Chapter 1

My mother’s dying wish was to hold her grandchild, but Julian, my supposedly child-free husband, flatly refused, claiming he despised children.

Yet, when his terminally ill first love begged for a bloodline of her own, he jumped straight into her bed without a second thought.

Terrified that I’d make a scene, my mother-in-law paid off one of my teenage students while I was volunteering in an impoverished rural school, orchestrating a vicious smear campaign accusing me of predatory misconduct.

I was thrown behind bars, enduring a living nightmare for an entire year until new evidence finally exonerated me.

The day his precious first love gave birth, Julian held her trembling hand and whispered softly, "Don’t worry, Cecilia. My parents are guarding the corridor. Evelyn won’t dare show up and ruin this."

And right until the baby’s first cry echoed through the ward, I never appeared.

Julian was ecstatic. He thought prison had finally broken my spirit—that I had learned my place and wouldn't dare throw a tantrum over his soulmate anymore.

To him, giving his dying crush a child was merely an act of kindness. He couldn't fathom why I was being so narrow-minded. He even magnanimously planned that if I showed up the next morning with flowers, he might graciously allow me to be the baby’s legal mother.

What he didn't know was that my heart was already ash.

In ten days, my flight would depart for a war-torn conflict zone as a humanitarian volunteer teacher. We would never meet again in this lifetime.

The day I signed my overseas deployment papers coincided with Cecilia’s discharge from the hospital.

I carried my finalized resignation files back to our suburban home, only to walk into a warm, nauseating family portrait.

Cecilia, draped in luxurious postpartum silk, leaned blissfully into Julian’s embrace on the living room sofa.

My father-in-law, Arthur, pecked the newborn's cheek with delight. "Look at him! He has Julian’s eyes and Cecilia’s perfect cheekbones. He’s going to be a heartbreaker when he grows up!"

My mother-in-law, Helen, beamed with an ear-to-ear grin. "You bet! This boy is born for greatness. Thank God Cecilia carried him. If it were Evelyn, the poor kid would’ve inherited a lifetime of blue-collar misery!"

Hearing that, I let out a bitter, silent chuckle.

Once upon a time, Helen took immense pride in having an award-winning teacher for a daughter-in-law. Every Thanksgiving dinner, she would parade my credentials like trophies.

Now, I was nothing more than a scapegoat destined for "blue-collar misery." How pathetic.

Three years ago, when I volunteered to teach in underfunded rural schools, Julian rode on the coattails of my public service, winning a corporate promotion through his company’s community leadership program.

Back then, he held me close, tears in his eyes, whispering how proud he was of me and swearing he’d keep the home fires burning.

His parents wiped away fake tears, showering me with praise: "Evelyn, you're the pride of this family. Julian and both of us will be right here waiting for you!"

During my first winter in the freezing mountains, harsh weather and chronic bronchitis nearly killed me. With severe medical shortages, I hung on by a thread—fueled only by the desperate will to return to the man I loved.

Then, in my third year of teaching, a mutual friend dropped a bomb: my husband was sleeping around.

"Evelyn? Why didn’t you call before barging in?" Cecilia spoke with the casual air of the rightful lady of the house, looking down her nose at me.

Julian and his parents instantly turned their heads.

Helen glanced at the official resignation packet in my hand, her face twisting into a furious scowl. "Cecilia is still recovering from childbirth, and Julian needs every penny to raise this child! You just got your state teaching license reinstated, and you dare throw it away?!"

"Did that prison cell rot your damn brain? What a mistake it was to let Julian marry you!"

Julian’s jaw tightened, his voice icy and impatient. "Evelyn, you spent a whole year locked up while our savings burned! Dropping your job now? How the hell are we supposed to feed the baby?"

I arched an eyebrow, my voice freezing cold. "Is that child mine? What does his survival have to do with me?"

Julian’s face darkened instantly. "He’s not from your belly, so you’re just going to let him starve? God, Evelyn, you’re sickeningly selfish!"

"Three years ago, Cecilia literally pulled me out of a burning car wreckage! Now she’s battling late-stage liver cancer, and her condition barely stabilized. All I did was give her a child to carry on her legacy! Are you seriously petty enough to throw a fit over that?"

Cecilia’s eyes flickered with contempt, yet she lowered her head, choking back manufactured sobs. "Evelyn, if the boy calls you Mom from day one, he’ll be your son when he grows up. If my presence sickens you, I can pack my bags right now. After all... I don't have much time left. Just promise you’ll love Julian and my baby."

She whimpered about leaving, but her feet stayed planted on the rug.

Julian wrapped his arms around her instantly, his voice dripping with protective agony. "Cecilia, where could you possibly go? You’re on borrowed time!"

Borrowed time? She was diagnosed a year ago, yet here she was, glowing and energetic as a beauty queen. "Borrowed time" was nothing more than Julian’s pathetic excuse for his cheating.

Julian glared at me with pure disdain. "Keep your head down and stay quiet, and you might still have a place under this roof."

"The baby’s welcome party is in ten days. You will attend as his mother. I won't have the neighbors gossiping about my family. Do you hear me?!"

Ten days. Exactly the day I would board my one-way flight out of the country.

Fine. Before I leave, I’ll make sure to leave them an unforgettable parting gift.

Without a word, I turned and walked into the guest room.