Chapter 1

I left with my unborn child, disappearing into a distant land.

Years later, I returned to find my former husband and son begging for forgiveness.

I sneered, “I only have one child.”

“Alright, you can go.”

Julian was off to see Celeste again. I had just stepped through the front door of our house. He was carrying large bags, so many that an uninformed person would think he was moving in with her.

He looked surprised, as if he couldn’t believe his own eyes. “How come you’re not even asking questions anymore?”

My face was expressionless, but inside, a whirlwind of emotions churned. “What’s the point of asking? I’ve been asking for three years, has anything changed?”

Julian, however, poked his head back through the doorway, a flattering smile plastered on his face. “Mia, are you in a good mood today?”

“Could you let Caleb go visit Celeste?”

The motion of me changing my shoes paused slightly. After a moment of silence, I nodded.

“You agreed?!”

I once thought I would never relent. Julian actually wanted my son, Caleb, to get closer to that woman. How ironic. I was his lawful wife, the one he officially married.

Yet he wanted to take the child I bore with so much difficulty and give him to his mistress. Just because she liked him.

“Celeste doesn’t ask for anything. She just loves the child.”

“We’ll have more children later.”

He wrapped his arms around me from behind, but I offered no response. He probably forgot that when Caleb was born, we were dirt poor.

The only shelter we had was a ramshackle hut my mom put together from whatever scraps we could find, the door cobbled together from salvaged planks. That winter, he had to go out for business.

I hid there, shivering from the cold, gritting my teeth and struggling for three days and three nights to give birth to Caleb. After that, we struggled through countless hardships, and my body was never the same.

Julian always said he owed me, promised he’d give me the grand wedding ceremony we never had. The wedding did happen, but he just ended up owing me even more.

I was numb to the blatant lies that just rolled off his tongue. My family passed away that winter.

I broke free from his grasp, turning to grab a beer from the fridge. “Go. Caleb’s things are already packed.”

Julian’s expression was complex. After a long pause, he looked at me and spoke, “Mia, don’t play mind games like those elite wives in Grandview City.”

“Don’t pull any tricks on me.”

“Otherwise…”

He scowled, turned, and disappeared into the darkness. I watched his retreating back, wanting to scream. Celeste’s manipulations were so obvious, yet you were completely blind to them.

But he truly overestimated me. Julian’s wild, impractical business ideas, no one believed in them except for me and my support over the last ten years. Until Celeste appeared.

She had her father fund Julian, making him a name for himself overnight and truly finding his footing in Grandview City.

When we first arrived in Grandview City, all the elite wives sneered at me.

A small-town girl like me, if it weren’t for pure dumb luck, I wouldn’t have met Julian, nor achieved what I have today. But this achievement felt like a wild hawk trapped in a gilded cage.

Why did everyone say I was lucky? Why didn’t anyone say Julian was lucky to have me?

I stood up, dusted myself off, and walked to the dressing table. From behind the wall, I pulled out my hidden phone and sent a message:

“I’m leaving.”

Then I put the phone on the table and hugged myself tightly. The sky darkened. I didn’t turn on the lights, letting the darkness slowly consume me. In this enormous house, I was alone. Father and son had both gone to Celeste’s place, as if that was the real family. My swollen eyes stared at the phone. The screen suddenly lit up. The reply was a single word:

“Okay.”

My name was Mia. I didn’t even have a last name. Actually, even this name was given to me. My adoptive father was in some shady business.

After his last “job,” he brought us to hide out in this remote town. Julian, the neighbor boy, who’d actually been to school and knew how to read, gave me the name “Mia.”

He said I smiled like the moon in the sky, especially beautiful. Later, when I learned to read, I realized he thought it meant “radiant,” like the moon, but it was a clumsy spelling of a word that meant something totally different.

I did rough work at home; I was incredibly strong. But Julian next door was weak and always getting sick. He always smiled and told me, “Mia, you’re strong, and I’m smart. If we team up, we’ll be unstoppable!”

Later, when he wanted to start a company, I’d never even heard of such things. I told him to focus on his work and we could hold off on getting married for a bit. But Julian looked serious. “Mia, you’re marrying me. What are you scared of?!”

I wasn’t scared of anything. I wasn’t scared of anyone. But I was scared of becoming a burden to him. I was afraid that my lack of education, or my rough demeanor, would offend his important clients.

After that, he went out to make his way alone, and I gave birth to Caleb by myself. But he didn’t come home for two years.

I carried Caleb on my back and worked odd jobs, taking anything that hired. At the construction site, I’d secure Caleb to a stool in the security guard’s shack outside the site, then go in and work all day. Caleb would cry from hunger, but I had no choice.

I didn’t know how to reach him; I could only wait for him to find me. So I waited and waited, waited and waited.

Finally, the day his company went public arrived. Julian came back for me and said he wanted to take me to Grandview City.

I saw another girl beside him, but I didn’t think much of it. My Jules was so capable! He’d built such a huge business in just two years! Going to Grandview City was fine. With Jules there, what was there to fear?

I was so foolish. I actually believed every word he said.

Even more impactful than the changing environment was the change in the people around me. I knew all of Julian’s buddies, the ones he’d struggled with.

Back then, when they were so broke they couldn’t even eat, I’d gather discarded cabbage leaves and rotten winter melons from the market and make them a big pot of stew. His buddies used to affectionately call me “sister-in-law.”

When Caleb and I came back from the construction site, they’d see us and their eyes would well up with sympathy.

But now, no one called me “sister-in-law” anymore. They all called me “Madam CEO.” I was dusty and disheveled, a complete mismatch for them.

They were awkward, and so was I. All sorts of eyes in the company swept over me. I wasn’t particularly smart, but that day, I understood in an instant. This place didn’t belong to me.

Powerful people were everywhere in Grandview City, and glamorous socialites were a dime a dozen.

New money like Julian, with no connections and easily manipulated, everyone wanted to court him.

When they found out I was his wife, their faces first showed disdain, then they started plotting. I felt like I was a step below them.

I had been exposed to wind and sun, my skin was dark and cracked, my hands covered in layers of scars, working harder than their household staff.

The second person to change was Julian. Not long after arriving here, I sensed it. The only thing I asked for here was a wedding. Though I wasn’t smart, I could tell many people coveted my position. He hesitated but still agreed. However, after that, he stopped going along with me so easily.

“Initially, the company could only get started thanks to Celeste’s father’s help.”

“Now, they just want me to spend more time with Celeste. It’s a profitable deal.”

I felt a pang of panic, but I still blurted out, “Jules, back where I came from, that kind of behavior could get you ostracized…”

“You already have me. How can you go looking for other women…”

He erupted like a lion whose tail had been stepped on, covering his insecurity with rage. “Mia! Everyone here is like this!”

“Do you know how much effort I put into fitting in here?!”

“Now, it’s just a small sacrifice for you, and you’re so unwilling?!”

It was the first time I’d seen him so furious. I took a few steps back and looked at him. That familiar face looked more and more unfamiliar. I asked one last question, “Celeste, is she pretty?”

Julian seemed to calm down a little, and he lightly tapped my nose. “No one’s prettier than Mia.”

He lied. Celeste was much prettier than me, and several years younger.

Her playfully whining mannerisms, I’d seen them so many times, yet I could never learn them. Whenever things didn’t go her way, she’d look at Julian with tearful eyes and pout sweetly.

At first, Julian would come back and complain to me, saying he couldn’t handle such a delicate, demanding socialite.

But then, he started going to Celeste’s place more and more often. Later, he’d be called away for various holidays, sometimes even taking Caleb with him behind my back.

But truthfully, if it were just that, I wouldn’t have sent that message to that person. What truly broke my heart was Caleb’s repeated hurtful actions.

I once thought that no matter what grievances I suffered, I would never leave. Not this man, full of lies, nor the child I bore with so much difficulty.

In the days Julian was absent, Caleb would snuggle up to me, looking at me with clear eyes. The people at the company might look down on me, but they didn’t dare look down on Caleb. Whenever I was bullied, Caleb would always step forward to confront them, then turn around and hug me.

When did it change? Probably when he started elementary school. Julian said Caleb needed to act like a young gentleman now, with private cars for pickup and drop-off. And then, without my knowing, he started taking my child to see Celeste.

I could barely read, so I couldn’t help him with his studies, or understand the articles he was praised for, or his perfectly answered math problems.

Caleb would say, “Dad’s at Aunt Celeste’s house, so I’m going to find Dad.” But later, he started calling Celeste “Mom.”

I didn’t mind him getting close to Celeste at first. He would eventually inherit the company, and he would eventually have to deal with Celeste’s powerful family. But that day, I just couldn’t take it anymore.

It was snowing that day, and Caleb had left too quickly without his jacket. I worried there might not be a jacket in the car, so I rushed out after him, calling his name. But he didn’t seem to hear me, running excitedly, directly into Celeste’s arms in front of the car.

“Mommy—”

My blood seemed to freeze. I watched them, trembling. Julian stepped out of the car, smiling as he looked at them.

I hid in the shadows, like an ugly bug. I remembered those three days I gave birth to him, the freezing cold, my vision blurred, all I saw was blood and red.

But how could he call another woman “Mommy”?

I stumbled back home, leaning against the wall. But my heart wasn’t completely cold yet. He was my son, what could I blame him for?

Until Celeste suggested to Julian that Caleb should move in with her. I refused, adamant. Until that day, Celeste came to our door.

My relationship with Celeste was subtle; we both knew the other existed but didn’t interfere.

I didn’t have the courage to make a fuss anymore, and she disdained competing with me. But her coming to my door, that changed everything.

Her eyes swimming with tears, she held a hospital diagnosis report. It stated she could never have children.

“Sister Mia, I truly adore this child…”

“You can still have more children, but I… I can’t…”

She was sobbing uncontrollably, but I held Caleb tight, refusing to let go. “I carried him for nine months and gave birth to him! Why should I give him to you?!”

Julian’s face darkened, his tone annoyed. “Mia, Celeste just wants a child.”

“We’ll have more later.”

My heart twisted with a sharp, gut-wrenching pain. For the first time, I yelled at Julian. “Where?! Didn’t you know the doctor said it would be hard for me to get pregnant again, Julian?!”

A flicker of hesitation crossed Julian’s eyes, but then his resolve hardened. “Mia, it’s just one child.”

Just one child? He hadn’t been with me for years, and Caleb was my only hope. He was the hope of my entire life.

Perhaps I was distracted, because Caleb struggled free from my embrace. He shoved me hard. “You’re not my mom! You don’t love me at all!”

“Other kids have their moms pick them up, but you’ve never picked me up once!”

I froze. Julian was the one who didn’t let me go. He said he was afraid I’d embarrass Caleb and make him feel ashamed in front of others.

“You don’t even love me, so why are you clinging to me?!”

My heart seized. Just then, a loud clap of thunder boomed outside the window. A brilliant flash of white light illuminated the faces of the few people in the room. Celeste’s triumph, Julian’s impatience, and Caleb’s fury.

That’s it. He seemed genuinely angry…

I sank to the floor, watching them embrace. I suddenly understood: there was never a place for me here. I had occupied Julian’s wife’s position. I had clung to their child. I should have left long ago.

They bought me a ticket to a city called South Mountain and told me a car would pick me up in three days. Three days later was supposed to be Caleb’s parent-teacher conference.

I had originally planned to go; I thought it was his first conference, and I’d go even if it meant defying Julian. But now, there was no need.

For some reason, my health had been worsening these past few days. On the first day, Julian came. He seemed pleased with my decision yesterday.

As if to reward me, he even took off his clothes, intending to kiss me. I saw the kiss marks on his neck—from someone else—and a bitter ache spread through my chest. Without warning, a mouthful of blood suddenly rose in my throat.

Julian asked why I wasn’t speaking. I forced a smile and swallowed the blood down. “I’m on my period.”

Julian shrugged. For some reason, I felt he was relieved too. He lit a cigarette and then took my hand. “Mia, you need to be good here.”

“We can’t compare to the Celeste family. Some things, just bear with it, and they’ll be over soon.”

“He’s your son, after all.”

I remained silent. He blew out a smoke ring. “How about I take you and Caleb out next weekend?”

I looked up. “I want to go back to the town.”

“To South Mountain, the place you always wanted to go…”

“I want to see the magnolia blossoms.”

“After I’m done with things here…”

“Okay.”

I pulled away from him and wrapped myself in the blanket.

For some reason, tears suddenly streamed down my face. Julian used to look so cool when he smoked, my favorite kind of charmingly bad boy.

But now when he smoked, he looked meek. Julian, what do I even like about you anymore?

Suddenly, his phone rang. I could hear a woman’s voice on the other end, saying she had a headache and couldn’t sleep, telling him to come quickly.

I didn’t turn around. “Go.” Julian didn’t answer, just the rustle of clothes. I watched his figure in the moonlight; he had changed. Back in the town, we were used to being wild and free.

Now, he was tall and lean, every movement reeking of a Grandview City socialite. He walked further and further away, becoming smaller and smaller. More and more like Jules when we were kids.

“…We’re unstoppable together!”

“You marry me, you won’t lose anything. I’m afraid you’ll run off if you’re unhappy!”

“If you run, with my broken body, I won’t even be able to catch you!”

…I couldn’t think about it anymore.

The next day, Caleb came. I lay weakly, and his small face rubbed against mine. “Mom, you’ll have lots of other kids.”

“But Aunt Celeste only has me.”

My heart bled. I wanted to tell him, even if I had more children, they wouldn’t be him. But I didn’t say a word, just smiled and looked at him. This was my last look at you, Caleb.

Celeste went to the parent-teacher conference. She was dressed to the nines, and Caleb walked behind her, his little back held straight. I left, and no one seemed to care.

My only real leverage was that marriage certificate with Julian. That person also got me a divorce agreement.

I signed my part and left it on the living room table. There was also Caleb’s custody transfer agreement. I clearly wrote that I was voluntarily giving up custody of Caleb.

I knew that after I left, Julian would sign the divorce agreement, then grandly marry Celeste, the powerful heiress. Let it be. This life, living up to this point, was exhausting.

The maid noticed I was gone but didn’t tell Julian. Because he was with Celeste, playing in the water with Caleb. It wasn’t until half a month later that they returned to the apartment.

The coffee table even had a thin layer of dust. I heard Julian threw a fit, turning Grandview City upside down, but I was beyond caring.

I was already in South Mountain City, where I opened a flower shop.

On the day of the opening, the person who helped me appeared.

It was a strange coincidence; I felt my fate had always been peculiar. In those years working odd jobs with Caleb on my back, I had nowhere to sleep except a sleeping bag I found in a junkyard.

One day, I found him by the roadside. He said he was a wanderer and, after looking at me, kept sighing about my convoluted fate.

He left me his phone number, saying if I ever wanted to leave a place, I should text him.

I thought it was strange at the time, but he looked so sincere, saying I would definitely need it. So I kept it carefully.

He stood at the entrance, bowed to me, and said, “The client is set. The old man has finally repaid his life debt.”

My new shop was open, and my heart was filled with joy looking at the garden full of flowers.

Not just because this was the flower city I had dreamed of, but also because I had escaped that suffocating place.

“You’re not that old. Why do you call yourself ‘old man’?” He closed his eyes, bowed again, and walked away.

I called out to him, smiling brightly, “Come often! It’s free for you!” This was my true nature. Bold and uninhibited, interacting with people.

Across the street was a coffee shop, run by a young man who collected antiques. He often gazed at my shop while making things. So I took a bouquet of flowers and gave it to him. His face turned red, a little overwhelmed. His name was Noah.

We would do crafts together, tend to flowers, bask in the sun, and rock in chairs. Life was so peaceful, I almost forgot the miserable things that had happened recently.

I wanted to settle in South Mountain, but buying a house involved residency status issues. That’s when he suddenly blushed and said, “Sister Mia, if you really want to buy a house, you could marry me…”

I didn’t quite catch the rest of his words; his voice trailed off. When he finished explaining, I paused. Noah saw my hesitation and, blushing again, explained, “Sister Mia, I’m not a kid anymore. I can make my own decisions.”

“If you want to leave later, or divorce after buying the house, I absolutely won’t interfere.”

“I just want to help you.”

I looked at his shy, clear eyes and smiled faintly. So, I vaguely got married again. As I was getting married, I thought, Julian must have already signed the divorce papers, right…?

On our wedding night, I asked him to call me Elena. He jokingly asked, “Is Sister Mia warning me to cherish you properly?” Before I could answer, he leaned in.

“How could I not cherish someone as wonderful as Sister Mia? I’ll protect you fiercely, afraid of anyone coveting you.”

He made me laugh, but I didn’t take his words to heart. Men’s words, they’re just for amusement.

A year later, we had a clever daughter named Daisy.

I hadn’t thought I would get pregnant again, so I wasn’t careful. I hesitated about whether to terminate the pregnancy, and Noah squatted by the window, his eyes tearful as he looked at me. “Sister, c-can we keep her…?”

I touched my belly, lost in thought. “Okay.”