I married Gideon Foster three years ago, and he gave me the cold shoulder for nine hundred and ninety-nine days. To please his new lover, he personally beat me half to death with a salt-soaked whip. Everyone thought I died in that brutal attack. He knelt at my grave in repentance for three years. Then came the day I removed my mask at my book signing in London. He rushed up, eyes red, arms open. But the man beside me smiled and pulled me close. “Let me introduce you. This is my wife. And you are?” Lydia POV Three years into my marriage, on the 999th day of the cold war between Gideon and me, I received a call from the hospital. “Mrs. Foster, your prenatal checkup scheduled for this week has been arranged for Friday afternoon. Please remember to arrange your time in advance. You’re already two months pregnant. Your last checkup was very healthy. Have you experienced any discomfort recently?” My heart lurched. Even my breathing felt painful. I opened my mouth, about to say something, when another voice came from the other end of the line. “Hang up quickly, you called the wrong number!” “I didn’t call the wrong number. This is Mrs. Foster’s phone!” “Oh my, this Mrs. Foster is not that Mrs. Foster!” “What do you mean?” The girl who called me was clearly confused. The next second, the call was disconnected. My chest felt tight, a dull ache slowly spreading through my chest. Counting the days, the child Gideon and I lost was also conceived around this time three years ago. On Friday, I went to the hospital emergency room for severe abdominal pain. The rolling screen in the hospital lobby continuously displayed intimate photos of Gideon with another woman, Sophia Mitchell. In the photos, Gideon looked at her with such tenderness it made my eyes burn. “To celebrate Mrs. Foster, the wife of our hospital’s largest shareholder, being pregnant, all patient expenses at our hospital this month will be covered by Mr. Foster.” “Mr. Foster is so good to his wife.” “That’s nothing. Did you hear? Mr. Foster is also investing ten billion to establish a school here, saying it will be named after his future child!” I held the test results, slightly dazed. Suddenly, several security guards walked over. “Sorry everyone, Mr. Foster is bringing his wife to the hospital for a prenatal checkup. This passage is temporarily closed to the public. Please take an alternate route.” The crowd stirred, and I was accidentally pushed and fell to the ground. I struggled to get up, but was stepped on several times by people behind me and pushed down again. “Out of the way! What are you doing, coming here to play the victim?” The security guard’s baton pressed against my shoulder. “Stop pretending, get up quickly! Get lost! If you delay Mr. Foster and his wife’s business in a moment, can you afford to compensate?” “She’s probably using her looks, waiting here to catch Mr. Foster’s attention. Does she even know her place?” People around were pointing and gossiping at me. “Girls these days have no shame. She’s just trying to ruin someone else’s marriage!” Someone took advantage of the chaos to push me hard again. My arm hit the ground, and the skin on my elbow was torn open in a long strip. I gasped in pain. Looking up, the exclusive VIP elevator door on one side opened. Gideon walked out with a gentle expression, holding her in his arms. Sophia’s cheeks were flushed with shy redness as she cooed. “There are so many people. Put me down quickly. I can walk by myself.” Gideon refused without hesitation. “How can that be okay? Didn’t the doctor just say you need to be careful now?” “That’s all because of you. I’m already pregnant, and last night you still couldn’t help yourself, insisting on…” “That’s because you’re too tempting.” The two were saying explicit sweet nothings. Looking up, Gideon saw me on the ground, and his expression changed drastically. Although I had already tried very hard to minimize my presence. But in the next second, Gideon’s icy voice still poured down on me like a basin of cold water. “What are you doing here?” I clutched the test results in my hand tightly. Just as I was about to speak, Sophia beside him spoke up first. “She must also be here for a checkup, right? She should take good care of her body and try to get pregnant soon!” My fingers stiffened slightly. The convulsing pain in my heart covered the pain in my arm. Gideon also, because of her words, instantly looked at me with a hundred times more disgust and loathing. He walked past holding Sophia, his foot crushing hard over my delicate fingers. He didn’t even look at me once, leaving only an extremely cold remark. “She’s not worthy!”

Lydia POV The two walked away. The crowd dispersed. It took me quite a while to struggle up from the ground in embarrassment. The sympathetic and pitying looks from people around me shattered my heart, which had been as hard as stone. I stared blankly in the direction where Gideon and Sophia left, and memories that had been torn apart came flying back at me like a boomerang. No one remembered anymore how deeply Gideon loved me three years ago. Although our marriage was arranged, it was also love at first sight. On the night of our engagement, Gideon set off the grandest fireworks show for me across the entire city. In the fireworks show, there were patterns he personally designed, depicting the happiness of our remaining eighty years of life, from a family of two to being surrounded by children and grandchildren in old age. Just because I casually mentioned that yellow roses were my favorite flowers, Gideon had people plant large fields of yellow roses throughout the city. No matter where I went, at home or out, everywhere I looked there were flowers he specially planted for me. He even bought me 365 stars, naming each one after the letters he wrote for me. Gideon said. “Lydia, from now on, you are my one and only. I will spoil you into the happiest woman in the world.” And he truly did it. In the first six months after marriage, thanks to the romance and love he gave me, those were the happiest times of my life. Only a car accident six months after our marriage completely changed the trajectory of our lives. I was already more than three months pregnant at that time, with my belly slightly swollen. In that car, there were three people but four lives. In the end, only I survived Gideon, who rushed to the scene after receiving the call, seemed crazy at that moment. His bloodshot eyes were savage. It broke my heart to see him like that. He shouted at me. “Lydia, you killed my mother! You also killed our child!” He said. “What exactly did you do? Why was Preston in your car? Where were you two going?” He questioned me over and over again. “Lydia, have all your feelings for me been fake all this time? You’ve been unable to forget him, still harboring feelings for him, right? For your lover, you killed my mother and my child!” My mind was in a fog. I felt helpless. I touched my flat belly and replayed the accident in my mind. The violent impact. The blood. The way it poured down my legs. I couldn’t control it. I didn’t know how to explain Preston’s presence in the car that day to Gideon either. It was only then that I learned Preston was Linda Foster’s illegitimate son, Gideon’s mother. Linda had begged me not to reveal his identity. So I couldn’t speak up. But my prolonged silence was interpreted by Gideon as confirmation. When the doctor said I had injured my uterus and could never bear children again in this lifetime, Gideon became extremely calm. He said. “Lydia, this is what you owe me. You’ll spend your entire life atoning for this.” It was from that moment that we began a cold war that lasted three years. He openly flaunted other women outside. Around that time, explicit photos of him with other women would appear on my phone. I’d occasionally find sexy lingerie left in the corners of the house, clearly worn by someone else. Even my car wasn’t spared. Opening the door, I’d often be hit by a pungent smell. I would always find several torn condom wrappers in Gideon’s coat pockets. I knew this was Gideon’s silent declaration of war against me. Just as Gideon said, this was what I owed him. Only now, he already had a child with another woman. I felt that what I owed him should be paid off soon. On the way home, I made an important decision.

Lydia POV I went to have my identity wiped from the system. In one month, this identity of mine would disappear from the entire world. Everything about me would cease to exist. I would wait until Sophia was three months pregnant, until the baby in her belly was stable, then I would change my identity and leave here to start my new life. I returned home. Every servant looked at me strangely. I vaguely guessed what had happened in my heart. Walking in, I saw all my clothes thrown at the bedroom door like garbage. Gideon had his arm around Sophia’s still-slender waist, saying matter-of-factly. “Sophia is pregnant. I’m not comfortable with her living outside alone.” “The master bedroom is spacious with plenty of sunlight, which is good for pregnant women. So you move out!” I choked up, barely managing to get a word out. “Okay.” After all, in a month, this would be Sophia’s home anyway. But Sophia asked with a smile. “Lydia, you’re not angry, are you?” I lowered my head and said. “No.” Gideon’s expression suddenly changed. He pushed me hard, then kicked my clothes on the ground. His voice was frighteningly cold. “Take your trash and get out!” Immediately the door slammed shut. Then I heard them kissing inside, Sophia’s soft moans drifting out. I just tried hard to control my numb nerves, looking at the scattered clothes on the ground. They still had messy footprints on them. I silently organized my things like picking up garbage. On the other side, the butler kept bringing several people to deliver countless shopping bags for Sophia. “These are all the latest seasonal items from the mall. Mr. Foster had us send them according to your measurements.” Gideon couldn’t wait to move the entire mall home for Sophia. There were people wearing gloves specially organizing these expensive clothes and jewelry for her. “Gideon, you don’t need to spend so much money. In a few months, my belly will get bigger and I won’t be able to wear these anyway.” Sophia pouted, clinging sweetly to Gideon’s arm. “These are nothing. Sophia, you’re carrying my child. Even if you want the stars and moon, I’ll find a way to give them to you.” “Gideon, you’re so good to me.” Separated by a wall, the more I didn’t want to hear, the more their voices drilled into my ears uncontrollably. I sat on the edge of the bed in a daze. Suddenly a roar from Gideon came from the villa. “Lydia!” “Lydia, where are you!” I immediately opened the door and walked out. Shirtless, Gideon opened the master bedroom door, his eyes coldly fixed on me. “We’re out of condoms at home. You go out and buy some!” “Get the most expensive ones, the ultra-thin kind!” My brain went blank for a moment. I didn’t react. What? “Can’t you understand? What are you standing there for?” “I…” I hesitated, then tentatively said, “But she’s pregnant, isn’t she? You can’t do it now, right?” Gideon’s eyes instantly carried a hint of deeper meaning, as if he was sizing me up. He raised an eyebrow and asked. “Lydia, do you care very much?” “Are you worried about her, or are you actually feeling sad too?” Gideon stared directly into my eyes. I understood what he meant and immediately explained. “It’s better to be careful during the first three months of pregnancy.” The air was briefly quiet for a few seconds before Gideon shouted at me again. “I said go buy them, so go buy them! Get out!” The sound of the door slamming made me shiver involuntarily. Half an hour later, I handed the box of condoms I bought back to Gideon. But Gideon wasn’t planning to let me off so easily. He found a random excuse to make me stand outside the door. Inside the door were continuous moans. Outside the door was me, standing there like being pressed on a chopping board and slowly sliced apart. I stood until the sky darkened. My two legs were already stiff and numb before Gideon opened the door. “Clean up inside. The sheets and the clothes all need to be hand-washed.” Gideon instructed me. Sophia’s neck was covered with purple-blue marks, her face still flushed with redness as she looked at me shyly. “Lydia, the servants have rough hands. I’m afraid they’ll ruin the clothes. I can only trouble you. You won’t be angry, will you?” I didn’t speak. Gideon snorted. “She has no right to be angry.” After saying that, he picked up Sophia, and the two sweetly entered the bathroom. Looking at the mess the bed, the carpet, the bay window all marked with traces of intimacy I dug my nails into my palm. I tried to drown the ache in my chest with physical pain, but my heart still throbbed, and I didn’t know how to make it stop. I could only move like a ghost, mechanically stripping the sheets and gathering the clothes to wash. I tried hard to force myself not to recall, but the scene from three years ago of Gideon holding my hand like a treasure kept replaying in my mind. He said then. “Lydia, I will never let these hands do any housework again. I’ll spoil you until the whole world envies you.” But now, he was making me wash another woman’s underwear. Perhaps the promises made when deeply in love were real, but the coldness after falling out of love was also real.

Lydia POV The next few days, I was busy with various procedures for canceling my identity. I left early and returned late every day, trying my best to avoid the two of them. But this evening, when I returned, the dining room was brightly lit. Gideon and Sophia sat properly at the dining table, as if deliberately waiting for me. “You’re finally back. I specially made a table full of dishes today, waiting to eat with you.” Sophia had her signature smile on her face, soft and delicate. I spoke. “I already ate outside. You two go ahead and eat.” But Gideon suddenly slammed the table hard, his voice full of anger. “Sit down! Sophia is pregnant and has been busy all afternoon. Are you going to waste her thoughtfulness like this?” “But I’m really not hungry.” The atmosphere immediately became tense. Gideon walked over and tightly gripped my neck. A strong sense of suffocation came over me. I looked at this magnified face before my eyes, my vision gradually blurring. The man’s bone-chillingly cold voice rang in my ear, carrying undisguised disgust. “Not hungry, huh? Fine, then don’t eat for three days. Let’s see if you get hungry or not.” “Lock her in her room. Without my permission, no one is allowed to let her out!” Gideon pushed me to the ground. Immediately after, the butler brought people to lock me in the room. I sat in a daze for quite a while. I didn’t know when tears started falling, soaking my clothes. The damp fabric clung tightly to my chest, feeling somewhat uncomfortably restrictive. It’s okay. Just three days. After three days, it would only be a few more days until I left. I fell into a drowsy sleep, but suddenly a noisy commotion woke me up. “Oh no, there’s a fire.” “Sophia, don’t be afraid. Nothing will happen. I’ll take you out!” I turned on the light. A pungent smell of smoke drilled in through the door crack. My heart stopped for an instant. I immediately realized this wasn’t a dream-there really was a fire. “Gideon, I think I twisted my ankle. It hurts so much. I can’t walk.” Outside the door, Sophia’s soft, delicate voice with a hint of crying drilled into my ears. “It’s okay, Sophia. I’ll carry you.” “But the fire is getting bigger and bigger.” “It doesn’t matter. I will definitely save you. You’re still carrying our child in your belly. Nothing will happen, Sophia.” Gideon so decisively, so determinedly carried her to escape. The thick smoke choked my tears, making them fall continuously. Gideon, who once regarded me as his life, now when facing danger, had only another woman in his eyes and heart. He didn’t even remember my existence at all. The entire villa was in chaos. Everyone was fleeing for their lives. Locked up, I was completely forgotten here. I tried to forcefully turn the doorknob, but the lock was locked from outside. There was no movement at all. The security window was also welded shut. I couldn’t push it open at all. Watching the fire outside getting bigger and bigger, I felt the temperature of the surrounding air rising with it. The fear in my heart gradually spread. Despair crept into my heart. Perhaps I would die here today. I sighed softly. Maybe this was for the best. If I died, perhaps Gideon wouldn’t hate me anymore. What I owed him could be completely repaid. The room was already filled with thick fog. My head swelled terribly. The strength in my body grew weaker and weaker until I finally collapsed on the ground. My consciousness faded. Gideon, I hope we never meet again in the next life. No love, no entanglement.

Lydia POV Hospital room. In a blur of consciousness, I seemed to hear Gideon’s anxious voice, hoarse. “What’s going on? Didn’t you say the examination showed no problems? Why hasn’t she woken up yet?” The doctor carefully tried to calm the irritated Gideon. “Mr. Foster, please don’t worry. She should wake up soon.” “Soon. I don’t know how you define ‘soon’? She’s been unconscious for a day and a night! I don’t care what methods you use, get her to wake up as soon as possible!” “Yes, Mr. Foster.” My head ached terribly. I slowly opened my eyes, looking at Gideon getting angry outside, and moved my fingers. It seemed I wasn’t dead yet. It seemed Sophia must also have been injured. Otherwise, Gideon wouldn’t be this nervous and angry. “Ma’am, you’re awake!” A nurse immediately ran over. A string of medical staff followed, running in to examine me. Gideon outside the door met my gaze. He first frowned, then immediately showed an expression of disgust. “Lydia, you owe me two lives. Did you think you could just die and escape? Even Satan won’t take you!” Gideon then turned and strode away, unwilling to even look at me one more time. I stared blankly, lowering my eyelids. I felt like my heart had been violently hollowed out, hurting so much I had no feeling left. The doctor told me it was firefighters who arrived in time and rescued me. I had only inhaled a large amount of smoke into my lungs. Fortunately, they rescued me in time, and there were no problems with my body. In the afternoon, after completing the discharge procedures alone, I bought a bouquet of bellflowers at a flower shop and took a taxi to the cemetery. I wanted to see Linda Foster one last time before leaving here, and Preston too. I placed the bellflowers in front of Linda Foster’s grave, looking at the familiar photo on the tombstone. A sense of loss welled up in my heart. “Gideon now has a woman he loves deeply again. They even have a child. I’m leaving.” “I’ll come back to see you when I have the chance in the future. I’m sorry.” After saying this, I walked to Preston’s grave. I had just reached out to brush the dust off Preston’s portrait when I felt a sharp gaze bore into my back. I turned my head and met Gideon’s sharp eyes. Sophia clung to Gideon’s arm. Gideon’s eyes at this moment looked murderous. He stared at me and roared. “Lydia! Just how much do you like him!” “He’s been dead for three years, and you still can’t forget him?” My breath caught in my throat, unable to go up or down. A nerve in my brain was stretched very tight. “I…” I didn’t know how to explain. “Lydia, you’re really devoted!” Gideon’s tone was full of mockery. After a moment, he spoke again in an extremely cold voice. “I’ll have someone move this bastard’s grave far away right now. How dare he be buried so close to my mother! My mother must have no peace! Someone, dig up the grave!” My eyes widened. Horror instantly crawled over every inch of my skin. I grabbed Gideon’s arm, pleading. “You can’t. Gideon, you can’t.” Gideon stared into my eyes. The resentment in his expression grew thicker. He disgustedly shook me off forcefully. “Can’t? If he’s so important to you, then why didn’t you die with him?” Every word in his sentence was like a sharp knife, stabbing viciously into my heart. I finally couldn’t control myself. Tears fell like broken beads. I kept shaking my head. No, Linda Foster would definitely want to be buried with Preston too. Sophia on the side raised her slender eyes, saying lazily. “You look really sad. If you’re willing to kneel down and lick the dust off my shoes clean, I can consider begging Gideon to spare your childhood friend.” My tears froze in my eyes. My knees trembled slightly. Gideon on the side had only coldness in his eyes. I hesitated, slowly kneeling on the ground. My knees knocked against the cold, hard ground, painfully sore. Sophia sneered, triumphantly moving her foot closer to me. A strong sense of humiliation surged into my heart. Just as I was about to touch her shoe, I suddenly felt a sweet liquid surge up in my chest. Immediately after, I uncontrollably vomited a mouthful of fresh blood and fainted on the ground. Blood splattered on Sophia’s shoes and pants. She angrily jumped up. “Gideon, these shoes were a birthday gift from you. This bitch got them dirty. What should I do?” “Don’t be angry. I’ll buy you ten more pairs when we get back.” Gideon didn’t even glance at me lying unconscious on the ground. He gently picked up Sophia and walked out. Only his cold mockery remained in my ears. “Stop pretending! It’s disgusting!”

Lydia POV A kind-hearted passerby sent me to the hospital. After diagnosis, the doctor said it was excessive worry and not eating properly that caused gastric bleeding. I needed to rest well. The hospital tried to contact Gideon several times for me, but when they called, the phone was either hung up directly or they were scolded. “How much did she pay you to act out this drama with her?” “Don’t bother me anymore! It would be best if she died!” I could hear Gideon’s irritated tone very clearly. I took back the phone the nurse handed her and helplessly curved my lips. Over these three years, I knew better than anyone that Gideon hated me to death. He had long wished I would just die. Perhaps if I died, both Gideon and I could be free. I opened my social media app and immediately saw that Sophia had posted several updates showing off their relationship. Accompanied by various happy photos of her and Gideon from different angles. “My favorite man is so good to me, booking an entire floor of the mall just for me.” “My husband knows I like sweets, so he personally made me a cake.” “How can my husband be so handsome? I can never get tired of looking at him. I’m already starting to look forward to what our son will look like. He’ll definitely be as handsome as his father.” My chest felt tight, unbearably so. I knew I shouldn’t hope for anything. I had clearly prepared myself mentally, but when I saw these things, I still couldn’t help feeling heartbroken. I put down my phone, forcing myself not to think about anything related to Gideon. Anyway, it wouldn’t be long before I left. Before going to sleep. I suddenly received a call from Gideon. I instinctively held my breath and answered. “Lydia, what the hell are you up to? I advise you not to be impulsive!” “Where did you take Sophia? If you have a problem, come at me. Don’t touch her, okay?” Gideon’s accusations hit my eardrums. I frowned, hesitating. “What do you mean? I’m at the hospital. Sophia’s situation has nothing to do with me.” “You’re still pretending? Lydia, when exactly did you become like this? You killed my mother, and I still let you sit properly in the position of Mrs. Foster. What more are you dissatisfied with? Don’t you like Preston? What did Sophia do to you that you have to go after her?” I gently rubbed my temple. I understood now. Gideon didn’t believe me. No matter what I said, Gideon firmly believed I was behind it. I took a deep breath. “Sorry, Gideon. I have nothing to say. But I advise you, if something really happened to Sophia, you should go find her as soon as possible instead of wasting time on me!” After saying that, I hung up directly. Gideon kept calling stubbornly. I simply turned off my phone. Half an hour later, Gideon came to the hospital aggressively. “Lydia! How long are you going to keep up this act? I’m giving you one last chance. Where did you hide Sophia? If you dare touch her, I’ll make your life a living hell.” Gideon’s fierce tone didn’t seem fake. I turned over and lay down with my back to Gideon. I didn’t want to say anything more. No matter what I said, Gideon wouldn’t believe it. “Lydia!” But Gideon grabbed my wrist even more angrily. I still had an IV drip in my hand. Gideon used too much force, and the blood at the needle immediately flowed back. Soon, the entire IV bottle turned a shocking pink color. Only then did Gideon awkwardly let go of me. “I said it has nothing to do with me. I didn’t do it. You’re wasting your time here.” “Lydia, I’ll say it again. If you dare harm her in the slightest, I’ll kick you out of the Foster family immediately!” Gideon’s phone rang at the right time. “Mr. Foster, we’ve found Miss Mitchell’s whereabouts.” “Good, I’ll come right away!” Gideon hung up the phone and looked at me with even more coldness in his eyes. “I’ll go save Sophia first. Today’s matter won’t end so easily. Lydia, you will pay for everything you’ve done!” He turned and left. My tears fell the moment he closed the door. My hand was badly swollen, but the pain couldn’t match the stabbing pain in my heart. The Gideon who ignored me for three years never hurt me like this. This Gideon this one who was so sure I was guilty cut deeper than any cold shoulder ever could. I endured the discomfort and browsed airline websites. I wanted to leave here as soon as I was discharged from the hospital. I couldn’t wait anymore. I didn’t want to see Gideon’s icy, emotionless eyes ever again.

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I married into the Miller family in my third year when my husband, Ethan Miller, got into a car accident. His life was saved, but the doctor said he injured his lower body and could no longer have children. When I heard the news, my mind went blank. But Ethan held my hand, his eyes red-rimmed, and comforted me. “Charlotte, it’s okay. At least we already have a daughter. That’s enough.” I nodded. Back then, I thought as long as we were united as a couple, we could get through this hurdle. I never expected that Miranda would start talking behind my back. During the time Ethan came home from the hospital to recuperate, Miranda came over every other day. On the surface, she was visiting her brother, but in reality, she constantly picked at everything I did. While I was cooking in the kitchen, she would pull Ethan into the bedroom and whisper away. “Ethan, now that your body’s like this, you need to watch out for yourself. Look at Charlotte—she walks around with that cold face all day. She’s not caring at all. Does she look like someone taking care of a patient?” Ethan said nothing. Miranda continued, “And who’s managing the money in this house? Don’t be stupid and hand it all over to her. She’s got money but won’t spend it on you, and you’ve still got the rest of your life ahead of you.” The walls were thin. I heard everything. Ethan had been in the hospital after his car accident, and I’d been taking care of him day and night without rest. I paid for all the medical expenses and supplements. How dare she spin it like this? After Miranda left, I couldn’t hold back. I confronted Ethan. “What did Miranda just say to you?” Ethan’s eyes darted away. He wouldn’t look at me. “Nothing… nothing really. Miranda’s just concerned about me. She was asking casually.” “Asking casually? She’s guarding against me like I’m some kind of thief!” “Don’t overthink it. She’s my sister. Would she really harm me?” He refused to explain further. That weekend when I went back to my parents’ house, I told them about it. My mom tried to calm me down. “Charlotte, sweetie, sisters-in-law have always been natural enemies. Ethan’s been through something so terrible. She’s anxious, so it’s normal for her to say some harsh things.” My dad chimed in too. “That’s right. As long as she doesn’t actually do anything bad, just turn a blind eye and pretend you don’t know. You’re living your life with Ethan, not her. Don’t let outsiders damage your marriage.” After hearing my parents’ advice, I sighed. Fine. I’d endure it. As long as she didn’t do anything truly harmful, I’d pretend I hadn’t heard anything. But Miranda only grew bolder.

After Ethan came home from the hospital, Miranda visited even more frequently. Before, she came once a week. Now it was three times a week. She used to at least bring something—fruit, milk—nothing expensive, but it was a gesture. Now? She showed up empty-handed. The moment she walked in, she’d open the fridge, grab a couple of drinks, a handful of snacks, and stuff them into the big canvas bag she brought. When she left, the bag would be bulging. Once, I’d bought a new dress for Emma and left it on the sofa before I could put it away. Miranda picked it up, looked it over twice, and stuffed it straight into her bag. “Emma will outgrow this dress in two months anyway. I’ll take it back for my neighbor’s daughter. No point wasting it.” I opened my mouth to object, but Ethan said softly, “It’s just one dress. Don’t make a fuss.” I swallowed my words. That night after Emma fell asleep, I mentioned it to Ethan. “Miranda’s coming over way too often now. Every time she comes, she takes things from our house. This isn’t a supermarket.” Ethan sighed. “My sister practically raised me from childhood. She dropped out of middle school to work and put me through college. She sacrificed a lot for this family. Now that I’m doing well, she takes a few things—don’t be so petty about it.” I looked at him and said nothing more. For the sake of family harmony, I endured it. Until one afternoon, I was hanging laundry on the balcony when I heard Miranda whispering with Ethan again. “Ethan, how much money do you actually have on hand right now?” “Miranda, why are you asking?” “Who else should I ask? Leo’s old enough now. He needs to start preschool. You know that experimental kindergarten—you can’t get in without connections. Just the bribes alone will cost tens of thousands.” Ethan said nothing. Miranda continued, “And I ride my bicycle to pick up Leo every day. The kindergarten is so far from home. When it’s windy or rainy, the kid suffers. I want to buy a car. Nothing fancy—just a ten-thousand-dollar commuter car.” “Miranda, I can’t come up with that kind of money. Most of the accident compensation went to medical treatment.” Miranda lowered her voice. “You don’t have money, but your wife does. Her family’s better off than ours. Her parents even paid the down payment when you got married. You two are husband and wife—one unit. What’s wrong with using some of her money? She’s not a stranger.” I deliberately coughed—loud enough to carry into the bedroom but not too loud. Miranda immediately went silent. After a few seconds, she came out of the bedroom and walked toward the balcony. She saw me standing by the drying rack. I stared at her. She rolled her eyes, said nothing, turned around, grabbed her canvas bag, and left. That night after Emma fell asleep, I sat on the edge of the bed and asked Ethan. “What did Miranda say to you this afternoon? Something about connections and buying a car—where exactly are you planning to get that money?” Ethan rubbed his hands together. It took him a long time to speak. “Her husband’s been losing money in business lately. She’s tight on cash, so she wanted to borrow some from me.” “Borrow? What she’s asking for isn’t a small amount. Tens of thousands for kindergarten bribes, ten thousand for a car—you call that borrowing?” “She was just talking…” “She said you should spend my money. Was that ‘just talking’ too?” Ethan fell silent. I looked at him. “Ethan, our daughter will start preschool soon too. And then elementary school, middle school—everything costs money. We need to save for our child.” He still said nothing. He turned over and faced away from me. I lay in bed staring at the ceiling, thinking for a long time. Miranda’s appetite was growing bigger and bigger. From taking snacks and dresses to asking for tens of thousands. What exactly did she want? From that day on, I started paying attention to Miranda’s every move.

I never imagined Miranda could be so shameless. On May Day, I was at home playing with Emma when my phone suddenly buzzed. It was a text from the bank. The supplementary card I’d set up for Ethan—one transaction, one hundred thousand dollars. Recipient: National Life Insurance Company. I stared at the screen for several seconds. One hundred thousand? Insurance? Ethan had left that morning saying he was going to visit Miranda. He hadn’t mentioned anything to me. My first thought was that after his car accident, he might be feeling anxious and wanted more protection for himself and the family. Buying insurance wasn’t a bad thing, but one hundred thousand wasn’t a small amount. How could he not even discuss it with me first? I called the insurance company’s customer service. “Hello, I’d like to inquire about a policy purchased this morning. The policyholder is Ethan Miller.” After verifying my identity, the representative told me: “This policy is an accident insurance policy. Policyholder: Ethan Miller. Insured: Ethan Miller. Coverage amount: five hundred thousand dollars.” “Who’s the beneficiary?” “The beneficiary listed is Leo Jackson.” Leo Jackson. Leo. Miranda’s son. My grip on the phone tightened instantly. “Who came in person to process the policy?” “The system shows the policyholder came in person. One accompanying person was registered—Ms. Miranda Miller.” I hung up and sat motionless on the sofa. Emma came over with her toys. “Mommy, look—a castle.” I absentmindedly patted her head. “That’s great, sweetie.” Around four o’clock that afternoon, Ethan came home. I handed him my phone with the bank text displayed. “One hundred thousand dollars. Insurance company. Explain.” His face stiffened. He took the phone, glanced at it, and put it down. “I was just helping my brother-in-law meet his quota. He’s been selling insurance part-time lately. His company has performance targets. If he doesn’t bring in enough business, they dock his pay. I was just helping him out.” “Helping him out costs one hundred thousand?” “It’s a dividend policy. It’s not wasted money. When I reach retirement age, I can get all the principal back, plus annual dividends.” He spoke haltingly, his eyes constantly drifting to the side. “Then why is Leo listed as the beneficiary?” “Well, it’s accident insurance. It only pays out if something happens. I’m not unlucky enough to keep having accidents, am I? The beneficiary doesn’t really matter—I’ll never need to use it. My brother-in-law said putting Leo’s name makes it easier to process through the system.” “Why not Emma? Why not me? Why does it have to be your nephew?” He opened his mouth but couldn’t answer. I stared at him for a long moment. He turned his head away. I didn’t press further. Even if I kept asking, he’d just keep using the same excuses. I remembered what Miranda had said in the bedroom last time, lowering her voice: “You don’t have money, but your wife does.” One hundred thousand dollars—spent just like that. Spent on a policy with his nephew listed as the beneficiary. Before Ethan’s car accident, Miranda wasn’t warm to me, but she’d never done anything too outrageous either. From the moment Ethan had his accident, she completely changed. She became entitled. She became insatiable. Now I understood why she’d changed. Because of money. Ethan could no longer have children. He only had Emma, a daughter. In Miranda’s eyes, this family would eventually have no male heir. Eventually, this money would have no one to spend it. Rather than let it go to outsiders, why not take it herself? She wasn’t targeting me personally—she was targeting our family’s money.

Since she was after our family’s money, I couldn’t keep turning a blind eye. I decided to go to Miranda’s neighborhood and ask around. Miranda lived in the Maplewood Estates complex on the east side of town. An old complex where residents ran into each other constantly. Nothing stayed secret. I went on a weekday morning and sat near the entrance for a while. Several elderly ladies were sunbathing outside, chatting animatedly. I struck up a conversation, saying I was Miranda’s cousin. “Miranda? She’s not home. Probably out shopping again.” A woman with permed hair was very friendly. “Are you looking for her?” “Nothing urgent. I just heard she’s been doing well lately. Thought I’d come see her.” “Doing well? That’s an understatement!” A plump woman nearby jumped in. “She’s been living large lately. A while back, she bought a gold necklace—thick one too—and parades around the complex with it. Last month she bought several new outfits. Said they were some brand name. Not cheap, anyway.” Another woman joined in: “And that’s not all. Just the other day she told me she’s planning to buy three properties all at once. Said Ethan’s paying for them.” My heart dropped. Three properties? “Her brother’s that rich?” a short-haired woman asked. “She said her brother got into a car accident and received a huge settlement, plus what he’d saved over the years. It’s quite a lot.” I gripped my bag tighter, trying to keep my voice calm. “Doesn’t her sister-in-law have a say in buying properties?” “Sister-in-law?” The short-haired woman curled her lip, lowering her voice with a gossipy expression. “Miranda said her sister-in-law isn’t clean. She’s been cheating.” My blood ran cold. “She said her brother only has one daughter—just a worthless little girl. The kid looks less and less like her father as she grows. Right now she’s young enough to fool people, but when she gets older, anyone with eyes will see she’s not his biological child.” The woman next to her added fuel to the fire: “That’s right, that’s right. Miranda also said that once her brother figures it out, he’ll kick that woman out sooner or later. Then the family assets will go to her son, and her brother won’t be deceived anymore.” My nails dug into my palms. I circled the complex again, asking several groups of people. The convenience store owner, the vegetable seller at the market—everyone said roughly the same thing. Miranda was spreading rumors all over that I was cheating. That my daughter was illegitimate. That I should leave with nothing. That her son Leo would inherit all our family assets. She painted me as promiscuous and my daughter as worthless. And these rumors spread through the complex like wildfire, known by everyone. When I walked out of the complex gates, I was so angry my legs felt weak. I sat on a bench by the roadside for a long time, my heart pounding, my chest tight. I’d endured for so long, given in again and again, and she just kept pushing, bullying me to death. I pulled out my phone and scrolled through my contacts to find a name—Sarah Collins, a college classmate who worked as a family law attorney at a local firm. When she answered, I didn’t bother with pleasantries. “Sarah, I want to consult about divorce.” There was a pause on the other end. “Are you serious?” “I’m serious.” “Alright. Tell me the situation.” I took a deep breath and told her everything from start to finish. After hearing it all, Sarah told me to first get clear on the property situation—insurance policies, savings, real estate—go through everything. Regarding whether Emma was Ethan’s biological child, Sarah told me the most powerful evidence would be a paternity test.

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On April Fool’s Day, my supervisor suddenly posted an announcement in the company group chat. “Our new intern, Hazel Matthews, is treating us all to dinner at the new restaurant!” I was too busy to notice the messages in the group chat. It wasn’t until a bunch of people frantically tagged me to pay the bill that I realized they had racked up fifty thousand dollars at the restaurant. After I sent back a question mark, the supervisor replied dismissively. “It’s April Fool’s Day. I was just joking around. Who knew everyone would take it seriously?” “Besides, you’re just a little intern. Isn’t it normal for someone new to treat everyone to a meal? Everyone else has done it. Why should you be any different?” What she didn’t know was that I wasn’t an intern, but a top-level developer that Mr. Wilson had earnestly invited to join the company. Looking at her message, I didn’t bother arguing. Instead, I replied directly. “Since the supervisor said this was an April Fool’s joke, I won’t take it seriously.” “I won’t be going to tonight’s gathering. Have fun, everyone.”

After sending that, I ignored the supervisor’s bombardment of phone calls and turned off my phone. The next day, Lily Cooper came over to my desk and slammed her hand down so hard the whole thing shook. “Who gave you the nerve to turn off your phone? You said you’d treat everyone to dinner. What’s the meaning of this?” “Everyone treated people when they were interns. Are you trying to be special?” “Or do you want us seniors to pay?” The surrounding colleagues became restless when they heard this. Splitting fifty thousand dollars wasn’t as simple as a few hundred bucks each. “Hazel, what do you mean by this? Coming in on your first day trying to shake up the workplace and intimidate us?” “That’s right. Everyone else treated people, so why shouldn’t you? With this attitude, you still want to become a full-time employee?” “Today you’re paying no matter what, or you can pack up and get out!” I calmly turned on my computer and poured myself some water. “Lily, you were the one who said you’d treat everyone to dinner, not me.” “Besides, you said yourself it was an April Fool’s joke. Of course jokes shouldn’t be taken seriously.” “And when did I ever say I was an intern?” When the others heard this, they all burst out laughing. “You’re pretty confident, aren’t you? One day here and you already think you’re a full-time employee?” “If you’re not an intern, what are you? Don’t tell me you think you’re that tech expert the company hired.” “That person doesn’t arrive for another week. You should’ve drafted your lies better before bluffing.” Everyone laughed uproariously. I didn’t continue to engage with them but turned and went into the break room. Ten minutes later, a message came through SnapChat. “You have been removed from the Cloud Technology Department group.” Shortly after, I saw a post on Lily’s timeline. “Some people at this company are really something. Just got here and already acting like they own the place, trying to pull that Gen Z workplace revolution nonsense. Too bad you ran into me. Don’t expect any good days at this company from now on.” All the surrounding colleagues were cheering her on in the comments. I gave her post a like and left the break room. When I tried to return to my desk, I froze. My original workspace was piled high with junk, and my belongings had all been thrown by the bathroom door like garbage. Next to it sat a wobbly wooden table without even a chair. Seeing me standing there dazed, Lily laughed smugly. “Hazel, we have too much stuff with nowhere to put it, so we’re borrowing your spot for a bit.” “You’ll be leaving soon anyway, so you don’t mind, right?” I shrugged indifferently and walked forward, sweeping all the junk they had piled onto my desk onto the floor. Various items clattered to the ground. Lily’s eyes went wide, her face flushing red with anger. She tried to push me, but I grabbed her wrist firmly. “How long I stay here is my business. Mind your own.” After saying that, I acted as if nothing had happened and reorganized my belongings. After settling back down, Mr. Wilson sent me a message. “Ms. Matthews, you arrived early without telling me. I’m still abroad, but I’m heading back now.” “Please forgive the poor reception. I’ll have someone arrange a private office for you right away.” Looking at Lily’s resentful gaze, I messaged back. “You’re too kind, Mr. Wilson. Let’s discuss the office later.” “I’m fine out here. It’s a good chance to get to know my new colleagues better.”

At noon when I returned to the office, everyone in the tech department was missing except me. I didn’t bother wondering what they were doing but plugged in my USB drive and started working on the project. It wasn’t until nearly quitting time that they all shuffled back in, pushing and shoving each other. Lily walked over to my desk nonchalantly and tapped on it. “Hazel, you finished what I assigned you, right?” Before I could answer, she looked at me with exaggerated surprise. “You didn’t spend the whole afternoon doing nothing, did you?” “What’s this on your computer screen? This isn’t one of our company’s projects at all.” Before I could respond, she reached forward and yanked out my USB drive. “Doing other work on company time, and who knows which company it’s even for.” “I think you’re a spy sent by another company.” “If you want your USB drive back and don’t want others to know about this, hand over that fifty thousand.” Watching her smooth sequence of actions, I understood. She had intended to deliberately ignore me, then threaten me under the pretense that I wasn’t working during office hours. She just hadn’t expected to stumble upon my project content. I said coldly, “Return the USB drive to me now, and there’s still room to salvage this.” Lily burst into laughter after hearing this, her face full of disdain. “Now you’re threatening me?” “I’m giving you three days to pay up, or pack your things and leave.” After saying this, without waiting for my reaction, she pressed the shutdown button on my computer. All the data I hadn’t saved yet vanished. My chest heated with anger. I stood up and looked directly into her eyes. “First, I have no obligation to pay that money. Second, you made me lose this afternoon’s work data. If anyone should be compensating anyone, it’s you compensating me.” Lily’s eyes looked like they were about to shoot fire. She immediately called HR. “This intern is completely out of control! Not only does she owe me fifty thousand and refuse to pay, she keeps talking back in front of everyone.” “Fire this intern immediately!” The person on the other end was silent for a moment, then spoke with some confusion. “Intern? We haven’t had any interns join the company recently.” The call was on speakerphone, and everyone present froze in place. Someone nearby seemed to suddenly realize something and grabbed Lily in panic. “She’s not that tech expert the company invited, is she…” Lily’s face instantly went pale, her lips trembling slightly. The person on the other end of the line continued. “Probably not. If it were that expert, they would’ve already told me to open the door to that office.” Hearing this, the group slowly relaxed. “So she’s just some useless person who got in through connections. Just delete this Hazel Matthews’s information from the system. If there’s a problem, it’s on me.” “In all my years as supervisor, what I hate most are people who use backdoor connections.” What they didn’t know was that to keep me, Mr. Wilson had already entered my information into the system early on. That was why HR didn’t know about it. Lily looked at me, her expression somewhat twisted. “This is what happens when you go against me. I’m giving you two choices now. Either give me the fifty thousand and I can pretend none of this happened. Or tomorrow I’ll make sure you can’t even get through the company doors.” As the clock hand pointed to six, I picked up my bag and stood up. “I won’t be giving you that fifty thousand.” “But I’m warning you, don’t lose that USB drive, or the consequences will be serious.” After saying that, ignoring her curses, I walked out the door.

The next morning when I tried to scan my face at the entrance, the turnstile didn’t open. I tried again, and the turnstile’s alarm blared throughout the entire lobby. It wasn’t until I called her for the third time that she finally answered leisurely. “I told you yesterday, you’ve been fired.” “The stuff from your desk is at the entrance.” Only then did I notice that the pile of garbage at the entrance was my personal belongings. My cup, desk ornaments, picture frames—all smashed to pieces. Even my laptop screen was cracked beyond recognition. But I didn’t care about any of that. I kept searching frantically. “Where’s the USB drive?” I called her again. “You still have the nerve to ask me for the USB drive? Secretly doing another company’s project during work hours—this proves you’re a spy!” “I’ve already published the project from your USB drive. This is a warning to you and the company behind you. Next time won’t be this simple!” Before I could speak, she hung up. Three minutes later, she sent me a video. In the video, my USB drive was crushed to pieces under her high heels. “That’s what you get for using connections to be a corporate spy. Just wait to be fired by your company.” I didn’t bother explaining anymore. The project was already published. No amount of explanation would help now. I cleaned up the debris on the ground and went home. As soon as I got home, I saw a post. “Our department got a spy from another company. I caught her secretly writing projects for another company. Don’t let me find out which company it is!” The post already had high engagement, with comments continuously increasing. “Wow, the underlying code is directly published. The whole project is leaked.” “This concept is pretty good. Anyone who wants to do it should hurry!” “This loss is no small matter. This spy is probably screwed.” Seeing the comments, Lily was extremely smug. She kept clamoring. “That’s right, I had to teach her a lesson!” I exited the app and sighed. Looking at Mr. Wilson’s concerned message from ten minutes ago, I replied. “I’m sorry, Mr. Wilson. I’ve been fired by your employee.” “The project you assigned me will probably have to be put on hold.” “Please decide how to handle this.” Mr. Wilson’s response came instantly, and he even anxiously called me. “Ms. Matthews, I’m truly sorry. I’m already on my way back. Can you tell me what happened?” “Please give me a chance, give Cloud Technology a chance. I will definitely give you a satisfactory resolution to this matter. Would that be acceptable?” Hearing his sincere tone, I could only agree. “Mr. Wilson, let’s talk when you arrive. Don’t disappoint me.”

As soon as Mr. Wilson got off the plane, he immediately messaged me. After I briefly replied, I went to the company to wait for him. Mr. Wilson worked quickly. The company system had already re-entered my information. Seeing me return, everyone looked shocked. Lily blocked my path. “What, you’ve come to pay back the money?” Seeing I didn’t speak, she gritted her teeth. “Fine, if you don’t want to pay, I have plenty of ways to make you pay!” She pulled out her phone and started a live stream. “Come, let everyone see. This is the privileged princess who got into our company through connections. She’s probably some little executive’s mistress!” “First thing she does is scam me out of fifty thousand, then she openly does other companies’ projects during work hours! Disrupting the whole company!” “This person is named Hazel Matthews. Everyone remember that. All companies, avoid her like the plague!” Before this, I had always used an alias in my team. Very few people knew my real name. They were no exception. The number of viewers in the live stream grew rapidly. Comments kept scrolling. “Mistresses these days are so shameless? Not ashamed but proud?” “Hilarious. One look at her face tells you she has no real skills, just used that face to sleep her way into the company.” “All HR departments, remember this person’s name and face, so you don’t accidentally hire her!” Seeing the comments’ direction, Lily got carried away and shoved the phone in my face. “Lily, making false accusations carries legal consequences.” “Everything I said is true, right?” She looked at the other people in the office. Everyone nodded in agreement. I lost my patience and called Mr. Wilson. “Mr. Wilson, when will you arrive?” Lily stepped forward and knocked my phone to the ground. “Still putting on an act? Who are you trying to scare?” As she spoke, she stomped hard on my phone. “Today I’m going to see justice done. So tell me, whose mistress are you?” Just then, the office door was kicked open. Mr. Wilson, covered in sweat, rushed in. Lily smiled and sidled up to him. “Mr. Wilson, perfect timing. Our company doesn’t allow backdoor connections. Look, I caught someone red-handed for you!” But Mr. Wilson was furious. He stepped forward and roughly shoved her aside. “You blind fool!” Then Mr. Wilson turned around, smiling apologetically as he extended his hand to me. “Ms. Matthews, I’m truly sorry. We’ve wronged you.”

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My billionaire husband, Finley Anderson, spent tens of millions on an art graduation exhibition for the college student he’d been sponsoring for two years, yet refused to pay twenty thousand dollars for our son’s medical treatment. After our son died of severe diarrhea and dehydration right before my eyes, I handed him divorce papers with a heart full of despair. When he saw the death certificate attached to the papers, Finley couldn’t help but let out a laugh: “Sorry, I never thought diarrhea could actually kill someone.” “I know you’re upset, but it’s okay. Lily’s due in three days.” “After sponsoring her all this time, she’s very understanding and grateful. I’ve already discussed it with her—once the baby’s born, we’ll bring it over for you to raise. You can just focus on being Mrs. Anderson. But there’s one condition: you have to let Lily visit the child regularly.” “No need,” I said with a self-deprecating smile. “I only want a divorce.” After failing to get money from Finley, I sold the engagement ring he’d once paid a fortune to create for me—sold it for next to nothing. Clutching the cash, I rushed back to the hospital. Through the long corridor, I could hear the sharp, piercing sound of medical equipment from the room at the far end. Then, seconds later, the world went silent, as if someone had pressed pause. “I’m sorry, Ms. Lane. Please accept our condolences…” “Actually, if you’d been able to pay the medical fees a few days earlier so we could administer medication, this wouldn’t have happened.” “Hospital policy states that without timely payment from the patient or their family, we cannot provide medication. I’m truly sorry, Ms. Lane. We did everything we could. Please accept our condolences…” I opened my mouth, but my throat felt like it was stuffed with cotton-wrapped razor blades—choking and painful. I dragged my heavy legs to the bedside. I didn’t know how to face my son’s death. Just this morning, the child lying in this bed had managed to smile and call me “Mom.” The TV on the white wall flickered for a moment. When the signal returned, Finley’s face appeared on the screen. He was smiling. The man who was usually so cold to outsiders now stood behind his sponsored college student, warmly greeting every guest at the exhibition. Some bold person didn’t hesitate to gossip about their relationship right in front of the media bloggers’ cameras: “With my years of experience as a matchmaker, I’d say Mr. Anderson and our painter Ms. Dixon aren’t just sponsor and sponsored, are they?” “Come on, spill it! Are you two tying the knot soon?” Lily Dixon blushed shyly under everyone’s teasing, her eyes constantly falling on Finley with a gaze full of love and bashfulness. He didn’t refute these comments. From the smile at the corner of his mouth, you could tell he was happy. “But isn’t Mr. Anderson married? His kid’s already five years old. Has Mr. Anderson divorced and just not announced it?” Everyone present fell silent for a few seconds. The person who’d asked shrank back into the crowd, not daring to speak again. Lily’s eyes reddened with embarrassment in front of the camera. She turned to ask the man timidly: “Finley, why didn’t your wife come to the exhibition? Is she still angry about what happened at the auction?” “Should I… go apologize to her again?” Without any hesitation, Finley refused. “No need.” “I’ve spoiled her so much she’s become petty. It was just a set of rare jewelry, yet she actually attacked you over it. Since she’s become so obsessed with money and material things, I won’t give her a single penny to spend. Can’t let that slap you took go unpunished.” “Seeing her take out her frustrations on you just irritates me.” This protective tone made everyone certain of the marital troubles between Finley and me, and also led most people to believe I was the one at fault for the relationship going bad.

“Mrs. Anderson must be such a petty person. Being with someone like that must be exhausting. No wonder Mr. Anderson’s affections shifted.” “Let’s set that aside for now—don’t they have a child? If they really divorce, what about the kid? If Mr. Anderson and Ms. Dixon continue to develop their relationship, they’ll definitely get married eventually. Being a stepmother in a wealthy family won’t be easy.” My heart felt like it was being fried in oil, flipped over and over thousands of times. I could no longer tell if there was more sadness or more anger in my chest. The air conditioning in the hospital room was set very low. Countless threads of cold air drilled relentlessly into my body. I shivered and couldn’t help but remind the family member at the next bed: “Could you please turn up the temperature? My child has severe diarrhea and can’t catch a chill.” I don’t know how much time passed, but that cold air kept drilling into the depths of my heart. I looked up somewhat impatiently, only to meet the horrified eyes of a nurse. “Ms… Ms. Lane, normally family members can’t stay in the morgue for more than fifteen minutes, but you’ve been here for half the afternoon. Please leave now. The director has been urging you to sign the medical death certificate. And what about the child’s father? He’s never shown up. Now that the child is gone, he should at least make an appearance. You should contact him as soon as possible.” My head exploded. I finally came to my senses and stumbled to my feet, heading out. The process of handling the death certificate was quick. In less than two hours, I stood in the cold wind, hands trembling as I called the funeral home. After that, I called Finley over thirty times. As expected, all went unanswered. Leaning against the cold tiles, I kept laughing at myself in my heart. The funeral home staff came to collect our son before the hospital director got off work. Along the way, I lost count of how many times I cried myself unconscious. After arriving at the funeral home, the staff immediately took our son to the cold storage room, then gently instructed me to go home and bring his favorite clothes for him to change into. To leave this world clean and neat. That’s right. Our son was just like Finley—both had obsessive cleanliness. “After the deceased’s body arrives at the funeral home, it usually must be cremated within 72 hours. But if the family requests, we can extend the cremation time—three days, five days, or seven days. Do you need that?” I reached out to touch our son’s face, which had no warmth left. “Three days.” …… It was already late at night when I made it home in a daze. Seeing me, the smile in Finley’s eyes faded. “Why are you back so late? Is Asher feeling better? Lily heard he’s been having diarrhea and was so worried. She specifically asked me to bring back two boxes of anti-diarrheal medicine.” I dodged to avoid the medicine he handed me. After seeing the date on the box clearly, I let out a cold laugh, and tears flowed uncontrollably again. “Expired medicine. Who’s she trying to poison?” Finley’s expression froze on his face. The side showing the production date turned over, and then a flash of impatience crossed his face. “Lily just didn’t notice, that’s all. Can’t you speak without being so sarcastic? You know pregnant women need to be careful with medication. She’s just a girl in her twenties—how can she keep track of everything?” “And why didn’t you come to Lily’s art exhibition today? I told you days ago how important this exhibition was. Did you have to cause trouble on this particular day?” He instinctively defended Lily by scolding me. I don’t know when he started being able to completely ignore my red-rimmed eyes. “Do you still remember your original intention for sponsoring Lily?” Finley froze. The scolding words were all swallowed back.

“You’ve forgotten, haven’t you?” “Do you still remember when your relationship with her started to change?” I looked at him calmly. “Do you remember what you said to me after I caught you two after your reckless night together?” The living room fell silent. The faint scent of vetiver in the air pulled both Finley’s and my thoughts back to the past. Lily was a college student Finley brought back from a business trip to a remote area two years ago. At that time, she was angry about her family wanting to marry her off to the neighboring village chief’s son and resenting her fate. She tearfully complained about how difficult it had been to stay in school and accused her parents of favoritism. The determination in her expression moved Finley. The billionaire CEO decided to sponsor her, so he brought her back and arranged for her to attend a prestigious university not far from the Anderson estate. He bought her a house, a luxury car for transportation, and gave her a black card as spending money. Gradually, Finley grew closer to her and more distant from me. He even became completely indifferent to our son. Finally, one night when he was working late, Finley came home to the wrong place. After I discovered them, he knelt on the ground, constantly pulling my hand to hit his face. “I’m sorry, Alana. It’s my fault. I had too much to drink at the business dinner. She was forced by me…” “I promise this is the only time. I won’t see her anymore. After she graduates, I’ll stop sponsoring her.” Then Lily got pregnant. A mocking smile tugged at my lips. “Finley, can you tell me—you slept with her once a year ago, so why is she eight months pregnant now? Has there been some new medical research showing that ovarian fertilization can be delayed by two to four months?” “Enough!” Faced with my questioning, Finley’s expression darkened. “I’ll explain all this to you later.” “Where’s Asher? Why didn’t you bring him back? It’s just diarrhea. Does he really need to stay at the hospital this long?” Thinking of our son, my heart felt like it was being pounded by thousands of iron hammers. I pulled out the death certificate and divorce papers from my bag, folded neatly. All strength left my body as I sat in the entryway, my face full of despair. “Three days from now, cremation.” “Find time to come see him with me, and let’s get the divorce finalized.” Taking the certificate and papers, Finley’s scrutinizing gaze fell on me. Suddenly, he couldn’t help but laugh. “What a coincidence with the timing, huh?” He let go, and the certificate and papers fell at my feet. “Sorry, I never thought diarrhea could actually kill someone.” “I know you’re upset, but it’s okay. Lily’s due in three days.” “After sponsoring her all this time, she’s very understanding and grateful. I’ve already discussed it with her—once the baby’s born, we’ll bring it over for you to raise. You can just focus on being Mrs. Anderson. But there’s one condition: you have to let Lily visit the child regularly.” I froze, turning to look at him in disbelief. “Finley Anderson! Saying something like that—are you even human?!” My voice was loud enough to wake Lily, who’d been sleeping in the bedroom. Finley glanced at me, his eyes full of disapproval. “Keep it down. Lily’s taking an afternoon nap with the baby.” A crisp slap rang out. Finley’s face turned to the side. He turned back, his eyes full of coldness. “Feel better now?” “Don’t make jokes like that again. Who ever died from diarrhea? Making jokes about Asher like this—aren’t you afraid he’ll learn bad habits from you?” So he didn’t believe the death certificate. A wave of exhaustion washed over me. I picked up the divorce papers and signed my name.

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My sister Nina came home from a blind date and slammed the door, absolutely furious. “What trash! His salary isn’t even half of mine, and he had the nerve to tell me to stay local, get married this year, and have a baby next year. Going on a blind date with that kind of loser was absolutely disgusting!” Mom and Dad rushed over to comfort her. “We won’t set up any more meetings. That matchmaker has no standards, only introducing you to complete losers.” I stared at the gift box by the door and added quietly, “He was actually pretty nice. He just gave you a ride home and even brought gifts for the whole family.” Nina’s eyes flickered, and she suddenly laughed. “What? You interested in him?” She looked me up and down, her tone dripping with contempt. “Makes sense. You’re inferior to me in every way. A man like that is more than good enough for you.” She waved her hand impatiently. “You want him? Take him. I have zero interest in the kind of dead-end life you get stuck in after marrying someone in a small Southern town anyway.” I quietly added the contact information she pushed my way. I didn’t dare mention that when the man drove her home earlier, he was driving our company president’s car. And as far as I knew, his family owned over thirty properties in this small town alone.

Nina’s anger hadn’t subsided when her phone rang. After replying to the message, her expression grew even darker. “So annoying! He asked me to see a movie tomorrow. I said no, but he still won’t give up!” Mom quickly tried to persuade her. “Nina, don’t reject him outright.” “In a small place like ours, everyone knows everyone. If you shut him down today, tomorrow people will start gossiping, saying you think you’re too good for locals just because you work in New York.” Dad nodded along. “Exactly. Relationships are complicated around here. Who knows what relatives or friends his family knows? If you offend someone, it’ll be inconvenient whenever you come back to handle things.” Nina glanced at me, her tone patronizing. “Sarah, you go tomorrow instead.” “Just help me deal with him. Don’t mess it up.” I didn’t argue. I just nodded silently. No one asked if I was willing. In this family, I’d never had the right to say “no.” To avoid messing up, I stayed up all night researching the movie Rowan had suggested. The plot, the hidden meanings, the director’s filming techniques—I filled an entire page with notes. The next day when we met, Rowan was clearly surprised to see me. I explained, “Nina had something come up at the last minute. She asked me to apologize on her behalf.” Then I casually mentioned a couple things about the movie. His eyes lit up. “Since you understand film too, Miss Snow, the tickets are already bought. Let’s not waste them.” After the movie, he discussed it with me enthusiastically for quite a while. Dinner was his treat. It was relaxed throughout. None of the sleazy preaching Nina had described. Instead, he was very considerate, proactively serving me food and asking if everything was to my taste. After dinner, he suddenly led me into a nearby jewelry store and picked out two necklaces. Seeing the nearly thirty-thousand-dollar price tag, I froze and quickly tried to decline. He smiled and shook his head, paying for them. “Last time I brought gifts in such a rush, I didn’t have time to prepare something individual for you and your sister. You keep this one, and please give her the other as an apology from me.” I accepted the pendant, understanding in my heart that he still cared about Nina. After all, Nina was beautiful and an HR manager at a publicly traded company—a top student. As for me, I was decent-looking at best. Thoroughly ordinary. But I had no intention of giving the pendant to Nina just yet. When I got home, Nina glanced at my hands and snorted. “Oh, he didn’t buy you anything? I told you he was poor and cheap. Takes you out and doesn’t even know how to be generous.” I ignored her and went back to my room to put away the pendant hidden in my bag. I’d just sat down when SnapChat popped up a notification—Rowan had accepted my friend request from last night. I touched up my makeup, put on the pendant, took a photo, and posted it to my feed. Less than two minutes later, Rowan liked it. Outside my room, Nina’s complaints continued. “Thank god I sent Sarah instead. Otherwise he would’ve annoyed me to death. That broke loser actually thought he could chase me. He should take a good look at whether he’s even worthy.” Mom and Dad chimed in their agreement. “Exactly. Nina’s so outstanding, she’ll definitely find someone better in the future.” “I think we should just let Sarah handle these things from now on.” I leaned against the door, feeling nothing in my heart. I’d gotten used to it long ago.

Mom and Dad didn’t use birth control back then and had me by accident. They always felt guilty toward Nina, who should have been an only child. From childhood they told me, “Sarah, don’t compete with Nina. She’s your older sister. You need to defer to her.” Nina took all kinds of enrichment classes growing up—music, chess, calligraphy, painting—she excelled at everything. When I wanted to buy a practice workbook, Mom scolded me for “wasting money.” Nina had a high-paying job in New York, and Mom and Dad secretly supplemented her income with five thousand dollars every month. When I wanted to venture out and see the world, I secretly bought a ticket, but Mom and Dad tore it to pieces. That night, I overheard them discussing in their room: “Nina will get married eventually. We can’t burden her. Sarah’s obedient. Having her take care of us when we’re old will be enough.” In their eyes, Nina was always precious. And me? I was just there to shield Nina from trouble and grievances. A week later, Rowan asked Nina to go hiking. Without a second thought, she refused and pushed me out instead. “Sarah, you go again. Tell him I’m busy with work.” As always, I didn’t argue. I changed into athletic wear and went to the date. While hiking, I walked at a steady pace and would wait for Rowan when he fell behind. I handed him water and helped wipe his sweat. When we reached difficult sections, I’d remind him to be careful. The whole thing was relaxed. I didn’t deliberately try to please him—just did what felt natural. When we reached the summit, Rowan suddenly spoke. “Your sister said she’s busy, but she really just looks down on me, right?” My heart tightened. I was about to explain when he smiled. “I could tell something was off at our first meeting. Today’s hike confirmed it.” “Nina has never given me a kind look, much less been as patient and genuine as you. I won’t force her anymore.” He paused, his gaze becoming especially serious. “Sarah, you’re special. Want to try being together?” “Rowan and I are together now.” When I told Nina, I also took out the gold necklace from last time and gave it to her. “This is for you. Consider it thanks for letting me go on those dates.” Nina clutched the pendant, her brow furrowed, her eyes full of suspicion. “You take home five thousand a month and have to give Mom and Dad three thousand. How can you suddenly afford something this expensive?” I smiled in a seemingly naive way. “I used my savings to buy it for you. It’s not easy finding someone to date in our small town. Rowan makes eight thousand a month, he’s honest, and if I marry him and we’re careful with money, we can live better than most people.” She laughed, her tone dripping with sarcasm. “Oh, so I did you a favor?” “That’s all the ambition you have—picking up the man I didn’t want and thinking you hit the jackpot?” I lowered my eyes and didn’t respond. I’d listened to her mockery for over twenty years. I was immune to it by now. Since getting together with Rowan, we had dinner dates every Friday, but I was always late. It wasn’t intentional. Ever since Manager Lee’s divorce, he’d been making things difficult for me. Every time just before quitting time, he’d dump a pile of work on me and use “discussing work” as an excuse to grope me. That day, Rowan came to pick me up from the office to make sure I wouldn’t be late. I had just walked out of the office building. Manager Lee chased after me, pretending to hand me something, deliberately rubbing his fingertips across the back of my hand several times. I didn’t pull away. I even frowned slightly, showing a wronged and helpless expression. I knew Rowan could see everything clearly from the car. He suddenly honked the horn and shouted coldly toward the building: “Who are you? Why are you touching her?” Manager Lee jumped in fright and hurried away. The next day at work, the office exploded with gossip. Manager Lee had been urgently transferred to a remote rural township. Colleagues whispered that he must have offended someone important. Otherwise, how could he suddenly be transferred without even a chance to argue back? That evening when Rowan picked me up from work, I casually brought up what had happened. He looked at me, his eyes filled with tenderness. “I did it. I won’t let you be mistreated.”

He came clean about his family background. His father was the top executive at my parent company. His mother was the principal of a private school. He said, “I didn’t mention it during the blind date because I didn’t want to show off.” “I studied in Switzerland for several years and had a girlfriend there. We were together for three years with a great relationship, but when graduation approached, she found out I planned to return to develop my career in this small Southern town. She thought I lacked ambition and broke up with me.” “My parents are getting older and have been pressuring me to marry and have children, which is why I agreed to the blind date.” Suddenly it all made sense. No wonder such a high-quality man needed blind dates to find a partner. Rowan suddenly took my hand, his tone serious. “Sarah, I’m telling you all this because I’m not just playing around with you. I’m serious about getting married.” I looked into his sincere eyes and nodded firmly. In our second month together, I went home with Rowan to meet his family. His parents were wonderful people, completely satisfied with me, and even gave me a valuable gift. Half a year flew by, and we decided to get our marriage license. When I told my parents, they said dismissively that the family’s finances were limited and they could only give me ten thousand dollars as wedding gift. I didn’t argue. I gritted my teeth and took out a bank loan, bringing my wedding gift up to one hundred and eighty thousand. I didn’t want to be looked down on at my wedding, and I definitely didn’t want to be laughed at by Nina and parents. On the wedding day, my in-laws specifically spent a million dollars to hold a lavish ceremony at the best hotel in the area. Well-wishers came in droves—all prominent figures in the local community. Even leaders from my company came to offer their congratulations. But until the ceremony started, I never saw my parents arrive. Just as I stood on stage in my wedding dress, barely able to hold myself together, I received a message from my parents. Just a few short sentences: [Sarah, Mom and Dad aren’t coming. Nina suddenly got a fever, so we have to rush to New York overnight to take care of her.] [Your in-laws are just showing off, insisting on holding it at the most expensive restaurant. We looked at the smallest banquet hall there before—it’s barely bigger than a conference room. Going would just be embarrassing. Nina’s illness is more important.] My knuckles turned white as I gripped my phone. Only then did I realize my parents hadn’t even carefully read the invitation. Subconsciously, they didn’t care about me, and by extension, didn’t care about the husband and family I was marrying into. Fortunately, Rowan’s family didn’t take it to heart at all. In fact, my mother-in-law felt especially sorry for me. They said since I was marrying into the family without money to my name, they’d let me manage all the gift money received. Eight hundred thousand dollars in gift money. Four times the two hundred thousand dollar wedding gift my parents had prepared for Nina. That night, I posted our wedding photos to my feed. But the family group chat remained silent. No one sent a single word of blessing. Nina, however, soon posted a photo of a bowl of soup, captioned: [Family is always the most reliable harbor.] I wasn’t angry or sad. After all, I had eight hundred thousand dollars. Money is the best medicine for healing in this world. Shortly after the wedding, Rowan felt bad about my difficult commute and bought me a Ferrari. That morning, I drove to work and passed a flower bed by the road. I took a photo of the blooming flowers and posted it to my feed. Unexpectedly, Nina directly private messaged me, screenshotting the Ferrari logo visible in the corner of the photo, sending three question marks. [Where did you get a car? And a Ferrari?]

My heart skipped a beat. I immediately remembered that since childhood, Nina couldn’t stand me having anything better than her. Once she found out, she’d find ways to ruin it. I suppressed my thoughts and replied: [Just hitching a ride with a coworker.] Her response dripped with mockery: [Hahaha, hilarious. Someone who rides a bicycle goes to work every day with someone who drives a Ferrari and doesn’t feel inferior? Stop pretending. People get the kind of life they deserve.] I didn’t reply. Instead, I clicked on her feed. She’d been working in New York for four years, and this year her salary had risen to eighteen thousand. It looked glamorous on the surface, but to save commute time, she lived in a studio apartment that cost twelve thousand a month in rent, without even a balcony. Her most recent post was about flowers she bought at a subway station. I’d ridden that subway line before. Even at eleven at night, it was packed so tight you couldn’t breathe. Another post complained about ordering a pretty meal for delivery that cost over a hundred dollars but the portions were so small she couldn’t even fill up. Meanwhile, I only had to drive five minutes after work to eat a hot, home-cooked meal. Life is meant to be lived for yourself, not performed for others. Six months after the wedding, I got pregnant. The whole family was overjoyed. They wouldn’t let me do any chores and made me all kinds of nutritious supplements every day. Coincidentally, not long after, Nina also announced good news in the family group chat, saying she’d found a boyfriend who made seven hundred thousand a year and would bring him home next month during the holidays for Mom and Dad to meet. Mom and Dad were thrilled, praising Nina endlessly for being accomplished and having good taste in men. The holiday season arrived quickly. With my big belly, Rowan supported me as we returned to my parents’ home together. As soon as we walked in, Nina looked me up and down. “Sarah, why are you wearing so little? Poor thing, pregnant and just wearing a thin jacket. Can’t even afford a thicker down coat anymore?” I didn’t explain. The route from our home garage to my parents’ place had heating the whole way. And it was running at full blast, making my face flush red. Seeing my silence, Nina grew even more smug, deliberately raising her voice. “My boyfriend drove a Mercedes GLE here this time. I bet our little town doesn’t even have many luxury cars like that.” Mom and Dad crowded around her in praise. “Nina’s so accomplished! The man she found is rich and treats her well—ten thousand times better than what Sarah found! Sarah, you really need to learn from Nina.” Just as they were talking, Nina’s boyfriend pushed through the door, his face showing some impatience. “Uncle, Auntie, your complex is really hard to find parking in. I drove around in circles for ages before finding a spot.” “But I just saw a Mercedes G-Wagon downstairs. Didn’t expect your small town to have such wealthy neighbors.” The moment he finished speaking, Rowan helped me sit down and casually pulled out the G-Wagon keys from his pocket, placing them in my hand and saying gently: “Honey, are your hands cold?” “Hold onto the keys. When we leave later, you can get in the car first and turn on the heat.” The entire room instantly fell silent.

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My husband, Ethan Foster, was photographed at a maternity center. Every media outlet was speculating about who the mother of the Foster Group CEO’s illegitimate child could be. I just stared at my phone with a blank expression and turned it off. Ethan spoke in a flat tone: “Right now is a critical time for Stella’s career. She can’t afford any scandals.” “So?” I looked up at him, my gaze steady. “So tomorrow, you need to show up at the maternity center and claim that child as yours. After a while, Stella will take the baby back.” Listening to Ethan’s commanding tone, I smiled bitterly. So even now, all he cared about was Stella Quinn’s career. Seeing my silence, Ethan did what he always did—he handed me a check. “Fill in whatever amount you want. But you must claim this child as yours.” I froze for two seconds. Instead of taking the check, I went to the bedroom and pulled out a document I’d prepared long ago and handed it to him. Before I could say a word, Ethan flipped to the last page without hesitation and signed it. He had no idea that what I’d given him was a divorce agreement.

After signing, Ethan stood up, his expression somewhat uncomfortable. “I’m worried about Stella. I won’t be staying home tonight.” I smiled bitterly to myself. Of course. In his heart, Stella Quinn always came first. Even the rare times he came home were only to deal with Stella’s problems. Noticing my dazed expression, Ethan continued his instructions: “I’ll send a driver to pick you up tomorrow morning. Remember not to let any reporters notice.” He finished speaking and, like countless other nights over the years, left me with nothing but his retreating figure. Clutching the signed agreement, I suddenly felt a pang of reluctance. Just as Ethan was about to leave, I called out to him. “Don’t you… want to see what’s actually in the agreement?” Ethan turned around, his expression slightly mocking: “Isn’t it just about money?” The moment those words left his mouth, tears I’d been holding back spilled from my eyes. So this was who I was in his eyes. Ethan sighed and reached out to pat my head. “Emma, I’ve told you before—we’re husband and wife. What’s mine is yours.” “If you’re not satisfied with the check amount, I don’t mind if you want other things.” “But tomorrow, you must appear in front of those reporters. Understand?” I watched the concern for another woman in his eyes and nodded bitterly. Ethan looked satisfied. I wanted to say something more, but he spoke first. “Send another copy of that agreement to my assistant. He’ll transfer the money to your account.” “As for tonight, just get a good night’s sleep and wait for the driver tomorrow.” Before leaving, he instructed the housekeeper to pack some things I’d need at the maternity center. After all, if you’re going to put on a show, you have to do it properly. I’d have to stay there for several days to convince reporters to stop suspecting Stella. When the roar of his car engine started outside, I was still standing dazed in the living room. Ethan and I hadn’t spoken this closely in a very long time. I should have hugged him just now. But then I remembered the last time—because Ethan’s clothes had picked up my perfume scent, Stella had thrown a fit. To appease her, Ethan secretly took Stella abroad for vacation and had his assistant send her countless jewelry pieces. To keep reporters from suspecting Stella, I didn’t leave the house for an entire month until the two of them returned from their trip. I turned around, my gaze falling on the divorce agreement on the table. I felt nothing but relief. This marriage should have ended long ago. After I discovered Ethan’s first affair with his new secretary, Linda Rogers, I went crazy. I not only sent photos of the two of them to reporters—making “Foster Group CEO’s Affair” trend on social media for an entire week and causing the stock price to plummet—I even notified Linda’s parents in their remote village. At the time, Linda had just graduated from college. Unable to handle her parents’ abuse and the public’s accusations, she attempted suicide by cutting her wrists. Although she was saved in the end, Ethan still exploded at me in fury. “Emma, she’s so young—how could you hurt her in such a vicious way? I was the one who forced her into this relationship. If you’re angry, take it out on me.” I looked at the protective look in his eyes for that girl and thought about the provocative photos Linda had sent me. My anger only intensified. “Fine. Since you forced her, I’ll just call the police. I’ll tell everyone that the great CEO of Foster Group used his power to rape his own—” Before I could finish, Ethan slapped me across the face. That was the first time he’d ever laid a hand on me. But I could already see the tragedy this marriage would become. From then on, I stopped questioning his affairs. But Ethan still worried I’d treat his other women the way I’d treated Linda, so after each affair, he’d proactively have his assistant send me bags, jewelry, or checks. Looking at the room full of jewelry and handbags, and the enormous balance in my account, I found this marriage so pathetically laughable. Now, it was time to end it. I sent the final page of the agreement’s terms to Ethan’s assistant. “The husband agrees to transfer 30% of current assets to the wife.” Although the assistant was surprised that Ethan would be so generous this time, thinking about the comments regarding the illegitimate child trending online, he understood. Stella Quinn was the woman who’d been with Ethan the longest, so he would definitely do everything possible to protect her reputation—even if it meant using me. “Mrs. Foster, rest assured. I’ll transfer the funds to your account as soon as possible.”

When I went upstairs, I saw the housekeeper Sophia packing loose dresses into a suitcase. “Sophia, let me do it.” I took out the clothes she’d packed, one by one. Since I’d decided to leave, I wouldn’t take anything from this place. Seeing what I was doing, Sophia couldn’t help but sigh. “Ma’am, why do this to yourself? As long as you don’t agree, the master can’t exactly drag you there by force.” “That woman is shameless to begin with. Having an illegitimate child and still wanting a good reputation.” “If you keep indulging her like this, I’m afraid in the future she’ll…” She didn’t finish, but I could guess what she meant. Nothing more than showing up with the child to force her way into the family and demand official recognition. The position of Mrs. Foster? She could have it. Seeing my silence, Sophia sighed even more heavily. “Ma’am, you’re just too softhearted.” “The tactics those legitimate wives in this circle use—every single one of them is fiercer than yours.” “No matter how capable those mistresses are, none have dared to openly give birth to an illegitimate child like this one.” I knew she genuinely cared about me, but none of this mattered anymore. From the beginning, what I valued was Ethan’s sincerity. Now that he’d given it to someone else, what was the point of trying to get it back? Before Sophia could speak again, I pressed several pieces of jewelry I’d deliberately saved into her hands. She tried to refuse several times, but I firmly insisted she take them. Over the years, she’d practiced cooking in her spare time to help restore my health and made medicinal meals for me. I truly wanted to thank her. After urging Sophia to rest, I put several important documents in my bag. Once dawn broke, I could leave. However, the next second, my phone suddenly received several messages. “Emma, even if you help me this time, I won’t be grateful.” “Ethan said this child is only staying with you for a few days. In the end, he’ll come back to me.” “Let me tell you—don’t even think about stealing my son.” Stella wasn’t like Linda from before—she didn’t understand the meaning of knowing when to stop. I sneered as I typed a reply. “An illegitimate child? I’d feel dirty even holding him.” Right after I sent it, several more messages came through. “So what if he’s illegitimate? He’ll be Ethan’s only son in the future.” “Emma, even if you’re Mrs. Foster, all you can do this lifetime is watch my son inherit the Foster Group.” Stella seemed triggered by the words “illegitimate child” and stopped hiding her ambitions. When I saw the last few lines of text, my entire body froze in place. “Emma, you don’t know this, do you?” “The car that hit you back then wasn’t from Foster Group’s competitors at all—it was from rivals who were following me.” “Ethan knew those people would crash the car, but he still made you switch vehicles with me.” “He never wanted your child. He didn’t even want you.”

“Didn’t even want you…” I stared at the densely packed words on the screen, feeling a chill spread through my entire body. Even my hands began trembling uncontrollably. Thunder rumbled outside the window, as if dragging me back into that desperate, rainy night. The smell of blood and gasoline mixed with rainwater flooding into the car. The driver was barely alive, his consciousness fading. And I was trapped in the back seat, enduring the excruciating pain radiating from my abdomen. “My baby… someone please save my baby…” I pulled out my phone to call Ethan, but felt the crashed car begin to slide slowly. Before I could react, the next second the entire car plummeted rapidly. “Ethan, save me!” My scream was drowned out the instant the car hit the water. When I woke again, Ethan was sitting beside me, his eyes bloodshot. “Emma, I’m sorry. I failed to protect you.” My throat was too damaged from swallowing water to make a sound, but he understood my eyes. Ethan’s eyes were filled with heartache as he shook his head. I felt the stillness of my abdomen and closed my eyes in despair. A tear slipped into my hair, followed by broken sobs. Ethan was so panicked by my tears that he didn’t know what to do. He gripped my hand and apologized continuously. “Emma, we’ll have another child.” “I swear, from now on, you’ll be my only woman.” But I never got pregnant again, and he still never cut ties with Stella. After that accident, Ethan’s ruthless retaliation against his competitors made it easy for me to believe it had been their revenge. But now I understood—I was just Stella’s substitute sacrifice. Ethan and I had known each other since we were young, and later left our hometown together to build our careers. Back then, we had no education, no connections—just raw courage. But success never correlates with personal bravery alone. When our business ventures failed one after another and rainwater flooded into our basement apartment, Ethan’s face showed a despair I’d never seen before. “Emma, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought you out here.” “You’ve suffered so much with me, and I still couldn’t give you a good life.” While moving computers, phones, and other important items to the highest shelf and trying to bail water out of the room, I teased him: “When Heaven is about to place great responsibility on someone, it first tests their resolve with hardship.” “We haven’t suffered that much yet. Have you already lost your fighting spirit?” “And here I believed you when you said you’d get me a luxury apartment.” Hearing my words and realizing I wasn’t blaming him, Ethan laughed and picked me up, spinning me around in the dirty water that reached our ankles. “I knew it—Emma loves me most.” “I swear I’ll never let you down.” But later, when we had everything, we’d lost that most genuine feeling. Ethan never coming home. Ethan constantly surrounded by scandals. Ethan looking at me with cold eyes. Every change reminded me that my husband was no longer the person who’d promised me his unchanging devotion. Three years ago, Ethan met Stella at a business dinner. She’d just entered the entertainment industry, played a few minor roles, and her career was going nowhere. But after their night together at a hotel, Stella’s resources suddenly improved dramatically, with scripts piling up for her to choose from. Online rumors started that she had a powerful backer, but no one ever photographed the man. Some in the industry suspected Stella was creating the rumors herself, that she’d landed those roles purely by luck. So they bribed people to eliminate this competitor. But they didn’t expect that I would be the one in that car that day—and I was already over seven months pregnant.

After a sleepless night, at dawn I prepared to leave this home I’d lived in for seven years. After taking a taxi to the airport, Ethan called, his voice filled with undisguised anxiety. “Emma, where did you go? Didn’t we agree last night that the driver would pick you up?” “We already agreed—” “Ethan.” My voice was hoarse. “Three years ago, when you had the driver switch cars, what were you thinking?” A woman who’d endured hardship with him for ten years. A woman carrying his child in her belly. How cold-hearted did he have to be to make me get into that car destined to be crashed off the overpass? “Emma, what are you talking about?” Ethan’s tone was confused. When he heard the airport announcement in the background, his voice unconsciously turned cold. “Emma, where are you? Are you backing out of claiming Stella’s child?” Listening to the boarding call, I smiled bitterly. “Where I am doesn’t matter. I never agreed to your demand last night.” “But three years ago, shouldn’t I have stayed in that freezing river, in that car filled with the smell of blood and water?” “Instead of being rescued by the search team and ending up in a hospital bed, right, Mr. Foster?” I heard the sound of a door slamming on his end, followed by Ethan’s rapid breathing. “Emma, did Stella say something to you?” “Just wait there. I’ll come explain everything.” I heard Ethan going downstairs and sighed softly. “Goodbye, Ethan.” “Emma, wait for me—” Before he could finish, I hung up and blocked his number. What happened had happened. No matter what explanation or compensation he offered, it no longer mattered. His ruthlessness back then was real. My grief at losing our child was real. So I would never forgive him. … The moment Ethan stepped outside, he was surrounded by reporters who’d been waiting. “Mr. Foster, why were you at the maternity center?” “Are the online rumors about an illegitimate child true?” “Does Mrs. Foster agree to let this child return to the Foster family?” The questions came one after another, but Ethan had no patience to deal with them. He pushed through the people blocking his way without hesitation, letting them photograph his rough behavior. After getting in his car, Ethan ordered the driver to head straight to the airport. But after searching several times, he couldn’t find Emma. Left with no choice, he returned home to ask Sophia—the only person who might know where Emma went. But before he could speak, he noticed the document on the table. He picked it up with confusion. On the cover were five clear words: “Divorce Agreement.”

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On the night of our graduation trip, group leader Kelly suggested drawing room numbers for pairing. “It’s fate! No matter if you’re a guy or girl, if you draw the same number, you share a room. How exciting!” I’d been dating Catherine for three years of our four years in college. No one knew. I drew a ball from the box and waited to be paired. When Catherine’s turn came, she called out “Number 7.” Kelly’s voice instantly rose: “The other person who drew Room 7 is… Victor!” Victor was Catherine’s ex-boyfriend. The whole room erupted, except for me. Before the game started, I’d overheard Kelly whisper to Catherine: “Find the one with the circular bump—I specially saved it for you and Victor.” Since you two want to rekindle your romance, I’ll make it happen for you. The room assignments weren’t even finished, but the atmosphere had already peaked. Kelly distributed red wristbands to them, emphasizing loudly: “Let me remind everyone of the rules! Same number pairs up—for these three days and two nights, you’re bound together the whole trip. Go by wristband color, no solo activities allowed!” Wolf whistles rang out from the crowd. Some girls deliberately winked at Catherine. Victor smiled as he put on his wristband and took her small bag. Catherine’s face flushed deeper red as her petite frame shrank behind him. Victor smoothly removed his jacket and draped it over her shoulders. “Cut it out, Catherine’s shy.” “Already being protective! Everyone better watch out—if you upset Catherine, Victor will come after you!” The teasing erupted into a chorus. I stood outside the crowd, left hand gripping the ball, right hand pulling a heavy suitcase. Before the trip, Catherine had stuffed her things into my suitcase: “You’ll be carrying my bag anyway. If you bring another suitcase, you won’t be able to drag it.” She’d also pointed at the new jacket I bought: “That one—I heard it gets cold there at night. Perfect for me to wear.” In our three years together, she never showed any intimacy with me in front of classmates, let alone wore my jacket. So I was overjoyed, thinking she’d use the trip to make our relationship public. But on day one of the trip, she wore Victor’s jacket. The bag she’d said I’d carry now hung from his shoulder. I bent down to set my things down and cleared my throat, suppressing the hoarseness. Then I raised my hand: “Um…” Everyone looked over. Kelly still radiated excitement: “What’s up, Owen? Victor’s your roommate—do you want to say something?” Victor froze, his lips twitching unnaturally. Catherine suddenly looked up, shooting me a nervous, warning glance. But her nervousness was misplaced. I simply held up my ball and asked: “Who’s Number 3?” Kelly scanned the room and saw someone raise their hand on the other side: “Me.” It was Maya, a girl with little presence in class. Kelly laughed: “Oh, Maya! I know you’re single. What about you, Owen?” “If you’re single, you can room together. If you have a girlfriend, I’ll switch you with a guy…” I gently interrupted: “I’m single.” From the corner of my eye, I saw Catherine’s eyebrows relax then furrow again. She turned her head as if to look at Maya, but Kelly had already pulled out orange wristbands: “Perfect! You’re both single—maybe you’ll become another couple!” I accepted the wristband and nodded politely: “Thanks.” As I picked up my suitcase again, I could feel a pair of eyes on me. I didn’t know what expression she wore at that moment. But probably… relief. With room numbers assigned, we lined up to check in. Victor went to call his family. Catherine dawdled, only handing over their IDs when I was the last one left. “Go find Kelly. Tell him you don’t want to room with a girl. Switch to a guy or get a single room. You’ll cover the extra cost.” She kept her voice low, eyes straight ahead, not even a sideways glance at me. I texted my parents to let them know I’d arrived safely, not looking up: “Why?” “What do you mean why? You’re not single. How can you room with the opposite sex?” “What about you? Are you single?” Catherine’s fingers paused, her tone carrying a hint of petulance: “This was the game rule from the start. I’m just respecting the results of the draw.” My voice was soft: “I’m also respecting the results of the draw.” Her almond eyes widened. Before she could speak, I took my room card and turned away. I’d only taken a few steps when Kelly announced loudly: “Everyone come to the screening room in half an hour. I’ve booked it out.” “Let’s get nostalgic and watch the documentary from our freshman year sports festival!” My steps didn’t falter. I just adjusted my grip on the suitcase handle. The freshman year sports festival documentary was a record of Catherine’s passionate pursuit of Victor.

In the screening room, the table was loaded with snacks and fruit. As soon as Catherine sat down, she pushed the grapes in front of Victor. A male classmate next to them teased: “Catherine’s so biased! She knows Victor loves grapes, so she saves the whole plate for him.” Others joined in the teasing. Victor pushed the plate away somewhat helplessly. But his tone revealed satisfaction: “Everyone share them. Catherine bought me plenty.” “If there’s not enough, I can go back to the room and get more.” But Catherine pulled the plate back, a smile playing on her lips: “I’ll go get more. You eat these first.” As she got up to leave, the teasing in the screening room exploded: “Victor says one thing and Catherine immediately does it! She treats you so well!” Victor ate grapes while laughing, then suddenly called my name: “Owen, when Catherine brings more, you should eat some too.” “I remember you also love grapes.” The door opened. Catherine walked in carrying two plates of grapes, placing them all in front of Victor. She knew too. Over these three years I’d bought grapes countless times, and heard her complain to me countless times: “Don’t eat so many. These grapes are so sweet—you’ll break out again.” I casually picked up an orange as Kelly called out: “Owen, where’s Maya?” Everyone looked over. I peeled the orange without looking up: “She had something urgent to handle.” Kelly sounded disappointed: “Then you two are a no-go. But that’s fine—the other pair will definitely work out!” Catherine’s gaze lingered on me for a moment, then moved away: “The documentary’s starting.” Her voice carried a breathy quality as she skillfully handed Victor a grape. The documentary was a full two hours. Everyone was thoroughly engaged, laughing and teasing whenever Catherine and Victor appeared on screen. “Catherine’s wiping Victor’s sweat again! He runs fifty meters and you follow closer than the cameraman.” “Look at that—water bottles, mini fans, sunscreen, everything prepared!” “Victor, Catherine’s pursuit of you was known across campus. How could you hold out and not accept? You made her stay single for four years, and even at graduation she still can’t forget you!” Victor looked at Catherine, his eyes tender: “I thought campus romance was unstable. I wanted to wait until after graduation to consider it.” “I never imagined she’d wait this long for me.” A girl egged them on: “Catherine, these four years of waiting must have been hard, right?” Catherine gazed at him, chin dipping slightly: “It was okay.” Two short words containing four years of patience and longing. Sighs of sympathy rose around the room. Only I laughed inwardly. Hard? What was hard about it? She pursued Victor passionately for half a year with no results, then got into tennis. I was the main player on the school tennis team. She asked me to coach her for six months, and right at the start of sophomore year, she confessed to me. Of course she was okay. Though our relationship wasn’t public, we were happy together. Very happy. Or perhaps only I thought we were happy. I lowered my head to eat some orange. The guy next to me suddenly pointed at the screen and shouted: “Owen, why is the class secretary holding a parasol for you? Did she have a crush on you?” The topic shifted to me. “No, she was just passing by.” I shook my head. The guy continued: “Too bad the class secretary didn’t come today. But she clearly liked you. You should consider it—I think you two would be good together.” Catherine was pouring water for Victor, movements smooth, as if she hadn’t heard our conversation. I smiled faintly: “No thanks.” “Actually, I have a girlfriend.” That figure suddenly froze, fingers clenching into her palm. I understood her—she was afraid I’d say something reckless. But the guy grabbed my arm, asking loudly: “Who? Is she a girl from our class?” Dozens of eyes turned toward me. I maintained my smile and nodded: “Yes.”

The room instantly erupted with questions about who it was. Catherine’s expression gradually darkened as she stared at her phone. I felt my phone vibrate twice but didn’t check, only saying: “She had something come up. She didn’t make it.” Seven or eight girls didn’t come today. Kelly looked disappointed, about to ask more, when Victor suddenly exclaimed “Ah.” His cup had tipped over, water soaking his pants. Catherine quickly grabbed tissues to help him wipe it off. He bent over, stopping her, apologetic: “Sorry about that. Didn’t hold it steady.” “It’s fine. I’ll go back with you to change. Don’t want you catching cold.” She left with Victor. With them gone, the documentary lost its appeal, and everyone dispersed. When I returned to my room, the suitcase was open. Catherine’s change of clothes and makeup bag were gone. I stared at my phone all night. The unread messages on screen were still those two she’d sent: “Don’t say anything. Don’t ruin the mood.” Right. I, as the boyfriend, couldn’t ruin the ambiguous atmosphere between her and another guy. Just like during the charity sale sophomore year—though I had the highest earnings, I had to give the certificate to Victor. Couldn’t steal his spotlight. Or like the tennis tournament junior year—because of Victor’s one comment “I want to try competing,” I had to withdraw. Couldn’t damage his enthusiasm. These three years, Catherine treated me well. She brought me water during matches, knitted me a scarf when it got cold. Apart from refusing to make our relationship public, she did everything a girlfriend should do. Except when it came to Victor—I always came second. Dawn broke. My phone still hadn’t rung. I gazed at the sun gradually rising outside the window, my heart growing calmer. Today’s itinerary was sightseeing. Catherine and Victor wore red wristbands, walking together the entire time. The camera I’d bought her ended up in Victor’s hands. He photographed her at every Instagram-worthy spot, then took selfies with her at the landmarks. While resting by the bridge, people asked about my future plans. “Owen, are you staying in LA or going back to New York?” I replied flatly: “Going back to New York.” Catherine wiped Victor’s sweat, casting a seemingly casual glance my way. Kelly nudged her: “Victor’s from LA. You’ll definitely stay in LA, right?” Catherine answered without hesitation: “Naturally.” Victor looked down with a smile, subtly moving closer until they were pressed tightly together. But a classmate seemed puzzled: “Owen, didn’t you already find work in LA? Why are you going back?” I smiled: “I turned down the job. Want to be closer to my parents.” “Really? Is it for your parents, or for your girlfriend?” Everyone gathered around gossiping. My smile deepened: “Both. My parents are getting older—I want to stay nearby to take care of them. She… also decided to settle in New York.” People teased and pressed me about who she was, but I just shook my head, refusing to say. At the next attraction, Catherine blocked me at the restroom entrance. “You really turned down the job?” She was anxious. After all, we’d found the work together. The company valued my grades, and my condition for joining was that they also hire my girlfriend. Now that I’d withdrawn, she couldn’t stay either. I nodded, my tone calm: “My parents arranged work for us in New York. Once we’re settled, we’ll get engaged.” “Owen!” Catherine suddenly flared up, but afraid others would hear, she suppressed it until her face turned ashen: “Who gave you permission to arrange my future without asking!”

She left in anger. The group straggled along. She pulled Victor to walk at the very front. I stayed at the back, chatting with classmates. It wasn’t until dinner at the buffet that Victor spoke clearly at the table: “The Perseid meteor shower? You guys don’t know about it? Catherine said there’s an observation point near here. Up to a hundred meteors per hour at peak.” Everyone at the table got interested, making plans to go watch. But Kelly clicked his tongue: “Could you guys show some awareness? You can see meteors from the hotel too. Don’t go be third wheels.” Everyone immediately understood: “True. The observation point has a clearer view, so it should definitely be saved for those who need it most.” Catherine served Victor food. Though she didn’t speak, the bashfulness on her cheeks said everything. The buffet here didn’t suit me—the flavors were too strong. I chewed a couple bites of seafood, but the seasoning stuck in my throat. I couldn’t swallow it. I lowered my head to spit it out and got up to find something milder. Kelly followed, saying quietly: “Owen, I saw you posted on Twitter a few days ago about going to the observation point for the meteor shower. Maybe don’t go—don’t disturb Catherine and Victor.” I nodded: “I know.” “Top of the class is smart. Let me tell you something you don’t know—them drawing the same number? I arranged it.” I nodded again: “I heard you when you told Catherine.” Kelly looked somewhat surprised. A classmate called him from behind, so he turned back. I opened a soup lid. Catherine happened to come over to get soup for Victor. Her tone was natural: “I was wrong today. I shouldn’t have snapped at you.” “I understand—you’re upset because I’m rooming with Victor.” “But don’t worry. Last night I slept on the bed, he slept on the floor. We just chatted.” “Us rooming together is just following game rules. Nothing will actually happen.” I ladled soup, humming in acknowledgment. She didn’t look up: “Talk to your parents. It’s fine for us to develop our careers in LA. No need to go to New York.” “Once our jobs are stable, we’ll settle here.” This time I didn’t respond. After getting my soup, I turned around. She suddenly hesitated and called out: “Owen… Victor’s really looking forward to tonight’s meteor shower. I promised to watch it with him.” “Anyway, the Perseids happen every year. Next year, we’ll come again.” I faced away from her, palm pressed against the bottom of the bowl, yet I felt no warmth at all. Opening my mouth, my voice was soft: “Okay.” She sighed with relief. As she passed by me, she didn’t forget to bring Victor a plate of grapes. After dinner, I went back to my room to pack. I took out the outfit I’d coordinated for proposing to her under the meteor shower. The engagement ring and meteor shower brochure went into the trash together. Zipping up the suitcase, it was much lighter now. The flight ticket was bought last minute. Boarding was tonight. Ten minutes before takeoff, the Perseid meteor shower streaked across the sky. Everyone exclaimed, recording videos and taking photos. I pulled out my phone and saw an unread message. “Everything’s arranged. Your aunt and uncle went back to rest. I’m waiting for you at the airport.” The plane slowly climbed. The meteor trails carried fine silver light, illuminating half the cabin. I leaned back against my seat and slowly closed my eyes. Catherine, the two of us—there is no next year.

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My wife Bruna, whom I’d loved for ten years, died in a car accident. I completely ignored the barrage of phone calls. Instead, I went to a bar with my childhood friend Gina to drink and party. I didn’t even attend Bruna’s funeral. The day after the burial, I came home with Gina in my arms. As soon as I walked through the door, I saw my furious mother-in-law, Carol. “You bastard! How dare you show your face! Get out! You’re not welcome here!” I remained unmoved and calmly lit a cigarette. “I think you’ve got it wrong. If anyone should leave, it’s you.” “The house—I paid for it in full. I paid for the renovation too. It has nothing to do with Bruna.” I flicked the ash from my cigarette and pulled Gina down to sit beside me. “Bullshit! How does it have nothing to do with her? You’ve been married to Bruna for so many years—this house is marital property! Bruna’s name is on the deed!” “The law says that whoever paid for the house before marriage owns it. What you’re saying is outdated.” I stubbed out my cigarette, about to call building management to throw them out. Actually, Bruna had paid for half the house, but she never told Carol. Given the current situation, I didn’t want to mention it. Carol’s anger didn’t subside. She slapped my phone out of my hand. “So that’s how it is! Bruna’s body is barely cold, and you’ve already brought your mistress home. Now you want to kick us out? No way!” “I won’t give up this house no matter what. Consider it compensation for us!” Carol ranted, trying to push me out the door. During the struggle, Carol fell to the ground. She simply sat there and started making a scene. “Donald, you bastard! Your wife is dead, and now you’re bullying her family!” “Bruna, are you watching from heaven? This is the man you loved for ten years—a complete scumbag!” My father-in-law Anderson spoke up then. His tone was relatively calm. “Donald, Carol and I have nowhere to stay in the city. Can you bear to see two old people homeless on the streets? You have a high salary—you can buy another house later.” “Do I look like an idiot?” I asked back. Before they could respond, I continued, “Besides, over all these years, I’ve given you plenty of money. That’s enough for you to rent a place.” “Who would rent to old people? You’re deliberately making things difficult for us! Cough, cough…” As Anderson spoke, he began coughing uncontrollably, a trace of blood appearing at the corner of his mouth. When Carol saw this, she immediately stood up from the floor. She pointed at my nose and cursed, “You bastard! You won’t be satisfied until you make us cough up blood, will you!” “If you’re going to die, die outside. Don’t dirty my floor.” I took out a handkerchief and methodically wiped my hands, not missing even the spaces between my fingers. “Donald, how can you talk like that?” Bruna’s brother Maurice rushed over and grabbed my collar. I tilted my head, avoiding his punch. “You’re asking for it!” Maurice was furious, ready to throw another punch. But this time I didn’t give him the chance. I used his own force against him, pulling and tugging. Maurice’s clenched fist slammed directly into the heavy iron door, making him howl in pain. “This is my home. Please leave immediately, or I’m calling the police.” I held up the phone Gina handed me and waved it. The number on the screen was clearly visible. A flash of panic crossed all three of their faces at once.

I naturally didn’t miss this moment, and my tone grew colder. “Are you leaving on your own, or should I have the police escort you out?” “No, no, don’t call the police! Donald, do we really need to take it this far?” “Dad, let him call the police! We haven’t broken any laws. What are we afraid of? Some people here act all righteous, who knows what guilty secrets they’re hiding!” “Maurice, how can you talk like that? No matter what, Donald is still your brother-in-law.” Anderson tugged at Maurice’s sleeve with displeasure. “If you’re going to leave, leave soon. It’s getting dark, and I don’t keep guests.” I made a gesture inviting them to leave. “See that? You treat them like family, but they don’t necessarily treat you the same way.” Carol glared at me. “Exactly! He’s the one who wronged Bruna first. She’s barely buried, and he’s already found another woman!” “Donald must have been cheating on Bruna while she was still alive! Bruna can’t rest in peace!” “Even though Bruna is gone, we’re still here to seek justice for her! Donald, if you have any shame at all, get out right now!” Maurice aggressively punched the sandalwood chair, instantly creating a large hole in it. “Maurice, you break things, you pay for them! Since you’re Bruna’s brother, I’ll give you a discount on this $880,000 sandalwood chair—just pay me $300,000!” As I spoke, I calmly poured myself a cup of tea. “You’re clearly extorting me! Donald, I’m telling you, we’re keeping this house!” “You cheated during your marriage—you’re the guilty party. You should leave with nothing!” “Impossible.” I leisurely sipped my tea, completely ignoring Carol’s words. Carol was so angry she opened her mouth several times but couldn’t get a word out. Then Anderson spoke up. Once again, he played the good guy. “Donald, if this gets out, it won’t be good for your reputation either. We can keep quiet about your infidelity, but this house…” “It would be best if it’s transferred to Maurice’s name. Otherwise, we’ll go to your company and make sure you’re pointed at and talked about for the rest of your life, never able to hold your head up again.” “Think it over carefully.” “No need to think. If you want to make a scene, go ahead and do it everywhere. I don’t care.” With my completely stubborn attitude, Maurice suddenly slapped a piece of paper on the table with a loud “smack.” “Donald, see for yourself! It clearly says ‘I voluntarily gift my residential property to Maurice’! This is Bruna’s will, and it has legal force!” I didn’t go over. I signaled Gina with my eyes. Gina brought it over, and I glanced at it. “This handwriting is indeed Bruna’s, but who knows if it’s real?” “You scoundrel! You know perfectly well that the dead can’t speak!” “Yes, the dead can’t speak.” My gaze sharpened as I repeated Maurice’s words.

“Donald, what are you babbling about?! You say it’s fake, so it’s fake? Then I say Bruna paid for this house in full!” Maurice felt uncomfortable under my stare and flew into a rage. I ignored him and poured myself another cup of tea. “After all this talk, you won’t give up the house, right? Fine, but you won’t get a penny of Bruna’s massive accidental death insurance payout! You cheated during your marriage—I’ll sue you!” “Go ahead and sue me if you dare. I’ll be right here waiting.” I set the teacup down heavily on the coffee table. Anderson trembled, his body unstable. He shakily supported himself on the table and suddenly coughed up blood. “Dad!” Maurice rushed forward to support him in a panic. “If anything happens to my dad, I’ll fight you to the death!” “Then go ahead and fight me.” I toyed with the lighter, flicking it open with a “click,” then closing it with another “click.” Through the flame, I secretly observed the three of them. They seemed frightened by my appearance and all fell silent. Carol was the first to speak, though this time her attitude was more moderate than before. “Donald, we won’t take the house, but you must give us every penny of that compensation.” “Once you give it to us, we’ll leave immediately and never bother you again.” After listening, the corner of my mouth curved up. As expected, demanding the house earlier was just their test. The massive compensation was their real goal. I gave Gina a look. She threw some shade at Carol, “I’ve seen shameless people, but I’ve never seen anyone this shameless.” “You have no right to speak here! Get lost!” “This is Donald’s house. If anyone should leave, it’s you.” “It must be you, you homewrecker, who seduced Donald! Otherwise, why would someone usually so honest suddenly change like this today? I’ll slap that face of yours raw!” “Stop.” I grabbed Carol’s hand and flung it away. “Are you okay?” I held Gina’s hand, asking her gently. Gina shook her head. “I’m fine. This will be over soon.” I held her tightly. Seeing this, Carol burst into tears. “The world has gone to hell! Poor Bruna—she cared for you so tenderly when she was alive and never did anything wrong to you. But barely two days after her death, you’re embracing your mistress and flirting everywhere! Bruna, even if you came back to life and saw this scene, you’d be so angry you’d die again!” After hearing these words, I didn’t let go. Instead, I held Gina even tighter. Carol wasn’t wrong. Bruna and I had known each other since school. Every exam, we tied for first place in the entire school. After college graduation, I confessed my feelings to her. She shyly told me that I had always been her secret crush. I thought, perhaps this was fate. We got together. In the ten years since our marriage, our relationship had grown stronger day by day, never a single quarrel. You could say she had been part of my entire life. But I couldn’t agree with Carol’s last sentence. How could I bear to make Bruna angry? Bruna and I would only be happier in the future. Seeing me still holding Gina, Carol’s emotions became complicated. Her eyes darted around, as if thinking of something. Suddenly, her voice became extremely shrill. “I know now—you two conspired together to kill Bruna! Donald, give me back Bruna’s life!”

Carol’s fat body crashed toward me. Because I was protecting Gina, my back took the full force of the impact. Maurice seized this opportunity and stabbed me in the back with a fruit knife. Blood instantly soaked through my white shirt. Not wanting to worry Gina, I gritted my teeth and endured the intense pain. But Carol’s screeching voice buzzed in my ears like a fly. “Bruna, I should have stopped you from marrying him back then! Otherwise, you wouldn’t have died so horribly, not even leaving a complete body behind.” “And Donald is such a terrible person. After your accident, he didn’t even show his face. Now he’s cuddling with another woman! Where in the world is there such a heartless man?” “Poor Bruna, you’re dead—how am I supposed to live?” As Carol spoke, her voice suddenly rose. I was about to see what was happening. I didn’t notice Anderson’s movement in time. By the time I reacted, it was too late. Anderson patted my back, his voice ghostly. “Donald, Bruna was my only daughter. I was counting on her to take care of us in our old age, but who could have expected a car accident? We’re not asking you to support us in our retirement. Just hand over the compensation, and we’ll leave immediately.” I gasped in pain. Anderson did it on purpose, patting exactly where it hurt most. But the more he acted this way, the more it proved he had a guilty conscience. “What if I refuse to hand it over? Are you going to kill me? Let me tell you, even if I die here today, you’ll never get that money in your lifetime!” “Fine! Maurice, come here!” Anderson’s face twisted viciously. “Coming!” “You killed Bruna! I’m going to avenge her—I’ll beat you to death!” Maurice pulled out a whip and lashed it viciously at me. “Don’t be afraid.” I comforted Gina in my arms, holding her even tighter. Crack! Crack! Crack! The whip cut through the air with a cold, fierce wind, striking my back again and again. I could feel my shirt tearing, mixing with blood and sticking to my skin. Pain—burning, searing pain that drilled into my bones. Even so, I clenched my teeth, not letting myself make a single weak sound. “Donald, I didn’t expect you to be so protective of this homewrecker!” Maurice stabbed at me with his words, and the whip came down even harder and more forcefully than before. “Maurice, whip him! Beat him to death! Bruna was definitely killed by him. There are so many cases like this online, aren’t there? Husbands deliberately kill their wives to get massive compensation!” “I know—it’s called spousal murder for insurance fraud! With Bruna dead, the beneficiary is her spouse!” “Donald, are you even human? You bastard, give me back Bruna’s life!” “Bruna was kind to everyone her whole life, never did anything evil. Heaven is blind—how could she meet such a bastard?!” Anderson and Carol’s curses and slander continuously poured into my ears. Maurice’s whipping never stopped either. I deeply felt wound after wound appearing on my back. I silently endured all of this. I don’t know how much time passed before Anderson’s sinister voice rang out. “Alright, stop. We still need to leave him breathing.” “Donald, after all this, you still won’t hand over the compensation?” I nodded. Just as Maurice’s whip was about to fall again, I struggled to get out a sentence: “Bruna, you should finally see these three people’s true faces now, right?” As soon as my words fell, Gina rose from my embrace. She reached out and slowly peeled off the human skin mask. Carol, Anderson, and Maurice all widened their eyes. The three of them were so frightened they couldn’t even speak properly. “Are you… are you human or ghost?”

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “NovelMaster” app 🔍 search for “377506”, and watch the full series ✨! #NovelMaster

At my family’s reality TV show appearance, the host asked us to share a funny story about our brother. My older sister laughed, “To help me collect this rare set of blind box figures I wanted, he bought out the entire store’s inventory.” My younger sister chimed in, “He meant to send a picture of his dog to our family group chat, but accidentally sent a shirtless selfie instead!” My brother’s ears turned red. “Shut up!” The studio audience erupted in laughter. The host then turned to me. “Did you happen to save that photo, middle sister?” I held my hands up. “No. Because I wasn’t in that group chat.” The atmosphere instantly froze. The host hurriedly tried to smooth things over. “Well, I’m sure he’s bought you plenty of blind boxes too, right?” I offered a shy, timid smile. “No. But he did give me a four-leaf clover necklace once.” The audience let out a collective “Aww,” marveling at the wealth and generosity. I blinked innocently. “He originally bought it for my older sister. But to get me to agree to move out of the house and live in the school dorms, he used it to bribe me.” “When my sister saw the necklace on me later, she called me a thief.” “My dad threw me into the swimming pool so I could ‘sober up’ and realize my place. They only found out it was a misunderstanding later. Funny, right?” “Huh? Why isn’t anyone laughing?” 1 The show was broadcasting live. The massive screen in front of us was scrolling with real-time viewer comments: [Oh my god, I smell drama.] [Rich family secrets? Shocking insider info?] [Grab your popcorn, people!] [Wait, didn’t the superstar brother previously say he only had ONE older sister and ONE younger sister? Where did this middle sister pop up from?] [I just checked his Wiki page. The family section literally doesn’t list a middle sister. What’s going on?] [She doesn’t look adopted either. She clearly looks like the mom.] The netizens were spot on. I was indeed a biological daughter of the Sterling family. It’s just that while we shared blood, we shared absolutely no affection. My parents had four children in total: one boy and three girls. I was the second youngest. Our family originally lived in a small, coastal working-class town. When my uncle made it big out of state, he offered to bring my parents into his business. However, he could only secure spots in the local elite schools for three children. After a brief discussion, my parents decided to leave me behind in our small town. They asked my dad’s former coworker to take care of me, promising to send him $100 a month for my living expenses. I finished middle school in that small town before finally being brought to the Sterling family. By that time, they were already living in a massive, sprawling mansion. I only lived in that house for one semester during my sophomore year of high school. After transferring to a new school, I chose to live in the dorms. I rarely went home, maybe once a month at most. I was almost never seen in the same frame as my parents or siblings. It made perfect sense that the internet didn’t know I existed. In fact, when the producers of this reality show came knocking, I just happened to be visiting the house. Before that day, no outsider knew the Sterling family had a hidden daughter. 2 [Ahhh! This girl is from my high school! She was the absolute valedictorian of the district. She just graduated college this year. We all knew she was a genius, but we had NO idea she was a billionaire heiress!] [Wait, public high school?? A Sterling kid went to a public high school? Are you joking?] [It’s true! She transferred there from the elite prep academy.] [What? Why would you give up a mansion to go live in a crappy dorm room? That’s insane.] Watching the live comments dig deeper and deeper, I smiled sweetly at the camera. “Please don’t misunderstand. After I explained the situation, my family apologized to me.” “Our family values discipline. My dad is very strict about moral character, so he only acted harshly out of tough love.” “He holds himself to high standards, which is why he runs his business so successfully.” “My brother told me to live in the dorms to foster my independence. He was doing it for my own good.” “And after the misunderstanding was cleared up, my dad even wired me a generous compensation fund.” The host immediately seized the opportunity. “Care to share the exact number? Let us peasants experience the high life!” I turned to look at my dad. “Dad, how much was it again?” My dad kept his face perfectly straight. “$30,000.” “Wow!” The studio audience gasped in envy. My dad continued, his tone authoritative, “Our family operates on a clear system of rewards and punishments. If you do well, you’re rewarded; if you mess up, you’re penalized. No beating around the bush. That’s exactly how I run my company…” The skepticism in the comments instantly morphed into praise: [That’s a true businessman for you. Principled.] [Papa Sterling, please kick me into a pool and give me $30,000!] [Crying, I want a good brother like him too!] Amidst the chorus of flattery, the taping concluded successfully. My dad, looking incredibly smug and self-satisfied, actually offered to let me ride home in his car. I glanced at my younger sister, Chloe, who was pouting heavily. “No thanks. Let Snowball ride in my spot. He doesn’t like it when I get too close.” Snowball was Chloe’s Doberman. He was incredibly vicious. I still have a scar on my calf from where he bit a chunk out of me. My mom shot Chloe a look of fake, affectionate exasperation. “You child, you’re so spoiled. Make the dog give up his seat for your sister.” Chloe affectionately pressed her face against the dog’s head, shooting me a provocative glare. “I’ll give up the seat, but that depends on whether my sister is brave enough to sit in it.” “Oh, you,” my mom sighed, as if she were totally helpless against her youngest daughter’s antics. She turned back to me. “Well, Maya, why don’t you just take an Uber to The Grand Bistro?” Before filming started, they had planned to go out for a late-night celebratory dinner afterward. Except, at the time, I wasn’t included in that headcount. I looked at the darkening expressions of my older sister, Mia, and Chloe, and smiled. “I’m a little tired. I think I’ll skip it.” My mom let out a barely concealed sigh of relief, though she made sure to complain verbally: “You really are ungrateful. You never participate in family activities, and then you’ll turn around and say I play favorites.” “Mom, that’s enough,” my brother, Liam, interrupted, walking over and grabbing my arm. “Come on. I’ll drive you home.” 3 Unlike the cold shoulder she gave me, Chloe leaned on Liam’s car window, repeatedly urging him: “Liam, hurry up and come back! We’ll wait for you.” I tried to pull my arm free. “I can just call an Uber. You don’t have to go out of your way.” Liam wouldn’t let go. “You’re my sister. How is it going out of my way?” I raised an eyebrow in surprise. Well, this was new. Liam, actually saying something nice to me. Then I glanced at the fans secretly filming us with their phones from the parking lot perimeter. Ah. Got it. Once the car pulled onto the street, I stared blankly out the window. While waiting at a red light, Liam suddenly spoke: “I didn’t expect you to still remember that incident.” I smiled, still looking out the window. He sighed. “Regardless of what happened, I have to thank you for today.” Well, this was truly a rare occasion. The arrogant, privileged superstar young master was actually thanking me. Just as I was about to drop a sarcastic remark, my phone dinged with a text alert. [Dad has transferred $30,000 to your account] [You performed well today. This is your reward.] I accepted the transfer and showed the text thread to Liam. “Bro, how about some actual, tangible gratitude?” Liam agreed without hesitation. “I already ordered the newest four-leaf clover necklace for you. It’ll be delivered tomorrow.” I smiled brightly. “Thanks, bro.” Liam’s expression turned slightly unnatural. “You don’t have to thank me. I should have given it to you a long time ago.” He wasn’t lying. During my sophomore year, he used a necklace to bribe me into moving out of the house and into the school dorms. But he didn’t tell Mia beforehand. When Mia saw the necklace in my hands, she immediately accused me of being a thief. The entire family took her side. I couldn’t swim at the time. My dad kicked me into the deep end of the pool, and I swallowed lungfuls of water. I thrashed and choked in absolute terror. They just stood on the edge of the pool, watching me with cold, indifferent eyes. It was only because Liam came home just in time that I was pulled out before I drowned. Mia clutched that necklace, her expression haughty and arrogant. “I don’t care. If he gave it to me first, it’s mine.” My dad casually shoved a few crumpled bills into my hand. “It’s just a necklace. If your sister likes it, let her have it. Go buy yourself another one.” The money he handed me amounted to exactly $150. That was also the very first bit of “pocket money” I received after returning to the Sterling family. The streetlights blurred past the car window. I narrowed my eyes. “It’s fine. Better late than never, right?” 4 During the short drive to drop me off, Chloe called Liam at least three times. He dropped me off at my apartment building and sped off in a massive hurry. I took a hot bath and had just comfortably settled into bed when my phone chimed with a rapid succession of notifications. I checked it. Mia had added me to the family group chat. [Mia: Welcome Maya to the group! This was my oversight, I completely forgot to add you before.] [Chloe: (Yawn emoji) Honestly, we barely talk in this group anyway, so it doesn’t really matter if she’s in it or not. (Doge emoji)] [Mia: (Smile) (Smile) (Smile)] [Liam: Maya, is there anything you want to eat? I can bring you some takeout. (Image) (Image) (Image)] A barrage of mouth-watering food photos flooded the screen, pushing Mia and Chloe’s conversation out of view. I originally intended to decline, but changed my mind at the last second: [Anything is fine, thanks bro.] Liam replied with an “OK” emoji. After that, no one spoke in the group again. I opened a different, private chat thread and transferred the $30,000 over. [Uncle Miller, I’ve already arranged everything with the hospital in Boston. Next week, you and Auntie take Ryan down there for his prosthetic eye surgery first. I’ll meet you guys there afterward.] The “typing…” indicator at the top of the chat box flashed for a long time. Finally, the response came through: [Please be careful with everything you do. We are waiting for you.] My nose stung, and tears rolled down my cheeks. Soon. It will all be over soon. 5 The next morning, Mom called me down for breakfast. Chloe blinked at me innocently. “Maya, it’s such a shame you didn’t come eat with us last night. The king crab was so fresh.” Mia nudged a groggy-looking Liam. “Liam, didn’t you say you were going to bring Maya some takeout?” Liam froze, a look of genuine guilt washing over his face. “I’m so sorry, Maya. I completely forgot.” Before I could even respond, my mom set her bowl down with a sharp clack. “What is there to apologize for? You told her to come, and she refused. Who made the rule that you must bring her food? We don’t tolerate princess syndrome in this house.” I let out a helpless sigh. “Mom, you’re overthinking it. I didn’t expect him to.” “Whether you expected it or not, I can’t guarantee you won’t throw a fit later. I’m just educating you now. You just need to tell me if you heard me or not.” “This nasty habit of always talking back must be something you picked up from that Miller family. You’ve been back for almost three years and still haven’t fixed it. How am I supposed to show you off in public acting like this?” “I was actually planning to set you up on a date with the Harrison boy, so you two could get to know each other…” “Mom!” Liam cut her off sharply. “Maya just graduated college. She still needs to go to grad school. Why are you setting her up on blind dates?” “Oh, right,” my mom said, as if she had suddenly remembered. She stared at me intently. “What score did you get on the entrance exams? Which school did you apply to?” I kept my expression perfectly neutral. “It’s not great. Nowhere near as good as Mia’s. I only scored a 650. I applied to Western State.” My mom seemed to let out a massive sigh of relief. She asked again to double-check, “Really?” “The acceptance letter is on my desk. The maid should have seen it when she was cleaning.” My mom turned to look at the maid, Maria. Maria nodded confirming it. The tension in my mom’s face instantly vanished, and her tone softened considerably: “650 isn’t terrible, even though it can’t compare to your sister’s score. Western State is a decent school, it’s just a bit far from home.” “But transportation is so convenient these days, you can come back whenever you want.” I murmured an agreement, and my mom finally broke into a full smile. “Eat up, before the food gets cold.” Chloe snatched a piece of sausage I was just about to grab with my fork, and tossed it to her Doberman. “I could never bear to move away from home. Next year, when I take my exams, I’m going to get into the same Ivy League school as Mia.” Mia smiled smugly. “Great! When you get here, you can take over my spot as Student Body President.” The conversation seamlessly shifted back to revolving around Mia and Chloe. Only then did I realize that my back was covered in a layer of cold sweat. If I hadn’t realized early on that my mother despised the idea of me outshining my sisters, and deliberately tanked my exam scores… Then right now, I would be facing that disastrous blind date. The Harrison boy she mentioned was a notorious, wealthy playboy in our city. He had publicly bragged that he intended to have a wife and a dozen mistresses, funding them all with his trust fund. Any family with a shred of decency refused to marry their daughters to him. But my own mother wanted to set me up with him. A metallic taste rose in the back of my throat. I forced it down by taking a large gulp of my oatmeal. Liam picked up a piece of sausage and placed it in my bowl. “When your freshman orientation starts, I’ll drive you.” “Okay, thanks bro.” Mia smiled and asked, “What are your plans for today, Maya? Do you want to come to the spa with us?” I rubbed my hands together awkwardly. “Ah, I would really love to, but I already made plans with Ryan today. I can’t stand him up.” Mia raised an eyebrow, a meaningful, mocking smirk on her lips. “Oh. Well, have fun with that.” Liam shot me a look. He seemed like he wanted to say something, but frowned and swallowed his words. 6 Ryan and I are both cycling enthusiasts. We rode our bikes along the coastal boardwalk, completing a full loop before finally stopping under the shade of some palm trees. “Here.” Ryan handed me a boba tea. It was my absolute favorite: Jasmine Green Tea with extra boba. It was hilariously tragic that my entire biological family had no idea what I liked. But the neighbor boy knew every single detail. “Thanks.” I took it, sipping the tea while gazing out at the vast ocean. He followed my gaze, his voice soft. “You like the ocean?” “Yeah. I grew up by the sea. Even though my small hometown isn’t as glamorous as this city, I loved it there.” Because over there, I had people who truly loved me. Uncle Miller, Auntie Miller. And my “brother,” Ryan’s older brother, Leo. Ryan smiled, but then his expression quickly darkened. He looked at me seriously: “Maya, there’s something I don’t think I should hide from you.” He pulled out his phone and opened a group chat titled [The Garden (No Maya Allowed)]. “Yesterday, before your sister added you to the main family chat, she created a new, secret group. Look for yourself.” He thoughtfully scrolled back to yesterday’s chat history for me. [Chloe: Moving operations over here. We’ll chat in this group from now on.] [Mia: Copy that.] [Dad: 1.] [Mom: 1.] [Liam: …] [Mia: But we can’t completely ignore the main chat, otherwise she’ll get suspicious.] [Chloe: That’s easy. Mom, just forward those random cooking tutorial videos into the main chat. She’ll have to watch them before she can reply and try to start a conversation, right?] [Mom: No, what if she actually tries to talk to me about them? I won’t know how to respond.] [Chloe: @Dad, Dad, just forward those dense financial articles into the chat. She won’t understand a word of them.] [Dad: Not necessary. She behaved well today, clearly trying to suck up to us. I gave her a taste of the sweet life with that transfer. If we give her too much attention, she’ll start getting arrogant again.] [Liam: Fine, fine. I’ll be the one to talk to her in the main chat.] [Mia: Thanks, big bro.] [Chloe: Thanks, big bro.] … I didn’t even finish reading before handing the phone back to him. “So, showing me this… what exactly are you trying to achieve?” Ryan was taken aback for a second, then quickly explained: “I just think it’s wrong for them to deceive you like this, and even worse to mock you behind your back. You’re a member of the Sterling family too; you deserve the same love as the rest of them.” I squeezed my boba cup, letting out a soft laugh: “Ryan, you knew showing me this would make me sad. Why didn’t you just keep it a secret?” “Even if you never told me, it wouldn’t have mattered, right?” “Why are you telling me now?” I turned to look at the stunned, handsome boy beside me. “Just like before my college entrance exams, when my brother got into that car accident and injured his eyes. He intentionally hid it from me because he was terrified it would ruin my focus for the exams.” “But you just ‘coincidentally’ insisted I accompany you to the hospital for a check-up the day before my exams, and we just ‘coincidentally’ ran into Uncle and Auntie Miller there.” “You wanted to see me in pain. You wanted to see me panic. But why? Aren’t you supposed to be my friend?” Ryan’s expression became incredibly complex. “Maya…” “Haha, why do you look so serious?” I suddenly burst out laughing. “I’m just joking! You didn’t actually take me seriously, did you? You are my one and only friend in this city. Why would I ever doubt you? Right?” Ryan opened his mouth in a daze, but eventually managed to force a warm, gentle smile. “Right. I am your one and only friend.” 7 Ryan didn’t know. I had actually, genuinely fallen for him once. The day after I moved back into the Sterling mansion, I was supposed to report to my new elite high school. My mom told me to ride with my sisters. But Chloe refused to let me in the car. “No way! She smells like fish! Snowball hates the smell of fish.” She let her massive Doberman hog more than half the backseat, declaring self-righteously: “Besides, there’s no room left in the car anyway.” Mia and my mom took the front seats. Not a single one of them paid any attention to my humiliation. It was Ryan who drove up and invited me to ride in his family’s car to school. He even comforted me, saying, “Love from others is just icing on the cake. If you don’t have it, don’t force it. Loving yourself is what’s most important.” I wrote that quote on the very first page of my diary. After that, he insisted I ride with him to and from school every day. I felt bad constantly inconveniencing him, so I bought myself a cheap bicycle. When he saw it, he went out and bought a bicycle too, becoming my daily riding partner. He was willing to listen to my problems, offered me advice, and even confronted the classmates who were bullying me. He took me hiking, took me to see the ocean, and told me that my future was as boundless as my vision. I felt so incredibly lucky to have met someone so wonderful during my darkest, loneliest days. I was completely, blissfully ignorant. Until the winter break of my sophomore year. Because my final exam scores were dramatically higher than everyone else’s, the teachers praised me as a “genius.” I naïvely thought my parents would be proud to hear this. But my dad never cared about my grades. When my mom found out, her face darkened, and she made a snide, sarcastic remark: “Oh. I guess that Miller guy actually knows how to teach.” Without a second thought, she transferred me to a notoriously rough, underfunded public high school. It was from that moment I realized: I was not allowed to be better than Mia or Chloe. I had to be painfully average just to survive in that house. So, I started intentionally bombing my tests. I had to score higher than Chloe, but not so high that I threatened Mia’s status or embarrassed the Sterling family. It was a deeply exhausting, soul-crushing psychological balancing act. There was one time I truly couldn’t handle the pressure anymore. I decided to tell Ryan my secret. I called to ask him to meet up, but he apologized, saying he was busy and couldn’t get away. I decided to wait until he was free to tell him. I wandered aimlessly through the neighborhood park. And that’s where I overheard his conversation with Mia: “Maya’s scores plummeted this semester. I have a feeling she’s doing it on purpose. Did she tell you any insider info?” “No. I think it’s pretty normal. After all, her new public school doesn’t have great teachers.” “I’m still not convinced. Keep an eye on her for me. Don’t let her have too much time to study. If necessary, arrange for some people to cause trouble for her.” “Understood.” “And listen to me—if you dare catch real feelings for her while playing this game, I will make sure you never see me again.” “Mia, even if you don’t trust me, you should trust yourself. Maya… she isn’t worth a thousandth of you.” I hid behind a tree, watching them embrace and kiss. The blue sky, the setting sun, the handsome boy, the beautiful girl. What a picture-perfect scene. But in my eyes, the play had ended. The sun was dead. 8 Slurp. I tossed the empty boba cup into the trash can. “It’s getting late. We should head back.” Ryan suddenly grabbed my wrist. “Maya, about your brother Leo… do you need me to help you contact a top specialist?” My fingertips trembled slightly. I forced out a bitter, resigned smile. “It’s no use.” “When Leo was first injured, Dr. Evans at the city hospital said he had an eighty percent chance of saving his eye.” “But just as he was about to go into surgery, some psycho burst into the hospital and slashed Dr. Evans’s hands.” “The backup surgeon they brought in at the last minute… directly removed Leo’s eyeball.” “Ryan, it seems like anyone who gets close to me ends up ruined. You should really stay away from me.” I shook off his hand and rode off on my bike without looking back. When I got home, everyone except my dad was in the living room. They were gathered around, excitedly discussing something. As soon as I walked in, the laughter and chatter abruptly stopped. Liam rubbed his nose, looking slightly awkward. “Uh, Maya, do you have a passport?” Chloe didn’t give me a chance to answer. She gleefully answered for me: “Stupid! She grew up in a tiny fishing village, of course she doesn’t have one! And she probably didn’t think to get one after she came back, right?” She glared at me, her eyes flashing with a silent threat. I lowered my head. “Yeah, I don’t have one.” Mia frowned. “Ah, that’s such a shame. Liam just got a reality travel show, and they want him to bring his family. Since you don’t have a passport, you can’t go.” I kept my hands clasped tightly. “It’s fine. You guys go have fun. I’ll stay here and watch the house.” Chloe burst into harsh laughter. “Then you’ll be in the exact same social class as my dog, Snowball!” She patted the Doberman’s head. “Snowball, be polite to your second sister from now on. Don’t bite her again, understand?” The Doberman bared its sharp teeth, staring at me viciously. I shrank back, pretending to be terrified. “Chloe!” Liam glared at her, then turned to me with a fawning expression. “Don’t listen to her. She’s young and doesn’t know what she’s saying.” I shook my head, signaling that I didn’t mind. My mom smiled and comforted me: “Since you can’t go this time, there’s always a next time. Go apply for a passport first. When we get back, we’ll pick a nice place and take you with us.” I nodded obediently. “Okay. You guys keep planning. I’m going to my room.” “Maya…” Liam tried to follow me. Chloe violently yanked him back to their circle. Within moments, they were back to their passionate discussion. Photos Chloe was uploading constantly popped up in the family group chat. [Chloe: @Maya, Second sister, here are some pics from the internet so you can at least look at the view, hehe (Smile) (Smile) (Smile).] She sent three smiley faces in a row. I replied cooperatively: [Wow, I’m so jealous.] Chloe responded with a meme of a Doberman baring its fangs. I stared at those sharp, white teeth and slowly curled my lips into a smile. 9 After dinner, Chloe put on a full face of dramatic makeup and took Snowball out to party. Mia went to her high-end yoga class. Liam had a late-night recording session at the TV studio. My mom was out playing bridge with the other wealthy socialites. My dad was at a business dinner, undoubtedly bragging about his wealth. I hid in my room, quietly reading a book. 10:00 PM. My phone started ringing loudly. [Maya, get to the city hospital right now! Chloe’s been in a terrible accident!] Liam’s voice was frantic and breathless. He sounded like he was sprinting. I pinched my thigh hard to fake a panicked tone. “What happened?” [Her dog suddenly went rabid… it ripped her eyes out…] [Ah, just don’t ask! Get here as fast as you can! You guys have the same blood type, and she needs a massive transfusion right now!] I said, my voice trembling, “Okay, I’m on my way.” I hung up the phone, leaned back in my chair, and let out a long, deep sigh of relief. Everything was going exactly according to plan. My book was only half-read. I picked up my pen and drew a thick red line under a specific sentence: All things in the universe operate in cycles; every cause has its effect, and every debt must be paid.

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1 On the drive back from picking my daughter up from her dad’s house, she suddenly spoke up. “Mom, you’re actually pretty calculating. You dump me there as soon as break starts, and then drag me back the second school begins.” I shot her a bewildered look, not understanding why she’d say something like that. My daughter continued, “It’s just like when I was a toddler and the hardest to deal with—you bailed. Then, when I got older and easier to manage, you fought tooth and nail to take me back. You always make sure you get the best end of the deal.” When I was pregnant with her, my ex-husband, David, cheated on me. Barely a month after I gave birth, he took my daughter away from me. It was only years later, when his new wife got pregnant, that he finally allowed us to be reunited. I never imagined that, all these years, this was how she saw it. My heart turned to ice. Without a word, I spun the steering wheel around and drove her right back to her dad’s house. 2 As my car pulled up to his gated community, I saw David’s SUV pulling out. My daughter excitedly rolled down the window and yelled, “Dad! Dad!” She signaled for me to stop, then hopped out and jogged over to his car. A moment later, she came back. I watched David’s SUV drive away. His current wife and their young son were in the car with him. “What did he say?” I asked. My daughter rolled her eyes at me, her tone laced with annoyance. “Dad and Ashley are taking Liam to the community center for a class. I told him you agreed to let me keep staying with him.” “Just drop me off here. I can go in by myself.” I watched her skip away, dragging her suitcase behind her, feeling like I was in an alternate reality. When David finally returned her to me, she was already four years old. A tiny little thing, she clung to Ashley, refusing to let go. When I forced myself to pick her up and take her away, she cried so hard she could barely breathe. She kept screaming, “Mommy, Daddy, save me!” as if I were some evil kidnapper tearing her away from her real family. For the first few days, she cried herself to sleep and woke up crying. Every single second, she begged to go back to that house. Thankfully, kids are resilient. Their grief comes and goes quickly. Under my meticulous, round-the-clock care, my daughter finally started calling me “Mom.” As she grew older, she started to understand the complicated dynamics of our family. She stopped calling Ashley “Mom” and switched to “Aunt Ashley.” All these years, terrified of leaving her with any psychological trauma… I never said a single bad word about her father in front of her. I even made sure to drop her off to spend holidays with them. I never expected that in her heart, all of that was just proof of my “calculating” nature. 3 I drove back home alone. Looking at the steak and lobster I had specifically bought to celebrate her coming home, I let out a heavy sigh. Over the years, to make up for the broken home, I never skimped on her clothing, food, or housing. Knowing David had his own new family to worry about, I shouldered 100% of the financial burden of raising her. Thankfully, I had managed to build a relatively successful career for myself. I could afford to spoil my daughter. Realizing I couldn’t possibly eat all this food alone, I called my best friend, Sarah. Then, I buried myself in the kitchen, trying to use the physical labor to fend off the crushing depression in my chest. By the time Sarah arrived, I had already whipped up five dishes and a soup. Staring at the mouth-watering steak and lobster bisque on the table, Sarah clicked her tongue in amazement. “I’m telling you, Claire, with your cooking skills, Chloe is one spoiled kid.” “Why couldn’t you have been my mom? Can I be your daughter instead?” I offered a bitter smile and told her how Chloe would rather stay at David’s than come home to me. Hearing this, Sarah slammed her hand hard on the table. “That little brat! Does she really think her dad actually gives a damn about her?” Then, her eyes welled up with tears. “Claire, I’ve watched how much you’ve sacrificed for that kid all these years.” “Please don’t think this is your fault. She’s probably just hitting her rebellious teenage phase.” I let out a long, heavy sigh. Over the years, how many incredible career opportunities or great guys had I let slip through my fingers? It wasn’t that I didn’t want to grab them, but as a single mom, I had to prioritize her stability. Eight years ago, I was almost engaged to my boyfriend at the time. But when I read a line in Chloe’s diary that said, “If Mom gets remarried, I will never forgive her for the rest of my life,” I resolutely broke things off with him. When it came to Chloe, my conscience was absolutely clear. 4 After seeing Sarah out, I collapsed onto the sofa alone. I had grown so used to having my daughter around; the days without her felt incredibly lonely. I had originally thought I’d be happily bringing her home today. I never expected to have a bucket of ice water dumped over my head instead. I opened Chloe’s social media and, unsurprisingly, saw a blank grey line across her profile. She had blocked me from seeing her posts since she was 15. I couldn’t see a single thing she shared. It was as if I were some kind of terrifying monster. After thinking about it, I sent her a picture of the steak and lobster. [Hey sweetie, did Dad cook for you? What did you have for dinner tonight?] A little while later, she sent a picture back. I clicked on it. It was a pile of pizza and fried food. [Dad brought me back some leftover pizza. It was good.] Even though I could tell at a glance from the size of the takeout box that it was likely just leftovers from their dinner out. But seeing that she seemed to be in a good mood, I played along. [As long as it’s good, eat up. Mom will make it for you next time.] She didn’t reply again. Feeling melancholic, I locked my phone and got up to take out the trash. Walking through the apartment complex, I ran into an old coworker, Brenda. She had witnessed David’s affair and the messy divorce that followed firsthand. She knew all my dirty laundry inside and out. After a few minutes of small talk, she suddenly asked: “Hey, isn’t your daughter back yet?” I answered automatically, “No, she’s spending the summer at her dad’s.” “Really? I actually ran into your ex-husband and his family at Six Flags today, but I didn’t see your daughter.” Six Flags? Weren’t they taking the kid to a class at the community center? I forced a dry laugh. “Kids get older, they probably don’t want to hang out with the family as much.” Brenda nodded knowingly, her eyes filling with a deeper sense of pity. “It’s just a shame you’ve wasted so many years. If you meet someone decent, you really should put yourself out there.” Normally, I would have politely but firmly declined. But today, driven by some inexplicable impulse, I actually nodded. “Okay. If you know anyone suitable, feel free to introduce us.” 5 I didn’t expect Brenda to move so fast. The very next day, she sent me an address. “It’s a distant nephew of mine, just moved back from the States. You guys should meet.” Afraid I wouldn’t go, she quickly added: “He’s a great catch. He’s been so focused on his career all these years that he never got married. Just treat it like making a new friend.” Even though I was already regretting what I’d agreed to yesterday… Since things were already in motion, I went to the restaurant at the agreed-upon time. When I saw the silhouette of the man waiting for me, I almost didn’t process it. “Claire?” “Mark?” Looking at the surprised face of the man in front of me, I let out a surprised laugh. Years ago, because Chloe had thrown a massive fit and refused to let me marry Mark. I had initiated a harsh, clean break with him. At the time, he had desperately begged to know why, but I only apologized and refused to see him again. Later, I heard he had moved overseas, and I locked that relationship away deep in my heart. I never imagined that our reunion today would be a blind date. Was it just a massive coincidence, or was it fate? “If I had known it was you, I would have come even if I had to crawl,” he joked with a smile. I laughed along. “I can’t believe after all these years, you still aren’t married.” A shy, bashful smile spread across Mark’s face. Just like eight years ago, when our relationship was at its best. We had a wonderful dinner. Before we left, Mark looked at me and spoke with genuine sincerity. “Actually, all these years, I never forgot you. We…” “It’s not possible anymore,” I cut him off cleanly. “My daughter is taking her SATs next year. I don’t want to hold you back.” “Alright,” he shrugged with a hint of regret. “But I still wish you happiness.” 6 When I turned on the lights in my apartment, I realized my daughter was already home. “Sweetie? Why didn’t you tell Mom you were coming back?” Pleasantly surprised, I swapped my heels for slippers and moved to hug her. Chloe sat on the sofa, arms crossed, glaring at me coldly. “Where were you? Why are you back so late? Have you been drinking?” I sniffed my clothes. I didn’t smell anything. “I just had dinner with a friend and a glass of wine. What’s wrong?” “A friend?” Chloe sneered, tossing her phone onto the coffee table. “Are you sure about that ‘friend’?” On the screen was a clear photo of Mark and me having dinner together. “If a classmate hadn’t run into you and asked me why my mom was out on a date…” “I wouldn’t have even known you were still talking to this random guy.” Looking at my daughter’s mocking expression, I forced myself to be patient and explain. “Mom only found out it was Mark when I got to the restaurant. We just caught up as old friends.” “Please. You just can’t survive without a man, can you?” My daughter’s words hit me like a physical blow. I stood frozen in place. “Did you think I didn’t know about you secretly meeting up with my math teacher?” “And Mr. Davis? You guys text every single day. Isn’t that disgusting?” “You preach to me every day about not dating in high school, but your own personal life is filthier than anyone’s.” “You really think nobody knows the disgusting things you do? Having a mother like you is humiliating.” My daughter screamed at me as if she were venting a deep-seated hatred. When she finished, she grabbed her bag, slammed the door, and stormed out. Leaving me standing alone in the living room, trying to digest the vile character assassination delivered by the person I loved most in the world. 7 Chloe had always struggled with math, so I frequently communicated with her teacher, hoping to find ways to boost her grades. Since she was a sickly child, I was constantly in touch with Dr. Davis, her pediatrician, to manage her health. And Mark? Today was the first time I had seen him in 8 years, and I had no intention of seeing him again. I never, ever imagined that in my daughter’s heart, this was the kind of person I was. Selfish, calculating, promiscuous, desperate for male attention. I sat on the sofa with a bitter smile, feeling a pain in my chest that was even sharper than the day I caught David cheating. That day, he had shielded Ashley behind him and told me: “Claire, if you’re angry, take it out on me. Don’t hurt an innocent person.” They were the innocent ones. I was the villain. I don’t know how long I sat in the dark. My phone chimed. I opened it. Sarah had sent me a screenshot. [What is Ashley trying to pull? She’s really treating your daughter like her own.] I tapped on the image. It was a selfie of Ashley with her arm around Chloe. The caption read: [My poor, misunderstood girl.] Chloe’s eyes were still red from crying, but she was leaning into Ashley’s embrace. A perfect picture of mother-daughter bonding. I clicked over to Chloe’s profile. Surprisingly, I could see a new post. It was the exact same photo, but with a different caption. [Heart-to-heart with Mom.] I hadn’t been granted access to her posts in almost two years. So in this moment, I was absolutely certain she had unblocked me just so I could see this. She wanted me to see their “mother-daughter” bond. She wanted me to see her leaning on another woman. She knew perfectly well that Ashley was the woman her father cheated with, yet she still chose to call her “Mom.” Maybe only the people closest to you know exactly where to twist the knife so it hurts the most. But she wasn’t a child anymore. She needed to take responsibility for her own choices. And I was going to support her decision. This daughter… I didn’t want her anymore. 8 For the next few weeks, I poured all my energy back into my career. I proactively took on several massive, complex projects, working until my head spun every single day. Naturally, I didn’t have the time or energy to obsess over what Chloe was doing. I didn’t send five or six texts a day, desperately trying to prove my love. I imagine she was quite happy to be rid of me. During this time, Ashley only contacted me once. Her voice was still that soft, gentle purr that seemed to captivate both men and women. “Claire, when are you going to come pick Chloe up?” At the time, I was busy finalizing the final draft of a major design project. I replied with genuine confusion: “She has arms and legs. She can come back whenever she wants.” All these years, I had strictly adhered to a “no contact unless absolutely necessary” policy with David, communicating only through Ashley when needed. When it came to that cheating bastard and his mistress, my stance was always: ‘I hope you two are locked together forever.’ Ashley didn’t say much else, only trying to excuse Chloe’s behavior by saying she was in her rebellious teenage phase. She asked me to be a little more understanding if she had done anything to upset me. I almost laughed out loud. The mistress who usurped my marriage was now trying to lecture me on maternal patience. “She can do whatever she wants. You don’t need to tell me that.” To my surprise, Chloe actually did come home on her own. That day, my department had finally closed a massive deal, and as the Director, I treated my team to dinner. I drank a little too much out of sheer excitement, and one of the junior girls on my team had to drive me home. As soon as I walked through the door, I saw Chloe storming out of her bedroom, looking pissed. “You really are going wild, aren’t you? What kind of mother acts like this?” My junior, Maya, who was just about to say hello, froze in her tracks. She shot me an awkward glance, then forced a polite smile. “This must be Chloe! Director Li talks about you all the time. You’re so pretty.” Chloe glared at her and scoffed. Then she turned, slammed her bedroom door shut, and went back inside. Tipsy and exhausted, I told Maya to drive safe, and then I fell into a heavy, dreamless sleep. 9 The reason Chloe came back was that the new school year was starting. Previously, to accommodate the intense schedule of her junior year, I had meticulously planned out her schedule for the entire year, optimizing every single second. This meant I had to wake up at 4:30 AM every day to make breakfast, and drive her to school at 5:30 AM sharp. I’d rush home at 6:00 PM to cook dinner, then drive back to work at 8:00 PM. I’d sneak out of the office early at 11:30 AM just to deliver a hot lunch to her school. And the evenings were a whole new battleground… But back then, I felt incredibly fulfilled. It felt like we were fighting the battle of high school together. But now, looking at that meticulously color-coded schedule, I just felt like the old me was completely insane. I had a perfectly good life, and I chose to torture myself. I wasn’t expecting it, but on the very first day of school, Chloe was late. She barged into my bedroom, furious, screaming at me to drive her to school. “It’s 8:00 AM, do you realize that?! Morning homeroom is already over!” “Why didn’t you wake me up?! WHY!!!” I was groggily jolted awake by her screaming, her voice piercing my eardrums. “The allowance I gave you yesterday included Uber money.” “If you think the commute is too inconvenient, you can apply to live in the dorms.” “I am not obligated to drive you to school every morning. I’ll pick you up in the evenings since it’s late.” Seeing she was about to argue, I glanced at my phone. “It’s almost 8:30 now. Are you sure you want to keep throwing a tantrum here?” Chloe stormed out, slamming the door so hard the walls shook. I actually knew exactly why she had overslept. At 2:00 AM last night, I could still hear the sound of video games coming from her room. In the past, I would have gone in and scolded her, telling her to go to sleep immediately. But now, what did any of that have to do with me?

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