His Mother's Shadow: My Stolen Life

His Mother's Shadow: My Stolen Life

Wu Xiaoyan

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He was my guardian, my "Uncle Ethan," the man who promised to always be there after the fire took Mom and Dad. On my eighteenth birthday, I believed his devoted attention, his constant presence, meant we were meant to be more than family. But when I whispered, "I love you, not like an uncle," his eyes turned to ice. "These feelings are inappropriate," he flatly stated, his voice chillingly foreign. Humiliation burned. He called me 'delusional,' cut off my funds, and dated a woman who openly mocked me. Then came the 'accident' – a knife wound, a trap set by his new girlfriend, with him blaming me and contacting Juilliard to destroy my dreams. He changed the locks, leaving me to bleed alone. Why would the man who once shielded me now actively ruin my life? Was his cruelty a twisted lesson, or something far darker? The answer arrived with Olivia' s text: a faded photo of my mother and a chilling caption: "Did you know he was obsessed with your mother? You were always just her shadow." His 'care' was a grotesque projection of a sick, unrequited love for my dead mother. I was a surrogate. But no more. A sudden lifeline from my parents' past offered the means to cut the ties, expose his manipulations, and carve out a real future where I was seen for myself.

Introduction

He was my guardian, my "Uncle Ethan," the man who promised to always be there after the fire took Mom and Dad.

On my eighteenth birthday, I believed his devoted attention, his constant presence, meant we were meant to be more than family.

But when I whispered, "I love you, not like an uncle," his eyes turned to ice. "These feelings are inappropriate," he flatly stated, his voice chillingly foreign.

Humiliation burned. He called me 'delusional,' cut off my funds, and dated a woman who openly mocked me. Then came the 'accident' – a knife wound, a trap set by his new girlfriend, with him blaming me and contacting Juilliard to destroy my dreams.

He changed the locks, leaving me to bleed alone.

Why would the man who once shielded me now actively ruin my life? Was his cruelty a twisted lesson, or something far darker? The answer arrived with Olivia' s text: a faded photo of my mother and a chilling caption: "Did you know he was obsessed with your mother? You were always just her shadow."

His 'care' was a grotesque projection of a sick, unrequited love for my dead mother.

I was a surrogate.

But no more. A sudden lifeline from my parents' past offered the means to cut the ties, expose his manipulations, and carve out a real future where I was seen for myself.

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My five-year-old son, Liam, suffered severe brain damage from an allergic reaction. A car accident left me with shattered ribs and a new heart beating in my chest. My husband, Mark, seemed broken by our tragedy. Then, I overheard his phone call. "Olivia, it's done. Liam is no longer a problem. The accident went perfectly. They said her heart was a match for you. It was almost too easy." I was paralyzed. He planned it all. He fed Liam peanuts, knowing his fatal allergy. He orchestrated my crash to get my heart for his mistress, Olivia. We were pawns, obstacles to be removed so his son, Ethan, could inherit everything. Mark walked in, feigning concern. He even asked me to give blood for Olivia, whose body was rejecting my heart. He dragged me out of bed, ignoring my weakness and bleeding hand. He was draining my son too. I fainted from blood loss. Mark then suggested we place Liam in a facility and "adopt" Ethan. But in his monstrous suggestion, I saw my escape. His phone was left behind. His password was Ethan's birthday. I found a video: Olivia giving Ethan peanut crackers and pointing to Liam. It was deliberate. I forwarded the video, emailed my friend, a neurosurgeon in Switzerland, and deleted the history. I bundled Liam and slipped out. I mailed divorce papers and the USB with the video to Mark's office. "I'm leaving, Mark," I told him, then hung up. Mark eventually found Liam's room empty. The nurse, witnessing Olivia's manipulative act, showed Mark security footage of Olivia pinching Ethan and falsely blaming me. Mark erupted. He threw Olivia out, showering them with cash, telling them he never wanted to see them again. I landed in Zurich, found freedom with Liam. The news came: Mark suffered a severe spinal injury in an accident, paralyzed. He left everything to me for Liam. I founded a non-profit for children with brain injuries. Liam thrived, discovering a gift for piano. Then, my transplanted heart began to fail. I was preparing for the end, writing birthday letters for Liam. Ben burst in: "We found one! A perfect match. A directed donation from a patient in the States." It was Mark. He had arranged it, his ultimate atonement. He had his life support removed. I watched his final message, then deleted the file. A new heart. A new life. Our new life.

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"The divorce papers are on the table. Sign them." Olivia's voice was cold. After ten years as her "invisible husband," a signed contract, and a son I raised as my own, our arrangement was finally over. But the finality hit differently when I saw the new portrait on the grand staircase: Olivia, radiant, linking arms with Daniel Clark, and beside them, my son Leo, beaming up at Daniel with an adoration he never showed me. Daniel was back, and I was erased. They made it clear I was nothing more than a paid service. Mrs. Hayes, Olivia's mother, sneered, "Olivia, out of the kindness of her heart, has secured you a position at a mid-level tech firm. It's more than you deserve." A dismissal, a final pat for the loyal dog. Then, at the mall, the ultimate betrayal. Leo recoiled from me, screaming, "He's not my dad! I want Daniel to be my dad!" Daniel, with a fake sympathetic smile, put his arm around Leo, while Olivia silently condoned it. It wasn't just my marriage ending; it was my fatherhood, too. The words didn't cause sharp pain; it was a dull, heavy thud, as if something inside me finally died. Ten years of sacrifice, of unrequited love, meant nothing. Why had I poured every ounce of myself into a family that saw me only as a placeholder, a loyal dog? What even was I to them? I signed the divorce papers, a final and clean break. That night, I collected the few remnants of my life-my coding projects, my mother's photo-and walked away, leaving behind the gilded cage, ready for a new beginning, a life where I wasn't just a service, but a man finally choosing to live for himself.

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"Let's get married," Mia declares, her voice trembling despite her defiant gaze into Stefan's guarded brown eyes. She needs this, even if he seems untouchable. Stefan raises a skeptical brow. "And why would I do that?" His voice was low, like a warning, and it made her shiver even though she tried not to show it. "We both have one thing in common," Mia continues, her gaze unwavering. "Shitty fathers. They want to take what's ours and give it to who they think deserves it." A pointed pause hangs in the air. "The only difference between us is that you're an illegitimate child, and I'm not." Stefan studies her, the heiress in her designer armor, the fire in her eyes that matches the burn of his own rage. "That's your solution? A wedding band as a weapon?" He said ignoring the part where she just referred to him as an illegitimate child. "The only weapon they won't see coming." She steps closer, close enough for him to catch the scent of her perfume, gunpowder and jasmine. "Our fathers stole our birthrights. The sole reason they betrayed us. We join forces, create our own empire that'll bring down theirs." A beat of silence. Then, Stefan's mouth curves into something sharp. "One condition," he murmurs, closing the distance. "No divorces. No surrenders. If we're doing this, it's for life" "Deal" Mia said without missing a beat. Her father wants to destroy her life. She wouldn't give him the pleasure, she would destroy her life as she seems fit. ................ Two shattered heirs. One deadly vow. A marriage built on revenge. Mia Meyers was born to rule her father's empire (so she thought), until he named his bastard son heir instead. Stefan Sterling knows the sting of betrayal too. His father discarded him like trash. Now the rivals' disgraced children have a poisonous proposal: Marry for vengeance. Crush their fathers' legacies. Never speak of divorce. Whoever cracks first loses everything. Can these two rivals, united by their vengeful hearts, pull off a marriage of convenience to reclaim what they believe is rightfully theirs? Or will their fathers' animosity, and their own complicated pasts tear their fragile alliance apart?

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