Everyone in New York's elite circle knew that Julian Ford would lie about anything to protect his "godsister," Lily. At a family gathering, he publicly tore my ultrasound report to shreds. "I have congenital asthenospermia. If you want to trap me, Sarah, you'll need a better lie than a pregnancy." Under the mocking gazes of the crowd, he tenderly wiped a tear from Lily's eye. In that moment, I realized that for the unloved, even pregnancy is a sin. I touched my slightly swollen belly and turned to jump off the luxury yacht. "Julian, since you can't have children, consider this one a gift from a ghost." Five years later, a miniature version of him outbid him for a plot of land he coveted at an auction. Red-eyed, Julian demanded a DNA test. The child just smiled. "Uncle, you're sick. You couldn't produce a seed as smart as me." 1 Silence fell over the auction hall. That childish voice was like a slap across everyone's face. Below the stage, Julian's handsome face twisted. The bidding paddle in his hand crunched into a ball of useless plastic. He stared deathly at the child in the front row, who was swinging his short legs. A face identical to his own had become the biggest irony in the room. Julian moved. He strode over the seats, radiating murderous intent. Security didn't dare stop him; guests didn't dare breathe. He reached out, fingers hooked like claws, aiming straight for the child's collar. The boy didn't dodge. He just looked up, his eyes—so like mine—filled with cold indifference. Just as Julian's hand was about to touch the child, a black shadow struck from the side. A hand wearing a black tactical glove clamped onto Julian's wrist. I used my full strength. Veins popped on the back of Julian's hand, bones cracking audibly. He tried to shake me off in pain, but I didn't budge. He followed the arm up, his gaze colliding with my icy pupils. Julian's pupils constricted violently. He stared at my face as if seeing a ghost, squeezing two words through his teeth: "Sarah... Vance?" Instantly, the guests exploded. "Sarah Vance? Julian's ex-wife who jumped into the ocean five years ago?" "Didn't they say no body was found? How is she alive?" "I heard she was pregnant with a bastard and jumped out of shame..." The whispers buzzed like flies. I threw his hand off expressionlessly, with enough force to make him stumble back half a step. Bending down, I straightened the child's bowtie, then stood up. I pulled off the glove, revealing a palm roughened by years of seawater. I looked at Julian coldly. "Mr. Ford, you're mistaken. I'm this child's father, not your ex-wife." Behind Julian, Lily covered her mouth and screamed. "Ghost! Julian, she's a ghost!" She shrank behind Julian in terror, trembling. Julian instinctively shielded her in his arms, a habit carved into his bones. After comforting Lily, he turned back to me, the shock in his eyes replaced by utter disgust. Even after five years, his gaze could still sting. Julian looked me up and down, his eyes scanning my cargo pants and combat boots before landing on the child. He sneered. "Didn't die but hid for five years? Couldn't make it out there? Came back with a bastard to beg for money?" His look was like watching a dog wag its tail. "Sarah, does this outfit even cost fifty bucks? Couldn't your lover afford to keep you?" A few snickers rippled through the crowd. I ignored him. I took the Rubik's cube from the child and placed it on the table. Then, I raised my bidding paddle. My voice rang clear through the hall. "Fifty million." The crowd gasped. That was the land Julian was determined to get. The starting bid was only twenty million. The mockery froze on Julian's face. The auctioneer slammed the hammer down in excitement. A staff member ran over with the card machine. I rolled up my sleeve, revealing a jagged scar on my wrist. That was the mark left by deep-sea decompression sickness, proof of my five years risking my life. I swiped the card and signed, movements fluid. "Also," I shoved the Black Card back into my pocket and looked straight at Julian, "Mr. Ford, if you're not using your eyes, donate them. Get out of my way." I took the child's hand and started to walk. Julian's face was livid. He signaled his bodyguards. The heavy doors slammed shut. A dozen men in black blocked the exit. Julian pushed Lily aside and advanced on me step by step, gritting his teeth. "Trying to leave? Explain yourself. Whose bastard is this?" He pointed at the child, eyes full of violence. "Here to scam me? I don't mind verifying it right here and making you disappear again." 2 In the VIP lounge behind the auction hall. A dozen burly men surrounded the child and me tightly. Julian sat on the sofa, legs crossed in arrogance, spinning a pinky ring, eyes dark. "Speak, Sarah." A file slammed onto the coffee table. It was the private investigator's report from five years ago. "Which man did you climb on to get here? Or did you sell your body for that fifty million?" Every word was a knife to the heart. Lily held a cup of hot tea, eyes red and pitiful. "Sister, don't fight with Julian. Just tell us who the father is, and the Ford family will give you some money." Her gaze swept over Julian's lower half, voice lowered but loud enough for everyone to hear: "After all, everyone knows about Julian's diagnosis of asthenospermia." "Insisting the child is his... isn't that just rubbing salt in his wound?" That knife twist was vicious. My son suddenly laughed. The laughter was crisp but cold, unlike a child. He unwrapped a piece of gum, chewed twice, and looked at Lily. "Auntie, your perfume is really strong. It smells like the bug spray in my bathroom." Lily's face stiffened, tears threatening to fall. Julian stood up abruptly, raising his hand to slap the child! "Uneducated brat! Who are you to talk to her like that?" The slap came with the wind, merciless. I grabbed the phone from the table and smashed it into the back of his hand. Bang! The screen shattered, and Julian's hand instantly swelled red. He cried out in pain, clutching his hand and retreating, glaring at me. "Sarah! You dare hit me for this bastard?" I pulled the child behind me and looked at him coldly. "Julian, watch your mouth. Don't you know if this child is a bastard?" Julian laughed in extreme anger, eyes full of madness. "Good! Very good!" He roared at the bodyguards. "Drag this little brat for a DNA test!" "I want the results now! I want all of New York to see whose mongrel you were carrying back then!" He pointed at my nose, voice twisted. "I will prove my innocence! Prove I never touched a slut like you!" To humiliate me, he didn't hesitate to emphasize his own "impotence" in public. His logic was twisted to the extreme. The bodyguards moved to grab the child. My son didn't dodge. He plucked a hair from his head and held it out. I stopped the bodyguard, took the hair from the child, and walked up to Julian. I placed the hair on the coffee table, looking at him like he was trash. "Test it." My voice was terrifyingly calm. "Julian, but you can't afford the consequences." Just as Julian was about to explode, Lily suddenly clutched her chest and moaned. "Julian... I don't feel well. My heart hurts." Her face went pale instantly, and she slumped. Julian's anger vanished, replaced by panic. He shoved me aside and rushed to pick up Lily. "Lily! Where's the medicine? Get the car! Hurry!" He carried Lily toward the door, not even glancing at me as he passed. He only left a cold command: "Watch this crazy woman and that bastard! No one leaves until the results are out!" Half the people rushed out. I stood there, watching his frantic back. It was like this five years ago. Whenever Lily frowned, everything else had to wait. Even if I was bleeding out in the delivery room. I took a crumpled old newspaper clipping from my bag. It was a photo of Julian tearing up my ultrasound report in the hospital. I crumpled it into a ball and threw it in the trash. Then, I dialed an encrypted number. "Hello." "You can bring that thing up now." 3 Three days later, at the marina. The sea breeze was biting. Julian's car was parked by the pier. He stood in the wind, holding the unopened paternity test result. Lily, wrapped in his cashmere coat, huddled beside him, cheeks rosy, looking anything but sick. I walked over holding the child's hand. Bodyguards blocked our path. Julian waved a manila envelope, eyes cold. "Want this?" He pointed to the deep, dark water below. "Lily accidentally dropped the family heirloom ring. It's a Ford heirloom, it can't be lost." He stared at me, a cruel smile on his lips. "Sarah, I heard you do deep-sea salvage abroad?" "Since you're so capable, fetch it for Lily." Naked humiliation. The late autumn seawater was freezing, full of undercurrents. Lily pretended to pull at Julian. "Julian, forget it." "If the ring is lost, it's lost. The water is too cold. Sister is weak, don't make her go." Her mouth said no, but her eyes were full of provocation and anticipation. Julian said coldly, "That was your engagement ring. It must be found." "Isn't she a professional? If she can't handle this small thing, how can she talk about fifty million?" Ignoring their act, I bent down and handed the child to my assistant. I took off my coat, revealing the black wetsuit underneath. "Conditions." I checked the oxygen tank and spoke coldly. "I bring it up, the DNA test is destroyed on the spot, and the Ford family and I are done. This child has nothing to do with you." Julian paused, then sneered. "So eager to destroy it? Guess you know the results are shameful. Fine, I agree." In his eyes, I was just guilty. I put on my goggles, bit the regulator, and jumped. Splash! I vanished into the gray-black water. The monitor screen on the shore lit up, showing the live feed from my suit camera. My heart rate data was a flat line. Julian stared at the screen, brow furrowed. Water temperature 46°F. My calmness annoyed him. Underwater visibility was poor. Suddenly, a strong current hit me. Someone had tampered with the environment. The air hose jerked violently, cutting off the flow to my regulator. Suffocation hit instantly. I looked up and vaguely saw the operator under the boat shaking the line violently. Lily had bribed someone. She wanted me dead. On the monitor, my heart rate still didn't spike. I didn't call for help or struggle. Calmly, I reached behind my back, cut the main air line, and opened the backup micro-tank. This little trick wasn't enough. Using the current, I flipped out of the turbulent flow and dove straight into the seabed silt. Amidst scrap metal and nets, a faint glint. I reached out, fingers clawing, and grabbed the ring. Movement sharp and vicious. Three minutes later, I broke the surface. I climbed onto the dock, soaked, face pale, but eyes sharp as knives. Julian looked at me and subconsciously took a step back. I strode up to Lily. In front of Julian, I held up the so-called "heirloom" ring. I squeezed. Crunch! The gem-encrusted ring crushed into an oval in my fingers. I tossed it casually. It rolled to the toe of Lily's couture shoes. "Fake." I took off the regulator and sneered. "Just like you. Gold-plated copper." A piece of the plating chipped off, revealing cheap brass underneath. Lily's face went white instantly. She looked at Julian in panic. Julian stared at the ring on the ground in shock, then at my water-streaked face, forgetting to react. Julian bent down and picked up the deformed ring. The mottled brass rust stung his eyes. Face livid, he snapped his head toward Lily. The question stuck in his throat. The giant LED billboard on the pier suddenly lit up. 4 Someone in the crowd gasped. "That's..." It wasn't an ad. It was a live feed from a DNA testing center. On the high platform, my child held a tablet, fingers flying. He had hacked the pier's system. On screen was the director of the testing center, a mole I planted five years ago. He faced the camera, expression serious, opening a sealed bag. "DNA comparison result: Sample A, Julian Ford, and Sample B, Paternity Index 99.9999%." The director's voice boomed through the loudspeakers across the pier. "Conclusion: Biological father-son relationship supported." Dead silence. Then, the murmurs exploded, louder than the waves. Julian stared deathly at the screen, the copper ring cutting into his palm until it bled. "Impossible!" He roared, eyes red. "I have asthenospermia! I'm infertile! Sarah, you dare fake this!" He was still clinging to that laughable lie. I unzipped my wet suit and walked toward him step by step. I pulled a voice recorder from a waterproof bag and pressed play. After a crackle of static, Lily's sobbing voice emerged. "Julian, please. If your mom finds out I had a hysterectomy after the abortion, she'll kick me out. Help me." "As long as you admit it's your problem, she won't blame me." "You don't love Sarah anyway. What's wrong with letting her take the blame?" Every word was a slap across Julian's face. His face turned gray, his whole body shaking. The surrounding looks turned from awe to contempt. Even his bodyguards looked away. Lily screamed and lunged. "Fake! It's all AI synthesized!" She tried to grab the recorder. The child on the platform spoke coldly. "Audio analysis chart sent to the media. Real or fake, they'll know." He paused, then pressed another key. The screen changed to a foreign birth certificate. "Auntie Lily, you gave birth to a child named David in California five years ago. You said you couldn't have kids. Whose is this?" Lily trembled and collapsed to the ground. Julian looked at her, his eyes filled only with the hatred of being played. "You lied to me?" His voice shook. "You've been lying to me the whole time?" "I destroyed Sarah, destroyed my home for you! And you already had a kid?!" I walked up to him and straightened his wind-blown collar. My cold fingertips touched his skin. He shivered. "Mr. Ford," I whispered in his ear, voice icy. "Your illness is fake." "The sister you treasured for five years put a green hat on you overseas long ago." "Does it fit well?" Julian froze, unable to say a word. On the ground, Lily suddenly let out a piercing scream. She scrambled up, charging like a madwoman toward the child on the platform. "It's all you! You little bastard!" She pushed the child toward the edge of the high platform. "Careful!" I screamed, heart tearing. The child tipped over, falling toward the black water. Julian moved. He was closest. As he reached out, Lily slipped and fell too. On one side, his son. On the other, Lily. In that split second, Julian made an instinctive choice. He grabbed Lily's hand.
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