile plan to murder me after the wedding so he could take over the Sinclair Sector completely. No. Exposing them and ruining their reputation wouldn’t be enough. I wanted them dead. All of them. “She’s dying… her breathing is so faint… her hand is broken, so she’s kicking the door instead…” Garrett’s mental voice became a strangled whine. Thump… thump-thump… The subtle banging came from the freezer. “Hey, did anyone else hear that noise?” a recruit asked nervously. Everyone stopped eating and tilted their heads, listening. Garrett’s mind-voice was a scream in my head. “NO! They heard it! That bitch Delilah definitely heard it too!” I met the team’s gaze, my expression perfectly neutral. I spoke calmly. “It’s an abandoned supermarket, guys. It’s been derelict for three years. Old wiring, shifting rebar. You’re going to hear strange noises.” I swept my gaze over them, giving them a reassuring nod. “Don’t worry. I’m here. You’re safe.” My words, backed by the reality of the blazing lights and my S-class power, were the perfect sedative. The team instantly relaxed and went back to their meal. But Garrett’s fear had hit its peak. Dahlia’s desperate survival instinct was kicking in. Near death, she found a final surge of strength. “THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!” The banging grew louder, more frantic, and the freezer door began to visibly vibrate. “That miserable whore! She’s trying to kill me! If you want to die, don’t drag me with you!” “I’m sorry, Dahlia… but blame that witch Delilah! If she hadn’t insisted on camping here, you wouldn’t be dying right now!” “Don’t worry, I’ll get my revenge for you! When you become a ghost, go after her! She’s the one who killed us both!” A cold, murderous intent, far more terrifying than the fear, settled in Garrett’s mind. Just then, the roar of multiple SUV engines filled the air outside the supermarket. Justine was back. She had brought Alistair and Camille Caldwell. But behind them, I saw another familiar pair step out of a second armored vehicle: Robert and Joyce Sinclair. Perfect. “A family reunion,” I whispered to myself, a true smile finally touching my lips. “It’s time to bring everyone together.” “Delilah Sinclair, what in God’s name is going on? Why did you drag us out here in the middle of the night for supplies?” My mother, Joyce, immediately started her typical scolding. “You’re always so inconsiderate, unlike your sister. If you had half of Dahlia’s common sense, I wouldn’t have to—” Her words were cut off. I lifted my hand sharply. A thin, silver-blue current of electricity zipped from my finger, transforming into an electric serpent. It shot across the room and expertly wrapped around the freezer’s door handle. Click-Clack. The magnetic door lock shattered under the force. The freezer door swung open, revealing the scene inside. My mother’s “sensible” daughter, Dahlia, was dressed in a scandalous purple lace negligee, her eyes wide and staring blankly, slumped in the arms of Garrett Caldwell. Garrett’s hands were still clamped around Dahlia’s pale neck. The pupils of every person present snapped to a terrifying, pinpoint focus.

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“You owe the family $380,000.” Mom sent an Excel spreadsheet to the family group chat. The header read “Family AA Bill,” followed by three rows: Ashley: Surplus $120,000. Brian: Surplus $20,000. Me: Debt $380,000. The group exploded instantly. “Time to pay up, right?” Ashley sent an emoji. “Mom calculated it clearly,” Brian followed. I stared at that number and smiled. $380,000. Did she ever calculate how much money I’ve transferred to the family since I grew up? Chapter 1 I handed the phone to my husband, David. “Look.” He took it, his face changing bit by bit. “What does this mean?” “The bill my mom calculated.” I took a sip of water. “Says I owe the family $380,000.” “$380,000?” His voice raised. “For what?” I clicked on the spreadsheet and zoomed in. It listed clearly: [Cost Breakdown for Raising Scarlett] Tuition (Elementary to College): $48,000 Living Expenses (18 years): $120,000 Clothing & Shoes: $32,000 College Dorm: $8,000 Wedding Subsidy: -$6,000 Other Expenses: $58,000 Subtotal: $260,000 Interest (5% annual rate, 18 years): $120,000 Total Debt: $380,000. David stared at the last line: “Interest? She even calculated interest?” “Yes.” I nodded. “Mom says if this money were in the bank, it would have earned this much interest. Spent on raising me, so I have to make it up.” “What about your sister?” I scrolled to Ashley’s column. [Cost Breakdown for Raising Ashley] Tuition: $45,000 Living Expenses: $100,000 Clothing: $40,000 Other: $25,000 Subtotal: $210,000 Given to Parents at Wedding: $80,000 Regular Filial Piety: $250,000 Surplus: +$120,000. David stopped talking. I scrolled down to Brian’s column. [Cost Breakdown for Raising Brian] Tuition: $62,000 Living Expenses: $150,000 Other: $88,000 Subtotal: $300,000 Given to Parents at Wedding: $100,000 Regular Filial Piety: $220,000 Surplus: +$20,000. “Wait.” David frowned. “When your brother got married, didn’t your parents give him $350,000 for the down payment? Why isn’t that counted?” “Not counted.” “And your sister’s wedding, didn’t your mom give her $200,000 as dowry?” “Not counted either.” “What about your wedding?” I smiled. “For my wedding, my mom gave $6,000. The bill says ‘Wedding Subsidy negative $6,000’.” David’s hands clenched. “How does she calculate? Giving your sister $200k doesn’t count, giving your brother $350k doesn’t count, but giving you $6k is a negative number?” “Because that $6,000 was deducted from the money I gave her before.” “What do you mean?” “My first year working, I gave the family $2,000 a month. $24,000 a year. Mom said the $6,000 she gave for my wedding was deducted from that.” “What about the rest you gave?” “She said that’s ‘filial piety’, doesn’t count as repayment.” David slammed the phone on the table. “What the hell is this!” I didn’t speak. The group chat kept pinging. Ashley: “@Scarlett, did you see? Mom calculated very clearly.” Brian: “Sis, you owe the most.” Mom: “Scarlett, it wasn’t easy raising you all these years. Now that you’re capable, you should pay it back.” I stared at those messages, didn’t reply to a single one. David asked me: “What do you think?” I opened my photo album, found a screenshot. It was the record of transfers I made to Mom over these years. 2018: $5,000. 2019: $12,000. 2020: $20,000. 2021: $18,000. 2022: $30,000. 2023: $25,000. 2024: $45,000. Plus a few separate ones: Dad’s hospitalization: $15,000. Brother’s wedding gift: $10,000. Sister’s baby gift: $5,000. New Year/Holiday red envelopes: About $3,000 annually. “How much total?” David asked. “I calculated.” I said. “Not counting small stuff, just these, $185,000.” “In the bill?” “Zero.” I saved the screenshot of transfer records. “She says these are my ‘filial piety’ to her, can’t count as repayment. The money she spent raising me is hers. The money I gave her as filial piety is also hers.” David’s hands were trembling. “What are you going to do?” I looked at the message in the group, another one came. Ashley: “@Scarlett, you’re not trying to bail on the debt, are you?” I slowly typed a line. “Sis, Mom gave you $200,000 dowry for your wedding, why isn’t it in the bill?” Send. The group was silent for ten seconds. Then Mom spoke: “That was our dowry for your sister, a different matter from the bill.” I typed another line. “Then Brother bought a house, you gave $350,000 down payment, why isn’t that there either?” Another five seconds of silence. Brian rushed to answer: “That’s Mom and Dad’s own money, what’s it to you?” I smiled. “Good.” I put down the phone and looked at David. “She wants to settle accounts, I’ll settle with her.” David nodded. “What do you need me to do?” “Help me dig up how much my family gave and how much we spent when we got married.” He immediately went to find the folder. I reopened my phone, screenshotting every transfer record, one by one. I want to see exactly how this account should be calculated. Chapter 2 At 9 PM, I finished organizing all materials. David sat beside me, face iron-green. “Do you know what makes me angriest?” He said. “What?” “The year we got married.” I didn’t speak. I knew what he was going to say. When we got married, my family asked for $80,000 as a “Wedding Contribution” (like a reverse dowry/bride price). David’s family wasn’t rich, but they scraped it together. On the wedding day, my mom took that $80,000. “The money is for you,” she said then. “But leave it with me for now, I’ll give it to you when you need it later.” I thought then, okay, listen to her. The result? The second year of marriage, Brian bought a house, down payment wasn’t enough. Mom called: “Scarlett, lend that $80,000 to your brother first.” “Mom, that’s my wedding money…” “Lend it, lend it! Not like he won’t pay back! Your brother buying a house is a big deal, why are you so selfish?” I gave the money. And then? Brian bought the house, got married, never mentioned paying back. I asked once. Mom said: “Your brother just got married, where does he have money to pay you? Besides, you’re married out, still calculating with your brother?” I never asked again. David flipped through the records from back then, voice muffled. “Our wedding, what did your family give?” “You know.” “I want to confirm again.” I sighed. “On the wedding day, Mom gave me a red envelope, $6,000. Said it was to add to my makeup fund.” “And then?” “Nothing.” “What about bedding? Furniture? Appliances?” “We bought them all ourselves.” “What about your sister’s wedding?” I opened my phone, found an old photo. That was posted by Mom on Facebook when Ashley got married. In the photo, Ashley stood amidst piles of red bedding, behind her were sets of furniture, appliances, a new car. Caption was: “Eldest daughter married, grand and glorious!” I counted those things. Ten sets of bedding. Six sets of linens. TV, fridge, washing machine, AC. A car worth $120,000. And $200,000 cash Mom gave on the spot. David looked at the photo, speechless. “Do you know how I felt then?” I smiled. “When I got married, Mom didn’t post on Facebook.” “Why?” “She said, your sister’s was held in the hometown, relatives and friends all came, needed face. Yours was in the city, few people knew, no one would look even if posted.” David slammed the phone on the table. “Your mom…” He held back for a long time, couldn’t speak. I patted his hand. “It’s okay.” “What do you mean okay?” His voice trembled. “She gave your sister $200k dowry, your brother $350k down payment, gave you $6k and took away $80k wedding money. Now she turns around and says you owe her $380k?” I didn’t answer. Phone rang again. It was Ashley’s DM. “Sis, what you said in the group just now was a bit too much.” I clicked open. “How so?” “Mom and Dad giving me dowry, giving brother house money, that’s their business. You can’t compare with that.” “Then what can I compare with?” “Just admit you owe Mom and Dad, isn’t that enough? $380k isn’t asking you to pay all at once, you can pay slowly.” “I owe them?” “How much did you spend on school? Living expenses? Don’t you know in your heart?” I laughed. “Sis, let me ask you. The money spent on your school, did you pay it back?” “I paid it back. I gave money to Mom and Dad every year after marriage.” “Then the money you gave is ‘filial piety’ in the bill. Why is the money I gave also ‘filial piety’ and can’t count as repayment?” Ashley didn’t reply. I continued typing: “Also, Mom and Dad gave you $200k dowry for your wedding, why isn’t it deducted in the bill?” “That’s dowry! Every daughter has it!” “Do I have it?” Ashley went silent again. “Do I have it, Sis?” I sent again. “When I got married, how much did Mom give me?” Half a minute later, Ashley replied: “Your situation is different.” “How is it different?” “You weren’t likable since childhood, relationship with parents wasn’t good either. When you got married, you fought with Mom, of course she didn’t want to give you too much.” I stared at this line, hands shaking a bit. “So, I’m not likable, so I have no dowry. But I’m not likable, I still have to pay back $380k?” “Those are two different things!” “Sis, tell me, what are two different things? Giving to you is one thing, asking from me is another?” Ashley stopped replying. David finished reading the conversation beside me. “What does she mean? You weren’t likable since childhood?” I put down the phone. “Mom said it about me since I was little. Said I can’t talk, can’t read faces, not pleasing. Sister can coax people, Brother is a boy, only me…” “Only you what?” “Only I ‘look like an outsider’.” I remembered childhood. Ashley’s birthday, bought cake, invited relatives for dinner. Brian’s birthday, Mom cooked specially, a table full of dishes. My birthday, Mom usually said: “Celebrate with your sister, buy one cake together, save money.” Ashley had new dresses, I wore Ashley’s hand-me-downs. Brian had new sneakers, I wore cheap canvas shoes. I asked Mom, why. She said: “Your sister loves beauty, wants face. Your brother is a boy, can’t wear girl’s clothes. You just wear whatever, you don’t care anyway.” Did I care? I cared. But I didn’t say. Useless to say. Said too much, Mom would say: “Look at you, why so insensible? Your sister and brother never calculate these with me. Only you have so many issues.” Slowly, I stopped saying. Slowly, I became the “unlikable” one. Slowly, I owed $380,000. David held my hand. “Why didn’t you tell me before?” “Tell what?” I smiled. “Say my mom is biased? Say I wasn’t liked since childhood? Telling you would make you think I’m complaining.” “I wouldn’t.” “But my mom would say I’m complaining. She said, other kids suffer much more than me, I’m still picky, ungrateful.” David was silent for a while. “Then what do you plan to do now?” I looked at the phone screen, new messages in the family group. Mom: “Scarlett, what do you mean exactly? Family, talking about dowry or not?” Ashley: “Exactly, bills are bills, dowry is dowry.” Brian: “Mom, she just doesn’t want to pay, making excuses.” I took a deep breath. “David, help me turn on the computer.” “For what?” “They want to settle accounts,” I said, “Then let’s settle it clearly.” Chapter 3 I spent two hours making a new spreadsheet. Header read: [Recalculation of Scarlett’s Family Accounts] I listed every sum of money. Part 1: My Expenditures. 2018-2024 Annual transfers to parents: $185,000 2020 Dad’s hospitalization: $15,000 2022 Brother’s wedding gift: $10,000 2023 Sister’s baby: $5,000 Annual holiday red envelopes: Approx 7 years × $3,000 = $21,000 Subtotal: $236,000 Part 2: Parents’ Expenditures for Sister. Dowry: $200,000 Car: $120,000 Furniture/Appliances: Approx $30,000 Subtotal: $350,000 Part 3: Parents’ Expenditures for Brother. House Down Payment: $350,000 Wedding Gift: $120,000 Renovation Subsidy: $50,000 Subtotal: $520,000 Part 4: Parents’ Expenditures for Me. Given at wedding: $6,000 Wedding money taken away: -$80,000 Actual: -$74,000 David watched beside me, face getting darker. “So…” “So by my mom’s logic,” I pointed at the table, “Sister got $350k, Brother got $520k, I lost $74k.” “But in her bill…” “In her bill, Sister surplus $120k, Brother surplus $20k, I owe $380k.” David took a few deep breaths. “How did she calculate?” “Because she only counts raising costs, not money given out.” I smiled. “What she gave Sister and Brother is called ‘Parental Love’. What she took from me is called ‘You Should’.” David stopped talking. I saved the screenshot of the table. “You really going to post in the group?” He asked. “Not rushing.” “Then what do you want to do?” I thought about it. “I won’t post first. I’ll wait, see what else they say.” David nodded. “I support you. Whatever you decide, I stand by your side.” My heart warmed a bit. Luckily, I have him. Next day, Mom called. I didn’t answer. Called three more times. Still didn’t answer. Then WeChat voice call. Then text message. Text content: “Scarlett, are you trying to piss me off? Your dad knows this, his blood pressure went up from anger. Are you still part of this family? Call me back immediately!” I put phone on silent. David asked: “You really not answering?” “Say what if I answer? She opens mouth with ‘You owe me $380k’. I answer a hundred calls, she says the same thing.” “Then how long you plan to stay cold?” “Wait till she calms down.” But my mom didn’t plan to calm down. In the afternoon, Sister sent WeChat. “Sis, Mom asked me to persuade you. Don’t be stubborn with her, she’s old, can’t stand anger.” “Sis, do you think this bill is reasonable?” “Reasonable or not, she is your mom.” “So I have to accept?” “Can’t you yield a bit? $380k, you just pay slowly. A few tens of thousands a year, done in ten years.” “Sis, let me ask you, the money you gave Mom, did she ever ask you to pay back?” Sister didn’t reply. I continued: “You know how much you give her annually. New Year two or three thousand, birthday few hundred, holidays token gesture. Add up these years, is it $50k?” “That’s different!” “How is it different?” “Money I give Mom is filial piety. Money you give Mom… is also filial piety. But your raising cost is higher, you went to better college, spent more money than me.” “I got into college myself, half of my college living expenses I earned part-time. Did Mom count these?” Sister was silent. “Sis,” she changed tone, “We are family, don’t calculate so much. Mom is old, she does this for the good of the family.” “For the good of the family? Sis, tell me, in this ‘family’, is there me?” “What do you mean?” “I mean, this bill benefits Sister, benefits Brother, harms me. Who is this ‘family’ for?” Sister stopped talking. I continued typing: “Sis, you said I wasn’t likable since childhood. But do you know why? Because I can’t pretend. I can’t be like you, saying yes to whatever Mom says. I can’t be like Brother, asking for whatever. I just be myself, then got called ‘not pleasing’.” “This…” “I’m not pleasing, so I’m not valuable. I’m not valuable, so I have no dowry. No dowry, still have to pay mortgage for Brother, be ATM for Sister. Now Mom calculated a bill, Sister surplus $120k, Brother surplus $20k, I owe $380k. Sis, do you think this is reasonable?” Sister’s reply came: “Scarlett, you are too extreme.” I laughed. “Yes, I am too extreme.” I exited chat, threw phone aside. David looked at me. “Are you okay?” “Pretty good.” I said. “Do you know, when I was little, the saddest thing wasn’t having no new dress.” “What was it?” “It was every time I asked why, Mom always said: You calculate too much, insensible.” “Seemed like my fault. Seemed I shouldn’t ask. Seemed I should be like Sister, turn a blind eye to all unfairness, smilingly say Mom you are right.” “But I couldn’t do it.” David held my hand tight. “You don’t need to do it.” He said. “You asked right.” I leaned on his shoulder, eyes a bit hot. Phone rang again. Family group. Brother sent a voice message. I clicked, his voice: “Sis, Mom said, before end of this month, you transfer $380k. Or don’t come back for New Year.” Chapter 4 I laughed after listening to that voice message. David asked: “What are you laughing at?” “Laughing at my brother.” “What did he say?” “He said, transfer $380k before end of month. Or don’t come back for New Year.” David was silent for a few seconds. “Does your mom agree with him saying this?” I handed him the phone. In the group, after Brother sent the voice message, Mom sent another one: “Your brother is right. Scarlett, if you don’t recognize this debt, don’t recognize this family.” David’s eyes narrowed. His eyes only do that when he’s extremely angry. I reached out and patted him. “It’s okay.” “What do you mean okay?” His voice lowered. “They are threatening you.” “I know.” “What do you plan to do?” I thought about it. “I plan to settle an account with her.” “That spreadsheet you made last night?” “Yes. But posting the spreadsheet isn’t enough. I want them to know, this account isn’t up to them to decide.” David nodded: “What do you need me to do?” “Help me find the chat records from when we got married. WeChat, text messages, transfer records, all of them.” He immediately went to look through his phone. I continued organizing materials. At 10 PM, I organized everything. Total three documents. First, my transfer records to the family over these years. Second, chat records of family taking my wedding money. Third, screenshots of what my mom said these years. A few of them, I remember especially deep. 2019, first time I didn’t send money home because David lost his job that month, we really had no spare money. Mom said: “Other people’s daughters know filial piety. You have a husband now, don’t want mom?” 2021, Brother married, asked to borrow $50k. I only had $30k, lent $30k. Mom said: “Your brother marrying, you can’t even take out $50k? You earn so much every month, where did you spend it?” 2022, I was pregnant, wanted to take leave home to rest a few days. Mom said: “Why come back? No one serves you at home. Stay in the city honestly, find a confinement nanny isn’t enough?” 2023, I gave birth, Mom didn’t come. She said: “Your sister is busy, your brother needs people too. Doesn’t your husband have a mom? Let your mother-in-law take care of you.” I organized these screenshots one by one. David watched beside me, face getting uglier. “You… never told me before.” “Tell what?” “These words. What she said.” I smiled. “Telling would make you sad.” “I’m sad now.” “I know.” He hugged me. “In the future whatever they say, you don’t have to carry it alone.” I leaned in his arms, didn’t speak. Phone rang again. Sister’s DM. “Sis, thought it through? Mom said, if you don’t pay back, don’t contact anymore.” I put the phone aside. “I thought it through.” David asked: “You posting in group?” “Mm.” “You sure?” “Sure.” I opened the family group, typed a line: “Mom, I also calculated an account.” Send. Then I sent out three documents one by one. First: Money I gave family these years, total $236,000. Second: Wedding money family took from me $80,000, dowry given to me $6,000. Actual: -$74,000. Third: Sister’s wedding dowry received: $350,000. Brother’s house down payment, wedding gift, renovation: $520,000. Finally, I typed a paragraph: “Mom, according to your calculation, raising me cost $260k, plus interest total $380k. Then I ask: What about the $236k I gave you? What about the $80k wedding money you took from me? What about the $350k dowry you gave Sister? What about the $520k house money you gave Brother? If we calculate all, let me help you calculate one more: You gave Sister and Brother total $870,000. You gave me $6,000. You took from me total $316,000 (including $236k filial piety and $80k wedding money). So, who owes whom exactly?” Sent. The group was silent for a full three minutes. Then, Sister sent one: “What do you mean by this?” Brother sent one: “Are you crazy?” Mom sent a voice message. I clicked. Her voice trembling. “Scarlett, your wings hardened, calculating with me? I raised you all these years, is this how you repay me? You ungrateful wolf!” I finished reading, didn’t reply. David looked at me. “Are you okay?” I nodded. “Pretty good.” “She scolded you.” “I know.” “You not angry?” I thought about it. “When I was little, every time I felt unfair, she would scold me. Said I wasn’t sensible, greedy, not likable.” “I was very sad then. Because I thought, maybe it really was my problem.” “But now I know, it’s not my problem.” I looked at phone screen, a pile of messages in group again. Ashley: “You are deliberately looking for trouble!” Brian: “Don’t recognize this family if you have guts!” Mom: “I shouldn’t have given birth to you!” I put phone on silent, on table. “David,” I said, “They want me not to recognize this family, right?” “Mm.” “Then I grant their wish.” I opened group settings, set “Family Group” to Do Not Disturb. Then I clicked Mom’s avatar. Delete. Clicked Sister’s avatar. Delete. Clicked Brother’s avatar. Delete. David looked at me. “You sure?” “Sure.” I put down phone. “They say I owe them $380k. Fine, from today, I don’t owe. This account, cleared.” “But family affection…” “Affection?” I smiled. “David, there is a kind of affection called ‘Only obligations, no rights’.” “Me giving them money is ‘should’. Me having no dowry is ‘not likable’. Me paying back because they raised me.” “But them giving Sister and Brother money, that’s ‘Parental Love’. Sister and Brother don’t need to pay back, because they are ‘own people’.” “What about me? What person am I?” David didn’t speak. I took a deep breath. “From today, I am not that ‘unlikable’ second child. I am myself.” “I owe no one. And need no one to like me.” David held my hand tight. “I like you.” I smiled. “I know.”

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At the end of the year, Xavier, who told me he was on a business trip, appeared at my family dinner, sitting intimately next to my cousin. Seeing me, he froze. “Sarah? Why are you here?” “You know each other?” My cousin was surprised for a moment, then hugged my arm, whispering gigglingly in my ear. “Hehe, Cousin Sarah, this is the CEO of my company. Just because I complained about my parents pressuring me to get married, he couldn’t wait to propose pretending to be my boyfriend to accompany me back!” “How is it? Is he super nice? All those things in the living room were bought by him! Calling my parents ‘Mom and Dad’ so naturally! Acting like it’s real!” I stood frozen on the spot, stiff all over. More than knowing each other, he is my boyfriend of seven years who always used being busy as an excuse not to meet my parents. But… not anymore. Chapter 1 “Oh right! Cousin Sarah, how do you know each other? You don’t have a crush on Xavier, do you?” Lexi looked at me with a smile, a hint of hostility flashing in her eyes unnoticed. She is extremely possessive, loved snatching my things since childhood, and now declaring sovereignty blatantly. I chuckled lightly, glanced at the stiff Xavier, and was about to speak. Xavier’s text message came. [Sarah, don’t make a scene. Be angry if you want, but today I’m here as Lexi’s boyfriend. Don’t slip up and make everyone unhappy.] [Lexi is young, she can’t afford to lose face.] “Not familiar, met by chance.” I gritted my teeth, knuckles turning white, almost laughing in anger. “Oh~ I want shrimp! Xavier peel for me quickly! And that crab, pick out the meat for me!” Lexi was heartless, skillfully commanding Xavier to do this and that, as if they had done such things countless times. But Xavier is allergic to shellfish! I subconsciously wanted to stop it, but met Xavier’s warning eyes. When Lexi was happy eating, Xavier sent me another message. [The little girl loves to eat, peeling a bit won’t cause allergy. Don’t make a fuss, just go buy me an allergy pill later.] My heart went cold, gripping the chopsticks tightly. Together for seven years, he always refused to peel anything for me on the grounds of mysophobia (fear of dirt), let alone peeling shrimp risking allergy! “Cousin Sarah, didn’t you say you have a boyfriend of seven years? Why not bring him home to see?” “Yeah! Didn’t you say he runs a company? Wouldn’t be bragging to save face, right?” “Did you break up? You are really stupid, slept for free for seven years, slept into worn shoes…” A group of people talking at once, pointing fingers at me. My parents smiled reluctantly, wanting to smooth things over. But interrupted by Lexi’s mom, my Aunt Karen, with a shrill voice. “Oh my, you wouldn’t be a mistress outside, right? That’s not okay!” “Just sat at the table and you kept looking at our Lexi’s boyfriend. Wouldn’t even spare your cousin’s boyfriend, right? Sarah, one must have a bottom line!” A sentence made me unable to step down, face turning pale instantly, subconsciously looked at Xavier for help. Touching my gaze, Xavier dodged, grabbing Lexi’s hand tightly in front of the whole table of relatives. “No matter what, I only like Lexi! It’s useless for others to have crooked thoughts!” After speaking, he glanced at me warningly. Just this glance, made the relatives present more certain that I wanted to seduce him. “Oh my! Look, look how good the boyfriend our Lexi found is? Some people want to be homewreckers, pity no one wants them!” “Sarah, tell us the truth, are you really a mistress outside?” “Must be! She sends two or three hundred thousand to family every month! What job makes so much money? Isn’t it being kept by a sugar daddy? No wonder she has no face to bring him home! Her parents must be pissed off!” I bit my lip hard, nails digging deep into flesh. Parents were talked down unable to lift heads, faces white and green. Just defended me a few words, quickly choked back. I couldn’t help standing up abruptly, angry and uncomfortable. “Xavier! You speak!” “Don’t you know clearly if I am a mistress or not! You speak!” Chapter 2 The scene quieted instantly, everyone’s eyes focused on us. Lexi’s face pale, holding Xavier’s hand uneasily. “Xavier, don’t you plan to explain?” I looked at him with disappointment. He didn’t want to meet my parents, delayed marriage, even when I proposed with a ring and got rejected, I accepted all these! But I can’t accept my boyfriend rushing to pretend to be a couple with someone else! Xavier was silent for a long time, eyes gloomy. “Sarah is not a mistress, the person she dated for seven years, is actually…” I gripped my clothes, full of hope. But he avoided my gaze, tidying Lexi’s hair. “Is my good brother Sebastian. Sebastian chased her. Sarah never acted as a mistress for anyone.” At this moment, my heart shattered completely. The dignity supported for days, the smile maintained at the table all shattered, nose sour terribly. “Sarah, you should also bring Sebastian back to meet parents, consider marriage.” Xavier said lightly, but his eyes stared at me tightly. I understood his meaning. Nothing more than asking me to endure, to be obedient. Since so, then I do as he wishes, really become Sebastian’s girlfriend. I held back tears, smiling pretending to be relaxed. “Yes, it’s Sebastian. I’ve been with him for seven years, planning to get married this year.” “Sebastian? Isn’t Sebastian that boy who followed Sarah’s butt since childhood? Even said everywhere he wanted to marry Sarah when grew up!” Someone spoke in surprise, like discovering a secret. “I remember! Delivering gifts to the door every year! Turns out Sarah was hiding it! I said why so diligent without kinship!” Everyone changed faces, no one noticed Xavier’s face getting darker and darker. We three have a good relationship. Sebastian confessed to me more than once. Xavier was very jealous, once even angry with me for a long time because Sebastian sent me home, so I never said Sebastian was my childhood friend. “Uncle, Auntie, late this year. Where is Sarah? I bought her favorite cake from that shop, freshly baked! She definitely likes it!” Speak of the devil, Sebastian pushed the door and walked in, pointing skillfully at the pile of gifts at the door, waving the cake at me. “Why eyes red? Who scolded you? I’ll scold back for you!” I couldn’t help laughing, held his arm under his shocked gaze. “Mom, Dad, Sebastian, my boyfriend! We plan to get married next year.” “When did you become childhood sweethearts with Sebastian? Why didn’t I know! You never told me!” My voice and Xavier’s voice overlapped. Sebastian froze on the spot, looked at Xavier, then at Lexi snuggling beside Xavier, frowned. Xavier’s eyes slightly cold, staring tightly at the hands of mine and Sebastian holding together. “Sarah, I need an explanation.” Lexi bit her lip, a trace of venom flashing in her eyes. “Cousin Sarah, wouldn’t be you finding Brother Sebastian to act with you right? Last year you said your boyfriend was better than Brother Sebastian. Besides, Brother Sebastian doesn’t run a company.” “Xavier! You can’t join them to deceive parents just because you have good relationship with them!” She looked innocent, as if mentioning inadvertently. Xavier sneered, a trace of understanding flashing in his eyes, voice carried a bit of impatience. “Sarah, your trick is really low level.” Chapter 3 “Xavier, others don’t know, don’t you know? My company is already open, everything is going smoothly.” Sebastian frowned, expression unkind. Under my whispered explanation, he roughly understood the matter, glanced at Xavier with a sneer. “How come I didn’t know you found a girlfriend? Didn’t you say going on business trip for New Year? Causing…” “Sebastian!” Xavier face dark, silent warning. Lexi’s face turned white instantly, clutching Xavier’s clothes tight. Finally my mom smoothed things over, pulling Sebastian to sit down for a good chat. After meal, Xavier indeed had an allergy. Arms and neck densely red, Lexi distressed shedding tears. “You knew you are allergic to shellfish, why peel for me! Are you stupid!” “Not painful, I like peeling for you!” Turned to look at me again, crying accusing “And Cousin Sarah! Why didn’t you remind me! Do you like seeing Xavier sick so much! In your eyes, is there only Sebastian!” Last sentence fell, Xavier’s face instantly became ugly. “Sebastian is my boyfriend, of course I only have him in my eyes.” I looked at the two hugging together amusingly, trying hard to ignore the heart pain. “Sarah!” Xavier roared at me angrily, face dark enough to drip water. “You don’t need to find Sebastian to pretend boyfriend for face, very boring.” I understood his meaning, asking me to stop while ahead. But. “Didn’t you say it? My boyfriend of seven years! Is Sebastian…” Before I finished, I was dragged by the exasperated Xavier to the unmanned backyard garden. Veins on his forehead were jumping with anger. “What exactly are you making a fuss about? How to end this later?” “Lexi is a little girl urged to marry and blind date during New Year, what’s wrong with me helping her? I just didn’t want you to be sad so I hid it from you! Do you have to be so serious?” “Sarah, my patience is limited too! You know I hate you being with Sebastian the most!” “I tell you one last time! Matter between me and you not allowed to tell anyone! You as my girlfriend! Also not allowed to have intimate contact with Sebastian! Understood?” I stared at Xavier for a long time, seeing he wasn’t lying, laughed directly. Laughed until tears fell, I spoke choking. “So you mean! You can cheat, but I must be your girlfriend obediently and! Can’t complain?” “I don’t mean that! Not cheating either! I’m just helping Lexi!” He was exasperated, trying to deceive himself. But we dated for seven years, he never called any female other than me by nickname! Even less would actively propose to fake boyfriend for help! No wonder, since Lexi started working, he would smile at the cup inexplicably every day after coming home! Turns out spring heart sprouted! “Sarah, Lexi is different, completely different from you! She is fresh and vigorous, straightforward. I just think she is special, that’s all!” I laughed sarcastically, backhanded him a slap. Heartache, but stomach churned more disgusting! “Xavier, let’s break up.” “We are done.” Chapter 4 I turned and left after speaking, but bumped into Lexi who eavesdropped for unknown how long. Her eyes red, face white as paper. “Cousin Sarah, you…” I had no time to listen to her sadness, left straight away. At night, don’t know how Xavier coaxed, two people came back talking and laughing intimately. Lexi even looked at me provocatively, deliberately exposing the eye-catching mark on her neck, pouting red swollen lips. “Xavier! No empty room at home, you sleep with me tonight, I warn you! Don’t be like this afternoon…” Xavier saw me slightly stunned, a trace of guilt flashed in eyes, but still hugged Lexi, smiling said okay. He was certain, I was just throwing a small tantrum, will return to him naturally when anger subsides. But this time, I am serious. “Sarah, apologize to Lexi for your nonsense wishful thinking causing her cry for long time afternoon.” He signaled with eyes, but I treated as invisible, sneering at red mark on his neck. Seven years, I was never allowed to leave marks on him. “I know you always liked me, but I never had you in my heart from beginning to end, hope you don’t let Lexi misunderstand later.” “Oh my? What misunderstanding? Sarah, you have boyfriend yourself still pestering Xavier ah? Do you want face?” Aunt Karen full of anger, pointing at my nose cursing. “I said you are a mistress! Thanks to Xavier speaking for you! How can you even snatch cousin’s boyfriend!” “I saw it afternoon! Sarah pulling Xavier in backyard garden, probably seducing Xavier!” A group of people talking at once, wanting to nail me on pillar of shame. I wanted to explain several times, couldn’t insert words. Only Lexi, lying in Xavier’s arms with shocked aggrieved face, looking at me triumphantly provocatively. Next moment, received message from Lexi on phone. [Cousin Sarah, you dated Xavier for seven years, feelings just so so! Still snatched by me easily?] [He kissed me afternoon, hugged me, even confessed to me, said he was attracted by my maverick in company long ago, you are really boring.] “Cousin Sarah, is what my mom said true? But aren’t you marrying Sebastian soon? How can you…” She bit lip with tears, totally unlike person who could send such message. Aunt Karen crazy angry, rushed up slapped me hard, dragging my hair hitting against wall. “Pui! How did our family produce such shameless bitch!” “Are you cheap or not! Snatching sister’s man too!” “She said my son sexually harassed her few years ago! Probably she failed seduction herself!” “Start live stream! Post her online! Go to her company make scene! Ruin her reputation!” Group of people surrounded me cursing, Xavier watched coldly me being beaten, ignoring my help-seeking gaze. [Sister, you can never beat me in this life.] Lexi looked at me provocatively, moved mouth silently. I sneered, wiping blood trace at mouth corner. Slapped Aunt Karen’s face, then slapped the relative who claimed witnessing me seducing Xavier. Threw a stack of things on their faces.

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Branch manager Linda passed by my desk and suddenly exclaimed: “Scarlett, your hair is so messy, doesn’t your husband mind?” Colleagues next to her winked frantically, signaling her to stop. But she didn’t receive a single signal. I slowly put down the proposal I was halfway through revising, stood up, enthusiastically took the supervisor’s arm, and said gently: “Linda, seeing you’re not busy, let’s chat for a while?” Chapter 1 On the way to the break room, she didn’t forget to give me advice: “Scarlett, with your square face, try not to dye it red. Better do hair masks often after perming. Young girls shouldn’t always look so old-fashioned.” Linda usually dresses very exquisitely. Approaching forty, she often reveals an innocent look like a little girl, posting some heavily filtered selfies from time to time. Unlike me, wearing ugly cotton clothes to work every day, plain-faced, hardly wearing makeup. I nodded and perfunctory her: “Sis, you are right. I will definitely pay attention next time.” My mind was full of thoughts that it’s not easy to find a listener, can’t let her run away. Colleagues’ expressions changed from concern to schadenfreude. Linda probably doesn’t know yet that I am a “Trophy Wife” + “Love Brain”, super fond of sharing my private life with others. Chapter 2 I made a cup of coffee for Linda and pressed her into the chair: “Sis, you are really beautiful and attentive.” She looked a bit proud, corners of her mouth couldn’t be suppressed: “Just okay.” “Sis, why are you being modest! I’ve been working for three months, and you are the first person to notice my messy hair.” She was a bit embarrassed and wanted to explain something. I didn’t give her a chance to speak at all, speaking somewhat shyly: “My husband does dislike me, disliking me for being too clingy. Before I left this morning, he insisted that I smelled good, rubbing against me like a puppy, and kissed me for a full fifteen minutes, messing up my braided hair.” Linda’s hand holding the coffee trembled, a look of disgust appeared on her exquisite face, not wanting to listen to details. I was completely intoxicated in love, involuntarily opened the photo album and shoved it in front of her face: “Look at this one.” In the photo, I was wearing pajamas taking a selfie, a stubbly chin intimately pressing against the top of my head, I grinned silly at the camera showing big white teeth: “I didn’t wear makeup that day, my husband kept saying I looked good, simply growing on his heart tip. Sis, do you think men’s words are all deceiving ghosts? I’m just an ordinary person, where am I pretty.” Linda’s mouth barely maintained a smile, trying to get up to grab the folder: “Scarlett, I still have to find Mr. Chen to sign.” I snatched the folder and threw it aside: “Mr. Chen is not here today.” Seeing her lack of interest in my private affairs, I also actively switched topics. She usually carries designer bags and wears watches worth over ten thousand, should like talking about outfits. I sighed, putting on an envious expression: “Sis, your husband chose this bag, right? Very tasteful.” A trace of embarrassment flashed in her eyes. I spoke again: “My husband has straight-man aesthetics. The ugly bags he buys for tens of thousands every business trip, simply no face to carry out. Last month I said I wanted a commuter car, he actually secretly bought a G-Wagon, don’t mention how hard it is to drive, and fuel-consuming. So angry I went to buy an electric scooter myself…” At this moment, I was talking endlessly with unfulfilled desire, but she still wanted to leave. I cursed myself secretly for being too ruthless and forgetting feelings again, killing the conversation. Next time I definitely won’t lead the topic to my husband. Just then the break room door opened. Colleague Millie, suppressing subtle sympathy, said to me: “Scarlett, your phone has been ringing at your desk for a long time…” I complained coquettishly: “My husband is so annoying, just a few minutes not replying messages, and he calls like crazy!” Supervisor Linda took the opportunity to flee: “Scarlett! Sorry, I suddenly remembered I have an appointment with a client from The Hamptons at 10:30, leaving first!” I hurried to chase out, sending her to the company gate: “Linda, come often, I like you especially.” Chapter 3 Back at my desk, thinking back and forth, I felt Linda is a good person. I came to the headquarters for three months, colleagues around have too much sense of boundary. Every time I talk about my husband, they find excuses to run. As if I am some terrible person. No one chats with me, I can only bury my head in work. Accidentally pushed the performance to number one in the whole company. Now hubby must love me to death. Actually, if colleagues are willing to be closer to me usually. Once I get excited, I can’t help sharing many spicy secrets with them. For example, who and who in the headquarters drink from the same cup. For example, the big boss’s trunk has an adult Toy. And the afternoon tea sent by the company is actually from… I don’t believe anyone in this world can walk out of the break room with closed ears. At lunch, I ate the Sweet and Sour Ribs my husband cooked while scrolling TikTok. The homepage pushed me a workplace complaint post: “What to do with a poser in the company? I don’t want to talk to her, she has no sense at all, dragging me to show off love then showing off cars and bags, every sentence not leaving husband. Actually riding an electric scooter every day wearing Temu, probably marriage unhappy delusion syndrome committed, finding presence everywhere. I’m really going to vomit.” The comment section was also lively: “Is she writing a novel, is her husband fictional?” “Which company? Really want to apply, watch this kind of disgusting colleague.” “Yeah, the more a person shows off what, the more she lacks what, must be poor and lack love.” The poster liked these comments one by one. I also replied anonymously: “How is her performance?” Result poster turned a blind eye, continued complaining: “I asked around, the husband, G-Wagon, tens of thousands bags she mentioned, no one has ever seen, high probability fabricated. Does anyone have a good way to slap her face? I must expose her!” A bunch of people below gave bad ideas. The poster’s avatar is a city night view taken from the top floor. Really didn’t expect, the seemingly high-intelligence branch manager is a person with low cognition. She dares to really listen, believe and practice the bad ideas given by netizens. They discussed enthusiastically wanting to embarrass me at the Holiday Party. Chapter 4 Lisa from the admin department usually has a good relationship with Linda. When Lisa came to send the notice, she specifically told me: “This time employees can bring family members to participate in the on-site lottery at the annual meeting. The grand prize is a two-person trip to the Maldives. If you don’t want to go, the boss also gives cash.” I was shocked: “Really? Hubby and I have been to Maldives more than twenty times, not much interest. But cash would be great.” She looked at me like I was a psycho. Obviously, Linda had already complained to her that I was a poser. But she still said patiently: “Scarlett, do you have a suitable dress for the annual meeting? Now many places rent clothes and do makeup, not too expensive. Shall I send you the link?” The makeup artist Crystal she recommended, I know, $5000 an hour, hard to book. They are testing me again. Actually, I am also very curious about their motives. Last week, internal staff Yun wore an affordable dress, they publicly commented it wasn’t classy. Intern Min has oily hair, they concluded Min failed blind dates because she was sloppy and didn’t pay attention to image. And Millie was the most wronged, she forgot to cut the tag on her coat. They claimed Millie’s whole body luxury brands were rented. Must be afraid the rich second-generation boyfriend she just dated would look down on her. These years, Linda and Lisa’s eyes have been staring at others’ appearance, enthusiastic and mean. And what confuses me is, no matter how smelly men are, they won’t say a word. I politely declined Lisa: “No need, I’ll go back and let my husband borrow one from the brand side.” At this time Linda also came, hearing me say borrow from brand side. The teasing look could hardly be hidden: “Scarlett, your husband is so considerate, will you bring him to the annual meeting? Listening to you all day.” I shook my head: “Not bringing.” Lisa pretended to be surprised: “Doesn’t your husband love you the most? Not accompanying you on such an occasion, how awkward you alone.” I answered honestly: “My husband is relatively busy and very introverted, only enthusiastic to me. He feels uncomfortable in crowded places.” I have already hinted at my husband’s noble identity very obviously. But they still didn’t realize. Linda asked with concern: “You wouldn’t have no husband at all, right?” Hehe, waiting for me here. No wonder hubby didn’t let me work these years, he even bet a Penthouse with me, saying I would definitely be bullied in the company. In a bad environment, people and things are just so disgusting. If I bow my head, they will step on it. If I prove myself, they treat me as a psycho. And once I prove myself, they will also pick new problems from my husband, like rich people must cheat, or he has leverage in my hands so didn’t divorce me etc… Then I completely fall into their logic. Since they are certain I am a delusional person, can neither wear decent clothes nor bring a real husband. Then I’ll just fulfill their wish first. I didn’t answer this very offensive question. Instead, my eyes turned red, teardrops crumbling: “Linda, actually he doesn’t want me to work this crappy job, let alone accompany me to this level of annual meeting. He goes on business trips for months, cold pot cold stove at home every day, sometimes I really feel, better to divorce.” Linda and Lisa looked at each other. Busily took out tissues from bag and handed to my hand. Such a flawed marriage fits their imagination. Linda patted my back hypocritically: “Don’t be sad, men all run for career.” Colleagues also stopped work in hand. Pretending to bury heads in work, ears didn’t miss a sentence. I sniffled: “Linda is right. But he also suffers on business trips, he said the anniversary buffet at The Hamptons Hotel is particularly terrible.” Linda’s action of comforting me stiffened slightly. I secretly observed her expression. The category of anniversary celebration is different from the usual set meal. Two more Boston lobsters. And I found the reflection in her night view photos on social media had the anniversary table card of The Hamptons Hotel, so just bluffing her. But looking at her expression, this melon should be true. I just need to use my gossip connections to find evidence. So I leaned in intimately: “Sis, you often go on business trips to The Hamptons, must also think it’s terrible right?” She pushed me away alertly: “Never been, the meal fee there exceeds reimbursement ratio.” “Oh, then Linda is very lucky…” She didn’t listen to my nagging, dragged Lisa up and left. I wiped the tears from the corners of my eyes, sat back at the workstation. Continue to maintain the potential customers just connected. Chapter 5 After work, I returned to the empty home, lazily fried a piece of Wagyu beef, opened Linda’s complaint post. She indeed updated again: “Sisters, so annoying, our company is having an annual meeting, I recommended a top makeup artist in NYC to that poser, she didn’t even dare to add, said she would borrow a dress from the brand side herself. What brand side is willing to lend to her kind? Simply addicted to pretending!” The comment section has started partying. [Laughing to death, how can she pretend so much? Borrowing Old Navy to attend annual meeting!] [I think Shein suits her identity better.] [Looking at sister’s daily life, know this company has good benefits, want to attend this specification big annual meeting, help sister slap poser face, beg for referral.] Immediately she posted a diamond necklace. Asking sisters on social media, will such big one be hard to match. I smiled without speaking, secretly added some heat to this post, selected precise push to women over forty in The Hamptons. Before long, someone will dig out the company name. When small matter becomes big matter, making trouble until PR team needs to step in, the best time belonging to me arrives. Chapter 6 On the day of the annual meeting, of course I didn’t borrow clothes from the brand side. This grade of annual meeting is not worth being so grand. I wore a simple little black dress. Casually matched with a faux fur short jacket sent by the brand. Can’t ride an electric scooter wearing this. Bestie Crystal drove her Maserati to send me to the banquet hall entrance. On the way she said distressedly: “Scarlett, you insist on suffering hardship.” I smiled: “For the Penthouse, I go all out.” Entering the hall, I saw Linda at a glance. She wore a valuable champagne dress, a big diamond shining on her neck. She was raising champagne laughing with a few male colleagues, eyes and brows full of practiced charm. She absolutely won’t bring her husband to this occasion. Her gaze drifted to my empty wrist and neck, smile in eyes growing: “Scarlett, you really came alone.” Lisa followed behind her, gently touched my fur, said teasingly: “Does faux fur get static? Riding an electric scooter so far is cold. Don’t freeze. Let your CEO husband park the helicopter on the roof, send you a thick coat.” They laughed to tears themselves. Gazes from people around carried scrutiny and pity. Also an excitement of about to eat melon. I indeed prepared a big melon for everyone to gnaw. Just not mine. A gentle female voice appeared behind me: “Scarlett?” I turned around, it was the company’s big client Mr. Zhou and his wife. “Sis, long time no see, thinner again.” People in the company don’t know. Mr. Zhou was an ordinary salesman at first. Relied on wife’s family support to have current social status. Just Mr. Zhou got tired of good days, a bit inflated, actually had an affair taking advantage of business opportunities. Linda panicked as soon as she saw Mr. Zhou and Mrs. Zhou, turned to leave, but was held by my wrist calmly: “Linda, don’t rush, I remember Mr. Zhou is your client. No reason to leave the client behind.” Mrs. Zhou asked me familiarly: “Scarlett, this is?” “Look at my brain, forgot to introduce, this is our company’s big hit, Linda, Supervisor Lin.” Linda reached out awkwardly to show goodwill, Mrs. Zhou scoffed lightly, didn’t move, just stared at that dazzling diamond on her neck, then looked at Mr. Zhou who was sweating cold sweat: “Husband, this diamond looks very like the one I asked you to send to the second-hand luxury store for recycling. This carat weight is rare.” Her words, like a ladle of cold water thrown into hot oil. Gossip sizzling in the pot. Mr. Zhou wanted to explain something, but his expression was unnatural. Linda’s hand unconsciously protected the necklace. “Mrs. Zhou, this is a second-hand gift from a friend, maybe the style is very similar…” Mrs. Zhou’s tone remained peaceful, didn’t pursue, indifferently praised: “Your friend has good taste.” Mrs. Zhou didn’t bother to look at her again, took my arm: “Scarlett, let’s go sit over there, also want to thank you for inviting me. Tell me about your husband quickly, my life is too boring, urgently need to hear your stories…” A resentful gaze followed me behind. Don’t need to look back to know who. Linda wanted my husband to come to the annual meeting, wanted to embarrass me. But she would die not thinking, I invited her old baby Mr. Zhou she dated in The Hamptons Hotel. Throughout the annual meeting, Mr. Zhou was eight meters away from Linda. Discussion sounds were endless. They should rejoice, Mrs. Zhou only touched the point today. Just didn’t want to make him more embarrassed in public. But I just like watching something awkward.

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The day Julian Sterling was stolen by the “Real Heiress,” I found out I was pregnant. For eight months, he prepared a wedding of the century for Tiffany, while I almost died giving birth to Joey alone. Later, breaking news popped up— The Crown Prince of the Sterling Empire, Julian Sterling, was involved in a late-night street racing accident. Tiffany was seriously injured, and he permanently lost the ability to have children! Afraid he would snatch Joey, I hid in fear for five years. Until Mrs. Sterling’s 60th Birthday Gala, I was temporarily drafted to be a waitress. Joey, who was in the break room, accidentally ran out and bumped into Mrs. Sterling. The whole venue fell into a sudden dead silence. That face was simply a carbon copy of Julian Sterling’s childhood! Julian pushed through the crowd and rushed over, his voice hoarse and changing tone: “Kid, whose child are you?” Joey was scared, crying out: “Mommy… I can’t find my mommy.” “Her name is Natalie.” Chapter 1 Knock knock knock. The team leader knocked on my desk: “Natalie, the hotel is short of hands. Go cover as a waitress for tonight, Triple Pay.” I hesitated. Mrs. Sterling’s 60th birthday gala, such an occasion might run into old acquaintances. And leaving Joey alone at home at night, I was really worried. “Leader, I have to be with my child tonight…” The leader’s tone was impatient: “Leave him with your parents, neighbors, or even the break room if you have to.” “Can’t you arrange such a small thing?” A sneer came from the next cubicle. It was Lisa, the one who loved gossiping the most. “Wow, triple pay. I’d fight to go!” “Leader, you are taking care of Natalie, right? After all, she’s a single mom with a child of unknown origin, lots of places to spend money.” Lisa’s words were harsh, but true. It’s getting cold, Joey grows fast, I also want to buy him a better coat. Anyway, it’s helping outside the hotel, won’t enter the main hall. I nodded and agreed. “Thank you, Leader, I’ll go.” “Okay, go change now. 6 PM, gather at the hotel back door, don’t be late!” Walking to the changing room, I passed Lisa’s desk. Her voice wasn’t low, as if deliberately saying for me to hear: “What are you pretending for. Unwed pregnancy, acting all high and mighty. Don’t even know who the dad is, got knocked up by someone playing around, who knows where the bastard came from.” Pfft. Colleagues diagonally opposite covered their mouths laughing, the young intern beside also lowered her head snickering. My eyes felt hot, couldn’t help retorting: “Lisa, you are a mother too, keep your mouth clean.” Lisa stood up abruptly, crossing her arms and snapping back: “My mouth isn’t clean?” “Are you clean? A vixen, don’t know who the baby daddy is, pretending to be a chaste woman here!” “If I were you, I’d go back and clean myself up, anyway you are damaged goods. What if you really meet a blind man in the banquet hall who doesn’t mind your bastard and is willing to be a stepdad?” I was trembling with anger. Just as I planned to say something more, the leader came over to smooth things out. “Alright Lisa, say less.” “Natalie, you go pick up your child too, don’t delay work.” I looked up, forcing that heat back. When leaving, Lisa was still talking and laughing with others, casting contemptuous glances at me while speaking. I turned around, wiped my eyes fiercely. Natalie, you can’t cry. For Joey, you can endure anything. After picking up Joey, I really couldn’t rest assured leaving him alone at home, so I brought him to the hotel’s employee break room. Prepared picture books for him, packed snacks and water. “Joey be good, Mommy is working right outside. You play here, don’t go out, okay?” Joey has always been very obedient. Nodded and asked me: “When will Mommy come back?” “Very soon.” I kissed his forehead, coaxing: “Finish reading this picture book, and Mommy will be back.” “Remember, never run around, okay?” Joey nodded vigorously, extending his pinky finger. “Okay, Pinky Promise!” I hooked pinky with him, stamped thumbs, then went to the banquet hall with peace of mind. Lisa and several other female colleagues also came. They gathered at the entrance of the inner hall, fixing makeup with phones, giggling. “Sigh, what a pity for the Sterling family’s Crown Prince, handsome and rich, how come…” “I heard this Miss Tiffany is a recognized-later heiress, just a wild girl. Likes to drive fast cars for thrills. Courting death herself and dragging the man down, now great, crashed her man into a eunuch!” “If you ask me, the Sterling family is unlucky too, married a jinx, the family line cut off in her hands.” … Just then, a delicate female voice suppressing anger sounded from behind: “Who are you calling a jinx!” Tiffany glared at Lisa and the others viciously. Scaring their faces white, all lowering heads daring not speak. Tiffany swept her gaze, suddenly saw me not far away. Shouted in surprise: “Natalie?” Chapter 2 I sighed helplessly in my heart. Wanted to sneak away, but still got recognized. Braced myself and walked over: “Miss Tiffany.” Tiffany actively walked two steps towards me, looking me up and down in this cheap waitress uniform. Smiled triumphantly and hypocritically. “It really is you?” “Why are you a waitress now, and outside? Must be hard, right?” Saying that, Tiffany wanted to pull me into the inner hall, tone so intimate as if she really meant well for me. “Come, I’ll arrange inner hall work for you, easier too.” “Maybe you can even see Mom and Dad!” Just took two steps dragging me, Tiffany remembered Lisa standing aside. Instantly changed face. “You guys, fired.” “Get out now! A bunch of dirty things!” Lisa’s group legs went soft, almost kneeling, didn’t even have time to beg for mercy. Dared not resent Tiffany, could only stare dead at my back. Sure enough, Tiffany was as expected. Once inside, she pretended to suddenly realize: “Sister Natalie, look I forgot. Inner hall is not short of hands for now, only toilets and trash cans haven’t been cleaned.” “Look at you…” I knew Tiffany deliberately humiliated me. But honestly, this little difficulty is nothing compared to what I survived alone these years. “Okay, I’ll go right now.” I agreed simply, taking the cleaning tools. While I was cleaning the trash can in the corner, the protagonist of the banquet hall, Mrs. Sterling, slowly appeared. Before everyone could gather around to flatter. Heard Mrs. Sterling scolding mercilessly: “How can I have a long life!” “Look at yourself, what a ‘good wife’ you married, harming our Sterling family to cut off descendants!” I looked up. After five years, time seemed extra merciful to Julian, still handsome enough to make people unable to look away. Just a layer of gloom shrouded between his brows. Seems infertility hit him hard. Julian didn’t speak, Tiffany could only accompany smiling carefully: “Mom, don’t be angry, watch your health…” “Don’t call me Mom!” Mrs. Sterling interrupted sharply. “I can’t afford it! If not for you insisting on street racing, would Julian have that accident?” “What sin did our Sterling family commit! A good son, harmed by you… harmed to leave no heir!” Saying that, Mrs. Sterling turned the spearhead to the silent Mr. and Mrs. Xu beside: “And you!” “Recognized some bullshit heiress back. Now good, ruined my son, are you happy?” Mr. and Mrs. Xu’s submissive apologies came vaguely. But Mrs. Sterling got more excited as she spoke, accumulated resentment exploded completely: “That girl named Natalie in your family back then, I thought she was quite good! Quiet, dutiful. It was Julian who lost his head, insisting on marrying such a disaster!” “I really regret it!” Tiffany’s face was even worse. Especially hearing Mrs. Sterling mention me, the resentment and embarrassment on her face almost couldn’t be suppressed. Eyes turned, immediately took the conversation: “Mom, look what a coincidence.” “You just mentioned Sister Natalie, I really met Sister Natalie here today!” Voice just fell, Tiffany walked straight towards me. Before I could react, I was dragged by her to the center of the banquet hall. Lights bright, my rough uniform, that half-wet rag in hand, illuminated with nowhere to hide. I rarely felt shame, but could only force a greeting: “Hello Auntie.” “Mr. Xu, Mrs. Xu, hello.” Mrs. Sterling looked at me, eyes complex, the words praising me just now seemed to hang on her lips, but now only embarrassment remained. Mr. and Mrs. Xu were even more stunned, didn’t expect to see me this way. After a brief dead silence, unknown who first let out a very light sneer. Immediately, low ridicule came from the onlookers. “Oh my god… really her? The one following Young Master Sterling back then?” “Tsk tsk, this uniform is the lowest cleaner in the hotel, right? Look at that rag in her hand, so dirty! Miss Tiffany even calls her ‘Sister’? Really giving her face, if it were me, I’d let security kick her out long ago, standing here is bad luck!” “Heard she took a big sum when breaking up back then, how did she mix into this ghost look? Money all spent on boy toys?” … Just when this wave of humiliation was about to swallow me— “Quiet!” I didn’t expect Julian would take the initiative to relieve me. He had no expression on his face, gaze swept around heavily, the whole venue instantly silent as a cicada in winter. He then looked at me again, tone actually very gentle. Like pitying me: “Natalie, why are you a cleaner here?” “When we broke up, didn’t I give you a lot of money?” Money? I looked up, looking at him blankly. These years, I haven’t received a penny from him. When I gave birth to Joey, I couldn’t even pay the rent. Didn’t even finish postpartum recovery, went out for odd jobs. I opened my mouth, subconsciously asked back softly: “…What money?” These two words were light, but like a thunderclap. Julian’s pupils shrank fiercely, surprised expression couldn’t be suppressed. Gaze shifted to Tiffany beside him instantly: “Tiffany, where is the money?” Chapter 3 Tiffany stammered and couldn’t give a reason at all. Could only cast help-seeking eyes at Mrs. Xu. Mrs. Xu stepped forward immediately, reached out wanting to pull my arm, but dodged by me without a trace. Her hand paused awkwardly in the air, then said coquettishly: “Oh, Natalie, you child!” “You left too hurriedly back then, we kept that money for you all along, just didn’t find a suitable chance to give you. Look at this trouble, all misunderstanding, misunderstanding!” Mr. Xu also rubbed his hands aside, nodding repeatedly in agreement: “Yes yes, always remembering it!” This speech full of loopholes was simply too fake. Julian’s face completely sank, gloomy gaze staring dead at Tiffany: “Fifty million.” “Not a cent less, transfer to Natalie’s account before noon tomorrow. Otherwise, stop being Mrs. Sterling!” Tiffany didn’t expect Julian would be so ruthless. Forcing her like this in front of so many people. Could only glare at me viciously, forcing a smile to respond: “Julian, it was my negligence.” “Don’t worry, I will definitely handle it tomorrow.” I sighed, really didn’t want to get involved in their circle anymore. Current me, just want to live well with Joey. “No need for money. I can support myself now.” “There is still work over there, I’ll go busy. Excuse me.” Finished, I didn’t look at anyone’s reaction, walked straight to the corner. Banquet hall returned to noise, I also quietly resumed working. Carrying rag and bucket, just one last stall left, I can take Joey off work. Suddenly a noise came from afar. Followed by Tiffany’s scream: “Impossible! I was clearly wearing it on my hand, that diamond bracelet cost five million!” “How could it disappear!” My heart sank inexplicably, ominous premonition surged up. Next second, only heard Tiffany continue speculating: “Just now… just now seems only Sister Natalie was close to me. Before holding her arm coming in from outside, the bracelet was clearly there. Could it be…” Tiffany’s voice hadn’t fallen. Bodyguards slammed open my stall door, dragging me out. “I didn’t!” “I have been working, never touched anything not mine.” “What are you doing, let me go!” I struggled violently. But strength disparity, could only be dragged over helplessly. Tiffany walked up quickly, apologizing pretentiously: “Sister, sorry, sorry!” “This bracelet is really too precious, I can’t afford to lose it. I just want to confirm, just check if you have it. If not, I’ll let them release you immediately, I apologize to you!” Tiffany said. But action was extremely clear, reaching hand into my right pocket. Under the gaze of everyone present, the bracelet was taken out! The whole banquet hall instantly erupted in an uproar, disdainful spitting gazes cast from all directions. Tiffany pretended to look unbelievable. Stumbled back a step, holding the diamond looking at me with heartache and disappointment: “Sister, how could you do this…” “If you lack money, you can tell me. How could you… how could you steal?” And just then, police and site security arrived. Evidence mountain high, eyes of crowd. I looked around in panic, explaining palely: “Not me!” “Really not me, I don’t know how this bracelet appeared in my pocket!” Speaking, I could only pull Julian’s sleeve beggingly. Probably too helpless. Scared enough that I could only ask him for help. “Julian, we grew up together anyway, you know me!” “I really am not a person who steals! Julian, I beg you help me!” “I didn’t take it! It’s a frame-up!” My tears fell drop by drop. Julian looked at my red crying eyes, expression complex. Raised hand wiped tears spilling from corner of my eye, replied coldly: “Natalie, you know.” “I only believe evidence.” Chapter 4 Julian didn’t believe me. The leading police officer hesitated no more, stepped forward, said to me seriously: “Ma’am, we now suspect you are involved in a grand larceny case, please come back to the station with us to assist investigation.” Click. Cold handcuffs, put on my hands. I looked at Julian, couldn’t say a word. Old wounds seemed to relapse again, dull pain coming from chest almost making me unstable. We grew up together. Julian once said he would protect me forever. Why? Hurt me again and again. When I was taken away by police, Tiffany stepped forward, leaned in and demonstrated with volume only I could hear: “Bitch, can you play against me?” I was pressed into the police car and taken away like this. In the employee break room, Lisa and others were packing their personal items in disgrace. “All blame that Natalie, must be her intention. Seeing people coming, didn’t even remind us!” Intern agreed: “Exactly! Deserve her being arrested as a thief! Better lock her up for ten or eight years, see how she shows off later!” Lisa lost job, angry speechless. Face gloomy zipping backpack, teeth grinding loudly. Just as they prepared to leave, Lisa’s peripheral vision glimpsed a small figure in the corner. It was Joey. He was very good, didn’t run around, quietly flipping through old picture book. Lisa’s gaze fell on Joey, a vicious idea seized her instantly. She dropped the backpack, squeezed a smile on face, walked towards Joey. “Joey ah, reading picture book?” “So good.” Joey was a bit timid, but still politely called: “Hello Auntie.” Lisa responded, reached out seemingly intimately touching Joey’s hair. “Sigh. Joey, Auntie tell you something. Your mommy ah, was just taken away by police uncles in uniform. They said your mommy did bad things, want to arrest her.” “What?” The picture book in Joey’s hand dropped to the ground with a snap. He retorted urgently, voice carrying crying tone. “Mommy won’t do bad things!” “Auntie also believes your mommy, so Joey must go save her!” Lisa stretched out hand, pointing towards the main banquet hall direction. “Joey, don’t cry. Look, go out from here, run towards the brightest, liveliest place. Once inside, find a… hmm, find a grandma dressed especially beautifully, looking most powerful!” “Find her, you beg her to save your mommy, let police uncles release your mommy!” “Remember, only she can help your mommy!” Joey was young, couldn’t distinguish malice in Lisa’s words at all. He cried out: “Thank you Auntie!” Joey didn’t even have time to pick up the picture book on the ground, ran towards the banquet hall. Lisa stood at the door, watching Joey’s back, revealing a carefree and twisted smile. Several people gathered, anxious and excited asking: “Sister Lisa, this… won’t cause trouble right?” “Trouble, what trouble? At most annoy the Sterling family, make Natalie’s days in prison harder. If this little bastard gets lost, it has nothing to do with us either.” Finished, Lisa left triumphantly with others. Joey was very scared. But for me, still ran into the main banquet hall by instinct. Saw at a glance the most prominent position in the center, the old lady surrounded by many people. She dressed sparkly, people around were respectful to her. That’s her! Joey had no time to think, thought of saving mommy overwhelmed everything. He used all strength, pushed aside blocking people, rushed over recklessly: “Grandma, please let police uncles release my mommy!” Joey cried shouting, hit directly on Mrs. Sterling. Mrs. Sterling caught off guard, stumbled by collision, luckily supported by people beside with quick eyes and hands. Looked down, words about to get angry froze on lips: “Oh my, whose child is this…” That face! Whole venue instantly silent. Eyebrows, nose bridge, simply identical to her son Julian Sterling when young! At the same time, Julian also ran over hurriedly. Looking at Joey’s face, picked him up in disbelief, asked excitedly: “Kid, whose child are you?” Joey was scared by such scene, shouted with crying tone: “Uncle, please save my mommy! She was taken by police!” “Mommy… I can’t find mommy anymore.” “Her name is Natalie.”

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When I was caught in bed again, Liam finally had some reaction, unlike his usual carelessness. Only because this time, I was on the bed, and he was on the floor. But the hysteria I imagined like mine didn’t happen to him. In just three seconds, he returned to his usual indifference. He even thoughtfully tore open the condom for me. “For so many years, I’ve said countless times to play our own games. You finally listened, I’m very gratified.” Looking at my pale face, he handed the thing to me and smiled: “Be careful, don’t make a life.” When leaving, he even instructed me patiently. “I’m right next door. You guys have fun. If you run out of tricks, feel free to come and ask for advice.” Watching his dashing retreating figure, I collapsed again. Liam didn’t know, this gamble of throwing away dignity was the last chance I gave myself, and him. Since I lost anyway. Then I admit it. This five-year marriage, united in appearance but divided in spirit, has come to an end. Chapter 1 “M-Miss Serena, do we continue?” The man on the bed looked at me, eyes seeming to carry a trace of sympathy. I got out of bed in a mess, stiff hands putting on clothes for myself, heart sour and astringent. Things have developed to this point, the audience didn’t care at all and left, the play couldn’t go on even if I wanted to. I took out a check, handed it to him. “What happened tonight, I don’t want a fourth person to know.” When coming out of the room, Liam was holding his little mistress waiting in the corridor, looking at me with a half-smile. “Thought you grew some skills, turns out just this much capability?” I froze, looking up at him. Liam laughed. “Serena, since you have the guts to find someone to act and trick me, might as well make it real. Don’t worry, I can afford to play anytime.” “Since we agreed not to interfere with each other, even if you really slept with someone, I absolutely won’t be like you, disregarding face, making a big scene. Relax, I’m very generous.” These words stimulated me to stop breathing. Yes. He is indeed generous. In a situation like just now, even if it was just acting, no man would say such words lightly like Liam at this moment. Nothing more than not caring. He doesn’t care about me, so no matter what I do, it won’t stir any waves in his heart. Between him and me, the one not generous enough has always been me. So five years ago when I first found him sleeping with someone else, I showed a reaction completely different from his now. At that time I smashed everything breakable, crying hysterically, like a lunatic. But Liam had no extra reaction from beginning to end, just quietly watching me, sighing: “Serena, we are just a business marriage, why make such an ugly scene?” I only felt a basin of cold water poured down instantly, heart cold. Liam will never understand my mood at that time, just like he will never know when I learned the marriage partner was him, my heart leaped like flying into the clouds. Because of his sentence, me, his nominal wife, faced his later scandals without even the qualification to ask. Facing catching him in bed time after time, I also evolved from initial hysteria to calmness, even numbness. Like now, although I’m still sad, I can finally accept the fact that our marriage is coming to an end. I looked at Liam, picked up my mess, learned his look, hooked my lips and smiled. “Bad acting, made you laugh.” Liam froze, eyes somewhat confused, for the first time couldn’t see through me. But the little mistress Scarlett standing beside him burst out laughing, acting coquettishly: “Mr. Sterling, look at you, how can you say that about Miss Serena?” “She tried so hard to strip herself naked and stuff herself into another man’s arms just to get your attention, wanting you to be jealous for her! Saying this, where do you put her face?” She pushed Liam to me, poked his chest. “Quickly coax her, look Miss Serena is about to cry.” Liam heard this, glanced at me, smiled carelessly. “Just a marriage alliance, I have no obligation to coax anyone.” “Digest your own emotions. If you don’t want to humiliate yourself again, don’t do such laughable stupid things in the future.” He put his arm around Scarlett’s slender waist again. “Agreed to accompany you tonight, how can I break my promise?” Finished, too lazy to look at me again, turned into the room. The moment the door closed, Scarlett looked back at me, eyes full of undisguised triumph and provocation. Not long after, ambiguous sounds rang out. Quite a stance of not stopping until voices break. They knew I didn’t leave, I also knew they were intentional. I didn’t know how long I stood outside the door, until my legs were completely numb, then swayed back home, dialed the lawyer’s number. “Draft a divorce agreement for me, give it to me as soon as possible.” Since Liam kept saying it’s a business marriage, then it shouldn’t matter if I change the marriage partner. After all, marrying who isn’t marriage? Chapter 2 Liam disappeared longer this time than before. He was missing for nearly half a month, but Scarlett’s social media updated punctually every night. Auctions, banquets, various celebrity cocktail parties, even the private island where I had my honeymoon left her traces. Scarlett deserves to be the person who stayed with Liam the longest, always able to sting me precisely. Doing all this, rather than showing off, is more like provocation. But unfortunately, she will be disappointed this time. Since I decided to let go completely, I won’t waste emotions on Liam. Just about to rest after turning off the phone, Scarlett’s message popped up. “Prepared a gift for you, hope you like it.” Followed closely by a trending link. The moment I clicked in, I felt someone stepped on my face. [Serena, heiress of Xu family, cheats in marriage, meeting boy toy late at night!] Under the explosive title, attached were dozens of my private photos that night, looking sorrowful, eyes red from crying. But my forbearance and sadness falling into the mouths of those netizens were completely twisted into unspeakable dirty words. The comment section was overwhelmed with unbearable abuse against me. I scrolled down one by one, shaking with anger. Clearly I am the victim in this marriage, but the real betrayer is unharmed, while I became the slut condemned by everyone. Finally calmed down to find someone to withdraw the trending topic, the other party told me someone paid a high price saying this news must stay on the headline for one day and one night. Hanging up the phone, I felt like falling into an ice cave. Scarlett doesn’t have such great ability. The person backing her up, wanting to ruin my reputation, is Liam. I racked my brains and couldn’t understand why he hates me so much. Five years of husband and wife, even if existing in name only, the feelings I paid to him were not fake, my care for him was not fake. Even if Liam has no feelings for me, he doesn’t need to disgust me like this. Luckily soon, I knew his answer. The next afternoon’s banquet, Liam and I were invited together. Because I didn’t sleep all night, something happened on the way driving over, arrived late. The banquet hall was noisy, but I saw Liam at a glance. He was surrounded by a group of people, the woman beside him leaning on him bonelessly. Who else could it be but Scarlett? I was about to step forward, but heard his conversation with friends. “Liam, I saw the trending topic. I really didn’t expect you to have a day of being cuckolded. Sister-in-law is really awesome!” “Letting you snatch women from me, how is it? Getting retribution now, right?” Someone teased: “Come on! You claim to be experienced? Can’t even see this? The photos on the hot search clearly show it wasn’t real! Sister-in-law is clearly acting to win him back!” “But Liam, did you go a bit too far this time, occupying the number one spot and not letting it down, letting those people point and curse at sister-in-law. She is a girl after all, doing this how can she face people in the future?” Hearing this, Liam slowly picked up the wine glass, mouth hooking a mocking smile. “If not doing this how will she learn a lesson? I just want her to dare not find men casually in the future, even acting is not allowed.” That person was surprised: “You are allowed to set fire while people are not allowed to light lamps! Could it be that your phrase ‘play our own games, non-interference’ only restricts others, not yourself?” Liam frowned, didn’t speak. “You are smart enough, not fulfilling husband’s duties yourself, but demanding others to fulfill wife’s duties. Yet because of your phrase non-interference, she doesn’t even have the qualification to be jealous and angry!” “As a brother I really envy you. Unlike me, the tigress in our family made a scene at my company last month, I lost all face!” “Hey say, how about this, I’ll go back later and make an agreement with my wife too, just like you, say play our own games, non-interference, how about it?” Liam laughed directly this time. “Don’t, you absolutely shouldn’t say that. If you really say it, wait for your wife to divorce you.” “My situation is different from yours. After all, Serena likes me.” Tone seemed proud yet teasing, but my blood instantly turned cold. So he knows I like him. Because I like him, he tramples on me unscrupulously, steps my dignity underfoot, allowing his little mistresses to trample at will. Turns out everything I suffered these years was just because he knew I liked him. How ridiculous. Chapter 3 Their conversation continued. “Damn! Liam you are really a beast!” “But since sister-in-law is dead set on you, and you don’t mean to divorce her, why did you trick her into having an abortion when she was pregnant with your child before?” Hearing this, I froze instantly. He was right. I was once pregnant with Liam’s child. But at three months, an accident happened. The guardrail of the second-floor stairwell suddenly loosened, and I accidentally fell. When arriving at the hospital, the child couldn’t be saved. Moreover, the doctor announced on the spot that my body was damaged. Because the foundation was weak, it would be difficult to conceive again in the future. Coincidentally, the person who performed the abortion surgery for me was Scarlett. Coming out of the operating room, Liam showed a look similar to heartache towards me for the first time. He walked over and hugged me, tone rarely gentle. “It’s okay, child gone is gone, as long as you are fine.” I was naive enough to think I moved him then. Now it seems, there was another hidden story. “Doctor said, sister-in-law’s situation was indeed dangerous, but if recuperated well, the child might have been saved. You were good, sent her directly into the operating room hiding it from her, and caused root cause of illness due to forced abortion.” “I really don’t know what you think? Liam, can you tell me?” Hearing here, Liam’s eyes became somewhat complicated. Unknown if annoyed or what, lit a cigarette, squinted eyes taking a puff, annoyed: “What else could it be? At that time because I haven’t played enough, didn’t want to be a dad so early!” “And Serena getting pregnant with my child was nothing more than wanting to control me. Our two families are purely business marriage relationship. If a child affects the core interests of the Sterling Group, isn’t it losing more than gaining?” “Damaging her body was not my intention, I will compensate her later. Also, this matter is not allowed to be mentioned again. If she knows, afraid she will make a scene with me again.” Hearing this, I couldn’t control shaking all over. Surging and desperate emotions almost swallowed me instantly. When I reacted, I had already walked in front of Liam. With my appearance, the scene was quiet leaving only breathing sounds. In this situation, Liam couldn’t stay calm anymore. A trace of panic flashed in his eyes, looked at me with a slightly guilty conscience, coughed lightly. “Since you are here, come sit.” I didn’t move, nor spoke. The atmosphere was awkward to the extreme. Seeing me like this, Liam couldn’t hang on to his face, frowned. I knew this was the precursor to his anger. I used to be most afraid of his anger, but now I just silently took out the divorce agreement drafted long ago from my bag and placed it in front of him. “Liam Sterling, I don’t know when you will play enough, but I don’t want to play with you anymore. Sign this divorce agreement, play however you want in the future, I won’t interfere anymore, and absolutely won’t think about using a child to affect your Sterling Group’s core interests.” “We end here.” Liam stared dead at the thing in front of him, face ugly to the extreme. After a long time, he looked at me with a sneer. “Threatening me?” I smiled bitterly. “If you think so, then so be it.” He looked at me, narrowing eyes dangerously, tone like threat like pressure. “I ask you one last time, really want to divorce me?” I nodded without hesitation. Seeing me like this, his friends watching looked at each other, couldn’t help persuading me, but my attitude didn’t relax at all. Liam never lost face like this. Immediately signed his name on the divorce agreement like gambling, looked at me coldly, gritting teeth: “Serena, you have ability. If you have guts, don’t come back crying and begging me!” I ignored him, picked up the agreement, turned and left. Not long after walking out, their conversation reached my ears again. This time it was Liam’s friends betting, betting how long I would go back to soften to him. Everyone said a word, getting more excited. Finally, Liam concluded. “Don’t guess, at most three days, she will definitely come back crying begging me not to divorce.” Hearing this, I hooked my lips sarcastically. Afraid this time, I will disappoint him. I not only won’t bow to admit mistake, I will make him lose face completely! Enduring him in every way before was nothing more than because I liked him, but now, I don’t need to endure anymore. So after getting home, I immediately contacted the media, extracted videos of Liam messing with many mistresses from surveillance at home, and posted them online. The most explosive one, undoubtedly has to be him and Scarlett. I copied his method, let these news hang on the hot search for one day and one night directly. Public opinion completely reversed. This time, the objects of public ridicule and abuse became them. Liam kept calling during this period, but I chose to hang up without exception. See, the knife only hurts when cutting on oneself. The feeling of being accused by thousands, they should also taste. Chapter 4 What I didn’t expect was, a few days later, the hospital called. “Not good Miss Serena, your mother’s condition suddenly relapsed, needs immediate surgery!” My mom has been bedridden these years, just had surgery three months ago, body slightly improved. Didn’t expect something would happen at this juncture. When I rushed to the hospital, the doctor explained the situation to me. “Miss Serena, the lesion has spread. This surgery requires extremely high precision, but your mother’s previous attending doctor Dr. He went abroad for further studies half a month ago. Now it seems, only his apprentice Dr. Scarlett can try. Situation urgent, you have to make a decision quickly.” Dr. Scarlett is exactly Scarlett. Hearing this, I only felt a blow to the head. But right now, compared to my mom’s life, what does my dignity count for. Before I went to find her, Scarlett came to find me first. She stood next to Liam. Seeing me, both their faces weren’t good. After I explained the situation, Scarlett said: “Miss Serena, the scene you made online almost caused me to lose my job. Now asking me to help you, shouldn’t you apologize to me first?” I said: “What do you want me to do?” Scarlett glanced at me, maliciously said: “Unless you kneel down and beg me now, maybe I can consider.” Hearing this, my eyes widened, subconsciously looked at Liam standing beside her. But Liam said: “Begging people should have begging attitude. Whether to save your mother, you decide.” These words completely shattered hope in my heart. For mom, I could only throw self-esteem on the ground, let people trample. The moment knees touched ground, ears filled with Scarlett’s undisguised ridicule. A moment later, mom was sent into the operating room. After long suffering, the light finally went out. Scarlett walked out with two nurses. I rushed forward asking situation, but she shook her head, said: “I tried my best, but your mom’s fate is so, I can’t help.” Nurse beside whispered: “Who said, if not… if not you were distracted during surgery, how would patient…” She couldn’t continue. Hearing this, my brain went blank instantly. When recovered, a slap already landed heavily on Scarlett’s face. “You did it on purpose! Scarlett! You did it on purpose right!” Seeing me like this, a flash of distress passed Liam’s eyes. Reached out to me, wanting to say something, but as soon as Scarlett cried, he changed tone. “Serena, no surgery is 100% successful. Scarlett is a doctor, why make her sound so unbearable?” “Auntie has been sick for long, this might be a release for her now, you should thank Scarlett, not be aggressive like now.” At this moment, my heart died completely.

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In the tenth year of Blake Sterling conquering me, he was hooked into bed by Vivian. The girl was soft and tender, in her early twenties, the age of passion, charming the man so much he didn’t get out of bed for three days. I barged into the wedding room I decorated myself. Messy lingerie, the smell of sex, everything made me gag. But he just blew a smoke ring, hugging the woman covered in red marks into his arms. “If you can’t stand it, get out. I’ll find someone to clean up!” My eyes were red, hysterical. He said nothing, making me look like a lunatic. The next day, he requested the System. “I want to pause the conquering relationship with Elena. Just for one year. I want to use this year to give Vivian a grand wedding.” But he didn’t know, once the relationship is terminated, my ten years of feelings for him will also be wiped clean. Chapter 1 When I met Blake, we were both only eighteen, first awakening of love. He promised to hold a grand wedding before twenty-eight. At that time, we both took it for granted that the protagonist of the wedding must be me. But ten years later, things have changed. The System asked mechanically. [Does the conquered agree to terminate the relationship? Once terminated, all feelings will be zeroed!] My eyes felt hot, hand scalded by oil in the hot pan, forming a blister. “Is breakfast ready? Dawdling…” Blake was urging, because his little secretary had arrived at her workstation, waiting for the loving breakfast he made personally. But how could the busy CEO Blake have time? I, the official girlfriend, actually became their love helper. I was a bit resentful, tears smashing on the floor. A spatula cut the fried egg into pieces, turned off the fire, poured water, slammed the kitchen door. The man in the living room holding a jewelry box froze, frowning at me. “What crazy fit are you throwing!” My throat was dry, after a long time spat out a sentence: “I got burned.” He threw down the thing in his hand impatiently, perfunctory stepped forward. “Such a small injury, are you being pretentious!” Saying took out burn ointment from the drawer, movements carried irritability. I watched his swirling fingertips, suddenly remembering the video sent by my best friend. Vivian frowned in pain from drawing blood, he was distressed to tears, ignoring everyone’s eyes, kissing and comforting in public. And my casual sentence of grievance, in his eyes, has become a burden. “Alright! Don’t make breakfast if you don’t want to, don’t use hurting yourself to gain sympathy. Elena, I’m very busy!” I lowered my head and pursed my lips. Busy caring about Vivian’s period time, busy discussing wedding details, busy transferring most assets before I find out. Indeed very busy. Door slam sounded, air still had Vivian’s perfume smell. Blake’s phone on the table rang once. I looked up, the three words “Silly Girl” in WeChat remark were like thorns piercing my heart. He found it troublesome, never gave me a remark. Once I changed my screen name, he didn’t message me for three days. When I lost my temper, he replied as a matter of course: “You changed your name, I couldn’t find you!” At that time I loved him miserably, really blamed everything on myself, fawning to apologize. From then on, one name and avatar used for many years. But now it seems, his bottom line is only set for me. Phone rang again. Ghost-driven, I picked it up. Password easy to guess, Vivian’s birthday. Used to be mine, later changed to hers. Blake’s habit of loving someone is the same. [Pig head! Are you here yet? I’m going to be flat from hunger!] Three angry emojis in a row. [Also, tell Elena not to bake the bread too long! It hurts my throat eating it!] She added a sentence, but my eyes felt hot. Trembling hands, I scrolled up. Vivian’s every complaint and grumbling had a reply. Today weather bad, Blake replied, good to have me loving you. Met a cute cat downstairs, Blake replied, how cute, cuter than you? Those simple love words, to me, are fantasy. After all, now his replying to messages is charity to me. System saw me silent for a long time, only caring about shedding tears, urged again. [Does the conquered agree to terminate relationship, once…] “Agree!” I replied firmly. Such days, I’m too tired living them. I don’t want to consider Blake in everything anymore, even angry have to consider his time. Don’t want to be the cheap skin who can’t keep a man but shamelessly won’t leave in others’ mouths. Even less want to be the reluctant belonging after Blake played enough. Clearly he conquered me, finally I lived like a simp. [Conquered agreed, all feelings will be cleared within seven days.] My heart ached, fell to the ground. Door opening sound, Blake grabbed phone on table. Gaze landed on emoji, smiled sweetly, but didn’t spare a glance at curled me. When woke up again, sky was dark. I looked up at the photo in the corner, actually not much fluctuation. Fried egg in pot soaked swollen, just like my relationship with Blake, unrecognizable. Chapter 2 First day knowing Blake, a System appeared in my brain. It told me, the boy in front trembling with nervousness to speak, wants to conquer me successfully. I didn’t understand, asked what conquer means. [Conquer, means make you fall in love with him!] System’s reply scared me terribly, so I smashed the Caramel Apple handed by the boy on the ground, fleeing in panic. Mom fell in love with Dad, but finally beaten by domestic violence breaking three ribs. I just want to live safely, loving someone is too dangerous for me. But Blake tried his best to resolve all my concerns. Parents divorcing, he kicked open the door taking me away from that suffocating home. Classmate bullying, he carried a stick single-handedly challenging a group of punks, beaten head bleeding. Later I was thrown to grandma’s house in the countryside, almost married to an old bachelor, it was Blake driving a broken tricycle, taking me out of the deep mountains. So falling in love with him, seemed to become a matter of course. And he treated me well for years as one day. Three meals a day all housework contracted by him. He used meager salary to support us two. Pitted by black-hearted boss to penniless, only hid outside crying, never bringing any bad emotions to me. I became a little waste who can do nothing as long as Blake is there. Everyone said, Elena meeting Blake is luck of several lifetimes. I myself thought so deep inside. Until Vivian appeared. That time she was twenty-two, graduated from university, lively and bright, while Blake and I had stumbled to twenty-seven. We lost the agility of youth, all love hidden in thick clothes prepared for cold weather, a bowl of longevity noodles made personally on birthday. I thought plain warmth is happiness, but I forgot. When Blake and I first fell in love, we also loved vigorously. He started habitual business trips, forgot our anniversary. His bag had some cute sticky note dolls. I found them when packing, he threw them into the trash can disapprovingly, muttering irritably. “New little secretary really doesn’t know rules, fire her tomorrow…” But Vivian still stayed by his side well for three years, and things thrown in trash can back then, were also picked up secretly by him in dead of night. Later his preference became more and more obvious. Bracelet he gave me on Valentine’s Day was a free gift of Vivian’s present. Company annual meeting lucky draw paid trip, he took Vivian without a word. Intimate photo posted on Moments [Little rascal insisted I post, I also learn young people recording life!] Tone doting, many mutual friends replying below. “Brother Blake not old at all, age gap fits best!” “She making noise he laughing, ship it!!” … Only one comment stood out [This post blocked Elena right] Refresh three minutes later, I couldn’t see that Moments anymore. Even for a period of time, he pulled me into blacklist, only let me out when needing me. I questioned, crying to choke. He only replied impatiently: “I’m very busy recently, Vivian asked me to block everyone unrelated to work, so efficiency can improve!” Looking at my red eyes, he sighed long, transferred $10,000 to me. “Is this compensation enough!” Door slam sounded, I paralyzed on sofa. Transfer message in phone burned my heart pain. Blake, being with you, when did I ever care about money. But a question fell in the empty home, no reply. Chapter 3 Three days later, I already forgot Blake frequently. Vivian added my WeChat unknown when, Moments full of wedding preparation looked like showing off. [Today Pig Head showed me the wedding dress he designed personally, really so beautiful] I looked at the picture, that wedding dress was Blake’s graduation work once, product of when he and I loved most passionately. That wedding dress condensed with all our hearts, finally worn on mistress, simply ridiculous. I really laughed out, heart still densely pained, just not the heart-wrenching pain before. I couldn’t help rejoicing there is System to control my emotions. But even so, those joys and sorrows Blake brought me in memory, still make me choke. A moment later, another Moments update popped up. [New wedding gift! Letting you become a husband, also become a father] Checkup picture clearly wrote, Vivian already pregnant three months. That barely formed fetus, like a hard slap on my face. Calmness exchanged by self-comfort collapsed instantly. Phone screen gripped tight by me, I trembled right hand, wanting to get closer, look clearly again carefully. But tears surged uncontrollably, I collapsed crying in blurred vision. No wonder! No wonder Blake suddenly requested to temporarily terminate conquering relationship, no wonder he transferred assets secretly. Stomach suddenly churned, I rushed to sink retching, but spat out nothing. Long time, looking at embarrassed self in mirror, face pale, hair sticking to face, swollen eyes no longer had former look. Why, why I suffer alone, but let them two dog couple happy. I picked up phone, without hesitation screenshot that Moments, sent to big group of mutual friends. [Congrats Mr. Blake, going to be a father.] Tone flat, but shocked group instantly quiet. I don’t know how much waves that message stirred up, but I think, impact on Vivian is still big. Otherwise Blake wouldn’t rush from company in half hour, anger soaring. “Elena what do you mean?” “You posted that photo in group how can Vivian face people! Girl’s reputation so important, why are you so vicious!” He slapped broken our photo together. I looked at the man with hideous face, actually couldn’t find a bit of former look in his eyes. “Don’t most people in that group know your relationship?” “Still pretending what?” I picked up dropped photo, looked, felt annoyed, tore it into pieces in front of Blake. His surging anger stopped a moment, suddenly slapped away scraps in my hand. “What are you doing!” He glared at me, staring at me full of unreasonableness. “I will handle it well, why you have to make this scene!” My heart astringent pain severe. Is his handling giving the wedding promised to me to Vivian, or giving the wedding dress designed for me as token of love to mistress. I actually couldn’t ask. Long time, I looked up, staring at him. “Do you still love me?” He froze, fingertips curled, hesitation flashed in eyes. I waved hand: “It’s okay, not love then not love, I also soon, won’t love you.” Saying this sentence, I lowered eyes, pain in heart reached peak, tears balled in eyes, I took a sharp breath, didn’t let it fall. “Elena, you are not twenty-year-old little girl anymore, throwing this temper, only makes me annoyed!” His tone cold and hard, as if determined I was just stubborn. He probably never knew, System agreed to his request, because I also agreed. Our relationship, he gave up personally first. I endured again and again, still slapped his side face. “I’m not twenty-something little girl anymore, then who did I give my twenty-year-old youth to!” “Gave to you this beast!” Voice hoarse, embarrassed to extreme. “Blake, from the moment you developed feelings for Vivian, we should have ended long ago!” He grabbed my wrist, eyes red, as if I was unforgivable. “I fished you out of mud pit, what qualification do you have to say end to me!” “Without me, you would have rotted in deep mountains long ago, birthed unknown how many kids with old bachelor!” His voice loud, piercing eardrums, also piercing the light flashing in his eyes when he saved me ten years ago. I stared wide eyes, looking at him in disbelief, tears rolling, close to losing voice. “What did you say?” He stumbled back a step, eyes dared not look at me. But he still stood there stubbornly: “Is what I said wrong?” I laughed hysterically, like a lunatic, smashed everything at hand. When I raised the clay doll Blake once made for me personally, he snatched it away. Heart on it already broken by wind and sun, just like this unspeakably painful relationship. “You want to smash this too?” I stiffened neck, even if tears flowed to eyes astringent, didn’t bow head. “Good! Then smash it! Smash it clean!” He smashed doll hard on ground, fragments splashed, scratching my side face. “What exactly do you want me to do, I been with you ten years, am I not good to you?” “I just occasionally heart swayed a bit, every man does this!” He cried too, voice extremely aggrieved, as if I was the unforgivable person. “What about that child?” “Your heart swayed to Vivian’s bed, still want me to forgive unconditionally?” My voice very light. Blake trembled, hand raised and put down, finally fled in panic. Last trace of affection remaining in my heart, dissipated clean.

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