I was with the A-list movie star, Liam Hayes, for five years. We had a daughter together, yet to him, I remained a secret lover who could never see the light of day. Early one morning, our child fell ill, and we rushed her to the hospital. Suddenly spotting paparazzi, he dumped our daughter in my arms and sprinted away. I was left scrambling, holding my burning-up daughter in the pouring rain. The next day, Liam told the press: "No secret marriage, no girlfriend, and definitely no child..." Looking at his earnest face on the screen, I suddenly felt incredibly tired. I packed my things and left the mansion with our daughter. My daughter asked: "Mommy, aren't we telling Uncle Liam?" My eyes reddened slightly. My daughter was four years old, and she still couldn't call Liam "Daddy." She didn't even know Liam was her father. "No need." I wiped my tears. "Uncle Liam is just an uncle. He's very busy. We shouldn't bother him." 1 I drove to my daughter's preschool for a parent-child activity. The teacher looked behind me: "Is Chloe's dad not coming again?" I said awkwardly: "He's... very busy." Teacher: "This is a once-a-year event." Me: "I'm so sorry, Chloe's dad is out of town. He couldn't make it back." The teacher walked away. During the event, all the other children had their moms and dads with them. Chloe only had me. I tried my hardest to make her laugh, but she wasn't very enthusiastic. After the event, on our way home, she looked up with her little face and asked: "Mommy, is Daddy still in Africa?" I said: "Yes, Daddy is in Africa filming elephants." Chloe looked hopeful: "Then when is he coming back?" I was silent for a moment, then said softly: "In a little while." Early on, Chloe asked me who her daddy was and where he was. I casually made up a story, saying he was a photographer traveling the world taking pictures of animals. Chloe believed it wholeheartedly. She sat in front of the TV watching nature documentaries every day, asking: "Mommy, did Daddy film this?" I lied to her: "Yes, isn't Daddy amazing?" Chloe cheered: "Daddy is so amazing!" At 1:00 AM, there was a noise in the house. I groggily opened my eyes. A warm kiss lightly touched my forehead. "You're awake? Go back to sleep." The man's voice was deep and magnetic. The soft light from the nightlight illuminated his sharply defined face. I looked up and met a pair of smiling, dark eyes. After kissing me, Liam leaned over to check on Chloe and kissed her cheek. I couldn't help but ask: "Didn't you say you'd be home early today?" Liam stood up to take off his jacket, talking as he did: "I ran into someone I've been wanting to meet at the gala. It took some time." He casually tossed his jacket onto the rug, unbuttoning his dress shirt, revealing a sexy Adam's apple. "Who?" He smiled, lunging over to hug me: "Don't worry, it's a guy. The CEO of the Sterling Group." I said: "Oh." I wasn't surprised. Women couldn't easily seduce him, but a promising future could. At such an important moment like her school event, he wouldn't delay seeing his daughter for a woman. But if it could advance his career, he would. This happened so often, I was already used to it. 2 That day, Liam stayed until 4:00 AM before rushing off again. My daughter held the watch he left behind and asked: "Mommy, did Uncle Liam come over last night?" I nodded: "Yeah, he came specifically to celebrate your event, but you were asleep, so he didn't want to wake you." My daughter pouted: "Next time, you have to wake me up, Mommy! I won't sleep, Daddy doesn't come home, and Uncle Liam works so hard to come keep me company. I want to play with Uncle Liam." I forced a smile and said: "Okay." I couldn't tell her that Uncle Liam was her actual father. I used washing up as an excuse to hide the strange expression on my face. If people knew that an A-list movie star, despite his incredibly busy schedule, came home at 1:00 AM to see his girlfriend and child, only to rush back to work at 4:00 AM, everyone would praise him for being a great guy. Many times, I comforted myself like that too. He was already doing enough; I shouldn't ask for too much. But the disappointment, emptiness, and bitterness in my heart only grew day by day. After taking care of Chloe's breakfast and dropping her off at preschool, I drove to my job at a local portrait studio. I held my camera, numbly taking ID photos for people. Repeat, repeat, repeat... They praised my photography skills, and I just smiled, sitting exhausted at my desk to rest. My gaze unconsciously swept over a copy of National Geographic on the desk. Somewhere deep inside, a spot in my heart suddenly gave a sharp, little ache. 3 I met Liam seven years ago. Back then, I was a bright, carefree college senior, full of energy and agility, passionate about the outdoors and photography. My dream was to graduate, become a photographer, and travel the world with my backpack, taking pictures of animals. I never thought I'd ever become a fan girl. Well, not a fan girl. It was love at first sight. At that time, Liam was still a newcomer who had just debuted. He was just starting to make a name for himself in Hollywood, having played the third male lead in a highly popular fantasy series. He came to our university for a promotional event. My friends dragged me along to watch and take photos. Liam stood on stage, shining so brightly you couldn't take your eyes off him. The host randomly invited an audience member on stage to interact. As if arranged by fate, when I held up my camera and moved toward the front, she picked me. "Hello there." On stage, Liam, wearing a V-neck white shirt, smiled and extended his hand. His dark eyes curved, looking as approachable as the cute guy sitting at the next desk in class. My heart constricted abruptly. I, usually so confident, was actually sweating from nervousness. I put away my camera, reached out, and stuttered: "H-hello." The moment our palms touched, it felt like an electric current surged through me. In that unseen moment, I seemed to hear the sound of a flower seed falling into the soil. As for what kind of flower it was... At that time, I didn't know its shape, nor its name. 4 After the event, I couldn't wait to dig up all of Liam's past work. I discovered that his singing and acting skills blew several popular young stars out of the water. Yet a guy like this was still unknown. I felt it was unfair to him. So, I edited clips of his work, created a fan account for him on Twitter, and wrote passionate, detailed analyses of his performances. His small fanbase sought me out and gathered under my tweets. I posted the photos I took, earning praise from everyone. Someone suggested: "Girl, your photos are amazing! You should be a dedicated fan photographer for Liam. We'll crowdfund you." Caught up in the atmosphere, I impulsively said: "Sure!" Just like that, for some inexplicable reason, I became Liam's dedicated fan photographer, chasing his silhouette with my camera. From fan photographer to fan club president, then to super-fan club president, everything progressed naturally. Looking back on it now, it's hard to understand how it all happened. Before meeting Liam, I never followed celebrities or got involved in fan culture. Within a few short months, I had become his biggest fan club president. Seven months later, Liam's just-budding career suffered a devastating blow. He was plagued by negative news and scandals. He was blacklisted and shelved by his agency for a year and a half. Fans gradually left. Even those who stayed were secretly stanning other celebrities. Only I remained, steadfast from beginning to end. Originally, it was his manager who communicated with the fan club presidents. During that time, his manager mostly gave up on Liam, so he handed my contact info over to Liam, letting Liam handle communications with me himself. During that difficult year and a half, we chatted often, encouraging each other, slowly transitioning from strangers to friends. I continued updating the fan site relentlessly. To gather material, we met up in private. By then, Liam had dropped his idol persona and didn't care about interacting with fans privately. I didn't have much money; the only thing I could offer was my skills. I personally did his makeup, took his photos, edited his videos, and even started hustling for brand deals for him. Although the gigs were small, it was better than nothing. Liam was very grateful. He said: "Maya, you are my emotional pillar. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't know how to keep going." When I was exhausted, a single word of praise from him was like a shot of adrenaline, making me incredibly excited. If a war had broken out, I probably would have grabbed an AK-47 without hesitation to clear the obstacles for him. Back then, I thought I was Liam's angel, sent specifically to save him. He was so weak and helpless. If even I abandoned him, he would truly have nothing left. A year and a half later, the popular actress who had claimed Liam insulted her was exposed for having numerous dark secrets. Among them was evidence that she had been verbally abusing Liam, and Liam only cursed back after she pushed him to the limit. From then on, Liam's name was cleared. Fans and the general public flocked to his Twitter to apologize. His agency lifted the ban and gave him resources. He seized the opportunity to pivot to movies, his career taking off like a rocket, unstoppable. After attending an awards ceremony, he came home, shoved his Best Actor trophy into my hands, and said: "Maya, this is our shared glory." Holding the trophy together, we embraced tightly. 5 During that year and a half, Liam never gave up on his career. He actively hustled for gigs, visiting big shots in the industry. Even when he was rejected time and time again, he never got discouraged. He would only cry in front of me. After crying, he'd continue his visits the next day. Whenever he had time, he'd make me practice acting with him. I'd read lines for him, and he'd act out reactions beside me, asking for my critique. From start to finish, he never accepted any casting couch offers, never abandoned his principles, and never gave up on his dream. My feelings for Liam started with his looks, deepened because of his talent, and were solidified by his character. During those difficult years, his unyielding spirit and his perseverance to get back up after every fall made me like him more and more, until I fell in love with him. We deeply appreciated each other. We did outdoor activities together, we talked about everything under the sun. We fought together, we were sad together, we laughed loudly together. Mutual admiration leading to us getting together was the most natural thing in the world. At that moment, I finally understood that the flower seed that fell the day I met Liam was love. Now the flower had bloomed, fragrant and brilliant. Perhaps it was too dazzling, because the flower's appearance was covered in a layer of light, not quite clear. The resurgence of Liam's career brought a new test to our relationship. If he remained unknown, us being together openly wouldn't be a big deal. But he made a comeback. His career was booming. What's more unexpected was that he snagged his first Best Actor title so quickly. Bigger investments and networking circles swarmed toward him. He could go further, climb higher. At this moment, me, his ordinary girlfriend with zero background in the industry, became inconvenient. I brought up breaking up, but Liam wouldn't agree. That period was painful for both of us. Neither of us wanted to let go of the relationship, but practical reasons made it unsuitable for us to be together. The halo around the flower of love faded, revealing its true form. It was a camellia. Pure, beautiful, fragrant, but carrying a faint bitterness. 6 After a period of turmoil, right when we were on the verge of breaking up, I found out I was pregnant. "Please keep this child." Liam knelt before me, begging. "Maya, I'm begging you." He pulled out a beautiful diamond ring and proposed: "Marry me." He said that although he couldn't give me a legal marriage right now, he swore that in this lifetime, he would only have one woman: me. He spoke with such sincerity and devotion, it was deeply moving. You have to understand, he had just transitioned from a teen idol to a serious actor, and his position wasn't stable yet. Let alone having a child, even having a girlfriend could be devastating to his career. But he knelt and begged me to have the child. I felt he must love me incredibly deeply. And I loved him too, so I finally nodded and agreed. "This is wonderful, Maya! We're having a baby!" He picked me up and spun me around in circles. He laughed. I laughed too. Happiness is so simple. Just because we were having a baby, we laughed like two idiots. Back then, I naively thought, I just need to wait a little while. Once his career stabilized, I could step into the light. Because we couldn't go public with our relationship, I was an unwed mother. At a critical point in his career, he begged me to hide it even from my parents. When my parents found out I was pregnant out of wedlock and insisted on keeping the child, they were furious and threatened to disown me. A series of arguments, tears, and extreme emotional tug-of-war followed. In the end, I remained resolute, pregnant with our child. I moved into Liam's mansion, becoming his secret lover who couldn't see the light of day. Liam was very busy. His career grew bigger and bigger, his awards and honors piled up, and he became world-famous. I was proud of him, but also very miserable. For his career, I broke ties with my parents. For his career, he rushed back the day I gave birth, only to leave that same night. I had to pretend not to care and say, "Go ahead, I'm fine." For his career, I invented a dad for our child who went to Africa, too afraid to tell her that Uncle Liam was her biological father. For his career, I gave up my own dreams, quietly raising our child, being his secret lover. Every time, he would say: "Maya, just wait a little longer. In a little while, we can officially get married, and I want to introduce you to the whole world!" So I waited and waited. One year. Then another. The child was born. The child grew up. The child started preschool. I was tired. 7 On the day of Chloe's fourth birthday, Liam rushed home at 8:00 PM. We had a small birthday party, a rare moment of our family being together. Chloe rarely saw Uncle Liam. She refused to sleep, fussing until midnight before finally succumbing to exhaustion. At 1:00 AM, Chloe spiked a fever. It just wouldn't go down. We drove to the hospital. Given the urgency, Liam put on a hat and mask, disguising himself before hurrying to the underground parking garage. A heavy rainstorm was pouring outside, blurring the neon lights of the entire city. Rainwater pooled on the streets, reflecting the faint silhouette of the city. Cars sped past, crushing the light on the ground. I kept comforting the child, anxious and uneasy. We arrived at the hospital's front entrance. We got out of the car, carrying the child, heading for the ER. Click, flash. Through the sound of the torrential rain came the noise of a camera shutter. It was a sound I had heard countless times in my daily life. Very familiar. Familiar enough that I could hear it even through thunder and lightning. Liam was also very familiar with it. So familiar that he didn't even turn his head. He just shoved the child straight into my arms. I dropped the umbrella and scrambled to catch her. He rushed back to the car and sped off. Chloe burst into loud wails. I stood in the torrential rain, holding my child. The black umbrella rolled away from me. Lightning tore through the sky, the rain poured down, and my vision was a complete blur. Warm tears mixed with the rainwater, distorting the scene before my eyes. I watched his car get further and further away in the blur... That night was like countless other nights I took the child to the hospital alone. Communicating with the doctors, holding and soothing her, picking up meds, getting her IVs—it was no different. The only difference was that I sat in a corner looking like a drowned rat, my heart aching so much it was hard to breathe. My phone kept ringing. I glanced at the caller ID; I didn't want to answer. By early morning, the rain had stopped, and the sky was clear. I looked out the window at the crystal-clear blue sky and whispered: "The sky in Africa must be very blue too." When Chloe woke up, I exhausted took her in a cab back home. My phone was lying in my bag. The screen showed 20 missed calls, all from Liam. The last one was a text he sent. [Maya, how is Chloe? [Did her fever go down? What caused it?] He was constantly worried about Chloe's condition; his words revealed how anxious he was. But he still didn't come to the hospital to take a single look. Not even a glance. Finally, he said: [I have to go to the set.] I rubbed my phone for a long time before replying: [Chloe is fine.] Liam is a very dedicated actor. In the dead of winter, if the director asked him to jump into a freezing lake, he wouldn't hesitate. He was always on time for shoots, even early, and never made others wait. If a scene didn't go well, he would voluntarily ask for a retake, even if it meant doing it dozens of times. But he was too ambitious, too dedicated. His time was always allocated to his career. The child and I were always at the very bottom of his list. Time after time he broke his promises. Time after time I endured it. I was truly tired. I couldn't help but send him a message: [Liam, in a while, I'm going to apply to join a National Geographic team as a photographer, to shoot animals, local cultures, that sort of thing. You take care of the kid.] That afternoon, I received Liam's reply: [You want to go to Africa to shoot animals again? That place is dangerous and exhausting. Why do you want to go? Are you still mad about last night? I can take some time off soon, I'll come back and spend time with you two... [By the way, try not to go out for the next few days. Anna is going to send people to guard you...]] Looking at the message, I smiled bitterly. Whenever I mentioned going to Africa to take photos, Liam was always opposed to it. But what I was trying to say wasn't really about going to Africa. It was about fulfilling my dream. Where to go, what to shoot—that could all be negotiated. I needed a platform to exercise my creativity. It didn't have to be Africa; it could be Europe, South America, or even a small rural town in our own country. He could fulfill his dream, but he made me give up mine to stay home, raise our child, and wait for a man who never came home... Ping. My phone chimed with a news notification. I clicked it. #Liam Hayes Suspected Secret Marriage# was trending at the top of the list. 8 The rumors of Liam's secret marriage caused a huge uproar. A well-known paparazzi account leaked related information, confidently asserting that Liam was secretly married. They analyzed many clues, suspecting Liam was hiding a beautiful wife, perhaps even a child. One of the accompanying photos was a blurry shot from last night in the pouring rain: Liam holding Chloe out of the car door, and me getting out holding an umbrella. It was just two blurry backs; you really couldn't tell much. Liam's reaction had been exactly right. He hadn't looked back. He shoved the child to me at the first instant and quickly ducked back into the car to leave, preventing them from photographing his face. People in the comments were mocking the paparazzi, saying it was clearly a woman taking her child to the hospital late at night, and she probably just called an Uber and the driver helped carry the kid out. To call that proof of an A-lister's secret marriage was ridiculous. The netizens didn't believe it. I breathed a sigh of relief for Liam. But after that sigh of relief, my heart felt incredibly heavy. This had happened so many times. His broken promises, his failure to come home, his abandoning me and the child—he always had a valid reason. I couldn't even blame him. Blaming him made it seem like I was being unreasonable and demanding the impossible. But I felt awful. More and more awful. I nervously followed the news. The paparazzi account started dropping more "evidence," producing two photos of me and Liam from a trip abroad, trying to definitively prove it was him. One of the photos showed his back very clearly. His clothes and pants were dug up as having been worn by him at a specific event, using that as proof that the back belonged to him. The situation escalated. That evening, Liam responded on a talk show: "No secret marriage, no wife, and definitely no child. Thank you." His smile was calm; he was the picture of ease. As if none of it was real. I stared at his face without blinking, trying to find a single clue, a hint of something else. Nothing. There was absolutely nothing. After a sharp pain in my heart, a sudden calmness washed over me. The next day, Anna, the manager Liam mentioned, came to our door. She demanded to station two bodyguards outside and ordered me to stay inside the mansion 24/7. I refused her arrangement. She was furious: "Do you know how much damage your disobedience could cause Liam?" I said: "I want a normal life." She stared at me for a moment, then sneered: "Don't think I don't know. People like you wish you would get photographed by the paparazzi so you can step out of the shadows. Let me tell you, stop dreaming, and behave!" "Mommy." Chloe hugged my leg, scared. Anna rubbed her temples: "Good lord. Liam, oh Liam. Playing around with women is one thing, but actually producing a child... you've really given me a massive headache." I suppressed my anger and gently told Chloe to go play in her room. Once Chloe was gone, I turned cold: "Even if you really exposed me and the child, would it really have that big of an impact on him?" "Of course!" Anna said, "He signed a bachelor clause! You absolutely cannot be exposed." I said: "He is a bachelor." Anna froze for a second. My voice was calm: "From start to finish, he never married me. He has always been single, he hasn't violated any agreement. He's very cautious. He doesn't allow me to call him 'hubby', and he doesn't allow Chloe to call him 'Daddy'. Chloe doesn't even know he's her father." Anna was silent for a moment, then smiled: "Very good. That's how it should be." Yes, how it should be. I wanted to laugh, but couldn't. I said: "I quit." That afternoon, I went to the portrait studio to quit. The owner kept trying to get me to stay, but I left resolutely. Anna was satisfied with my tactfulness and told me to behave and not cause trouble for Liam. I said: "Okay." Then I went to the preschool and unenrolled Chloe. The teacher was very regretful: "Why? Chloe was adapting so well." I said: "Chloe's dad settled down in another city. We have to move there." "I see." The teacher wished our family a happy reunion. I thanked her. Anna was even more satisfied when she found out Chloe wasn't even going to preschool anymore. Two days later, Chloe was completely recovered. I packed my things, took off the ring on my hand, and left it on the nightstand. I swept my gaze over this house I had lived in for years. Liam was never stingy materially; every single item was exquisite and luxurious. But this home didn't belong to me. Chloe asked: "Mommy, aren't we telling Uncle Liam?" I patted her little head and said: "Uncle Liam is very busy, we shouldn't bother him." Chloe: "But... but I'm going to miss Uncle Liam." I said: "Uncle Liam is just an uncle. We've been staying in his house for a long time, it's time to move out." Chloe nodded her little head: "Right. We shouldn't keep bothering other people." I offered a faint smile and took her little hand: "Let's go, Chloe." Chloe said: "Okay."
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