My husband found an abandoned baby on the roadside.

I took good care of him as if he were my own child.

I worked hard to support him until he graduated with a doctorate and returned from overseas.

My husband confronted me.

“Why are you so stupid? I love him more than my own son, can’t you see that?” he mocked.

I smiled in a secretive way.

He asked for a divorce and wanted to take his son to reunite with his lover’s family of three.

I said nonchalantly, “I agree.”

——

Alvin took the baby boy home, afraid that I would not raise him and told me that this was an abandoned baby found on the roadside.

I interrupted him, “You don’t have to say anything. I will treat him as my own child.”

Alvin was very excited and immediately gave me a big red envelope of $1380.

I accepted it calmly.

If I didn’t accept it, it would arouse his vigilance.

After putting the child down, Alvin was in a hurry to go to the company for a meeting and left in a hurry.

I asked the neighbor’s elder sister to help take care of him.

Then I hurried to the supermarket to buy milk powder, baby carriage, diapers, etc., all of the best quality.

After everything was done, I hurried back.

I was so tired that I was out of breath.

The neighbor said, “Ashley, you did a good job of keeping the secret. I didn’t know when the child was born.”

I replied, “The child is not mine. Alvin picked it up from outside.”

The neighbor laughed and said, “Look at you sweating all over, even your own children are not like you. Picked up? Stop it.”

I didn’t explain.

After thanking her, I was busy taking care of the child.

I found that feeding with milk powder alone was not enough.

I spent money to hire a wet nurse from outside.

When the neighbor’s elder sister heard that I hired a wet nurse, she came over and criticized me, saying that I couldn’t do this, the child must drink his mother’s milk. Otherwise, he would not be close to you when he grew up.

I didn’t want to explain and made the excuse that I didn’t have enough milk.

The elder sister patiently told me ways to increase milk production, such as eating more pig’s trotters to increase protein.

I responded absent-mindedly.

The neighbor finally left.

The child also fell asleep.

I walked to the window and looked at the willow branches swaying in the cold wind outside.

I stood there for a long time.

A perfect plan gradually took shape in my mind.

Early the next morning, before Alvin went out, his mother rushed in from outside and yelled, “Just pick up a child and give him the surname Hartley? How can we, old couple, face our ancestors?”

She looked at me and was furious again.

“What’s the point of finding a hen that doesn’t lay eggs? If he marries another woman, we would have had a grandson long ago.”

Alvin and I had been married for five years and had never had a child.

My mother-in-law blamed me.

In fact, the reason was Alvin, not me.

He didn’t want to have a child with me, but said I couldn’t.

Only I knew the truth, but I never pointed it out.

Every time my mother-in-law accused him, Alvin always changed the subject.

This time, he did it again.

“Mom, I bought you imported American ginseng from abroad. I’ll ask Thea to deliver it to you when the goods arrive.”

My mother-in-law was not easily sent away as usual. She insisted, “Son, I don’t object to you picking up a child to raise, but you must give me your own flesh and blood. I want my own grandson, understand?”

Alvin was shocked by his mother’s aggressive stance. He looked at me and called my mother-in-law to another room.

A small, almost inaudible voice floated out through the crack in the door.

“Mom, don’t worry. I will give you a surprise one day.”

I smiled silently.

A surprise? Just not let it become a shock to you.

After a while, neighbors gradually learned the truth of the matter.

They all didn’t understand my approach.

“If you like children, just give birth to one yourself. Why pick up a child and raise it as a treasure?”

“Is it impossible to give birth?”

“Medical science is very advanced now. As long as you want to give birth, you will definitely give birth.”

“I don’t know what this woman is thinking.”

The neighbor came over and said to me, “So the child was really picked up by your husband. How could you be so stupid? No matter how good you are to the child, it won’t work because it’s not your own. Sooner or later, the biological parents will come to your house and take the child away.”

“So, if you like children, you have to give birth to them yourself. Now, children are raised with IVF. The reproductive hospital in our city is very famous. Many people who can’t give birth can get it done after a few visits. I have relatives there. I’ll contact them and you and your husband can go directly there.”

I smiled and shook my head. “Sister, thank you for your kindness. I think this is good.”

The neighbor touched my forehead and looked at me as if I was crazy.

Later, this matter spread through the mouths of the other elder sisters like the wind.

There were all kinds of ugly sayings.

Some people said that my brain was filled with water.

Some people said that I had a mental illness.

Others said that I wanted to be an Internet celebrity and wanted to be famous.

All of these, I didn’t care.

When naming the child, Alvin was very attentive.

He handed the company to his assistant and looked up the dictionary at home for three days.

In the end, the child’s nickname was Hadie and his full name was Hayden Hartley.

It was obviously a boy, but he was given a girl’s name.

Every day after getting off work, Alvin would hold the child in his arms.

He called “Hadie” one by one, whispering softly.

Sometimes, while calling, he looked out the window.

It was like he had lost his soul.

Everything was in my sight.

I pretended to be unaware and the long-brewing plan in my mind became more mature.

Hadie grew up day by day under my careful care.

When he reached school age, I picked him up every day, rain or shine.

He had the highest attendance rate among all parents.

After a while, many parents knew me.

When they knew that Hadie was adopted, they were all very surprised and didn’t understand.

Especially when Hadie was very good at studying and ranked among the top in every exam.

Many parents said things to me.

It was fine to say that the child had no future. With such good grades, his biological parents would come back one day to recognize him and take the child away. Then I would get nothing.

I didn’t say anything when encountering such a situation, I just laughed it off.

I was more and more attentive to the child.

I took better and better care of him.

One day, Alvin, who never gave gifts, bought me an expensive silk scarf for the first time.

He said that I was too good to Hadie and it was a reward for me.

I said that the child was ours, so why was he so distant?

He was stunned for a moment and nodded quickly. “Yes, you are right, we should not be distant.”

After saying that, he turned to one side and couldn’t help showing a proud and mysterious smile on his face.

I laughed too, laughing in my heart.

Mr. Hartley, you always thought that I was kept in the dark. You thought you were very smart, but you didn’t know that there were people who were smarter than you.

But, that person was not me.

Time passed quickly and in the blink of an eye, Hadie graduated from high school and was admitted to a famous university abroad.

The news that I nurtured an abandoned baby had spread.

A TV reporter came to me and wanted to interview me.

I declined, but they said that society was too impetuous nowadays and we needed to promote virtues like me.

I said they should interview my husband, because he picked up the child and he was a great man.

After being reminded, the reporter became interested and immediately went to find Alvin.

Alvin said with positive energy that anyone who encountered such a thing would not ignore it, otherwise, it would be a loss of conscience.

The reporter asked, “I heard that you are a busy man. How could you just pick up a child on the road? Where did you pick him up? Was there anyone else at the scene?”

The reporter also mentioned a key question. “You couldn’t just take an abandoned baby home casually. You should report it to the police as soon as possible. You, Mr. Hartley, must know that.”

The reporter’s questioning made Alvin panic.

However, he was a person who had experienced the scene, after all. After calming down a little, he found a very appropriate wording to deal with the reporter.

After knowing this, I chuckled in my heart.

The truth would come out someday.

You think you were very smart, but you were too smart to be smart. You would not even be able to cry when the time came.

Hadie passed the doctoral exam after graduating from university.

To celebrate his child’s academic success, Alvin held a banquet in the best restaurant in the city and invited everyone he could.

Some people who attended the banquet said that he was blessed and some said that he was lucky.

How could it be such a coincidence that he picked up a child on the street, who was very talented in learning and had a doctorate degree. He was so proud.

This was a gift from God to Alvin.

Everyone raised their glasses to congratulate him.

Alvin was drunk.

When he returned home at night, under the stimulation of alcohol, he, who never sang, hummed a little song in front of me.

It seemed like a declaration of victory.

I woke up in the middle of the night and found that he was still awake. He was holding a mobile phone and whispering in the quilt, “Baby, you are so great. Only you can give birth to such an awesome son.”

I smiled silently again.

In the blink of an eye, it was time for Hadie to graduate with a doctorate.

Tomorrow was the day when Hadie returned to Afranta.

Alvin prepared the welcoming banquet early and it was still in the best restaurant in the city.

The night before the welcoming banquet, Alvin opened the drawer, pointed to a thick envelope inside and said, “Ashley, you will not let your efforts in vain over the years. We will give you a surprise tomorrow.”

We? Was that her finally going to show up?

The corners of my mouth curled up. “Oh, really? I also have a surprise for you, which must be bigger than yours.”

Alvin didn’t understand what I meant.

When he asked, I answered, “No hurry, it’s meaningless to say it now.”

The game had reached the final stage and it was time to reveal the answer.

At noon the next day, the welcoming banquet officially began.

Everyone was there.

The guests who attended the banquet were all well-known figures, including two TV reporters who had interviewed Alvin.

Alvin walked to the front desk, picked up the microphone and had a confident smile on his face.

“Today is a double happy day for our Hartley family. Thank you all for coming to support us. I have prepared a beautiful gift for everyone.”

The atmosphere became lively when they heard about the gift.

Everyone was excited.

However, there were more doubts.

Someone asked loudly, “Mr. Hartley, we know that the abandoned baby you picked up has achieved academic success. It is a great joy to welcome the doctor back today. I just don’t know where the other joy comes from?”