Thanks to his fighting experience, Maverick easily knocked my father to the ground.

But my mother couldn’t be saved.

She said she no longer had any dreams, that this was all life would ever be for her.

She told me: When you marry, keep your eyes open. Live for yourself.

Right after she spoke, my father, seizing the moment when we weren’t paying attention, drove the kitchen knife into her head.

That image became the nightmare I would never wake from.

As my mother lay dying, Maverick held my hand and swore. “As long as I’m alive, Eliana will be free. I’ll help her chase her dreams. She’ll never be trapped by blood.”

Only after hearing that, my mother closed her eyes forever.

She passed peacefully. I think, for her, it was a kind of release.

Later, my father was sent to prison by the Thomas family’s lawyer, and I was finally free.

That day, Maverick stood waiting beneath a tree and said he would pay for my entire education.

Naturally, we ended up together.

Because of his promise, I had agreed to all of the Thomas family’s unreasonable demands.

But now, even though his vow still echoed in my ears, that young man was long gone.

At five in the morning, Maverick sent a message.

[Tonight is the family dinner. If you still refuse to come back and see Isaac, then forget about ever seeing him again.]

[Eliana, I get that you’re angry. I get that you’re jealous. But try to understand me. I’m a man. I can’t revolve my entire life around a family.]

I wiped the dried tears from my face and replied coldly, [Okay.]

But before that, I wanted to retrieve every single design draft I had drawn for his company, free of charge.

At nine sharp, I arrived downstairs at the company.

Just as I stepped through the doors, I overheard the staff whispering.

“That draft, did Secretary Lainey really draw it? That’s insane! I thought she ran out of ideas ages ago, but she just keeps producing more.”

“She’s juggling two roles at once. No wonder the president keeps her close.”

“If I had talent like hers, I’d probably be lounging in the private suite, too. We’re just here to warm the chairs and ride the wave.”

“But seriously, he’s treating her like royalty. I heard he’s giving her half the company’s shares! That’s going from employee to boss overnight!”

My heart sank to the bottom.

I knew Lainey's background; she had studied finance and management, fields entirely unrelated to design.

Just as I reached the office door, I saw the design draft I had finished two days ago displayed openly on the table.

The collaborators were full of praise, showering compliments on the drawing.

Lainey accepted every word with a delighted smile, as if the work were her own.

A wave of fury surged through me, and I pushed the door open.

"Lainey's draft? Maverick, care to explain this?"

After personally escorting the collaborators out, he turned back with a dark expression, voice rising in anger.

"What are you doing? Do you have any idea how important this project is to the company? What kind of chaos are you trying to cause? Would you only be satisfied if the entire deal collapsed?"

"You're a housewife, what use is a signature to you? As long as the design benefits the company, does it really matter who gets the credit?"

With reddened eyes, I looked at the man before me clearly, perhaps for the first time.

"You knew design was my dream. I never objected to you using my drafts. But giving all the credit to Lainey, what was that supposed to mean?"

"I spent three days and nights working on that piece. And you erased me with a single sentence. What exactly am I to you?"

Lainey quickly stepped forward, looking pitiful as she grabbed my arm.

"Sister Eliana, I’m sorry. I used your draft, and I apologize. We’re family. Don’t be mad... If the employees see this, they’ll laugh at us..."

I flung her hand off without hesitation, my voice like ice.

"You’re just a secretary. Who gave you the right to speak here?"

Her eyes welled with tears, trembling pitifully, like she was the one wronged.

Maverick instantly exploded, slamming the table with a loud thud.

"Enough! Are you done making a scene? My employees are my business. If you came here to fight, then get out, right now!"

"I’ll talk to you at the family dinner tonight. Until then, drop the attitude. Don’t forget who you depend on to survive!"

Lainey quickly added in a soft, fake-concerned voice.

"That’s right, Sister Eliana. Isaac’s been saying he misses you. As a woman, shouldn’t family come first? I’ve already taken care of all the hard work, so you wouldn’t have to run around so much."

I shot her a cold glance and turned to leave.

Once outside, I dialed the business partner’s number.

"Those design drafts, twenty million, does that offer still stand? I can sign today."

The other party sounded thrilled.

"Finally! I’ve been waiting for your call, Miss Wilson. Of course, it still stands! I’ll bring the contract right now!"

"I have one condition."

"Name it. As long as it’s legal, I’ll agree to anything."

…

At exactly 6 p.m., Lainey sent me a message.

[Sister Eliana, I’m truly sorry about today. As an apology, I’ve listed a few of Isaac’s favorites. If it helps bring you two closer, it’ll be worth it.]

Following her list, I ordered every dish from the hotel and packed them all carefully. But there were so many that it cost me four whole hours.

By the time I finally arrived at the old Thomas residence, the family dinner had already started.

The moment my mother-in-law saw me walk in, she slammed her utensils down.

"Look who decided to show up! You’re harder to invite than a goddess. The whole family waited for you, were we supposed to starve until you felt like coming?"

"Maverick, your wife’s really something else. Give her a few more years, and we’ll all be dancing to her tune!"

In the past, Maverick would’ve at least spoken up for me.

But tonight, he didn’t even lift his head, just kept tapping away on his phone, pretending I didn’t exist.

Isaac sat nestled beside Maverick, with Lainey on his other side. They looked every bit the perfect family of three, except I was the one left out.

Thinking of the custody battle looming ahead, I swallowed the ache in my chest and forced a calm voice.

"There was traffic. I brought some food for Isaac. Sorry, I’m late."

I handed the bag to the housekeeper.

As the dishes were laid out, Lainey leaned close, offering Isaac a bite with exaggerated warmth.

"Here, try this. Your mom brought it just for you. If you finish it, you won’t be mad at Mommy anymore, okay?"

I quietly slid into the space between them. I hadn’t seen Isaac in so long, my eyes stung with tears.

Just as I reached out to hold him, he suddenly jerked back and screamed.

"I don’t want Mommy! I don’t want Mommy! I don’t know her!"

"Auntie Lainey, make her go away!"

My arm froze mid-air. In that moment, I wished the floor would open and swallow me whole.

Maverick set his phone down, his expression cold.

"I’ve told you, if you keep skipping out like this, Isaac won’t even remember you’re his mother."

"Who knows what you’re so busy with every day? Lainey’s already doing a better job than you ever did."

His words sliced through me like a blade, each one sharper than the last.

I turned away and sat down in silence.

Suddenly, Isaac cried out. Red rashes spread rapidly across his cheeks.

"Ah... It’s itchy... it hurts!"

Lainey’s face turned ghostly pale.

"Oh no! There was shrimp in the food. Isaac’s allergic to shrimp!"

"Quick, take him to the hospital!"

Panicked, I rushed forward to check on him, but Maverick shoved me away without hesitation.

"You brought food without even checking his allergies? Were you trying to kill him?"

Before I could speak, my mother-in-law’s palm came down hard across my face.

"Useless! You’re good for nothing! You disappear all year, and when you finally show up, you poison my grandson? How did our family end up with someone like you?!"

"Still not moving? You want my grandson to suffocate right in front of you?"

The years of bottled-up resentment finally burst. I pointed straight at Lainey, voice trembling with fury.

"You gave me those menu suggestions on purpose, didn’t you?"

Lainey looked flustered, eyes wide with fake innocence.

"I didn’t... That’s how I usually send food for Isaac. I just... forgot to remind you to check..."

Maverick’s cold stare swept across my face like a slap.

"You brought the food yourself, and now you’re blaming Lainey? She was trying to help you. If you don’t even know your own son's allergies, whose fault is that?"

"Eliana, you’re not just careless. You’re unfit to be a mother."

The heartbreak I’d buried for years clawed its way out as I screamed in anguish.

"I see my son once every two years! Have you ever given me the chance to even know him?"

But Maverick roared back, his voice thunderous, shaking me to the core.

"Still making excuses? Who stopped you? If you didn’t want to come, who else is to blame?"

In that instant, it felt like I had plunged into an ice cave, every drop of blood in my body frozen solid.

I turned to Lainey.

For the past eight years, it had always been her delivering messages from the family, telling me that my son was busy with school and had no time for me.

Month after month, I asked. Month after month, I received the same cold reply.

As Isaac slipped into unconsciousness, I rushed to him and gripped his tiny hand with all the strength I had left.

The very next second, Lainey yanked at my arm.

"Sister Eliana, you don’t know medicine. You’d better step aside. The doctor is on the way."

Her long nails dug into my skin like claws.

I gasped in pain and shoved her off.

She staggered back and hit the edge of the table hard. Blood immediately oozed from her forehead.

Just then, the doctor arrived and quickly took both Isaac and Lainey away.

Maverick shot me a cold glance, disappointment thick in his eyes.

"Eliana, I never thought you’d turn into this kind of person."

His mother shrieked from across the table, voice sharp as glass.

"What kind of upbringing can a girl from a lowly family have? I told you from the start not to let her through the door. But you had to kneel and beg for her. Now look, Isaac nearly died because of that bitch!"

"Serves her right. Her mother died early! If I had a daughter like that, I’d jump off a building in shame!"

"She’s nothing but a disgrace! Can’t even compare to Lainey, useless in every single way!"

Staring at their faces, twisted in venom and disgust, I suddenly laughed.

"Upbringing?"

"Fine, let me show you what real upbringing looks like."

In the next breath, I flipped the entire dining table over, dishes shattering as porcelain and food crashed to the floor.

"Maverick, I want a divorce!"

At that moment, a black Maybach stopped outside the door. My phone buzzed with a message.