1 My ex-boyfriend, whom I had desperately loved for years, was throwing a highly publicized engagement party with an avant-garde female director. But playing on the massive screens at their engagement was a five-year-old video of me, crying and begging outside a police station, pleading with him not to abandon me. "Schwartz! I'll be your secret lover, I don't care! Just please don't leave me!" "If you leave me, I'll die!" The short film was Samantha's breakout masterpiece. It was a raw, humiliating documentary of my entire pathetic existence as Schwartz's devoted lapdog. Amidst the disgusting, mocking laughter echoing through the ballroom, a spotlight suddenly snapped onto Samantha's feet. I was wearing a catering uniform, kneeling on the floor, adjusting the hem of her designer gown. Samantha took the microphone from the host and pointed it right at my face. "Five years later, Stephanie, do you regret being such a shameless, desperate stalker?" I looked at the handsome man standing beside her—Schwartz. I looked right into his eyes and gave my completely honest answer. "I regret it." Hearing those words, Schwartz, who had always looked at me with pure disgust, suddenly panicked. But I truly didn't care anymore. Back then, to heal my own broken heart, I had used him as a substitute. Now, my heart was anchored to something much better. He didn't matter to me anymore. ... "Stephanie! Today is my engagement party!" "You sneaked in here just to ruin everything, didn't you?!" Schwartz violently shoved me backward. "And now you're trying to act tough?!" "As long as I'm here, you will not ruin Samantha's special day!" I stumbled backward, the old injury in my knee flaring with sharp pain. My cheap heels flew off my feet, sliding across the marble floor into the crowd. I scrambled barefoot to retrieve them, only for a smirking guest to kick them further away in disgust. "They're literally getting engaged, and she's still stalking him! Have some shame!" "Does this bitch have a life outside of chasing men?" "She's just gold-digging! Schwartz is young, rich, and successful. She's just too stupid to secure the bag!" Many of Schwartz's friends at the party had personally witnessed my shameless obsession with him years ago. Back then, Schwartz was the long-lost heir of the prestigious Sterling family, having just been brought back into the fold. As his personal assistant, I pursued him with a manic, suffocating desperation. I drank for him at business dinners until I was hospitalized for stomach bleeding. The very next morning, I ripped out my IV to cook him porridge and deliver it to his office, only for him to hand it directly to the water delivery guy. And I still smiled. He called me at 1 AM saying he hated my long hair. I immediately got out of bed, chopped off the hair I had been growing since childhood, and sent him a video. His response? "Stephanie, are you actually stupid?" "It was a truth-or-dare joke. Did you seriously believe me?" The tipping point was a party with a bunch of trust fund kids. They made a bet on who could eat the most ghost peppers to win a limited-edition necklace. Schwartz casually mentioned he wanted it. I was deathly allergic to peppers, but I ate enough to land myself in the ICU. That day in the ambulance, his voice was gentle for the very first time. "You really like me that much? Enough to throw your life away?" The way his eyes curved when he smiled made me break down in tears under my oxygen mask. "Yes. I can't live without you. As long as you let me stay by your side, you can have my life." I finally got my wish. For a year, we dated, and I obeyed him like a loyal dog. Until Samantha released her documentary: The Subservience of a Gold-Digger. It was a year-long compilation of my most pathetic, degrading attempts to beg for his love. The moment the film dropped, Schwartz poured massive funds into marketing it. As the internet ripped me to shreds, Samantha swept every major international documentary award that year. And my reward? A breakup text from Schwartz. "If it wasn't for Sam, I would have never tolerated your disgusting presence for a whole year." Samantha was his unattainable high-school sweetheart, the girl he chased before he became a Sterling. The necklace I had almost died to win for him was resting proudly on her collarbone. "Women like you throw yourselves at me because of my bank account," he told me. "Only Sam is different." Even then, I refused to let go. I stalked him, crying, begging him not to chase me away. "You can be with someone else! Just let me stay near you, I'll do anything!" "Please! I'll die without you!" My hysterical, tear-streaked face from five years ago was currently playing on the massive LED screens, broadcasting my absolute degradation. But today, I simply picked up my shoes, slipped them on, and stood up calmly. "Mr. Sterling, I am a temporary worker hired by the catering company." "I had no idea this was your engagement party. If I had known, I wouldn't have taken the shift." I turned to leave, but Schwartz lunged forward, gripping my arm like a vice. "Five years ago, why did you disappear without a trace?!" "Is that really all you have to say?!" Standing behind him in her haute couture gown, Samantha looked much wealthier than she did five years ago. She tilted her chin at me haughtily. "You vanish for five years, only to conveniently show up on the day Schwartz and I get engaged." "Stephanie, you used to be a pathetic stalker, but now you've learned how to play mind games?" "But since you're using this 'coincidence' to save face, I won't embarrass you further by calling out your lie in public." I ignored her completely and looked at Schwartz. "Actually, I do have one thing to say." "You shoved me and caused me to injure my knee. Mr. Sterling, you need to pay for my medical bills." 2 Schwartz couldn't hide the absolute shock on his face. Back in the day, I would have willingly died for him without ever asking for a single dime. The catering manager rushed over, sweating profusely. He threw two hundred-dollar bills directly at my face. "You always act so quiet and innocent! I didn't know you were this kind of trash!" "You dare ruin Mr. Sterling's engagement?! Take the cash and get the hell out! You're fired!" Schwartz's friends used to love making me the butt of the joke, asking me how much money it would take for me to leave him. Every time, I would panic and swear I didn't want a single cent, just the privilege of staying by his side. But today, I bent down, picked up the two crumpled bills, and turned to walk away without a second of hesitation. The crowd erupted in fresh mockery, but Schwartz frowned deeply. His grip on my arm tightened. "Stephanie! If you push this act too far, you won't have a way back!" "Are you seriously telling me you came here just for a couple of bucks?!" Five years later, I could finally look him dead in the eye without flinching. "What else? Why else would I work a minimum-wage job if not for money?" He scoffed, his tone dripping with arrogance. "You're not still delusional enough to think I have 'lingering feelings' for you, are you?" "Pathetic." I yanked my arm out of his grasp. Kindergarten was letting out soon. I needed to pick up my son. My son, Leo, was four years old. He was a sturdy, bright-eyed little boy. The second he saw me at the gate, he peeled a gold star sticker off his shirt and pressed it onto my forehead. "Mommy works so hard! Here is your reward!" Even though he was only four, the gentle cadence of his voice and the way his eyes curved when he smiled were identical to his father's. I breathed in the scent of his hair, and all the dark clouds from the afternoon instantly evaporated. I kissed his chubby cheek. "Leo and Mommy both worked very hard today!" I pulled the two hundred-dollar bills out of my pocket. "Let's go buy a little cake, okay?" "Does Leo remember what special day it is today?" His little hands shot straight up into the air. "It's Daddy's birthday!" ... I had graduated with a finance degree from a top-tier university, but the documentary scandal completely destroyed my career. When I left Schwartz, I was treated like a diseased rat. I had to bounce between cash-in-hand odd jobs just to raise my son. I had pre-ordered a small, four-inch cake that morning. The design was simple, with the words Miss You written in icing. Leo was proudly carrying the little cake box as we walked out of the bakery. Suddenly, someone violently bumped into him. The cake hit the pavement, smashing into a ruined mess. Ignoring my son entirely, Schwartz grabbed my arm again. "You think you can just disgust everyone and walk away?!" "You are coming with me to apologize to Sam right now!" "Stephanie, you want to play hard to get with me? Do you even have the right?!" In the past, whenever I got "jealous" and forgot my place, I would try to give Schwartz the silent treatment. But it never lasted more than an hour before I came crawling back, begging him not to ignore me. Because I used to be so unconditionally submissive, Schwartz simply couldn't comprehend that my "tantrum" today ended with me actually walking away. That's why he tracked me down. "Mr. Sterling! Today is your engagement party. You abandoned your fiancée to chase after me? If you need a psychiatric evaluation, go to a hospital, don't come here to disgust me!" Seeing me being bullied, Leo lowered his head and headbutted Schwartz's leg. "Let go of my Mommy! You big bully!" My tiny, four-year-old son spread his arms wide, standing between me and the towering billionaire. "You broke my Daddy's cake! And you're being mean to Mommy!" "Apologize to my Mommy right now!" Seeing my son's brave little face made my heart skip a beat. For a split second, I saw him again. But reality snapped me back. I didn't want Leo dragged into this mess. I scooped him into my arms and turned to walk away quickly. "Stephanie! You actually got married and had a kid?!" Schwartz's voice actually held a tremor of panic. "How could you?! How dare you?!" His possessive outrage left me completely baffled. In the past, he used to scream at me in disgust: "There are billions of men on this planet! If you want to get married and breed so badly, go drag a homeless guy off the street! Why the hell are you stalking me?!" Now that I had finally stopped stalking him, he was losing his mind. "Yes, Mr. Sterling. The law doesn't forbid me from getting married and having a child." "And it certainly doesn't require me to stay celibate for you!" I barely took two steps before I collided head-on with Samantha, who had just rushed over. She was breathing heavily, a thin layer of sweat ruining her perfect makeup. "Stephanie! You ruined my engagement party! Are you happy now?!" The sudden shouting match in the middle of the street quickly drew a massive crowd. Videos of the chaos at the engagement party were already trending online. People in the crowd started recognizing me. "Isn't that the crazy stalker from five years ago? She crashed the engagement and she's still stalking him?!" "Why is she holding a kid? She has a kid and she's still acting like a psycho?! Let me guess, it's a bastard child!" When Samantha's eyes locked onto the boy in my arms, her brow furrowed fiercely. Alarm bells practically rang in her eyes as she muttered under her breath. "That's impossible..." Leo was still upset about the cake for his dad. He squirmed out of my arms and reached toward the ground. "Don't step on my Daddy's cake!" As he tried to salvage the crushed box from near Samantha's feet, his little hand accidentally brushed against the hem of her dress. Samantha shrieked dramatically. "Why are you grabbing my dress?!" The massive bodyguard standing behind her surged forward and delivered a brutal, open-handed slap right across Leo's face. "You little bastard! Getting handsy at your age?!" The force of the blow knocked Leo flat onto the pavement. Half of his soft, delicate face instantly swelled into an angry red welt. 3 My maternal instincts kicked in violently. I lunged forward to tear that man apart, but another bodyguard instantly pinned my arms behind my back. The crowd's toxic whispering buzzed in my ears. "What kind of child did you expect a mother like that to raise?" "The mom is a gold-digging whore, and the kid is already a little pervert! He's gonna grow up to be human garbage!" "That little brat needs to be taught a lesson! Pull his pants down! Let him learn what public humiliation feels like!" Eager to impress Samantha, the bodyguard actually reached down, fully intending to strip my four-year-old son in the middle of the street. He was only a baby. Faced with a giant, violent man, Leo broke down into terrified, hysterical sobs. Every single cry felt like a jagged knife carving into my heart. "Let go of my son!" "I didn't try to ruin your engagement! You two are the ones chasing me down the street like maniacs!" "Schwartz! What the hell is wrong with you?!" Schwartz ignored my screaming. He walked over to Leo. When he finally got a clear look at the boy's face, he froze dead in his tracks. It was a face that shared a sixty percent resemblance to his own. Suddenly, Schwartz started laughing. It was a laugh dripping with absolute, triumphant arrogance. "I was wondering why you suddenly vanished five years ago. Turns out, you snuck off to secretly have my baby." The crowd immediately started murmuring, craning their necks to get a better look. My son, whom I had protected so fiercely for four years, was being gawked at like an animal in a zoo. "He really does look like Mr. Sterling!" "She couldn't trap the man, so she stole his sperm and had a baby in secret! This bitch is actually psychotic!" "She's probably trying to extort him! Crashing his engagement on purpose so he 'discovers' his bastard son! What a shameless homewrecker!" But Samantha denied it almost instantly, her voice bordering on frantic. "Impossible!" She glared at me with pure venom. "How could you possibly give birth to Schwartz's child?!" It was true that I had gotten pregnant with Schwartz's child once. But Samantha had personally ensured that pregnancy didn't survive. I bit down savagely on the bodyguard's hand, using every ounce of my adrenaline to break free. I threw myself over Leo, pulling him tight against my chest. I glared at Schwartz, my voice made of ice. "He is my son!" "Schwartz! I don't care what kind of mental breakdown you're having right now! If you touch my son, I will kill you myself!" Seeing my fury, Schwartz's smile only grew wider. He looked like a man who held all the winning cards. He tapped the crushed cake box with the toe of his expensive leather shoe. He read the smeared Miss You written in the frosting. "If I remember correctly, today's date is the exact anniversary of the day we first met." "Stephanie, who else could you possibly be missing besides me?" He crouched down, using a sickeningly gentle voice to speak to Leo. "Where is your Daddy?" Before I could stop him, Schwartz threatened that if Leo didn't answer, he would have me arrested. My brave little boy's eyes welled with tears, but he answered. "My Daddy is dead..." "But I'm a big boy now! I'm here! You can't bully my Mommy!" I wasn't going to give them another second to traumatize my child. I pulled out my phone and dialed 911. "Let us leave!" "Schwartz! You really want to spend the night of your engagement in a police precinct?!" Remembering a news broadcast I had seen a few days ago, I raised the stakes. "You're currently in the middle of a critical transition to take over the Sterling Group, aren't you? If a scandal like this breaks, aren't you afraid your stock will tank? Aren't you afraid the board of directors will hold you accountable?!" The crowd hurled insults at me. "She's the mistress and she's acting like the victim!" "Threatening him with his own company?! She's insane!" But Schwartz looked at me like he had completely figured me out. He actually looked pleased. "Must have been hard, constantly tracking my corporate news." "Fine! Let's see how long you can keep this stubborn act up!" He signaled the bodyguards to step aside, flashing me a calculated, gentle smile. "You can walk away. But think very carefully. If you walk away now, you will never get the chance to see me again." In the past, I would have paid any price just to see him smile like that. But today, I didn't need it. I carried my son in my arms and walked away without looking back once. Behind me, I heard Schwartz's voice crack with genuine shock. "Stephanie! Where are you going?!" "If you walk away today, don't ever expect me to acknowledge the child you gave birth to!" His stare burned into my back, trying to read my mind. He saw my footsteps pause. But before his lips could even curl into a triumphant smirk, he saw me break into a full sprint away from him. Watching my silhouette disappear down the street, Schwartz instinctively took a step forward to chase me, but Samantha grabbed his arm tight. "Everyone is watching. She's doing this on purpose." "Relax. Today proves that she went through all this effort just to stop you from getting engaged to me." "As long as you hold your ground, she'll definitely find another excuse to come crawling back to you." When I got back to my tiny apartment, I immediately started packing our bags. I had specifically chosen this quiet southern town because it was a safe, healthy environment to raise a child. I never imagined Schwartz would choose to host his destination engagement party here. I owed Schwartz absolutely nothing. It was true that I had used him as a substitute to cope with my own devastating heartbreak. But while we were together, I had given him every ounce of my devotion. I never hurt him. Not once. He, on the other hand, only used me as a stepping stone to build Samantha's fame. My initial intentions may have been "impure," but considering the horrific trauma I endured because of him, Schwartz and I were completely even. 4 Leo was poking at his little smartwatch, his mouth turned down in a miserable pout. "Mommy, the kids at school are calling me a bastard. They said they're never going to play with me again..." In just a few hours, the internet had exploded. Samantha, whose career had completely stalled over the last two years, was suddenly dominating the trending charts again. Millions of people were romanticizing the "turbulent journey" of her and Schwartz's love story, while viciously attacking my lack of shame. The manager at my catering job had officially fired me in the staff group chat. My phone was vibrating endlessly with messages from former coworkers, gossip bloggers, and even Leo's preschool teachers. The peaceful life I had spent five gruelling years building was incinerated in an afternoon. Schwartz was forcing me to bow my head. I knew perfectly well that a "peasant" like me couldn't fight the Sterling Group. To avoid any more nightmares, I bought two bus tickets out of the state for that very evening. But the moment Leo went to the station restroom, he vanished. The security footage showed me waiting outside the door. A man in a black suit had walked in carrying a massive, empty hard-shell suitcase. When he walked out, the suitcase was visibly heavier. I was just dialing 911 when my phone buzzed. It was a photo of Leo, fast asleep in the backseat of a luxury car. [I brought our son back to the Sterling estate. If you want to see him, come yourself.] [If you call the cops, I guarantee you will never see your son again for the rest of your life.] The next photo was a forged DNA test, showing a 99.9% probability of paternity between Schwartz and Leo. The Sterling family's roots ran deep and corrupt. Even if I called the cops, with that fake DNA test in his hand, I probably wouldn't get my son back. Standing in front of Schwartz's sprawling mansion felt like returning to a past life. Through the massive floor-to-ceiling bulletproof windows, I saw Leo sitting alone on the living room floor, his eyes swollen shut from crying. He saw me, jumped up, and ran toward the glass, only to be effortlessly scooped up by a bodyguard and carried back to the center of the room. He tried over and over again. Even through the thick glass, I could hear him screaming for his mommy. A heavy, matte-black camera lens was suddenly shoved into my face. A bodyguard stared at me with dead eyes. "You gave birth to the Sterling heir in secret. Your intentions are malicious." "Mr. Sterling said that if you want to see the child, you must publicly confess to your disgusting schemes." "Be a good girl and provide the footage Miss Samantha needs for her new documentary." He was actually using this despicable extortion tactic to force me to be the stepping stone for Samantha's career again! I ground my teeth together so hard my jaw ached. "Tell Schwartz to get out here!" The bodyguard ignored me completely. I picked up the heavy metal tripod sitting next to the camera and smashed it directly into the mansion's front doors. Schwartz thought he had me backed into a corner. But he vastly underestimated what Leo meant to me. If anyone dared to touch that boy, I would burn this entire city to the ground, even if it cost me my life. The camera equipment shattered into pieces. As the bodyguards surged forward to subdue me, I reached into my coat and pulled out a heavy pair of fabric shears. "Who wants to go first?!" A mother pushed to the brink of insanity is more terrifying than a wild animal. For a moment, the wall of muscle hesitated. I used that split second to sprint through the doors and scoop up Leo, who had cried himself into a state of semi-consciousness. Just then, a group of trust fund kids sauntered down from the second floor, flanking Schwartz. "Schwartz, your charm is seriously lethal. This crazy bitch couldn't have you, so she actually risked her life just to secure your bloodline." "Did we get enough footage of her mental breakdown?" Schwartz was holding a compact camcorder. He had recorded my entire desperate display from the indoor balcony. He snapped the screen shut, looking incredibly satisfied. "Stephanie, when I found out you had a kid, I thought you had finally grown a spine." "I didn't expect your obsession with me to transfer to the kid. You really bet your entire life on a child just because he has my blood." His tone was dripping with arrogant charity, as if he were a god granting a peasant a pardon. "I never believed anyone could actually be as pathetically devoted as you." "But your absolute stupidity and your sheer stubbornness... it actually moved me." "As long as you cooperate with Sam and film the sequel to The Subservience of a Gold-Digger, I will allow you and the child to stay by my side forever." "I obviously can't give you a title or marry you, but I'll set you up in a nice house. I'll give you the life you've spent years dreaming about. I am finally giving you permission to love me." The sycophants surrounding him erupted in cheers and catcalls. "Is she crying from happiness?!" "She's probably too shocked to speak!" I covered Leo's ears with my hands. In front of the entire crowd of elites, I gathered the saliva in my mouth and spat directly into Schwartz's face. "Schwartz! Wake the hell up from your delusion!" "Stop acting like a narcissistic psychopath! It's sickening!" It was the first time I had ever spoken to him with such pure, unadulterated venom. Schwartz's face froze in absolute shock. He didn't even have time to wipe the spit off his cheek before I delivered the final blow. "Open your ears and listen to me very carefully! This child is not yours!" "And I have never, ever loved you!" Schwartz looked like he had been struck by lightning. His voice cracked with disbelief. "Impossible! Leo is a carbon copy of me! How could he not be my son?!" "Stephanie! If you're claiming I'm not the father, then tell me! Who the hell is?!" Watching his chest heave with panicked breaths, I opened my mouth and revealed the secret of my five-year disappearance.
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