My husband secretly took his mistress on a trip, but fate had other plans. They both fell off a cliff and vanished, their bodies never found.

Without hesitation, I took in the child they left behind and raised her as my own. For eighteen years, I poured my heart and soul into her and molded her into a world-class swimming champion.

However, just when I thought the past was behind me, my husband and his childhood sweetheart who had been "dead" for twenty years suddenly reappeared. They demanded me to acknowledge that they were my daughter's biological parents.

"You fool," he sneered and his voice dripped with arrogance. "Thanks to you, our biological daughter has become a world champion."

I simply laughed while hiding my true thoughts.

Then he had the audacity to propose divorce so that he and his "family" could be reunited.

Without missing a beat, I flashed him a bright, unwavering smile and answered, "Oh, sure. Take her."

——

On the days nearing the swimming competition, I was completely immersed in training and pushed my body to its limits in preparation every day.

Meanwhile, my husband, Jacob Hamilton, decided to take a little vacation with his beloved childhood sweetheart without my knowledge. However, fate played its hand that very night, news arrived that they had both plunged off a cliff and were presumed dead.

I was stunned, my mind went blank. Then, without warning, tears streamed down my face uncontrollably.

A sudden knock at the door pulled me back to reality. When I opened it, my mother-in-law stood before me. She was cradling a wailing infant. It was no older than a few months.

Without a preamble, she shoved the baby into my arms, her voice cold and emotionless when she said, "This is Jacob's child."

I froze, my arms stiff around the tiny bundle. I didn't need to ask. This was obviously the illegitimate child of my husband and his mistress.

My mother-in-law looked at me expectantly, her voice carried the weight of entitlement as she said, "You're Jacob's wife. It’s your responsibility to raise his child."

I was dumbfounded by the absurdity of it all. Was she so audacious that she was expecting me to raise my husband’s love child and act as if it was my duty?

It is so unbelievable!

When she saw my hesitation, she pressed even further and practically shoved the child into my grasp as she ordered, "You will raise this child! Or I’ll make sure to show up at your workplace every single day and cause a scene!"

For years, I knew my mother-in-law well, that her shamelessness knew no bounds and at that moment, an idea took root in my mind. I smirked. Well, since she forced me to take this child, I would take her, but the way I raised her would be entirely up to me.

With a serene expression, I looked my mother-in-law in the eye and said with a smile on my face, "Of course, Mother-in-law. I’ll take good care of this child. I won’t let you or Jacob down."

A flicker of surprise crossed her face. It was clear, she hadn’t expected me to agree so readily. However, just as quickly, her usual cold demeanor returned.

From that day forward, under her watchful gaze, I juggled grueling training sessions and the exhausting demands of motherhood. Every day felt like a battle, but I endured.

Finally, the competition arrived. Against all odds, I secured my sixth gold medal in swimming. This accomplishment cemented my place as the undisputed queen of the swimming world.

The crowd roared and in the middle of celebrating my triumph, I made a shocking announcement that I was retiring.

Ignoring the protests of fans and the outcry from the media I made up my mind to leave swimming and embarked on my new mission, dedicating myself entirely to raising this child.

I named her Natalie Stevens. I poured all my hopes and dreams into her and was determined to shape her into the next swimming legend.

She had the best education at the best primary school, got the best food and the best training program for swimming. I held nothing back and passed down every skill and technique I had mastered to her.

I gave her everything because I believed that my devotion would finally silence my mother-in-law’s relentless criticisms. However, it wasn’t enough.

With a look of disdain, she scoffed, "Stop making her swim! Just look at yourself. You had spent all your time in the water and ruined your body. No wonder you can’t have children."

She sneered, her voice sharp as a blade. "If you could bear children, do you really think my son would’ve needed someone else?"

I burst into laughter at its sheer absurdity. Who said I could not have a child?

The truth was, it was Jacob who convinced me not to have children for a few years. He said we were still young and that we should focus on our careers before thinking about starting a family and like a fool, I believed him.

How did my mother-in-law twist things to make it seem like I was the one who couldn’t conceive? This accusation was beyond ridiculous!

I immediately refuted her, “Swimming has nothing to do with what you’re saying. Stop making things up!”

However, she just sneered and scoffed, “What do you know, you’re still young! Anyway, no more swimming!”

Then, she remarked, “A woman who can’t have children is incomplete. You’re a complete failure!”

I couldn’t believe my ears. I had eight swimming gold medals and was a recognized queen in the sports world. Yet, in her eyes, I was nothing but a failure simply because I hadn’t given birth. It was absurd that all my global achievements meant less to her than a baby!

I took a deep breath and enunciated each word clearly, “If you want me to continue raising this child, Natalie must swim. “Otherwise, take her away right now. I won’t stop you.”

I pretended to hand over the child to her. My mother-in-law opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but in the end, she said nothing. Her face turned red with frustration as she stomped her foot in anger.

Time passed quickly and each single day, Natalie grew and without missing a single day, I took her to the swimming pool for training. Eventually, our routine caught the attention of netizens.

Like the imaginary well-known detective, Sherlock Holmes, they pieced together the timeline of her birth and quickly realized that she was born while I was competing overseas and suddenly rumors exploded online.

“The world champion promotes surrogacy? Boycott her!” Many criticized my actions.

The hashtag #SwimmingChampionWandaStevensSurrogacy soared to the top of trending searches.

Countless netizens flooded my comment section and launched vicious personal attacks.

As I read the slanderous comments, my grip on my phone tightened and my body trembled slightly. I was so upset. It was clear that I had not done anything wrong, so why was I the one being attacked?

In truth, I had never wanted to reveal Natalie’s real identity, because, for me, she was already my real daughter. All I wanted was to shield her from life's difficulties.

If her classmates and friends found out she wasn’t my biological child, how would they see her? How would they treat her?

However now, with the surrogacy scandal spiraling out of control, I had no choice but to go public with the truth. I revealed that Natalie was my husband and his childhood sweetheart’s illegitimate child. Years ago, they had fallen off a cliff and died and I was merely the fool who had raised their child in their absence.

So, to prove my claim, I released a paternity test showing that Natalie and I had no biological relation.

The accusations of surrogacy in the comment section gradually died down. However, unexpectedly, a new wave of harsh criticism arose.

“Why would you raise your husband’s mistress’s child? Wanda, are you crazy? I can’t stand this doormat behavior!”

“There’s no way someone would willingly raise a mistress’s child. She must be putting on a show, desperate for attention!”

As I read all the condescending comments, I merely smiled and did not write anything.

Soon after that, I posted a new update. [I will raise this child as my own and train her to become a swimming champion. Time will prove everything.]

The uproar online finally settled, at least for now. However, my fans were growing more anxious and posting their concern.

[Wanda, did you retire early just to raise this child? It wasn’t worth it!]

[Wanda, quick! Wake up! Don’t foolishly raise a mistress’s child. There must be more to this story!]

I scanned the comments, my fingers poised over the keyboard before typing a simple response, [Don't worry, I know what I'm doing.] Then, without hesitation, I shut my laptop.

Beside me, my mother-in-law watched with wary eyes, her expression tense.