Chapter 1

On our fifth wedding anniversary, I once again received a family photo of my husband, my son, and her.

I looked at the radiant smiles of that family of three in the picture.

At that moment, I suddenly let go of the obsession I'd held for five years.

"Mrs. Harrison, the five-year term is up. Can I leave now?"

On the other end of the line was my mother-in-law in name only, who was also my employer.

"Are you sure about this? If you leave now, you won't get the child or the money. Why can't you hold on a bit longer?"

"No, school starts soon. Divorce is complicated enough as it is!"

"Fine. Give me ten days. I'll help you handle all the paperwork. You'll get every penny of what the contract promised!"

With Mrs. Harrison's words, a bitter smile crossed my face.

As the clock struck twelve, I blew out the candles on my cake.

Late that night, I sat on the couch binge-watching shows.

Ever since I'd had Ethan as my son, I'd been working like a nanny, exhausted day after day. I couldn't even remember the last time I'd watched a series.

I never imagined that in just a few short years, my favorite actor had filmed so many TV shows. I really wanted to catch up on all of them during this time.

But even such a small wish was hard to fulfill.

My phone rang, piercing the silence.

"Sophia, get to the hospital right now. Our son is sick and getting an IV. He's crying for you!"

Zachary didn't say which hospital the child was at, and when I called back, no one answered.

Thinking that he was my biological son after all, I searched hospital after hospital through the night.

I searched all night long, and only found out through Autumn's social media that my son was actually at the Harrison family's private hospital.

I didn't dare delay and rushed to the hospital immediately.

Last night while looking for the child, the first place I'd thought of was the Harrison family's private hospital. I'd run over to ask, but they said they'd never seen Ethan.

And today was the same.

"That's impossible. My son is right here. How could you not know him? Let me in!"

The hospital nurses kept blocking me, and finally they called security. Three or four large men pinned me firmly to the ground.

A young, pretty nurse frowned with disgust in her eyes.

"We already told you he's not here. Can you please stop disturbing their family of three? You're so annoying!"

As I was being dragged out, I happened to see Zachary and Autumn walking out of a hospital room, carrying Ethan.

The three of them really did look more like a family. Just like the countless times they'd appeared together on public websites participating in variety shows.

And that young nurse was apparently a fan of this family of three.

Just like that, I was thrown out of Harrison Hospital. The last thing I saw was my biological son in Zachary's arms, planting a kiss on Autumn's face and calling her "Mom."

The rough concrete scraped my knees and wrists raw, leaving me disheveled.

When I limped home, I was greeted by yet another picture-perfect family scene.

"Autumn's cooking is still the best. Even ordinary scrambled eggs taste better than what that woman makes. She tricks me with fake eggs every day. I'm so sick of it!"

"If you like it, have some more. Whenever you want it in the future, Mom will make it for you!"

"Okay!"

My son, whom I'd carried for ten months and given birth to, was clinging to someone else and calling her Mom.

And my husband sat nearby, his usually stern face showing a rare gentle expression.

The man who was normally ice-cold to me was now so tender.

If this had been before, seeing this scene would have made me frantic with worry.

Because Ethan would get diarrhea from eating eggs, yet he insisted on seeing eggs at every breakfast. I would use other ingredients to substitute for eggs.

But suddenly I realized that my heart wasn't anxious at all. It was filled only with bitter relief. I let out a rueful laugh.

At least in ten more days, it would all be over.