3: 3

3

I looked down at the baby in its wrappings, and a chill crawled through me.

In my last life, this boy had dragged me by the hair and shoved my face into a dog bowl to lick up spoiled leftovers. To win favor with his real mother, he'd taken a whip to me until I was crawling across the floor.

Not a shred of memory left in him of the way I'd loved him, of twenty years raising him like my own.

I gave a cold laugh and knocked Phil's arm off my waist.

"Smart? Show me a baby whose eyes don't move. The ones that don't are dead."

"Phil, I'm not adopting him. I won't raise the child of a cheap, loose woman."

Two plain sentences, and Rose Fox froze on the spot, the tears stalling in her eyes.

The tender smile on Phil's face went stiff too.

He'd been so sure of it. I was always the soft one, always giving in to him on everything. They'd put on such a convincing show today, and instead I'd cut them off flat.

After a moment of shock.

The tears started rolling down Rose's cheeks again, and the performance began.

"Sister, I wasn't seeing anyone. I was forced. I was just too scared of upsetting you to tell you."

Then, weeping harder, she turned her eyes to the baby in her arms.

"I meant to end it. But the doctor said my uterine wall was too thin, that forcing an abortion would leave me unable to have children ever again, and could even cost me my life. I really had no other choice."

She wept, frail and pitiful, and for the sake of dumping the child on me she'd thrown herself into the part, tears as cheap and endless as tap water.

In my last life, this was exactly how she'd worn me down, how her crying had softened my heart until I agreed to take the child and walked straight into their trap. My mother-in-law couldn't hold back any longer. She rushed over, snatched the baby up, and patted him with an aching tenderness.

"Oh, my precious grandson. You poor little thing."

"Christina, what gives you the right to be so willful? Your own belly's the one that failed. Who else is there to blame? Rose is grateful enough to give you her own child as a son, and here you are, never satisfied."

"What's so wrong with adopting a child? It's a good deed, a blessing earned. Maybe once you do, you'll finally carry your own flesh and blood. Don't go cutting off your own good fortune."

The uncle-in-law stepped forward too, his face dark.

"A person ought to do some good in this world. Your Gilbert line runs thin on heirs. You'd do well to ask yourself why."

"One little child, how much can it cost? Raise him and call it charity. Why be so hard, so cornering? Rose has always been such a sweet, obedient girl. Maybe she really was forced."

Every head in the room swung toward Rose Fox in her worn cotton dress, the picture of misery.

The Floyd relatives read the look on my mother-in-law's face, rose from their seats, and fell in one after another.

"Yes, poor girl. It was kindness that made her keep a little life."

"Christina, your second uncle's only saying this for your good. A person has to have a kind heart, or the good fortune won't stay. Raising a child is always a happy thing. It'll bring some warmth and life into the house."

Every last relative was accusing me of being cold, of being cursed with no luck, all of them dead set on forcing me to adopt Rose Fox's child.

No one asked whether I was willing.

Phil stood among them, watching me get squeezed under the weight of it all, letting every accusation land without a word, waiting for me to bow my head and give in.

He was certain that, like last time, I couldn't hold out against all the coaxing and the pressure, that in the end I'd fall in line and take the child.

My mother-in-law patted the baby, her face still furious, waiting for me to soften and cave.

Seeing that I wouldn't budge, she turned and announced it loudly.

"I've decided. I'll adopt this child for Phil myself, and there's nothing anyone can say about it."

Then she cut me a sidelong glance.

Everyone crowded around to congratulate her, praising how bright and lovely the baby was.

Phil rushed to help Rose Fox up, and the two of them met each other's eyes, both brimming with delight.

Calmly I picked up my water, listening to those familiar words, and took a slow sip to press down the fury churning inside me.

This life, if they thought they could bring an illegitimate child to my face and force me to take him, they'd have to lose a layer of skin first.

I stepped forward too, ran my finger lightly across the baby's soft cheek, and gave my gentlest smile.

"Mom, Uncle, you're right. Since you all say it's a good deed, a blessing earned…"

"Then I'll adopt this child!"

The whole room went silent in an instant.

Rose Fox's head snapped up, the wild joy beneath her wet lashes almost impossible to hide.

The tension drained from Phil's face too, a smug little smile settling in his eyes.

My mother-in-law's anger flipped to delight in a heartbeat, gloating as though she'd won some great war.

"Christina, now you're being sensible. Since you can't have your own, another person's child raised as your own is just the same."

I nodded and went on, calm as ever.

"Since it's my Floyd family taking in a child, we can't do it in some careless fashion."

"We'll choose a good day and throw a grand one-month celebration. I'll invite every relative, every friend, every distinguished guest from our business circles. And there, I'll formally name him the sole heir of the Gilbert Group."

The room broke into a roar of praise, the whole hall bright with celebration.

My mother-in-law was already calling for the butler, telling him to set up the nursery at once, ordering the housekeeper to find a postpartum nurse…

The living room dissolved into happy chaos, and no one could see it — the strange little smile lingering deep in my eyes.

4: 4

4

I set the date for June eighth, the day I had handed the company over to Leslie Floyd in my past life.

On this day, I would let the whole city witness their "moment of glory and triumph" all over again.

On this day, the entire city buzzed, because Phil Floyd had booked twenty-eight helicopters just to rain flower petals from the sky.

Banners of congratulations and blessings hung all over the hotel.

Business associates and neighbors, relatives and elders, even our mutual friends and old classmates, all of them showed up.

Everyone praised my mother-in-law's kindness for taking in the orphan of a poor girl, and praised my good fortune, saying I'd have an heir to carry on the line.

Inside the banquet hall the flattery never stopped, and every face was flushed with joy.

My mother-in-law wore a dark red qipao, cradling her precious grandson as she drifted among the guests, showing him off without pause.

"Look, this is the eldest grandson of my Floyd family. Isn't he handsome? The spitting image of Phil when he was little."

The guests chimed in with their compliments.

"Absolutely. This child has a full brow and rounded ears, truly the image of Mr. Floyd. When he grows up he'll be a dragon among men, just like his father."

"Mrs. Floyd, you're truly blessed. This child will bring honor to your ancestors and make the Floyd family even greater."

Phil Floyd went further still, openly leading Rose Fox through the crowd, introducing her to everyone and accepting their congratulations.

They thought they had me completely under control now, so they'd stopped bothering to hide anything, acknowledging the child's identity out in the open.

Rose Fox had taken care to dress up today too, her makeup delicate, her clothes tasteful, and around her neck hung a hundred-thousand-dollar new-model Burberry diamond necklace.

She looked every inch a lady of means now, with none of the pitiful misery she'd worn just days ago.

Everyone praised her too, congratulating her on her good luck, on meeting a benefactor.

She only lowered her eyes meekly, gazing tenderly at Phil Floyd.

"It's all thanks to Phil's kind heart. I kept the child to repay his kindness, and now he has an heir to carry on his name too."

And once again everyone praised her for repaying kindness, having completely forgotten how she'd slept around and given birth to an illegitimate child in her junior year.

I only watched, calm, this lavish feast just before its collapse.

Soon the auspicious hour arrived, and the emcee's voice swelled to work up the room.

"May I now invite Mrs. Floyd to the stage, to recognize the child before all present and announce the family's new heir."

To thunderous applause, I walked up in a long gown, unhurried, and took the microphone from the emcee's hand.

"Since Mr. Floyd and I have agreed to formally accept Rose Fox's child, we'll raise him as our own, and the paperwork is naturally a necessary step."

As I spoke I picked up the adoption agreement and the company asset transfer agreement in my hands.

"Once the adoption is formal, I've decided to transfer thirty percent of the company's shares to this child, so that he becomes the rightful heir of the Gilbert Group."

Applause rose again. The light in Rose Fox's eyes blazed, wild joy she couldn't suppress, and Phil Floyd was so worked up his face went crimson, his tightly clenched fists giving away his elation.

I let out a soft, mocking laugh, paused for a moment, then turned the words another way.

"As the heir to the Gilbert Group's ten-billion-dollar fortune, he must of course be protected. To prevent any messy disputes down the road, I now invite Rose Fox to sign an abandonment agreement."

Rose Fox looked at me with hesitation, but the moment her eyes fell on the share transfer agreement, she lifted her head and strode gracefully onto the stage, composed.

There was nothing left of her old humility and timidity now. She was certain she had won.

It was only an abandonment agreement. Once the child took over the Gilbert Group and got hold of my assets, he'd naturally acknowledge her as his birth mother.

She stood at center stage and gave a slight bow, her tone generous and at ease.

"Thank you, Mr. Floyd, for supporting me all these years. Christina is magnanimous and loving. With the child in her hands, I trust she'll treat him as her own and raise him into an outstanding heir."

And with that she crisply picked up the pen and signed the three characters of her name across the agreement.

I gave a light laugh, watching Rose Fox at center stage, still not forgetting to guilt-trip me even now.

When her stirring little speech was done, I stepped forward again, took up the microphone, and spoke slowly.

"Since we're adopting an heir and removing the child from his original family, the child's biological father has to sign an abandonment agreement too."

"Now, may I invite the child's biological father to the stage."

One sentence, and thunder split the clear sky.

Every gaze followed mine to the door, and whispers broke out.

"Didn't they say the child's father forced himself on her? How does he dare show up?"

Rose Fox went rigid all over, the smile on her face cracking apart inch by inch.

A thin young man walked toward the ceremony platform, step by step, and then Rose Fox burst out in a scream of terror.

"Wyatt James, who told you to come? Get out, now."

I walked forward, unmoved, leaned close to her ear, and spoke with a cold laugh.

"I did, of course. He is the child's biological father, after all. This abandonment paperwork does need his signature."