1 My husband has such crippling social anxiety that he bailed on our wedding day. Later, when I was hemorrhaging after giving birth, my mother fell to her knees and begged him, but he never came to sign the papers. My son was branded the "fatherless boy," and I wore the title of "widow" for eight years. Until one day, a madman broke into our yard and plunged a knife into my stomach. Looking at Liam standing by the window, I cried out for help. But he only watched for two seconds before looking away. His voice was ice. "Just hold on. I'll call the police for you." My mind went blank. In that instant, something inside me died. Just as I thought I was going to bleed out right there, Liam’s young assistant suddenly burst through the door, and the madman found a new target. The second he touched her, Liam transformed into a raging lion, lunging forward and knocking the man to the ground with a single punch. As the paramedics loaded me, covered in blood, into the ambulance, one of them leaned down and asked, "Where is the accompanying family member?" My gaze drifted from Liam, who was holding his assistant and whispering reassurances, back to the paramedic. My lips parted, my voice quiet but final. "I'm a widow. My family is dead." … After two grueling hours in surgery, I managed to cheat death. As the nurse wheeled me out, I saw Liam across the hall, sitting with his assistant while she received counseling. I froze. The hallway was crowded, yet Liam, the man with crippling social anxiety, seemed completely at ease, as if in a world of his own. This was the same man who had fled his own wedding. The same man who, afterward, had held a knife to his own wrist and screamed, "Stop pushing me! Do you want me to just die?!" So I had given in. For eight years of marriage, he never left the house except to go to the office. He wouldn't go to our son’s parent-teacher conferences. He wouldn't visit relatives during the holidays. Even moments ago, when my life was hanging by a thread, all I got from him was, "I'll call the police for you." The nurse, who knew he was my husband, hesitated before whispering, "Do you want me to get him? You'll need someone to stay with you." "No." Her eyes filled with pity. I’d overheard the nurses whispering earlier. "I've never seen anything so tragic. The wife is clinging to life, and the husband is off with his mistress at a therapy session. The way he’s hovering over her, you’d think the other woman was his wife." A sharp pain lanced through my chest. I closed my eyes as they wheeled me into my room. It wasn’t until dusk that Liam seemed to remember I existed. He shuffled in hesitantly. "Aria, you've been through a lot." I flinched away from his touch, my voice weak. "Don't let Leo know." Leo was so young, and he’d just recovered from a serious illness. I didn't want to upset him. The next second, the door opened, and his assistant, Chloe, walked in, holding Leo's hand. "Mommy!" Tears streamed down Leo’s face as he rushed to my bedside, too scared to touch me. I shot a death glare at Chloe. I had explicitly texted her not to bring him here. Chloe's eyes immediately reddened. She looked utterly pathetic. "Aria, Leo wanted to see his mommy. What's wrong with that? If you're upset, just hit me." She raised a hand to slap herself. Liam instantly stopped her, turning to me with fury in his eyes. "Why are you blaming her? Leo wanted to come! Chloe has a good heart, but you're just relentless." A good heart? The thought was so bitter it made me want to laugh. This wasn't the first time. Everyone knew Leo was severely allergic to shellfish, yet Chloe had taken him out for lobster. Leo had an immediate anaphylactic reaction, his face turning purple. It was only after the doctors administered the injection that I could hold my son, who I had almost lost, and break down in tears. But Chloe cried even harder than I did. "I didn't think lobster would be a problem," she’d sobbed. "It was a moment of carelessness. If anything had happened to Leo, I couldn't have lived with myself." But I wouldn't forgive her. I demanded that Liam fire her. His face was a mask of impatience. "Aria, don't be so unforgiving. Everyone makes mistakes." That time, I was truly ready to divorce him. It was Leo, his little face flushed with tears, who begged me over and over. "Mommy, please don't divorce Daddy." My moment of weakness only emboldened them. I couldn't let Leo grow up around people like this. "Get out! Both of you, get out!" Liam looked worried, as if he didn't want to leave. I grabbed the cup from my bedside table and threw it at them. Chloe shrieked, and Liam immediately shielded her, backing out of the room. "Aria, calm down. I'll come back in a few days." My son’s hand trembled in mine. His eyes held a maturity far beyond his years. "Don't be angry, Mommy. It's not good for you." My eyes stung. I forced a smile to reassure him. "I'm fine, sweetie. Don't you worry." That night, Liam hired a nurse for me. A few days later, once I could manage on my own, I took my son and rented an apartment. When Liam discovered we were gone, he bombarded me with messages. I didn't reply to a single one. But the next morning, my mother-in-law burst through the door. She was furious. "Aria Thorne, have you no shame? How dare you run off with the heir to the Thorne family!" Chloe stood beside her, the picture of concern. It was clear she’d been stirring the pot again. Over the years, whenever Liam and I had a disagreement, she would run to his mother and add fuel to the fire. "Aria yelled at Mr. Thorne again. She said he was useless..." "Mr. Thorne is so pitiful. He came to work with a scratch on his face, and all the employees were laughing at him." "Aria has been seeing other men lately..." By the time I realized what was happening, my mother-in-law's dislike for me had solidified into a deep-seated hatred. "Aria, don't blame Mr. Thorne," Chloe started in again. "He's ill. You can't expect too much from him." "What does this have to do with you?" I clutched my still-healing wound and slowly got to my feet. "What do you do besides cause trouble?" "You keep saying he's ill. Then what were you two doing the day before yesterday?" They had gone to a concert together, in a packed hall. Liam had even pulled some strings to get Chloe a photo with the conductor. But just last month, when I had begged him to take our son to an amusement park, he had refused without a second thought. "You can't even handle a simple thing like that? Are you useless?" Chloe was speechless, cowering behind my mother-in-law. Just as the older woman was about to erupt, Liam appeared. His mother and Chloe immediately flocked to him. "Look at this wonderful wife you've found! Look at how she's treating your mother! How am I supposed to live like this!" "Mr. Thorne, your mother just wanted to see her grandson, and Aria told us to get out." Hearing her twist the truth, the blood rushed to my head. "What are you talking about!" "Enough!" Liam's voice was a sharp rebuke, his eyes filled with disappointment. "Aria, can't you just be normal for once? You always have to make a scene over every little thing." My mind went blank. I stared at him, my eyes burning. "I'm not normal?" A husband with selective social anxiety, a backstabbing homewrecker, and a mother-in-law who couldn't see the truth. And he called me the abnormal one. Eight years of thankless sacrifice turned to dust in that single moment. "Liam, let's get a divorce." My voice was quiet, but the finality in it was unmistakable. Liam’s face froze. For once, he looked completely lost. "Aria, don't joke around..." "I'm not joking," I repeated. "Do you have your ID? Let's go today." The room fell silent. When my mother-in-law recovered, she started screaming. "Just divorce the bitch already! She doesn't want you anymore! What are you holding on for?" A vein throbbed in Liam's forehead. His eyes were like chips of ice. "Aria, I'm asking you one last time. Do you really want a divorce? Because you are not getting the kid." Just then, Leo burst out of the bedroom. Tears streamed down his face as he yelled, "I want to stay with my mommy! I'm not going with you!" My mother-in-law looked like she was about to have a stroke. She pointed a trembling finger at me. "Look what this woman has done to a perfectly good child!" Chloe lunged for Leo. He struggled wildly. "Mommy, help me!" I rushed to him, but his grandmother grabbed a fistful of my hair and yanked. "You bitch! Trying to poison my grandson against us!" The pain was excruciating. Liam instinctively cried out, "Mom, let her go! Her wound hasn't healed!" At that moment, Chloe’s sharp nails dug into the back of my hand. I screamed in pain. My son’s eyes turned red. He bit down hard on her hand. "Ah!" Chloe shrieked. Liam’s face contorted with rage. He slapped our son across the face. Leo fell to the floor, his mouth bleeding. My heart shattered. I scrambled to him, holding him tight. "Leo, let me see." "Mommy, don't cry. It doesn't hurt." Leo managed a weak smile, but beads of sweat dotted his forehead. Liam was blind to it all. He pointed at the bite mark on Chloe's hand and yelled at me, "Is this how you raise him? Is he a dog? I can't believe I ever trusted you with him." With a dark look, he hoisted Leo over his shoulder. "Mommy! Mommy!" Leo’s hoarse cries tore through me, but his grandmother and Chloe held me back. They started hitting me. "You bitch! You think you can get away with this?" My lip split open, and my wound began to bleed again. They didn't stop until I was limp on the floor. Then they left, leaving me in a heap. I gasped for air. As soon as I could move, I called a lawyer. My parents, though ordinary people, supported me completely, immediately transferring me twenty thousand dollars. On the eve of the court date, Liam came to my office. It was the first time in eight years. "Aria, can you stop this? Chloe is just my assistant. Nothing has ever happened between us." I pointed to the bruises on my face. "She did this after you left that day. She hates me, you know that?" A flicker of pain crossed Liam's eyes. He reached out to gently touch my face. "I'm sorry, Aria... Chloe was just emotional." I pulled away, pointing to the scar on my stomach. "And was it 'emotional' when you stood there and watched me get stabbed, but ran to save her?" Liam looked away, his voice stiff. "Think whatever you want." My voice was cold. "I want a divorce." We parted on bad terms. As he left, Liam gave me one last, long look. "Aria, you won't win this." I didn't believe him. I had years of evidence of his neglect. I couldn't believe they wouldn't give me custody of Leo. But on the day of the hearing, Liam had a string of witnesses. The household staff said I was unstable. The neighbors said I was erratic. "Aria is just high-strung. She's always yelling at her husband or her son." "She even taught her son to hit his grandmother. She's not human!" "She had postpartum depression. She tried to kill herself." … With all the rumors swirling, I was painted as a monster. My explanations were useless. I lost the case. Then, Liam released a video. It showed Leo pushing his grandmother, crying and screaming, "You're a bad person! I want my mommy! I only want my mommy!" The internet exploded. "His mother must have taught him that. He's turning into a monster." "That kid is ruined. What kind of person is he going to grow up to be? No discipline at all!" "Like mother, like son!" The vicious comments were endless. People started recognizing me on the street. Someone threw a rotten egg at me. I fell to the ground, vomiting. After the crowd dispersed, Liam walked up to me. His eyes were filled with pity. "Aria, why can't you just listen? I do love you." I slapped him, my eyes burning with hatred. He grabbed my wrist, his own face turning red with anger. "Fine. Let's see how long you can keep this up." Exhausted, I went home and started planning how to get to Leo. The next morning, Leo burst into the apartment, his face a mask of terror. "Mommy, help me!" He was pale and sweating. I held him close. "What is it, sweetie? Tell me slowly." "Auntie Chloe's neck is bleeding! She says I did it! Daddy's going to kill me!" My blood ran cold. So this was Chloe's plan all along. To get Leo back just to destroy him. Just then, we heard shouting at the door. I shoved my son into the bedroom. "Leo, don't come out," I said sternly. "No matter what you hear, do not come out!" Leo was crying too hard to breathe. I knew what he was afraid of. I forced a smile. "I'm a grown-up, sweetie. I'll be fine. Just cover your ears and don't listen." I locked the door just as Liam and a red-eyed Chloe burst in. Her neck was wrapped in thick gauze. It looked serious. Before I could speak, Chloe dropped to her knees. "Aria, I don't deserve to die. That knife wound from Leo almost killed me." "What good will it do you for your son to be a murderer at his age?" She was a picture of wronged innocence, her voice choked with tears. Liam was beside himself with concern. He helped her up, his eyes like daggers when he looked at me. "Get him out here!" "What proof do you have that Leo did it? Is there a security camera?" I screamed, my heart breaking for my son, for his father who was so blind. "Enough!" Liam's roar nearly deafened me. He strode forward, his pent-up anger finally erupting. He said, word by word, "I regret it. I regret ever having that little bastard!" I stood rooted to the spot. After a long moment, a trembling smile spread across my face. "Little bastard?" He, a father, was calling his own child a bastard. Liam pretended not to hear. His face was grim. "Chloe found a boarding school. We'll send him there for a year." He started for the bedroom. He was moving so fast he didn't see the madness, the final, desperate resolve in my eyes. Just as he was about to break down the door, I lunged at him and bit down on his neck. The pain made him roar. He threw me off. He clutched his bleeding neck, his voice full of rage. "Aria, you're going to be the death of me!" I hit the floor hard, but I was laughing, a wild, crazed sound. I felt a strange, wet sensation beneath me. A triumphant, painful smile stretched my lips. I pointed to my stomach and laughed, my voice rising with hysteria. "You said Leo was a bastard? Well, here. You can have this little bastard back, too!"
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