When Mother Chose Him

The air fell silent for a moment. Just as I thought Lucia would finally help me up, she asked, "You're the Fraser heir?"

Her voice was low and unreadable, but it felt like I'd grabbed onto my last lifeline. I nodded frantically. "I've been the one supporting you all these years. I originally planned to tell you after graduation—"

Lucia burst into laughter before I could finish.

Only after she laughed her fill did she finally sneer, "Logan, I don't know where you heard that I was being sponsored, but there's no way the person helping me was some broke loser like you. Just look at what you're wearing. There isn't even a logo on your clothes.

"Plus, the Fraser family built its fortune on jewelry. I've never even seen you wear any."

All my clothes had been custom-made, so they naturally weren't marred by those flashy logos. As for jewelry, it was because I'd been kidnapped when I was young. My father had worried constantly about my safety ever since, insisting I dress modestly to avoid attracting attention.

I never expected those precautions would one day become the very thing that got me killed.

Keith curled his lips into a cruel smile, malice flashing in his eyes. "So, you thought pretending to be the Fraser heir would help you date Lucia? It's too bad you ran into the real deal. In front of a true scion like me, all your lies are falling apart."

Lucia immediately rushed to prove her loyalty to Keith.

She glared at me viciously and snapped, "Logan, we're through! Maybe I really did like you once, but that was only because I hadn't met Keith yet. I only understood what real love was supposed to be like after I met him!"

As she spoke, she gazed at him lovingly. Her cheeks were flushed as she behaved like a girl hopelessly in love. Then, she looked back at me and said, "Return every gift I ever gave you."

I suppressed the rage boiling inside me and said coldly, "The gifts I gave you over the years were worth hundreds of thousands at the very least. Wasn't that enough to cover the few drinks you bought me?"

I knew Lucia came from a low-income family, so I'd constantly find excuses to give her things—luxury watches, designer clothes, expensive accessories.

There were too many to count.

Lucia scoffed. "I already threw all those fake goods away."

Before I could respond, Keith said impatiently, "Enough chit-chat. It's getting dark. Let's go. As for you, Fraser, stay here and think about what you've done. As for whether any wild animals will come out tonight…" He drawled menacingly. "Well, I can't guarantee that."

The look in his eyes made it obvious that he was already picturing me dying alone in the dark.

As the two of them left, I vaguely heard Lucia telling the classmates who'd come with them that I had already left early because of something urgent. I instantly heard complaints erupt among the group, everyone criticizing me for being antisocial.

I lay helpless beneath the cliff, shouting for help. Unfortunately, the distance was too great. No one could hear me.

Then, I spotted the phone Keith had smashed earlier. I used every last ounce of strength in my body, and I hurled it upward as hard as I could. Thankfully, the broken phone landed on the slope above and caught the attention of the other students.

"Logan's down here! He fell off the cliff! He didn't leave! Hurry, let's save him!"

I let out a long breath of relief. Thank God, I'd always treated my classmates well. It seemed my goodwill had made them willing to help me.

The group hastily made their way down the mountain. Just as everyone was preparing to help me, Keith suddenly cried out, "My Tear of Orion is missing! My mother gave it to me on my 18th birthday. It's worth hundreds of millions!"

Everyone immediately started searching for it when they heard how valuable it was.

Sadly, they found nothing.

The group was about to give up when Lucia suddenly kicked me hard in the stomach. Pain exploded through my body, forcing me to curl over as cold sweat poured down my face.

"I knew something was off with you! You must've stolen Keith's Tear of Orion and panicked while trying to escape, which is why you fell off the cliff!"

She ignored my struggles completely as she began patting down my body.

One of the girls nearby couldn't stand it anymore and tried to stop her, but Keith immediately interrupted coldly, "Why are you defending Fraser so much? Don't tell me you're his accomplice?"

No one dared speak up for me again.

Lucia quickly stripped off my outer layers while I struggled desperately, earning myself punches and blows until my face was bruised and swollen.

Just as she reached for my final piece of clothing, she suddenly raised her hand and shouted, "I found it!"

She eagerly handed the necklace to Keith like she was presenting a treasure, and before leaving, she even spat on me. The sticky yellow phlegm clung to my hair, but I was too weak to react anymore.

The moment Keith saw the necklace clearly, his eyes widened intensely. "M-Mine had a sapphire..." he muttered.

Yet, the Tear of Orion in Lucia's hand was set with a pink gemstone.

Lucia shoved the necklace into Keith's hands. "You probably just own too many necklaces and remembered wrong. How could a poor loser like Fraser possibly own a gem this huge?"

…

Just then, a roar thundered through the sky, instantly drawing everyone's attention.

A helicopter landed in the clearing nearby.

The cabin door opened, and a stylishly dressed woman stepped out before walking straight toward us.

The instant I saw her face, the fear hanging over my heart finally disappeared—my mother had arrived. I was definitely going to survive.

I struggled against the pain and forced myself to stand, wanting to grab her hand and pour out all the grievances I'd endured across both lifetimes.

Yet, my mother walked straight past me.

She stopped in front of Keith, pulled him tightly into her arms, and asked tremulously, "Keith, are you alright?"

The Mother Who Denied Me

My mother had attended countless business events alongside my father, and she was fairly well-known online herself. Most of the people there recognized her immediately.

Keith even wrapped his arms around my mother and pouted. "Mom, I'm fine. I was just dealing with this bastard pretending to be me."

Only then did my mother finally look at me.

Yet, her gaze was ice-cold.

I initially thought she was behaving that way because my face had been cut open by the rocks and covered in blood, hiding what I really looked like. Panic surged through me as I hurriedly wiped my face with my hands and desperately explained, "Mom, it's me, Logan! I'm your son—"

Before I could finish, Lucia suddenly grabbed a rock from the ground and smashed it into my forehead.

"Mrs. Fraser is already here, and you still dare pretend to be some rich heir? Logan, just because your last name is Fraser doesn't mean nobody will expose you!"

The blow left me dizzy and disoriented. I saw my mother turn her head away and cover her nose in disgust through my blurry vision. "Who's this filthy beggar? How dare he impersonate my child!"

Lucia kicked me to the ground the second my mother refused to acknowledge me, forcing me to collapse facedown in the dirt.

Then, she hurried over to my mother like a well-trained dog begging for treats. "Mrs. Fraser, Logan has been pretending to be the Fraser heir."

My mother had clearly heard my name. So why was she still looking at me like I was garbage? Why was her gaze filled with nothing but disgust?

I couldn't understand why this was happening.

How could my own biological mother treat me this way?

Ever since I was little, people had constantly said the two of us looked exactly alike. I'd never once doubted that she was my real mother. But now…

Lucia's punches and kicks interrupted my thoughts. Yet, I could barely feel the pain anymore. I stared at my mother and shouted resentfully, "Mom, why are you treating me like this?"

I turned toward the surrounding crowd and begged to borrow a phone so I could call my father. Yet, everyone only watched me coldly, not a single person stepped forward to help.

The Fraser family stood at the very top of the jewelry industry. All the people here were my classmates, students majoring in jewelry design and appraisal themselves. None of them dared offend the Fraser family.

No one was going to help me.

Alas, Keith clearly wasn't satisfied.

He clung to my mother's arm as he whined, "Mom, this bastard's stubborn as hell. We beat him up earlier, but he still refused to apologize. Make Logan grovel and apologize to me, won't you?"

My mother nodded indulgently. "That's easy enough."

The bodyguards immediately swarmed toward me with a casual wave of her hand.

More than a dozen large men pinned me down. Some grabbed my arms while others kicked the backs of my knees. The moment they forced downward, I dropped heavily onto my knees.

My entire body trembled with rage as I glared at my mother and roared, "Mom, Dad will never let you off the hook if he finds out you treated me like this!"

My mother sneered. Then, her high heel came down hard against my face as she threatened coldly, "You talk too much. It'd be much better if you were mute. Then, I wouldn't have anything to worry about."

Lucia immediately understood. She picked up a handful of sharp stones from the ground and shoved them into my mouth, trying to cut my vocal cords so I could never speak again.

My mother nodded in satisfaction.

Keith grinned happily as well. "Do you finally understand who you are now, Fraser? You're just a bastard. Who do you think you are to fight me?"

My mouth was stuffed full of stones. They forced it down my throat while my mother looked at Keith with nothing but warmth and affection.

At that moment, any hope that I had been harboring in my heart died in an instant.

I had called this woman my mother for 20 years.

Now, there was nothing left.

I struggled desperately, but it was useless. The bodyguards restrained my arms and legs so tightly I couldn't move at all.

Just as I was about to lose consciousness, the deafening roar of helicopter blades suddenly tore through the sky, kicking up massive clouds of dust. My father stepped down from the helicopter, his gaze sharp as a hawk's as it locked onto me.

"What the hell are you doing?" he barked.