6
く
Ethan stared at the certificate, unable to
reach for it.
“Dad, this is another one of Lily’s tricks,
right?”
Mr. Jiang threw the certificate on the table,
glaring at Ethan.
“As you wish, it’s real. I don’t understand
what’s so good about Claire that you’re so
obsessed.”
“If you like her, keep her as a mistress. Why
bring her in front of Lily? Do you know how
much I did to keep her by your side?”
“Do you think finding someone willing to
donate blood for you is easy?”
Ethan froze.
“What? Blood donation?”
Ethan finally learned the truth from his father.
This time, he panicked.
But the photo panicked him more.
As a child, he was bullied, and a little girl had
bravely stepped in. When he saw her face, it
was bruised and swollen. He only
remembered a birthmark and a white dress.
He met Claire later. She had a birthmark,
loved white dresses, and lived near the
orphanage.
She didn’t know about the incident, but she
claimed responsibility, and Ethan naturally
mistook her for me.
My mark wasn’t a birthmark, but a pencil
mark from the orphanage.
I didn’t like white dresses. I wore that one
because it was the right size from the
donated clothes.
Returning home, Ethan frantically searched
for me, calling my now–disconnected number
repeatedly.
I learned about this from Qin Ya, the daughter
of a former maid. She often helped her
mother at the house and knew us well.
<
She said Ethan was erratic, scaring away
many maids. She happened to meet me here.
She told me more about Ethan.
Ethan and Claire were planning a wedding.
Despite Mr. Jiang’s objections, he insisted.
I wasn’t surprised. He loved Claire so much, I
thought they’d marry right after the divorce.
Now that they were getting married, I was
relieved.
I didn’t want him to find me.
Days later, Qin Ya messaged me again: Ethan
and Claire got their marriage license.
Before I could reply, she added, “But they
divorced that afternoon! It was all over the
news! Too bad I wasn’t there.”
A whirlwind marriage and divorce. I wasn’t
interested.
But Qin Ya was excited, so I didn’t interrupt.
Then she said something about me.
“By the way, Ethan’s looking for you again.
<
“He hasn’t been to work, just searching for
you.”
“He’s so crazy, he’ll find you soon.”
I was confused. Ethan had hated me, why
would he change so quickly? Something was
- up.
I asked Qin Ya to find out. She quickly got
back to me.
“My mom doesn’t know the details, but it’s
about a photo, found in the trash.”
I understood. I felt annoyed.
After tearing up the photos in the guest room,
many things happened. The maids probably
didn’t clean it up.
I should have burned them.
But it didn’t matter. The divorce was finalized.
We were done.
I focused on work, ignoring Ethan.
I needed to catch up after years away.
Time passed, my career took off, and I
く
became a key employee.
But then I received devastating news.
The matron had passed away.
