Chapter 4

Over the next few days of flower deliveries, Mom's attitude toward me grew increasingly flirty.

She started sharing snippets of her daily life with me, and she was practically begging to meet up in person.

Using AI, I generated a photo of a successful businessman sitting in a business-class cabin and sent it to her.

"I'm actually abroad on a business trip right now. I'll come see you as soon as I get back."

To keep the illusion alive, I searched for scenic travel photos daily to send her, making sure to subtly feature luxury cars, high-end watches, and designer brands in the background of every shot.

No one understood Mom better than I did. She wasn't just vain. She craved emotional validation.

So every time we chatted, I pulled out all the stops, showering her with compliments and affection, leaving her absolutely thrilled.

At first, she tried to play hard to get, but it didn't take long for her messages to turn incredibly bold.

"My daughter has vanished into thin air these past few days. That kid is a lost cause. You and I both have great genes, and I'm still in excellent health. When the time comes, we can have a new baby to take care of us in our old age."

I let out a cold laugh. "You're absolutely right. You definitely can't count on your daughter."

By the afternoon of the fifth day, I stopped replying to her entirely and skipped her evening live stream.

That night, she was visibly rattled, spamming my inbox with several texts asking, "Are you busy?"

On the sixth day, her condition deteriorated even further. She spent her entire live stream staring anxiously at her phone.

When someone in the chat brought it up, Mom snapped with sheer impatience. "No flowers today. What kind of decent person throws money at that crap every day anyway? It's completely pointless."

Behind the scenes, she bombarded my alternate account with over 99 messages.

"Are you sick? Or are you on a flight with no signal?

"I'm getting so anxious waiting for you. Please talk to me."

I watched her spiral with a cold detachment, visualizing the moment I would finally pull the trap shut.

By the seventh day, she showed up on screen looking completely disheveled, launching into an angry tirade against scumbags.

"Some men seriously think too highly of themselves. If you want to date, say so. If you don't, make it clear. Is it really that hard? If you ask me, men who only know how to hide like cowards have zero accountability. They're just spineless jerks!"

Yet less than an hour after logging off, she privately crawled back to apologize.

"I was just projecting because I missed you so much. Please don't take it to heart. You don't actually want to break things off with me, do you? Just give me a straight answer. I haven't been able to sleep at all these past few days, and my blood pressure is through the roof."

On the eighth day, her eyes were bloodshot as she threw a weeping tantrum right in the middle of her live stream.

"I know you're watching my stream. I miss you so much that it hurts. What happened to you? Please, just come find me."

I knew it was time to reel her in.

At midnight that night, I sent her a message.

"I'm so sorry, Alaina. The truth is, my business ran into significant trouble recently, and I'm facing a cash deficit of one million dollars. All my capital is tied up in inventory and stocks, so my cash flow is completely frozen.

"I'm not telling you this to ask for money. I've already found a solution. My ex-wife said she was willing to help me, but only on the condition that I remarry her. Gosh, I can't bear to let you go, but…"

My fingers felt like ice as I typed those words. My eyes were glued to the chat interface.

The longer her silence stretched, the harder my heart pounded against my ribs.

Finally, she relented. "It's just money. I have it. Send me your bank account details. I'm not lending this to you for free, though. You have to pay me back double later."

The moment the transfer confirmation hit my phone, I let out a massive sigh of relief.

"Of course. Thank you, sweetheart. I'll come straight to you the second I land tomorrow. Let's announce our relationship together on your live stream."

The next day, timing my arrival perfectly, I knocked on Mom's front door.

She rushed over with a phone in her hand, her eyes full of delighted surprise. "My man is back from Uldoria! Everyone, come welcome him with me!"

The electronic lock gave a sharp beep and clicked open.

Mom and I stood eye to eye, and the ecstatic smile on her face instantly froze solid.