In the seventh year of my father's infidelity, my mother was diagnosed with a terminal illness. Her first reaction was to drop to her knees and beg the doctor not to tell my father. The doctor, a close family friend, cried out of sheer frustration. "Elena, what kind of saint are you pretending to be?" "Do you honestly think this will make that cheating bastard drop to his knees in regret and see the error of his ways?" "Using your own death to punish someone else, how pathetic can you get?" But my mother just smiled, her gaze landing softly on me. "What use do I have for his regret?" "I'm doing this to secure a future for my Chloe." 1. By the time my mother and I walked out of the hospital, my father had already left. He had only left her one text message: [My time is valuable. You were five minutes late, so I left.] My mother gripped her phone, looking a bit dazed. It made me think of the past. I have hemophilia, so I've been in and out of hospitals since I can remember. My father used to always drop everything at work to wait patiently for us. My mother would tease him, "Aren't you annoyed waiting?" He would take me from her arms and kiss her cheek. "Never. Every second I wait for you two is a moment of happiness." Squished between them, feeling their warmth, I was happy too. My mother's trembling fingers swiped the message away. Instead, she texted her friend, Dr. Sarah: [Did you send the forged clean bill of health to Mia?] After receiving a confirmation, she took my hand and we walked home. My mother used to walk so lightly that I often had to run to keep up. But now, she had to lean on me just to keep moving. As soon as we got home, she rushed to the bathroom and coughed up a mouthful of blood. After she finished, she looked up, staring blankly at the two overlapping bloody handprints she’d left on the mirror. The blood was a dark, terrifying red. Panicked, I immediately called my father. I could hear a woman laughing in the background, but I was used to it and pretended not to notice. Crying, I told him that my mother was in the final stages of stomach cancer. My father came back very quickly. Seeing the stark red in the toilet bowl, he scooped my mother up in his arms. "Don't be afraid. We'll find the best specialists for a second opinion right now." "I'm here. I won't let anything happen to you." He had always said that the women outside were just playthings, and that the one he loved the most would always be my mother. He was a man of his word. But right then, the sharp click of high heels sounded, and Mia, wearing a white dress, appeared. She held her head high and slapped a piece of paper against my father's chest. "Liam, you're such a fool! You don't even know you're being played by this washed-up housewife!" "What late-stage stomach cancer? It's just a trick to get your attention!" "A friend at the hospital sent me this. She's perfectly healthy!" I saw it clearly; that piece of paper was the fake clean bill of health my mother had asked Dr. Sarah to forge. I opened my mouth to explain, but my mother grabbed my arm tightly. I could only watch as my father's face darkened with rage. "Faking an illness to fight for attention, and making Chloe lie for you too." "Elena, you really have outdone yourself!" Ignoring my attempts to stop him, my father stormed out. My mother watched him leave with his arm around that woman, a faint smile appearing on her pale face. I was sobbing uncontrollably. "Mom, why did you pretend you were healthy?" My mother sighed softly. "Because Mia is too stupid." "So stupid that she would never think to accuse me of faking an illness on her own." "So, I had to manufacture the evidence for her." "I'm accumulating moral capital. The more I accumulate, the more he'll feel he owes you..." "Besides, once your father finds out her report was fake, he'll never believe another report she produces again." I didn't understand. All I knew was that my mother was dying, so I cried even harder. My mother wiped my tears, and as she did, she started crying too. "Liam, you're so smart, how could you fall for an idiot like Mia?" My mother used to be the mistress of a coal baron, while my father was a poor entrepreneur constantly bowing and scraping for investments. A single glance at a banquet, and a rose unexpectedly bloomed from the rotting soil. Using her influence with the coal baron, my mother secured a massive investment and a flood of orders for my father. Later, the coal baron went to prison, and my father had become a titan in the business world. Amidst everyone's mockery, he sought out my mother, a woman who had been passed around. Without a word, they got married immediately. After they married, my father pampered my mother like the most precious jewel. He bought her a chateau in France and gave her dry shares in his company. When she became pregnant with me, he even spent a fortune to buy the naming rights to an asteroid for her. They could have been happy forever. Until I was born. 2. I was diagnosed with hemophilia, and my father hired a secretary who had the same rare blood type as me. Her name was Mia. She was a bit ditzy, which people found endearing. He said she was my mobile blood bank. But gradually, when the "blood bank" came to give me transfusions, my father would frown in distress. There was even a time when I was critically ill, and just because Mia said she was afraid of needles, my father pulled my IV tube out. I almost died that day, saved only because the hospital managed to source blood from out of state. When I woke up, I saw my father holding Mia's hand, telling my mother: "I'm sorry, Elena. I've fallen in love with Mia." "As long as you accept it, you'll still be my wife, and Chloe will still be my only daughter." My mother calmly accepted the reality. She said my medical condition was too expensive; if they divorced, she truly couldn't afford to raise me. And just like that, my mother became the most "generous" official wife in the entire city. So generous that when photos of my father in bed with young girls from clubs leaked, she handled the PR crises herself. Whenever that happened, my father would apologize to her and transfer a sum of money into my account. My mother accepted it on my behalf and acted as if nothing had happened. Until a few days ago, when Mia showed up with a pregnant belly. She announced she was carrying my father's child, a boy. "When I saw his ecstatic reaction, I knew this fetus would eventually threaten your position, Chloe. It had to be eliminated." "And since I'm dying anyway... after a lifetime of being a dependent vine, using my life to pave the way for my daughter is a satisfying end." As she spoke, my mother pulled out a brand-new journal. A kept woman with only a grade-school education obviously didn't have the habit of keeping a diary. So, she had to forge one. Her fingers were swollen, making it almost impossible to grip the pen. But she still wrote down, word by word, the story of her and my father over all these years. When she was done, she had the journal artificially aged and locked it in a safe. She made me memorize the safe's combination. "The day your father misses me the most after I die, lead him to find this diary." Forging the diary took several days. My mother clutched her stomach, huge drops of sweat rolling down her face from the pain. She gave me a black credit card and asked me to go buy her some painkillers. It was strange; it was only September, but heavy snow had started to fall. I didn't have time to think about it. I slipped and fell multiple times running to the pharmacy. I tried to buy the medicine and swiped the card. "Beep beep. This card has been frozen." I froze. This was a supplementary card to my father's account, and it had always had no limit. It couldn't be frozen. I immediately called my father. But the person who answered was Mia, her voice lazy and triumphant. "That's your father's punishment for your mother." "He also told me to pass on a message: act like a proper wife and stop playing these manipulative games." I screamed, "Impossible! You must have provoked him!" Mia chuckled softly, lowering her voice. "Yes, I did. So what?" "After all, I just mentioned that his unborn son wanted to see snow, and your father spent tens of millions on artificial snow!" Looking at the bruises on my body, I started to sob. So, this heavy snow that made me fall over and over again was my father's gift to his mistress. By the time I broke open my piggy bank and bought the medicine, my mother had passed out from the pain. I fed her the pills, and when she woke, her eyes reddened at the sight of my injuries. I heard her call Dr. Sarah. "He loves her more than I thought." "I need to accumulate even more moral capital for Chloe. My death needs to be more brutal." I don't know how much time passed before I woke up in my mother's bed. She was panting as she packed things away. Wedding photos were thrown into the fireplace; clothes and jewelry were all sold off. When I saw her about to destroy the scarf she had knitted for my father with her own hands, I lunged to stop her. But she just kissed my cheek. "I know it's hard to let go, sweetie." "But I have to make sure that you are the only thing I leave behind for him." I opened my mouth but couldn't speak. Then, my father's assistant called my mother. "Ma'am, Mr. Sterling was just photographed by reporters taking Ms. Mia for a prenatal checkup." "He wants you to film an apology and clarification video as soon as possible, so it doesn't affect the company's stock price." 3. My mother gave a flat hum of acknowledgment and expertly set up the camera. I was furious and started yelling. "It's his fault! Why should Mom take the blame?!" "I don't want Mom to be the one who loses face anymore!" I pushed the camera over, but my mother picked it right back up. "Be good, Chloe. The company will be yours eventually." "Protecting the stock price now is protecting your future interests." I still didn't really understand, but my mother's eyes looked so infinitely sad. On camera, she was poised and dignified. "This is all a misunderstanding. Ms. Mia is an employee of our company and has no one to care for her, so Liam kindly escorted her to the hospital." When the video was posted, the internet exploded with mockery. Everyone said my mother was acting like a loyal dog playing the role of the official wife. But my father was very pleased. He finally came home. The moment he walked in, he picked me up and spun me around, slipping a jade bangle onto my wrist. Then he kissed my mother and gave her an emerald green safety charm. "This is my generous Elena," he said. "Don't worry, I've already unfrozen the card." "I wasn't angry that you faked an illness to play games; I was angry that you cursed yourself." "We're going to grow old together. Promise me you'll never say such unlucky things again, okay?" My father was so gentle. He still loved me and my mother, right? I watched them foolishly, suddenly feeling like my legs didn't hurt anymore. After my father left, I happily snuggled up to my mother, wanting to touch the safety charm. But she sneered and took it off. She rubbed my head and showed me a news article on her phone. [A Gambling Legend! Mr. Sterling Spends Tens of Millions and Strikes Pure Green Jade, Cutting a Hundred-Million-Dollar Bracelet on the Spot!] I looked at the picture of the pure green jade bracelet on Mia's wrist. Suddenly, I realized something. My bangle, fitted with my mother's safety charm, was exactly the size of the core cut out from the center of a bracelet. Oh. So the gifts my mother and I received were just the scrap pieces leftover from making Mia's bracelet. I was so angry I wanted to confront my father. But my mother calmly contacted Dr. Sarah to confirm the date she would take the euthanasia drugs. She chose the date of her wedding anniversary with my father. "This way, whenever he gets married again, he'll be forced to remember my death." "The longer he remembers me, the better it is for my Chloe." I didn't dare cry in front of my mother; I could only hide in my room and count down the days. I was about to lose my mother. Even though she held me and said she would become a star in the sky... I was already seven. I knew those were lies. But I couldn't expose her lie; I didn't want her to be sadder before she died. My mother was very busy for the next few days. She contacted a man named Mr. Zhao and they whispered together for a long time. Then she carefully picked out a gown, because my father was taking her to a charity gala. Just her. Not the smelly mistress. She even helped my father pacify Mia beforehand. But the moment he turned his back, she taught me how to provoke the newly appeased Mia: "Hehe, so what if he made it snow for you? You're still just his plaything." "For official events like a charity gala, the only one who gets to hold my dad's hand is my mom!" Mia took the bait so easily; she was so enraged that she immediately took action. On the day of the charity gala, our family of three had just taken our seats. Mia, disguised as a staff member, appeared. She didn't say anything, just looked at my father with red, tearful eyes. I clearly saw my father's Adam's apple bob. "Liam," my mother pleaded, "this is a major event. Please, just give me this one night of dignity..." But under the gaze of the entire room, my father patted my mother's hand. "There are too many people here, and Mia is pregnant. I'm afraid she'll get bumped." He went to sit with his mistress. The whole room gasped and whispered. My mother lowered her head as if in humiliation, but secretly shot a look at Mr. Zhao nearby. 4. I knew this Mr. Zhao; he was one of my father's biggest investors. After my father cheated, he had asked my mother to leave with him. I remembered him as a gentle and polite man. But today, he was acting very boorishly. He roughly grabbed Mia and demanded she drink with him. Mia, panicked, repeatedly refused. My father stepped in front of her, politely stating that she was pregnant and couldn't drink. But Mr. Zhao seemed enraged and laid down an ultimatum: "If Mr. Sterling won't even give me this face, then our partnership ends here!" Seeing Mia's terrified eyes and my father's awkward expression, I felt a surge of joy. I even silently cheered for Mr. Zhao, hoping he would exact a little more revenge for my mother. But the next second, I heard my father say with a smile: "How about this, Mr. Zhao? Let my wife drink with you." "Mia only has a bit of looks, but my wife is known as one of the great beauties of the city." I was stunned, unable to believe that the man saying this was my mother's husband. My mother didn't react, simply allowing my father to drag her and push her toward Mr. Zhao. "It's just a few drinks... You wouldn't refuse, would you?" I lunged forward to shield her. "My mom is sick! The doctor said she can't drink! She said it would hurt her to death!" My father grabbed me by the collar, tossed me aside, and glared at my mother. "Look how you've raised Chloe, she lies constantly." Mr. Zhao, having gotten his way, put his arm around my mother and, along with several other men, forced her to drink. My mother numbly downed glass after glass, while Mr. Zhao’s eyes actually seemed to redden. Finally, after who knows how many glasses, my mother violently threw up blood. "Elena!" My father’s face changed drastically, and he immediately ran over. But Mia let out a scream. "So much blood... Liam, seeing this is making me feel sick..." My father hesitated for a second, then turned and picked up Mia. "The hilltop villa isn't far from here. I'll take you there to rest." The hilltop villa was his wedding gift to my mother. My mother treasured it and never let outsiders inside. She stared dead at my father. "No! Take her anywhere else, but don't dirty my villa!" My father started by trying to persuade her nicely, but this time my mother refused to budge. The argument dragged on all the way to the villa, and Mia's exaggerated groans grew louder. Furious, my father actually slapped my mother. "Are you crazy?! It's just a house!" "Since you think it's more important than my son, then you can rot inside it!" Saying that, he shoved my mother into the villa and locked the door from the outside, preventing her from following them. Mr. Zhao, Dr. Sarah, and Dr. Sarah's police officer boyfriend... They patiently waited outside the villa with me. We didn't enter until my father's car had sped off into the distance. My mother was still throwing up large mouthfuls of blood. Her clothes and the floor were stained red. Her forehead was covered in cold sweat from the pain. But she held on, directing Mr. Zhao to set up a complex mechanism. "You must... make sure that the moment they make love on that bed... my body... will fall." "Don't forget to lock the door when you leave... He needs to think I died because he forced me to drink and locked me in where I couldn't get help..." "Traces... must be erased using professional forensic techniques..." "The infertility drug... Chloe, when you go home, you must find a chance to put it in your father's water..." "The report proving Mia's fetus isn't his... is it forged? Let me see if it looks real enough..." "He must only have Chloe as his heir... it must be her..." Her voice trembled with agony. Finally, using the last of her strength and with everyone's help, she climbed up to the skylight. She put a white pill into her mouth, a smile of release finally appearing on her face. "There shouldn't be any flaws left." "Thank you all for your help." "Chloe, farewell. Mom loves you, will always love you..." Her voice grew weaker until it could no longer be heard. The adults were all weeping uncontrollably; Mr. Zhao cried so hard he fell to his knees. I was the only one who didn't cry. I watched my mother meticulously orchestrate her own death, and my tears had long since run dry. I looked at the sunflowers in the villa's garden. That heavy snow had caused them to wither prematurely. I sat there quietly, waiting for my father to return. It wasn't until midnight that the doorbell finally rang.
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