Six years. Six years since I’d run away with our unborn child. Now, the prodigal son of one of the city’s most powerful families was here to take him from me. I refused. I booked a flight for that very night. But as we were about to board, my son wrenched his hand from mine and screamed. "She's not my mother! She's a kidnapper!" Genetics, it turned out, were a terrifyingly powerful force. He had met Alex McCloud's little gold-digger just once, and already, he loved his "new mommy" more. So I turned around. I dropped everything. Including him. I had a friend arrange my fake death. After that, I heard Alex and my son turned the entire city upside down looking for me. 1. Alex found me while I was enrolling our son in school. A fleet of black cars lined the street outside, a parade of wealth and power. It was his signature style. He kicked the door open. Before I could even look up, he grabbed the hand I was using to sign the forms. His voice was cold, leaving no room for argument. "Leo Wen will be Leo McCloud from this day forward." Leo Wen. My son's name. My whole body went rigid. I never thought I would see Alex McCloud again. Six years ago, he’d thrown open my bedroom door and shoved the woman he kept on the side onto my bed. He’d kissed her deeply, his hands already unknotting his tie. "Not leaving?" he’d smirked. "Want to stick around for the main event?" The woman on the bed shot me a triumphant smile. "Darling, this bed you made is heavenly. What, you want to join us?" I walked out with my head held high. I waited on the sofa for Alex all night. He finally emerged, his chest bare. "Alex," I said, my voice steady. "Let's end this." He raised an eyebrow, a flicker of amusement in his eyes. He sauntered over, his tone as arrogant as ever. "Upset, are we?" Suddenly, the whole charade felt pointless. Alex and I were supposed to have been a business merger, a union of two powerful families. But then my parents died in a car crash. We hadn't gotten married yet. After that, he stopped pretending. He brought woman after woman into our home. This new one, I'd heard, had lasted three months. A new record for him. "Anya," he murmured, his expression softening as he leaned in to kiss me. "Just say the word, and I'll kick her out." There was still a smudge of her lipstick on the corner of his mouth. I shot to my feet and threw my handbag square in his face. "You're a fucking scumbag, Alex McCloud." His face went blank. He just watched, motionless, as I turned, walked out the door, and sped away. I blocked him on everything. I never told him I was pregnant. I didn't run far. In this city, Alex McCloud was king. If he wanted to find me, he could. But he never even looked. Until today. A woman in red stilettos stepped out from behind him. The same woman from six years ago. Isabella. She waved at my son. "Leo, darling, want to come live in a big mansion with Isabella?" 2. Leo’s big eyes blinked, clearly intimidated by the crowd of imposing figures. I immediately crouched down, pulling him into my arms, shielding him. My voice was ice. "Alex, we broke up a long time ago. My son has nothing to do with you." I hated Alex. But Leo was the child I had nearly died to bring into this world. I was allergic to the anesthetic. Ten hours of labor without an epidural. I almost bled out on the operating table. After my parents were gone, Leo was all I had left. My palms were slick with sweat. Isabella smiled sweetly at Leo. "Leo, if you don't come over now, I'm going to have to leave." She made a show of turning away. And the small body in my arms stirred. Leo pulled his hand free and shoved me away with all his might. "What are you doing?! Why won't you let me live in a mansion?" I stared at him, my world tilting. "Leo… what are you saying?" I whispered. "You're so selfish! Why do I have to be poor because of you?" The air left my lungs. My eyes burned. I never imagined those words could come from my own child. After my parents died, my family went bankrupt. But Leo never wanted for anything. He had better clothes, better toys than any of his peers. He was a picky eater, so I took cooking classes, learning a hundred different ways to make him smile at the dinner table. He loved basketball, so I pulled every string I could to get him front-row tickets to see his favorite players. I loved him with every fiber of my being. I poured my entire life into him. And now… Isabella burst into laughter. "Oh, Anya, your son is just adorable. And you… still as pathetic and unwanted as ever, I see." I looked up and managed a smile of my own. "What's the matter? Can't have one of your own? Is that something you're proud of?" It was a wild guess, but judging by the way Alex's face darkened, I’d hit a nerve. He gritted his teeth, enunciating each word with venom. "Anya. You have one day to get his things. I'm coming back tomorrow night to finalize the transfer." My fists clenched. Alex McCloud always did what he said he would do. Back at our apartment, I ignored Leo. I didn't cook him dinner. It took him a whole night of being hungry before the truth came out. He'd met Isabella before. 3. "Mama Isabella bought me limited-edition sneakers! She's a million times better than you!" "My friends' moms wear designer clothes! And you? You wear cheap junk!" "Mama Isabella smells so nice, not like you! You smell like the cafeteria lady at my school!" I listened, my chest heaving with a pain so sharp it felt like I was suffocating. I couldn't tell if it was rage or grief. Leo had always been clever. Fearing I would scold him, he started crying first, his sobs wracking his small body, but he held his chin up in defiance. And I saw it then. He really, truly didn't like me very much. How ridiculous. Six years of my life, dedicated to him. Every first step, every first word. I had watched him grow with a heart full of hope and pride. And it all meant nothing compared to the "Mama Isabella" he’d just met. He even called her Mama. "Mama Isabella told me everything. She said Daddy doesn't like you." His voice was resolute. "Whoever Daddy likes, she's my real mommy!" I sat on the sofa, a dull, aching numbness spreading from my heart through my entire body. Leo was still sobbing, whining about wanting to go back to Alex's mansion. He’d met Alex, and Alex had promised him that if he came back, everything in the house would be his. He was only six. Could a six-year-old truly understand the difference between right and wrong, between love and personal gain? Of course, he could. When Alex was six, his father brought him to my family's company headquarters. He had told me, even then, that he was going to marry me when he grew up. Like father, like son. A perfect match. I stood up, not looking at Leo again. "Fine," I said. "You can stay here. Alone. And no bedtime story tonight." I went to my room and locked the door. After a long moment of thought, I called my best friend. "Chloe, cancel the flight. And the car." "What? What happened?" Before I could answer, a heart-wrenching wail came from outside my door. "Mommy! Mommy, I'm sorry!" "Please don't leave me here alone! I'm scared!" "Please, Mommy, please!" I opened the door. He threw himself at my legs, clinging to me. His eyes were swollen like walnuts. "Mommy, I'll be good from now on, I promise. I'll go with you." "I'm scared of the dark. I'm scared of being alone." "Can you… can you tell me a story?" 4. The flight overseas was in four hours. Inside the blacked-out private car, Leo was asleep on my lap, still hiccupping softly in the aftermath of his tears. I’d heard once that after childbirth, hormones hijack a mother's senses, creating something called "maternal love." I never believed it. I loved this tiny person willingly, with my whole heart. But tonight, I asked myself a different question. He had just spent the evening telling me how much he hated me. Why did I still give in? There was no answer. I watched the streetlights flash by through the tinted windows. The roads were empty. Alex probably never imagined I would try to run, not tonight. He had always underestimated my hatred for him. There was a time I truly believed he loved me. It started as an arranged marriage, but we had grown up together. Falling in love felt natural. He was a business prodigy, a kingmaker who held the fates of countless companies in his hands. But he was most famous for being "devoted" to me. "Give that project to Anya's firm." "Sorry, my girlfriend doesn't want to partner on this." "What can I do? If she gets mad, I'll have to blow up a few buildings to make fireworks for her." But after my parents died, he changed completely. The women in his bed became a revolving door. One night, I overheard him on the phone. "They died at the perfect time. I was so sick of her. If it wasn't for her family's money, who would bother playing house with her?" My family's destruction. In his words, it was "the perfect time." The memory still made my breath catch in my throat. But as long as I could get out of this city, it would all finally be over. I never saw it coming. Right before we boarded, my son tore his hand away and screamed at the top of his lungs. "She's not my mother! She's a kidnapper, she's trying to take me away!" I froze. The screen of his smartwatch was lit up. He yelled into it. "Mama Isabella, are you here yet? Come and save me!" A commotion erupted at the terminal entrance. The roar of multiple car engines cut through the night. Leo flashed me a triumphant, toothy grin. "You wouldn't tell me a story. But Mama Isabella will!" 5. Alex was already waiting nearby. He stood there in a perfectly tailored black suit, Isabella clinging to his arm. The second they approached, Leo ran straight into her embrace. "Mama Isabella! Her passport, the birth certificate, it's all in her bag!" The world started to spin. I could barely stand. How could this be happening? Leo… I watched the doctors clean him off and place him in my arms. He was my child. There was a time when Alex and I would stand together, and people would ask when we were setting a wedding date. "Such a perfect couple," they'd say. "Imagine how beautiful your children will be." He would kiss my cheek softly and laugh when I blushed. After I left, Isabella took my place. Everyone said she was just my replacement, that she looked a little like me. But I knew the truth. Alex didn't love me. This wasn't what love looked like. I had long ago given up on the dream of a happy family with him. But why? Why was my own son standing with them? A bitter, corrosive acid churned in my stomach, and I nearly threw up. I leaned against my suitcase to keep from falling. Alex's brow furrowed, but his voice was as cold as ever. "The bag. Don't make me take it from you." I let out a hollow laugh, unclipped the strap from my shoulder, and tossed it to him. He looked surprised by my compliance. One of his men unzipped it. It was all there. Birth certificate, passports, IDs… everything. Leo cheered. "Daddy, does this mean I can live in the big mansion forever?" Alex grunted in agreement, a rare warmth in his eyes as he looked at our son. The sight was both strange and sickening. "And can Mama Isabella tell me stories?" "Of course." Isabella's smile faltered for just a fraction of a second. Leo ran back to me and pushed me hard. "You're not my mommy anymore! I have a new mommy now!" I think the pain had finally numbed me. I couldn't feel anything. Something inside of me simply… broke. A new mommy? I smiled to myself, a cold, dark thing. I was almost curious to see how long Isabella could play the part of doting stepmother. 6. I went back to the apartment to pack Leo's things. He didn't want this, he didn't want that. He said his new mommy would buy him better things. So I threw it all in the trash. Including the photo albums. A professional portrait for every year of his life, from birth to age six. Leo watched me, then tilted his head. "Mommy, don't you want those?" Want them? Why on earth would I want them? He was so used to my one-sided love, he couldn't even comprehend it ending. I smiled at him. "I'm not your mom, remember? They'd just take up space." His little brain seemed to short-circuit. He stared at me blankly for a moment. Then he stomped his foot and pouted. "You're right! You're not my mommy!" After I'd packed his one small bag, I walked him down to Alex's car. He was practically vibrating with excitement. I didn't look at him one last time. He didn't look at me. From now on, he was Leo McCloud. I called Chloe. "Hey, if I needed a death certificate, I bet you could make that happen, right?" "Holy shit! Are you serious?" "I'm done, Chloe. I just want a new life." "Say no more. When do you want to die? Give me a week to make it look good." I thought for a moment. A week was perfect. "Next Wednesday, then." It was perfect. It was Leo's birthday. I wanted him to remember, for the rest of his life, that his birthday was the anniversary of his mother's death.
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