At my mother-in-law's seventieth birthday banquet, my husband, for the sake of so-called appearances, not only publicly denied our marital relationship but also made our son call his childhood sweetheart "Mom."

"Look at the mess you are. You're not worthy to be my wife. I only have one wife and that's Erin!"

When I confronted him, my mother-in-law, who had always treated me with respect, called me a jinx and told me to get out.

I was unwilling to accept it, but friends and relatives all mocked me as an unwanted castoff and drove me out.

Even the son I had raised for sixteen years shouted, “You’re not fit to be my mom! Dad would only be happy with someone as beautiful as Erin. You might as well get hit by a car and die to make way for Erin and Dad! They are true love!”

Looking at my husband and son, who now felt like strangers, I realized that in this moment, I was nothing more than a joke.

——

After entering the hotel, my husband arranged for me to sit at the lowest-ranked seat.

In the past, I was always the one accompanying him, but now, the person sitting by his side was Erin.

When everyone cast questioning glances at Victor, he proudly introduced, "I’ve already married Erin. She’s my wife now. As for Liane..."

He paused and looked at me.

I gazed back at him with a hopeful look, yearning for him to acknowledge all I had done for this family over the years and take back his earlier words.

But his eyes were filled with disdain. He sneered coldly, "Just look at her; a mess with rough skin like a beggar. She doesn’t even look like a woman anymore. We divorced a long time ago."

My son, Frank, chimed in with contempt, "A hideous woman like her doesn’t deserve my dad at all. She’s nothing compared to Erin who runs a cosmetic shop herself. She’s clearly here today with the same shamelessness she used back then to chase after my dad!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the room erupted in laughter.

One of Victor’s cousins glanced at me and mocked, “Victor, I heard that back in school, she chased you for four years, buying you meals, fetching water, giving gifts and even fighting to wash your underwear. That can’t be true, right?"

The look of disdain on Victor's face deepened. "Stop talking. During that time, I was in a bad mood and she took advantage of the situation. Looking back now, I really regret it. How could I have ever been attracted to a woman like her, someone so unkempt?"

Hearing this, a deep bitterness welled up inside me.

I never expected the sincerity I had given to him over the years would be treated with such humiliation.

Moreover, over the years, for the sake of them, I spent all my time on this family. I didn't have much time to take care of myself, but I was humiliated by them like this.

At that moment, Erin smiled sweetly as she nestled into Victor’s embrace, her eyes full of affection. "Victor, it was all my fault back then. I didn’t realize your true feelings for me in time and I went abroad without discussing it with you."

"Fortunately, our fate isn't over. From now on, I will stay by your side," she said, her hand shamelessly caressing Victor's waist, even slipping inside his clothes, subtly provoking me.

Victor, feeling Erin's affection, not only didn’t push her away, but instead, he held her even more recklessly and the two of them gazed at each other with nothing but love in their eyes.

At this moment, my mother-in-law cleared her throat softly.

I had thought that as an elder, she would never tolerate Victor’s behavior. But to my surprise, she spoke up and said, "Although Erin is a woman, she is independent and strong. She even opened a cosmetic store, unlike some people, who not only neglect their appearance but also stay at home all day."

Hearing this, everyone began to praise Erin as a role model for women, saying that Victor had made the right choice in divorcing and that a man should find a woman with strong opinions.

But Erin’s company was clearly built by me from the ground up.

At that time, my father strongly opposed my relationship with Victor. He said that his intentions were not pure and that he was not a suitable match for me. But back then, I was so blinded by love that I went against my father and even had a falling out with him over Victor.

In a fit of anger, my father not only cut off my allowance but also kicked me out of the house.

It had been sixteen years now and my father hadn't contacted me once. I’d never had the courage to reach out and reconcile either.

I even feared that Victor might feel pressured, so I never told him about what happened.

Fortunately, we managed to stand on our own feet. Victor’s career was stable and I built my own cosmetic store through hard work.

I had planned to save enough to buy a villa and then return to see my parents, showing them that I hadn’t made a mistake about Victor after all.

But ever since Erin returned, Victor's attitude toward me had changed and my cosmetic store was even taken away.

He first allowed Erin to enter my store and then at a gathering, he personally got me drunk. When I was unconscious, he made me sign the transfer agreement for the store.

Afterward, I confronted him, asking why he did such a thing.

He explained that Erin didn’t like being subordinate to others, so he just wanted her to experience what it felt like to be a boss, assuring me that she wouldn’t take anything more. As for me, I would still be the true owner of the store.

That time, he coaxed me for a long while and had Erin promise that after some time, she would return the store to me. Reluctantly, I let it go without further pursuit.

But later, Erin suddenly changed her mind and claimed that she was the true owner of the store. She said that I had sold it to her because I was in debt.

I confronted Erin, but she denied ever saying such a thing.

I demanded that she return the store to me, but she dodged the issue and even arranged for people to push me out.

I even saw her flirting with one of the male employees at the store.

I secretly took photos and showed them to Victor, but he accused me of fabricating the images, saying I disliked Erin and was deliberately slandering her.

He warned that if I continued to pressure Erin, he would divorce me.

But the one being forced and wronged was clearly me.

At this moment, my mother-in-law continued, "Since you two are already married, I think in the future, Frank shouldn't call her Erin anymore. He should just call her 'Mom.'"

Hearing this, Victor smiled and waved at Frank, signaling him to come over. "Frank, in front of the whole family, why don’t you call Erin 'Mom'? It would show appreciation for all the care she’s given you over the years."

"Mm!" Frank beamed with happiness and eagerly called Erin "Mom" repeatedly without hesitation.

"Mom, if it weren’t for you, my dad and I wouldn’t have been this happy all these years. I hope you and my dad stay loving forever!"

Hearing this, everyone applauded, but my body couldn’t stop trembling.

Each "Mom" from his mouth shattered my heart.

After a few rounds of drinks, someone curiously asked what gift Erin had brought for my mother-in-law.

Victor’s eyes gleamed with pride as he pointed at a nearby gift box. "Frank, go open the gift your mom brought and show it to everyone here. It’s far better than the fake supplements that ugly woman used to give."

Frank proudly opened the box and introduced its contents to everyone. "Mom gave cordyceps. For someone Grandma's age, it’s the most suitable supplement."

Looking at the contents of the box, someone couldn’t help but ask, "What exactly is cordyceps? And isn’t this amount a bit..."

Before they could finish, someone interjected, "You don’t understand. This stuff is worth over ten dollars per gram. Looking at this amount, it’s easily worth ten to fifteen thousand dollars."

Victor chuckled and shook his head. "You’re all wrong. This is worth two hundred thousand dollars. Erin personally selected it from a premium supplier and its effects are much better than regular cordyceps."

Hearing this, my mother-in-law beamed with delight, her smile so wide that it almost couldn't be contained.

Meanwhile, the surrounding crowd began endlessly praising Erin, calling her beautiful and capable, unlike me, who they deemed sloppy.

She lay nestled in Victor's arms, listening to Frank call her "Mom," enjoying everything that should have rightfully belonged to me.

Amidst the crowd's laughter and teasing, the two of them openly kissed.

Victor gazed at Erin with eyes full of affection and said, "Erin, you will always be the love of my life."

This scene pierced my heart deeply.

After a long while, the two finally separated, leaning against each other like a loving couple.

At this moment, someone suddenly said, "The more I look, the more I feel that Frank resembles Erin. Could it be..."

Hearing this, everyone immediately turned to look at me, their gazes shifting back and forth between me, Frank and Erin.

"I always wondered why Frank didn’t resemble Liane at all. Now that I’ve seen Erin, it finally makes sense. So that’s how it is!"

"Congratulations! The family is finally reunited."

At this moment, my heart suddenly skipped a beat and a memory from the delivery room years ago surfaced in my mind.

Right after giving birth to Frank, Victor had brought a woman into the room. Now that I thought back, that woman was clearly Erin.

He had lied to me, saying Erin was his sister who had come to visit me and even took away my child whom I hadn’t even held yet.

Back then, I thought Frank didn’t resemble me because he took after his paternal relatives. But now...

I didn’t dare to dwell on the thought.

Sixteen years. In all that time, I had never felt fear like I did at this moment as though a bucket of ice-cold water had been poured over my head.

But along with the fear came a growing fury.

I loved Victor, so I kept silent before.

But now, this blatant humiliation had crossed my bottom line.

I couldn’t hold back any longer and spoke up. “Victor, have you forgotten how she got this company in the first place?

“And don’t forget, I am your wife. Don't you feel pain when you treat me like this?"

It was the first time I had spoken up since arriving here.

The room immediately fell silent.

But the silence was quickly followed by mocking laughter.

“This woman really doesn’t know her place. She’s clearly no longer connected to Victor, yet she shamelessly shows up at the birthday banquet!”

“Seeing Victor living well now, she just wants to stir up trouble again!”

My mother-in-law’s gaze was filled with hostility as she snapped, “You used to hit and scold my son every day. Now that you’re divorced, you can’t stand to see him doing well. What more do you want?”

Bitterness filled my heart as I struggled to reply, “Mom, you know very well that I am still…”

“Shut up!” she cut me off harshly. “My son only has one wife and that’s Erin. If you don’t know your place, get out of here!”

At her words, the crowd turned their angry stares on me.

“Shameless wretch! Stop pushing your luck!”

“Look at yourself in the mirror! Do you even deserve to be with Victor anymore?”

"It was a mistake letting you in today, sneaking into a proper birthday banquet like a rat!"

My son yelled from the side, "My dad shouldn't have married her in the first place. Someone like her doesn't deserve to be connected to me or my dad. Get her out of here!"

The crowd agreed, “Frank is right, throw her out!"

As soon as the words were spoken, everyone stood up and started to physically push and shove me.

Erin rushed over and took the opportunity to slap me across the face.

"Liane, so you're this kind of lowly person. I even took you in and let you work in my store and you're really disappointing!"

Amid the pushing and shoving, my head hit the door frame and I bled a lot.

Seeing this, the crowd finally stopped.

I dragged my aching body out of the hotel. At this moment, my body hurt, but my heart hurt even more.