After I beat his mistress into a vegetative state, my husband coldly tossed their illegitimate son at me. "Chloe, you can either raise this child to atone for your sins, or you can go rot in a prison cell for the rest of your life." I took the screaming, crying infant from his arms and nodded without changing my expression. Everyone in Manhattan high society laughed at me, saying I deserved to be treated like a glorified nanny for my husband's mistress. Until New Year's Eve, exactly five years later. I went to the hospital to deliver my standard, obligatory apology to the comatose Mia, just like I did every year. But as I stood outside the VIP suite, I heard my husband, Liam, groan softly from inside the room. "Mia... why are you so tight today?" Mia, who had supposedly been a vegetable for five years, whined coquettishly. "What's wrong? Are you in a rush to go spend New Year's Eve with Chloe, or are you just terrified she's going to catch you in my bed?" Liam gripped her waist fiercely, his tone dripping with absolute indulgence. "Relax, you jealous little thing. My body and my heart belong entirely to you." The sounds of explicit, unfiltered intimacy echoed through the heavy door of the luxury hospital room. I stood in the hallway, took a deep breath, and felt an immense, overwhelming sense of relief. We had been married for six years, and Liam still didn't love me. But thankfully... Our five-year agreement was officially over. It was time for me to go find the man I actually loved. …… Honestly, I wasn't entirely surprised to find out Mia was faking her coma. After all, the "weapon" I used to put her in that state five years ago... was a feather pillow. On my drive back to the estate, Liam called me. "I'm staying at the hospital to ring in the New Year with Mia. Make sure you take good care of Leo tonight." Today was our sixth wedding anniversary. It was also the sixth year of his infidelity. And Leo was Mia's son. He was turning six this year. Leo. Liam even named the kid after the constellation he and Mia used to stargaze at together. He was constantly pining for her. Truthfully, I was pregnant once, too. But when I was eight months along, Mia insisted on taking me for a test drive in her new sports car. She purposely slammed the gas pedal and drove us straight into a tree. I needed eight stitches in my leg. My baby didn't survive. At the time, Liam dropped to his knees in front of me and swore on his life that he would never speak to Mia again. But on the exact day of my baby's funeral, they were back in bed together. Liam tried to comfort me with empty words. "Chloe, we lost this one, but we can always have another." But the one who ended up having another child was Mia. She hid her pregnancy from everyone, secretly gave birth to Leo, and prepared to use the child to usurp my position as the legal wife. Liam's mother was furious at his sheer stupidity. Gritting her teeth, she forced me into a five-year contract. As long as I helped the Sterling family save face and avoid a catastrophic public scandal, she promised to grant me one single, unconditional request at the end of the five years. Listening to Liam endlessly barking orders at me over the phone, I smiled and played along. "Mhm. I'll make sure Leo goes to bed early." For some reason, the man on the other end of the line suddenly went silent. Then, he let out a harsh, mocking scoff. "Don't think playing the perfect, submissive wife is going to make me forgive you!" "When you beat Mia into a coma, did you ever stop to think that karma would come for you?!" "Leo gets bullied at his private school every single day because the other kids call him motherless! This is entirely your fault!" Faced with Liam's vicious reprimand... Normally, I would immediately swallow my pride, agree with him, and apologize. But our five-year contract was up. I was completely done playing my part in his delusional theatrical production. I replied with a light, almost cheerful tone. "Yeah, you know what? If I could do it all over again, I really wish I hadn't used a pillow to hit Mia. A cinderblock would have been much better." Before Liam could even process what I said, I hung up the phone. Looking at the birthday and New Year's texts pouring in from my former colleagues... I was in a fantastic mood. I spun the wedding ring on my left ring finger—the one engraved with a tiny 'A'—and walked into a bakery to buy myself a small cake before heading home. I unlocked the front door and stepped inside. Just as I put my foot down, an agonizing, piercing pain shot through the sole of my foot. I screamed. The cake slipped from my hands, smashing into pieces on the hardwood floor. Enduring the blinding pain, I lifted my bleeding foot. I realized that Leo had hidden a handful of metal thumbtacks inside my house slippers. The five-year-old boy was hiding in the corner, clapping his hands and laughing hysterically. "Hahaha! Serves you right, you evil witch! Just you wait, one day I'm going to smash your head in and get revenge for my mommy!" His high-pitched, childish voice was dripping with pure, concentrated hatred. When I first took this boy from Liam's hands... I knew the child was innocent in all of this, so I raised him personally, with my own two hands. Leo had a weak immune system. He was constantly catching colds and fevers. Every single time, I was the one sitting by his bed, staying awake all night to take care of him. When he got a little older, I taught him how to speak, how to read, and spent every day playing with him. No matter how badly he misbehaved, I never raised my voice at him. But when Leo finally learned how to speak in full sentences, the very first thing he said to me was— "No matter how hard you pretend, you will never be my real mommy!" After bandaging my foot, Leo quietly snuck up behind me, his hands hidden behind his back. Before I could even turn around, he suddenly pulled out a raw egg and smashed it violently against my back. My years of endless tolerance and spoiling... Had only fueled this child's absolute, sociopathic entitlement. His loud, mocking laughter echoed in my ears. "Die, you evil witch! Ha..." Before the little monster could even finish his laugh. I snatched the second egg from his hand and smashed it directly, forcefully against his forehead! Chapter 2 The egg cracked, the slimy yolk and whites smearing all over his face. Leo's eyes widened in absolute shock. He froze, completely paralyzed. I stared him down, my voice cold and hard as iron. "Now that you know how much it hurts, you are never allowed to hit people again. I've tried to teach you this a hundred times." The exact second Leo started wailing at the top of his lungs... Liam’s furious, explosive roar echoed from the foyer. "No wonder Leo fucking hates you! The second I'm not home, this is how you abuse my son?!" Over the years, Leo had constantly complained and made up lies about me to Liam. Liam genuinely believed that if he could just find a reason to kick me out of the Sterling estate, Mia would miraculously wake up from her coma. But he had absolutely no idea. In Mia's mind, torturing me mentally was far more important than raising her own son. Faced with Liam's furious interrogation... I was eerily, perfectly calm. Ignoring the venomous glares from both father and son, I turned around and pulled a wet wipe from the dispenser. Leo instinctively leaned his little, egg-covered face toward me. He actually assumed I was going to clean him up. Instead, I completely ignored him and methodically wiped the egg yolk off my own clothes. The shock in his eyes... Actually looked a little bit like genuine grievance. Liam saw the heavy bandages wrapped around my foot. He knew perfectly well it was Leo's doing, but he didn't ask a single question. Only after I finished cleaning myself did I slowly look up. "Mr. Sterling. Since you're so worried about him, why don't you have his actual mother come here and educate him herself?" That single sentence... Instantly ignited the man's explosive rage. He grabbed the smashed cake box from the floor and hurled it violently onto the dining table. "Chloe, you have absolutely no right to be jealous of Mia!" "I told you a long time ago. The legal title is yours, but my love belongs entirely to her!" It seemed he actually did know it was my birthday today. Except, written in sloppy, uneven icing across the ruined cake were the words: Happy New Year, Mia. Jealous? Hearing those words, I almost laughed out loud. If it wasn't for the fact that I desperately needed to access the Sterling family's private corporate vault to retrieve a crucial piece of evidence... I wouldn't even look twice at a filthy, cheating piece of trash like Liam. Years ago, I had tried absolutely everything to get into that vault. But to my utter dismay... The biometric lock on the Sterling family vault was permanently coded to only grant access to the legal Lady of the House. At a corporate gala, I—the top engine design engineer for the Sterling family's Formula 1 racing team—was hand-picked by Mrs. Sterling to be her daughter-in-law. On the day of our wedding. In front of hundreds of elite guests. Liam took the diamond wedding band... and slipped it directly onto Mia's finger. I was publicly humiliated, instantly becoming the laughingstock of the entire city. But facing the shocked, pitying stares of the crowd... I didn't panic. I simply reached into my purse and pulled out a different wedding band—one engraved with a tiny 'A'. I slipped it onto my own finger. The guests exchanged bewildered glances. They couldn't believe how calm and magnanimous I was being. But no one could have possibly guessed the truth. That 'A' didn't stand for Liam's middle name, Alexander. It stood for Arthur. I was finally wearing the wedding ring that my Arthur had personally designed for me. Before I could even say a word. Liam scooped his son up and stormed toward the door, throwing one last insult over his shoulder. "I don't care how well you play the part of the gentle, submissive wife. I will never, ever fall in love with a greedy, gold-digging opportunist like you!" Looking at the lavish New Year's Eve dinner I had cooked, I suddenly lost my appetite entirely. I walked into the guest bedroom. I pulled out my phone and dialed Liam's mother. "Mrs. Sterling. The five years are up. It's time for you to give me access to the vault." Mrs. Sterling let out a cold, cynical laugh through the speaker. "Fine. But according to our agreement, you are only allowed to remove one single item from that vault." She paused, her voice softening into something that almost sounded like a sigh. "Chloe. If you weren't so desperately obsessed with money, you truly would have made a far better daughter-in-law than that cheap flower girl." I smiled, but I didn't argue with her. I went to the Sterling ancestral estate. Surrounded by mountains of gold, diamonds, and priceless antiques... I picked up a tiny, insignificant-looking metal seal. Mrs. Sterling stared at me in absolute disbelief. "You... you're actually only taking that piece of scrap metal?" "Do you have any idea that literally any other item in this room could guarantee you a life of unimaginable luxury?!" It was true. The Sterling family's wealth was astronomical. But she didn't know. The tiny, lead engine seal in my hand... Held the key to proving my fiancé's innocence and restoring his dignity on the professional racing circuit. To me, that piece of metal was the true priceless treasure. Before leaving the estate, I handed Mrs. Sterling a signed divorce agreement. "Mrs. Sterling, my flight leaves early tomorrow morning. Before I go, please make sure Liam signs this." Chapter 3 Mrs. Sterling fell silent for a long moment, then spoke with a heavy, muffled tone. "Fine. You and Liam are officially done. But as for that flower girl... I need you to go and put her in her place for me." She slid her iPad across the table to me. The screen was plastered with breaking news alerts announcing Mia's miraculous awakening. It was massive. It was everywhere. On the live broadcast feed. Liam had rented out the grand ballroom of the Plaza Hotel to celebrate Mia waking up. The three of them—Liam, Mia, and Leo—looked like the absolute picture of a warm, perfect family. The media was eating it up. They claimed it was the CEO's unwavering love that brought Mia back from the brink of death. They were calling it a medical miracle. It was a narrative that was moving millions to tears online. And naturally, I—the "attempted murderer"—was dragged right back into the spotlight. The live chat was flooded with brutal, vitriolic attacks against me. "Chloe is a shameless, psychotic shrew! All she cares about is extorting money from the Sterling family! She's nowhere near as sweet and understanding as the 'mistress'!" "I can't even imagine how much suffering Mia endured in that house as a former flower shop girl. If their roles were reversed, let's see if Chloe would still act so arrogant!" "I hope the CEO divorces that violent bitch immediately and brings his true love home where she belongs!" When I walked into the grand ballroom, Mia was the first to spot me. She practically skipped over and linked her arm through mine. "Sister! I was just thinking, since we're going to be seeing a lot of each other from now on, why don't we use tonight to bury the hatchet and make peace?" Her face was glowing with health. She didn't look like someone who had just woken up from a five-year coma. But no one in the room dared to question the narrative. Someone in the crowd snickered loudly. "Chloe, look at how forgiving and magnanimous Mia is being. If you have any sense at all, you'll pack your bags and get the hell out." Amidst the mocking laughter of the elite crowd. Mia leaned in and lowered her voice to a venomous whisper in my ear. "See that? Even though I was 'asleep' for five years, I still hold vastly more power in this room than you, the legal wife." "You... from now on, you're going to be nothing more than a highly-qualified nanny for me and my son..." I didn't even flinch. I just smiled back at her. "Your son? Are you absolutely certain Leo is actually Liam's biological child?" The color instantly drained from Mia's face, leaving her chalk-white. I turned my head, staring dead into her eyes, my voice dripping with profound implication. "Liam might be willing to play along with your fake coma and your pathetic victim act... but do you really think the internet will?" "Oh, wait, I almost forgot. Miss Mia wasn't just selling flowers back in the day... she was selling a lot of other things, wasn't she?" The arrogant, triumphant expression on Mia's face shattered into a million pieces. The thing she hated most in the entire world was people bringing up her time as an escort. Because years ago, her parents had sold her to an elderly sugar daddy in the countryside to pay off their debts. The humiliation of her past surged violently to the surface. Mia suddenly threw her body backward, slamming herself heavily against the sharp edge of a banquet table. A glass of red wine tipped over, instantly staining her white designer gown like a fresh blood splatter. From the angle of the crowd, it looked exactly as if I had violently shoved her. Leo immediately charged forward, throwing his little body in front of her like an angry lion cub. "You evil witch! Don't you dare bully my mommy!" Hearing the commotion, Liam rushed over. "What happened?!" Mia immediately used the tablecloth to cover her chest, her voice trembling, her eyes brimming with fragile tears. "It's nothing, it's nothing..." Seeing her covered in red wine and looking absolutely miserable, Liam spun around and glared furiously at me. "She just got out of the hospital, and this is how you treat her?!" Mia immediately slipped into her soft, pitiful victim persona. "It has nothing to do with my sister... I was just clumsy and fell..." Leo, his eyes red and teary, chimed in perfectly on cue. "Daddy, the bad witch said I'm a bastard! She said I don't deserve to be your son..." Facing Liam's explosive, murderous glare. I knew any attempt to explain myself was completely useless. The past five years had proven that fact over and over again. The more I tolerated them, the more psychotic and arrogant they became. So, I raised my head, met Liam's furious stare head-on, and spoke with absolute, freezing calm. "First of all, I didn't push her." "Secondly, I came here today to inform you that I am officially resigning from the position of your personal punching bag." The moment the words left my mouth. Mia suddenly opened her hand, revealing a palm covered in dark red blood. Before I could even process what was happening. SMACK! Liam, entirely consumed by blind rage, delivered a brutal, full-force slap across my face. "You don't get to decide when you quit! I told you, the moment Mia woke up, you were going to personally apologize to her on your knees!" "Chloe, if you want to keep your title as Mrs. Sterling, drop to your knees right now, in front of everyone! If you do, I might consider the sacrifices you've made for this family and..." Before he could finish his sentence. I raised my hand and slapped him back with everything I had. I wiped the trickle of blood from the corner of my mouth, straightened my spine, and let out a chilling sneer. "Liam Sterling. Who the hell actually wants to be Mrs. Sterling?" Chapter 4 Liam's fury skyrocketed to astronomical heights. The submissive, obedient, passive woman he had controlled for five years had seemingly vanished into thin air. Mia’s eyes were completely red. She looked at me timidly and whispered: "Sister, playing hard to get isn't going to work on Liam..." "I know you look down on me, but Liam and I are truly, deeply in love. I'm begging you, please just step aside and let us be together, okay?" I was far too exhausted to watch her perform her cheap soap opera routine. Just as I turned to leave, I caught a glimpse of a shiny, metallic object near Liam's feet. I instinctively reached into the pocket where I had secured the engine seal. It was completely empty. I immediately changed direction, walking straight toward him. But right as I stepped forward... The massive crystal chandelier suspended directly above Liam's head suddenly detached from the ceiling without any warning! Acting on pure, unfiltered adrenaline, I lunged forward, diving for the metal seal near Liam's expensive leather shoes. CRASH! The massive chandelier smashed into a thousand pieces on the marble floor, just inches away from Liam and me. I clutched the seal tightly in my fist, but razor-sharp shards of crystal had sliced deep into my cheek, leaving several bleeding gashes. Liam was completely unharmed. Our eyes met. He stared at me in absolute, utter shock. It took him several seconds to force a few words through his tightly clenched jaw. "Are you fucking insane? Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?" "You just said you didn't care about being Mrs. Sterling, but now you're literally throwing your life away to save me?" "Chloe... if you would just stop pushing me away and admit how you really feel... I could love you the exact same way I love Mia..." Before he could finish his delusional, narcissistic monologue, I simply turned on my heel and walked out of the ballroom. I never expected Liam to personally drive me to the emergency room. Before the doctor even finished stitching my cheek, his phone had rung a dozen times. It was Mia. But he didn't answer a single one. Catching a glimpse of the wedding ring on my left hand, Liam looked as if he wanted to say something, but swallowed it back. Finally, he forced out a stiff, awkward sentence. "Chloe, the diamond on that ring is too small. Tomorrow, I'll take you to Harry Winston and buy you a new one." I was looking down at my phone, confirming my flight itinerary. I replied casually: "Aren't you going to answer your phone?" The man frowned slightly, instinctively walking over to the window and answering the call. But the voice blaring through the speaker wasn't Mia's. It was Leo's, crying hysterically, completely out of breath. I couldn't hear exactly what the little terror said, but Liam suddenly charged across the room and clamped his hands violently around my throat. "Chloe! Are you out of your fucking mind?!" Twenty minutes later, Liam dragged me out of his sports car at an abandoned industrial warehouse on the edge of the city. Kneeling by the entrance were several men, their faces beaten to a bloody pulp by the Sterling family security team. And lying on the concrete floor, looking like a discarded rag doll, was Mia. Her clothes were torn, and her eyes were blank and vacant. But the exact second she saw me, she struggled to her feet and screamed at me hysterically: "Chloe, are you satisfied now?! You made my son watch me get assaulted?!" "He's just a little boy! If you have a problem, take it out on me! If my son suffers any lasting trauma from this, I swear to God I will kill you!" Leo was clinging tightly to Liam's leg, sobbing brokenly. "Daddy... daddy... those bad men said the evil witch paid them to kidnap me and sell me." "They said... they said that as long as Mommy was dirty and ruined... no one would ever fight the evil witch for Daddy..." Liam was shaking with pure, volcanic rage. "Chloe. So the only reason you lured me to the hospital... was so you could send men to destroy Mia and my son?!" "You can't have a child of your own, so you decided to destroy someone else's?!" Based on the physical evidence at the scene, it was glaringly obvious that Mia hadn't actually been assaulted. I couldn't even be bothered to explain myself. I turned around to walk away. But the man's voice echoed behind me, colder and more terrifying than the winter wind. "This time... you brought this on yourself!" A sharp, agonizing pain slammed into the back of my knees. Forced to my knees on the concrete, two massive bodyguards pinned my shoulders down, forcing my body lower and lower. They slammed my forehead brutally against the freezing, filthy concrete floor. Over and over again. Agonizing pain instantly exploded through my skull and radiated through my entire body. Blood rapidly began to pool on the concrete beneath me. Seeing my face contorted in agony, Liam's rage seemed to slowly dissipate, replaced by a dark, complex, deeply conflicted expression. But just as he was about to order the guards to stop, Mia suddenly threw her arms around him, crying and screaming hysterically. "Arthur, I'm filthy now! I'm ruined! I don't deserve you anymore! I don't want to live..." She violently thrashed, trying to throw herself headfirst into the cinderblock wall. Seeing this, the little monster immediately copied her, attempting to slam his own head into the wall. "If Mommy dies, Leo doesn't want to live either!" Liam panicked, instantly wrapping his arms tightly around both of them, his face filled with agonizing heartbreak. While I lay broken in a pool of my own blood, gasping for air. He didn't spare me a single backward glance. After securing Mia and Leo safely in his SUV, Liam turned to his security detail and issued a cold, merciless order. "Lock her in here for three days. Let her sit in the dark and reflect on what she did." The moment his taillights disappeared... The men who had been kneeling on the ground suddenly stood up and began advancing toward me like a pack of starving wolves. "Mrs. Sterling... we heard the CEO hasn't touched you in five years. You must be absolutely starving, right? Come on... let the boys feed you..." The moment one of them reached out and violently ripped the collar of my blouse... The heavy, rusted steel doors of the warehouse were completely obliterated! A modified, matte-black rally car crashed through the corrugated metal, tires screaming against the concrete! The heavy front bumper slammed directly into the greasy thug standing over me, launching him a dozen feet into the air. Through the harsh, blinding glare of the headlights, a familiar, towering silhouette stepped out of the driver's side door, walking steadily toward me. "Don't be afraid. I'm here."
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