Chapter 1

I turned off the TV and coaxed my son to sleep.

Tomorrow was the day of his check-up. It was also his birthday.

After leaving the hospital, I took him to the mall to pick out a gift.

A commotion erupted not far away.

Samuel Shaw, dressed in a tailored suit, was surrounded by people.

After six years, he had shed the youthful naivety of his student days.

Now, he was handsome, composed, and exuded an intimidating presence.

I froze, suddenly remembering that this mall belonged to him.

My son’s eyes landed on a Superman figure priced at twenty dollars.

He quickly put it back.

"Mom, I don’t really like it. Let’s just go home."

I looked at my sensible little boy, a pang of sadness gripped my heart.

It wasn’t that he didn’t like toys. He just thought it was too expensive.

I reached out to ruffle his hair, about to say, “Let’s buy it,” when his eyes suddenly lit up.

"Daddy! It’s Daddy!"

I hadn’t expected that just a casual mention last night would leave such a deep impression on him.

Samuel’s gaze immediately swept in our direction.

The moment he saw me, his eyes widened sharply.

Before I could react, my son dashed toward him, wrapping his small arms around Samuel’s leg.

Samuel looked down with cold, sharp eyes, his brows furrowing tightly.

But when he noticed how much my son’s features resembled mine, his expression shifted.

For a moment, there was a flicker of something else—something almost wistful.

That rare trace of softness was abruptly interrupted by a delicate, honeyed voice.

"Sam…"

Becky Fisher approached gracefully in a nude-colored gown, her smile coy and playful.

"I forgot my black card. I was afraid they'd think I’d skip out on the bill, so I rushed over to find you."

The store manager, arms full of luxury shopping bags, spoke in an ingratiating tone.

"Miss Fisher, you must be joking. You only spent thirty thousand today—that’s not even as much as the watch Mr. Shaw gifted you last time!"

She pressed her lips into a smile and intimately linked her arm through Samuel’s.

"And this must be… your ex-wife?"

Saying that, she turned to my son with a beaming expression. "What an adorable little boy. He looks about five, doesn’t he?"

Because of his health condition, my son had always been smaller than other kids his age.

The moment those words left her lips, Samuel’s expression turned ice-cold.

Without warning, he kicked my son away, then dusted off his pants in disgust as if he had been tainted by something filthy.

My son crashed to the ground, his small face instantly going pale, his lips tinged with blue.

"Loretta Lee, you sure didn’t waste any time. As soon as you dumped me, you already got together with another man?"

I didn’t have time to care about his mockery and rushed over to lift my son, my heart aching.

Becky glanced around and casually asked where the boy’s father was.

Tears welled up in my son’s eyes as he pouted and pointed at Samuel.

"Mommy said… you’re my daddy."

A sharp pain clenched my heart, followed by a wave of regret.

The first time my son cried and asked for his father was when the neighbor’s child called him a "illegitimate child."

Every year on his birthday, his only wish was for his father to suddenly appear.

That was why, last night, I acted on impulse.

When Samuel heard my son’s words, a deep sneer flashed across his face.

"You’d even lie to your own son for money? I never thought you’d become this shameless and disgusting!"

Pain and fury surfaced in his eyes, perhaps due to the memories rushing back.

His emotions spiraled out of control as he grabbed my wrist and yanked me toward him, nearly pulling me into his arms.

"All that love, all that kindness toward me—was it all just an act to fool me?"

The familiar scent on him hit me, and for a moment, my mind drifted back to the past.

We were neighbors since childhood.

When we were fifteen, a car accident took both our parents' lives.

From that day on, I learned to cook for two.

And his bicycle’s back seat always had a place for me.

We clung to each other and fell deeply in love.

At eighteen, after the SATs, he confessed to me with a flushed face.

At twenty-two, right after graduation, he got down on one knee and proposed.

That year, Samuel’s newly developed product had just caught the attention of investors.

"Loretta, as my wife, I’ll make sure you have everything and that you’ll be the happiest woman alive."

But a single diagnosis of acute kidney failure shattered our beautiful future, dragging us straight into miserable life.

No matching donor could be found, and the staggering medical bills became a death sentence hanging over us.

At my most desperate, I worked three jobs a day, sleeping only three hours a night.

At my lowest, I even tried selling my blood, only to collapse mid-donation.

After running tests, the doctor gave me two pieces of news.

First, my kidney was a perfect match for Samuel.

Second, I was over three months pregnant.